There She Is: Another Step

April 26, 2024 3:54 PM

Happy Belated Flash Friday! Sort of! If you’ve been around the internet long enough, you might remember There She Is, a Korean Flash animation by Sambakza about a bunny girl smitten with a reluctant cat boy. The whole series has been remastered in HD and uploaded to YouTube as one long video (previously), but the real reason for this post is that, years later, there’s now actually a brand new installment in the series!
posted by DoctorFedora (10 comments total)

Hm.....I turned on the new one and was all, "what the heck is going on?" and maybe I should rewatch the whole thing first before I watch the new one?
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:36 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]

It’s worth rewatching the originals just because they’re good I think!
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:51 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]

Oh hey I used to go there!
posted by Wretch729 at 8:00 PM on April 26

Is that ska? I think it's ska ...

I like it!
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:06 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]

Searching for the song of the video, I happened across this song, which was used in one of the shorts as the soundtrack: Wolsik by Tabu from Lunar Eclipse

Also used as part of a soundtrack: imagine by Brunch. It's a pity this didn't get on American radio, it would have been right at home in the 2000's, maybe (I tend to find music a few years after it's heyday, so I could be off by a bit there).

Another song used in the original shorts is Greensleeves to a Ground. This version is by Jordi Savali. Very different from other music presented here.

Sam cha Seong jing by T.A. Copy was used as the soundtrack for another short in the series. The title translates as "tertiary sex characteristic" ... which should have been their band name, when you think about it.

Then there's Happy Birthday to Me by Bulldog Mansion, another little banger that would have been right at home on American radio.

And finally, There She Is by Witches. And yes, it's as ska as ska can be and in m opinion, is a hell of a little banger!

All info from the Wikipedia article.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:37 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]

Yeah, I didn't get the whole bully gang thing, but TV Tropes has more explanation of this whole thing.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:30 AM on April 27

ohhhh my god i hadnt thought about this since i was like. 15. thank you so much
posted by _earwig_ at 3:42 PM on April 27

Okay, I'm sorry, I've tried to read up on it, but I still don't understand the bully gang video.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:45 AM on April 28

It seems that one (or more?) of the bullies has the backstory of being a mixed breed, bullied himself in school, and harbors resentment/dislike of cats because of his memories of his father. He ends up having strong conflicted feelings about Nabi and Doki' relationship, because he fears their union will result only in more broken, unhappy children like he was. He starts out yelling at his friends about their interracial relationship and he ends up becoming radicalized and instead engaging in a terroristic attack on the racists, whom his friends come to rescue, getting injured in the process. He is able to, through the conflict, come to terms with his mixed heritage, and his friends rebuke him for his actions.

I'm afraid I come down on the "no, let's hurt the racists" side. I'm okay with judging people for their actions and locking them up for being assholes. I was understanding of the previous episodes' anti-politicization stance - Nabi and Doki don't want to be symbols of power and resistance any more than they want to be targets of hate mobs - but I don't agree that you can't or shouldn't punch Nazis. Punch Nazis lots, actually.

I preferred Monkey Man.
posted by Scattercat at 4:08 PM on April 28 [1 favorite]

In fact, the more I think, the angrier I am at this. The video even continues to show large rallies of bigots and mobs chasing Nabi even as he tries to get to his wedding, but what's the big villain? Why, it's those darn radical progressives, going too far and making things worse instead of just tolerating an intolerant society! They're so violent and uncompromising. Gosh, it's setting the whole movement back, really. If only they'd just meekly live while their right to do so is debated, then surely their good example will lead to the bigoted society giving them, grudgingly, the bare right to existence.

This has honestly ruined what used to be a favorite animation. Like having a comic I like defend TERFs.
posted by Scattercat at 6:05 PM on April 28 [1 favorite]