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that-thing-that-feeling · 5 years

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the sunday times style magazine article below cut:

Even if you’re not one of the 139m people worldwide subscribed to Netflix, you will have heard of Stranger Things. The American sci-fi/horror/coming-of-age series, which was launched in July 2016, became the most-discussed TV show of the year and was impossible to ignore. Twitter hashtags went viral, and there were rave reviews, thinkpieces upon thinkpieces and celebrity fans from Reese Witherspoon to Barack Obama. It rebooted the career of its lead, Winona Ryder, and made overnight stars of its unknown cast members, including 22-year-old British actor Charlie Heaton, now 25. “When it launched, I was shooting a film in a tiny Spanish town where most people don’t speak English,” Heaton says. “In a day or two, my Instagram following went up by thousands. I was at a street market and some Spanish people came up and said, ‘Stranger Things!’ That’s when I knew it had blown up.”

The Stranger Things juggernaut is still going strong — the third series will start on July 4 — as is Heaton. He’s about to take up one of the lead roles in a highly anticipated X-Men horror spin-off, The New Mutants (out in August), has landed the title role in the BBC’s new version of The Elephant Man, and last month was at the Ferragamo show in Milan fashion week. As for that Instagram following? It’s now in the millions.

Heaton arrives on the set for this shoot — a pub in East London — bang on time, holding a pack of rolling tobacco and wearing Burberry trousers and a coat with the collar turned up. He shakes hands with everyone and asks if there’s time for a “quick smoke”. He is slightly restless — and will “nip out for a quick smoke” and to check his constantly beeping phone three more times before we break for lunch. So convincing is his American accent (which he maintains throughout filming), most people are surprised to learn that he’s from Bridlington in Yorkshire. “I tell people I’m from up north and that blows their mind,” he laughs. Disappointingly, the northern accent isn’t strong. “It gets stronger when I go home at Christmas,” he says. He’s still best friends with the lads he went to school with, some of whom “don’t even watch anything I’m in”. Do they make you get all the drinks in now? “Actually, a lot of them are like, ‘Let me buy you a drink, mate, I can still get you a drink.’ It’s a northern thing.” He smiles and lights another roll-up.

In Stranger Things, Heaton plays Jonathan Byers, older brother of Will Byers, the young boy who disappears in the first episode and kicks off the core storyline of the series. Jonathan’s on/off love interest, Nancy, is played by 22-year-old Nashville-born Natalia Dyer. In real life, the actors have been dating publicly for the past two years, but also dated for a while in secret before the rest of the cast found out.

“It’s nice to be with someone who is in the same world,” Heaton says. “We’ve gone through the same trajectory, so have got to share the ups and downs.” They’re about to move in together and are scouting apartments in New York’s East Village. “I’m very happy,” he smiles, willing the conversation on.

Part of the viral success of Stranger Things was down to its nostalgia-drenched fashion (the first series is set in 1983). The oversized glasses and pussy-bow blouses could have fallen straight off a Gucci campaign, and Louis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière was so inspired, he sent a Stranger Things T-shirt down the SS18 catwalk. Heaton, with his thin frame, messy hair and razor-sharp cheekbones, is made for designer mood boards.

Last May, he sat front row at the Dior cruise show. That said, “I never knew what a brand was growing up,” he tells me over a beer in the pub’s garden post-shoot. “I’d heard of Gucci and Chanel, but didn’t really know what their purpose was. Then, as you get introduced to them more, you realise their importance in the fashion world.”

On the topic of fashion: it was T-shirts that he and co-star Winona Ryder bonded over on set. “She gave me a T-shirt with the Clash on that she got when she went to see them years ago. Then I was reading The Catcher in the Rye and she told me it was her favourite book. She had made T-shirts based on Pencey Prep, the school [the book’s protagonist] Holden Caulfield went to, so she gave me one of those. She was like, ‘I designed it, I hope you like it!’ Of course I liked it. She’s the queen of cool T-shirts and the queen of cool.”

Heaton grew up with his mother, Michelle, and two older sisters (one of whom, Levi, is also an actress). They are incredibly close. “I think there’s a sensitivity that you have from growing up with three women that you maybe wouldn’t have if you grew up in a house of boys,” he says. His parents separated when he was two, but he remained close to his father. At 16, Heaton went to live with him in London. “That’s where I wanted to end up,” he says. “When I moved there, my uncle said [here he adopts a strong Yorkshire accent], ‘Do you like London, then?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s great. Do you think you’d ever leave Bridlington?’ He went, ‘Nah, I’ve got everything I need. I’ve got my house, my girlfriend and Sky Sports.’” Heaton chuckles. “The simplicity of it was great, but I’ve always been one for … excitement.”

Heaton’s first taste of acting was drama classes at school and local youth theatre aged eight to 15. He was also a drummer and, aged 16, he joined a noise rock band, Comanechi, that toured globally and supported Gossip. “I went to Japan, Canada and around Europe, living out of van for a couple of years, which was brilliant.” He got back into acting in adverts, as a way of making cash (one of which involved “congaing behind Kevin Bacon in an EE commercial”). A few small TV roles followed before he went to LA in 2015, found an agent and appeared in a horror film, Shut In, with Naomi Watts. “I’d never been to America, I didn’t have any money, so I stayed in youth hostels, basically backpacking for a month and auditioning,” he says. “By then I knew that all I wanted to do was act.” That same year, he got the part in Stranger Things.

In 2017, Heaton made headlines when he was denied entry into the US at LAX airport, reportedly because traces of cocaine were found in his luggage. After being detained, Heaton released a statement, saying that due to “an issue at US immigration”, he was unable to enter the country. I ask how he feels about the incident now, if there is anything he’d like to say about it. He shifts in his seat, clearly wishing to be anywhere else, then switches off my Dictaphone. He only wants to speak off the record about this. It seems he doesn’t know yet what he wants to say, he feels terrible about the whole thing and desperately wants to change the subject. “Can we talk about something else?” he asks.

We return to the safer territory of how life has changed since Stranger Things. “I still audition for stuff I don’t get,” he says; though one role he has just secured is Joseph Merrick, the 19th-century Englishman whose facial deformity led to him becoming known as the Elephant Man. The BBC project is still in development, but Heaton has already faced criticism from the disability charity Scope and some actors, who say the role should have gone to a disabled actor. “I can see their point,” says Heaton. “I think there has to be some balance. There are roles in both episodes that will include disabled actors with that specific disability. But, disabled or not, you would hope that the right person for the role gets it and that’s based on a whole range of things. I don’t make those decisions.”

The pub’s garden is busying and the landlady is waiting impatiently for a picture with Heaton. He’s due to meet some mates at another pub before heading back to his dad’s place, where he stays when he’s in town. Then what? “I’m looking for something different,” he replies. “I’ve played a lot of outsiders.” Maybe it’s time for a comedy? “Yeah, but I’m not funny! I just want to keep acting, keep casting the net wide.” The boy from Bridlington as Hollywood’s Next Big Thing? Stranger things have happened.

#hopefully that read more is working #otherwise srry will appear as long post

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luffyasksandanswers · 5 years

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Three songs meme: 9, 13, and 16 ^^v

Three Songs Meme - @namibean

//First of all, sorry that the reply got delayed, the week has been pretty hectic and it was hard to pick the songs but now a couple of days offs ahead so time to Tumblr around xD! Ok, let’s go~!

9: Three songs that describe me

Arms open by The Script

Arms open would fit anyone for sure but perhaps this song was chosen here and because it describes one of my personality traits, the will to help people in general. Conflicts are stressful so to avoid those, I try to compromise and bend and bend as far as possible and even if there was cloudy behind the scenes, I try to stay by my buddies’ side and I’ve told them many times “whenever you feel bad, text me or call me, if I can’t reply right away, I’ll catch you later”.

