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Is the era of the dystopian over? We seem to be seeing a slow rise in the quantity of utopian fantasy and science fiction works being published year-over-year. What can be read from this potential turn away from the primacy of dystopian literature? In addition to these questions, why is it that increase in published utopian literary works does not seem to be a trend that is, as yet, reflected in film?

In Frank Miller's Sin City (1991-2000), the prostitutes of Old Town, Basin City's red light district, keep the pimps and cops out. In a city filled with corrupt cops and politicians, they are the only semblance of true justice. But are they a good portrayal of strong female characters or are they merely a male fantasy? Analyze how well the women of Old Town hold up in the age of #MeToo.

It seems like pregnancy in fiction and other popular media tends to follow a certain stereotyped and predictable trajectory, which isn't usually very realistic. Usually what will happen is a woman will discover she's pregnant in an overly emotional scene after she's thrown up a few times, then will get bigger for a while until she gives birth to a beautiful, cooing baby in an unrealistically clean and idealized setting. Examples of this are too numerous to list, though one famous one can be seen in the anime movie Wolf Children. It's also common in fanfiction.

Sometimes, of course, the woman will die in childbirth; however, if this happens it will also be overly-dramatic and sanitized compared to what a death in childbirth would really look like. In the anime "Clannad," for example, Nagisa dies shortly after the birth of her daughter on a clean bed with a smile on her face, while her husband looks on in tears.

What do you think is driving some of these trends of unrealistic pregnancy in fiction? Are there any works that seem to do a more realistic job of portraying pregnancy and birth?

Media is always being adapted into other forms. Books to movies, movies to games, games to movies, and a plethora of other combinations. When this adaptation occurs, those who have seen the previous media go into the new form with a preconceived set of expectations, and a past knowledge of the storyline which is not always what is given in the second form of media. Take Guardians of the Galaxy 2, for example, and the multitude of changes noted around the internet that occurred to the aesthetic of the movie, as well as the story. Or the recent ending of Game of Thrones, where the last few seasons were completed before the book series, leaving a big grey area as to whether or not the author will follow the storyline of the show or take the novel in a wholly different direction. Are these changes within the adaptation good? Are they necessary? As well, for those who have seen the previous medium does this change provide a new experience to the original?

A trope I've seen quite commonly in manga is that of the 'death game'. Usually, a group of students wakes up in some closed-off area, with mysterious instructions to either kill each other, perform acts that might end in death, vote people to die, etc.

I'd love to see an analysis of why this genre is so prolific. Perhaps a look at the themes it deals with, and how despite the large number of manga, there are still so many unique ideas.

Possible example to look at could be: Ousama Game, Jinrou Game, Tomogui Kyoushitsu, Doubt, etc.

Unless it's really well done or in-line with the artstyle, CGI in anime is ugly, easily noticeable, and immersion-breaking. Whenever I see it, I can't focus on anything else but the mess of the 3d rig in a scene. A prime offender is Goblin Slayer – which replaced the protagonist completely at times with a poorly rigged and stiffly animated CG double. I believe one reason for this is budget constraints, but I see it as a negative trend within the Anime industry. What can we do about it?

9/11 drastically changed the action genre, which was previously filled with the blowing up of beloved buildings and terrorist attacks. Talk about how 9/11 changed the genre, how it evolved to fit a changing world, and if you believe we'll ever return to a world reminiscent of Roland Emmerich's "Independence Day"

Masaaki Yuasa is one of the most celebrated directors in anime today, and for good reason. His dynamic, fluid style of animation, which creates a look and feel of real movement in all of his projects, is unlike that of any of his peers. He often applies his style to odd narratives with odd art styles, which serves to accentuate the difference between the work that he produces and that of his contemporaries.

To what extent is his dynamic style of animation integral to the stories that he chooses to tell? Are the manga versions—in cases where there are such—sufficient in and of themselves, or are his animations more whole works? Are they fundamentally different? What commonalities exist between disparate entries of his canon such as Mind Game (2002) or the Tatami Galaxy (2010), Devilman Crybaby (2018) or Ping Pong (2014), his contributions to Space Dandy (2014) or to Adventure Time (2014)? Yuasa seems to be concerned with growth, change, and self-overcoming, but is this interest expressed in his style as well as in the plots that he works with?

The manga Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son) is about two transgender youths, and their struggles with adolescence. I'd be interested to read an analysis of the manga and how it handles these themes. Perhaps commentary on the influence of Japanese culture on the way the representation is handled, and also how times have changed in that respect too (as the manga began in 2002).

Compare and contrast the dystopian worlds of the film, Minority Report, and the anime, Psycho-Pass, and the conflict of predetermining criminal acts and passing out judgment against people who have not committed crimes, yet. PreCrime implements a system where potential criminals are apprehended according to the psychic abilities of the "precogs" while the Sibyl System measures the mentalities of the populace and calculates the likelihood of individuals committing crimes according to their "Crime Coefficient" index. How do these stories depict a future where judgement is passed before the crime even happens? What is the significance of the protagonists–John Anderton of Minority Report and Akane Tsunemori of Psycho-Pass–and their journeys as they gradually realize the flawed nature of the system they believed in?

