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beneaththetangles · 3 years

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Shoujo and the Bride of Christ (I)

I was fourteen years old, Shinji Ikari´s age, when A Bridge to Terabithia made its movie debut. Like his fated stay in Misato’s house, only in time have I come to realize the influence it has had on me. Leslie Burke, the imaginative and courageous adventurer played by AnnaSophia Robb, did not only unveil a new world (or many) for Josh Hutcherson´s character, but for me, too. Who would have known? The wonders they discovered, the things they built together, their common battle against evil and injustice, their shared experiences, and the way they got to know each other and count on each other made a deep impression on me. And I thought she was interesting, pretty, even beautiful. I´m sure many of you have a story like that. A classmate, a friend, a character, a book.

With my Hachiman antics and my teenage fears, I had been too defensive and self-conscious up to that point to think seriously about romance (even if, as with him, I felt its attraction). But it was from there, if ‘´m not wrong, that the thought of a man-woman alliance—deep, trustworthy,opened to God and to the adventure of life—began to seem like an attractive possibility. An ethic to fit that ideal was one of sincerity, friendship, selflessness, chivalry, self-sacrifice, prayer, loyalty, courage and honoring promises (that of the Code of Kushieda, romantic version). Much has happened since, but the essentials remain unchanged. I wouldn’t forget, or settle for less. Ever since, I have loved stories of hard-earned romance, of mutual discovery, of the fight for the good of the other and complementary communion, and even new life.

Anime, with its gift for depicting deeply personal worlds with colorful symbols, has some great stories of this kind. You have Toradora, Haruhi, OreGairu, Sakamichi no Apollon, Your Lie in April, Clannad, Ore Monogatari, EVA itself, or movies like Ghibli´s Whisper of the Heart. Many are told from the point of view of the guy, but some of the best are not: This is how I discovered shōjo or shoujo. Its best stories brought me a different, yet recognizable world, because discovering human love is, after all, a very human experience. It is also a powerful mystery, which according to the Bible, was expressly established by God himself. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” To which St. Paul comments: “This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the Church.”

Wait, what?

Last year, during the Spanish quarantine, I had the idea of explaining the Eucharist and its role in my life using examples from shōnen anime. By symmetry, I was wondering if there was some other aspect I could explain with shoujo anime. It turns out that there is. After all, before discovering Terabithia, I had discovered Christ and the Church (according to the Catholic conception), and, as crazy as it sounds, I thought St. Paul’s comment, with its echo at the end of the Book of Revelation, did fit. I read Dante’s The Divine Comedy (this year is his seventh centenary) at 16, and that connection only grew. It still does. Ready for the ride?

Sawako Kuronuma´s Human-shaped Gate

“But… you know that’s just biology, right? Chemical fireworks, so that the species can perpetuate.” I take issue with the word “just” here. God is the author of nature, which is thus full of depth, beauty, and meaning and providentially disposed towards our growth as creatures. There is chemistry, and there is more. While it is important to take everything into account and be careful when discerning our course of action, the faith in Christ is an incarnated faith. Our bodies, our natures, our stories are full of meaning, and we may come to discover it (and not just invent it), little by little. There is a deep wisdom in the created world, at every level, from the atoms to the stars.

In the Book of Genesis we are told that, when God created man and woman, Adam named the animals and witnessed a Creation in harmony. But not until meeting Eve did he discover a creature made of something deeply and intimately his, something he had been lacking without knowing it. She was just like him, and at the same time she was so different. For her, with her, he would go beyond what he knew, and they would be as one from there on. And their complementarity was to be the source of something new, of something great. Even more amazingly, she felt the same way. That was (and is) God’s design, which reflects His own powerful, generous love, “the fiercest blaze of all.” Something like that could only have been God´s idea, really.

Kimi ni Todoke (From Me to You) tells a story that, despite its contemporary setting, feels very Edenic. We have commented on it here a couple of times. I’m not even the first to point the Biblical analogy. Sawako (which means “lively child”) Kuronuma, nicknamed “Sadako” because of her resemblance of the phantom girl of The Ring, is isolated. She has a gentle, bright interior world she cannot share. Her lack of social skills and her terrifying aura get in her way, no matter how hard she tries to get along. She is misinterpreted time and time again. But a certain guy named Kazehaya, cheerful, popular, and sporting, is not fooled by appearances. He calls her by her true name. He supports her, little by little. He guides her. And, starting from there, her world begins to transform.

The seasons change, their bond is tested, nature surrounds them and echoes what is in their hearts, and she gradually discovers many things she couldn’t even conceive of before. Friendships, joys, sorrows, a place in the world, and Kazehaya, too. There is a chance, now, that her feelings may come across. And Kazehaya is the first step, the destiny, and the gate.

So, what is the Church of Christ? First and foremost, it is a loving bond with Jesus Christ, a real, human and divine person with a physical body, and to His Father, of Whom He speaks which such passion, and the Holy Spirit. Someone who lives, who longs for us to know Him, to open new worlds to us, without whom we will always be incomplete. He is the light, we are vitrals: He will make us shine with our true shape, our true, unique colors. Sawako always shone, but never so much.

Like her, like the characters of the Bible and the Gospel, each of us is called, one at a time, visibly or invisibly, by his or her real name, not the one of the world of appearances, and it is the name of a child of God, and full of life. When we follow Christ, He makes us courageous. He makes us grow. He fights to get us to go forward. He makes us able to truly love, to bond with others. Jesus of Nazareth is the Word of God, the key, the truer, deeper, loving meaning of all that has been created, of every human being. And each one of us, personally but also in communion with others, is his Church, when chosen by Him, when united to Him, when walking to finally reach Him and letting Him finally reach each of us, through all History and Creation. And in being with Him, there is life, everlasting life.

