Recreating Reality: Waltz With Bashir, Persepolis, and the Documentary Genre

This paper examines Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir (2008) and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis (2007) to elucidate how artists, distributors, and audiences shape and define the porous boundaries of the documentary genre, and how such perceptions are shaped within a digital context. By analyzing how each film represents reality; that is, how documentaries attempt to represent the real world, this paper explores the elements of performativity within animated documentary as a reflection of both the growing fluidity of the documentary genre and the instability of the indexical in a digital age. In a digital context, where the “real” can be manufactured at an increasing rate, stronger skepticism and cynicism push the documentary genre towards more subjective explorations, with animated documentaries serving as a key example of how genre distinctions have fluctuated in response

Realist Film Theory and Flowers of Evil: Exploring the Philosophical Possibilities of Rotoscoped Animation

Winner of the Maureen Furniss Essay Award. https://journal.animationstudies.org/jacqueline-ristola-realist-film-theory-and-flowers-of-evil-exploring-the-philosophical-possibilities-of-rotoscoped-animation-winner

Going Gonzo:Crunchyroll, Anime Streaming, and Unpaid Digital Labour

This essay examines how anime streaming platform Crunchyroll leveraged fan labour to become an industry leader in the anime distribution market. Before becoming a global leader in streaming anime, the site was known in the mid-2000s as an anime piracy site, largely functioning on fan labour for uploading its content. This essay combines Marxist political economy, discursive analysis, and fan studies methodologies to analyze how Crunchyroll capitalized on unpaid fan labour to transform itself from a popular piracy site into a legitimate streaming platform

Anime's image space: Walter Benjamin and the politics of animation production

[EN] This article examples contemporary anime scholarship and how it intersects with the political thought of philosopher and critic Walter Benjamin (1892-1940). By examining Benjamin’s writings on art and politics alongside critical theory of anime production and consumption, this essay highlights the radical political potentials of anime image making for audiences.  By examining specific anime production, distribution, and consumption practices, and the contemporary theory surrounding them, this article argues that drawing from Benjamin’s writings on the politics of art can help us better appreciate these practices  and their political ramifications. Specific practices examined include the flat composition of images, anime media mix, limited animation’s stillness, and otaku consumer practices. This essay ends with examples from the larger Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise to show Benjamin’s political thought in action.[ES] Este artículo analiza los estudios del anime contemporáneo y cómo se cruzan con el pensamiento político del filósofo y crítico Walter Benjamin (1892-1940). A través de un examen de los escritos de Benjamin sobre arte y política, junto con la teoría crítica de la producción y el consumo de anime, este ensayo destaca los potenciales políticos radicales de la creación de imágenes de anime para el público. Revisando  las prácticas específicas de producción, distribución y consumo de anime, y la teoría contemporánea que las rodea, se argumentará que los escritos de Benjamin sobre la política del arte pueden ayudarnos a apreciar mejor estas prácticas y sus ramificaciones políticas. Estos rasgos aludidos  incluyen la composición de imágenes planos, la mezcla de medios de anime, inmovilidad en la animación limitada, y prácticas de consumo otaku. Este ensayo  termina con ejemplos de la franquicia más grande de Neon Genesis Evangelion para mostrar el pensamiento político de Benjamin en acción.Ristola, J. (2021). Espacios de imágenes del anime: Walter Benjamin y las políticas del consumo. Con A de animación. 0(12):94-111. https://doi.org/10.4995/caa.2021.15086OJS94111012AZUMA, Hiroki, 2003. Moto genron F-Kai (Net-state discourse F), Tokyo, Seidosha ("The Animalization of Otaku Culture", trad. inglés Yuriko Furuhata, Marc Steinberg, Mechademia, vol. 2, 2007, pp. 175-187. https://doi.org/10.1353/mec.0.0023BENJAMIN, Walter, 2016 [1939]. "¿Qué es el teatro épico?", en BENJAMIN, Walter, El autor como productor, trad. cast. Wolfgang Erger, Madrid: Casimiro, pp. 45-56.BENJAMIN, Walter, 2016 [1934]. "El autor como productor", en BENJAMIN, Walter, El autor como productor, trad. cast. Wolfgang Erger, Madrid: Casimiro, pp. 7-36.BENJAMIN, Walter, 2012 [1929]. "El Surrealismo: la última instantánea de la inteligencia europea", en Libro II/Vol. 1., trad. cast. Alfredo Brotons Muñoz, s/c: Epublibre.CONDRY, Ian, 2013. The Soul of Anime: Collaborative Creativity and Japan's Media Success Story, Durham, Londres: Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822397557DELEUZE, Gilles, GUATTARI, Félix, 1983. Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.FRANK, Allegra, 2017. "Neon Genesis Evangelion's final film gets a teaser, after a half-decade of waiting", en Polygon, 28 de julio, (https://www.polygon.com/2017/7/28/16057598/evangelion-4-0-teaser [noviembre, 2020]).HANSEN, Miriam, 2012. Cinema and Experience: Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno, Berkeley: University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520950139HANSEN, Miriam, 1999. "Benjamin and Cinema: Not a One-Way Street", en Critical Inquiry, vol. 25(2), pp. 306-343. https://doi.org/10.1086/448922KHATIB, Sami, 2014. ''To Win the Energies of Intoxication for the Revolution': Body Politics, Community, and Profane Illumination", Anthropology & Materialism: A Journal of Social Research, vol. 2., pp.1-12. https://doi.org/10.4000/am.348LAMARRE, Thomas, 2009. The Anime Machine: A Media Theory of Animation, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.OKADA, Toshio, 2015. "Introduction to Otakuology", en GALBRAITH, Patrick W., KAM, Thiam Huat, y KAMM, Björn-Ole (eds.), Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan: Historical Perspectives and New Horizons, Londres: Bloomsbury, pp. 89-101.STEINBERG, Marc, 2017. "Converging Contents and Platforms: Niconico Video and Japan's Media Mix Ecology", en NEVES, Joshua, y SARKAR, Bhaskar (eds.), Asian Video Cultures: In the Penumbra of the Global, Duke University Press, Durham, pp. 91-113.STEINBERG, Marc, 2012. Anime's Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. https://doi.org/10.5749/minnesota/9780816675494.001.000