Shine by Kwan

Well, this song is somehow similar to the previous one because optimism is also one strong trait. Maybe this is even more #lifegoals. I mean, it’s really hard to read people or there mind and it’s extremely tricky to offer them the right tools to find the light at the end of their tunnel and this is something I face almost daily at work with the disabled youngsters. Some of them wrestle with their inner struggles and we try to help them.

So maybe this song pictures also my goal to see good in everyone. Of course, adulthood has forced me to see also the realities, I mean that at least at our work there are residents who are not feeling well and no matter how much we offer tools and helping hands, it’s hard to make them see the potential what they have but just like in civil life, I try to encourage people in all the ways I can and have resource to do that and try to find potential in everyone.

Koko kuva by Irina

It’s obvious, that people have different kinds of way to describe the person they know. Funny enough, most of the acquaintances think I’m social and easygoing but just like with everyone else, there is more below the surface. Only the closest friends and my sister know that behind the smile and neverending optimism there is also a jar of insecurities, mostly due to the badly gone friendships in these past few years. Those unfortunate events released the old hounds that’s why this Irina’s song is still relatable (translated lyrics here [x]). Shortly translated and summed it up it’s about telling someone “Hey, here I am, letting my walls down but you might get disappointed because this is who I really and you are not a bad person if you go away but thank you for staying by my side”

13: Three of the softest songs I own

//but I’m not musician, these songs aren’t mine? xD

Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

A big part of released songs ever are mostly interpreted and associated with romantic relationships and it’s kind of cheesy, in my opinion, because after all, romance is indeed a biological need, mostly but also a cultural thing and yes most people want families but also people who don’t want and want to live without “the better” part shouldn’t be trashed for their decisions.

I’m not sure if the previous rant had anything real to do but anyway, Chasing cars is a song at least for me is to appreciate those small moments between the hectic life when I can just sit down and enjoy the company of my friends or family. All in all, very soothing from the melody to the lyrics and gives some relaxing vibes no matter how busy or tense the situation would be.

Sinun vaikka hajoat by Happoradio

I think I’ve namedropped this song before but this is the very best from this band. Lyrics are pretty poetic and beautiful (translation here [x]). Shortly said, it’s about standing by someone else’s side no matter how big their struggles were, true friendship, love and brother/sisterhood!

Yuki No Hana by Mika Nakashima / 눈의 꽃 (Snow Flower) by Park Hyo Shin

It’s a shame that I don’t know many Asian dramas because they seem to have beautiful musical compositions as their theme songs. Well, once upon a time there was a series called I’m Sorry, I Love You which was probably the first Kdrama I remember I saw. It had Park Hyo Shin’s version (translated here [x] and I first fell in love with the melody so had to later google it around and found that it’s a korean version of Mika Nakashima’s song (translation here [x]) and after listening them for many times, all I can say is that they are both good and give goosebumps *thumbs up*

16: Three songs that I always laugh at

Dilbar Dilbar by Sirf Tum (buffalaxed version)

Being meme trash who laughs at weird shiet, the internet is full of randomness and probably good example of this is these so-called “Buffalaxed” videos that are basically foreign songs getting “English” lyrics based on imagination and so on xD

It seems like this “translation” trend was more popular thing about 10 years ago and then came youtube poops but anyway I remember watching this with my mates every IT classes we had in high school and although it not as funny as then it’s still amusing and full of nostalgia xD

The 7th Element by Vitas

This is probably the dankest meme song I’ve ever heard and truly a spirit lifter no matter how many times someone spams me with this xD What makes it even more hilarious is that I asked my friend who speaks Russian that does the part before that legendary Hahahaha blblblblbl-part mean anything and she said “I came here (to sing)” XD

Making my Mom Rap like Eminem! by Nigahiga

Following youtubers (not sure which is the right term but in Finnish we call them “tubettajat”) isn’t my thing because I’m very lazy, not just to follow but also to search great content funny animals are always exception and I really am annoyed how YT has changed throughout the years and for example, one reason I partly lost my interest to making amvs is that nowadays it’s hard to find audience and again the laziness is on the way to lure them back. In addition to that my old account got deleted and since the copyright thingies are strict, so I had to make a new channel [x] and in general, it’s just not that worthy I’m lazy to spend hours to make videos for a handful of views ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ok, back to the main talk, Ryan Higa on one of the rarest Youtube accounts I check regularly. He has done lots of videos at approx. a decade and he definitely deserved to be the number 1 most subscribed channel. His sense of humor is amazing and how he makes the videos with his heart and he doesn’t need to overact or swear or disrespect others, unlike one certain channel that embarrassed whole America with that adventure of his that even reached the top page with scandalous click bait, just to get few views because he has natural talent to be a comedian and has an awesome gang to work with!

Even better is the fact that he is a king of puns and this song is undeniable the ultimate proof of that. Shortly said, he made his mom (who seemed to be precious person) “rap” a song. Higa deserves all the respect because like in his productions, this guy again made so much effort on this project and this song is definitely some good dang gold and everyone should see this at least once in their lives! *laughs*

#answered #thanks #namibean #captain went elsewhere ! (OOC)#shishishi ! (meme/ask reply)#three songs meme #//lel shameless self promo not so hidden #and got so carried away oopsie xD #sorry for delay mate !#long post

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24no · 6 years

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COLOURLESS DREAM set list

■■Vol.4 2017 12/17

■Conta 1st Under Two Flags / Masks It’s Immaterial / A Gigantic Raft In The Philippines The Laughing Apple / Precious Feeling JulianCope / 24a Velocity Crescent Blue Hollow / Inhale Presence / Act Of Faith Fools Dance / The Collector The Wild Swans / Archangels

■24no 1st This Mortal Coil / Sixteen Days - Gathering Dust Fra Lippo Lippi / Some Things Never Change Gene Loves Jezebel / Bruises (Orignial Extended Version) Radiohead / High And Dry Slowdive / Star Roving My Bloody Valentine / Never Say Goodbye

■久保田稔人 1st Repetition / The Still Reflex Style Syndrome / Shinning The Vail / Twist Dead Can Dance / Carnival Of Light The Creaturs / Mad Eyed Screamer Oate Wylie / Sinful The Blue Angels / Candy The Icicle Works / Love Is A Wonderful Colors

■小野島大 1st Alien Sex Fiend / R.I.P. (Blue Drumb Truck) Belfegore / All That I Wanted (Extrended Club Mix) Cult / Spiritwalker Bauhaus / Lagartija Nick Killing Joke / Tension The Birthday Party / Releace The Bats a clan of XYMOX / A Day (Remix) Sioixsie & The Banshees / Fireworks (12” Version)

■migon The Psychedelic Furs / Heatbreak Beat Clan Of Xymox / Loneliness TheCult / Dreamtime PlayDead / Propaganda Bauhaus / In The Flat Field Love & Rockets / Motorcycle MarchViolets / SnakeDance Gene Loves Jezbel / Desire The Bolshoi / Sunday Morning The Sound / Skeletons Sad Lovers And Giants / Echoplay

■Guest DJ Xerstorkitte From Australia Siouxsie and the Banshees / Spellbound Sisters Of Marcy / Vision Thing Alien Sex Fiend / Walk the Line She Wants Revenge / Tear You Apart Joy Division / Love Will Tear Us Apart Killing Joke / Love Like Blood Peter Murphy / Cuts You Up

■24no 2nd The Bubblemen / The Bubblemen Are Coming Tones On Tail / Christian Says Bauhaus / The Passion Of Lovers (Live) Death Cult / Christians (Live) U2 / Bad (Live) The Sound / Fatal Flaw All About Eve / End Of The Day Siouxsie & The Banshees / Candyman The Sisters Of Mercy / Walk Away

