fuyu-teki - Tumblr blog

fuyu-teki · 1 year

Text

Not Empty, Full of Lively Worth: An Ohse/Iori Ship Manifesto

Title: Not Empty, Full of Lively Worth

Author: fuyuteki

Fandom: Charisma House

Pairing: Ohse Minato/Iori Motohashi

Spoilers: All of the first season

Word Count: 7216

Content Warning: Discussion of depression, suicidal ideation and adult themes.

Disclaimer: This is my personal interpretation of canon events and it doesn’t represent the work or canon as it is. It’s also just personal preferences and it doesn’t interfere with any other ship preferences, in other words, it’s not to contradict any other ships and possible interpretations.

I’m keeping some of the English fan translation nomenclature as they are found in the charisma house wiki, CROCUS YouTube channel, dokujirai Tumblr and dajaregambler Tumblr, since I haven’t watched the episodes with English subtitles, and respecting the translators’ wishes to not repost their translation, keep in mind some of the terms might differ.

Also, keep in mind English is not my first language and I’m far from fluent, therefore there might be grammar and collocation mistakes.

Introduction

My first experience writing a ship manifesto dates back to 2015 where, after reading the lengthy novel The Count of Monte Cristo and subsequently finding the character of Franz d’Épinay to be charming, but with a wasted potential, I decided to write a meta-analysis on him and the Count, hoping more people would see the appeal of the characters and the ship.

Back then it was still a fairly common fandom practice, but for some reason it died out. Even though it might be the case, finding myself once more in a small fandom with barely any fan content, especially in the English-speaking side, I’m compelled to revisit the old practice of meta analyzing a ship through writing something akin to a literary magazine paper.

The text is going to be structured as the following: a brief summary of the source material; a brief introduction of the characters; a history of their interactions on the source material; three different approaches to the ship; final thoughts; references; footnotes.

I’m going to only scratch the surface, since there is not much to work with, yet, and to sum up the first season, before the second season starts.

I hope I can get more people interested in looking up the project, and, if already familiar with it, show why this ship has so much appeal to me.

What is Charisma House?

First announced around late 2021, with the first teaser movie uploaded to the official YouTube channel in August 6th of 2021. The 2D character multimedia project “Charisma” was still enveloped in mystery, with the main selling points being Shu Matsubara in charge of the story and music production by Evil Line Records (a King Records label), the strange mix of Osomatsu-san comedy and Hypnosis Microphone rap music attracted people intrigued by what the team could bring to the 2D character multimedia projects scene.

In September 21st of 2021 the first Music Video “Insanely Charismatic” (1) was uploaded to the official YouTube channel. The nostalgic early 2000 Nico Douga MAD energy added to the overall “what am I watching? Is this really from the official channel?” (2) brought even more questions, some people averted their gaze, some people shuddered, or even gave a strange look at the dancing CGI polygons, but some accepted the invitation to just take a peek and see what lied inside the Charisma House.

In October 4th of 2021 the first drama track was released introducing one of the residents of the house, Iori Motohashi, the charisma of obedience.

Since then, drama tracks were being released every Monday and Thursday in the official YouTube channel. The first season ended in August 3rd of 2022 in the drama track #74. In the one-year anniversary of the project, in September 21st of 2022, the first album was released, and in October 30th of 2022 happened the first live titled “Charisma World Expo”.

So, what exactly is Charisma House? According to the official site:

“This is the Charisma House. Today, as well, the charismatics are looking at their inner charisma. However, it can be said that they are yet to arrive at their ‘true charisma’.

Therefore, like this, supporting each other by being charismatic, and cultivating their charisma day by day, they aim for higher goals; they are, so to speak, in a state of temporary sharing a house of charisma. (3)

In this world, some people may laugh at them. However, they are not affected by that at all. Instead, using that derision as fuel to further give form to their charisma, they are successfully “charging it”.

What happens after the charge is complete is…!?

It might be hard for an ordinary person to understand, but this is the story of the charismatics.” (4)

The summary itself is more enigmatic than elucidative, after all, it is directed at the viewer, who is just an ordinary person. And with that, not taking itself seriously, but also poking fun at the audience, the tone of the series was established.

