#it's written perspective of a woman in the post war japan
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9 book recommendations
This week I spent most of my free time watching films and online shopping so for the post today I’m picking out some of the things I’ve read over the last year.
Not sure why but when summer ends I feel like the year has ended. It feels like a shift that is more substantial than just a change of season. Somehow September has always felt like January to me. I suppose it is the start of the academic year and it wasn’t that long ago that I went to school. Anyway, this week’s post is a list of 10 books I’ve read over the past year. It’s the ones that I keep thinking about. The ones that stuck out the most.
Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan
Jealously, denial, rage and unease all come together in this novel that follows a young woman in her early 20s through a very unhealthy relationship. Really loved how this book was written. Nolan writes a character whose idea of love is so explicitly tied to self-worth that (at some point) it is no longer love and becomes something else entirely.
Space Struck by Paige Lewis
Collection of poems that deals with metaphysical issues without being pretentious, intangible, or overly poetic. And tbh I didn’t think that was possible before I read this. They have a kind of narrative structure that makes me want to read on.
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
This short novel has a poetic and sensitive set up and follows a mother and daughter journeying through Japan. During the holiday, the daughter recalls memories as a teenager and young adult in a raw and exposing way. It is autofiction but there’s something more complex / special about it. It has a strength to it that I find autofiction can sometimes lack.
You Are Having a Good Time by Amie Barrodale
This book of short stories is full of weird characters and interactions. Each story has a very different context but everyone in them is either awful, deluded, or angry. Loved!
Luster by Raven Leilani
Tells the story of a young women having an affair with a middle-aged man while avoiding every cliché. The writing is so good: frank, poetic and dramatic, but only at the exact moments it needs to be.
The Superrationals by Stephanie LaCava
Different perspectives of colleagues and acquaintances in the art world are bought together in this novel and centered around the friendship of two young women. Full of drama and tension (there is a gossip chorus) but so smooth and thoughtful. I read it like a film / I think it would make a good film.
Bolla by Pajtim Statovci
One of the best books I’ve ever read and there’s so much to say about it. It follows the secret relationship of two men in 1990s Kosovo (on the verge of war). Incredible writing about how desire, morality, and love work at an everyday, emotional level alongside fate and forces outside of one’s control. The amount of time that passes in this novel is undefined, but something that struck me was how it felt like the protagonist’s entire lifetime, even though I’m not sure if it was.
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
I found this book so comforting and beautiful. The writing has such a strong sense of direction, and the dialogue is so smooth and true to life. The focus is on the challenging reality that the main characters face as working-class women in contemporary Japan. Despite the difficulties they encounter, Kawakami writes about the women in such a hole / textured way, they are never reduced by their problems. I think this is what makes it moving, complex and beautiful.
Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh
One of my favourite writers tbh so felt obliged to include. But also, I loved this collection of short stories and highly recommend. The title perfectly evokes the strange and non-sensical lives of the characters, and the stories that they tell themselves to reconcile their unease, sometimes filled with unawareness. Planning on doing longer reviews of her books in the future as I think I’ve read them all now lol.
#book review#books & libraries#bookshelf#bookworm#ottessa moshfegh#mieko kawakami#sheila heti#stephanie lacava#pajtim statovci#raven leilani#megan nolan#writers and poets#female writers#writing
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The Top Ten Books I Read in 2023
Beginning Educator: Navigating a Second Year in Teaching - Tim Clark
Written by my favorite teacher from high school and published posthumously, this collection of newspaper columns is balm to an educator’s soul. With wit and economy, Clark captures the tempest of emotions teachers go through on a daily or (sometimes) a class by class basis. Never before had I run into a book that captures what life as an educator is really like.
This Other Eden - Paul Harding
Harding’s debut novel Tinkers is a top ten book for me - lyrical, elegant, and unapologetically New England. Harding’s third book is more of the same, only with melancholy tinged with rage. Based on a shameful chapter in Maine’s history, Harding’s story breaths life into a community on the periphery and gives it back its dignity.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Somewhere in Japan there’s a cafe where you can travel into the past. However, there are rules. Lots of rules. Originally written as a play (and it reads like one), this novel has an irresistible premise that drives a beautifully character driven plot that slowly builds to an aching, moving crescendo that overcomes the flaws in its craft. I haven’t been able to stop think about it for weeks.
Writers & Lovers - Lily King
Set in a specific time (the 90s) and a very specific place (Cambridge, Mass.), King’s story captures a woman at a crossroads and in crisis - some of her own making, some not. At times I felt seen while reading this. The rest of the time I was enthralled with King’s empathetic, conversational style.
Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
In the words of Bill Adama of Battlestar Galactica, "it’s not just enough to survive, one must be worthy or survival.” In a world where over 90% of the population perishes in a flu epidemic, a traveling troupe of actors goes from town to town putting on Shakespeare for the shattered remnants of civilization - refusing to let the light of art die out. There’s more to the story, of course - one that Mandel writes with grace and impressive depth; it’s a rare post-apochalytic novel that offers a glimmer of hope because people chose hope.
Moon of the Crusted Snow - Waubgeshig Rice
What would happen if the electricity suddenly went out for good? We’ve seen that story before. What we haven’t seen before is that story from a Native American perspective. A story about the clash of individualism and communalism and of resiliency and reclamation, Rice has a gift of brining a new lens to a familiar situation. I cannot wait to read the sequel when it comes to the U.S.
We Took to the Woods - Louise Dickinson Rich
A Maine classic that can be found in many a cabin, this autobiography of a sort presents a side of Maine few people outside of the state know. This chronicle of life deep in the Maine woods with her husband and infant son struck a chord with me because of my own family history. The attitudes, ethos, and worldview had me nodding as I read - hearing a world that was at once distant and achingly close whisper in my ear.
We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver
Simply the most disturbing book I’ve red in years. Shriver excels at creating a sense of foreboding. You see the train wreck coming and at certain points I almost screamed in frustration for someone to do something. No one in this story is an angel, which only makes things worse. Even now, as I write this, I feel the creepiness tingling in my skin.
Aftermath: The Remnant of War - Donovan Webster
Who cleans up the battlefield after the battle is over? Webster travels the world to find this out. His opening chapter where he helps dig up artillery shells from the battlefields of the First World War, a harvest of iron almost a century old that has no end in sight. It doesn’t get any easier from there and it’s as good an argument as any that the destructiveness of war cannot be contained.
The World Without Us - Alan Weisman
How long would it take for what we’ve built to disappear if we suddenly did? If Thanos did his snap twice and we all were gone, how long would our house last? Our bridges? Our monuments? This is a very meditative book is at once depressing and oddly hopeful. I didn’t finish the book with a sense of dread but rather a sense of appreciation for what we’ve built and the knowledge that everything is reversible given time.
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hey, can you share your thoughts and opinions on dazai osamu's no longer human?(just the book and not in connection with bsd) i read it, i liked it, but i couldnt really relate to it. so im wondering if i should read the setting sun or not. what do you think abt this book?
I don’t think books really need to be relatable to be impactful, but context can help you understand it. In general my advice is the best way to understand a book is to read more books like it. Always, read more books.
Sure, I can write a repsonse to the text though. The book, not the anime. (Ignore the picture of Dazai, he’s just there to look cute.)
The biggest and most important idea in No Longer Human (Ningen Shikakku). The most literal translation of the title being (人間失格) "Disqualified From Being Human. I bring this up, because use of the character in the title has specific meaning.
人 (hito) : human, person 人間 (ningen): human Generally speaking, 人 is used for people, while 人間 is used for humans as a taxonomic classification.
Much like English, the fact that a person is a human is usually a given, because in our world, we call those who are humane “people,” and only humans can be humane. Just like you wouldn’t usually count humans with “three humans” and say “three people” instead, the usual way to count three humans in Japanese would also be 三人 instead of 三人間. “Human society” is 人間社会, etc.
Or to shorten 人 (hito) : human, person 人間 (ningen): human, biological.
So, there’s an extra nuannce there in the translation. The title of the book uses “ningen” as in the sense of taxonomical classification. So, it’s like saying “disqualified from being considered as a part of the human species.”
I go this far in my intro because most consider Dazai’s work to be a response to Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, (he name drops both Dostoevsky and the novel itself). Both of these novels portray society as a whole as an antagonistic force to one individual, who is considered an outsider to that same society. There’s a lot of similarities between the protagonists, both Raksolnikov and Yozo are terminally ill, show signs of mental illness, and both are characters who show incredible self-awareness and moments of self reflection while at the same time being unable to connect to the feelings or identify with the people around them in any healthy way.
To connect back to my little rant on the translation of the title though, what could disqualify a person from being considered a human being? Well, they could commit a crime for instance. Then they’d be classified as a crimminal.
Both protagonists of both novels are crimminals in a sense. However, that’s about where the similarities end. NLH is centrally about the main characters egoism. Society matters so little in NLH, society is just something that hangs ominously in the background to the outsider.
Now there’s another novel by Dostoevsky that similiarly is recorded in a journal format, and is mainly about the main characters Ego. Notes from Underground is considered to be one of Dos’s first existentialist novels. Existentialism (to oversimplify) in a sense of what does existing in this world mean?
That’s why I say the central conflict is not with society itself, but rather within the character’s own head. The outsiders of society only exist within their own heads. Their main challenge is not to grapple with society, morality and law like Raskolnikov but rather to figure out what is inside their own heads and what they live for.
Which is why the protagonists of both novels are terrible egoists. Their main personality trait is their egocentrism, or rather their inability or unwillingness to try to see or understand the feelings or experiences of others. They are first person narrators who only see the world from their own point of view, but they are not objectve narrators. The only thing they can see, the only thing they can relate to, the only thing they can convey is their feelings to the reader.
F. Scott Fitzgerald writes a similiar novel from a similiar point of view in This Side of Paraidse, which shows the journey of one young man born into a rich family who grows up to not only lose the love of his life, but also to squander all his fortunes at the end of the story. However, Fitzgerald drops all pretense on what the story is about. The chapter titles are things like, the romantic egoist, the egoist considers, narcissus off duty, all the way to the egoist becomes a personage.
The book ends like this.
He stretched out his arms to the crystalline, radiant sky.
“I know myself,” he cried, “but that is all.”
It’s an egoists journey to developing a personality. To way oversimplify again, ego is yourself that exists in your own head, personage is what you show to others. At the end of This Side of Paradise, the main character gains himself, while at the end of NLH the protagonist loses himself. It’s the same journey but in reverse, it’s a net loss, it’s tragic.
NLH, This Side of Paradise, and Notes from the Underground are all about egoists who are aware of their own feelings, but aren’t aware of the feelings of others. They’re all ridiculously self absorbed individuals. That’s actually, like, the unreliable narrator trick of the novel.
Yozo is sympathetic yes, he’s an outsider to society, but at the same time Yozo is not the helpless, miserable victim he portrays himself as. He is not the victim to a cruel society, one he comes from a place of privilege and two he becomes a perpetrator. Hence, the whole... crime and punishment allusions. It’s this added complexity to Yozo that’s what makes the book as brilliant as it is. Yozo is someone who is both victim and perpetrator, but he only sees himself as a victim and the story he tells paints him exclusively as a victim.
But Yozo’s central problem isn’t society its himself. His conflict and greatest obstacle is always his own ego. The reason we read the book biographically, is because we see him grow up, or rather fail to grow up. As a kid he is sympathetic, as an adult he’s a pretty serial user of people.
Yozo constantly asks for sympathy, but at the same time he’s not really one to sympathize with others. When he tries to commit suicide with a woman, he reports these events with no remorse at all.
I removed my coat andput it in the same spot.
We entered the water together.
She died. I was saved.
He seems real broken up about it.
That’s also a pattern that repeats again and again with Yozo. If you want to see the real nature of Yozo’s character you should see how he treats both women and children. They exist to make him happy, to soothe his misery, and when they don’t he leaves them.
Like, out of context. What does this sound like.
What a holy thing uncorrupted virginity is, I thought.
I had never slept with a virgin, a girl younger than myself. I’d marry her.
The few times we do meet outside characters we see that Yozo is someone referred to as a crimminal, but refers to himself as a victim.
“Don’t be cheeky now, I for one have never been tied up like a common crimminal the way you have.”
I was taken aback. Horiki at heart did not treat me like a fully human being.
If you read No Longer Human as a response to Crime and Punishment, you could even read the many women that Yozo falls into flings with and then promptly abandons as a response to Raskolnikov and Sonya. For Yozo, each woman he meets is his Sonya, they are meant to redeem him and bring him peace, and whn they don’t he leaves. Yozo someone missing the point that, Raskolnikov loved Sonya because he sympathized with her circumstances and suffering while Yozo really only ever cares about his own suffering.
To bring the discussion back to Notes from the Underground. It’s a story divided into two parts, that really doesn’t work without the second part of the story. In the first part, as we are just fed the main character’s thoughts he looks like some kind of revolutionary philosopher. Then in the second we follow the character though a day in his life and he’s just sort of... socially awkward. He’s not some brilliant thinker, he’s just an outsider who can’t connect with others, like Yozo. The second part is necessary to underwrite the first because in the first part of the journal he looks like a champion, and in the second he’s just pathetic. He’s just some guy. Notes from the Underground also has one of my favorite lines in all of fiction.
"They won't let me ... I can't be good!" I managed to articulate; then I went to the sofa, fell on it face downwards, and sobbed on it for a quarter of an hour in genuine hysterics. She came close to me, put her arms round me and stayed motionless in that position.
The protagonist encounters a young prostitute name Liza, he tries to save her at first, but then turns around and starts to treat her terribly and has a mental breakdown in front of her that ends in this line. She finds him pitiable, and comforts him in that moment.
However, after this moment of comfort he then he goes back to treating her terribly once more. He yells at her, and she grows tired of him. He pays her and she leaves and that’s the end of that relationship.
See it’s a moment that’s simultaneously, a moment of human connection, but also it shows how the protagonist regards other people and why he can’t connect to them. If you only use other people to comfort your loneliness, you’re going to end up alone either way. The same way the Narrator uses Liza, Yozo chronically uses women.
However, at the same time.
“They won’t let me... I can’t be good.”
Is what I consider the most striking lines in all of fiction. It is both an avoidance or responsibility, and at the same time an utterance of the baisc human desire to be good. It's always everyone else's fault, the problem is with other people. Yet both Narrator, and Yozo want to be good people, they want to connect with others.
Yozo and the Narrator are crimminals. They are bad people. (A person who has committed a crime isn’t necessarily a bad person but..) However, being a crimminal does not disqualify you as a human being. They are still people who are suffering. The secondary goal of a novel like Crime and Punishment is to show St. Petersburg as a city where everyone is human, and everyone suffers, good and bad people alike. Yozo and the Narrator are miserable, and there’s humanity in that misery. You don’t have to even connect to their feelings, isn’t it bad to see a person suffering? Doesn’t that elicit an emotional response because nobody wants to see other people suffering and in pain. That’s the basic humanity in these characters. Yozo and Narrator aren’t inhuman. They’re just like... normal people. They are anxious, avoidant. They are terminally insecure. They’re socially awkward. They understand themselves better than other people. Those are all just normal human sentiments shared by everyone, it’s just Yozo and Narrator are so egocentric they act like they’re the only people in the world.
Yet the same, just like the moment Liza sympathized with a man who treated her terribly and only saw her as a prostitute, people still sympathize with miserable people and want to ease the suffering of others. That’s why Dazai writes stories for miserable people.
I am writing a tired story for young readers,
not because I want to be different,
or because I am unconcerned with young readers’ tastes.
I write it rather because I know it will please them.
Young readers are tired and old themselves these days,
and my story can bring them no discomfort and no surprises.
It is a story for those who have lost hope.
