Slop and guilt
1
A few days ago I started watching "Hirogaru Sky! Precure", after seeing someone post a clip from it and being like "its funny how when they say the word white they instead say hwhite". I looked at the clip and was like yeah they do say "hwhite", after which I thought, "hey isn't this the magical girl anime where they have a magical boy?" I got curious, and after confirming that with some random wiki I found, I went and decided to watch a bit of it.
I pretty quickly learned how the show works, it's extremely formulaic. Each episode is 24 minutes long, but out of those 24 minutes probably at least maybe like 6 minutes, or one quarter, is spent on fully copy pasted scenes which are basically fully the same between episodes. The obvious ones are the intro and outro (which is pretty normal for anime), but there are also minutes long transformation sequences where the heroes transform from ordinary people into magical girl heroes by doing a dance while saying some random fancy words while a lot of flashy effects happen in the background. Each* episode also has a monster, that even has the same name every time even though its a different monster every time. Oh also the villain creating the monster has a copy pasted effect. And each of the main heroes has a spell that has a copy pasted effect when they use their special "move".
None of this is actually very important, I am just trying to say that the creators might be trying to go more for quantity over quality. Which is probably pretty obvious also because they are making literally one episode each week? And I do mean each week, I am looking this up right now and apparently the show has been running from 2004 and there have been 1067 episodes during that time, which according to my vibes based calculations means they missed maybe like 3 weeks on average each year. It might also be obvious from the fact that it's target demographics is basically preschool children.
Anyways what I am trying to say that this is slop right? Its kinda mindless, its the same over and over. Oh, but that first day I did watch 9 episodes of it in a row. From a big part it was because I really wanted to see the magical boy show up. But I also can't deny that I enjoy it. I continued watching it the next day, even after I saw the magical boy show up, after all. I think I saw like 15 episodes now (so no spoilers please, haha), and I want to see more. I've been feeling kind of down, hopeless, and without motivation for quite a long time, and the sort of naive positivity in the show at least sort of makes me a bit optimistic, at least very temporarily. And it also makes me almost (or not almost) cry.
At the same time I feel very guilty of liking it. And I've been thinking really hard about why.
The fact that it's kinda dumb is definitely a part of it, but it can't really bother me that much considering how many hours of my life I have wasted playing videogames mindlessly, or watching/listening to Youtube videos which might be even dumber, as an example I probably watched more than 1000 episodes of Northernlion playing the Binding of Isaac. It's kinda just inevitable that people waste a lot of their time, and there's nothing wrong with that really right. Well, when I was trying to fall asleep but instead kept on pondering my thoughts about this I did decide to go talk with my room-mate, which resulted in us talking about this topic, and life in general until like 2 am, I am really thankful that he's the kind of person who I can do that with. Our discussion didn't really come up with a concrete conclusion, we just kinda were like, "yeah life kinda sucks but it's better to not dwell on that, and oh yeah you probably actually kind of need to consume some lower quality media for the higher quality more thinky media to actually hit more" and then I went to sleep.
The second and I think bigger part is that it's literally made for like 8 year old girls. Uhhh, and there's kind of no way around that I think? Like that just feels embarrassing to watch for me. For context, I am kinda basically a guy even tho I am also probably more feminine than most (maybe it'd be fairer to myself to say that I am nonbinary, but you know, if you are nonbinary in a forest where no one can see you are you really nonbinary? yes? yes. but also I am just perceived as just a guy by most people so lets keep it simple.), it still feels basically illegal to like something like this as an adult guy. When I examine this more I do think it definitely shouldn't feel like that. If someone tells me they like Pokemon I don't really find it weird at all, even though it's theoretically made for preschool boys. Or maybe more similar is what I am guessing is My Little Pony, which I never watched, but which a lot of guys on the internet liked pretty visibly. I even met someone who I really respected who told me that he liked the show. And I did feel a bit iffy about that, but also when actually thinking at least somewhat critically I saw no problem with. I guess the same is for Precure. If I think about it, I just feel it's sort of weird, but also just kinda fine. I thought about how cool it'd be to make a cosplay of Cure Wing (the magical boy in the show), I've been getting into sewing, and I do think it might not be that difficult to make. And then I think how I could like be silly and try do some of those dances from the show in that cosplay. But then I immediately think how it's too much. And how embarrassing is that I am even thinking about that. I just don't really know.
2
Just a few hours before writing this post I saw a video by Jeffiot called Peak Art, Peak Slop. I'd recommend watching it, it's sort of related to what I wrote about here, but not really. Very, very, oversimplified it tries to somehow explain why something like Twin Peaks might be better than a Mr Beast video. It basically says that all the edges of Mr Beast videos are perfectly sanded off to make it as easy to digest as possible, which they succeed at very well, but it to really enjoy given closer examination, and so when you watch one you don't even really remember what you watched. While something like Twin Peaks breaks a lot of conventions that make things easy to watch, but which also makes it quite memorable. I do take some slight issue with that -- for example, because I can kind of think of what happens in some Mr Beast videos, for example I think in one he recreates Squid Game, though thinking about it I am not really sure if I even actually saw that video. And for example because I did watch all of Twin Peaks, but also can't really remember all that much that happens in it, though again when in the video Jeffiot mentions some of the things I did think to myself yeah I sort of remember that.