■久保田稔人 2nd 17 Pygmies / Chameleon The Colors Out Of Time / She Spins Blue China / Tomorrow Never Knows Modern Eon / Watching The Dancers The Church / Myrrh Silent Running / When The 12th Of Never Comes School Of Seven Bells / Ablaze The Horrors / Point Of No Reply The Chameleons / The Fan And The Bellows

■Conta 2nd All That Jazz/Banner Of Love The Cure / Lullaby Modern English / Swans On Glass Wasted Youth / Rebecca’s Room Flesh For Lulu / Roman Candle The Sound / Golden Soldiers The Teardrop Explodes / Colours Fly Away Joy Division / No Love Lost Siouxsie & The Banshees / Mirage Killing Joke / Sanity Peter Murphy / Blue Heart The Chameleons / Tears

■小野島大 2nd My Bloody Velentine / Soon (The Andy Weatherall Mix) Curve / Coast is Clear Lush / Sweetness and Light The Boo Radleys / The Finest Kiss Swervedriver / Rave Down Radiohead / Just The Cure / Why Can’t I Be You? (12” Mix) B-Movie / Nowhere Girl (Version) The Lotus Eaters / The First Picture Of You Echo & The Bunnymen / The Killing Moon (All Night Version) U2 / October

■■Vol.3 2016 12/11

■migon 1st Death In June /Black Radio Dead Can Dance / Carnival Of Light Cocteau Twins / Ivo The KVB / Night Games She Past Away / Sann/Hallucination The The / Flesh And Bones Virgin Prunes / Deline And Fall Bauhaus / Spirit

■Conta 1st Dole / Rumroad The Shamen / Happy Days Wah! Heat / Better Scream Care / Whatever Possessed You Black / Hey Presto Ian McCulloch / Lover Lover Lover Electrafixion / Zephyr Echo & The Bunnymen / Crystal Days

■24no 1st Chapterhouse / Breather The Boo Radleys / Lazy Day Sweet Jesus / Real Babe Catherine Wheel / Shallow The Charlottes / Liar Moose / Suzanne Ride / Here And Now Lush / Sweetness And Light (The Orange Squash Mix) My Bloody Valentine / Map Ref 41°N 93°W

■小野島大 1st Nico / Procession The Dance Society / 2000 Light Years From Home The Mission / Wasteland Killing Joke / Love Like Blood (Gestalt Mix) Southern Death Clut / Fatman Theatre Of Hate / Do You Believe In The West World Specimen / The Beauty Poison

■migon 2nd Marc Almond /Melanchory Rose Echo & The Bunnymen / SevenSeas The Cameleons / Nostalgia (7’’ Version) Scars / All About You Clan Of Xymox / Farewell The Beauty Of Gemina / One Step To Heaven Play Dead / Walk Away Siouxie & The Banshees / Cities In Dust

■Conta 2nd Bel Canto / White-Out Conditions All About Eve / D For Desire The Mission / Severina Dead Or Alive / It’s Been Hours Now Original Mirrors / Boys Cry The Mighty Lemon Drops / Happy Head Julian Cope / Bandy’s First Jump Echo & The Bunnymen / New Direction (Original Version) Associates / Party Fears Two

■24no 2nd The House Of Love / Christine Kitchens Of Distinction / Quick As Rainbows The Room / New Dreams For Old (7" version) Sad Lovers And Giants / Lost In A Moment Cocteau Twins / Feathers-Oar-Blades The Icicle Works / Love Is a Wonderful Colour Echo & The Bunnymen / Never Stop (Discotheque)

■小野島大 2nd The Mock Turtles / Wicker Man The Bolshoi / A Way II (edited Version) Pale Saints / harf-life,remembered whirl. / Clear Slowdive / Slowdive My Bloody Valentine / To Here Knows When Velvet Underground / Sunday Mornig

■migon 3rd Fields Of The Nephilim / Power Red Lorry Yellow Lorry / Walking On Your Hands Echo & The Bunnymen / Villiers Terrace The Sound / The Fire NewOrder / Broken Promise The Cure / Push U2 / Two Hearts Beat As One Killing Joke / Big Buzz Joy Division / Disorder

■Conta 3rd Tones On Tail / OK, This Is The Pops Nightmares In Wax / Black Leather The Sisters Of Mercy / Body Electric The Chameleons / Singing Rule Britannia The Essence / Only For You Echo & The Bunnymen / Clay Dead Or Alive / Lover Come Back To Me Bauhaus / Ziggy Stardust

■24no 3rd Siouxsie & The Banshees / Hong Kong Garden (‘Marie Antoinette’ Version) The Birthday Party / Dead Joe Virgin Prunes / Pagan Lovesong (Tormentallama) Sex Gang Children / Into The Abyss The Danse Society / Somewhere Killing Joke / Wardance The Sisters Of Mercy / Marian (version) Bauhaus / Dark Entries

■小野島大 3rd The Shamen / Young Till Yesterday The Jesus And The Mary Chain / Sidewalking (7" Mix) The Cure / Just Like Heaven Wah! / Forget The Down The Wild Swans / Revolutionary Spirit The House Of Love / Real Animal The Teardrop Explodes / Treason (It’s Just A Story)(Remixd Version) Echo & The Bunnymen / Silver (Tidal Wave) The Doors / Light My Fire

■ENDING Echo & The Bunnymen / Ocean Rain

■■Vol.2 2015 10/4

■migon 1st In The Nursery / Bumished Days Phycedelic Furs / Sister Europe Andi Sex Gang w/Marc Almond / The Hungry Years Bauhaus / All We Ever Wanted Was Everything Asylum Party / The Sabbath The Cameleons / Swamp Thing The Mighty Lemon Drops / like An Angel

■Zodiac 1st Opposition / My Room Is White Lines / Come Home Comsat Angels / Be Brave In The Nursery / Twins These Immortal Souls / Mary Me (Lie Lie) Tears For Fears / Change AR KANE / When You’re Sad

■Conta 1st Party Day / Glasshouse Seventh Seance / Another Empty Face Crown Of Thorns / Kingdom Come Western Promise / Promised Land The Sound / Deep Breath The Teardrop Explodes / When I Dream Ian MuCulloch / In My Head The House Of Love / Destroy The Heart The Names / Calcutta

■24no 1st Dif Juz / Hu Spacemen 3 / Revolution Revolver / Heaven Sent An angel Swervedriver / Son Of Mustang Ford Pale Saints / Sight Of You Zero Le Créche / Last Year’s Wife Wild Swans / The Revolutionary Spirit My Bloody Valentine / Off Your Face

■小野島大 1st Divine & Statton / Bizzare Love Triangle Care / Flaming Sword The Chameleons / In Shreds Sad Lovers & Giants / Imagination The Comsat Angels / Will You Stay Tonight? Blue in Heaven / Julie Cries Echo & The Bunnymen / The Puppet The Sound / Heyday Bauhaus / Dark Entries

■migon 2nd Play Dead / Shine The Dance Society / Hide Virgin Prunes / Baby Turns Blue Rosetta Stone / TheWitch The Sisters Of Marcy / Vision Thing Clan Of Xymox / Out Of The Rain The Cure / Object Sad Lovers And Giants / Clint Red Lorry Yellow Lorry / Spining Round The Sound / Resistance Joy Division / Ice Age Echo & The Bunnymen / Heaven Up Here U2 / I Will Forrow

■Zodiac 2nd Modern Eon / Euthenics Joy Division / Walked In Line Daniel Ash / Get Out Of Control Killing Joke / Tension FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM / Back In Gehenna Sisters Of Mercy / First & Last & Always Ghost dance / Celebrate Rose Of Avalanche / Stick In The Works Theatre Of Hate / Eastworld THE MARCH VIOLETS / Steam And Also The Trees / Wallpaper Dying

■Conta 2nd And Also The Trees / Misfortunes Gene Loves Jezebel / Shaving My Neck Lulu Kiss Me Dead / The Ultimate Solution Snake Corps / Victory Parade The Chameleons / Perfume Garden Cocteau Twins / Carolyn’s Fingers Lush / Sweetness And Light Joy Division / Atrocity Exhibition (live) New Order / Singularity