The charismatics are presented as seven “just ordinary” guys, each having a distinctive charisma. Their first introduction was through the aforementioned MV “Insanely Charismatic” where each character makes a self-introduction. Iori Motohashi, the charisma of obedience; Terra, the charisma of self-love; Rikai Kusanagi, the charisma of order; Kei Sarukawa, the charisma of rebel; Ohse Minato, the charisma of internal punishment; Amahiko Tendo, the charisma of sex; Fumiya Ito, the charisma of good and evil.

For this ship manifesto, only the charisma of obedience and the charisma of internal punishment are going to be the focus. If the premise made you curious, I highly recommend checking out the YouTube channels listed in the references, as well as the Tumblrs and wiki.

The Charisma of Internal Punishment

Ohse Minato was first properly introduced in the drama track #5 uploaded in October 8th of 2021. He is twenty-one years old, and according to the video “his self-esteem is equal to garbage, he lives a life that is disconnected from society.” He doesn’t deem himself as worthy living among other people, hiding his face in a plastic bag and constantly self-deprecating to the point he feels the need to apologize by dying. He also, as seen in the drama track #37, when feeling cornered, overthinks social interactions and in despair utters nonsense.

Despite all of the pessimism and gloomy aura, Ohse is very passionate about his hobbies and has a pet lizard he takes care of.

His first Charisma Break occurred in June 23rd of 2022 in the drama track #64.

His charisma charge spiked after Kei Sarukawa’s Charisma Break in the drama track #51. Since Ohse couldn’t be of much help when rescuing Rikai, that took a harder blow to his already low self-esteem, and instead of seeking help, he furthered closed himself off. That culminated in him leaving the house and spiraling in despair and self-deprecation until all of his housemates tried to convince him to stay, that he is an important valued resident of the house.

Not taking that very well, his charisma meter reached one-hundred percent and he had a charisma break.

The Charisma of Obedience

Iori Motohashi was the first character to be properly introduced in a drama track, being the drama track #1 uploaded in October 4th of 2021. He is twenty-three years old, and according to the video “he is in charge of cooking, laundry, cleaning and general housekeeping in our house.” The description is slightly misleading, since being a housekeeper doesn’t even start to convey the insanity and enigma that is Iori Motohashi. The “obedience” part is also misleading, and it will be an important point when discussing his relationship with Ohse.

For now, let’s say: he is a self-proclaimed empty person, just a positive and voluntary slave.

His motto is: “selflessness, contribution, service”. (5)

As seen in the drama track #1, he is constantly seeking tasks and things do for other people, he loves when people give him burden; the more, the better. This gets to the point of him asking for people to sign a “slave contract” with him where he states that 1. He doesn’t have a right to refuse anything asked of him 2. He is also not looking for compensation for his services 3. Therefore, the person using his services does not need to feel guilty 4. Not to misunderstand, he is just a positive and voluntary slave. (6)

If this sounds just a bit masochistic and kinky that wouldn’t be off the mark, since in the drama track #24 it is clearly shown that Iori has masochistic tendencies, even if he insists that he is not one.

His first Charisma Break occurred in March 24th of 2022 in the drama track #43.

Being invited by Rikai to a picnic to watch the cherry blossoms together with everyone, Iori is outraged to find that all the arrangements and food were already done, that no one asked him to do them, when they should have put him in charge of all the tasks. Being confronted with claims like his needs to rest and why he doesn’t take better care of himself, he responds with he doesn’t need to, his only purpose in life is serving others, there’s nothing else to him. Therefore, not giving him things to do equals negating his existence, he gives his entirety to people who needs him, in this world, he can’t live without being obedient to someone else.

After explaining his reasons, Sarukawa counterarguments with “so, have you ever been obedient to yourself?” which short circuits Iori and he continues “since a long time ago it was always caring about others, but what about looking after yourself?” The final blow was given when asked why not listen to his own opinions and wants once in a while, why not confront himself.

Iori then proceeds to dig deep inside himself and sees what lies there, a little bit apprehensive at first, he is relieved to find there is nothing there, only “selflessness, contribution, service”, and the most important discovery of his, the “non-self”.

After that, his charisma meter reached one-hundred percent and he had a charisma break.

A Brief History of Ohse and Iori (7)

The first time they appear interacting with each other is in the first promotional image for the project. There the seven ordinary guys are shown lumped together inside a simplified figure of a house, Iori is carrying two trays full of sweets, probably all made by him. He is pushing one of them onto Ohse with a grin as of saying “you don’t have a choice, but to accept taking the cupcake I baked”, and Ohse is making a face at the sweets as if saying “a piece of shit like me have no right to take them” (8) , in what could be seen as a glimpse into Ohse and Iori’s relationship throughout the first season.