But, even if it is still in us, we do not live in Eden. There was a fall. The world changed. And so…

Futaba Yoshioka and Her Seven Demons

In a moment of cowardice, Futaba loudly denied her newly found love for her classmate Kou Mabuchi. Unexpectedly, he heard her. So it begins.

Ao Haru Ride (Blue Spring Ride) is similar to Kimi to Todoke in some aspects (and has an episode-by-episode analysis by Twwk here), but there is a key difference. Futaba’s misfortune was not brought about by her appearance, but due to her being inauthentic and cowardly out of fear of being alone, or rejected. Kou Mabuchi, returned after a few years of unexplained absence, knows Futaba from the old days. Superficial friendships, cowardly stances, artificial laughs, boyish behaviors planned so she won’t stand out, a deep solitude, a kind of slow self-destruction—he sees through it all. He knows that she has lost herself, that she is longing for something different. So he attacks with words, with acts that point beyond. It hurts, a lot. But something about him says that he is doing it in the name of something truer, that he could guide her there, and that he is no stranger to pain and sorrow…

…which, in my view, doesn’t excuse the disconcerting, nosy, and sometimes cruel behavior Kou often displays towards her (I don´t like this one as much as Kimi ni Todoke). But, to the allegory. After the book of Genesis there is the book of Exodus, the flight. Like Futaba, we are all lying, distorted, trapped from the inside, often unknowingly. As Sarah in the Book of Tobit, as Israel in Egypt or Babylon, as Mary Magdalene in the Gospel, we are oppressed by evils, personal, social or even the supernatural, that often control or manipulate us, that enslave us. The natural development of the deeply ingrained evil is suffering and self-destruction when its inner truth arises. And Christ is the one who knows us and will fight to free us, to open a path, and the Man of Sorrows, who not only bears unbearable suffering but knows our personal suffering, the suffering of each one of us.

In a moment of cowardice, Peter loudly denied knowing Christ, who he had confessed to be the Son of God, who had chosen Him, whom he loved. And like Kou with Futaba, He heard Peter, too. But Peter repented, and Christ had a path for him, a path with others. Futaba, motivated by Kou’s words and deeds, abandons the world of lies and starting anew with a group of misfits, people who cannot advance, who perceive themselves or are perceived by others as failures or phonies. It becomes quite literal when they get lost in the forest during a competition. The Church is, likewise, a scattered group who flee from Christ´s cross, as He had prophesied, but is then brought together again. Founded upon Christ´s love, following His words of eternal life, we are still sinners, ambitious, clumsy, cowards. The old Israel thought that, by perfectly observing the Law, it could fulfill the alliance and bring God´s favor upon itself, but kept betraying Him, even if they sometimes managed to hide it behind a facade.

But Christ made clear that He came not for the healthy, but for the sick, the evil, the cowards, those traitors. Peter, the Apostles, and the disciples were chosen not because they had somehow merited it, but because they trusted Him and followed Him, even if stumbling along the way. He would made them able to triumph. Love is radical, and as we are transformed by it, love increasingly needs us to fight whatever denies it within us. It is by no means an easy battle, and Ao Haru Ride knows that. Christ is prophesied champion against the Serpent of Eden, Satan, the Adversary, the fallen angel who tempts us, and against the evil whose maximum he represents. He begins His mission by confronting him in the desert, and fights evil, forgiving sins and expelling demons, one after another, and finally prevailing over them by perfect obedience and love, onn the Cross and in the resurrection.

And His fight goes on. He wants us to have part in His death and His resurrection, from baptism to a death in Christ and beyond. He is the Savior, and the Church is his Noah’s Ark, His people of Israel escaping Egypt through the Red Sea, His plan of salvation for everyone who accepts His personal call and jumps inside to escape self-destruction and death together. He is the lover who needs the loved one to trust Him, and to fight, and will be there to help. Against the entire world, against death, against everything. The plan of salvation won’t work without that kind of love.

When they join the group, Kou lets Futaba do most of the teamwork. He… has his reasons. During His mission, Christ gave Peter and the rest of his disciples the power to expel demons, to forgive sins, to baptize, to teach, and sent them. Not because He, the Almighty, needed them, but to help them, to help human beings through the cooperation of human beings who became closer to God this way. He still does that now. He also gave them the treasures of His love, which they keep. His Sacraments, His miracles, His Gospel and His teachings, all signs and acts of His love, are preserved in the Church, a house build in rock against which the gates of Hell shall never prevail. He will be with us every day, until the end of the world, if there is the slightest bit of hope that we may accept His hand, acting, saving. Heaven and Earth will pass away, but His words will never pass away.

Christ has pleaded in prayer for Simon Peter, that messy, loud self-confessed sinner, that his faith should not fail, so when he has repented, he will strengthen his brothers, feed Christ’s sheep. Peter, who reacted with undue violence (Futaba may need to confront old friends in the name of justice, but it is her own cowardice what she is mainly fighting against) and then denied Christ, will be able to disavow the Sanhedrin and Caiphas, preside over the martyr Church, and die on a cross for Christ and others, to go where he doesn’t want to go right now, and teach others to do the same. All because Christ loves him, and he loves Christ, and that love is fighting and growing. And the messy, loud, cowardly Futaba will also be able to face her demons, and face challenges, darkness and suffering beyond everything she had imagined, to tell the truth, to save others.

Do not be fooled by my criticisms: Futaba is a wonderful, relatable, inspiring character. She keeps the fight. Kou is very lucky. In this fallen world, every relationship, every bond, every friendship, every marriage, demands us to keep the fight. Human love, being made by God, reflects a ray of His own light, a ray that makes us hope and moves us to action. Likewise, the Church of Christ fights on this Earth, fulfilling the command of Christ to Peter and the Apostles, and those who came after them, teaching the Gospel and giving the Eucharist, bringing Christ´s love to our hearts. We, the group of misfits and sinners, keep assisting each other on the way, doing better or doing worse, knowing that He also works outside her visible frontiers, fighting to reach all human hearts. This is the Militant Church, which Christ will never abandon, in perpetual combat against her own evil, my own evil, and against the powers that enslave us, that enslave me, armed with the most powerful force there is—Christ´s love, Christ´s truth, Christ´s own hope. That is her source, her life and her destiny. And so she fights. And so I fight.