■24no 2nd The Jesus & Mary Chain / Sidewalking (Extended Version) The Birthday Party / Zoo-Music Girl The Cult / Spiritwalker In Two A Circle / Rise 1919 / Caged Sex Gang Children / The Crack Up Echo & The Bunnymen / All That Jazz The Teardrop Explodes / Treason Magazine / Shot By Both Sides (Original Single Version) Siouxsie & The Banshees / Cascade Bauhaus / Telegram Sam

■小野島大 2nd Camberwell Now / Greenfingers Sonic Youth / Stereo Sanctity Belfegore / All That I Wanted Killing Joke / Adorations (The Extended Mix) The Mission / Serpents Kiss The House Of Love / I Don’t Know Why I Love You Siouxsie and The Banshees / Spellbound (12" Mix) Wah! / Somesay Associates / Club Country (12" Mix) Jesus and Mary Chain / Upside Down Joy Division / Transmission The Cure / high (higher mix)

■migon　B2B The Sound / Hothouse(Live) Modern English / GatheringDust The Pshychedlic Furs / Pretty in pink

■Zodiac　B2B Jesus ＆ Marychain / Neverunderstand The Cure / Boys Don’t Cry Jesus ＆ Marychain / Just Like Honey

■Conta B2B The Mission / Over The Hills And Faraway Julian Cope / Five O'clock World Echo & The Bunnymen / The Back Of Love

■小野島大 B2B The Smiths / How Soon Is Now? John Foxx / Europe After The Rain World Of Twist / She’s A Rainbow

■Ending Sad Lovers ＆Giants / Colourless Dream Bauhaus / Cloud

■■Vol.1 2014 11/24

■migon　1st Wasted Youth / Jealousy The Associetes / Tell Me Easter’s On Friday Fra LippoLippi / Barrier This Motal Coil / Song To Siren Dead Can Dance / Carnival Of The Light And Also The Trees / Shealetown Death In June / Fields Kissing The Pink / What Noise Cocteau Twins / Ivo

■Zodiac 1st Waterboys / The Whole Of The Moon Flowers For Agatha / The Freedom Curse Passion Puppets / Voices (Extended) TV21 / This Is Zero That Petrol Emotion / Mouth Crazy BFG / Higher Than Heaven…Is Echo & The Bunnymen / The Pictures On My Wall

■24no 1st The Charlatans / Happen To Die (Long Version) Modern English / I Melt With You The Icicle Works / Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream) Ride / Like A Daydream Lush / Outdoor Miner Loop / Arc-Lite (Sonar) Curve / Fait Accompli (Extended Extended Extended) The Jesus & Mary Chain feat. Hope Sandoval / Sometimes Always

■久保田稔人 1st Schlimer K / She’s Gone Belfegore / All That I Want Red Beat / See Monsoon / Tomorrow Nwever Knows Section 25 / Colour Movement Sex & Violence The Essence / The Afterworld Lucy Show / Come Back To The Living Loard / RIBS

■小野島大 1st

■木下理樹 1st

■migon　2nd Clan Of Xymox / Muscoviet Musquito Xmal Deutshland / Qual The Dance Society / Somewhere The Names / Floating World The Wild Swans / God Forbid Sad Lovers And Giants / Colourless Dream The Shamen / Something About You Interpol / Roland The Cameleons / Everyday I’m Crucified The Mighty Lemon Drops / The Other Side Of You Ecoh & The Bunnymen / Clocodiles The Sound / Heatland

■Zodiac 2nd The Sound / Sence Of Purpose (What are We Going To Do) Snake Corps / Science Kills Julian Cope / 5 O'clock World Then Jerico / Let Her Fall March Violets / Snake Dance Alien Sex Fiend / I Walked Line Fields Of The Nephilim / Power Love & Rockets / If There A Heaven Above Specimen / Beauty Of Poison

■24no 2nd The Cure / The Lovecats (Extended Version) Siouxsie & The Banshees / Song From The Edge Of The World Skeletal Family / Promised Land (Extended Version) Gene Loves Jezebel / Desire (Come And Get It) The Mission / Serpents Kiss The Sisters Of Mercy / Walk Away Play Dead / Sacrosanct Virgin Prunes / Pagan Lovesong (Vibeakimbo) B-Movie / Nowhere Girl (Long Version)

■久保田稔人 2nd Opposition / The Man Who Almost Shaves 17 Pygmies / Chameleon Asylum Party / Julia Adrian Borland / Fast Blue World Bram Tchaikovsky / Robber Comsat Angels / Island Herat Toy / It’s Been So Long The Horrors / New Ice Age The Church / Tantalized Joy Division / Atmosphere

■小野島大 2nd （1st&2nd ※順不同） Blue in Heaven / Across My Heart The Mock Turtles / Can You Dig It? ART-SCHOOL / テュペロ・ハニー Chapterhouse / Pearl Curve / On The Wheel dip / ��たいぐらいに乾いたら My Bloody Valentine / feed me your kiss Nine Inch Nails / Mr.Self Destruct Oasis / The Shock of the Lightning Radiohead / Just The Flaming Lips / Race for the Prize (Remix) The Novembers / Sturm und Drang きのこ帝国 / パラノイド・パレード血と雫 / 黄泉にひびく Animal Collective / Summertime Clothes Bauhaus / Third Uncle New Order / Everything’s Gone Green Pavement / The Killing Moon Killing Joke / Love Like Blood Towns / Get Me There

■木下理樹 2nd

■Last Echo & The Bunnymen / The Cutter The Cameleons / In Sherds

■Ending Echo &The Bunnymen / In Blue Skys

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feynavaley · 7 years

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I was scrolling through some Digimon Tri spoilers when I remembered that some time ago I had a dream about the fifth movie.

It was something pretty stupid and predictable (and quite surprising, considering that I’m not even really following Digimon Tri, I watched the movies but I’m just checking on for nostalgia sake), I don’t even remember it that well, but it basically went on this way:

The kids have returned to the real world (no explanation. They just are in the real world.) For some reason, everybody is running around (trying to stop some Digimons from wreaking havoc around the city? Or something like that) and they get separated. Hikari goes home to check on her mother because she has received a phone call but when she answered there was only static. She runs up the stairs and gets into the apartment, which is completely silent. She walks around, then opens a door and finds her mother gagged and tied to a chair. Hikari freezes, and she tries to say something, while her mother’s eyes widen and she shakes her head. Too late. In the most cliché scene ever, the frame shows a hand clasping a cloth against Hikari’s face, and she’s unconscious before she has the time to struggle. The next frame shows a tear running down Maki’s cheek as she gathers Hikari’s body and walks away. Tailmon is nowhere to be seen, and Maki won’t appear again. (but after all, this is a dream. It’s already surprisingly consistent to be one.)

We see the others fighting around the streets. I don’t remember much, but I have a vivid memory of Joe (sorry I don’t know how is name is supposed to be written so I’ll use the English version) distributing skateboards because so they can more quickly and follow their Digimons (dream logic yay!). They gather again, and somebody (Sora, I think?) realizes that Hikari is nowhere to be seen.

Back to Hikari. She wakes up tied to a chair, in what looks like a storeroom, underground (there is no indication of it being underground, I just know). There is a small Digimon (a Numemon, maybe? I don’t remember clearly. It’s possible that it changed identity during the course of the scene) shuffling around. She tries asking questions, but it looks very scared and refuses to answer. At one point, she has almost convinced the Digimon to free her, when the door slams open, revealing one of these ghost-like Digimons that followed Vamdemon around (I don’t even remember how they are called. I was like 6 when I watched Digimon…). The other Digimon flees (into a vent that totally hadn’t been there until then, but whatever), while the newcomer is very upset about Hikari being awake. He slams a metal pole against her stomach, knocking her unconscious again.