Their first proper interaction happened in the drama track #17. It’s not a notable moment, considering Iori is going along with Amahiko to drag Ohse to receive a foot massage from Rikai, if it was only Iori finding Ohse eating instant noodles it wouldn’t be hard to imagine him getting angry at him.

Their second interaction, and the most important to establish their dynamic, happens in the drama track #18. Here a conflict of interest is set between the two, when Amahiko shows a desire to add another dancing pole to his collection, Ohse opens his mouth for the first time offering to make one for him, that is not well received by Iori who is displeased and says he also can make a pole, stating once again that attending to people’s needs and requests are his duty to begin with, he starts to get antsy and pokes Ohse about it “do you understand? Ohse-san”. At this point Ohse starts to tremble, with fear maybe? And Iori, now in a sleep deprived roll, opens up about Ohse being the only one in the house to not yet have signed a slave contract with him. Iori proceeds to shove a contract on his face asking for a seal signature and Ohse responds with “a piece of shit like me can’t do that”. It’s the first time a fight starts between them and their signature “but I’m a slave”, “but I’m a piece of shit” go on until Terra comments how the two of them don’t get along well and Rikai puts an end to the fight.

In the drama track #20, a Christmas episode, Ohse shows up much later having made and arranged a Christmas tree as a present, after hearing about the gifts exchange. Everyone looks happy, except Iori, who sulked the entire time Ohse was being praised. While everyone was excited hanging the decorations in the tree, Terra approaches Iori asking him to come hang the decorations with everyone which he responds with grunts of dissatisfaction. Again, like in the abovementioned track, Iori emphasizes that he is the one who should make a contribution to everyone, in a very reluctant way, he starts hanging the decoration. Right after this conversation, Ohse who was nearby, start to leave. Prompted to say something, he drops a bomb, by asking: “everyone seems to be having a great time, but wouldn't you have, perhaps, a lover whom to spend Christmas Eve with?”

The drama track #28 is set after Rikai’s Charisma Break, which leaves him bedridden. Without someone to establish order in the house, it gets chaotic. Sarukawa returns home and is greeted by an unruly Iori asking to be harassed, treated like a river fish, killed by using the fishing technique known as kōrijime (9), here, serving as a cue, Ohse shows up, very giddy with delight, offering to do it for him “slave-kun, let me do it for you, let’s depart this life together”.

The drama track #31 focus entirely on Ohse and Iori’s dynamic. Here Ohse is hand washing his clothe in what appears to be the bathroom, Iori shows up and asks him what he’s doing, what happened to his clothe, Ohse answers by saying it got stained with painting, and that he is washing it. Iori then says for him to hand over the clothe, he is going to wash it, but Ohse refuses it. That spirals to their typical quarrel as seen in the track #18, by going back and forth with “but I’m a slave”, “but I’m a piece of shit”. Neither of them gives in, and the fight keeps going until Fumiya shows up and asks what’s going on, both explains the situation, but the quarrel soon resumes with Iori complaining that Ohse doesn’t understand how low of a human being Iori is, someone that can’t be useful if not serving others, an empty person, which Ohse counters with “being a person is enough to be jealous of, after all I’m a garbage”, Iori finds something good about being a garbage, and something bad about himself, Ohse does the same, and so another fight starts, until Fumiya suggests as a solution for them to give the clothe to the laundry. Here both goes silent, and instead of arguing with each other, they start to explain why that can’t be, each one has a pride to protect, and ends in unison with “if you don’t understand, then would you stay off of this?”

Throughout the day, both try to do things by themselves, not giving in. In the kitchen Iori catches Ohse making something to eat, and tries to stop him, since he is in charge of making the food in the house. During the meal, Iori tries to force feed Ohse, but stubbornly, Ohse spit out the food, then proceeds to clean the mess, but it’s once again stopped by Iori that argues, since it is his fault, he should be the one cleaning it. According to Rikai, who is watching the fight with Fumiya, it is hard to tell if they do or do not get along well.

There is only one brief interaction in the drama track #32. Rikai, Amahiko, Fumiya, Terra, Iori and Ohse are playing a game called Isse no se (10) (for more information see the footnote). Ohse says a number that is impossible and Rikai gets confused, Iori follows with what sounds like a light jab “only you, Ohse-san”, everyone laughs.