(Osamu Dazai, Of Women)
#Anonymous#osamu dazai#no longer human#fyodor dostoevsky#literature analysis#crime and punishment#notes from the underground#this side of paradise#thinking is hard#don't ask me to think for the rest of the day my head hurts#f. scott fitzgerald#to answer your question anon#you should be able to read the settting sun#justified#it's an entirely different novel#it's not about#this one guy's ego#it's written perspective of a woman in the post war japan#that one is about society#it's about the transition period#and people reinventing themselves#i mean you might not get it because you were not alive in japan in the 1940s but#It's an entirely different book#try reading dazai's schoolgirl#or pandora's box#they're much shorter.#spooky speaks
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fan language: the victorian imaginary and cnovel fandom
there’s this pinterest image i’ve seen circulating a lot in the past year i’ve been on fandom social media. it’s a drawn infographic of a, i guess, asian-looking woman holding a fan in different places relative to her face to show what the graphic helpfully calls “the language of the fan.”
people like sharing it. they like thinking about what nefarious ancient chinese hanky code shenanigans their favorite fan-toting character might get up to—accidentally or on purpose. and what’s the problem with that?
the problem is that fan language isn’t chinese. it’s victorian. and even then, it’s not really quite victorian at all.
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fans served a primarily utilitarian purpose throughout chinese history. of course, most of the surviving fans we see—and the types of fans we tend to care about—are closer to art pieces. but realistically speaking, the majority of fans were made of cheaper material for more mundane purposes. in china, just like all around the world, people fanned themselves. it got hot!
so here’s a big tipoff. it would be very difficult to use a fan if you had an elaborate language centered around fanning yourself.
you might argue that fine, everyday working people didn’t have a fan language. but wealthy people might have had one. the problem we encounter here is that fans weren’t really gendered. (caveat here that certain types of fans were more popular with women. however, those tended to be the round silk fans, ones that bear no resemblance to the folding fans in the graphic). no disrespect to the gnc old man fuckers in the crowd, but this language isn’t quite masc enough for a tool that someone’s dad might regularly use.
folding fans, we know, reached europe in the 17th century and gained immense popularity in the 18th. it was there that fans began to take on a gendered quality. ariel beaujot describes in their 2012 victorian fashion accessories how middle class women, in the midst of a top shortage, found themselves clutching fans in hopes of securing a husband.
she quotes an article from the illustrated london news, suggesting “women ‘not only’ used fans to ‘move the air and cool themselves but also to express their sentiments.’” general wisdom was that the movement of the fan was sufficiently expressive that it augmented a woman’s displays of emotion. and of course, the more english audiences became aware that it might do so, the more they might use their fans purposefully in that way.
notice, however, that this is no more codified than body language in general is. it turns out that “the language of the fan” was actually created by fan manufacturers at the turn of the 20th century—hundreds of years after their arrival in europe—to sell more fans. i’m not even kidding right now. the story goes that it was louis duvelleroy of the maison duvelleroy who decided to include pamphlets on the language with each fan sold.
interestingly enough, beaujot suggests that it didn’t really matter what each particular fan sign meant. gentlemen could tell when they were being flirted with. as it happens, meaningful eye contact and a light flutter near the face may be a lingua franca.
so it seems then, the language of the fan is merely part of this victorian imaginary we collectively have today, which in turn itself was itself captivated by china.
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victorian references come up perhaps unexpectedly often in cnovel fandom, most often with regards to modesty.
it’s a bit of an awkward reference considering that chinese traditional fashion—and the ambiguous time periods in which these novels are set—far predate victorian england. it is even more awkward considering that victoria and her covered ankles did um. imperialize china.
but nonetheless, it is common. and to make a point about how ubiquitous it is, here is a link to the twitter search for “sqq victorian.” sqq is the fandom abbreviation for shen qingqiu, the main character of the scum villain’s self-saving system, by the way.
this is an awful lot of results for a search involving a chinese man who spends the entire novel in either real modern-day china or fantasy ancient china. that’s all i’m going to say on the matter, without referencing any specific tweet.
i think people are aware of the anachronism. and i think they don’t mind. even the most cursory research reveals that fan language is european and a revisionist fantasy. wikipedia can tell us this—i checked!
but it doesn’t matter to me whether people are trying to make an internally consistent canon compliant claim, or whether they’re just free associating between fan facts they know. it is, instead, more interesting to me that people consistently refer to this particular bit of history. and that’s what i want to talk about today—the relationship of fandom today to this two hundred odd year span of time in england (roughly stuart to victorian times) and england in that time period to its contemporaneous china.
things will slip a little here. victorian has expanded in timeframe, if only because random guys posting online do not care overly much for respect for the intricacies of british history. china has expanded in geographic location, if only because the english of the time themselves conflated china with all of asia.
in addition, note that i am critiquing a certain perspective on the topic. this is why i write about fan as white here—not because all fans are white—but because the tendencies i’m examining have a clear historical antecedent in whiteness that shapes how white fans encounter these novels.
i’m sure some fans of color participate in these practices. however i don’t really care about that. they are not its main perpetrators nor its main beneficiaries. so personally i am minding my own business on that front.
it’s instead important to me to illuminate the linkage between white as subject and chinese as object in history and in the present that i do argue that fannish products today are built upon.
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it’s not radical, or even new at all, for white audiences to consume—or create their own versions of—chinese art en masse. in many ways the white creators who appear to owe their whole style and aesthetic to their asian peers in turn are just the new chinoiserie.
this is not to say that white people can’t create asian-inspired art. but rather, i am asking you to sit with the discomfort that you may not like the artistic company you keep in the broader view of history, and to consider together what is to be done about that.
now, when i say the new chinoiserie, i first want to establish what the original one is. chinoiserie was a european artistic movement that appeared coincident with the rise in popularity of folding fans that i described above. this is not by coincidence; the european demand for asian imports and the eventual production of lookalikes is the movement itself. so: when we talk about fans, when we talk about china (porcelain), when we talk about tea in england—we are talking about the legacy of chinoiserie.
there are a couple things i want to note here. while english people as a whole had a very tenuous knowledge of what china might be, their appetites for chinoiserie were roughly coincident with national relations with china. as the relationship between england and china moved from trade to out-and-out wars, chinoiserie declined in popularity until china had been safely subjugated once more by the end of the 19th century.
the second thing i want to note on the subject that contrary to what one might think at first, the appeal of chinoiserie was not that it was foreign. eugenia zuroski’s 2013 taste for china examines 18th century english literature and its descriptions of the according material culture with the lens that chinese imports might be formative to english identity, rather than antithetical to it.
beyond that bare thesis, i think it’s also worthwhile to extend her insight that material objects become animated by the literary viewpoints on them. this is true, both in a limited general sense as well as in the sense that english thinkers of the time self-consciously articulated this viewpoint. consider the quote from the illustrated london news above—your fan, that object, says something about you. and not only that, but the objects you surround yourself with ought to.
it’s a bit circular, the idea that written material says that you should allow written material to shape your understanding of physical objects. but it’s both 1) what happened, and 2) integral, i think, to integrating a fannish perspective into the topic.
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japanning is the name for the popular imitative lacquering that english craftspeople developed in domestic response to the demand for lacquerware imports. in the eighteenth century, japanning became an artform especially suited for young women. manuals were published on the subject, urging young women to learn how to paint furniture and other surfaces, encouraging them to rework the designs provided in the text.
it was considered a beneficial activity for them; zuroski describes how it was “associated with commerce and connoisseurship, practical skill and aesthetic judgment.” a skillful japanner, rather than simply obscuring what lay underneath the lacquer, displayed their superior judgment in how they chose to arrange these new canonical figures and effects in a tasteful way to bring out the best qualities of them.
zuroski quotes the first english-language manual on the subject, written in 1688, which explains how japanning allows one to:
alter and correct, take out a piece from one, add a fragment to the next, and make an entire garment compleat in all its parts, though tis wrought out of never so many disagreeing patterns.
this language evokes a very different, very modern practice. it is this english reworking of an asian artform that i think the parallels are most obvious.
white people, through their artistic investment in chinese material objects and aesthetics, integrated them into their own subjectivity. these practices came to say something about the people who participated in them, in a way that had little to do with the country itself. their relationship changed from being a “consumer” of chinese objects to becoming the proprietor of these new aesthetic signifiers.
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i want to talk about this through a few pairs of tensions on the subject that i think characterize common attitudes then and now.
first, consider the relationship between the self and the other: the chinese object as something that is very familiar to you, speaking to something about your own self vs. the chinese object as something that is fundamentally different from you and unknowable to you.
consider: [insert character name] is just like me. he would no doubt like the same things i like, consume the same cultural products. we are the same in some meaningful way vs. the fast standard fic disclaimer that “i tried my best when writing this fic, but i’m a english-speaking westerner, and i’m just writing this for fun so...... [excuses and alterations the person has chosen to make in this light],” going hand-in-hand with a preoccupation with authenticity or even overreliance on the unpaid labor of chinese friends and acquaintances.
consider: hugh honour when he quotes a man from the 1640s claiming “chinoiserie of this even more hybrid kind had become so far removed from genuine Chinese tradition that it was exported from India to China as a novelty to the Chinese themselves”
these tensions coexist, and look how they have been resolved.
second, consider what we vest in objects themselves: beaujot explains how the fan became a sexualized, coquettish object in the hands of a british woman, but was used to great effect in gilbert and sullivan’s 1885 mikado to demonstrate the docility of asian women.
consider: these characters became expressions of your sexual desires and fetishes, even as their 5’10 actors themselves are emasculated.
what is liberating for one necessitates the subjugation and fetishization of the other.
third, consider reactions to the practice: enjoyment of chinese objects as a sign of your cosmopolitan palate vs “so what’s the hype about those ancient chinese gays” pop culture explainers that addressed the unconvinced mainstream.
consider: zuroski describes how both english consumers purchased china in droves, and contemporary publications reported on them. how:
It was in the pages of these papers that the growing popularity of Chinese things in the early eighteenth century acquired the reputation of a “craze”; they portrayed china fanatics as flawed, fragile, and unreliable characters, and frequently cast chinoiserie itself in the same light.
referenda on fannish behavior serve as referenda on the objects of their devotion, and vice versa. as the difference between identity and fetish collapses, they come to be treated as one and the same by not just participants but their observers.
at what point does mxtx fic cease to be chinese?
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finally, it seems readily apparent that attitudes towards chinese objects may in fact have something to do with attitudes about china as a country. i do not want to suggest that these literary concerns are primarily motivated and begot by forces entirely divorced from the real mechanics of power.
here, i want to bring in edward said, and his 1993 culture and imperialism. there, he explains how power and legitimacy go hand in hand. one is direct, and one is purely cultural. he originally wrote this in response to the outsize impact that british novelists have had in the maintenance of empire and throughout decolonization. literature, he argues, gives rise to powerful narratives that constrain our ability to think outside of them.
there’s a little bit of an inversion at play here. these are chinese novels, actually. but they’re being transformed by white narratives and artists. and just as i think the form of the novel is important to said’s critique, i think there’s something to be said about the form that fic takes and how it legitimates itself.
bound up in fandom is the idea that you have a right to create and transform as you please. it is a nice idea, but it is one that is directed towards a certain kind of asymmetry. that is, one where the author has all the power. this is the narrative we hear a lot in the history of fandom—litigious authors and plucky fans, fanspaces always under attack from corporate sanitization.
meanwhile, said builds upon raymond schwab’s narrative of cultural exchange between european writers and cultural products outside the imperial core. said explains that fundamental to these two great borrowings (from greek classics and, in the so-called “oriental renaissance” of the late 18th, early 19th centuries from “india, china, japan, persia, and islam”) is asymmetry.
he had argued prior, in orientalism, that any “cultural exchange” between “partners conscious of inequality” always results in the suffering of the people. and here, he describes how “texts by dead people were read, appreciated, and appropriated” without the presence of any actual living people in that tradition.
i will not understate that there is a certain economic dynamic complicating this particular fannish asymmetry. mxtx has profited materially from the success of her works, most fans will not. also secondly, mxtx is um. not dead. LMAO.
but first, the international dynamic of extraction that said described is still present. i do not want to get overly into white attitudes towards china in this post, because i am already thoroughly derailed, but i do believe that they structure how white cnovel fandom encounters this texts.
at any rate, any profit she receives is overwhelmingly due to her domestic popularity, not her international popularity. (i say this because many of her international fans have never given her a cent. in fact, most of them have no real way to.) and moreover, as we talk about the structure of english-language fandom, what does it mean to create chinese cultural products without chinese people?
as white people take ownership over their versions of stories, do we lose something? what narratives about engagement with cnovels might exist outside of the form of classic fandom?
i think a lot of people get the relationship between ideas (the superstructure) and production (the base) confused. oftentimes they will lob in response to criticism, that look! this fic, this fandom, these people are so niche, and so underrepresented in mainstream culture, that their effects are marginal. i am not arguing that anyone’s cql fic causes imperialism. (unless you’re really annoying. then it’s anyone’s game)
i’m instead arguing something a little bit different. i think, given similar inputs, you tend to get similar outputs. i think we live in the world that imperialism built, and we have clear historical predecessors in terms of white appetites for creating, consuming, and transforming chinese objects.
we have already seen, in the case of the fan language meme that began this post, that sometimes we even prefer this white chinoiserie. after all, isn’t it beautiful, too?
i want to bring discomfort to this topic. i want to reject the paradigm of white subject and chinese object; in fact, here in this essay, i have tried to reverse it.
if you are taken aback by the comparisons i make here, how can you make meaningful changes to your fannish practice to address it?
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some concluding thoughts on the matter, because i don’t like being misunderstood!
i am not claiming white fans cannot create fanworks of cnovels or be inspired by asian art or artists. this essay is meant to elaborate on the historical connection between victorian england and cnovel characters and fandom that others have already popularized.
i don’t think people who make victorian jokes are inherently bad or racist. i am encouraging people to think about why we might make them and/or share them
the connections here are meant to be more provocative than strictly literal. (e.g. i don’t literally think writing fanfic is a 1-1 descendant of japanning). these connections are instead meant to 1) make visible the baggage that fans of color often approach fandom with and 2) recontextualize and defamiliarize fannish practice for the purposes of honest critique
please don’t turn this post into being about other different kinds of discourse, or into something that only one “kind” of fan does. please take my words at face value and consider them in good faith. i would really appreciate that.
please feel free to ask me to clarify any statements or supply more in-depth sources :)
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My Top Ten Overlooked Movies With Female Leads In No Particular Order
Note: When you see this emoji (⚠️) I will be talking about things people may find triggering, which are spoilery more often then not. I mention things that I think may count as triggers so that people with them will be aware before going in to watch any of these.
Edited: 3/16/21
Hanna (2011)
So, before I get into why you should watch this movie, I just want to take a moment to say why it's near and dear to my heart. Growing up as a queer kid in the early 2000s, seeing portrayals of people like or similar to myself on anything was rare at best. It was mostly in more "adult" movies or shows that my parents would occasionally let me watch with them that I'd see any lgbtq+ rep at all. Often times they were either walking stereotypes, designed to be buried, evil, or all three.
Then here comes this PG-13 action thriller with a wonderfully written main female lead who, at the time, was close to my age, and who got to kiss another girl (her very first friend, Sophie) on screen in an extremely tender and heartwarming scene. To say the least, it was a life changing moment for me personally.
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, Hanna is a suspenseful movie about a child super-soldier named, you guessed it, Hanna (played by Saoirse Ronan) and her adoptive (?) father Erik Heller (played by Eric Bana) exiting the snowy and isolated wilderness of their home and taking on the shadowy CIA operative, Marissa Wiegler (played by Cate Blanchette) who wants Erik dead and Hanna for herself for mysterious reasons.
It also has an amazing soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers, great action scenes, and it has an over arching fairytale motif, which I'm always a sucker for.
⚠️ Mild blood effects, some painful looking strikes, various character deaths, and child endangerment all feature in this film. However, given its PG-13 rating, a majority of viewers are presumably able to handle this one. Still, be aware of these going in.
