{"id":585,"date":"2019-02-22T23:11:29","date_gmt":"2019-02-23T04:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/?p=585"},"modified":"2019-02-22T23:11:29","modified_gmt":"2019-02-23T04:11:29","slug":"a-captivated-audience-the-manipulation-of-sense-in-asmr-and-shintaro-kagos-manga-abstraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/2019\/02\/22\/a-captivated-audience-the-manipulation-of-sense-in-asmr-and-shintaro-kagos-manga-abstraction\/","title":{"rendered":"A Captivated Audience: The Manipulation of Sense in ASMR and Shintaro Kago&#8217;s Manga Abstraction."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-playlist wp-audio-playlist wp-playlist-light\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-playlist-current-item\"><\/div>\n\t\t<audio controls=\"controls\" preload=\"none\" width=\"458\"\n\t\t\t><\/audio>\n\t<div class=\"wp-playlist-next\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"wp-playlist-prev\"><\/div>\n\t<noscript>\n\t<ol>\n\t\t<li><a href='https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Davidson-College-9.m4a'>An ASMR Introduction<\/a><\/li>\t<\/ol>\n\t<\/noscript>\n\t<script type=\"application\/json\" class=\"wp-playlist-script\">{\"type\":\"audio\",\"tracklist\":true,\"tracknumbers\":true,\"images\":true,\"artists\":true,\"tracks\":[{\"src\":\"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Davidson-College-9.m4a\",\"type\":\"audio\/mpeg\",\"title\":\"An ASMR Introduction\",\"caption\":\"\",\"description\":\"\\\"Davidson College 9\\\".\",\"meta\":{\"length_formatted\":\"0:15\"},\"image\":{\"src\":\"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/audio.svg\",\"width\":48,\"height\":64},\"thumb\":{\"src\":\"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/audio.svg\",\"width\":48,\"height\":64}}]}<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\t\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the above clip, what you just heard is a whispering sound that cultural analysts, scientists, and media talking heads find difficult to categorize. I have just reduplicated to the best of my ability sounds that are meant to generate a physiological response. Though the above was an example of a human voice whispering, other sounds such the sounds of paper shredding, the tapping of metallic objects, the brushing of skin against skin, the tracing of fingertips on soft wood, are currently being listened too across the globe as part of an emerging cultural media trend. First we must define what these strange sounds are called and why they are intrinsically important to an analysis of Postmodern Horror before we embark on an analysis of the specific subcultures related to this trend. (Poerio 120). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is ASMR, the title now given to these diegetic \u201ctingly\u201d noises, which has for the last ten years or so, grown into a community of online users, and which has pervaded the mainstream with its, well, \u201cweirdness\u201d (Poerio 119-128). ASMR as a community has staked a claim that it potentially alleviates &#8220;insomnia,&#8221; &#8220;anxiety,&#8221; &#8220;depression,&#8221; and the list of scientifically unproven benefits goes on (Poerio 119-128). Given that ASMR seemingly aims to sooth its viewers from their individual waking stresses and nightmares, how is that a <strong>horror<\/strong> sub-genre of ASMR videos exists and is, dare I say, pretty popular? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u00a0In order to identify the various subcultures within this subculture outgrowth of YouTube, we have to define ASMR as best as is possible with a terminology that may yet exist to do so. ASMR at its most brief of descriptions is an internet phenomenon in which content creators speak and look directly into a camera while addressing their anonymous viewer with soft repetitive, sounds, ranging from tapping to lip smacking to brushing a microphone (Poerio 119-128). Some of these videos are \u201csimulated\u201d experiences as Dr. Gilula Poerio notes in one of the only current scientific studies of the internet phenomenon (Poerio 120). Users who engage in these\u00a0 roleplay-style videos can choose any narrative situation they please, ranging from makeup tutorials to hair appointments to freudian psychoanalytic style scenarios. However, there is a subsection of ASMR in which relaxation and self-servicing sounds are generated by simulations that one could hardly characterize as &#8220;relaxing.&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A number of ASMR videos are now devoted to serial killer roleplays. Imagine Ted Bundy calmly whispering into your ear pre-murder. Some of these are done in the vein of parody such as content creator &#8220;IamCYR,&#8221; in others such as those kidnapping and quasi-American Psycho-esque videos produced by ASMRtist \u201cEphemeral Rift\u201d and &#8220;Crinkleluvin ASMR&#8221; appear to be an earnest attempt to satisfy viewer requests. The discomforting content of these videos (including the licking of knives, the tapping of other various torture objects, rope sounds, and the gentle, but threatening whispers of a murderous captor) seemingly do not detract from the \u201cASMR-ness\u201d of the videos. As multiple users argue these serial killer roleplays are, unnervingly, \u201crelaxing,\u201d even pleasing (Poerio 119).<\/span><\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-585-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Davidson-College-12.m4a?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Davidson-College-12.m4a\">http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Davidson-College-12.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">These serial killer roleplays self-reflexively distort the genre of ASMR videos, which mainly deal with obviously relaxing or soothing environments such as Reiki healing, hair brushing, nail painting, etc (Poerio 119). As with Ephemeral Rift\u2019s video \u201cThe Insomnia Killer\u201d (the first linked video) in which audiences are drawn into a state of captivity that plays on their desire to rid themselves of their insomnia is an exact example of the postmodern, nearly parodic, tone that some of these videos employ. However, despite the potential irony of these videos, they still generate for users like me an actual physiological response to the sounds generated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/T8qzhcK7ZdQ.?