Meanwhile, Taichi, Takeru and Yamato (while the others are searching somewhere else, I think) get to Taichi and Hikari’s apartment, preceded by Patamon. They find their mother, who’s crying and tell them that Hikari has been taken. There is no mention of Maki. They immediately run out to look for her, everybody is very upset but not as much as Taichi, who’s barely keeping control but is on the verge of freaking out completely and is blaming himself for losing sight of Hikari. Agumon is very sad and worried about this (I think I remember a scene of him muttering ‘Taichi…’ with a very sad expression). While they are running (the skateboards aren’t there anymore lol) they run into Daigo, who looks very concerned with the news that Hikari has been kidnapped. They keep running around while the Digimons fight. (there’s a lot of fighting… I don’t remember specific scenes, but the general impression was almost that of a war movie scenario, with explosions everywhere, buildings falling apart, ruined streets, screams…)

Hikari wakes up again. She’s chained to some strange metal contraption, hanging from her wrists. Vamdemon is in front of her. He laughs, and Tailmon (who is magically there as well, and somehow not restrained) tries to attack him, but he hits Hikari (with one of his attacks? Or maybe it was something physical, a whip or something like that. I don’t remember) so Tailmon has to stop. Vamdemon then attacks Tailmon and Hikari screams, activating her crest - which was what Vamdemon was waiting for. Basically, Hikari has been strapped to a machine that uses the power of her crest to give energy to Vamdemon’s Digimon (the ones who are making a mess around the city). To Hikari, it feels like electroshock, and she starts screaming in pain. Tailmon evolves in Ophanimon FM at that point, and she’s completely out of control. Suddenly, she’s out in the city (dream logic pt 2) and she attacks everybody, both Vamdemon’s helpers and the Digidestined, but Vamdemon doesn’t mind (because she’s still making a mess of everything? I don’t really know. He just keeps laughing, like the worst B-rated movie villain ever).

Some generic fighting occurs, every Digimon gets thrown around a lot, while the kids are told by Daigo that looking for Hikari is more important. Some of them (or all of them? I remember clearly Taichi, Takeru, Yamato and Koushiro, but in following scenes there are other people, so I don’t know. Maybe they just appear and disappear) find a tunnel that should lead to where Hikari is being held, but there’s a labyrinth and they don’t know where to go, they keep wandering around and they are growing more and more desperate because they can’t find Hikari and their Digimons are suffering outside. At one point, Taichi falls to his knees and starts sobbing because he’s a failure and he couldn’t protect Hikari or the Digimons and everything is going to fail, and nobody knows what to say, but then Takeru is like “Fuck This!” and he gives a cliché-y talk on how much he won’t lose hope and he’ll save Hikari, then his crest for some reason resonates with Hikari’s crest and start leading them to her. (Omg this is so pathetic that I’m almost embarrassed, even if it was only a dream…)

The screen cuts back to Hikari, who’s now completely hanging from her wrists, with her head down. She’s not screaming anymore, she’s only half-conscious, but she’s crying. There are a lot of screens in front of her that show what’s happening to the city. She wants to stop but she doesn’t know how, and she’s at her limit. Then, just as she’s about to pass out, Wizardmon (but more like a vision, I think? Not the real one…) appears in front of her and he’s like “If you can’t work against them, work with them.” After that Hikari, instead of trying to restrain herself, basically pours all her power in the machine, which breaks it in a big, overused explosion of light.

Outside, Ophanimon FM suddenly turns back to Nyaromon, unconscious. Angemon catches her she falls down.

In the tunnels, the kids see the light and finally reach the room where Hikari is held. There is nobody inside except for Hikari, unconscious on the floor (what about Vamdemon? My brain: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). Everybody runs to her, Taichi and Takeru on the front, and they’re all relieved, Taichi starts pulling her in his lap - and he realizes that she isn’t breathing. Panic ensues. Mimi screams, and Taichi is completely frozen, but then Daigo (who wasn’t here until that moment, but apparently according to dream-me he can teleport) pushes him to a side and start doing chest compressions while Joe calls an ambulance. (also, they’re all miraculously in the open now, in the middle of a ruined street. There’s like a crater, I think. And Hikari is wearing a white tunic instead of her clothes)

Everybody is completely shell-shocked, and you can hear Daigo cracking Hikari’s ribs (I was reading a book in which the whole cracking ribs while doing CPR was told in very graphic details okay? Clearly, it influenced my dream…) but she’s still not breathing. Taichi is frozen on the ground, and Yamato is hugging Takeru, but suddenly, Takeru breaks free. Koushiro tries to stop him, but he takes Hikari’s hand. His crest glows a little, and Hikari starts breathing again, but she’s still unconscious. The paramedics arrive and load her into the ambulance, applying a breathing mask, and the movie closes with the other Digidestined watching the ambulance drive away.

…So, that’s it. The most pathetic, overused plot ever. And yet, I know that I’m going to think fondly about it on Saturday because there was absolutely no Meiko. Let this sink, No. Meiko. And, more importantly, Taichi spent the entire time worrying about Hikari, which makes him more IC in my dream than in the movie, where apparently (according to the spoilers) he runs off to follow Meiko-Sue instead of caring about his sister. Oh well…

#feyna speaks #digimon #digimon adventure tri #kyousei #hikari yagami #tailmon #taichi yagami #takeru takaishi #yamato ishida #joe kido #daigo nishijima #vamdemon #dreams #dream log #yeah I know this was really stupid #I often have dreams like this one #but I wanted to write it down because I know I'll think about it for a while #and maybe somebody will have a laugh at this nonsense

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alightinthelantern · 4 years

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Because the decade is ending I’ve been revisiting old interests and past fandoms from when I was a teen, and boy is it a trip down Memory Lane.

Listening to old Vocaloid songs from when I was in high school back in 2010, when I was 15 and new to internet culture, and it was one of the first Japanese culture I ever discovered. Apparently Vocaloids are still a thing? I knew Miku was still popular bc I’d seen stuff in the past year featuring her, but apparently the other Vocaloid characters are too, and there’ve been a whole bunch of new ones introduced in the past decade? I remember when the whole Daughter of Evil saga was being created. I remember all the alt characters people created by taking the main vocaloids and pitch-altering their voice banks. The Vocaloid community was fresh and thriving back then. That was back when Gender-Bending was a staple of fandom culture, and making male “versions” of female characters and vice versa was hugely popular. This was when “Caramelldansen” and “Ievan Polkka” weren’t Classic Memes, this was when they were new, and all the rage.

I remember the Gamecube days, back in the 2000s, and watching my stepbrothers battle my sisters interchangeably on it or the old Nintento 64 they had, in Mario Kart, or Mortal Kombat, or the original Smash Brothers (I, who had terrible hand-eye coordination, wasn’t fit for playing, but was more content to passively enjoy anyway). I remember when the Wii was first introduced (my mother didn’t believe in video games for a long time, and only bought a console for the family about four years later). I remember the GameBoy, I remember the release of the first XBox. I remember the online dress-up doll games. I remember when the Lego Star Wars video game was first released, and being an avid fanatic of those famous bricks as a kid enjoyed watching my siblings play that probably more than than anything else.

I remember how huge the cosplay scene was in the early 2010s, for all kinds of shows. I remember reading Emma: A Victorian Romance by Kaoru Mori with glee as a teen, siting in a bean bag chair in the Teen Area of my local library, because they had a dedicated manga section and had the entire print run. That was back before Borders was bought out by Barnes & Noble and ceased to be, and I’d often sit in the second-floor manga section of my local Borders and read the volumes that caught my eye for a half-hour or more, and the store clerks didn’t care because it was a different world then, a different culture, and I was always a polite, well-behaved kid anyway who always physically respected the books. Apparently the anime adaptation of Mori’s Emma from years ago finally got an English dub in the past year? I’m going to have to track it down and give it a watch.