The drama track #33 is a valentine’s day special. Iori make sure that no one received a chocolate other than the ones he made, so he becomes some sort of chocolate officer, looking to confiscate outside chocolate. When it’s Rikai and Ohse’s turn to be inspected, Iori says that they are innocent, that it’s impossible for them to have received a chocolate from someone else. Ohse confirms it every time Iori asks, he doesn’t have someone who would give him chocolates, he always receives none every year, therefore he ardently desires the chocolate Iori made, after all, a chocolate is a staple food. Upon hearing this, Iori beams at Ohse saying that he is being very cooperative today, and Ohse thanks him for his hard work, the same way someone greets an officer.

Here in the drama track #39, an important scene to highlight is when Iori asks if they wanted him to prepare again the same dish, everyone, including Ohse, answers in unison “we definitely want you to make this dish again.”

The drama track #40 is Ohse’s interview episode. The first question is done by Iori, he asks Ohse what his favorite food is, by which Ohse responds with the same nonsense of when he feels cornered (as seen in #37). After Sarukawa repeats the question, he gives a proper answer saying he doesn’t like anything in particular, if it fills the stomach, anything is fine (contradicting what he said in #33). When Terra asks Ohse what is his favorite colour, Ohse gets more talkative and starts to enthusiastically talk about the colour of the snow, and how it is his favorite one, how beautiful it is etc., here Iori comments that “it is the first time I’m hearing about it”, probably referring to the fun fact Ohse shared. When asked about his birthday, Iori shows interest, and when asked what he wants to receive on his birthday, Iori also shows interest.

The drama track #43 is Iori’s Charisma Break episode. Rikai is surprised but happy Ohse showed up for the cherry blossom view and Ohse says it couldn’t be helped. Ohse and Sarukawa say that they made the food together, Ohse tries to make Iori sit down with them. Ohse calls Iori “Io-kun” by the first time.

The drama track #44 is Rikai’s interview. Iori serves as the straight man role to Ohse’s words of admiration towards Rikai’s morning routine and naming his pet bird “Moral”.

In the drama track #47 both Iori and Ohse insists in being the last one to take a bath. When Iori announces that supper is served, Ohse is seen being happy together with everyone.

The drama track #50 is Iori’s interview. When asked about the first thing he does in the morning, Iori talks about doing laundry and starts telling everyone’s particularity about it. He says outraged that Ohse never once put his clothes out to be washed.

When Ohse was prompted to make a question, he asks if Iori has any hobbies. Iori answers that he has none, a slave doesn’t have such luxuries. So then, Ohse asks what about when he is alone in his room, when he has nothing else to do, to which Iori answers with “when he has nothing else to do, he does nothing”. Ohse insists “really? nothing?”, and Iori confirms to which Ohse says that he is strange, Iori snaps and says the strange one is Ohse, a person that doesn’t leave his room and spends night after night making something. They start a fight until Rikai puts a stop to it.

The drama track #52 is the Children’s Day special. Because of the theme, Iori calls Ohse “Ohse-kun”.

In the drama track #57 when listing praises about Rikai, Ohse says that Rikai is always concerned for Io-kun, too.

Iori’s exaggerated reaction to Ohse appearing nude the next day in the drama track #61.

Ohse firmly calling Iori to tell that the bird spotted by Sarukawa and Fumiya is not a crane in the drama track #62.

The drama track #64 is Ohse’s Charisma Break episode. The track starts with Iori narrating how Ohse left the house giving the residents as a parting gift, a portrait of everyone together, him missing from the picture, and a letter. Iori, when trying to convince Ohse to not leave again, says for him to let Iori serve him more, stay together.

In the drama track #65 Fumiya makes Ohse and Iori fight against each other in a “death fight gamble”.

The drama track #67 is the Tanabata episode. Ohse makes commentaries about Iori’s version of Orihime, saying how she is dangerous to Amahiko’s version of Hikoboshi, and that she willingly swimming the milky way to find Amahikoboshi is not “selflessness” of her.

In the drama track #70 Ohse is struggling to paint himself in the picture he drew of all the residents of the house, but, encouraged by Terra, he kept going on, despite it making him nauseous. By the end of the episode, Iori, together with Terra, is watching Ohse fighting with himself to finish the painting.