Sidenote: It's recently gotten a TV adaptation on Amazon TV, although I have not watched it, and do not know if Hanna and Sophie's romantic/semi-romantic relationship has transferred over.
A Simple Favor
A Simple Favor is a "black-comedy mystery thriller" centered entirely around the relationship between two mothers, the reclusive, rich, mysterious, and regal Emily (played by Blake Lively), and the local recently widowed but plucky mommy blogger, Stephanie (played by Anna Kendrick). When Emily suddenly goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to find out what happened to her new best friend.
It's a fantastic and entertaining movie throughout, with fun, flawed and interesting characters. The relationship between the two female leads is also implied to be at least somewhat romantic in nature, and they even share a kiss.
⚠️ The only major warnings I can think of is that the movie contains an instance of incest and one of the main plotlines revolves around child abuse, although both of these potentially triggering topics are not connected to each other, so there is thankfully no csa going on.
Edit: I legitimately forgot there was drug use in this movie until now. So, yeah, if that's a trigger, be careful of that.
I Am Mother
I became mildly obsessed with this movie when it came out. I Am Mother is a sci-fi film that centers entirely around a cast of two woman, and a female-adjacent robot who is brought to life on screen with absolutely amazing practical effects.
The plot is such, after an extinction-level event, a lone robot known only as Mother tasks herself with replenishing the human race via artifical means. She begins with the film's main protagonist, Daughter. Years go by as Mother raises her human child and the two prepare for Daughter's first sibling (a brother) to be born. However, on Daughter's 16th birthday, the arrival of an outsider known only as Woman shakes Daughter's entire world view. She begins to question Mother's very nature, as well as what's really going on outside the bunker she and her caretaker call home.
⚠️ This movie features child endangerment and reference to child death.
Lilo and Stitch
When I decided to add a single Disney film to this list I initially thought it was going to be hard but almost immediately my brain went to Lilo and Stitch, and specifically about the relationship between Lilo and Nani.
On the surface, this film is about a lonely little girl accidentally adopting a fugitive alien creature as a "dog," but underneath that the story is also about two orphaned sisters and the older sister's attempts to not let social services tear them apart by stepping up as the younger sister's primary guardian. Despite its seemingly goofy premise, Lilo and Stitch has a very emotional and thoughtful center. It's little wonder how this movie managed to spawn an entire franchise.
Despite the franchise it spawned (or possibly because of it), I often find that Lilo and Stitch is overlooked and many people only remember it for the "little girl adopts an alien as a pet" portion of its plot, and I very rarely see it on people's top 10 Disney lists.
⚠️ This movie could be potentially triggering to people who were separated from their siblings or other family members due to social service intervention. There's also a bit of child endangerment, including a scene where Lilo and Stitch both almost drown.
Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind
Unlike the above entry, I did struggle a little bit with picking a single Studio Ghibli film. Most media of the Ghibli catalogue have strong, well-written, unique, and interesting female leads so selecting just one seemed like quite the task.
However, I eventually settled on this particular film. In recent months, Princess Nausicaä has become my absolute favorite Ghibli protagonist and I'm absolutely enchanted by the world she lives in.
Set in a post-apocalyptic world overun by giant insects and under threat of a toxic forest and its poisoness spores, Nausicaä must try to protect the Valley of the Wind from invaders as she also tries to understand the science behind the toxic forest and attempts to bridge the gap between the insects and the humans.
For those who have never seen the film, I think Nausicaä's personality can best be described as being similar to OT Luke Skywalker. Both are caring, compassionate, and gentle souls who are able to see the best in nearly anyone or anything. She's an absolutely enthralling protagonist and after rewatching the film again for the first time in well over a decade she has easily become one of my all time favorite protagonists.
Whenever I see people talk about Ghibli films, they rarely mention this one, and when they do mention it, it's often in passing. In my opinion it's a must watch.
⚠️ This movie contains some blood, and the folks who either don't like insects or who have entomophobia may not appreciate the giant bugs running about throughout the movie. (Although most insects do not directly relate to real life bugs, and are fantasy creatures).
A Silent Voice
A Silent Voice is an animated movie adaptation of a manga of the same name. While I've never had the pleasure to read the manga, the movie is phenomenal. It covers topics such a bullying, living in the world with a disability, the desire for atonement, social anxiety, and depression in a well thought out manner that ties itself together through the progression of the relationship between its two leads, Shoya and Shouko. It's also beautifully animated. Although very popular among anime viewers, I've noticed that it's often overlooked by people who watch little to no anime. So I suppose this is me urging non-anime viewers to give this film a chance.
⚠️ As mentioned above, the movie deals with bullying, anxiety, and depression (with this last one including suicidal thoughts and behaviour). If discussion of those topics are triggering to you, than you may want to proceed with caution or skip this movie all together.
In This Corner of The World
Another manga adaptation, this one taking place during WWII-era Japan. In This Corner of The World follows the life of a civilian Japanese woman, Suzu Urano, as she navigates simply living and her new marriage as the wartime invades nearly all aspects of everyday life. I think this movie is a good representation of what it must be like to be living as civilian in a country at war where the fight is sometimes fought on one's own soil. It was also an interesting look into pre-50s Japanese culture in my opinion. It's also beautifully animated featuring an art style I don't see often.
Despite it being well known among anime fans, I never really see it be brought up, even among said anime fans themselves.
Side note: I've seen many WWII dramas centering around civilians but they've almost always been about American or UK civilians. This was the first movie I'd seen that features the perspective of a Japanese civilain.
⚠️ Features the death of a child and limb loss. There's also a disturbing scene featuring a victim of one of the atomic bombs near the end.
Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki
This film follows Hana, a Japan-native woman who fell in love with a magical shape-shifting wolf-man, and her trials with raising their children, who can also magically shape-shift into wolves, on her own. It's a very heartfelt movie about a mother's love and the struggles of doing right by your children when you have limited resources to actively guide and care for them. All the characters feel unique and alive in my opinion. Also, the animation is so good that my sister and I initially mistook it for a Ghibli film.
Again, like the previous two anime entries, I don't see it ever brought up outside of anime circles.
⚠️ There's some child endangerment present in the film, although none of it is the fault of Hana as far as I can remember.
Roman Holiday
Roman Holiday is about the fictional Princess Ann (played by Audrey Hepburn), who while on a whirlwind tour of Europe, finally reaches her breaking point over having her entire life be one big schedule and all her words and actions being rehearsed. In the spur of the moment, she runs away in hopes of experiencing what life is like for other women. Unfortunately, she was previously given a sedative, meaning she doesn't get too far before it takes effect. Fortunately, she is found by the kind reporter Joe Bradley (played by Gregory Peck). Believing her to be drunk and unable to get an address from her (because she has none) he ends up taking her home for safety's sake and allows her to sleep off her suppose drunken stupor. The next day, he realizes who she is, and decides to take her on a fun sight seeing trip across Rome in hopes of getting the big scoop. Along the way, they begin to fall for each other.
This is my favorite black and white, old romance film. I think the relationship between the main characters is absolutely beautiful and I have a lot of fun watching it.
⚠️ I'm not entirely sure what kind of warning this film would need. However, it was released in 1953, so values dissonance will probably be at play for many viewers to at least some extent. For example, early in the film Ann is given sedation drugs by her doctor for her behavior, something that is very unlikely to happen today. Also, Mr Bradley deciding to take Ann home to keep her safe rather than call the police or an ambulance is a very pre-90s decision in my opinion.
#hanna 2011#a simple favor#i am mother#lilo and stitch#nausicaä of the valley of the wind#a silent voice#in this corner of the world#wolf chilren ame and yuki#wolf children#roman holiday#black and white film#anime#disney#studio ghibli#movie recs#top 10
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I read your other two posts about shipping nejiten and why you dont. I think you make good arguments about how marrying neji would take away tenten's freedom but I was actually wondering about how you view the ship from the perspective of someone who is married? Sorry of that doesn't make sense. I mean like how compatible you think their personalities are if the story was written differently.
Hey there anon!
So this will be my third time addressing the pairing and not to say it's any fault of yours, but I hope it's the last.
I care most about what makes a character develop in a way that is meaningful and beneficial for the overarching story. This extends into the pairings I choose to ship. I've also never been a big shipper to begin with and I'm indifferent to most pairings from any show I watch.
I also am married. Personally, fictional ships or shipping wars do not interest me in the slightest. I'd rather focus on my own, real, interpersonal relationships.
To expand on why I don't like talking about this pairing in particular: it's because I have been openly harassed by fans of the pairing both on this blog and on a previous blog that I eventually closed because my inbox blew up with angry stans that, a few years ago, I was not mentally equipped to handle. I've responded to around two to three asks openly on the blog, but at this point I've deleted in the range of 10-12 messages that I did not see fit to dignify with a response.
I figure that most of these comments come from underage followers who are too immature to understand complexities of romantic relationships or are simply too disinterested in talking about the literature to have open discourse with. They just want to ship what they believe the characters are like, have headcanons, and ignore the evidence contrary. As an adult, I have to handle this with patience and understanding. I'm not about to rage on any anon follower because I don't know their age or personal circumstances. And frankly, a fictional pairing is not worth tearing someone down over–I speak from experience.
Now, on to answering your question in full:
When it comes to the narrative, there isn't a common thread (theme, motif, storyline, etc.) that ties Neji and Tenten together. They both have the goal to get stronger, (As is the theme of team Gai at large) but Neji's story is MOST closely tied to Hinata/The Hyuga, Lee, and Naruto (in that order.) All three of those characters are sufficient enough to spur Neji's growth in his own arc. Tenten's support as a teammate is also sufficient enough. They are good battle partners (combining long range and short range) but the same is also said for Tenten and Lee. There's nothing special here. Nothing that screams "chemistry" or that "stands out."
The reason people love pairings such as SnS, NaruSaku, NaruHina, Sasusaku, SaiIno, ShikaTema, etc. is because all of these pairings have two partners that can equally contribute to the other's growth. Neji and Tenten simply do not have this. Tenten adds nothing to Neji that he does not already have: her support already comes from multiple other people in his life that understand his situation better. Tenten is often shown having a more common thread with Lee: they are both ninja that came from no special background and are overcoming their own weaknesses to pave their own path. You might say Tenten could humanize Neji or humble him, but Naruto and Lee already do that. Neji's closest female relationship is with Hinata, and that's where we see him become softer and more patient. Hinata is the one that humanizes Neji the most, and it's because they also share a same arc: literally, the Hyuga clan arc. She has the emotional intelligence to reach Neji and the position to make him believe in the determination of the once-talentless. That's THEIR arc as siblings.
I would also like people to ask themselves what exactly Neji can offer Tenten. In the reverse, I strongly can affirm that Neji does NOTHING for Tenten. He can train with her? So can the rest of her team, and she does. He can encourage her? So can the rest of her team, and they do–far more than Neji. He can calm her down when Gai/Lee do their antics? Okay, but is being a walking pacifier really a great foundry for a relationship? (Also, as Tenten gets older, part of her personal development is finally accepting her own goofy side and joining in!) In fact, his relationship and subsequent would inhibit her stated goals and dreams.
Tenten flat out does not want to have a traditional, feminine lifestyle of getting married. And as a married person, it's not impossible to understand why! Relationships and marriages are HARD work! It's not sailing into the sunset with kids and a house! They require commitment and upkeep! Sacrifice! They are a huge stressor (even the best marriages!) and you must balance the feelings and dreams of another person when you are deciding your future and make personal sacrifices.
Tenten wants to follow her hobbies and her dream is one of self-determination. Marrying Neji means introducing a rigid, hierarchical clan structure for which Tenten has no experience/interest in and is ill-prepared to handle. Her blunt, insensitive attitude would not fare well in the formal atmosphere of Hyuga affairs–this isnt a shoujo of rich guy/average girl. This is a shounen. She'll be expected to raise children and retire/hiatus from her career. This expectation does not help her goals or dreams and effectively halts her personal development.
In fact, had this pairing actually happened, shippers might have been happy that their pairing "made it," but I have no doubt that people would have ALSO called Tenten yet ANOTHER victim of Kishi's 'housewife' troupe next to Sakura and Temari. Making her Neji's wife erases what little personal identity and development she had. Why would you want to put the ONE woman who pursued her career and goals in a relationship and erase that? Because they have an aesthetic? I surely hope you never then complain about the fates of Sakura or Temari, then!
And on that note, "fixing the writing" to where Tenten is an 'empowered working mom' does NOT address Tenten's personal desires. I see this most often discarded in favor of ANY of her ships.
Tenten's purpose in the story is to show a woman who branches out from the norm. I also seldom see a woman in any story who is as balanced and flawed as she is while still being lovable. Also, despite relegating the other kunoichi to housewife status, Kishi deliberately let Tenten be a single woman who is not criticized for her decision. Japan itself still has a traditional mindset in that regard, and seeing the other cast members treat Tenten as normal–not even commenting on her relationship status–is a quiet, but no less significant addition to the story. It normalizes career women in a traditional atmosphere.
Gag about her store aside, Tenten's shop isn't doing poorly because she's a bad businesswoman or a spinster. It's been clearly stated by Tenten herself that it's because they are in a time of peace. Again, a small but significant detail that gets overlooked in Tenten's story. As Boruto progresses and war seems to loom on the horizon, I have no doubt her shop may get more business soon.
Tenten and Neji have the making of good friends and comrades with some common ground, and it's for the betterment of both of them personally that they stayed that way throughout the series. Good relationships add to characters and stories–they don't take things away.
Hopefully this finally puts my full opinions on the matter to rest. Fandom can do whatever it wants, but I'd like to not see any more of the ridiculous "pairing war" nonsense pop up in my inbox. Nejiten has FAR better reasons to stay platonic than it ever will to become canon, even in a rewritten story where Neji lives. If you want a pairing with this aesthetic but actually have chemistry and a shared narrative, look at Ren/Nora of RWBY (which, coincidentally, is actually one of the few pairings I enjoy.)
Thanks for contributing to the blog!
#nejiten#neji#nejitenten#naruto#naruto headcanons#asks#writing#female characters do not need relationships to be complete#I have this pairing blocked because all the anon hate really left a bad taste in my mouth#so that's where I stand#if you want to discuss canon then use canon evidence#not what you believe the subtext of their interactions are#it's a shounen and their few interactions are NOT that deep#tell me about the chunin exams and I'll point out that Tenten was the Opposing support to Sakura and Ino#and Kishi deliberately never painted them as romantic anywhere in his manga#he had the final say in all pairings#and chose to endorse Konoha Hiden where Tenten affirmed she never wanted a relationship#it's clear Tenten was supporting a teammate#and never her romantic rinterest#hell she noticed Kakashi and Sasuke more than Neji#and in a shonen pairings are made VERY clear#there's no way around it.#neji hyuga#neji hyuuga#hinata#hinata hyuga#hinata hyuuga#tenten#rock lee
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From Bakeneko to Bakemonogatari: The Secret History of Catgirls
It’s a question society has asked for ages: what came first, the cat or the girl?
The catgirl is one of the most resilient images in anime today. However, even the term “catgirl” is a little vague. Close your eyes and try to imagine what that word actually means. Did you think of a girl, but with cat ears? Did she have a tail? Does she have a verbal tic? Was she — by some mystical, scientific, or by some other supernatural occurrence — able to transform into an actual cat? If you said yes or no to any of those questions, are we still talking about the same kind of “catgirl”?
The answer is no one really knows. But that hasn’t stopped people from trying to investigate the origins of this immensely popular character type. Does such a thing as "the first catgirl" truly even exist?