I remember loving the Romeo x Juliet anime as a teen, that crazy and brilliantly original high-fantasy reimagining of the classic play. I loved that the English dub script was mostly in Elizabethan-era English. I remember Ouran Host Club and Baccano! too, and the first of those being one of the funniest things I’d ever seen in my life at the time. Same with The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I remember liking Fruits Basket back in 1010, and only realizing years later how fucked up it actually was. I remember Baccano! and Nabari No Ou. I also remember some other shows whose names don’t bear repeating. I remember downloading their OSTs off dedicated websites that no longer exist. I still have these soundtracks in my iTunes library. I remember when burning playlists onto CDs was popular; they finally became obsolete and passé sometime in my high school years, after the rise of mp3 players and programs like iTunes crystallized the superiority of the .mp3, and then people would laugh when I mentioned my own burned CD collection.

I remember when Over the Garden Wall first came out, in 2014, and how groundbreaking it was at the time in terms of what an animated show could be, visually and plot-wise. That show still has a small bud dedicated fandom it seems. I remember the character ask-blogs that were so popular from 2014--16 on tumblr, both ones with drawn replies and ones with live cosplay photos or gifs. God, the ask-blog community was so huge at the time. That might have been the height of tumblr’s popularity, the mid-2010s. I remember DeviantART and the thriving fanart community it had before tumblr took over in the early 2010s. I remember all OCs people were making, and the ask-accounts before ask-blogs were a thing. I remember the roleplay groups. I remember all the fucked-up things people were into back then because the Scene Phase had come but not yet entirely gone, and because teens were emo little shits in general. I remember when anime pairings were written as “[name] x [name]” in full before people started mashing names together around 2014, I remember when words like y*oi and y*ri were the norm. Oh how times have changed. (And thank god they’ve changed)

I remember when the Twilight movies were being made and my high school health teacher put the first movie on in class one day and had the class point out different ways in with the romance was toxic and unhealthy. It’s mind-boggling that in 2019, after The Discourse had come, burned, raged, and gone, that people are still stupid enough to like those films. Even back then I was smart enough to see them for the creepy, badly-written dreck that they were. I remember when The Hunger Games was published (I never read it). I remember the first Hunger Games Movie coming out and the controversy surrounding Jennifer Lawrence being cast as the lead. I remember coming into school one day to find two of my teachers casually debating it (I never saw the movies, and didn’t particularly care about that conversation).

I remember watching an independent showing of Studio Ghibli’s From Up on Poppy Hill in 2015 at a local indie theater, and the audience roaring with laughter when one of the boys at the old club house asked “How can we make archaeology cool again?!” and another replying “We can’t!”, and then a woman in the audience said out loud “Archaeology is cool!”

I remember the birth, life and death of Vine, and despite The Discourse raging on tumblr at the time, the humor on that app was still largely Mainstream and often racist.

I remember Teen Wolf, and Glee, Sherlock and Supernatural and Doctor Who. I remember the emergence of “Superwholock” and the sheer insufferableness of the fandom before they eventually, blessedly died out. I remember the disappearance of shows like J*njou R*omantica and the rise of shows like Free! and Yuri on Ice!!!, Modern “woke” animes that still featured vapid, cliché-driven writing, with Modern “woke” audiences that were puerile-minded and cliché-hungry as ever, the same y*oi fangirls as those that had existed in the early 2010s, only now the shows had done away with the nasty R*pe-As-Romance and replaced it with cringey, ham-fisted pretenses of Realistic Psychology or Social Conscience. And I realized that anime fans my age weren’t worth their salt, and by that time I was too old for anime anyway so I finally dropped it. New animes have come and gone, new live action shows have come and gone, and all the same terrible fandom drama that has burned year after year regardless of show still burns. Same shit, different sewer.

I remember how different online culture was for teens a decade ago. I remember how different real life was for teens a decade ago. Everything has changed so much in the past decade. Teens were children when I was teen. Now, ten years later, teens are like miniature adults, thinking and speaking maturely, socially and politically conscious, wise beyond their years. Racism is acknowledged for the evil it is, and bigoted trolls are no longer socially accepted. When I was a teen, been an edgelord was in, and kids like me who were unusually conscientious were labeled Babies and Oversensitive whenever something didn’t sit right and we voiced objections. Anons telling people to kill themselves was routine. People were violent and ruthless online, and the culture was truly reminiscent of The Lord of The Flies, a cutthroat free-for-all among girls and boys of all ages.

But not anymore: as people keep saying these days, being an Asshole is Out, being Kind is In. Shit like H*zbin H*tel, that would’ve been immensely popular ten years ago, is acknowledged for the violent, vile crap it is. And the language around sexuality and gender has changed so drastically, and has opened up so much. There was no trans content a decade ago in fandom, and Gender-bending, when done to explore the social ramifications of a character as the “opposite gender” (because nothing outside the gender binary existed as far as fandom was then concerned), and not just for titillation, was always cisgendered and done by way of Alternate Universes.

I had a miserable experience as a teen, and I wish that I could have experienced this kind of environment in my formative years rather than the one I did. But although I never did, I am so happy for the teens of today, that they are able to experience this kind of social openness, that they can experience this kind of unity and conscientiousness that exists in a way it never did before. That, even with as bleak and awful as the world is, they are fighting to make it better for themselves. Because it really was them that changed it.

Because, as much as Millennials like to pretend otherwise, we didn’t make the internet culture what it is today, We were edgy shitlord brats who loved laughably bad media, whether it was edgy and featured protagonists who murdered for fun, or maudlin and featured Mary Sue protagonists. We had flame wars over who was “uke or seme” for characters that weren’t even gay. We were nasty piss-stains, and even the teens like me who were better than the rest still had our awful moments. I’ve done and said things as a teen that I’m ashamed of, and no amount of nostalgia can change the fact that fandom and the media it consumed was objectively awful a decade ago. And though “Fandom Moms” and other nasty, disgusting, overgrown-children may be a proud bastion and defenders of the Old Ways, reminiscing about their LiveJournal Days and telling themselves their age is somehow indicative of wisdom rather than how creepy and pathetic they really are, their days are numbered, and I can’t wait to see their +30yo asses slowly die out in the face of progress.

#personal #''Old Radio'' is a good song tho. Kaito was def my favorite as a teen.

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firehawk12 · 7 years

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In This Corner of the World ( (2016)

In This Corner of the World (Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni) is a film about a woman named Suzu living in Japan during the height of World War 2, as Japanese society slowly crumbles around her. Further complicating the film is the fact that the film is partly set in Hiroshima and in Kure (a port city close to Hiroshima). adding an oppressive layer of dramatic tension because we can only wait and see how the atomic bomb drop will affect Suzu and her family.

Anime as Art

It’s worth mentioning Mai Mai Miracle (2009) (which, incidentally, is only legally available in English through crowdfunding) because it reveals a lot about Katabuchi’s sensibilities as a director. It’s a film that shares many thematic similarities to Kono Sekai, touching on nostalgia (as both are set in Japan’s past), the nature of imagination and mediated experiences, and the experience of being in transition. But more importantly, both films use the power of animation to address these themes in a visually striking manner, using visual metaphors to expressively bring the audience into the mind of the main characters.

While Mai Mai Miracle asks us to enter into the world of the imagination through Shinko’s whimsical thoughts via her unruly cowlick which she calls a “mai mai”, Kono Sekai grounds these visuals through Suzu’s background as an aspiring artist. Early in the film we see Suzu draw a series of pictures depicting an adventure she had in Hiroshima involving an Ogre that tries to kidnap her and another little boy. As Suzu recounts this story to her sister, the film transitions from the realistic, cleanly animated art style of the film to the crude and unsophisticated drawings that Suzu produces, signalling to us that perspective and point of view are entirely subjective experiences.