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p><em>(Though this paper won&#8217;t analyze the clearly parodic serial killer ASMR videos, Ephemeral Rift&#8217;s is worth giving a listen).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">CrinkleLuvinASMR, a female ASMRtist, \u00a0has similarly produced a series of these \u201ckidnap\u201d style ASMR videos in which the suggestion of violence jars against the relaxing, physiological comfort we as viewers are induced to feel through the sonicity of the ASMR experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jCc3ATU66Qo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As we are confronted by CrinkleLuvin\u2019s gaze, resting just above a medical mask, and told that we are the subject of her psychopathic medical machinations, we are disoriented. We feel calm, we want to keep watching, but wait is that a blood spatter behind her? The comments such as by Rapunzel ASMR laud the video, exclaiming<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/2019\/02\/22\/a-captivated-audience-the-manipulation-of-sense-in-asmr-and-shintaro-kagos-manga-abstraction\/screen-shot-2019-02-22-at-2-56-47-pm\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-586\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-586\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-2.56.47-PM.png?resize=284%2C95\" alt=\"\" width=\"284\" height=\"95\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the video we see the suggestion of blood on the walls, an &#8220;abject&#8221;\u00a0 promise of what\u2019s to come after the ASMR part of the video ends, and we are no longer in a state of lull or false security (Pinedo 21). Crinkle Luvin&#8217;s murderous character at times yells off camera to her daughter to quiet down. Viewers are fed the illusion that we aren&#8217;t alone with our computer, someone else is around. The believability of this is compacted by the sensation of fatigue, of inesacapability that the gentle tapping of medical tools and the rustle of plastic have generated within us. The viewer-captor is told that they&#8217;re going to &#8220;need a paralytic&#8221; and the tingling sensation we requisitely feel in our scalp seems to turn this suggestion into a reality. The manipulation of senses has betrayed us as viewers, our agency is called into question as consumers. CrinkleLuvinASMR tells us we are being made &#8220;into dolls.&#8221; And for a moment, as our body&#8217;s become entranced by the soothing sounds, we almost believe her. Seemingly, what we are experiencing is both \u201cinside\u201d the video and \u201coutside\u201d of the video itself. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Therefore though violence is only suggested by these serial killer ASMR videos, we anticipate said violence to come and feel the affects of the personal, if psychopathic, attention we are receiving. Therefore the experience is metaleptic in that our sense of discomfort and disorientation only occur after the video ends. The experience exists outside the text in the sense that we carry this sensation long after the video concludes. Though no violence or shock scares occur, what is horrific about these ASMR videos this is our lack of control over our own physiological reactions. What we have just experienced is what Isabel Pinedo claims is one of the major facets of postmodern horror. Pinedo claims that &#8220;horror is an excercise in recreational terror, a simulation of danger not unlike a roller coaster ride&#8230; the conviction that there is nothing to fear turns stress into a pleasurable experience&#8221; (Pinedo 25).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pinedo offers us a theoretical framework by which we can understand just how are viewers ostensibly led to feel secure, even soothed, in the pretend, virtual arms of a serial killer, so much so that there&#8217;s a demand for content creators to serialize (pun intended) said videos as CrinkleLuvinASMR has. However the answer potentially also rests in the way that ASMR videos construct &#8220;subjectivity&#8221; through sound (Bennett 134).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let\u2019s look briefly at a user-generated anecdotal analysis of ASMR that narrates in real time this subjectivity. In \u201c Relief from a Certain Kind of Personhood in ASMR Role-Play Videos,\u201d Emma Bennett relates her experience of viewing popular \u201cASMRtist\u201d Olivia Kissper as one in which technology approaches a distinct kind of intimacy, one which situates Bennett \u201cbetween object-hood and personhood\u201d (Bennett 134). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bennett writes, <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIt is not only her performance, it is mine, too. I have to go along with it, even just a tiny bit, for it to work. I have to receive these recorded, mediated attentions as if they were really directed at me, personally, in the here and now. And it works: when Olivia says, I\u2019ll just gently touch the area of your jaw, my jaw responds, it feels noticed. It\u2019s sort of like it blushes, flinches ticklishly at the mention of its name\u201d (Bennett 131). <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_636\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-636\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/2019\/02\/22\/a-captivated-audience-the-manipulation-of-sense-in-asmr-and-shintaro-kagos-manga-abstraction\/screen-shot-2019-02-22-at-8-19-04-pm\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-636\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-636\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-8.19.04-PM-300x54.png?resize=300%2C54\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"54\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-8.19.04-PM.png?resize=300%2C54&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-8.19.04-PM.png?w=644&amp;ssl=1 644w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-636\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Olivia&#8217;s