But what’s on the other side of the forest? What has it to do with the Divine Comedy? What is Tohru Honda doing at the top? Those are all questions for the next time. So, for now, take care, and Happy Easter!

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Kimi ni Todoke and Ao Haru Ride can be streamed in Crunchyroll.

#Anime #Christianity #Kimi ni Todoke #Ao Haru Ride #Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You #Blue Spring Ride #Shoujo #Articles #Author: Gaheret

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courage-a-word-of-justice · 3 years

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After much watching...I cut it down to 5 anime and 1 short.

Suppose a Kid… 1

I am not writing out that full title every time! Anyways, here’s the first “real” debut of winter 2021.

For some reason…this series reminds me of Pokemon. Probably how at the start, Ash tries to get along with Pikachu by doing all sorts of things like what Lloyd is doing here. (<- learnt protag’s name through synopses)

The name “Shouma” rang a bell and I was right – Shouma is voiced by Souma…Saito.

The Japanese title has “monogatari” on the end there…so it probably doesn’t fully translate into the English title.

These orange flecks in Lloyd’s eyes are kinda distracting…

Isn’t Kunlun in China, though…?

If this is just going to be Marie yelling…I don’t see why I should stay. (<- turned volume on for everything so far)

*facepalms* Lloyd is so dense…

That fight scene’s not very good…

…oh great. Selen’s fallen in love with Lloyd already…*sigh*

The missing princess is certainly going to be a plot point later.

Wow, that tiger looks impressive! If only they could’ve done that for the fight scene…

…oh great, Selen is a low-key yandere…

Didn’t Lloyd say he sucked at combat…? Anyways, I’m not keeping this. The designs are colourful and the tiger was good, but it’s meant to be a comedy and it’s not funny.

Hortensia Saga 1

Here for Ume! He’s voicing a guy called Defloitte Danois.

I-Is that CGI? So early on into the anime???

*a dude gets bitten into by the werewolf*…welp, at least this series isn’t afraid of its own gore.

I had a sinking feeling our real protag was Alfred…and I was right, according to the OP.

Huh? The song goes silent for a second near the end…what the heck?

The book appears to use English, albeit English so faintly inked in you can’t quite tell what language it is.

Alfred, governing Albert…? Isn’t that a bit redundant?

I swear all the female voices in this anime are squeaky as all get out…

All these high fantasy anime – or heck, any high fantasy series full stop – ever justify why the country is worth fighting for. It’s why I find war stories pointless and senseless.

You can tell from the voice and short stature “Marius” is Mariel…but she uses boku, which is why Alfred can’t really tell the difference. (Also, he wasn’t privy to the fact Mariel cut her hair.)

This almost smacks of a game tutorial. The CGI is still there…it’s not as bad as other examples I’ve seen, but you can tell it’s CGI when you look at it.

Roy’s kind of pretty, in a generic way.

A close-range archer! Ho, you’re kinda impressive yourself, Roy. (The feeling of a game tutorial has disappeared by this point.)

Hortense…of Hortensia…how confusing.

The scruffy guy you keep seeing with the dark hair is Defloitte. Keep an eye out for him for me, would you?

The ED seems to consist mostly of…anguished pop screams. *cringes slightly*

Anyways, this anime isn’t bad. It’s quite average though and its CGI could easily get worse.

Kumo Desu ga 1

…you know I don’t like 1st person cam, yeah?

…this is just Kumoko (as I’ve heard her being called) yelling so far…plus there’s quite a bit of CGI.

I like how the ED has an English overlay and the style they’ve used for it. The music, though…? Nah.

Wait a second? Millepensee? Shin Itagaki? That would explain the CGI!

“…a spider that just happens to have my memories.” – A butterfly dream, huh?

…well, at least this anime is well aware of the genre space it inhabits. Maybe you could say…it’s an isekai light novel, so what? *groans from the audience*

…well, you didn’t really “bring” your “brother’s” (?) corpse in case of an emergency, now, did you?

…welp, to have guts, you must eat guts. I guess that’s how it goes.

What’s a “skanda”?

This anime’s quite monologue-y (as expected of an LN). I can live with it, but I don’t know if it can carry the entire thing through the season.

…humans? Haven’t seen them almost all episode. What are they up to?

These designs sort of look like SAO’s. They’re not a dealbreaker yet, but they could be down the line…

This ED seems to take cues from Cop Craft’s OP (same studio). It also has some…“Aggretsuko rage”, I guess you could call it.

2.43 1

…Another confusing title, I see. I normally don’t do sports anime, but I’m here for Ume.

*sees the colour of the volleyball* - Basically anything volleyball has to collaborate with volleyball maker Mikasa, doesn’t it?

This anime seems to like putting characters’ thoughts on the screen for dramatic impact. The CGI is sort of visible, but not a dealbreaker.

I’d thought I’d heard of this OP artist before, but it turns out I haven’t.

This series has a nice sense of force. You see those moments where the ball squishes, or when Yuni presses against the wall without thinking? Those.

LOL, way to burn Yuni, Chika…

These transitions are a bit hard to detect. I think I like Akudama’s more overt ones more.

LOL, Dr Popper (sic).

The serves are nothing special. Haikyuu does the same thing from the episode I saw of it. (You know I don’t like Haikyuu, yeah? Dropped it after 1 episode because everything I heard the fans talking about caused me to connect the dots.)

The way Yuni blushes…it’s more than someone usually would, even if it is out of embarrassment. It may just be the entertainment I consume, but I could swear that’s going somewhere in more of a BL manner.