We see this again when a Tetsu, a young classmate, asks Suzu to paint a picture for him. As Tetsu describes his bitter feelings toward the ocean, because his brother died when his ship sank, one of images that bothers him most about the ocean is the fact that the waves look like rabbits hopping in a field. The contrast between the anger over his personal loss and fits of fancy that his imagination takes him on is something that is difficult for him to reconcile, and we this dichotomy is made even more apparent through its depiction on the screen, as the scene transitions from the standard art-style of the film to the painterly art-style of Suzu’s painting. We can see how art has the power to capture the beauty of a tragic moment, as we see Tetsu’s negative feelings being swept away by the sea of rabbits hopping off into the distance.

The blend of visual styles, one representing the real world and the other representing the imaginary or the idyllic, pays off in the two most climatic moments of the film. The first is when Suzu and her niece Harumi are out in their garden as they are caught in the first air raid on Kure. As the bombers fly overhead and drop their payloads, the bombs and explosions turn into expressive looking fireworks being drawn by an unseen hand. What would have been a moment of horror is turned into a moment of beauty, as we can imagine Suzu being terrified but also mesmerized by the scene unfolding around her. It’s a scene that’s been depicted many times before in war films — the first that comes to mind is the scene where soldiers laugh at the exploding trees in Bastogne on an episode of Band of Brothers (2001)— but the nature of anime as a visual medium based on an artistic interpretation of reality lends itself wonderfully to a depiction of the shock and awe of living through a bombing. The simple act of changing the art style arrests us and forces us to confront what we are being asked to consume. Interiority is juxtaposed with exteriority, as we get to see how Suzu herself sees the world around her.

Later on in the film, after another bombing, a similar transition occurs as Suzu and Harumi are caught in an explosion. As Suzu realizes that they are standing next to an unexploded bomb and tries to pull Harumi away, the film offers a close up of their hands before a flash overwhelms the scene and leaves us in darkness. When the screen comes back to life, we see white outlines of Suzu and Harumi suffering through the blast as Suzu struggles to understand what has happened. The film relies on an artistic representation of the scene in order to convey its full impact, and seeing the outline of Harumi dissolve into an unrecognizable mess of white lines is enough for us to understand that Harumi has been killed and that she has lost her right arm — the arm that she draws and creates her art with. Again, it’s a scene that visually lets us into Suzu’s mind — we understand that the actual details are not important. The only thing that matters in this moment is the fact that Harumi is dead and that Suzu feels responsible for causing her death.

It’s telling that the film doesn’t switch between the realistic art-style used in most of the film to a more interpretative art-style after this point, because we understand that Suzu’s spark has been snuffed out by the trauma of this event. She has both lost a child that she cared for, and also the hand that allowed her to escape the war through her art. The next time we see a bombing, it’s depicted without any mediation — including a moment when a fighter plane circles around to try to strafe her. Even the inevitable dropping of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima is depicted matter-of-factly, with a simple flash of light followed by the tremors of the explosion’s aftershock. Death is depicted without mediation as well, as we see a mother and her daughter walk aimlessly out of the rubble of Hiroshima, only for the mother to pass out and die in front of her child. It’s only at the end of the film, when Suzu visits Hiroshima to see the aftermath of the bombing, where she remembers the story about the Ogre that she invented in her childhood and allows herself to dip back into the world of the imagination.

This is one of the films that answers the question “why anime?”. Yes, there is a live action version of Kono Sekai (a TV movie from 2011 which has seemingly been completely forgotten, at least on English language websites), but I can’t imagine that it would have been as effective as this film at conveying the psychological mindset of being a civilian caught in the war. This is a film that effectively uses animation to convey meaning, specifically allowing us into Suzu’s mind, in a manner that just wouldn’t be possible otherwise without compromises.

Indeed, the credit sequence affirms the power of art by showing a hand — perhaps Suzu’s missing hand — drawing scenes from Suzu’s childhood, showing a happier time when her immediate family was still alive (we learn that Suzu is the only one in her family that survives the war). As the credits end, the hand stops drawing and waves goodbye to the audience. It’s a striking final image that provides a catharsis for the emotional climax of the film — the past is gone, but not forgotten. Suzu learns to live on by embracing her new family of in-laws and by adopting an orphaned girl, but the loved ones she’s lost and the arm she is missing will always be in her memories, ready to be memorialized through art. It is then that we realize that the film itself is an artistic endeavour meant to give us a small slice of history, so that the suffering and perseverance of the survivors of World War 2 are not forgotten. The hand waves at us to say goodbye so that we can resume our lives in 2017, but it also asks us to remember all the sacrifices that were made to get us here.

History and Context

I think it’s worth pointing out the film’s context, even if I don’t necessarily have any clean answers to resolve these issues with the film. The one unavoidable reality that the film largely ignores is that Japan is historically seen as the villain in World War 2, and indeed, in much of the early 20th century. Tensions between the various South East Asian powers still flare up in part due to the scars of the war and the Japanese colonization. Whether it’s denial of Japanese war crimes, or the enshrinement of the men responsible for these war crimes, I think it’s fair that Japan inability to fully reconcile with it’s dark past is a lingering, festering wound on the psyche of an entire region.

It’s why I found it difficult to process my feelings about the film after I watched it. It’s a film that I enjoyed on an aesthetic and emotional level, but there was a part of me that just couldn’t let go of the historical context. Recently, a large unexploded bomb was found in Frankfurt, serving as a reminder of the Allied bombing campaigns against various German cities at the end of the war. There are still debates about whether these bombings were necessary or justified, since the tide of the war had turned at that point (particularly during the Dresden bombings). And like the people depicted in Kono Sekai, many Germans would have suffered at the hands of these bombings. But it’s hard to separate the suffering of German civilians from the fact that Germany as a nation committed genocide on a massive scale (not to mention the bombings of London and other cities).

And so, the cynical part of me wondered if it was possible to sympathize with the events in the film considering the massive suffering that Japanese imperialism caused throughout the early 20th Century. At the moment, the only way that I’ve found to resolve this “problem” is to try to separate the political context from my enjoyment of the film. It’s not a pretty solution, but I don’t know if I can ever really find a way to resolve this particular issue.

I had similar feelings toward The Wind Rises (2013) (and also here in a less formal post), which also similarly skirted politics and tried to focus strictly on character and biography, and I don’t think I’ve ever resolved my feelings about that film either.

I should probably note that I didn’t have the same problem with Grave of the Fireflies (1988) or the flashback scenes in Natsu no Arashi (2009), because of the fact that the main characters were clearly victims of circumstance (what could children do to stop the war?), and that I had absolutely no problems sympathizing with English bombing survivors in the recent film Their Finest (2016), which was in part about the German air raids on London.

Perhaps Kono Sekai itself offers a solution to this conundrum when it shows how Suzu reacts to the Emperor’s announcement of Japan’s formal surrender to the Allied forces. Everything she has gone through, all that she has lost — the fact that her brother was killed overseas, that her parents died in the Hiroshima blast, that her sister most likely died from exposure, and of course Harumi — was all in service to something bigger than her. We see that many of the characters in the film willingly sacrifice in order to contribute to the greater good of the society. So when Japan surrenders, everyone realizes that their sacrifices were for naught. Suzu runs away from the house after hearing the announcement, only to see Harumi’s mother sobbing outside as she finally mourns for her daughter. Suzu herself breaks down into tears as she decries violence itself, rather than any nation state.

It’s an easy out to take — inviting us to move on from history by attacking the nature of war itself — but maybe that’s the only way forward.

Story and Structure

First, I have to admit upfront that I haven’t read the manga, so I don’t know how much of what I am about to say can be credited to the filmmakers and how much can be credited to Kouno. With that said, there are some aspects of the story that I wanted to talk about that just weren’t covered in my discussion of the film’s visuals or of the film’s historical context.

