Mugen Monday - Twelfth Edition

One of the key things when dealing with the Halloween season is to tackle the question of horror in Anime. If you’re curious, the girl in Mugen Monday’s official feature art (although design is a more apt word) is AI-Made.

With such huge AI advancements, it’s not too bad to say that we are definitely in a Halloween of a year marked by the beginning of an AI Revolution.

But it’s not as cheap as you’d think. Apparently, I had to use some coins they gave me for free when signing up, but now to get more I gotta pay up.

But this minor inconvenience aside, are we sure AI won’t take over Anime one day too? And if such a fate were to be imminent, then shouldn’t we prepare for the apocalypse of the traditional Anime?

Halloween, Anime and Horror

Apocalypse - the word leads me to thoughts of end, pain, horror - something you may relate to a lot tomorrow.

I am by no means a historian, but I am for some measure a humanitarian (History is a social science, and I am a philosophy student, which is a humanities subject, separate from social sciences).

And as such I am qualified to some extent when I mention that Halloween initially was not always about the spook and scare.

How did Halloween begin though?

It was a Celtic tradition that existed pre-Christian influence. And when the latter did arrive, they retained it as to become a ‘hallowed’ eve before the All Saints Day of November 1.

What was initially more about Tricks, treats and hell yeah even cosplays, somehow turned to include within itself the dark, sinister and horror.

- SOURCE

Anime and horror have a handicapped relationship, here’s what I mean

In some sense, the relation of Anime and Horror may be similar. Unlike live-action productions, incorporating a sense of horror through visuals (or body horror, which my dearest writer talks more in length down below) in Anime is quite difficult.

You may like: Top 5 Anime to watch this Halloween

So obviously, to cope with such a culture, Anime obviously has to devise a horror that’s less physical (because just how much can a demon figure in drawn animation scare you?) and more psychological.

I wouldn’t extend this any further, Mayukh has done an excellent piece on this down below. As you read the 12th edition of Mugen Monday, you may want to share this with your friends.

Happy Halloween and have an amazing read, and until next time - For Those Who Dare Dream!

- From the Editor’s Desk

Rhytham Das, Editor-in-Chief, Spiel Anime