With the recent announcement of Robert Pattinson in yet another Batman movie, the question should be asked: how many Batman movies do we need? How many times can you re-tell the same story in different ways and it still be interesting to experience? Are movie studios latching onto fandom/nostalgia to the point of having a negative effect on the original character?

Analyze the representation of Asian LGBTQ individuals in literature, preferably with a focus on 21st Century works (examples might include How I Became a North Korean or The Book of Salt). Delve into how one's concept of identity can be challenged by being a part of the queer community and also the Asian diaspora.

Analyse how the wildly popular Critical Role series shows storytelling in action. How does a story so heavily dependent on improvisation remain emotionally impactful and coherent? Is there one author in the DM, or a multiplicity? How does the role of chance inherent to DnD change the narrative process?

It is widely believed good art-style is the one that is most pleasing to the eye, while this true to certain level art-style has more to it then beauty. Art-style when used properly can do more than just make an anime look beautiful . It can be used as a tool of visual communication and world building. For example the wacky art-style used in one piece perfectly complements its odd unrealistic setting, it also gives a good insight into the characters(Ussop is a liar hence has a Pinocchio nose,Sanji has tall legs signifying his use of legs as his weapon of choice). On the other end we have death note, it has a more subtle and realistic art-style suggesting grounded story,its grey tones are similar to that of neo-noir suggesting the vibes of the crime drama it is. So in this light exploring art-style as a tool that can perfectly compliment and complete the story is some thing that needs to be done.

I'm curious to see people's opinions on this as I feel many series recently have been cancelled whilst they are still succeeding. Furthermore, shows have been cancelled with no real reason, for example, One Day at a Time was not an expensive series to film, it was popular and including really important issues that most tv series are not currently mentioning.

Gillian Flynn's debut novel "Sharp Objects" received a lot of mixed attention when it was released in 2006, but it was popular enough to recently be adapted to the screen by HBO as an eight episode mini-series that aired in 2018. With Amy Adams in the lead, she was tasked with delivering the difficult narrative of a woman processing great mental and physical trauma, and doing this through a visual medium is often shocking and difficult for audiences to endure. I found myself looking away during particularly graphic depictions of self-harm, and each time Adams's body is put on display, with the plethora of words written across her in scars, I found myself gritting my teeth and squinting.

I haven't read the source material, but I imagine that the impact of a traumatic story of this nature would be more impactful through film or television, and my experience with the series (I was fully glued to the screen, binging the entire series) has driven me to ask – is this type of portrayal of the procession of trauma primarily beneficial for the general public? I imagine that the answer would be close to the consensus of shows like "13 Reasons Why" that are controversial because they can simultaneously help raise awareness while also triggering some viewers, but I'm particularly interested in this mini-series because it is far more graphic (due to the HBO platform, I'm sure) and handles the processing of trauma with greater complexity.

I would like to see this topic explored with a specific look at the "Sharp Objects" mini-series, but references to similar visual narratives would be great as a basis of comparison and/or evidence to support the benefit or harm of depictions such as these.

Most of us have heard about the two biggest companies DC and Marvel when it comes to comics. But what about the growing industry of comics written by people who are not professionally working in the industry (at least not in the traditional sense)? Now more than ever, there are people writing and illustrating their own stories and publishing them online through sites such as Tapas and Webtoons. What kind of implications does this have on the online comic book industry? What are some comics to recommend? Why is the webcomic so important today?

Analyze how that in recent movies and TV shows, there seems to be an increase of inclusive characters and current event topics that make a temporary or permanent appearance in these shows and novels. Some people believe that this shows that society is moving closer to accepting and including everyone equally; others believe that some shows or movies do not need to be inclusive all the time, or current events do not always need to be tied into everything.

Consider comparing TV show characters' dynamics and demographics from early 2000s to now, and even looking at how the dialogue between these characters has changed. What did someone say on TV 10 years ago that we cannot mention now?

I was born in New York though I have always held European citizenship. I have noticed after viewing mostly European films and a few series over the many years I have resided here, that after returning to watch an American series, there is overt political propaganda in the story lines. Perhaps, this was always the case to an exten, but I did not notice it as a child. However, now it seems the messages are clear and I find that it is often unhelpful propaganda which tends to divide people rather than unite or bring a sense of well-being. Certainly it is not the only contributing factor but do you agree that Television is contributing to the societal divisiveness and strife the United States has been facing for decades?

Debate motion: This house prefers a world where climate change is a conspiracy, but people still believe it.

How has this been reflected in futuristic sci-fi films or series (take Stargate for example) that portray theories about the future etc.? Did people believe in the effects of climate change more in the past than today and why?

Edit for clarification: Though this is the first topic I've introduced I thought it would be better to keep it open to interpretation. The primary aim of this topic is to encourage you to think about how current day problems facing society were reflected only as conspiracy theories in old movies. From this, determine if you think people took issues like climate change more seriously when they didn't exist or weren't as prominent.