The film does an admirable job filling in the world without relying on exposition. Yes, it asks you to do some work by assuming that you are at least educated about the Second World War, but there are never scenes where characters stand around talking about the war in an expository manner. When the film opens in the 1930s with a young Suzu going to Hiroshima to sell her family’s dried seaweed, we see that it is Christmas time. There’s a man in a Santa suit spruiking for the market district, and people are seen doing their Christmas shopping, we get a picture of a more liberal time in Japanese history. The Japanese empire was still expanding, but they were still open to Western ideals at the time because the American embargoes weren’t in place yet. It reminds me of Taisho Yakyu Musume (2009), a series set in the 30s that featured an American teacher coaching a girl’s baseball team.

When the film skips forward in time to the 40s and Suzu moves to Kure, we get glimpses of war time life that explain the burden placed on civilians at the time — rationing, strict security measures and curfews, the reclamation of land and resources (Suzu’s family loses their seaweed business, and Suzu’s sister-in-law loses her business as well), the drafting of all of the men, and so on. We also get scenes showing how people would have coped, including a black market selling forbidden “luxuries” like a pencil colour set and watermelon, but also a red light district to essentially service all of the sailors who take shore leave in port. Certainly gone are the days when people celebrated Christmas. These aspects of life are presented as a representation of life in the 40s, without any judgement on part of the characters or the filmmakers — for Suzu and people living under these conditions, it was simply a fact of life.

We see how the war is progressing through the eyes of the characters as well. When Suzu first arrives in Kure, the port is bustling with many ships preparing to embark in campaigns in the Pacific. But as time progresses in the film, we see fewer and fewer ships, showing that Japan is on the losing side of the war. Similarly, when one of the few remaining boys in the town is drafted and sent off to war, only a handful of women are there to send him off. There isn’t even a chance for celebration, as this small ceremony is interrupted by an air raid siren that sends the small gathering of supporters scattering. Sure, we know that Japan loses the war, but even if we didn’t, these small moments help paint the picture of a war effort that is being stretched to its limits.

Suzu’s story stands out as well, as she is definitely not the star of a conventional romance. Her marriage to Shusaku is all but arranged — he says he saw her in town one day and had to marry her—which is exactly what happens when the film jumps forward in time. We’re not shown a courtship because there isn’t one. Their relationship could be described as an affectionate friendship, and they might like each other, but it’s not clear that they are in “love” with each other as we would expect from a convention romance.

The lack of true love in their relationship comes to a head when Suzu’s old friend Tetsu comes to visit her and Shusaku senses that she has a connection with him. Shusaku all but pushes Suzu and Tetsu together, forcing them to spend the night with each other by locking her out of their home, showing his graciousness in admitting defeat in the love triangle. The absurdity of the situation makes Suzu angry, as she and Shusaku are finally forced to confront the nature of their marriage. In the end, theirs is a companionate relationship rather than one built on extreme passion or love, but I think the subdued nature of their courtship fits very well with the story that is being told. The relationship isn’t the “star” of the story, and the film isn’t asking “will they or won’t they”. The relationship is simply a characterization of the life that Suzu leads, of enduring and finding small pleasures in the face of darkness.

The fact that the film is bookended by the appearance of the Ogre ties it all together. It’s implied that Shusaku met Suzu in Hiroshima on the trip we see in the opening of the film, and the story about the Ogre that Suzu tells her sister was actually about their first meeting. So when an adult Shusaku and Suzu meet in Hiroshima after the bomb was dropped, the Ogre walks past them and smiles at them. It’s a loop that closes on their story and perhaps allows us to believe that they were fated to be with each other, much like fairy tale characters, even if it seems like they were only together due to matters of circumstance. It’s also the first sign of recovery, of the return of the fantastical and the imaginary, and a sign that their renewed relationship signals a period of recovery for Japan as a whole.

One note about Tetsu is that I think it’s very deliberate that he served on the Aoba. As Tetsu himself points out in the film, the Aoba didn’t have a glorious victory or honorable defeat at sea, something that mulls on him as he sees the people around him die in battle. It’s not explicitly stated in the film, but at the end of the ship’s life, the Aoba was left in Kure as an anti-air battery, ending her service as a ship altogether. It’s a fair inauspicious end for the ship, and presumably for Tetsu as well, giving us yet another example of the fruitless nature of the war.

It’s also interesting how the American forces are depicted in the film. There is only one true American point of view shot that is completely removed from the context of Suzu, and that’s when reconnaissance plane flies over Kure and takes pictures of the Yamato (which is later sunk). For the most part, however, the Americans are treated like an unpredictable force of nature. There’s no human element to the flights of bombers dropping ordnance onto Kure, and they might as well be terrifying storms or mythical creatures indiscriminately raining down death and destruction. Given how apolitical the film is, treating the American threat as an abstraction allows the film to focus entirely on Suzu and how the bombs affect her. It’s a reminder that the film isn’t a war film, but a film about living through a war. In fact, the only time we see a human American presence is after Japan’s surrender, when Americans occupy Japan and begin to provide relief to the civilian population. At this point they’re not an indiscriminate force of nature anymore, they are compassionate human beings.

The countdown to August 6, 1945 is a dreadful and oppressive one, and with each passing day we know that the inevitable will happen. At the peak of the American bombing efforts, the film presents time passing through the act of someone recording the bombings into a log. On this day, there were two bombing raids, on the next day, there were four bombing raids, and so on. As the bombings get more intense, the bombing logs also begin to speed up, a staccato of violence that builds toward the inevitable crescendo of the Little Boy explosion. As members of the audience, we can only watch helplessly as Suzu tells her husband that she wants to move back to Hiroshima to be with her family, and while we breathe a sigh of relief when we see that she is unable to make it home before August 6, our relief is tempered by the fact that we know the scope and scale of the devastation. The film does a great job building tension toward a specific end date, and much like the Dunkirk (2017), you are left on the edge of your seat waiting to see how history will affect the lives of characters that we have come to care for.

While I briefly mentioned the ending above, I wanted to point out how much it worked for me despite the fact that it may seem contrived. While in Hiroshima, the film cuts away from Suzu’s perspective to show a mother and her young daughter walking away from the destruction. The mother, who has her arm amputated in the blast, dies and the little girl is left alone to fend for herself. The scene slowly dissolves around the girl so that we know some time has passed and she bumps into Suzu, and the first thing she notices is that Suzu is also missing her arm. Yes, Suzu is a convenient replacement for the girl’s mother, and the girl is a convenient replacement for Harumi, but in the context of the scene, it’s a powerful moment for the film as the characters learn to build a new family together. Suzu’s relationship with the orphaned girl is symbolic of the healing and mutual support that Japan as a nation had to go through in order to make it out of the post-war years, and the fact that we get a short montage in the credits of the happy life that Suzu has built for herself and her family after the events of the film is a testament to that idea. It’s a moment that happens very quickly, and I can see how it might lose some people, but for me it just brought everything together.

I didn’t anticipate writing as much as I did about this film, but perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s a provocative, engaging, and thoughtful look at a very problematic time in history. It’s also a great showcase for animation as a storytelling medium, unafraid of using the unique aspects of animation to its advantage.

While I understand why Your Name (2016) ended up being the big hit of the year and blew up all the Asian box office records (even garnering a month long theatrical run in Toronto, which is unprecedented), I hope that this film isn’t buried in the process and becomes as forgotten as Mai Mai Miracle. The fact that the film required a crowdfunding campaign to even get started is a bit of an indictment of the anime industry, which is somehow more risk averse than Hollywood with its endless superhero sequel films.

Kono Sekai is much more of an emotional journey, and you’re not going to get the immediate catharsis that you will from seeing two lovers reunite after a decade apart from each other, but I think the story in this film will make just as big an impact on you. It’ll just take more effort to reach that point.

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