I get the feeling Chika has a bit of Virgo or Taurus in him somewhere. The sort of guy who nags at everyone to do stuff his way is probably like that.

Pocari Sweat (unaltered).

I gave myself dimples by puffing up my cheeks and poking them until they became permanent. I guess you can do the same thing with ambidexterity…?

For some reason, I can detect Chika’s jealousy when he discusses blocks and natural talent.

…wow, this anime is pretty serious for a volleyball anime.

The ED scene where the face is replaced with flowers is pretty creepy. Like Jigokuraku or something.

Cells at Work!! 1

What are these blob creatures you see in the OP, anyway…?

I think I remember reading something that the numbers assigned to the cells aren’t arbitrary – they’re hexadecimal colors, e.g. RBCs get shades of red as their numbers.

D’aww, Platelets warm the heart. They really do.

Platelets have a master…? I thought they were all just lil’ kids.

“What the cell’s going on?!” – Oh, I remember seeing a tweet about this. I love that pun! Kudos to whoever was responsible for that.

LOL, no. 4989 dancing in the background.

Hmm…those nets look like CGI.

…uh, I did not need that shot of the Megakaryocyte’s camel toe…that’s distubring.

Wait, Backward Cap is a she?!

Aw, lookit WBC being a dad. That’s cute.

Backward Cap = Ushiromae-chan.

Is that…a construction worker holding a giant pudding?!

Cells at Work Code Black 1

This anime is called “black” due to black companies. It’s Code Black to avoid being racist, I guess. I’m looking forward to it because it’s undoubtedly going to show a dark side to the main series…

…and there it is, the RBC complaining.

I assume OJT = on the job training.

I knew “pespin” (sic) was a typo. It’s pepsin.

Now that I’ve been working at customer service for two years (give or take COVID), I can see where the senpai RBC is smoothing over the relations.

…that also means I know where to suppress my emotions. I’m not a person who opens up to people easily without getting used to them, so people never see me as suitable for customer service anyway, but it’s the only experience I have so *shrugs*.

…oh gosh. I haven’t seen these words since…the time I was still learning biology.

…*sigh* Rookie RBC is worried about boobs.

The fact Senpai lost his iconic hat…is kinda sad, actually.

“Don’t let his resolve be for nothing.”

Hmm…does the male WBC from the main series wear black fingerless gloves?

I thought I’d heard of this artist before…but turns out I just can’t distinguish really autotuned artists from each other…(lel)

…and stuff goes ka-blam. It’s the spiritual successor to HypMic, even if I wasn’t asking for it. (LOL)

Back Arrow 1

…I heard you said “hot guys”? (Yes, I am predictable as all get out.)

What’s with that episode title…?

Stereotypes, eh? I kind of expected as much from the promo, but where’s the title character…?

…was that yuri fanservice? I can’t quite tell because it was the aftermath of an action scene, but I can see the shippers gearing up in my head.

…after a bit of waiting, there he is. Back Arrow himself. He kind looks like Takuto (Star Driver).

“I’m not trying to hide anything!” – Well, that’s…true.

…*sigh* Why do girls always have more feminine-looking mechs? (Plus this one has boobs…*sighhhhhhhhhhhh*)

So it seems mechs in this anime are the form of one’s conviction and they have skills along those lines, eh? An interesting concept.

…you do realise I abandoned an entire anime based on a joke about lucky underwear? However, this anime is so absurd and just keeps running with the joke that I just can’t say no to it. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from volunteering at a charity store, it’s that when it comes to selling stuff, you can’t say no to a lot of stuff…including selling potentially used underwear, so long as it’s not dirty or stinky.

Whoa! Those things break?!

Why does the title card mention the wall...?

Anyways, I…like it, surprisingly enough. Let’s keep going.

Back Arrow 2

…eh? Didn’t expect inflatable clothing, LOL.

I suspect Shu Bi is scheming something.

What’s the long thing…?

“…tomorrow might not come.” – A good reminder to have in these times of COVID.

Peath = Peace. (Heh. What a stupid name…*thinks about the name “Quattro Bajeena” suddenly* Okay, “Peath” pales in comparison to that.)

What is that creature that circles in the sky…?

I know this is meant to be a serious fight, but…that attacking guy’s hat seriously looks like a bamboo stalk and so I keep seeing it and trying not to laugh.

I only just now realised there’s CGI. CGI these days is getting much better than it used to be.

Tomozaki 1

LOL, Yontendo. It’s clearly Smash Bros + Nintendo Switch and the character designer was also around for Iroduku, so that’s why this style looks familiar.

…lemme guess, since this is a romance, it’s likely NONAME is Aoi. Or some other girl.

I would pay for a romance where it’s the girl building the guy up to be presentable, instead of a girl building other girls up to be presentable a la Ageha 100%.

Didn’t the anime show us Tomozaki reflecting to himself, though…?

“…rules working in combination.” - Well, there’s social norms (e.g. knock before entering a room), laws, contracts, societal standards (e.g. in Japanese society, you bow to others as a greeting or apology)…(continues to blabber on for a bit)

I think Aoi said something like “onitadaku”, but I’m not sure what the joke is there. Oni is in there, sure, but what’s the original phrase she’s playing off?

…LOL, it’s a good time to remind people to wear a mask.

LOL, Krout.

Anyways, this seems decent. I like how it’s going the way I want it to.

Tomozaki 2

“…make sure I’m nearby…” – Okay, that’s just being pushy, Aoi.

Minami and Hinami…so confusing…

*Minami chomps on Natsubayashi’s ear* - …okay, that’s not a thing girls do in real life unless they’re lesbians. This is likely trying to take the fanservice route.

They didn’t even show why the “kiss” was broken up…meaning they were doing it to make potential girl-on-girl look hot. Just great.

*Aoi touches Tomozaki’s butt* - Dude, that’s groping…

I didn’t think we’d get the story on Aoi’s “hexactly” so soon.

