Dog lovers will love this one yet we are now seeing author Akino experiment with the characters. She also explores some social commentary and posing morally difficult questions. It goes without saying, today is a heavy episode about the horrors of fascism and war.
Skip synopsis @ 7:23
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128: Petshop of Horrors vol. 3
By Akino Matsuri
Translation by Tomoharu Iwo and James Lucas Jones
Lettering by Nunu Ngien
The first story Diamonde, involves D taking a pro-active stance on preventing artificial insemination. However, the story leaves one to wonder if the sperm was even human to begin with.
Second story, Desire, has D confront a little girl named Maggie who abuses her pet dog. D offers her to trade her dog for a younger sister of her choice. In doing so the sister she and her family fosters quickly becomes more popular and loved than Maggie. Consumed by jealousy Maggie then must deal with the horror of abandonment. But not to worry, this one does have a happy ending, bonus points if you are a dog lover.
Third story, Dessert, has a serial killer on the loose, meanwhile D falls in love with a man's cooking. But what D does not realise is that he is next on the menu.
The fourth story which we will unpack a lot today is "Devil, which is about an old woman named Rosemary. Rosemary has dementia but through a chance meeting with D her memories of the second world war are triggered. She mistakes D for his grandfather who gave her a teddy bear which acted as a charm that would protect her. D identifies the teddy which helps to bring her lost memories back. Once again, the teddy saves her life when a bullet from a neo-Nazi almost hits her chest. The episode raises the question on wherever it is the right thing to ask dementia sufferers to remember war.
Context
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· Are there people really have poodles with their noodles? For the sake of avoiding any semblance of prejudice we won't provide the source to such facts, however desperate times can call for desperate dietary measures.
· Since "Count D" is a lover of all animals, he does not fit the offensive Asian stereotype of someone who eats dogmeat and is in fact vegetarian.
· The chapter 'Devil' refers to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although the manga was printed in 1996 the conflict evolved from the late 80's, with the events surrounding the Palestinian declaration of independence and "the first intifada". There is a more convoluted history, with Israeli independence pre-dating many events but this is historical information that does not serve today's episode.
· As of the date of the upload, November 5th 2023, we are dealing with another wave of emotional charged misinformation and propaganda. U.S. President Joe Biden seems to have retracted his statement, or at the very least his words have been used as misinformation regarding the death and circumstances of 40 babies.
· People are reposting the attacks that happened a while back in Syria as if they were happening in Gaza today. And we are truly seeing an unprecedented amount of war crimes posted on social media 24/7 in HD. Which are not only taking a toll on our emotional wellbeing but are influencing us to respond in brash ways.
· Despite the division between Jewish and Islamic communities surrounding the conflict around Gaza, there is evidence that both parties have more in common than one would think.
· In the story we have Rosemary (Born Elizabeth Schneider) who ends up hiding from Nazi forces. If you are interested in the testimony of such people in real-life, please go to the following website: https://www.het.org.uk/education/outreach-programme/survivor-stories
Fascism (As defined by Merriam-Webster)
1: A political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2: a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
· It is important to note that the word "fascist" has become a slur, a fascist is not simply someone who disagrees with you, it is someone who profits from the subjugation and opposition of an individual, believing it to profit their nation.
· For more information, 'Stuff You Should Know' podcast made good episode about fascism, and one that is highly recommended for beginners on the subject.
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