The drama track #71 is the beach episode. Ohse and Sarukawa are having a conversation at the shore, Sarukawa trying to convince Ohse to come play with everyone, until Iori, Rikai and Terra show up to invite them to play suikawari (watermelon splitting). Rikai invites Sarukawa, who, even though shows obvious signs of wanting to participate, rebelled against Rikai. At the same time as a fight between them starts, Iori and Ohse start bickering over Iori saying that Ohse needs to drink water and stay hydrated, and Ohse refusing it.Terra is left perplexed by the fights. When the sun starts to set, the mention of a festival happening at night makes everyone excited, Iori says that he already made everyone yukatas and Ohse is awed by it.

In the drama track #72 Ohse is looking for everyone so they can watch the fireworks together, but finds Iori stopped in front of the candy apple stand. He asks what he is doing and Iori says for him to wait there, since the sandals must be hurting, that he will look for everyone and be right back, but Ohse stops him in his track and asks if he wants the candy apple, Iori is about to deny, but Ohse categorically says that he will buy a candy apple for him. Iori tries to get out of the uncomfortable situation, but is once more stopped by Ohse who, in what sounds like a desperate demand, buys the candy apple for him. The fireworks start and Ohse seems to be saying something important that makes Iori look a bit somber.

Like Cat and Dog Duo

It was established in the drama track #18 that they did not get along well. Not only Iori starts a fight, Ohse, as well, is always poking Iori, getting under his skin. For someone that does not like being a bother to people, him being nosey can be seen as him stepping out of his comfort zone, putting his self-preservation in jeopardy. All to show Iori something he is not aware of about himself that Ohse deems as important for him to notice (that he is not an empty person, that he is not selflessness). (11)

Ohse is too self-aware, while, Iori is not self-aware, at all. Because of this, Ohse can show Iori what he doesn’t want to, is too scared to, acknowledge. In his first Charisma Break episode, he is seen as being afraid of even the idea of confronting himself, what he finds in that brief moment is the same mantra he uses to convince himself and others that he is empty, he is “selflessness, contribution, service”, a “non-self”. That can be seen as him gaslighting himself, which makes one think, what it is about him that makes him so scared to accept?

Since the very first drama track, Iori is seen being creative and pushy, being the complete opposite of “obedience”. For instance, Sarukawa asks him to patch a hole in his jeans, instead of acquiescing and following through with the request, instead of being obedient, Iori shows dissatisfaction and offers to make new jeans, starting by making a sewing machine. Sarukawa says that wouldn’t be necessary, just patch the damn hole and be done with it, but Iori insists in going through with his idea. One could argue he is less obedient around his childhood friend, the only person he treats with more intimacy, calling by a nickname “Saru-chan”. However, the same lack of obedience is seen when he asks Rikai (drama track #39) what to make for dinner, he is not satisfied by the simple and cliché dishes Rikai answered with, and instead, he comes up with a really complex and fancy dish, one that requires a herculean effort and work to make.

So, by being confrontational towards Ohse, and Ohse answering with more confrontation, instead of what he is used to, shows, not only to Ohse, but glaring so to Iori how he is not obedient? Their self-affirming arguing of “but I’m a slave”, “but I’m a piece of shit” is like a mirror being set in front of Iori, and the more it happens, the more uncomfortable he gets, the more he loses his temper; if Ohse doesn’t let Iori be of service to him, Iori’s meticulously constructed house of cards falls apart and he is left with an overwhelming self-awareness.

At this point, it is still hard to theorize why Iori is so afraid of himself, what is there to make him insist in negating himself, but, certainly, there is something, and Ohse saw that. Not only that, but how similar they are. By helping Iori, is Ohse trying to also help himself? Or, is Ohse being sympathetic towards Iori? Either way, it shows he cares about him, he cares to the point of putting his low self-esteem, his “I’m being a bother to someone else” aside and bite the bullet, so to speak.

According to an interview given to the magazine spoon.2Di vol. 90, Ohse’s voice actor Hyuga Saku and Iori’s voice actor Fukuhara Katsumi when talking about Ohse’s respect and admiration for Rikai:

Hyuga: “He is full of admiration for Rikai, right. It already got to the point of worship. Though, this is also in regards to Terra, Ohse basically thinks everyone is incredible, but, for some reason, this seems not to be the case with Io-kun.”