…well, that episode just made me feel mildly bitter. I’m dropping it here.

Praeter 1

…aw s***. Only a few seconds in and this looks like a terrible game…

It’s like someone barfed paint across Durarara…

The only time the background buildings look any good are when there’s a fight scene…

These Seals (or whatever those designs are called) seem to act like mini shields. Update: They’re called tattoos.

That transition was a bit fast for my liking…

Seems like the series is mildly peppered with Greek terms.

“To Infinity and Beyond” by…some author I can’t really read the name of.

Suddenly, they throw in more characters…?

Where does Eiji keep those bullet cases of his…? In his jacket?

Having a guy die in the 1st episode is cheap. I mean, we don’t quite care for him yet – it’s too early in the anime for that.

Now there’s Norse terms on top of the Greek ones…

Even more characters? You kidding me?

Lemme guess, Eiji gave up his tattoo because Yamato inspired him and now he’s a goner.

Welp, the weight of the world is in your hands, Yamato. Including that dead dude on your back. (<- sarcastic)

Sk8 1

I’ve been hearing good things about this anime! Let’s go! (<- about a week late to the debut)

That politician is probably relevant…probably someone’s dad, if HypMic taught me anything.

LOL, a beef. They call this stuff “beef”? Where’s the chicken? (<- joke from HypMic)

Haemanthus…apparently a flowering plant from S. Africa.

That’s rare, you don’t see Canadians in anime all that much. I was just thinking as I came home from volunteering how you know British people all have fancy names like William and Australians are Johnno, Danno etc., but Canadians? No clue. Update: Apparently you’d call one Arnold or something just as generic…?

Why are all foreigners in anime half-Japanese with the mother being the Japanese side, anyway?...Because people can make their character speak Japanese while looking foreign. Right. Moving right along.

Ahh…I understand your plight all too well, Reki.

…Hmm. It seems Reki’s surname is written kiya, but read “Kyan”. His name literally translates to “history (calendar/age) of bravery (military might)” Update: Turns out his surname is 3 characters (read “kiyan”, although I’ve never seen that final character ever being read as “n”) and his first name is one, so his first name is just “history (calendar/age)”.

Even I suck at balancing on bikes and stuff (…yeah, I still can’t ride a bike even though I’ve done so many other things in my life) and I know you have to support yourself with one foot on the ground before you do things like trick flips. I may not have observed Tony Hawk all that much, but he was on the periphery of my knowledge.

“What’s your hourly wage?” – Ouch, I feel ya, Langa.

Koko ni netete actually means “Lie down here”, but…okay.

These eyecatches are cute.

That’s a cute fox.

Yikes! 60 mph = approx. 97 km/h!!!

Random umeboshi, LOL.

Aghhhhhhhhhhh! Cherry Blossom’s so pretty~! I love him already!

Thank you, based Bones!

Something that can be enjoyed, even without sound: this is why I enjoy both action and comedy anime!

Okinawa? We’re in Okinawa?

Well, that was cool! I didn’t even ask where the location was until the end. Update: Why is this anime sometimes called Sk8 the Infinity anyway…?

Horimiya 1

Horimiya…I’ve been aware of this series for a while. There’s even a Chinese volume of it at a library close to me, although due to contact tracing I haven’t bothered to check it out.

Oh, I bet Hori is the otaku!

Ooh, Marketing Script!

Because I’ve been behind on the premieres, I’ve seen enough to know this boy with the chain is Miyamura.

…argh! Miyamura is cute! Y’all were right!!! (<- likes blushing bois)

I bet there’s going to be an emergency meeting!

“Sorry, it’s egg time!” – Oh, I’m laughing so hard! So that’s the context behind the Wonder Egg Priority meme!

“…see these?!” – Well, it’s not like you have a tattoo or some-*Miyamura shows his tattoos* Never mind…

Oh, I just realised they even animate the minute movements of the eyes Miyamura does…cool.

Notice how Miyamura is blocked from the other guy due to the window.

Miyamura goes “Ishikawa-kun” but “Hori-san”…hmm. No wonder he’s letting Ishikawa get Hori.

The problem I find with romance series is that they’re generally tied to heteronormativity. Hori is coded with red silhouettes and Miyamura with blue…*sigh* Whatever happened to gender ambiguity?

Good heavens, what is up with this ED?! It looks like Pocoyo! (…Does anyone else know that cartoon…?) Aside from that quibble, this anime is great though.

Mushoku Tensei 1

Apparently this is the grandad of all isekai. Why it took so long for an anime of this…who knows?

…and of course this guy’s a loser virgin. Go figure.

*sighhhhhhhhh* He’s just ogling this woman’s boobs…

…oh, sorry. I was so distracted by the man candy, I didn’t care about Rudy.

I-It’s actually quite refreshing to not have an OP protagonist from the get-go for once. (Or maybe I’ve developed such a disdain for isekai since SAO rolled around that everything here suddenly feels fresh.)

You can see the birthplace of isekai without having watched any of the others right here, it looks like.

“…what’s the point of incantations?” – To make it easier for you to cast spells, I gue-spoke too soon.

…wow, they shamelessly showed off Rudy’s privates. I know he’s still young at this stage, but that reminds me of how I dropped Dragon Ball around the time Goku was shown the same way (which is…very early on, by my own admission).

I believe, based on the name of the spinoff I see in the 7 Seas emails, the magic tutor is called Roxy.

You’re thinking about marriage?! At your (reincarnated) age?!

Oh no! The tree again!

LOL, Rudy’s acting like a kid who’s been in COVID lockdown for a while.

I think what most of the isekai that spun off from here missed is that the loser is job age. Losers at life at job age are relatable and high school geniuses are relatable (albeit sometimes insufferable), but losers who become NEETs for no reason whatsoever and then get banged up by Truck-kun are not.