I am definitely taking this a bit too literally and sort of just wanted to try be a bit funny here. In reality I think it's just true that something like Twin Peaks makes you think more, and even though it's made in a way that isn't the easiest to watch, thinking about it is really interesting and makes it memorable. There definitely are parts I can think of immediately since they were so so so memorable -- for example episode 8 of season 3 -- even if I don't fully remember the specifics.
Which finally gets me to my point. Precure made me think a lot too. And I sort of remember what's happening in it, and even if I forget the specifics, I don't really think I am ever completely forgetting that I watched it. So I think after all this it might not really be slop, even though it definitely is a bit low quality, and a bit stupid, and made in a way to be easy to watch. It's sort of in a weird way where the context of me not really being the target audience (I think? like maybe I am being unfair here considering they did decide to have a magical boy after making the 900 episodes or whatever before it so maybe they wanted to expand the audience? I have no idea honestly) makes it be more interesting then it otherwise might be? I think? Like while it's definitely made to be easy to watch I did also describe why watching it makes me feel pretty guilty, so that kind of makes it not that easy to watch, right? Or maybe I am just making stuff up to make myself feel better about watching it.
Ok, this is besides the point but I do want to defend Precure (or at least the 15 episodes I watched, I guess I can't vouch for the 1050 others or however many there are) a bit more. I do still think it's better than something like Mr Beast, since it at least has a genuinely positive message and tries to make people be kind and think about what other people feel, which has to be worth at least something right? Meanwhile Mr Beast instead does basically the most parasocial things imaginable, I guess on the very surface he's giving out money, but like he's using the money that to bribe people to embarrass themselves, or even sometimes harm themselves. So I am trying to say that while both are probably slop, some slop is still better than other slop. Shrug.
I am not really sure which group to put this in? Maybe this should be somewhere else instead? Probably ~anime? Or ~tv? ~life? ~lgbt? Feel free to move this elsewhere, I don't really know.
People often feel pressure to do something important or productive with their time no matter what theyre doing. But recreation is just for fun, you shouldnt have to feel bad for not challenging yourself. If you feel like you enjoyed yourself watching the show, you have successfully recreated.
Watching such a show "for science" and then writing up a whole report on it is pretty productive and stimulating!
The only thing I'll add to what Grayscail said is even our leisure time has been taken over by the need to be feel or appear productive.
@Basil, since you mentioned you liked video essays, here's a great one on how hobbies became a way to rebrand leisure. Part 2 (@17:10) explains it in a way that's better than anything I could write if you're interested!
If you don't want to watch it, leisure time was just leisure time until the late 19th and early 20th centuries when labor rights groups were encouraging things like the eight hour work day and weekend. Industrialists were worried this would translate to 'idleness', and believed 'productive leisure could reenforce "good work"'. Henry Ford was a big fan.
So now we have good and moral and "productive" ways to spend our leisure time, and bad and slothful and "wasteful" on the other side. That's a very recent construction - at least in European/American cultures, which to some extent globalized it out to much of the world.
I felt a lot less anxious about the concept of wasting time when I realized who commodified it in the first place, and what their motivations were. If you enjoy something and you're not hurting yourself or other people, go for it.
I don't really like how folks have taken slop from referring exclusively to AI output and started applying it to things people actually made. I haven't watched this so I suppose I can't comment on its quality directly. But in my opinion, using it as such legitimizes AI output and delegitimizes the human output while disrespecting the human.
The repetition techniques you describe sound pretty typical of like magical girl shows and other animated series like them from an older era. I have been watching Sailor Moon and yeah there are a lot of formulaic episodes but it's still a good time? "Monster of the week" is a trope, and not necessarily derogatory.
What is wasted time any way? Time you aren't on the grindset? Just because you aren't doing something "productive" doesn't make it wasted. If you've relaxed, cracked a smile, felt anything, then I would call it time well spent.
It's also OK to like cute girl things as a man, or "man", or whatever gender you like. That's a whole market segment of seinen (manga/anime for adult men), cute girl stuff. Sure, there's some gross dudes and some gross content, some folks may make assumptions, but liking that stuff isn't inherently gross. But yeah I get what you mean about this being at odds with more American culture, but that's part of why My Little Pony exploded with the audience it did -- there is an interest for grown men to engage with nice, uncomplicated, cute media. There's a lot of toxic masculinity and gender stuff all tied up in it though.
I hope you can continue to enjoy your magical girl show :)
Agree with this.