Espacios de imágenes del anime: Walter Benjamin y las políticas del consumo

Este artículo analiza los estudios del ani-me contemporáneo y cómo se cruzan con el pensamiento político del filósofo y crítico Walter Benjamin (1892-1940). A través de un examen de los escritos de Benjamin sobre arte y política, junto con la teoría crítica de la producción y el consumo de anime, este ensayo destaca los potencia-les políticos radicales de la creación de imágenes de anime para el público. Revisando las prácticas específicas de producción, distribución y consumo de anime, y la teoría contemporánea que las rodea, se argumentará que los escritos de Benjamin sobre la política del arte pueden ayudar-nos a apreciar mejor estas prácticas y sus ramificaciones políticas. Estos rasgos aludidos incluyen la composición de imágenes planos, la mezcla de medios de anime, inmovilidad en la animación limitada, y prácticas de consumo otaku. Este ensayo termina con ejemplos de la franquicia más grande de Neon Genesis Evangelion para mostrar el pensamiento político de Benja-min en acción

Queer Animation, The Motion of Illusion: A Primer for the Study of Queer Animated Images

Introduction to journal issue on queer representation in animation

Anime Streaming Platform Wars: A Platform Lab Report

This Lab Report tackles streaming platforms from the angle of anime, one of the prime contents used to gather viewers and subscribers, and their dollars and data. Focused on the circulation of anime on transnational platforms, this Report addresses the rush, over the past decade, for streaming platforms to invest in anime and its audience, up to the point where anime has become a necessary market to take into account when discussing the global streaming ecology

Markers of Inflammation, Coagulation, and Renal Function Are Elevated in Adults with HIV Infection