Anyways, this was good, but a risky kind of good, since it seems like this male gaze will continue to be around as Rudy gets older.

Update: Dropped after learning Rudy was a paedophile in his past life.

Update 2: Apparently the anime toned down this paedophilic tendency of Rudy’s, so...now the verdict is that I move on while I let other people tell me if this is true of the anime or not.

Kemono Jihen 1

“Kemono Jihen” means something like “creature incidents”. I wonder why Funimation didn’t change the name…?

Kabane means “summer wing”.

Kanoko Villa, I’d assume, is named after the deer (the name means “deer’s child”).

My experience with Sho Aimoto (creator of this manga) is reading a bit of Hokenshitsu no Shinigami. (That, by the way, reminds me of Nube, but it’s nothing spectacular.) However, Hokenshitsu no Shinigami has a very detailed artstyle…That’s why I’m pretty shocked Kemono Jihen has such a scratchy one…

Ooh, edamame!

Oh, I see…this is like Furuba or a werewolf story, huh? Rather than a Natsume Yuujincho sort of thing.

…I thought Inugami and Dorotabo had seen everything of each other because of bathing together…I guess not, then.

…is Yataro going to die?

It seems the “immortal demons” are oni, so…why subtitle them as “immortal demons” and not just “demons”?

Ohhhhhhhh…this shite’s good. It seems to have a throwback feeling to it, moreso than even Yashahime or a lot of the sequels I’ve seen recently.

Cells at Work!! 2

I was going to move right along to Wonder Egg Priority because I’m really behind on the debuts right now, but I accidentally opened this up while I was cleaning up so I might as well watch another episode or two before setting it aside.

He’s dead, Jim. (<-joking)

…gosh, these walls look like Hover all over again and that’s from 1995…

LOL, these background cells don’t even have any details. They’re basically stick figures with fat bodies…

I think that phrase that appeared, “Take good care of B Cell!”, may be a pun on Give My Regards to Black Jack (written with similar Japanese, “B Cell wo Yoroshiku!” vs. “Black Jack ni Yoroshiku!”).

LOL, “you sure have the guts”…while they’re in the guts.

The certificate says something about it being presented to someone in the face of bravery, I think (<- just looked at it briefly).

“You have a good head on your shoulders,” says the T cell as WBC struggles with the disguise…stuck on his head.

Wonder Egg Priority 1

I’ve been hearing this series is surreal, but no more surreal than Flip Flappers. So…I don’t know if I’ll like it or not.

What’s this K?(?96…?

There’s a sunflower on her raincoat…so that’s why I saw a post called “You’re the sunflower”. Personally, that just reminds me of Post Malone.

Those Seeno Evils…they’re CGI, aren’t they?

As Boueibu once said (but I may be paraphrasing here), “nothing is more scary than free”.

…to be honest with you, I haven’t had a best friend for at least 2 years now. I only really feel close to people who are like me and who I have sustained contact with over many years, so I end up cutting contact with people after we part ways and never trying to fix it.

I always find it slightly absurd when anime girls get a little pudgy and go, “I’m so fat!” (See, for instance, the Dumbbell series.) Or, in this case, Ai’s going, “I’m so ugly!” when there’s nothing wrong with her. She’s only a bit different from everyone else due to her heterochromia - she doesn't have any physical or mental difficulties.

IChu 1

Here for Ume and, of course, dem bois. Bring it!

I seem to remember one of the magazines called an “Ichu” “an idol egg” (i.e. a fledgling idol)…More egg puns for me, then.

I found him! Ume! He’s Akira Mitsurugi! Update: Turns out that’s Toshiyuki Toyonaga…Oops. (Ume is actually Lucas from I*B.)

Huh? For a second, I imagined Akira with a dubbed voice. Of course, I could only be dreaming, because idol anime normally don’t get dubs, but…it was interesting to think about.

LOL, “Onsta”.

This Akio-type character is popular lately. The sort who’s timid but has an outstanding talent they themselves might not see.

…uh, but Kocho means “Principal”…?

An idol bear?!

Torahiko is crazy…(Note the tigers. Tora = tiger.)

Specifically, that’s black coffee with no sugar.

As much as I want to keep watching this, I’ll hit pause on it here. There’s much better offerings this season.

YuruCamp s2 1

…grandpa’s writing is so…neat.

*glares at CGI car…*

This OP just doesn’t compare to Shiny Days, y’know…?

OOPArts.

Talking pine cones! They’re back!

Curry rice! Literally had some of the Japanese-style stuff the other day. It was great.

All this talk about jobs…I personally don’t like jobs because I like to work at my own pace (hence one reason why I’m working on being a translator), but…money…I’m jealous, girls.

I’m trying not to rely on the subs for those texts that appear on the screen so that I can keep my reading skills up…I kept up with them for the most part…but then I got distracted by the croquette sign at one point…

“…buy you some local food?” – That’s omiyage, normally translated “souvenirs”. “Local food” actually does make more sense in that gap, though.

…man, I’m jealous that the girls all got jobs suitable for their personalities and everything. Lil’ ol’ antisocial me sucks at retail, even after 2 years.

Design-bu 1

LOL, that man and his bunny. Update: That’s Unabara-san.

…geez, these utaite are everywhere now. I’ve seen 96neko, USSS, Eve and more being more central to anime song creation…

Thise characters in the OP seal (<-the stamp, not the animal) are saiyou, meaning “recruited”, or in this case, “accepted”.

OEM = original equipment manufacturer.

Hrm…you can tell it’s a giraffe by description, but…that “base everything on the horse” is interesting as you could count several things as horse derivatives. Also, the angels’ names are all standard Japanese names with natural components to them (Ueda = upright rice field, Shimoda = frost rice field etc).

Is this pink-themed guy…a guy? Or a crossdresser? Update: That’s Kanamori-san.

I like how the suits have little wing-like flaps. Also the wings on Shimoda’s back.