Fukuhara: “Uh? I guess you’re saying there’s nothing in particular that can be admired in Iori? Ohse really is a pigheaded.”

Hyuga: “Wait a moment! Io-kun is one to talk!?”

Fukuhara: “Riiiiiight.” (12)

Interesting to note here, aside from the typical Ohse and Iori banter played by the voice actors, is the mention of Ohse “admiring everyone, except for Iori”. One possible reading is that Ohse sees everyone else above him, everyone has something Ohse sees lacking in himself, so he admires and respects them, especially Rikai, who was the first to see worth in him and is always rooting for him.

So, what that says about how he sees Iori? In the #31 neither is seen give in, both were at the same page, both were betting their pride as a slave and a garbage, as in who is the lowest, barely a person, there. Iori sees himself as someone below everyone, Ohse sees himself as someone below everyone. Therefore, Ohse sees Iori as an equal, and because of that, because his existence enters in conflict with his self-image, a sense of despair for self-preservation arises and he buy fights with Iori, and vice-versa.

Their relationship could be one of fighting like cat and dog, but as it progresses, both can be the foil each other needed to grow as characters, Iori starting to realize he is not empty, he has wants and needs, and Ohse starting to realize he could be helpful, he could be Iori’s “Rikai Kusanagi”, and by having an equal, he is not alone.

Is It a Crush or…

Looking at that history and relationship from a different perspective, there is Ohse’s tentative approach to Iori. Because of his lack of social skills, whenever someone gets angry at him (see drama track #37) he shies away, that is noticeable the first time Iori gets confrontational towards him, however, he gets more assertive later (see drama track #31).

Taking a look at the timeline, after their first interaction (#18) it’s possible to imagine Ohse starting to develop an interest in Iori, at this point, he was probably considering a crush, in which the Christmas episode could be seen as evidence pointing to Ohse indirectly asking if Iori was single (in a house inhabited only by men, it would have made more sense for Ohse to say “girlfriend”, instead he uses the gender neutral “lover”).

Even if at this point he wasn’t considering a romantic approach, it’s hard to deny he wasn’t seeking a more intimate relationship with Iori. So then, the Chaotic House episode happens (it’s going to be explored more in depths later), there’s a glimpse of Ohse wanting to befriend Iori by dropping the formalities and calling him by a nickname “slave-kun”, a possible foreshadow to “Io-kun”.

Iori’s Charisma Break episode is the first time Ohse calls him “Io-kun”, tentative at first, more confident later. It is speculated by some people that Ohse asked Sarukawa, Iori’s childhood friend, for advice in how to befriend Iori, since they made the food together, and the nickname is how Sarukawa calls Iori, but with an honorific added, maybe to differentiate from Sarukawa calling him just “Io”, maybe because Ohse still feels the need to give a space between him and Iori.

The nickname seems to be an important step for Ohse in their relationship, after that, he starts to be bolder in confronting Iori and trying to prove to him that he is not “selflessness”, that he is not “an empty person” as he claims to be. Which poses the question: why someone like Ohse, who doesn’t see value in himself, doesn’t want to be a bother to other people, is so determined in calling Iori out?

A possible interpretation could be what was discussed in the previous topic, he doesn’t point out faults in anyone else, but Iori. He drops the formalities around Iori, and sees him as an equal, a friend even, he is concerned for his well-being in what he sees as Iori not valuing himself. A lot can be theorized here, and it is interesting to note the irony of him wanting Iori to take better care of himself considering that’s the main concern of everyone else, especially of Rikai, about Ohse.

Back to #43, it’s interesting to note how Rikai was happy to see Ohse joined them for the picnic, it’s not like Ohse hadn’t show up for a group activity before (see drama track #8). Also, how Ohse, a bit nervous, was asking politely for Iori to sit down with them, in what could be seen as a display of a shy crush.

Another interesting thing to note is how Ohse dropped Iori’s name seemingly out of nowhere when listing good qualities about Rikai in #57, especially since the praise was how Rikai worried about Iori. This indicates that Ohse also worries about him, to the point of noticing that in Rikai as worthy of praise.

The crucial turning point of their relationship, after a lot of instances of Ohse buying fights with Iori, might be the summer festival episode (#72). Here everyone, except Fumiya, was divided in groups of two. One of the groups were Ohse and Iori, which might be surprising, but only further confirm them as being each other’s foil.