(See the article by Kalayjian et al, on pages 1796-1805, and the editorial commentary by Dubé and Sattler, on pages 1783-1785.) Background. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication and immune activation may increase inflammation and coagulation biomarkers. Limited data exist comparing such biomarkers in persons with and without HIV infection. Methods. For persons 45-76 years of age, levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), interleukin (IL)-6, D-dimer, and cystatin C were compared in 494 HIV-infected individuals in the Strategies for Management of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (SMART) study and 5386 participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) study. For persons 33-44 years of age, hsCRP and IL-6 levels were compared in 287 participants in the SMART study and 3231 participants in the Coronary Artery Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. Results. hsCRP and IL-6 levels were 55% (P<.001) and 62% (P<.001) higher among HIV-infected participants than among CARDIA study participants. Compared with levels noted in MESA study participants, hsCRP, IL-6, D-dimer, and cystatin C levels were 50%, 152%, 94%, and 27% higher, respectively (P<.001 , for each), among HIV-infected participants. HIV-infected participants receiving antiretroviral therapy who had HIV RNA levels ≤400 copies/mL had levels higher (by 21% to 60%) (P<.001) than those in the general population, for all biomarkers. Conclusions. hsCRP, IL-6, D-dimer, and cystatin C levels are elevated in persons with HIV infection and remain so even after HIV RNA levels are suppressed with antiretroviral therapy. Additional research is needed on the pathophysiology of HIV-induced activation of inflammatory and coagulation pathways, to guide potential intervention

Super Apps: A Platform Lab Report

This whitepaper report gives an overview of a variety of "superapps," apps designed to bring together a vast number of services within a single interface. The purpose of this report is to provide a general understanding of the super app form as it becomes a dominant global framework, and to consider platform capitalism’s transformational shape

Development and Validation of a Risk Score for Chronic Kidney Disease in HIV Infection Using Prospective Cohort Data from the D:A:D Study

Ristola M. on työryhmien DAD Study Grp ; Royal Free Hosp Clin Cohort ; INSIGHT Study Grp ; SMART Study Grp ; ESPRIT Study Grp jäsen.Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major health issue for HIV-positive individuals, associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Development and implementation of a risk score model for CKD would allow comparison of the risks and benefits of adding potentially nephrotoxic antiretrovirals to a treatment regimen and would identify those at greatest risk of CKD. The aims of this study were to develop a simple, externally validated, and widely applicable long-term risk score model for CKD in HIV-positive individuals that can guide decision making in clinical practice. Methods and Findings A total of 17,954 HIV-positive individuals from the Data Collection on Adverse Events of Anti-HIV Drugs (D:A:D) study with >= 3 estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) values after 1 January 2004 were included. Baseline was defined as the first eGFR > 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 after 1 January 2004; individuals with exposure to tenofovir, atazanavir, atazanavir/ritonavir, lopinavir/ritonavir, other boosted protease inhibitors before baseline were excluded. CKD was defined as confirmed (>3 mo apart) eGFR In the D:A:D study, 641 individuals developed CKD during 103,185 person-years of follow-up (PYFU; incidence 6.2/1,000 PYFU, 95% CI 5.7-6.7; median follow-up 6.1 y, range 0.3-9.1 y). Older age, intravenous drug use, hepatitis C coinfection, lower baseline eGFR, female gender, lower CD4 count nadir, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) predicted CKD. The adjusted incidence rate ratios of these nine categorical variables were scaled and summed to create the risk score. The median risk score at baseline was -2 (interquartile range -4 to 2). There was a 1: 393 chance of developing CKD in the next 5 y in the low risk group (risk score = 5, 505 events), respectively. Number needed to harm (NNTH) at 5 y when starting unboosted atazanavir or lopinavir/ritonavir among those with a low risk score was 1,702 (95% CI 1,166-3,367); NNTH was 202 (95% CI 159-278) and 21 (95% CI 19-23), respectively, for those with a medium and high risk score. NNTH was 739 (95% CI 506-1462), 88 (95% CI 69-121), and 9 (95% CI 8-10) for those with a low, medium, and high risk score, respectively, starting tenofovir, atazanavir/ritonavir, or another boosted protease inhibitor. The Royal Free Hospital Clinic Cohort included 2,548 individuals, of whom 94 individuals developed CKD (3.7%) during 18,376 PYFU (median follow-up 7.4 y, range 0.3-12.7 y). Of 2,013 individuals included from the SMART/ESPRIT control arms, 32 individuals developed CKD (1.6%) during 8,452 PYFU (median follow-up 4.1 y, range 0.6-8.1 y). External validation showed that the risk score predicted well in these cohorts. Limitations of this study included limited data on race and no information on proteinuria. Conclusions Both traditional and HIV-related risk factors were predictive of CKD. These factors were used to develop a risk score for CKD in HIV infection, externally validated, that has direct clinical relevance for patients and clinicians to weigh the benefits of certain antiretrovirals against the risk of CKD and to identify those at greatest risk of CKD.Peer reviewe