…I never thought an anime episode would make me so concerned about giraffes.

That guy in the green I remember from the Wave x Tendebu (Heaven’s Design Team) collab, his name is Kimura.

Oh, so there is a bird like that!

The random wiggling the chibis do in these short segments…it’s a bit disorienting. (<-Just a small quibble of mine.)

Oh! Galapagos effect!

Agonistic: “polemical; combative.” I thought they meant “antagonistic”.

Oh man, that punch line was great! It took me a while to get into the spirit of it, but this anime is great!

Update: Oh, that’s where those nature names come from! They’re actually meant to be gods! (Or…named after gods…?) Also, Ueda vs. Shimoda (the “shimo” could be the kanji for “below”).

Ex-Arm 1

I’ve heard this anime looks bad…even well before its debut. How bad? Let’s find out.

*stifles laughter* From the first pan, I know this anime is doomed on my list. Even Praeter was better than this!

*stifles laughter again* This OP really does look as bad as the stuff I was seeing prior to winter 2021! Like a game I shouldn’t take out of my archives! (It’s not as bad as Hover’s graphics, but still…that’s from 1995. Cut it some slack.)

That’s the 2nd Kimura this season…

Yugg is just…ugly. Never try to render elaborate eyelashes in CGI again, people.

Dimension High School was better than this because at least that had puzzles. This is even jankier than that!

Wait, why is Akira 3D when his dad is 2D? It’s not that obvious, but I notice these things. Update: That’s not his dad…but close enough. (That’s his brother.)

…and here comes Truck-kun! (LOL)

This would be good…if it weren’t rendered in the jankiest CGI known to man…

Alma’s gun strike doesn’t have a lot of force to it.

The fire is rendered so terribly…*stifles laughter*

This part with a disembodied Akira is what I assume I got up at 6 am for…but I can’t hear it, due to background noise. Remind me to confirm this later. (Minami’s mouth is rendered so terribly…augh.)

No force to any of these recent motions, either.

LOL, this censorship.

Wave 1

Ever since this project was announced, I’ve been watching developments unfold on Anime News Network. I knew it would get an anime or something similar I could follow…and now here I am. I mentioned in the Sk8 comments I have basically zero knowledge of surfing, so…this is very unexpected, in one sense.

Was that a drone…?

“Wizard of the Waifu Board”?! Are you kidding me?! (LOL)

There seem to be shots where I can see the CGI here, but…anything’s better than Ex-Arm. Let’s say that.

Actually…yappe is a derivative of yabai, meaning “cool” or “crap” (in an ironic sense). So it would probably be better to translate it as “Surfing’s the greatest!” or “Surfing’s the coolest!” Anyways, what I was thinking before I was going to say this was that the waves are so enticingly animated, it feels like a summer anime. Basically the only other anime I’ve ever said that for is Grand Blue.

If I’m understanding where Isokichi’s name comes from right, “iso” is the character for seashore or a rocky beach (磯).

LOL, the teacher just wrote “Show must go on.”

Hayama, Kanagawa. Kanagawa’s capital is Yokohama, so it’s not quite Tokyo, but somewhat close.

“Murphy”? I have zero clue what that means.

Oh, I see. The title is translated that way due to context. Now that I can accept.

I just burst out into laughter when I realised Nalu hasn’t dropped or put down his ukulele once.

BSD Wan! 1

Here comes my past to haunt me…aside from me being a fan of BSD, I’m here because I influenced this series. How so? Once upon a time in the now-distant year of 2016, I was a scanlator for a brief period. Most of the work I’ve done hasn’t influenced the world at large, but this is the most influential manga I had a hand in working on.

Oh no! They’re starting with the dog AU?! (That comes from pretty far into the manga, IIRC. Further than my work was on it, at least.)

It’s Rashomon, but Rashoken (that last bit means “dog”). Hence Ruffshomon.

Basically, they just insert dog-related words everywhere…don’t make me explain every one!

Ouch, I can only imagine how much pain it was to translate Inu Shikkaku. Literally, it’s “No Longer a Dog”, but how would anyone make it in line with the other puns…?

I wasn’t fully aware of how the dog AU was connected to the main Wan series because I haven’t really looked at it after I quit due to aggregators, but…that was a nice fakeout. Also, I was concerned as to whether this was going to be a full-length ep or a short…seems like it’s a 10 minute short, so I have more chances of taking it.

…oh gosh, that pose! I remember it! I worked on this one! (Now that I know it’s a TV short, I won’t cover future episodes, but I want to at least finish this one because I started it.)

I think they added a bit there. I remember Kunikida’s and Yosano’s were in the manga, but not the other members or Fukuzawa going “the wind is smiling” + Kenji working on the roof at the start.

Oh yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh, I remember Rampo. I think I had to approximate how he would say stuff with Pocky in his mouth, but Slug (current scanlator) went the extra mile and stuck food in his mouth to do the same panel.

It seems to make a short ep., they strung a bunch of the chapters together. Also, I don’t think we ever found out what Yosano’s puddle was and that was…probably for the better.

Oh yeah…I think I remember this one.

Now I remember it! I remember having fun explaining what a youkan was.

Whoa, Higuchi scrapped the SFX! That wasn’t in the original…

The ED seems to be an Atsushi cover of Namae wo Yobu yo.

Oh noooooooooooo! The flower gazing episode! That’s the one I remember most, because I was trying to figure out how to translate 移動 while making it smooth-sounding English…(I remember the final result was something like, “Move! Move~!”

Dr Stone: Stone Wars 1

Final debut! Let’s go~!

The last time this series was on the air was about 1 year ago. I can remember that far back…

I like how that recap is framed as Gen talking to the kids.

Senku overcomes every problem with science.

…not much to comment on here.

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kaibutsushidousha · 5 years

Note

What do you mean by ridiculous names ? Is there puns or the name very unusual with fancy kanji/unusual readings for them ?