Black Hanekawa as she appears in Nekomonogatari
What We Talk About When We Talk About Catgirls
Broadly speaking, characters with animal ears are described as kemonomimi, which literally means animal ears. What about catgirl etymology? As expected, characters with cat ears are described as nekomimi, aka cat ears. The term nekomusume (cat girl or daughter, literally) has also been used, which is also notably the name of the character Neko-Musume from Shigeru Mizuki’s popular 1960s supernatural manga GeGeGe no Kitarō. Ralph F. McCarthy, the first to translate Kitarō in a bilingual edition published by Kodansha in 2002, localized this name as “Catchick.” This is all to say, the invented euphemism “catgirl” is just one of many used to describe the same thing: a cat-like girl who may or may not claw your eyes out with a mischievous smirk.
Mizuki's Neko-Musume is based on the bakeneko, an evil cat spirit who is sometimes able to change between human and feline form. Folklorist Matthew Meyer describes bakeneko as beginning their lives as regular house cats, but later accumulating more human-like traits as they mature. In many stories, they are depicted as lapping up the blood of murder victims, thereby granting them supernatural powers. Of course, they aren’t to be mistaken with nekomata — twin-tailed cat spirits, like Yōkai Watch’s Jibanyan. Much like the rest of Mizuki’s yōkai characters inspired by Japan’s supernatural folklore, Mizuki’s bakeneko are the byproduct of creative license. Neko-Musume doesn’t have cat ears like we might expect them today, but technically she fits the bill for a supernatural entity. Like modern-day big-eyed catgirls, your mileage may vary.
Detail from Utagawa Kuniyoshi's nekozuka print
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, a woodblock artist born in 1798, is well-known for his many cat-centric prints. One of his most renowned projects was a series of prints depicting the 1827 kabuki drama, Traveling Alone to the Fifty-three Stations. In 1852, Kuniyoshi printed a depiction of actor Onoe Kikugorō III as one of the play’s most memorable characters, the nekozuka, a cat monster living in Okazaki assuming the form of a human woman. Kuniyoshi draws this specter with two very noticeable cat ears — a statement that this is a suspicious supernatural entity. This same motif reoccurs in other Kuniyoshi works, noticeably a woodblock triptych depicting the same actor as a cat creature. Again, those notorious ears appear.
Onoe Kikugorō III illustrated by artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Is Kuniyoshi’s flair for fantastic flourish the missing link? The secret origin of all catgirls who ever dared meow in the modern age? Well, it’s a little more complicated than that.
Will the Real Catgirls Please Stand Up?
The bakeneko is but just one entry in Japanese folklore’s long love affair with cats. In contemporary media, the concept of a cat-influenced woman is seen in many horror films. In an entry on bakeneko for The Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror Films, scholar Michael Crandol writes: "Bakeneko tales were the single most popular subject of Japanese horror films from the dawn of cinema through the 1960s, with more than sixty such pictures released by 1970.” With films as early as 1938’s The Ghost Cat and The Mysterious Shamisen, to post-war modern classics like 1968’s Kuroneko, the bakeneko sub-genre in Japanese horror is a testament to its ubiquity. Not to mention the allure of mysterious intrigue.
Kaneto Shindo's Kuroneko asks the universal question: will my cat eat me when I die?
From this perspective, the origins of catgirls seem quite hairy. In fact, looking solely through the lens of the traditional bakeneko narrative is extremely limiting. Surely they all aren’t evil women possessed by vengeful spirits? So what else?
In May 2019, independent cartoonist Keiichi Tanaka posted a thread on Twitter asking about the possible origins of the catgirl design proper:
猫耳の元祖って『綿の国星』？
人間の顔で頭の上に猫の耳、このデザインってそれ以前にあった？
— はぁとふる倍国土 (@keiichisennsei) May 16, 2019
Among the replies included Osamu Tezuka’s character Hecate, a shape-shifting young witch who transforms into a half-humanoid, half-cat creature from the 1950s manga Princess Knight. Others mention Kuniyoshi’s cat-eared nekozuka woodblock prints, alongside the introduction of the classic Playboy Bunny costume in Japan. At first, it seems like Yumiko Ōshima’s manga Star of Cottonland may be the point of origin, but perhaps it’s not so easy to pin down. Did Tezuka, like so many innovations in early anime and manga, do it first? Are catgirls perhaps an underappreciated relic of the Edō period? What about classic '80s shōjo manga?
Feline magic in Tezuka's Princess Knight
Like many great debates in art history, the conclusion is ambiguous. Some might say Kuniyoshi unintentionally invented “catgirls” in the 19th century. Others may say Tezuka refined the concept, but Ōshima popularized the idea of cat ears on cute girls. If we examine catgirls strictly through the lens of anime and manga, the ambiguity and debate regarding "origins" become less of a fuzzy headache. Rather, we can re-frame the question: What works possibly helped catgirls bloom into the anime and manga-centric phenomenon we know and love today?
Chibi Neko, a cat who believes she is a girl
Ōshima’s Star of Cottonland was serialized in shōjo magazine LaLa from 1978 to 1987. The protagonist, Chibi Neko, is a kitten who views herself as a little girl. Because of this, the story is illustrated from her perspective and depicts her as human, with the caveat of having cat ears. In her 1995 book, Phänomen Manga: Comic-Kultur in Japan, scholar Jaqueline Berndt points to Ōshima being the possible originator of this now massively popular trope. In 1984, Star of Cottonland was adapted into OVA by Mushi Production, the animation studio famously known for adapting many of Tezuka’s major works.
Meanwhile, another OVA debuted in 1984: Bagi, the Monster of Mighty Nature. This was an original production written by Tezuka himself in response to gene recombination research approval by the Japanese government. Most famously, it featured an anthropomorphic feline woman named Bagi, who is undeniably more cat than girl. Bagi attempts to gain vengeance on humanity while simultaneously forging a troubled relationship with the action-hero male protagonist. While the Star of Cottonland OVA saw a limited home release, Bagi was broadcasted via the Nippon Television Network as a TV special.
Twin cyberpunk catgirls from Masamune's Dominion
Star of Cottonland and Bagi couldn’t be more thematically different, nonetheless, they both depend on catgirls for their worldbuilding. Masamune Shirow’s 1985 science-fiction manga, Dominion, follows a similar trend with its portrayal of android catgirls in a gritty cyberpunk setting. Adapted into a 1988 OVA series, Dominion: Tank Police features two puma twins, Anna and Uni, catgirls created as sentient love dolls. With their wild hair and overtly sexualized design, they undoubtedly have more in common with Tezuka’s violent Bagi than Ōshima’s initial cat-eared girls. They are, for lack of a better word, an otaku’s modern catgirl with their feral bloodthirst intact.
A Catgirl for All Seasons
A feature from Kadokawa’s Davinci News’ anime department titled "We Investigated ‘Why Are Nekomimi Girls So Cute’” draws attention to the 2013 Fall anime season. Namely, ear and tail-equipped characters from Outbreak Company and Nekomonogatari. What’s the appeal of animal-eared girls, where did they come from, and why are they so seemingly trendy now? Again, Kuniyoshi’s fearsome kabuki portraits are mentioned, however with an important caveat: Kuniyoshi's cat ears were meant to strike fear, not inspire charm. The same could be said for the post-war boom in bakeneko films and their scream queen actresses. The article’s author even suggests that the prominence of the Playboy Bunny outfit, with its appeal to the uppercrust of society and cute tail, might’ve also added to a flourishing nekomimi cosplay craze. At some point, the strangeness of the concept became secondary to cute novelty.
Koyomi confronts the Sawari Neko possessing Hanekawa
This observation points out an important contemporary trend: ornamental catgirls, aka eyecandy, verus catgirls with a narrative purpose. Peak catgirl is somehow balancing both acts. Characters like Bakemonogatari’s Tsubasa Hanekawa — a high schooler who is possessed by the Sawari Neko spirit — unintentionally create the night-prowling, cat-eared alter-ego named “Black Hanekawa.” Black Hanekawa may perhaps be the modern mash-up of bakeneko tradition and otaku catgirl-ness we've long awaited. She speaks in cat-puns, obviously not human, and is most importantly a fearsome supernatural nuance. But on the flip-side, Black Hanekawa is everything we expect from the otaku’s catgirl: ears on top of her head, an eccentric personality, and a desire to exaggerate those feline quirks whenever possible for cuteness' sake.
ฅ(*ΦωΦ*)ฅ
The modern catgirl’s sensibility is to be a girl first, cat second. While hints of this archetype is seen in Shirow’s 1980s catgirl love androids, early 2000s series like Di Gi Charat and Tokyo Mew Mew have only further pushed this specific everyday flavor of catgirl agenda. Especially considering the infectious prevalence of mascot characters like Dejiko, a chibified catgirl with lucky cat bells on character goods stores across Akihabara. It’s no wonder they’ve effectively lost all their unncanniness. But besides the cultural context — there’s no real reason why cat ears just can’t be cute in themselves.
Dejiko and company promoting a GAMERS character goods store in Akihabara
Nowadays, you don’t have to look very hard to find a cat-eared character. Series like Re:Zero famously feature characters like Felix, whose cat-like qualities are part of the lore. Nintendo series like Fire Emblem have even newly added a “beast” race of animal-eared characters. Not to mention the massive popularity of franchises like Strike Witches and Kemono Friends in recent years, catgirls undoubtedly draw massively passionate fanbases. No matter where they came from, catgirls in all shapes and sizes, clawed, and de-clawed, have never stopped turning heads. The nyapocalypse is here to stay, fur-real.
Do you have a favorite catgirl of all time? Let us knyaow in the comments below!
Blake P. is a weekly columnist for Crunchyroll Features. He thinks Cats (the musical) deserves a proper anime adaptation. His twitter is @_dispossessed. His bylines include Fanbyte, VRV, Unwinnable, and more.
Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!
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Japanese Literature Essentials
This is a list of five classic Japanese books and short stories that I feel are essential reads for anyone interested in Japan. I’ve chosen these books not only because they are excellent literature in their own right, but because they offer unique insight into Japanese culture and showcase the differences between Japanese and Western literature. Whether or not you are studying Japanese, I think you can gain something valuable by reading them. I know there are many great books I’ve left off this list, but Japanese literature is just too expansive to be summarized in one post - feel free to reblog with your own favorites if I didn’t include them!
Murasaki Shikibu: The Tale of Genji (源氏物語)
Recommended Translation: Royall Tyler
The Tale of Genji is one of the most iconic and foundational works in the history of Japanese literature. Written at the peak of the Heian period, it combined aspects of Chinese literature with traditional forms of Japanese storytelling, resulting in an 1100 page (written almost entirely in kana!!) epic that follows Genji through his adventures and romantic pursuits while giving insight into Heian court life. I feel that Tyler’s translation brings the beautiful Classical Japanese prose to life while preserving the original aesthetics of the tale.
The author, Murasaki Shikibu, was a lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Court. Although women were traditionally not taught Chinese, she was able to study it due to her immense talent. Her mastery of literature is shown in that Genji was greatly praised even at the time of its release, despite her being a woman.
Soseki Natsume: Kokoro (こころ)
Recommended Translation: Edwin McClellan
Soseki is often regarded as the founder of modern Japanese literature. His works are informed by his life experiences, as well as issues salient to Meiji-era Japan, such as the westernization of Japan and conflicts between modern and traditional culture.
Kokoro takes place during the transition out of the Meiji era. The central characters are a young student and the man he idolizes, called Sensei. Through the young man’s relationship with his parents and Sensei, Soseki explores the boundaries between urban and rural values, as well as what it means to receive an education. The third and final part is in the form of a letter from Sensei, and deals with themes of guilt, isolation, and the egoism of youth, as the reality behind the student’s idealization of him is revealed.
In the interest of full disclosure, this is my favorite book on this list and definitely in my top five books of all time - it has only a spare, basic plot, but manages to convey the feeling of an entire nation in a time of transition, while not sacrificing beautiful language or complex, nuanced characters.
Akutagawa Ryunosuke: Hell Screen (地獄変)
Recommended Translation: I actually don’t know who translated the version I’ve read, since it’s a pdf that doesn’t include the title page. Contact me if you want it, or pick a translation that sounds good to you.
Akutagawa was one of the most influential Japanese writers of the twentieth century. Japan’s most prestigious literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him. He is probably best known outside of Japan for his story Rashomon, which inspired Kurosawa Akira’s film of the same name. Much of his work deals with what he perceives as the corruption and spiritual anxiety of modern life, as well as themes of obsession, isolation, and illusion.
Hell Screen is a short story set in an ambiguously medieval Japan, potentially the late Heian period. It centers around the painter Yoshihide, who is the finest painter in the land, but hates everything except for his art and his daughter. He is commisioned by a lord to create a screen painted with the Buddhist hell. Through Yoshihide, Akutagawa explores the nature of artistic obsession and the conflict between art and moral behaviour, all while creating a sense of uncertainty around the truth by choosing an unnamed courtier who is devoted to the lord as a narrator. The end result is a wonderfully disturbing story that subtly critiques modern ways of thinking in the guise of a Buddhist parable.
Warning for implied rape.
Mishima Yukio: Forbidden Colors (禁色)
Recommended Translation: Alfred H. Marks
One of the most well-known postwar Japanese authors, Mishima wrote about themes such as beauty, gender, sexual desire, and patriotism, and his work has been equally praised and criticized for its long, flowing descriptions and decadent prose. Today, Mishima is known almost as much for his gruesome death by ritual suicide as for his literary accomplishments.
Some of you might wonder why I chose to include Forbidden Colors on this list rather than the better known and less disturbing Confessions of a Mask. While it’s true that both of them feature gay protagonists and involve similar themes, I feel that the viscerally disgusting nature of Forbidden Colors makes it a much more powerful read. It is by no means enjoyable, essentially being 400 pages of nothing but hatred and vitriol. Both the protagonist, Yuichi, and his ‘mentor,’ Shunsuke, are amoral, manipulative, and hopelessly misogynistic. The plot is based around Shunsuke’s quest to get revenge on the entire female population by using Yuichi’s good looks as his weapon. Yuichi starts out as somewhat naïve and afraid, thinking he’s the only man to ever be gay, but begins to become more and more like Shunsuke, adopting his misogynistic habits and using his experiences in Tokyo’s gay scene to learn how to weaponize his beauty. The horrifying story of what Yuichi does and experiences provides a harsh, angry critique of Japanese society without any moments of hope or levity.
While I do highly recommend this book, please know that it is highly disturbing and if you cannot read books that contain rape/dubious consent, graphic violence, extreme misogyny, or homophobia, it might be a good idea to skip it.
Enchi Fumiko: Masks (女面)
Recommended Translation: Juliet Carpenter
Enchi is probably the most well-known female Japanese writer from the Showa period. She drew attention to the plight of women in an increasingly militaristic and patriarchal Japan, and achieved success after World War II despite the male-dominated Japanese literary establishment. Her works explore gender and the nature of power.
I had a hard time deciding whether to include Masks or The Waiting Years; both are powerful explorations of female forms of power, and both are quintessentially Japanese in nature. Ultimately Masks won out because of its direct ties to The Tale of Genji, which opened this list. Masks draws on countless layers of Japanese culture, from Genji to traditional shamanistic practices to Noh theatre and art. The story is told from the perspective of men, but as the novel goes on, it becomes clear that the men are being manipulated by the crafty Mieko, whose schemes quickly ensnare the narrators. Central to the story is an essay Mieko wrote on the role of the Rokujo Lady in Genji. Ultimately, Masks is about power, how it can be subverted, and the results of those subversions, while simultaneously exploring the nature of gender, revenge, and legacy. It’s hard to summarize the genius of this book - the way Enchi weaves together differing sources and plot threads into a cohesive, indictive whole - in one paragraph, but I hope you all will read it.
Once again, I’m including warnings, this time for graphic sex, dubious consent (in that one party does not know who the other is), graphic descriptions of blood, and death.
