The music is awesome-tier though. No question. 😀
DISCLAIMER Before I formally start, I want to give a fair warning those who haven’t seen Me!Me!Me! as it contains sensitive and otherwise racey material. In all seriousness, this isn’t really a clip that I’d recommend you view casually (NSFW, pretty much). In fact, I’m only recommending the viewing of this if you’re either genuinely curious about its content, or if you’re after the music. Again, I stress that this 7 or so minute clip contains nudity, suggestive themes, sexual content, and fantasy violence.
So yeah… Here’s the link if you haven’t seen it yet (or if you just want to see it again)
*ehem* Now that we’re all up to speed, Me!Me!Me! is the third entry in the Japan Anima(tor)’s Exhibition [Nihon Anime(ta) Mihonichi], a showcase of animations produced by various directors. The clip by itself however is essentially a music video to Teddyloid (some may know him as the dude who did Panty, Stocking, and Garterbelt’s OST) and daoko’s song entitled Me!Me!Me!. Rather, its three versions of the song played concurrently over the course of 6 minutes. Accompanying the music is the colorful sequence (directed by Hibiki Yoshizaki) of Shuu-chan’s sensual delusions of Meme and Hana-chan through a multitude of visualizations that I can’t really put into words.
Cutting right to the chase – in my opinion, Me!Me!Me! (although satire in taste) is a display of the desensitization of the otaku culture. Desensitized, meaning to become less sensitive to otherwise shocking stimuli. These stimuli, in the context of anime, manga, and other mediums we now have access to – are the graphical depictions of what are normally considered sensitive material, primarily sex and violence.
I might sound like I’m talking about extremes here, but this isn’t really something new. The existence of ecchi as forgivable and harmless obscenity for instance. Or the use of copious amounts of blood. Depictions of sex and violence in anime and manga seem to get away with because of the nature of the media through which they are delivered.
Animations, drawings – surely it can’t be worse than the real thing. But where does this supposed deviation between sensual fantasy and sensual reality really exist? If the media keeps upping the ante, as it is wont to do, where does it stop? In the clip, it is revealed that everything that had transpired was all in Shuu-chan’s head. The notion that you can think up a wild, psychedelic, and downright crazy daydream about idols and your waifu is a nod to the idea that as extreme as those images were, they were essentially bedside images, brought about with little to no effort or drive. .
This is by no means meant to be a dig at the otaku community, the otaku culture in general, or for consumers of anime, manga, and other mediums. That would simply be hypocritical on my part, as I also consume my fair share of anime weekly. Those in glass houses cast no stones as they say. But you can’t deny that this otaku rabbit hole of over-exposure to sensual themes is a thing. And this clip, although exaggerated exponentially, is a good reminder of that.
I believe my former investigative journalism professor said it best when she told us “if it bleeds, it leads” (referring to what to choose as a headline). That one line, I think, summarizes where we are now collectively as a society. We want to see these things. I mean hey, some of you may’ve watched Me!Me!Me! because of how sensitive I said it’d be.
In the clip we see Shuu-chan try to fend off the images he conceives, but by the end he can’t bring himself to wholly be rid of them. He realizes it, but at the same, he couldn’t deny his love for the medium. I’d like to think that some of us have a little but of that inside of us as well.
Of course, at the end of the day, this is still just a 7 minute music video. You could say I might be looking in too deep on a clip about an otaku guy regretting the loss of his girlfriend (which is also another popular theory about this clip).
What do you guys think the clip is really about?
(How did you like the song? xD)
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I’ve seen images of the screen caps and memes (made by my IRL friend) on FB and twitter, but I had no idea, nor was I curious, about those psychedelic photos. Several days after the animator expos made a huge noise on anitwitter, I decided to give them all a shot.
Then I was watching this one. It was a surprising piece, considering how fine the other shorts were. Of course, the music was fantastic, but I was really taken aback by how bizarre the animation sequence was. It’d be no exaggeration to say that I endured it. But in hindsight, I think it was pretty great. It’s just that I initially watched it in daylight–I was worried my mom or my brother would walk by my desk and see what I was watching (which obviously wasn’t SFW).
Reading your post has just made me reflect on those weird cuts. And I agree on your points. Maybe it was just you looking too deep into this, though it would also be too wrong to deny your points here.
Didn’t hear and/or see anything about Me!Me!Me! until a uni friend with whom I share similar tastes in music with (J-music in particular) had me take a listen to the main track. So yeah, for the most part I went into it completely in the dark and not really expecting anything. Not being in the ani-twitter scene probably played into that as well.
It certainly was surprising the first time I got to watching it. More so since I didn’t really expect the level of NSFW it apparently had. My PC setup (which had the monitor facing the door to my room) worked against me in that regard xD
I just liked the idea of a message being delivered in that medium. I’ve never been a fan of the otaku label and people identifying themselves as otaku, so I guess I that had some bearing as to how I understood those weird cuts.