'Slop' is something generated by machines without intentionality. Precure might be made for kids, but:
Based on what I've seen and heard about it, actual thought has gone into the ideas the kids are presented with. There are stories about characters growing up and eventually having children of their own, characters not conforming to traditional gender roles (yes, including the arc about the boy becoming a magical girl) and characters dealing with difficult people and situations through actual communication instead of violence.
Although they do use a scene bank (which is par for the course for this kind of show), there's effort being put into the animation insofar as the budget allows.
Life is too short to worry about impressing other people. Provided you aren't harming yourself or others, recreation should just be about whatever gives you the most joy in the moment, whether that be challenging / improving yourself or just chilling out - I like to do both at different times!
If Precure is your jam, then don't let random people on the internet make you feel guilty about enjoying it!
I think slop was used to describe some content before AI was around too. I feel like for example for things like the weird spiderman-elsa "kids" videos and things at the very least. Ok, I am actually not very sure if the word was used like that and from a very very brief search I didn't figure it out. But it is definitely a very very negatively perceived word nowadays, maybe it's even unfair to describe Mr Beast with it, though I really don't hold a very high opinion of those videos.
Yeah I am pretty sure other magical girl shows, and probably shonen and other genres too which I also never really watched before use similar techniques to be able to pump out so many episodes. I agree with you there's inherently nothing wrong with using canned parts like that over and over, though I do feel like it's a pretty clear sign of favouring quantity over quality. Which I myself never really was a fan of. But I do have to say there's a place for things like that to exist, and that trying to make a lot of something by itself doesn't mean that it's evil stuff that will make people stupid. At least from what I've seen of Precure I feel like it'd be likelier to make people kinder.
Thank you! I am definitely going to continue to watch even though I have some complex feelings about it :D.
Yeah, I think it was used pre-AI as well for shoddy quick output, just not to the degree I see now. I'm probably overly defensive since "friendslop" was coined as a game genre, I disagree that a lot of games called slop are actually slop. Like Peak is clearly a project of love and care, even if it is goofy with the physics.
On linear TV, you had a week to get the episode out, so I see it as more a recognition of limitations than favoring quantity per se. Like these canned sequences usually get a lot more animation attention than they could satisfactorily do with a more unique transformation each week. But the whole notion of "an episode per week" inherently places more importance on quantity, that's part of why the dense bingeable miniseries became popular once streaming made them more viable. The YouTube format does kinda change the equation, but it sounds like the creator is very intentional in mimicing the traditional aspects.
I will say, I went back to watch He-Man and Thundercats, and I was like, "wow, I must have been trash as a 6 year old for liking this." It has many of the things you described.
Really though, I think there's probably something comforting about the predictability. Kids (and maybe adults too) want to know what to expect. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. You can't challenge your brain 24-7. Sometimes you just gotta watch the clouds go by.
In the end, if you like it, and you are otherwise functioning at an age-appropriate level, I think it's okay. I don't know if it helps for a random internet stranger to give you permission not to feel guilty, but here I am.
I like that this is an example of the crap that humans have been producing long before we got AI to do it for us.
I do sort of wonder what, if any, difference there might be in consuming the endless crap content there is available today vs watching The Little Mermaid 10000000000x on VHS like I did as a kid, though. I had that movie memorized, every single second of it. I don't know if my brain actually gained anything from that exercise, but I wonder if not having it affects little humans.
There’s a huge difference between slop and formula. Slop is an absolute minimum of effort expended; it’s phoning things in. Formula is designed to be easy to digest, yes, but it takes effort. Often tremendous effort.
Precure is absolutely formulaic. There is no denying it. But things like reusing animation is not a way of phoning things in, but for increasing overall quality. Having canned animations mean that they have to put their all into the creation of those animations, so they are front-loading their production costs, which is a very high effort thing to do! Doing this also allows them to make sure that the scenes that they are not reusing can have more time to work on and improve the show overall. I am sure precure did not invent canned animations and they are far from the only shows that do it.
It’s also somewhat unfair to say that precure has 1000+ shows. There’s a whole bunch of precure but they are not all the same shows. But then again, what do I know? I’ve seen maybe three episodes of them altogether? Frankly, I do think that the shows are childish and that they are not worth watching. But why the hell should that matter to you? I don’t think less of anyone who watches it. Each episode is undeniably a beautiful work of art even if it’s not something that I personally appreciate. Art doesn’t need to be high brow to be art or to be loved. There are tons of shows that are low brow and arguably have less artistic merit than Precure but are still enjoyed by hundreds of millions of people. I can think of a few even when sticking to animation! Heck, I personally think higher of the people who watch kids animation than I do of the people who watch reality TV, which is generally more acceptable to society at large.
It's true that slop (or close to it) isn't new. I watched a lot of Saturday morning cartoons as a kid that were slop. We kept watching them hoping that there would be an episode we hadn't seen before.
Even in a lot of prime-time TV, they kept reusing footage of car chases and stuff.