More Recommendations:
Soseki Natsume: I am a Cat; Botchan
Akutagawa Ryunosuke: Spinning Gears; Kappa
Oe Kenzaburo: The Silent Cry; Hiroshima Notes
Enchi Fumiko: The Waiting Years
Tanizaki Junichiro: Naomi
Kawabata Yasunari: The Old Capital; Thousand Cranes
Mishima Yukio: Death in Midsummer - Onnagata, Patriotism
Murakami Ryu: Almost Transparent Blue
Abe Kobo: The Woman in the Dunes
Yoshimoto Banana: Kitchen
#japanese#literature#bookblr#languages#litblr#japanese literature#japanese langblr#book review#langblr#mine
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Favorite Books of 2018 📚Part 1: Classics
I know its really late and I had originally wanted to make a video, but I really want to share my favorite books of last year. Maybe you will all still get a video at some point, but for now you get this master post!
I’m making this post in order of publication date, the oldest to the most recent. I have written reviews for each of these books which are linked.
Daphnis and Chloe by Longus ~ (150 AD)
This is an Ancient Greek piece of writing about young love. It is a lovely and amusing story of the innocence of young love complete with gods and goddesses and the enchanting pastoral setting of the island of Lesbos. I found this to be a world of the past to get lost in and an enjoyable sweet story.
http://katiesclassicbooks.tumblr.com/post/173363848356/review-daphnis-and-chloe-by-longus
Middlemarch by George Eliot ~ (1871)
This is a Victorian novel about a town called Middlemarch, it’s inhabitants and the complex web of their relationships. This is an epic novel about everyday life filled with fantastic characters and their aspirations, familial drama and romantic relationships. I found this to be one of the most relatable classics I’ve read in a long while with such perceptive insight into relationships.
http://katiesclassicbooks.tumblr.com/post/169794990606/review-middlemarch-by-george-eliot
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu ~ (1872)
This Victorian novella was written by an Irish author and is a vampire story that predates Dracula. This story however is about a female lesbian vampire. It was wonderfully atmospheric, it’s two female characters were great and the theme of suppressed female sexuality was very interesting.
http://katiesclassicbooks.tumblr.com/post/179124167841/review-carmilla-by-j-sheridan-le-fanu
Kusamakura by Natsume Soseki ~ (1906)
This Japanese classic is written from the perspective of an artist who goes on a journey to have the ultimate artist’s experience and only experience things from a detached artist’s standpoint. This book was like a word painting and was utterly beautiful. This was a book about art, beauty, nature and the old Japan coming to terms with the new. This was such an introspective and refreshing book and there were so many great quotes that I wrote down as I was reading.
http://katiesclassicbooks.tumblr.com/post/175279046096/review-kusamakura-by-natsume-soseki
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham ~ (1925)
This novel follows a beautiful and shallow woman named Kitty Fane living in Hong Kong with her husband Walter. When her husband finds out she was having an affair, her punishment is unusual and severe. She must accompany him to mainland China to help out in a Cholera epidemic. What follows is a story of Kitty’s spiritual awakening.She starts to appreciate real beauty, she gains compassion for and insight into other people’s feelings, she opens up to a more spiritual dimension of life, she realizes why she acted the way she did and she tries to make amends and ultimately find peace. This novel had great character development and I didn’t expect it to be as profound as it was.
http://katiesclassicbooks.tumblr.com/post/175657280916/review-the-painted-veil-by-w-somerset-maugham
How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn ~ (1939)
This novel is set in a Welsh mining community and follows a man named Huw Morgan as he looks back at his life. This is a story filled with memories of love and family. Quite simply this was one of the best family stories I have read and the Morgans will always stick out in my mind as one of the best literary families
http://katiesclassicbooks.tumblr.com/post/172079242116/review-how-green-was-my-valley-by-richard
Brideshead Revisted by Evelyn Waugh ~ (1945)
This novel is about a man named Charles Ryder looking back at his youth when he became friends with a young man named Sebastian and became involved with his family and their estate Brideshead. This was a nostalgic novel about the loss of innocence and youth, complicated and disappointing love, charm and ultimately religion and how it can save you and haunt you with guilt. This was a book filled with rich writing that impacted me emotionally. I became so attached to these characters. I didn’t even agree with everything in this book especially on matters of religion, but I loved it regardless which is unusual for me
http://katiesclassicbooks.tumblr.com/post/174952967816/review-brideshead-revisited-by-evelyn-waugh
The Once and Future King by T. H. White ~ (1938-1958)
This is a retelling of the legend of King Arthur starting when he was a boy and ending right before his death. After having read the very classic Le Morte D’Arthur in 2017 I very much appreciated this retelling. It really brought the legends to life. At times it made me think deeply and at others it had me laughing out loud. White made Arthur’s ambitions for the round table seem noble. To use the might that was so popular at the time for right, yet to question the ways of the world and why wars were even fought in the first place. I love how the legends of King Arthur can be used to explore different issues and this version I found really aligned with me and I tremendously enjoyed it.
http://katiesclassicbooks.tumblr.com/post/170067974316/review-the-once-and-future-king-by-th-white
~Katie
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Monsters in the Mirror Q&A
MONSTERS JUST TURNED 3 TODAY Y’ALL
In honor of this big event, I decided to answer a few questions about the Monsters series. Here are the big ones--and some of the ones you sent in. :)
What was your inspiration for this fic? How did it come to you?
I was on the way home from class. At that time, my drive an hour and a half long, and I had some of my best ideas then. I have no idea where it came from, but all I remember was asking myself, “What if Felicity was Deathstroke?” The next thing I knew, I had an entire backstory for Felicity already written.
What’s your favorite part of the fic?
There’s a scene in “Well-Oiled Machine” that rarely gets noticed, but that I love. It’s the one where Felicity is talking to “Bobby.” It’s a very dark little scene, in that Felicity is more or less threatening this man with a smile on her face. She may not use weapons to torture him, but there’s definitely some psychological torture going on there. In that moment, she’s more vicious than Oliver. I think it really shows the concept of her character and how dark she can really be sometimes.
What part of the fic are you most proud of?
The first scene of “Raining Pitchforks.” It was at that point that I really took time to establish Felicity’s character; before that, I had no clue what I was doing. So that was critical to everything that came afterward. It was also damn hard to write because I was crying in agony the entire time. When Felicity hurts, I hurt.
What part of the fic are you still dissatisfied with?
Just in general, I feel like there are some continuity issues that I really need to resolve. Which I hope to do with a few more rewrites that I’d like to do this month. As a whole, I’m really thrilled with the directions this universe has taken because it feels rich and exciting all the time to write in.
Who is your favorite character in the fic?
Felicity. I am fascinated by her development from seemingly normal, pre-Japan Felicity to the woman we first saw in “Stroke of Luck.” I’m equally obsessed with taking the woman we saw in “Stroke of Luck” and continuing her journey and character arc through the seasons.
Where there any major decisions you made about the fic that could have made it go a whole different direction?
Actually, no. Monsters has been pretty much set in stone since the beginning.
Was there anything you only learned about the fic after you started posting it (themes, motifs, symbolism, etc.)?
Felicity’s swords kind of became the symbol of the past she clings to so desperately--for me at least. She doesn’t move on from Japan; she holds onto it to the point of unhealthy obsession. And I think that’s okay. I think she deserves to wallow in it. She deserves to be angry for this horrible thing that happened to her. But I think eventually she’ll have to let go, in order to heal and progress.
Did anyone in this fic surprise me by doing anything? If so, what?
It really surprised me that Tommy and McKenna had a past fling. I didn’t expect that. Nor did I plan for Felicity to wake up growling at Oliver in either version of “Stroke of Luck.” There’s a plot point in Part 2 of “Rake the Ashes” that I didn’t expect to happen, as well (which we’ll talk about next Friday). I didn’t plan to have Tommy and Felicity have that heart-to-heart in “Bite the Bullet.” That just happened, and it filled a plot hole rather conveniently.
If you had to sum up this fic in a sentence, what would it be?
Oliver encounters the Vengeance of Starling while on a mission, and the two gradually blossom into a mutually beneficial--and supportive--partnership.
If you were to rewrite this fic, what would you change?
See for yourself. I just reposted “Stroke of Luck” with new updates.
Did anything about this fic’s reception surprise me?
I thought it was a ridiculous idea as soon as I had it, but I decided to go with it. That anyone read it at all is still a complete shock to me. That people love it still blows my mind.
What were my beta’s major comments about the first draft of this fic?
I ran the concept of “Stroke of Luck” by @itwasaromanticoverture the first time, and she told me I should do the thing. And when @bushlaboo looked over the revision for me, the response was pretty enthusiastic about the major changes. She actually made the suggestion that lead to the decision to have Felicity come up fighting. ElsieB was my beta for “Bite the Bullet,” and she seemed to enjoy it, despite the fact I threw 50 pages of fic at her with no warning.
If I were to write a Season 2 of this series, what would it entail?
I think there would be a major difference in Felicity as we progress. Sara’s part in Season 2 would be important for Felicity and Oliver both. And I honestly think I’d play up Isabel Rochev more than on the show, though not necessarily in the same ways.
What scene did you first put down?
The very first. Usually the way I start is the way I finish. If I write scenes out of order, they tend not to get finished.
What’s your favorite line of narration and dialogue?
Doing these together because they’re connected and both from “Rake the Ashes” today:
With the sweetest smile he’s ever seen, Felicity declares, “I’d go to war to save you, Oliver Queen. Nothing in her expression makes him doubt that; that smile was made for battle.
What part was hardest to write?
The parts that aren’t finished yet. I’m uncomfortable with how large my unfinished works are. AO3 says I’ve published about 110k words. My complete collection says I have about 170k--and that’s before all of “Rake the Ashes” goes in. So there’s at least 60k words of Monsters that y’all haven’t seen yet.
What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?
Honestly, I have no idea. It’s my favorite thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing, though. I think it’s because I have a female character who is allowed to be angry. She’s allowed to be dark and vulnerable and gritty and sad without anyone telling her she’s wrong. Sometimes we all need to be those things.
Where did the title come from?
It actually comes from lyrics from two of my favorite songs, “Sleep” by My Chemical Romance and “The Devil in the Mirror” by Black Veil Brides. To me, “Sleep” has always been a song that celebrates the darkness in all of us. In a stark contrast, “The Devil in the Mirror” is about having that darkness, knowing it’s there, and fighting it to become something better. I feel like those two things very much fit Oliver and Felicity in this universe.
Were there any alternate versions of this fic?
There was a very early version where Laurel discovered that Felicity was the Japan survivor and warned both Oliver and Tommy about Felicity’s background and how Donna tried to have her committed. Much of her backstory would’ve been revealed at that time. It was scrapped as other ideas evolved. And besides, I can’t reveal too much at one time--I have issues with the Exposition Fairy suddenly visiting.
There was also a version where Oliver and Thea are eating at Big Belly Burger and run into Felicity and Roy there, and that’s how they initially meet. I scrapped that one when “Well-Oiled Machine” came together.
What do you like best about this fic?
I love that Felicity, this normally bright and happy character in canon, is darker and grittier here. It’s kind of cool because I try to mix in aspects of her canonical personality with this one, and it makes this really complicated set of layers to her.
One of the biggest reasons I keep coming back is that every addition just opens more doors. Often times as a writer, the more I delve into a universe, the more rigid it becomes. Possibilities are closed as the characters make choices, and the path becomes more and more clear. The more trapped I feel, the less I want to work with it because it feels like I lose that creative freedom.
However, every time I step back into Monsters, it feels like the very first time. Possibilities don’t close; they just continue to open. And that freedom and excitement keeps me coming back to it.
What do you like least about this fic?
Writing the damn thing out of order. There are so many continuity errors scattered around that it drives me bananas.
What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story?
Monsters has its own playlist on my iTunes. Actually, it has several--I tend to create a new one every year, modify songs on it, update it with my purchases and favorites, and it evolves the same way the series does.
The Monsters 2018 playlist currently consists of 627 songs and that’s the smallest it’s been since its inception in 2015. (It was 355 then, but to be fair, I didn’t start it until September or so.)
The music on it tends to be more metal and rock. It isn’t a beautiful playlist by any means. It’s gritty and dark, but there’s also some softness to it in places.
There’s an incomplete version of this playlist on Spotify, if you want to check it out.
Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?
It’s okay to be broken. It’s okay not to be perfect. It’s okay not to feel like you’re enough. It’s okay to be scarred. If you keep fighting your demons long enough, you’ll eventually win, and you’ll be better for it.
Strength of character isn’t given. It’s earned.
What did you learn from writing this fic?
Everyone is battling a monster in their mirror, but it doesn’t have to define you. It can become the thing that shapes you into the person you need to be.
Submitted Questions
@imusuallyobsessed asked: What are your hardest scenes to write and why?
My hardest scenes usually involve difficult situations or different character perspectives. Fight scenes can be incredibly difficult sometimes, just because there’s so much motion and flow. I tend to get in a panic writing them, so they come off hurried and sloppy. Then I have to go back and make it resemble something like writing.
Certain perspectives are tough because I have trouble getting into some characters’ minds (which ties in with another question you asked). John Diggle has to be the most difficult character perspective to write from. There’s just something about how he presents himself that I always have trouble with. But I never stop; I just torment myself with it.
@imusuallyobsessed asked: What are your easiest scenes to write and why?
Surprisingly, some of my favorites are Felicity-perspective fight scenes. I just said how I hate action, but when I’m in her perspective, it’s far easier to work with. I have no idea why that is.
Also, Olicity banter comes from deep inside me. Ninety percent of their time, their banter isn’t edited and is exactly what you end up reading in the finished product.
@imusuallyobsessed asked: What are your hardest characters to write and why?
John Diggle is a freaking disaster. Always. There’s something about that man that keeps me from getting inside his head and conveying him the way I want to on paper.
Laurel Lance also tops that list, mainly because I dislike her canon characterization or lack thereof so much. When I write her into a fic, I usually hollow her out to her basic, defining characteristics and build a new personality in there myself. Usually I feel like she comes off one-dimensional anyway.
@imusuallyobsessed asked: What are your easiest characters to write and why?
Tommy is one of my all-time faves. He’s 100% unproblematic to write because he’s always going to react in certain ways and he doesn’t carry the baggage that burdens characters like Oliver and Felicity.
Roy is also up there on the list. Roy Harper is the sass master of my heart. He gets all the saltiest lines that I don’t get the chance to say in daily conversation.
Anonymous asked: For #MITM, I know throughout the one shots we’ve seen a lot of UST, and when Felicity gets wounded badly, we find out they both love each other, but still don’t feel like they’re in a healthy enough place to be in a relationship. Does that ever change? Do they end up together?
Of course things change, and of course they end up together! I know it doesn’t look like there’s method to my madness, but I have a general plot for at least five seasons in this universe.
I plan to take my time with this series, so if you’re looking for a quick resolution, you’re going to be disappointed. Olicity has always been about the journey for me, instead of the destination. If I didn’t want them to happen, I wouldn’t write them together.
I currently have Olicity plotted for Season 2, barring any unforeseen narratives, and I’d really like to put some quality time in on this universe this year. I have too many words of fic hanging around unfinished.
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Discussion of Work
ILN2001 2020/21
Nature / Ecology / Animals Project
A discussion of your graphic media project, in relation to the texts, ideas and issues raised in the taught sessions, and in relation to one or more examples of visual art that resonates with your project.
In the initial stages of this project, we were asked to write a stream of consciousness about our personal thoughts on humanity’s relationship with nature. In this task I focussed mainly on the aspect of disrespect towards nature and animals, how the narrative of technological advancements has evolved a false narrative that humans are the superior force. Civilised society has been reminded that we are not in control, despite currently being a dominant force of destruction, the capabilities of nature is far beyond what we are able.