page (URL:\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/results?search_query=olivia+kissper+asmr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here Bennett narrates the way in which ASMR breaches category distinctions between the virtual and the real. Bennet\u2019s interactions with Olivia\u2019s content creates an experience in which real feeling is felt through a technological conduit . The uncanny ability to make a virtual interaction feel physiologically real through sonic response is perhaps one of the reasons the trend has gained popularity. In his analysis of horror video-game Resident Evil, Ewan Kirkland defines this attempt at a seamless reality as \u201c\u201cimmediacy\u201d \u00a0which \u201caim[s] for &#8230; the impression of an encounter with the real\u201d (Kirkland 117). Content generators often attempt to be as vague as possible in order to seem realistically addressing the unique millions who tune in. Though the level to which we are directly addressed creates a kind of immediacy, we are also aware of the microphone and camera which are the conduits that allow us to experience the sounds emanating from our computer as Bennett notes (Bennett 131). Therefore ASMR engages additionally in a kind of \u201chypermediacy.&#8221; (Sample). ASMR\u2019s ability to generate a physiological sense of tingling, using props that aid in crafting an alternate world through these roleplay environments makes serial killer style roleplays all the more terrifying as a medium of \u201crelaxation.\u201d since they actually sonically feel real.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">However, this use of the sonic to engender fear without presenting visually anything that is actually \u201cscary\u201d has been done in horror films such as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Blair Witch Project.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In his book <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Terror Tracks<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Phillip Hayward describes the way The Blair Witch Project creates terror through a manipulation of sound. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hayward writes, <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0&#8220;The anticipation and suspense is enhanced by the fact that those images designed to scare us are not overly horrific: piles of rocks and stick figures in trees. Rather these are used cumulatively to establish a spooky context. The dim lighting, black-and-white footage and scenes featuring intermittent and lengthy moments of black screen or almost total darkness all rely on sound and sonic reaction to create an effect (Hayward).&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Therefore a constituent part of postmodern horror seems to be a concern with form over content. As with <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Blair Witch Project, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ASMR\u2019s horror content never shows real \u201chorror\u201d and yet it is unnerving and disorienting in its manipulation of genre and medium. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Such is the case with Shintaro Kago\u2019s nine page one shot manga <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Abstraction<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. In <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Abstraction<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> readers are first presented with six seemingly normal frames of a young couple at the beach. We \u00a0know there are six predominantly because unlike normal manga the frames are numbered. This is the first indication of the piece\u2019s metatextual nature and therefore of hyper-mediation as the numbered pages call our attention to the form of the manga genre. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/2019\/02\/22\/a-captivated-audience-the-manipulation-of-sense-in-asmr-and-shintaro-kagos-manga-abstraction\/screen-shot-2019-02-22-at-10-50-22-am\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-587\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-587\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.50.22-AM-197x300.png?resize=197%2C300\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.50.22-AM.png?resize=197%2C300&amp;ssl=1 197w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.50.22-AM.png?w=336&amp;ssl=1 336w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the top left hand corner of the second page we the subtle bend of the first frame, implying the page is being turned by a hand, a clear prod of self-awareness that points outside of the text to our reading experience. However by the second page the entire form is shifted to a four dimensional block.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/2019\/02\/22\/a-captivated-audience-the-manipulation-of-sense-in-asmr-and-shintaro-kagos-manga-abstraction\/screen-shot-2019-02-22-at-10-50-32-am\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-593\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-593\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.50.32-AM-191x300.png?resize=191%2C300\" alt=\"\" width=\"191\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.50.32-AM.png?resize=191%2C300&amp;ssl=1 191w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.50.32-AM.png?w=333&amp;ssl=1 333w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 191px) 100vw, 191px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the frames turn, the couple\u2019s bodies too become transformed, sometimes melding together, and at other times turn into pieces of machinery such as cars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/2019\/02\/22\/a-captivated-audience-the-manipulation-of-sense-in-asmr-and-shintaro-kagos-manga-abstraction\/screen-shot-2019-02-22-at-10-50-44-am\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-594\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-594\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.50.44-AM-199x300.png?resize=199%2C300\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.50.44-AM.png?resize=199%2C300&amp;ssl=1 199w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.50.44-AM.png?w=324&amp;ssl=1 324w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">By page seven the frame of the manga zooms out to reveal several more empty text boxes gesturing to concurrent narratives. On page eight the young couple has been completely fragmented from both the confines of the graphic frame and from their bodies. <\/span><\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-585-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Davidson-College-17.m4a?