Ohse saw Iori standing in front of the candy apple stand during the festival in what appears as him having an internal conflict with the desire to have one. Ohse probably saw that has a good opportunity to confront him about what he has being confronting him about for the entirety of the first season. So, he let go of searching for everyone else, and prioritized buying a candy apple for Iori.

After all of this, is it enough to call it a crush? Or, rather, all of that can be said about Ohse, it can be argued that he showed interest towards Iori since their first fight back in #18, but what about Iori? What can be said about his feelings for Ohse?

Here, I think how he reacted to Ohse’s birthday and his interest in the colour of the snow in a positive way during Ohse’s interview, how he was the one narrating Ohse’s Charisma Break episode, and how he made sure Ohse was hydrated during the beach episode, could point to him caring for Ohse. However, since Iori doesn’t play favorites when there is an opportunity to be of service, it’s hard to say with certainty if he reciprocates the feelings, be them friendship oriented or romantic oriented. He still calls Ohse with more politeness, which can be contrasted to how he calls his childhood friend, with more intimacy.

Let’s Depart This Life Together: The Literary Meaning of the Double Suicide

One interesting scene to take into consideration when analyzing the relationship between Ohse and Iori is from the drama track #28. The episode takes place right after Rikai Kusanagi’s first Charisma Break. With no order in the house, it became chaotic, the straight man role being given to Sarukawa, since he is already the lack of order, being the charisma of rebel, he is the only one not affected by Rikai being bedridden. In a Freudian literary approach, it’s possible to read it as, in the absence of the superego, the id overpowered and became out of control. According to twitter user Aiken’s interpretation (13), everyone has the id directed at themselves (Iori asking to be harassed, treated as a river fish; Terra, Amahiko and Fumiya uttering obscenities), except for Ohse, who directed all his libido at Iori asking him to “depart this life together”.

The explicit use of the kanji 逝く(iku) (14) leaves no room for doubts of the implication there. What Ohse asked of Iori was a shinjū, or, double suicide.

The first example of the trope that might come to mind may be Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, however, not only the tragedy of the play also comes from the unintentional double suicide, there is cultural differences to take into consideration. Therefore, when talking about shinjū, specifically, it’s common to think of Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) and his jōruri (puppet theater) plays, especially the domestic plays.

His first important domestic play is “The Love Suicides at Sonezaki” (Sonezaki shinjū) first performed on June 20, 1703. In the introduction to Donald Keene’s translation of major plays of Chikamatsu:

“The Love Suicides at Sonezaki not only reflected its time but actually started a vogue of love suicides, as we may gather from a publication of the following year, The Great Mirror of Love Suicides. In the succeeding years the number of such suicides, both in life and on the stage, rapidly multiplied, until in 1722 the government banned plays with the word shinjū (love suicides) in the title.” (15)

Here one can see how his plays had considerable influence in, not only popularizing the trope in fiction, but also associating the meaning of double suicide to that of a suicide committed by two lovers who couldn’t be together in this life due to varying circumstances. The meaning was carried and is present in the popular imaginary to this day.

Now, what does all of that have to do with Ohse and Iori?

Let’s go back to #28, what can be taken from this episode is that both Ohse and Iori have a death wish. The crucial point here is that Ohse is an overt desire while Iori is a covert one (quick note, I’m not going to linger too much here, but the yin-yang aspect of their relationship could make for another interesting topic of discussion).

Had Ohse seen the same in Iori and used that opportunity to carry on with his own death wish? If so, why offering to do it for him?

A common way in which the characters carry the love suicides in the plays, usually the man kills the woman first and then kills himself. Ohse offering to do that for Iori and then killing himself could be seen as mirroring a shinjū as presented in Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s plays.

The romantic undertones of that scene alone are hard to go unnoticed, especially for a Japanese audience, who are more familiar with the concept of shinjū. Though it can be argued that it wasn’t intentional on the writer’s part, just a way to exaggerate each character’s distinguishable trait, it is interesting to notice the parallels.

Final Thoughts

Here I only introduced the more common approaches to the ship I’ve seen being discussed in the fandom, even though I don’t think I brought anything new to the discussion, knowing most of it is being held in the Japanese side of the fandom, I hope I could at least bring it to the English-speaking side.