Though not initially intentional, one film greatly influenced my perspective towards this project. As I was developing my ideas after reading ‘Trouble with Wilderness’ [Cronon, W. "The Trouble with Wilderness, or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature," in Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, ed. William Cronon (New York: Norton, 1996)] and ‘Caught up in Representation’ [Aloi, G. Art and Animals (2012) London: IB Tauris.] this film was taking up a lot of my thought. It is very well known to me, yet I decided to rewatch it with these newer ideas fresh in the mind. This film is ‘Princess Mononoke’ [Princess Mononoke (1997) Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli], an animated film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, a fantasy tale depicting a struggle between humanity and nature, whereby destructive habits cause the downfall of both. It is a film based on themes of loss of respect, where conflicting opinions of a technological driven human society and forest of spirits and animals highlight the lack of peaceful living between them. This film shows that peaceful coexistence is the right way to live on both poles of the argument, this is similar to the reading ‘Trouble with Wilderness’ where Cronon discusses the need to recognise that nature is all around us, that we are not a dominant force and should reintroduce respect for nature. This film has a strong theme of Shintoism, indigenous to Japan, this is the religious belief that humans are fundamentally good, with a devotion to spiritual beings, especially presented through nature. Explored through the lack of respect towards spirits of the forest. One poster in particular titled “THESE THINGS WILL KILL YOU” shows this inspiration clearly, I came up with this idea and concept before thinking of the film, yet there are obvious, unintentional inspirations. The choice of depicting a boar head was somewhat random, though this is a key piece of imagery within the film, the first scene being a boar ‘infected’ with hatred from humanity. I think this shows how impactful this film is, especially to watch as a child, it impacted millions of children similar to myself, Hayao Miyazaki cleverly uses ethereal imagery and magical storylines to convey important messages. One of his other similar works titled ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ is a post-apocalyptic film with themes of nuclear damage and the poisonous and destructive impact of humanity.
The general plot of ‘Princess Mononoke’ follows the conflicts of both parties, where the protagonist symbolises a mostly unbiased opinion, sympathising with both the human expansion (masked as the leader wanting the best for the town’s people) and the disturbance of human presence on the forest and suffering caused by this. There is hatred on both sides of the conflict, which is believed as a strategic way for Miyazaki to show that there can be flaw in all aspects of the earth, one perspective states “A parable of man versus nature, Princess Mononoke is a damning, pessimistic, and downright angry environmentalist screed. But in refusing to draw a line in the sand between good and evil, Miyazaki presents a thoughtful, intelligent mosaic of visual and thematic ideas that ignores neither the brutal elements inherent in nature nor the potential for courage and compassion that lies within mankind. In the film, humans and animals alike are full of contradictions, which serves to consistently complicate Miyazaki’s initially straightforward message of humanity’s thoughtless destruction of the natural world.” [Smith, D. (2019) Review: Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke On Shout! Available at: https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/review-hayao-miyazakis-princess-mononoke-on-shout-factory-blu-ray/ (Accessed: 13/01/21)]. However, this is not an equal distribution of hatred, bias is typically given to the natural side of this conflict. These conflicts are summarised by quotations (English Dub/Translation 2001) such as: Nature’s perspective "I'm not afraid to die, and I'd do anything to get humans out of my forest”, "Typical. Selfish. You think like a human.", "The trees cry out as they die, but you cannot hear them. I lie here. I listen to the pain of the forest and feel the ache of the bullet in my chest, and I dream of the day I will finally crunch that gun-woman's head in my jaws." Contrasted to the human perspective "Now watch closely, everyone. I'm going to show you how to kill a god. A god of life and death. The trick is not to fear him." And “These days, there are angry ghosts all around us. Dead from wars, sickness, starvation, and nobody cares. So – you say you’re under a curse. So what, so’s the whole damn world.”. The leading characters of humanity in this film symbolise greed and human arrogance, with an apathetic perspective towards nature in attempts to expand their industrial society, the rest of the humans as a whole are not demonised by this film, but their impact is. The animals and spirits present their hatred for this, blinded by hatred they cannot see a possibility of peaceful coexistence; as a contemporary viewer however, sympathies lie entirely with the natural side of this conflict, their hatred is ultimately justified and the biggest take from this film.
Human arrogance and greed ultimately cause the downfall of itself and the beauty and magic in the nature surrounding it. The forest spirits death is destructive to both sides of the conflict, the forest being destroyed with life sucked out of it, and a human village trampled. The ending however is hopeful and reflects how they will try to rebuild each other back, recovering from their own mistakes. However, it is worth noting the facts that human settlements are temporary, they can be rebuilt somewhat easily in comparison to nature, this is referenced in the last scenes of the film, “Even if all the trees return, It wont be his forest anymore” balance is not restored, the lives lost are still gone and the spirit and ancient forest is destroyed, though the ending provides a sense of hope regardless, with humans learning of their ignorance; “I didn’t know the forest spirit mad the flowers grow” and rebuilding a better and more peaceful lifestyle.
I wanted my graphic media project to induce thought, therefore I purposefully left questions and imagery unexplained. I wanted the viewer of the piece to reflect on the same question I did at the beginning of the project; what our asymmetrical relationship with nature is and why are we not the innocent.
In the development of my work, I experimented with a range of ideas and visual imagery, all in reference to the broad theme of false superiority. Some of the unfinalized pieces explore further into the concept of dystopia or false utopia, the Anthropocene passing, and respect given back to nature. One draft looked at how humans will return to the soil eventually, so there will always be a superiority there, after this exploitative domination of the earth we will wipe ourselves out and the earth will rebuild itself over us. Another displayed the concept of technology breaking us, with imagery of robotic figures showing struggle and confusion, where their identity as a natural being is unrecognisable, they have become something they are not. My initial ideas with the concepts of these pieces were the idea of flipping the narrative, where humans are overrun by animals in an apocalyptic setting, this idea branched off into the futuristic themes as it is along the same lines of narrative. I used the two readings as quite heavy inspiration for my final pieces, as most of my work here is reflective of our one directional relationship.
The first poster titled ‘THESE THINGS WILL KILL YOU’ is a concept themed around the flawed human perspective. The image shows a human with a boar’s head, or even a boar with a humans body. This piece is supposed to encourage thought about which perspective the words are coming from. On one hand it shows the human lack of empathy for animals, seeing them as beastly or dangerous to civilized living, whereas on the other hand it shows the animal perspective of humans wanting to kill them. There are some perspectives that believe animals are a threat to our lives and society, whereas in reality we are more likely to destroy each other’s living and our own society through greed and ill-moral. There is room for interpretation here, with various messages, for example one interpretation could be of a human wearing the animal head intentionally, to hide sins or communicate a false narrative. There is also subtle reference in the hand position to a gun to symbolise killing. Again, this provides support to the last idea around false narrative, the hand is not a real gun, yet humans pretend that animals are the real threat.
The second poster titled ‘HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?’ is themed upon the concept of humanity returning to its roots. The false superiority humans have is diminished over time and nature is the real dominant force. This piece also references technology around the themes I previously explored, linking to this - futuristic depictions of humanity where humans return to submission and being dragged down by technology. This piece has a strong theme of time based upon it, included in the question asked, it is intended to provoke thought about humans undergoing so much time and struggle that respect is brought back to nature. The link between the rustic skulls and technology wires again highlights the contrast between priorities.
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Tokyo Twilight (1957, Japan)
I haven’t been a classic movie fan for as long as some fellow amateur writers on movies, and I've only been delving into older live-action Japanese films within the last ten years. Having only made Akira Kurosawa’s acquaintance in 2010 and Kenji Mizoguchi’s after that, my first viewing of a Yasujirô Ozu film was in 2012, with his Early Spring (1956) – the work that preceded the subject of this write-up, Tokyo Twilight. A half-decade later to that introduction to Ozu, I am beginning to realize – like the plays of Shakespeare, the animated movies of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Studio Ghibli, the symphonies of Beethoven, and any other continuum of challenging, worthwhile art – that it will take me a lifetime to become familiar with Ozu’s movies. Bar any unforeseen developments in my health, there is plenty of time to do so.
For on the surface, the director’s works are filled with the tatami shots and pillow shots that I have written about numerous times on this blog. Beyond that, Ozu’s humanity, the intricacies of mundane human life, and his attention to individuals between moments of catharsis or tragedy reflect a philosopher-artist fully in control of the artform he specializes in.
Tokyo Twilight is considered Ozu’s darkest film, and it’s certainly the darkest Ozu film I have yet to see – it is not recommended for those who never seen an Ozu movie before. This darkness is based not in what the film depicts – remember, Ozu never shows the most traumatic moments (Chieko Higashiyama’s character dies off-screen in 1953′s Tokyo Story) or even a character’s greatest celebrations or victories (the buildup to Setsuko Hara’s wedding in 1949′s Late Spring is essential to that film’s plot, but the wedding itself is skipped over) – but how it impacts the characters we come to know intimately and make us care for them. Tokyo Twilight, with that apt title, would be Ozu’s final film in black-and-white.
Banker and single father Shukichi Sugiyama (Chishû Ryû) is looking forward to spending time with his eldest daughter, Takako (Setsuko Hara), as she is returning home from the aftermath of an unhappy, perhaps abusive, marriage. Takako is also bringing home her young daughter, who is just learning how to walk. Youngest daughter Akiko (Ineko Arima) is learning English shorthand and she, too, is having significant other troubles with Kenji (Masami Taura). One evening while searching for Kenji, Akiko stumbles upon a mahjong parlor owner named Kisako (Isuzu Yamada), who claims to have been an old neighbor of the Sugiyamas many years ago. Even for a neighbor, Kisako seems to know more about the Sugiyama family than she should, instantly making Akiko suspicious. In Tokyo Twilight’s second half, the two most important subplots emerge: the identity of Kisako is deduced by Takako and Akiko becoming pregnant thanks to a boyfriend who could not care less.
Ozu, considered one of the greatest of filmmakers and one-third of the trinity of great Japanese directors (alongside Kurosawa and Mizoguchi) and sometimes framed as unassailable by his less critical supporters, addresses one of his storytelling weaknesses with co-screenwriter Kôgo Noda. That weakness: Ozu has always excelled in crafting stories from the viewpoints of elders or parental figures, not so much their children. And when those children are as young as those found in I Was Born, But... (1932) or Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947), Ozu’s depiction of children – though well-meaning, and sufficiently funny when needed to be in his comedies – never adopts their perspective, but frames their experiences through the behaviors and expectations of the adults in the movie. Having seen only one teenager as a central character in an Ozu film (Miyuki Kuwano in 1958′s Equinox Flower), my sampling size is too small to draw any conclusions – but I can’t imagine Ozu and Noda were any better with depicting teenagers. Hara and Yamada are playing young women here and, unusually in Ozu’s earlier post-silent era movies, Tokyo Twilight centralizes their fears, desires, joys, and disappointments for the plot – not that this marginalizes the father’s concerns.
Akiko and Takako are not content to care for their father alone, but to assert their independence. Takako, as the oldest, is not the stereotypically submissive woman so often found in Japanese narratives, and will not tolerate her husband’s inebriation and boorish behavior. We don’t know whether Takako married her husband out of love or some other means, but so often in Japanese cinema one would expect the battered wife to stick it out or openly fight with him. Takako knows better than to bother. Streaks of independence are even more pronounced with Akiko, who is more Westernized and enjoys being a rebel without a cause (this characterization might be the most problematic, as Ozu and Noda refuse to look into why Akiko might be acting this way – instead, Ozu and Noda prefer to have Mr. Sugiyama wallow in self-pity and express his sadness about how he raised his daughters). Among the adult daughters that appear in Ozu’s films, Akiko might be the least trusting, least reliant, and most manipulative towards her parent and other elders.
And yet despite their attempts to escape from the traditional trappings of marriage, the Confucian-influenced relationships between children and parents, or both, Akiko and Takako find the past to be inescapable. In conjunction with Yuuharu Atsuta’s pillow shots – unlike previous Ozu movies – are kept to confined spaces inside buildings or at the end of cluttered walkways. Gone are the expansive shots of a morning or afternoon sky, the flowing windswept grasses of a hillside or a berm leading up to train tracks. Instead of those relaxed pillow shots, Tokyo Twilight features pillow shots including the uncertainty that comes with darkness (almost all of the pillow shots appear during nightfall, let alone twilight), the confining angles of the home and other familiar buildings. The past, before and after those pillow shots, is built over years by the “little white lies” that parents tell their children. Perhaps the lies that your parents told you are not as serious as those eventually revealed by Tokyo Twilight’s conclusion. But at its essence, Tokyo Twilight is a piece depicting the last vestiges of childhood innocence (maintained by parental prevarication) stripped away, and how damaging that can be.
Tokyo Twilight is the most plot-centric of the Ozu-Noda collaborations. With multiple plot twists – to even have one plot twist in an Ozu movie is uncommon – and verbal conflict more visceral than usual, this is not the placid meditation that longtime Ozu fans who have never seen Tokyo Twilight before might expect this film to be. It is, oftentimes bitter, disillusioned. The two women of Tokyo Twilight are suffering from a lack of love demonstrated by their partners and the adults – persnickety and gossiping – surrounding them. Such developments are unsustainable for any human being after years of misdirections and separations. Maybe someday Akiko and Takako will accept the indiscretions of their father, their elders, and their friends as the behavior of men and women unable to imagine life in any other way. Maybe someday Akiko and Takako may find the room to forgive those who did not love them as much as they should have. But that will not happen in Tokyo Twilight or immediately after the movie’s defining tragedy – which, in true Ozu fashion, is never shown, only talked about and reacted to.
Twenty-five years old when the film was released, Ineko Arima (Equinox Flower, 1959′s The Human Condition I: No Greater Love) almost never smiles for the 140-minute runtime. For a Japanese movie, in this specific modern culture where women smiling is an uncodified tradition, that is unthinkable. Arima gives the performance of the movie, reflecting an emotional and motivational emptiness that might have been glossed over by Setsuko Hara’s smile in any other Ozu movie. To maintain that disposition for the length of the film and to earn the audience’s empathy is an enormous undertaking, and the young actress has outdone herself here. Despite a history of Ozu and Noda underwriting or refusing to give the adult children the focus of the story, Arima capitalizes on the rich writing offered to her from the screenwriters here.
This would be the third-to-last film Setsuko Hara would make with Ozu, with almost a decade’s worth of stunning performances under his direction. Tokyo Twilight marked the end of Hara, in an Ozu movie, playing a daughter of Chishû Ryû’s that other characters think should have been married long ago. Playing the older sister (possibly because, approaching forty years of age, Hara could not plausibly play the unmarried daughter to Japanese audiences any longer), the character of Takako is one of the least obedient characters Hara played in an Ozu film. The trademark smile is there, though offset quite often with her behavior towards Isuzu Yamada’s character. it is not the most memorable Hara performance, but this would not be the last time Hara would play an older sister character. If Hara had continued her career after Ozu’s death, performances like Tokyo Twilight might instead be used an example of Hara’s versatility rather than a deviation from typical Hara roles.
The veteran Ryû –who appeared in fifty-two of Ozu’s fifty-four films (including Ozu’s seventeen lost and partially surviving films) – is sometimes unreadable in Tokyo Twilight, but this plays to the film’s characterizations. It is an assured performance drawing deep from his acting experience. As Mr. Sugiyama, reserved and exhausted amid post-War change, Ryû disassociates himself with the personal details and trivialities of others unless it is somehow related to his family’s welfare. Social change and the outside world do not seem to bother him, and he is just willing to cast his fate to the winds of that change without knowing where those winds might take him. The traumas of Japanese militarization – how it estranged Mr. Sugiyama from his family and Japanese society at-large – are omnipresent. This is Ryû playing a sort of victim; a victim who unwittingly contributes, in part, to his family’s ultimate despair.
Japanese audiences, expecting a ponderous familial drama of smaller incidents rooted in a greater wisdom, responded poorly to Tokyo Twilight upon the film’s release. Over time – at least among Western audiences and cinephiles – Tokyo Twilight has burnished its reputation as one of Ozu’s most ambitious movies, embracing plotting in ways that the director had not done so since the 1930s.