_=2\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Davidson-College-17.m4a\">http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Davidson-College-17.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the comic climaxes to a surreal peak, the couple\u2019s seemingly engaged in a sexual act, divide into horrifying malformations of their former selves. Sex is accompanied with unexplained and absurd gore. Pinedo would attribute this as a tenet of postmodern horror, claiming that &#8220;the fusion and fission figures of postmodern horror assume overtly sexual proportions&#8221; (Pinedo 21).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/2019\/02\/22\/a-captivated-audience-the-manipulation-of-sense-in-asmr-and-shintaro-kagos-manga-abstraction\/screen-shot-2019-02-22-at-10-50-59-am\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-595\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-595\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.50.59-AM-200x300.png?resize=200%2C300\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.50.59-AM.png?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.50.59-AM.png?w=332&amp;ssl=1 332w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/2019\/02\/22\/a-captivated-audience-the-manipulation-of-sense-in-asmr-and-shintaro-kagos-manga-abstraction\/screen-shot-2019-02-22-at-10-51-21-am\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-596\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-596\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.51.21-AM-203x300.png?resize=203%2C300\" alt=\"\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.51.21-AM.png?resize=203%2C300&amp;ssl=1 203w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/files\/2019\/02\/Screen-Shot-2019-02-22-at-10.51.21-AM.png?w=334&amp;ssl=1 334w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The most postmodern elements of this particular work are its metaleptic manipulation of manga\u2019s actual graphic form. We are made to question the closed nature of each text box as they are literally distorted and its characters become disembodied from a &#8220;bounded&#8221; frame (Pinedo 26). This distortion becomes inflicted upon the character\u2019s own bodies, and the mediums fragmentation translates onto the horrific gore that the character&#8217;s begin to experience without another causation. In <em>Abstraction<\/em>, the medium is the murderer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This manipulation of form creates a kind of visual vertigo that toys with it&#8217;s audience as much as it does the character&#8217;s embodiment. The reader\u2019s eye, trained to read comics left from right find themselves struggling to pinpoint the beginning and end of the page. This disorientation becomes exemplified too in the &#8220;self-reflexive&#8221; nature of the text, which plays on the common subject of romance manga, known as Shoujo, to make more absurd the sudden violent sexual scenes that follow the seemingly mundane romance that Abstraction begins with (Pinedo 28).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kago\u2019s piece however is part of a larger genre of Japanese horror manga.\u00a0In an analysis of one of the most salient horror manga artists, Osamu Tezuka, Suzanne Phillips describes a similar genre-style of Japanese horror manga, <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cthe action now unfolded in an alternate reality, typically in dreams, nightmares, or fantasies that blurred the distinction between what is real and what is not. Without warning, the plots might suddenly veer into the realm of the fantastic and the absurd, sometimes without providing any clear resolution at the end\u201d (Phillips 82). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This description of Tezuka\u2019s work almost perfectly maps on to Kago\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Abstraction a<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">nd perfectly describes the way Pinedo characterizes postmodern horror as\u00a0 that which &#8220;asserts that not everything can or should be dealt with in rational terms&#8221; (Pinedo 22)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0 The \u201cabsurdity\u201d of Abstraction however relies specifically on the audiences anticipation of a quotidian romance. Kago bases the \u00a0surrealism constructed in Abstraction through the &#8220;ironic&#8221; disavowal of this genre (Pinedo 28).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like with the serial killer roleplays of ASMR, the content of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Abstraction<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> does not use visual horror tropes or even methods as the main means which to convey terror. Nothing that objectively terrifying occurs. We see a relationship deteriorating in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Abstraction;\u00a0<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">though the gratuitous anal bleeding scene, the disjointed non-linear narrative (if this can be called a narrative at all) make it hard to discern what\u2019s actually going on in the manga. The locus of horror in these mediums is instead their manipulation of senses which divert attention away from the fact that, as Pinedo says, by the end of their narratives &#8220;the outcome is uncertain&#8221; (Pinedo 25).