Hazel

Hazel is a Video Essayist primarily focused on anime content. Deep dives into array of niche objects, and often finding more substance in them then one might expect. She tries to upload monthly.

Today she released her newest video, a deep dive on the anime Eiken. Well, actually, that's more like just the starting point, its really a deep dive on the creators, appeal, and politics around ecchi manga and anime. Don't worry, the video isn't sexually explicit (she had to worry about You Tube guidelines, after all), though there is some talk about such things. There is a section that gets a bit more intense in its topics and discussion, but Hazel provides a warning for that segment in the video.

Definitely check out her other videos while you're at it, they're all well researched (the ones that are more fact based then opinion, I mean) and written.

Is she for or against ecchi/fanservice and if she's against it, why? I need to know what type of person I'm dealing with before I go into her videos.

I would describe her as neutral. She doesn't hate an anime just for having an ecchi focus, but she also doesn't accept one for being a poorly written, poorly drawn, uncreative turd just because there's boobs. Which she makes abundantly clear Eiken is one of those. And she's not blind to the criticisms of ecchi either, that is a facet explored in the video.

I don't want to make it seem like she's some ecchi-focused creator, either, this is just the video that's new when I decided to make this topic. She is someone who has a fondness for schlocky horror movies and anime, but its more that the ecchi aspect doesn't easily phase her then any outright favor for them.

And if that video doesn't sound up your alley, perhaps try giving one of her other videos a go. She's particularly fond of her retrospective of Tenchi Muyo (more specifically Tenchi Universe) in the video titled "The Forgotten Hero Of 90s Anime," which is an anime I have zero experience with but still found the video very entertaining.

My gateway to her channel was a video called "The Bizarre Rabbit Hole Of Direct To VHS Anime," where she goes through a more quick-fire rundown of old-school OV As that she had sort of an experiment of watching a bunch over a short period. A great look at the early anime boom through a multitude of works, ranging from the quirky and fun to downright horrific and everything in between, that even your most knowledgeable anime fans might not know of.

Edited by diddyknux on Feb 23rd 2022 at 6:47:58 AM

Hazel's viewpoint (outside of admitting she likes perfectly schlocky, fanservicey, gratuitous "problematic" works all the time) is that every thing no matter how scholcky or distasteful has the right to exist. She's love her fair share of raunchy sex comedies and even in this video used the fact that a work she found deplorable (Eiken's creator's later manga ecchi sex comedy manga series featuring a teacher marrying his 11 year old student) shouldn't be used as a censorship campaign because "Think of the children" and how sometimes when you fight against what's right it sometimes means you have to maybe side with stuff you find disgusting.

Also at the end of the video she gives a glowing endorsement for Keijo!!!!!!!!(and gives praise for it's worldbuilding) if that means anything (even jokingly saying "who knew what it took for me to get into Shonen Sports anime was girls having titty and ass fights")

Anyway I was introduced to her through her amazing 2 hour epic on Elfen Lied and what it meant to western fans during the anime boom of the 00s. One of the most seminal pieces of video essay making I think exists on the internet

She has quickly become one of my favorite content creators online. Have been a Patreon since I first saw her Elfen Lied video

I discovered hazel a few months back and have really enjoyed everything she's released, even if a video's topic is way outside my sphere of interest, such as this one on JRPGs. I think my favorite one to date is this one, talking about the PlayStation game version of Serial Experiments Lain. I dearly love Lain, and finding out about this take on the story was very interesting...and it doesn't hurt that hazel's narration borders on ASMR.

The one thing I would caution people about with her is that she has ADHD, and her editing style can sometimes reflect this, as she's fond of occasional quick cuts and inserting blink-and-you'll-miss-them text pieces that you'll need to pause the video to read.

Edited by Willbyr on Feb 25th 2022 at 8:27:25 AM

I admit, from the latest video, the stuff about "My Wife is Elementary Student" and the manga's writer and artist is painful to watch, the premise is pedophile's dream, the stuff behind the bans on manga and the sexist homophobic politician behind it add revolting feeling.

Edited by VeryVileVillian on Feb 25th 2022 at 8:11:23 PM

The video I posted previously has been age restricted now. Hazel wrote a notice on her Youtube community tab that she figured this would probably happen sooner or later.

Seeing as the video, even though it doesn't show anything onscreen that's NSFW, discusses some mature and at times disturbing material and topics.

Also, a section about Japanese manga censorship laws that are really thinly veiled suppression of homosexual themes and characters, which is another topic of conversation that Youtube is not the kindest to.

Edited by diddyknux on Mar 6th 2022 at 5:01:07 AM

So considering the repsonses here... I'm wondering if any of you actually watched Elfen Lied at this point because there are MANY issues with Hazel's video that become very apparent if you actually sitdown and watch the anime itself.

Like Hazel trying to minimize Mayu into be a joke, and saying things like "Nyu only exists dumb cumbrain reasons" and then saying incredily easily disprovable things like how she thinks Nyu dressing herself is an indicator of how infantile Nyu is, when in reality its Yuka whos dressing Nyu, Yuka buying her clothes, and Yuka giving Nyu her clothes.

This is so dumb and obvious that anyone who paid attention to the work wouldnt say something like this. Yuka points this stuff out no less than 3 different times, AND in 2 episodes Yuka is wearing a black dress that is from the same stylization that she gives Nyu in episode 3.

Hazel's commentary and review is full of problems errors and backhanded bashing that make its obvious that she wasn't really there to critique but to hop on the popularity of bashing on Elfen Lied, which is considered cool and acceptable, when there wasn't any real content for it.

I find it ridiculous how people will get on Noralitie's ass for looking at things through a lens but dont even try to pick apart Hazel's idiotic take which is so much more obviously tone deaf and inexcusable.