I have read from certain film critics that some of the greatest movies can help change how one conducts their life or views the act of living for the better. For me, the Ozu films that I have seen – as a whole, not any one in particular as of yet – have helped shape how I view relationships familial, platonic (not so much romantic). By how much? Ask me in another five years of watching Ozu movies and I might have a more definite answer for you. Because like I've written above, Ozu and Noda are best at writing through the eyes of adults, not their adult children. Nevertheless, these films, in their own ways, still have their appeals even to adult children.
My rating: 10/10
^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Tokyo Twilight is the one hundred and forty-second film I have rated a ten on imdb.
#Tokyo Twilight#Yasujiro Ozu#Ineko Arima#Setsuko Hara#Chishu Ryu#Isuzu Yamada#Haruko Sugimura#Nobuo Nakamura#Masami Taura#Kogo Noda#Yuuharu Atsuta#TCM#My Movie Odyssey
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Let’s read Umineko! pt. 5
[pt. 1] [pt. 2] [pt. 3] [pt.4]
The story so far
Various members of the ludicrously wealthy Ushiromiya family have gathered on their family’s remote island for the annual ‘family conference’. Family patriarch Kinzo is dying, his vast fortune is up for division and all his children want a piece. Kinzo himself doesn’t care, despising his children and now only obsessed with seeing the smile of the mythical witch Beatrice one more time.
Among the servants of Kinzo, the youngest, Kanon and Shannon are finding them scapegoated and abused by both the other staff and their employers. Kind old Kumasawa is the only member of the staff who’s sympathetic, but she says she can only observe the heartbreaking situation.
Eva, her husband Hideyoshi, and her brother Rudolf, with tacit support of her sister Rosa and Rudolf’s wife Kyrie, have accused eldest brother Krauss of embezzling funds from Kinzo to cover business losses. Krauss’s wife Natsuhi, whose status in the family is much less secure since she is a woman and not a direct descendant, reacted furiously to the accusations, and as a result has been attacked so viciously by Eva she fled the room in tears. Kumasawa once again says she can only observe.
Meanwhile, blissfully unaware, their children Battler, George, Jessica and Maria are on their way down to the beach...
Notes from my friend...
My friend added some context to the history of the Ushiromiya family discussed in the last post...
the meiji era in particular is a turning point in japanese history. prior to this, during the bakumatsu (a civil war between those who wanted japan to remain isolated and those who did not, and felt that the Emperor one way or another was being taken a fool, and resulted in part in the move of the capital from Kyoto to Edo (present day tokyo)) the west was seen as a horrific threat to japanese culture
you may have heard of the shinsengumi and/or the ishin shishi; these are two of the most familiar patriotic groups during the bakumatsu. shinsengumi were pro isolation and remaining in kyoto, while the ishin shishi were for opening borders. contrary to popular western storytelling, the shinsengumi weren't anti-emperor
the ishin shishi as you might have guessed, won. the borders opened, the capital moved, and japan essentially began to catch up with the west
this time frame would have been IMMENSELY lucrative for any merchant class family, which is where this ties into your liveblog
during meiji, the status quo was upended. no longer were samurai the social elite, but merchants, especially those who were able to procure new western novelties and technologies
even if they had to take out a loan soon after, they would have experienced an economic boom prior to that and likely helped secure their loan
^^;'
i don't particularly know much about the era before the bakumatsu or after meiji, at least not from a japanese perspective, but their family is a long line of merchants who were respected, and likely increased that during and after meiji
Beach times!
On their way out, Battler once again notes the portrait of Beatrice, and the long ‘disturbing’ epitaph written underneath. They speculate it’s a cryptic riddle towards the location of the family’s hidden gold, and that Kinzo will give up the head status and gold to whoever solves it.
Battler relates a story of how Kinzo raised his funds and gained trust of other capitalists in the first place: “One fateful day, I encountered the Golden Witch Beatrice.” Kinzo claimed to have summoned her through his research into magic and demon-summoning, and exchanged his soul for fortune and honour. Beatrice gave him ten tons of gold, which he could use as collateral on his loans. This gold is still said to be hidden somewhere on the island.
There follows a discussion of the plausibility of a sponsor, whether ten tons was actually ten kilograms, and the market price of gold. Then on how much the fortunes they discuss are actually worth. Battler says in narration that a lifetime’s wages are 200 million yen, and ten tons of gold - estimated at 20 billion yen - would be worth 400 years of wages assuming the portion of life spent working is 40 years.
In short, they conclude that it’s unlikely that so much gold would be sitting in one place, and speculate the ‘witch’ of the story was just a very wealthy woman, whose ‘magic’ was just her ability to predict Kinzo’s success and possibly guide his investments such as funding the Korean War. George even speculates that the name Beatrice is a modification of her real name by the West-obsessed Kinzo.
Battler ruins this otherwise fairly interesting discussion with another creepy sexual harassment joke.
Maria is not best pleased with the dismissal of witches.
I was curious about chronology here, and it turns out, in the 1980s, Japan was in an ‘anime boom’. Notable shows in the few years up to 1986 included a lot we now call classics, such as Nausicaa, Dragon Ball, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.
As far as witches are concerned, Kiki’s Delivery Service would be released a few years later in 1989, but magical girl anime was well established by this point: the first magical girl anime apparently dates back to the 60s. Wikipedia mentions that in the previous decade, “Mahōtsukai Chappy (1972) and Majokko Megu-chan (1974–1975) popularized the term "majokko" (little witch) as a name for the genre”.
Maria wants to be a witch when she grows up. I approve.
We learn that Kinzo’s infatuation with Beatrice did cause some friction with his (still unnamed) wife.
The kids continue to the beach, and it’s back to the adults. They are, guess what, also talking about gold. Eva and Rudolf claim there is evidence Kinzo really did have a large quantity of gold, and showed it to a respected company president. Krauss alone maintains that it was a scam that paid off, and there wasn’t real gold. Eva turns this into a dilemma:
The accusers offer Krauss a way out: they will let him investigate father’s assets in return for admitting he found the gold, and giving them each a share. Apparently the 20 billion yen estimate of its value is dead on, since Krauss uses it without question. But to give Krauss an incentive, they say 50% of the gold should go to the successor to the Urishomiya main family, the rest split evenly between siblings, so Krauss would get 12.5 billion.
...except I can already see that is not ‘to Krauss’, but ‘to the successor’. There’s a motive for murderin’ if ever I saw one.
Of course, if the gold doesn’t actually exist, they’re basically demanding 2.5 billion each, with the threat to examine Kinzo’s finances if he doesn’t comply.
They additionally demand 10% of their portions within the next six months, whether or not Kinzo is dead.
Krauss summarises the actual deal being discussed so obliquely:
They also say the agreement will overrule Kinzo’s will, if he writes one.
Krauss agrees, because it would be an anticlimax if he didn’t, on the condition that if one of the other siblings finds the gold, they must turn it over to him. They accept, because clearly none of them actually believe this gold exists.
The narration steps in to explain what was pretty clear from the dialogue: they’re blackmailing him with the threat of doing him for embezzlement.
The narration then rather belabours the point that Krauss surely has a plan to get out of this. He insists on an amendment...
“I am very poor” says the man in the tailored suit in the mansion he lives in, and is redeveloping. My mum teaches horseriding, and some of her clients are disgustingly rich. Having strange notions of being “poor” is definitely in character.
Krauss hits back at Hideyoshi...
Gotta say, despite the tendency to belabour points, the author writes shady capitalist doubletalk extremely well.
In case you’re wondering, the narration takes the opportunity to explain that Hideyoshi runs a fast-food chain that he ‘started from nothing’. It also explains some things I didn’t really understand on the ‘how does capitalism’ front:
But stockholders have the right to interfere with the running of the company to protect their investment. The narration underlines that the stockholders can vote to replace the management, so if someone gains majority stock, they can seize the company.
The narration continues that companies defend themselves by having employees or other allies buy many stock certificates, but Hideyoshi failed to do this. Now someone is buying up stock trying to get the other stockholders on board with a takeover, and the stockholders have realised this and are demanding huge prices to prevent Hideyoshi from buying back stocks.
The narrator underlines the underlying point:
(this isn’t really a Marxist point necessarily, but like, I had to put him in there)
In short, as the game states in all capitals just in case we somehow missed the implication, Hideyoshi needs money very urgently.
Krauss moves on to target Rudolf, who’s apparently on trial for some kind of violation of rights in the States. (Employee rights? Sexual harassment?)
Do you think this game might be making a point?
Apparently a ‘corporate giant’ was accusing Rudolf’s nonspecific ‘niche’ company of ‘violating their rights’. The game is being unusually coy about the nature of this trial. In any case, Rudolf was being pressed to settle out of court. So he needs money too!
Or as the game puts it again...
And why does Rosa need money? She doesn’t play capital like the others, but she ‘cosigned’ something because of what Krauss calls her ‘softhearted nature’. The game doesn’t really explain.
So yeah, now Krauss has the upper hand, because he knows the more he stalls the more desperate the others get.
Krauss’s voice actor does some splendidly evil laughs.
We cut to Kanon, who is reporting on the negotiations to Kinzo in his study. Kinzo finds the whole thing amusing, and then starts talking about whether his ‘great miracle’ that will apparently resurrect Beatrice will come before they solve the riddle.
Apparently he put up the riddle to increase risk to him and therefore increase magic powers. It rather reminds me of that Discworld ‘one in a million’ thing. He claims the more people attempt the riddle, the more powerful his magic to resurrect Beatrice will be. He tells Kanon to attempt the riddle too.
Kanon repeats the “I am furniture” line when Kinzo offers him sweets. Kinzo doesn’t bother to tell him otherwise. Dick.
Downstairs, Nanjo and Genji are also discussing the riddle. We get the full riddle at last:
Behold the sweetfish river, running through my beloved home of old. You who seek the Golden Land, follow its path downstream in search of the key.
As you travel down it, you will see a village.
In that village, look for the shore the two speak of.
There the key to the Golden Land sleeps.
You who laid hand upon the key must journey as follows to the Golden Land.
On the first twilight, sacrifice the six chosen by the key.
On the second twilight, those who remain shall tear apart the two who are close.
On the third twilight, those who remain shall praise my noble name.
On the fourth twilight, gouge the head and kill.
On the fifth twilight, gouge the chest and kill.
On the sixth twilight, gouge the stomach and kill.
On the seventh twilight, gouge the knee and kill.
On the eighth twilight, gouge the leg and kill.
On the ninth twilight, the witch revives, and none shall be left alive.
On the tenth twilight, the journey ends, and you shall reach the Home of the Gold.
The witch shall praise the wise, and bestow four treasures.
One shall be all of the Golden Lad’s gold.
One resurrects all the dead people’s souls.
One even revives all the love they possessed.
And one for the rich to eternally rest.
Rest in peace, my beloved witch, Beatrice.
Yeah, I can’t make head or tail of it lol.
Fortunately, the Cousin Gang knows more about Japanese rivers, and suchlike things. They’re probaby wrong about a lot at this point in the story. Still, speculation leads them to the Hayakawa river in Odawara where Kinzo grew up, and Odawara Castle at its mouth.
From there, Sogakishi in Odawara has the character for ‘shore’ in its name.
But then they doubt Odawara, because Kinzo was from a distant branch not touched by the Great Tokyo Earthquake.
Judging by the conversation here, the naration about Kinzo’s past probably wasn’t narrated by Battler, but by the omniscient narrator.
They go on to consider the rest. They count eleven sacrifices. For the record, this game has 19 named characters including Beatrice. They consider the rest of the described events.
Maria shows everyone drawings of witches. She sounds like a budding comic artist. Maybe she’ll make the next big magical girl anime.
Shannon tells a Beatrice story that’s been passed down between the servants of Beatrice playing minor pranks. Battler makes sure to let us know how Very Skeptical he is, even if he’s trying to console Maria.
Maria gives Battler and Jessica magic protection charms. Battler has to tell us how he thinks they’re cheap and plastic. He manages to suppress his inner jerk and avoid arguing with Maria, and accepts the emerald-scorpion anti-magic charm.
Shannon is making friends with the Cousin Gang at least. She seems to be in a bit better spirits.
They go in as the weather worsens, and we get a protracted scene of searching for a particular rose to satisfy Maria. She’s a convincing small child, for sure. Rosa joins them and is so messed up by the intense negotiations earlier that she takes it out on Maria, hits her, and says some very cruel things. Battler tries to intervene (I guess he can be an OK guy sometimes) and Rosa tells them all to piss off. Battler intervenes again when she starts to seriously hurt Maria, and takes some of Rosa’s anger, superficially about Maria’s manner of speech.
George, incomprehensibly, takes Rosa’s side - calm as ever but clearly not caring about the actual physical violence? I realise it’s only recently that corporal punishment of children has become taboo and maybe it’s a societal thing, but when an adult is beating up a nine-year-old who cares about the reasons?
go-fuck-yourself-george.png
After talking about the attempted sexual assault scene with @alchymistryandcoldsteel, I no longer assume the author intends these characters to read sympathetically. Instead I think he’s making a point about how abuse is enabled by social structures and engenders futher abuse, and expect as Battler’s character is developed he’ll see these ideas challenged.
Already, this is blatantly presented as rationalisation for an immoral choice.
Right, that will wrap it up for now. Got to go!
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Let's Celebrate the Birthday of Studio MAPPA!
Though there are many anime production studios, few of them have gained significant name recognition within the international anime community. Most such studios have been around for decades, like Madhouse or Studio SHAFT — which is why it’s so impressive that studio MAPPA has, in just nine short years, established such a strong reputation for distinctive productions and terrific execution. And given today just so happens to be MAPPA’s birthday, this seems like a fine time to run down the studio’s unique history and celebrate some of its finest works!
Expectations were high for MAPPA’s productions even before it opened its doors, courtesy of its distinguished founder. Masao Maruyama was actually one of Madhouse’s own founders and had spent decades at the studio producing some of the most compelling works of the ‘80s, ‘90s, and ‘00s. As one of the studio’s chief producers, he established close ties with many of the greatest directors in the industry, developing projects alongside luminaries like Shinichiro Watanabe and Satoshi Kon. Given his stellar production record, the foundation of a studio actually bearing his name seemed like a natural development — after all, MAPPA actually stands for “Maruyama Animation Produce Project Association.”
Maruyama’s close connections with top shelf directors bore fruit immediately over at MAPPA, with the studio first collaborating with Tezuka Productions on Shinichiro Watanabe’s Kids on the Slope. Centered on a group of teenagers connecting through jazz in post-war Japan, it’s a uniquely realistic and beautifully executed production, serving as a firm statement of purpose for the fledgling studio. Collaborations with Watanabe would continue with his later Terror in Resonance, while Maruyama’s many connections back at Madhouse would result in a collaboration on the new season of Hajime no Ippo.
From there, MAPPA’s early production history would serve as a remarkable showcase of talented artists creating distinctive, visually dazzling productions. In 2014, the studio would produce two fantasy dramas with entirely different styles, but equal distinction: Garo: Divine Flame and Rage of Bahamut: Genesis. An offshoot of the tokusatsu (live-action with heavy use of special effects) franchise, Divine Flame offered an ambitious fantasy narrative set in Inquisition-era Spain, written by tokusatsu veteran Yasuko Kobayashi. Meanwhile, the mobage (mobile game) based Rage of Bahamut would offer style and energy evoking something close to an Indiana Jones movie — no surprise, given it was directed by the talented Keiichi Sato (Tiger & Bunny). Since then, MAPPA has continued to collaborate with uniquely talented directors, and adapt stories unlike much else in the field. Former Kyoto Animation director Hiroko Utsumi would end up collaborating with MAPPA on Banana Fish, a fan-favorite manga that had never received an adaptation. Meanwhile, the beloved Tezuka manga Dororo would earn a fresh and excellent adaptation courtesy of Kazuhiro Furuhashi, an industry veteran with decades of directing experience.