My first Ohse/Iori shipper awakening, so to speak, happened later than most fans recount about their experience, it was after the summer festival episode. And, I mean, how not to fall for them after that? I don’t need to point it out again, but not a single time I rewatch that episode and not have the biggest grin in my face, and just the overall giddy feeling of excitement when thinking about an otp.

When I first started listening to Charisma House I wasn’t expecting to find a ship I could get that invested in, there are some good dynamics between the characters, but I wouldn’t say that’s enough for me to have an otp. Even after all this meta, it is still hard to say for sure what about them captivated me, but something did and I hope I could convey that.

If anyone reading this have something else to add to the discussion, or felt motivated to write about their own crsm otp, feel free to send a message or link to me, I’d like to read about other people’s thoughts and experiences in the fandom (be it as it is still fairly small).

References:

Aiken’s tweet

Omocoro article

CROCUS YouTube playlist

Charisma official YouTube channel

Charisma House wiki

Charisma official site

Dokujirai Tumblr

Dajaregambler Tumblr

Footnotes:

1. See the wiki page. Last accessed on November 13, 2022.

2. See the omocoro article. Last accessed on November 13, 2022.

3. The word used here 仮住まい (karizumai) is a play on “charisma” and “temporary residence”.

4. 「ここはカリスマハウス。今日もカリスマな彼らは己の中のカリスマ性を見つめている。が、彼らはまだ『真のカリスマ』には辿り着けていないと言える。故に、こうしてカリスマどうしで身を寄せあい、日々カリスマ性を育み、さらなる高みを目指すいわば仮住まいの状態。世間には嘲笑する者もいるだろう。が、カリスマな彼らにはノーダメージ。むしろそういった逆境を糧にさらなるカリスマを生成し、見事な『カリスマチャージ』を蓄積させていく。チャージの先にあるものとは。。。⁉ 凡人にはよくわからないと思いますが、これはカリスマたちの物語です。」

5. 「滅私、貢献、奉仕」

6. 「一つ、本橋依央利には、何を要求されても断る権利はありません。二つ、本橋依央利は、でもなんの見返りも求めません。三つ、ゆえに頼んだ側は、罪悪感を感じる必要は全くありません。四つ、カンチガイしないこと。本橋依央利は、あくまでも前向きで自発的な奴隷です。」

7. It is been used as a reference a tweet by twitter user Aiken since it compiles all the interactions during the first season in a comprehensive way. Last accessed on November 15, 2022.

8. See this tweet for reference. Last accessed on November 15, 2022.

9. 氷締め (Kōrijime): the simplest way to kill a fish by draining its blood. The caught fish is put in a cooler full of salt water and ice, making it freeze to death, and in this way preserving the minimum of freshness. Last accessed on November 16, 2022.

10. About Isse no Se, according to a webpage entry: “Taisuke told Kids Web Japan how to play one game that is popular among his friends: "It can be played with any number of people. First, you do janken (rock, paper, scissors) to choose the 'leader.' Then everyone clenches their hands and puts their arms out in front of them so that their left and right hands meet. The leader calls out, 'Isse no se!' (Ready, go!), but instead of 'se,' that person says a number. At the same time, each player sticks up one thumb, two thumbs, or no thumbs at all. If the total number of thumbs sticking up, including the leader's, is the same as the number that the leader called out, the leader scores a win. If you win, you can put one hand behind your back, but if you don't, you stay in the same position. Everyone goes around taking turns being the leader, and the first person to put both hands behind is the winner." Last accessed on November 16, 2022.

11. See this tweet for reference. Last accessed on November 19, 2022.

12. 日向「尊敬しまくってますね。もはや崇拝に近いくらい（笑）。でも、それはテラさんに対してもだし、大瀬は基本的にはみんなすごい！となるのに、なぜかいおくんに対してだけは違うみたいで」

福原「ん？特に尊敬できるところはないってことかな（笑）？大瀬って頑固者だよね」

日向「いや！いおくんには言われたくないですよ（笑）！？」

福原「そっか～（笑）」

13. Ibid. Last accessed on November 15, 2022.

14. “It means to depart for the other world, to go in a journey with no return, it is usually used taking into consideration the feelings of the people that are left behind.” Last accessed on November 23, 2022.

15. Keene, Donald. Major plays of Chikamatsu. New York, Columbia University Press, 1962.

#ship manifesto #meta #ohseio #charisma house #motohashi iori #minato ohse

12 notes · View notes