\u00a0 In <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Abstraction<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, readers experience visual vertigo that is underscored by the text\u2019s &#8220;self awareness&#8221; of its medium\u2019s genre (Pinedo 25). In horror roleplay ASMR, the content generators awareness of the genre codes appeals to the disorienting sensation the video produces. And while no particularly violent or gory action is purveyed in these roleplays, viewers are instead discomforted by their comfort&#8211; a relaxation generated by their involuntary physiological response to sound. In essence, we are held captive not by the virtual captor of the roleplay, but by the computer echoing the quasi-addictive sounds users are drawn back to repeatedly. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Both of these examples highlight that the predominant mechanism of postmodern horror is no longer content, or even plot, but the manipulation of media. As Pinedo concludes for us &#8221; the horror film is an exercise in mastery&#8221; and to a degree these slights of comic frame and of soft voice are indeed performing both a &#8220;mastery&#8221; of the medium and a &#8220;mastery&#8221; of the the audience (Pinedo 26). This results in disorientation of sensory experience, as our eyes and ears strain to adjust to the surreal phenomenons set before us, \u00a0and thus puts the consumer\u2019s conception of reality into a state of vertigo.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Work Cited:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bennett, Emma. \u201cRelief from a Certain Kind of Personhood in ASMR Role-Play Videos.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Felicity Callard, et al., editors. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Restless Compendium : Interdisciplinary Investigations of Rest and Its Opposites<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Worldcat.org. \u00a0Accessed 19 Feb. 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ASMR, CrinkleLuvin. \u201cASMR Horror Story: Medical Kidnapping Role Play.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">YouTube<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, YouTube, 29 June 2017, www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jCc3ATU66Qo&amp;t=442s.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hayward, Philip. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Terror Tracks\u202f: Music, Sound and Horror Cinema<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Equinox Publishing Ltd, 2009. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">EBSCOhost<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/ezproxy.lib.davidson.edu\/login?url=http:\/\/search.ebscohost.com\/login.aspx?direct=true&amp;db=e000xna&amp;AN=639872&amp;site=ehost-live\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ezproxy.lib.davidson.edu\/login?url=http:\/\/search.ebscohost.com\/login.aspx?direct=true&amp;db=e000xna&amp;AN=639872&amp;site=ehost-live<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kago, Shintaro. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Abstraction<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 2000. Mangago.com. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mangago.me\/read-manga\/abstraction\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">http:\/\/www.mangago.me\/read-manga\/abstraction\/<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kirkland E. \u201cResident Evil&#8217;s Typewriter: Survival Horror and Its Remediations.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Games and Culture<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, vol. 4, no. 2, 2009, pp. 115\u2013126., doi:10.1177\/1555412008325483.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Pinedo, Isabel. \u201cRECREATIONAL TERROR: POSTMODERN ELEMENTS OF THE CONTEMPORARY HORROR FILM.\u201d\u00a0<i>Journal of Film and Video<\/i>, vol. 48, no. 1\/2, 1996, pp. 17\u201331.\u00a0<i>JSTOR<\/i>, www.jstor.org\/stable\/20688091.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Phillips, Susanne. \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Characters, Themes, and Narrative Patterns in the Manga of Osamu Tezuka.\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mark W. MacWilliams. Japanese Visual Culture : Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime, Routledge, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http:\/\/ebookcentral.proquest.com\/lib\/davidson\/detail.action?docID=1900027.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Created from davidson on 2019-02-18 18:12:01<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Poerio, Gilula. \u201cCould Insomnia Be Relieved with a YouTube Video? The Relaxation and Calm of ASMR.\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Felicity Callard, et al., editors. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Restless Compendium : Interdisciplinary Investigations of Rest and Its Opposites<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Worldcat.org. \u00a0Accessed 19 Feb. 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rift, Ephemeral. \u201cThe Insomnia Killer (ASMR).\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">YouTube<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, YouTube, 9 Nov. 2017, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=T8qzhcK7ZdQ\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">www.youtube.com\/watch?v=T8qzhcK7ZdQ<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Sample, Mark. &#8220;Comparative Horror Analysis.&#8221;\u00a0https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=585&amp;action=edit.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the above clip, what you just heard is a whispering sound that cultural analysts, scientists, and media talking heads find difficult to categorize. I have just reduplicated to the best of my ability sounds that are meant to generate a physiological response. Though the above was an example of a human voice whispering, other &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comparative-horror"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paB9Ga-9r","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":680,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions\/680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.digitaldavidson.net\/death19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}