Personally, I feel MAPPA’s highest peak so far has been the stunning In This Corner of the World. The film depicts World War II from a perspective I’d never seen before, charting the life of one young woman as she works to endure the tides of history from the porch of her humble home. In This Corner of the World has even drawn international acclaim, and may point toward new horizons for MAPPA.
But as this year’s Dorohedoro demonstrates, MAPPA is far from finished in making a mark on the industry. MAPPA offers a refreshing change, drawing broadly in terms of source material, and connecting that material with top directors from across the industry. MAPPA is a unique presence within anime, and I hope they maintain their distinct philosophy as they continue to grow as a studio!
I hope you enjoyed this history of studio MAPPA, and please let me know your own favorite MAPPA productions in the comments!
Nick Creamer has been writing about cartoons for too many years now and is always ready to cry about Madoka. You can find more of his work at his blog Wrong Every Time, or follow him on Twitter.
Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!
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PriPri 4 - 6 | Saiyuki Reload Blast 6 | BnHA 32 | Katsugeki 7 | Reflection 4
BnHA 31, Saiyuki Reload Blast 5, Katsugeki 6 and Reflection 3 were lost because, long story short, the internet connection decided to waver while I was trying to post them. *bows* I’m sorry but I don’t know how to resurrect the lost words (I save my notes doc as a blank doc once I’ve got 5 eps’ worth lined up). I’d written 2 pages’ worth of notes for those 4 and PriPri 4 (which I managed to resurrect, but it’s kinda paltry)…
Princess Principal 4
Onomancy.
Team Wildcat? Please, don’t make this High School Musical…
“Squelch” is such an odd word choice for a world war…
Hey, it’s the “birds” book again.
Princess Principal 5
All aboard the Hogwarts Express!
It’s interesting to note how the British act towards the Japanese. I haven’t really seen these sorts of reactions myself because of where I live and who I am, but…yeah, it’s completely natural for a place that isn’t used to Japanese courtesy.
The more I see of Chise’s backstory, the more I’m tempted to play relevant segments of History of Japan as I go. Unfortunately, not much of it is relevant aside from “How ‘bout I do anyway?” and “Hire a samuraiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~”. By the by, Chise kinda reminds me of Rio from Parable of the Renegades. I have the honour of fighting against such a solid work, but I won’t let my pride go, because Nephalem is an even tougher opponent.
“I like pickles”…? (Wut?)
“My name is Chise. You killed my father. Prepare to die!” Okay, I swear that’s the second time I’ve had to make that reference in this commentary. Someone, please show these directors the Princess Bride (even though I’ve never seen it myself). By the by, I half expect Jubei to be her father.
Ange runs…very weirdly. Let me put it that way.
They had enough time to change clothes…? Welp, that’s not very convincing in regards to suspension of disbelief.
I’d say the thing that protected Beatrice was her mouthpiece.
Ah-hah! Saw it coming!
Why is Beatrice always so opposed to everything???
Princess Principal 6
I didn’t hear the song because I had the volume off…
Nevermore!
Uva and Keemun teas.
I bet Dorothy’s dad will get murdered by the Duke of Normandy…
Well…he didn’t get killed by the Duke, which is what I didn’t expect, but where did the woman get the blade???
The song is called “Moonlight Melody” (all lowercase).
Saiyuki 6
Was that an eye? On a sword? In the OP???
Who’s Goujun???
Reincarnation is a cruel fate. A sheltered man of Heaven becomes the battle-hardened Sanzo…hmph. It reminds me of Ro.Te.O, which is probably why this thing is so great to me.
I love how Kenren just goes “or something”, LOL.
Oh, Goujun is the Dragon King. No wonder. However, why is the Dragon King not a dragon? He has scales, but he’s basically a demon, right?
Interesting how Tenpou is so used to battle he’s just thinking about mundane things while he’s slaughtering people. I should do that in one of my own stories one day.
My heart absolutely fell into my throat when the narration went “something is happening”…yikes.
BnHA 32
LOL, poor Bakugo. Scaring those kids.
I think Gunhead just explained an aikido move, although I’m not sure since I don’t do martial arts…
Death Arms makes a good replacement policeman, doesn’t he?
Uh, hey. Sirius, ain’t all jobs like that? Not just heroing, but even non-intensive jobs like the ones I’m aiming for contain some misconceptions and discrepancy between reality and the belief things will be easy and fun all the time.
Being a hero, for different people, holds different reasoning. I think that’s already clear to Deku, Bakugo and their main crew, but I guess that’s not so prevalent for Froppy, eh?
Selkie has the word “seal” on his back! Ah! I get it! A navy SEAL! (Hahaha…)
Nysan? Y’sure it ain’t Nissan, LOL?
The “…this area!” went a little too fast…
Well, Froppy is one thing, but “does anything a spotted seal can” is spinning Spiderman’s shtick a bit far…if you reuse a joke, it’s not funny anymore, y’get me?
This Froppy fan pandering is…less entertaining than I thought it could be. It’s just “stay back, you’re just a kid” business that kids don’t like, don’t you think?
O-Okay, I take my last comment back. Innsmouth completely got me by surprise! Gosh, he’s like a Lovecraft monster!
T-That time the cuteness actually worked! Amazing! It became so corny, it came back into funny territory!
Well, that was surprising…it actually managed to entertain much more than I thought it would…
Katsugeki 7
Higekiri and Hizamaru are basically VEPPer…? (Badass versions???)
I never knew of a sword who used his bare hands in combat…until now…Yipes.
Yay! Go, Yamanbagiri! Kick that ootachi’s-wait, it’s over already?
I feel sorry for poor inferior-feelin’ Yamanbagiri. It sets my dude-moe radar off (which is a good thing – I wanna cuddle this poor guy).
As I’ve said in the past (although this may have been just in m planning documents for writing stories), the perspective changes the means.
Oh wait, Yamanbagiri is a starter! This Saniwa must’ve started with Yamanbagiri!
Oodenta manages to really capture the mood of horror movies. He’s such an emo, but heck is he frightening when it comes to thunder. Like Martin of Ro.Te.O.
Reflection 4
In Concrete Revolutio, I was fine with a new time jump every 2 minutes. Here, I’m just expecting one every two minutes…
Does anyone else get the vibe that Eleanor’s just there to be in trouble? She’s a reporter, after all…
(while I-Guy flies) Sky Show!...or something like that.
“La La Lan” (sic)? It’s a building seen in one shot.
Wait, what just happened? I-Guy basically held on to the dude as he made his coloured clouds and then took him into the sea in a really, really bland fashion. I might need to summon Nana Maru San Batsu back soon, it seems.
Yay! Magical girls, magical girls! Come at me with all you’ve got, Stan Lee magical girls! It’s not like you’ll be better than MMM anyway.
LOL, you always hear the name “Trevor Horn” in relation to this anime. It’s kinda weird actually, since normally composers don’t get that much of a spotlight in anime.
If they can snag Stan Lee to voice Stan Lee, certainly Trevor Horn can voice Trevor Horn, right?
Trevor kinda looks like the Buggles on Instagram, and that’s speaking from minimal experience as to what Video Killed the Radio Star is…
I see. The powers are attached to Ian’s voice, so of course he would no longer be able to sing his signature song for multiple reasons.
Lisa sure knows her Spiderman, doesn’t she? (About spandex and everything.)
Now they have slurs for Reflected too? I should’ve known – if there’s opposition to something, naturally slurs will arise. That’s the human condition.
#simulcast commentary#princess principal#katsugeki touken ranbu#saiyuki reload blast#boku no hero academia#the reflection#Chesarka watches PriPri#chesarka watches boku no hero academia#Chesarka watches Katsugeki#Chesarka watches Saiyuki RB#Chesarka watches Reflection
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The New White Man's Burden
Enjoy the inevitable
Lest you be discouraged, keep in mind that
everything
we've been seeing over the last few days has been absolutely inevitable since 1965. There was never any other possible outcome. The decline and fall was designed. On a related note, see if you can spot what I found amusing about
this rather apposite article
concerning my prediction of the coming collapse of the United States.
According to Vox Day, the 1965 immigration act and the subsequent amnesty were nothing short of existential disasters for the United States. He recently wrote about the consequences of the Act:
“The post-1965 mass immigration policy was entirely based on lies and misrepresentations, and 50 years on it is clear that global migration has destroyed America, the largest invasion in human history has severely weakened the United States, and if a significant portion of the post-1965 immigrants and their descendants are not repatriated in the next decade, they will cause the complete collapse of the Union, violent ethnic conflict, and a civil war of unprecedented magnitude.”
Vox wrote a long post last year about Representative Emanuel Celler, the primary author of the 1965 act. He suggests that as a third-generation immigrant, Celler was blind to the inevitable consequences of increased migration. Many dismiss Vox as a racist because he observes the actions and consequences of different ethnic groups, but they rarely engage with those observations themselves. It should be obvious that the descendants of the pioneers who fought the American Revolution will have different worldviews than the descendants of Ellis Island immigrants. Many of the most vocal proponents of increased migration are descendants of immigrants themselves. The notion that America is a “nation of immigrants” is a mantra repeated by the descendants of immigrants.
Early in the 2016 presidential campaign, Vox responded to Globalist Party Republican John Kasich’s call for amnesty for illegal aliens:
“The dirt is not magic. The USA is not magically exempt from the same rules of power, politics, and war that have stricken nearly every other multiethnic society in history at one time or another. There is absolutely nothing preventing what has happened many times elsewhere from happening on US soil.”
I believe it was Steve Sailer who coined the term “magic dirt” to refer to the belief that migrants from diverse nations and cultures can suddenly become just as American as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson when they set foot on American soil. Despite globalist media doing their best to label any such discussion as racist, the debate about exactly what it means to be American is a necessary one to have. Is America a place? Is it an idea? Or is it a people, the descendants of its founders? This question is easier with mono-ethnic nations. Ethiopia is a place inhabited by Ethiopians. Japan is a nation inhabited by the Japanese. But who decides who is American?
Oh, the irony.... Actually, I don't believe for one second that Cellar was unaware of the inevitable consequences of his actions. While many of his co-ethnics bought into the con, Cellar himself was seeking to break the power of the white Christian world hegemony created by Great Britain and inherited by the USA after World War II. Anyhow, do you seriously believe that you can live in peace in the same society as the joggers who are protesting and looting everything or the Antifa activists who are burning and breaking everything? Forget whether you want to do so or not, do you actually believe it is even
possible?
One reason the Roman Empire lasted so much longer than the US Empire will is that the Romans knew better than to permit the foreign corruption of their state.
From the readiness wherewith the Romans conferred the right of citizenship on foreigners, there came to be so many new citizens in Rome, and possessed of so large a share of the suffrage, that the government itself began to alter, forsaking those courses which it was accustomed to follow, and growing estranged from the men to whom it had before looked for guidance. Which being observed by Quintius Fabius when censor, he caused all those new citizens to be classed in four Tribes, that being reduced within this narrow limit they might not have it in their power to corrupt the entire State. And this was a wisely contrived measure, for, without introducing any violent change, it supplied a convenient remedy, and one so acceptable to the republic as to gain for Fabius the well-deserved name of Maximus.
-
Machiavelli
,
CHAPTER XLIX,
Discourses
This column, written more than nine years ago, may help one put recent events in the proper historical perspective.
The New White Man's Burden
28 February 2011
The harsh historical reality is that no human society ever survives. They come into being, they thrive, they decline and eventually they perish. If they were remarkable, perhaps they will leave indications of their past existence through literature and the arts, through place names and through their influence on subsequent ideas and modes of thought. But that does not bring them back to life; the modern Greece of IMF-inspired riots, burning banks and filthy streets is not the ancient Greece of the philosophers and the Athenian Empire.
Societies also tend to collapse much faster than anyone, especially its inhabitants, ever anticipates. Plato envisioned his ideal republic 24 years after the unexpected defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War, and no doubt he had little idea that Athens would never rise again to its former glory. Cicero composed his ode to the ideal of Roman governance in
De re publica
only seven years before his beloved Republic of Rome collapsed into civil war and eventual dictatorship. The British empire, upon which the sun never set, ruled over a quarter of the world’s population and nearly a quarter of its total land area before it fell into rapid decline and disappeared within 30 years of it reaching its greatest expanse. Last week, the British were shocked to discover that they lacked the wherewithal to rescue their own citizens from the wreckage of a fifth-rate Arab country.
In summary, the apex is always the point at which the eventual decline begins. It is now abundantly clear that 1989, which marked the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent breakup of the Soviet empire, also represented the high point for the American empire. As if the market and economic catastrophes of the last 12 years were not evidence enough, the stunning impotence of America in the face of Islamic revival sweeping over one collapsing U.S.-backed ally after another makes it eminently clear that America is a global power in decline.
American authors such as Pat Buchanan and Paul Kennedy were among the first to perceive that America was in a state of decline. Now, even foreign journalists are aware of the phenomenon and comment openly upon it. The neocon triumphalism behind the military occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq was nothing more than the usual last gasp of empires; this has been a recognizable pattern since the Athenians sent the flower of their navy to perish on the shores of Sicily more than 2,000 years ago.
The decline of America can be traced to three fundamental factors: debt, demographics and democracy. Of those three factors, it is demographics that is the most vital. Since the 1965 Immigration Act, the American political elite has been electing a new people by encouraging immigration from a wide variety of societies that are vastly different in ethnic and cultural terms than American society. In combination with this vast invasion of the, shall we say, unconventionally civilized, the traditional male-female dynamic that had proven successful for centuries was altered through a transformation of the legal and judicial systems. This confluence of factors has created a tremendous challenge for the white male population, as young white American men now have every material incentive to opt out of activities which tend to foster societal survival and very little incentive to opt in.
This challenge does not exist because Roissy and the other apostles of Game are incorrect about the deck being grotesquely stacked against the delta males upon whom the continued survival of civilization ultimately rests. It exists precisely because they are correct. They are absolutely right. No society that has been reorganized and restructured to provide such a perverse system of incentives deserves to survive, indeed, no such civilized society ever has survived. And therein lies the awesome challenge present to the men of the West, to the young men of America, today.
The education system is stacked against them. The media are stacked against them. The law is stacked against them. The family courts are stacked against them. The church will cheerfully lecture them on their failures while uniformly giving women a pass on everything from abortion and gluttony to a failure to honor and submit to their husbands. Society has provided every possible excuse for a young, white Christian man to give up, opt out and become the videogame-addicted, marriage-avoidant, slut-shagging degenerate that the entertainment industry portrays him to be.
But is this not precisely the sort of challenge that real men have always craved? To stubbornly persist in the face of overwhelming evil is the root of all heroism. Instead of being seen as an unavoidable morass, the culture must be viewed as an evil to be resisted and eventually overcome. Not every man will survive the battle, just as not every Marine who stormed the bloody beaches of Tarawa lived to tell the terrible tale. For every man who marries a God-fearing woman and becomes the head of a strong family in which the basic tenets of American Christian civilization are preserved, there will be one who is financially raped in divorce court, is ruined by the parasitic governmental hegemony or falls victim to an intoxicated illegal alien driving without a driver’s license. But it is no shame to fall in the battle. The only shame is to be found in the failure to fight it.
There is no reason for despair. The collapse of American empire is precisely what will bring about the end of the current system in which the unproductive prosper on the efforts of the productive, and it is certain because it is mathematically unsustainable. The old White Man’s Burden was to bring Christian civilization to the savage. The new White Man’s Burden is to plant seeds of Christian civilization that are capable of surviving the coming descent into savagery.
https://voxday.blogspot.com/2020/06/enjoy-inevitable.html
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