All of the above. Using older kanji makes sense since the story is set in Taishou, but most names are either unsubtle puns or relatively direct descriptors of the characters, like Gyokko meaning “jade vase”. Unusual readings don’t often all that often, but a great example is 不死川 being spelled as Shinazugawa instead of the more obvious Fujigawa (same kanji as Killer Killer’s Fujigawa btw).

Not only that, but there also a few examples of names that are straight up regular words with no twist to them whatsoever: Muzan (cruelty), Giyuu (heroism) and Agatsuma (my wife).

Kamado means “furnace gate”, because the Kamado family sells charcoal. It’s an outdated kanji for furnace (竃) to keep that Taishou flavor. Now, Tanjirou is a much more competent and interesting name, one of my favorites in the manga. Depending on whether you interpret its 治 as the 治 in 治す or the 治 in 退治, the meaning of his name could be either “healing son of charcoal” or “demon-slaying son of charcoal”, fitting perfectly with how Tanjirou’s goals involve both killing demons and getting a cure for his sister’s predicament. Not mention a lot of Heian mythology associating slaying oni with curing illness. And the charcoal part is because Tanjirou, of the Furnace family who sells charcoal, sells charcoal. By the did I mention Tanjirou sells charcoal? But anyways, there’s even another layer to this name and which it’s why it’s one of my favorites: it can be sort of a namefication of the verb 歎じる(tanjiru), which means to mourn, reflect Tanjirou’s main trait of sparing sympathy for pretty much every demon he kills.

Nezuko means “shrine bean girl”. Specifically Heian era shrines, so it’s maybe this kanji is too old even for the Taishou era (so old that a lot of people on the internet don’t know to type it or don’t bother the conversion takes too long). But it fits the character since Heian is when we got most of the oni related mythology this series is mostly about. The “bean girl” part is probably there only to sound cute.

Agatsuma, as mentioned earlier, means “my wife”. I already considered one of the funniest I’ve ever seen before I even started the manga and it only better after actually seeing Zen’itsu’s character. Zen’itsu has a cool double meaning like Tanjirou, with 逸 potentially being from 逸する or 逸物, so his name means either “goodness missed” or “goodness at its best”, which fits how Zen’itsu is normally an absolutely terrible person in every aspect but shows himself to be ultimately caring and competent when pushes come to the shove (even if through the power of stress napping most of the time).

Hashibira means “beak flattened”. A rare name I have no idea how it connects to the character. Inosuke’s kanji mean “helper of the elegant” but the intent is clearly a pun on inoshishi (boar). Besides, looking at the meaning feels like a moot point because everyone is “the elegant” compared to Inosuke.

Both Kanawo’s names are antiquated as heck, mainly there for the series Taishou era flavor. Tsuyuri is one of Japan’s most notoriously unusual ateji names (yeah, there are only 3 instances of the manga using real people names and one of them is the name known for being weird), with it’s kanji meaning “chestnut flower falling” and the kana means “rainy season starting”, because chestnut flowers fall in early May, signaling the start of the rainy season. Kanawo’s “birthday” is in May btw. Anyways, the name was probably chosen for her specifically because of flower kanji in the middle and her Breath of Flowers. Kanawo is a katakana name, so no proper meaning, but it overall feels very old because it’s a name that uses “wo” instead of “o”. Taishou flavor, as I mentioned.

I’m skipping Gen’ya to his brother’s section because their names are matching.

Ubuyashiki means “childbirth grounds”. Kagaya had 5 children so it checks. Besides, with their family curse, pretty much all the Ubuyashikis can do is give birth to the next generation as much as they can before they kick the bucket. Kagaya means “radiant!”. Yes, the exclamation mark is part of the name’s meaning. I’m sure it’s a name all pillar agree with.

Tomioka means “wealth hill” it’s a rare instance of a real people name in this series, so I assume it must a reference to some one, but I have no idea who. Giyuu, as already mentioned, is just the regular word for heroism. Military volunteers are actually called “giyuu soldiers” in Japanese even.

Similarly, Kochou is the regular word for butterfly (although not the most commonly used). Shinobu is a hiragana name, so no proper meaning (much like Kanae and Kanawo’s katakana names), but name Shinobu is normally written with 忍 (the shinobi kanji) or 偲 (remembering, but most often in the context of remembering a dead person). The latter has obvious meaning in Shinobu’s relationship with Kanae, but the former might also have an interesting meaning behind it. The shinobi kanji is made with the heart kanji under the blade kanji (insert Monogatari reference here), so a huge cliche in ninja-themed literature is the saying “a shinobi without a heart is just a blade” (surprisingly never mentioned once in Naruto, as far as I can remember). I believe this thematically connects to Shinobu’s central character trait of wanting to have Kanae’s kindness but not being able to bring herself to be that empathetic to demons. She tries to be Shinobu but can’t force herself to retain the heart she lost, so she ends up just being a blade.

Rengoku is the regular word for purgatory, as you probably know from it being also the name of his ninth kata. Kyoujurou means “congratulating son of apricorns”, with father Shinjurou being “congratulating son of yew plum pine” and his brother Senjurou being “congratulating son of thousand”. The pun here is probably with 享受(kyouju; happily accepting something) vs 信受 (shinju; accepting a fact, in a somewhat resignated way). Another possibility less related to the conflicted with his character is 教授(kyouju; professor) since he’s a mentor character.

Uzui means “roof marrow”, but real pun is with uzu uzu, the gitaigo for impatience, a character trait fitting for a character completely centered around rejecting shinobi philosophies. Also reflects how his very first sympathetic moment was him honestly admiting that his impatience to save his wives caused him to make a few bad moves. Tengen is the Japanese reading for Tianyuan, which is the heaven’s energy which composes everything according to some ancient Chinese traditions. You may have heard of it as the “celestial unknown” or the “heavenly element”. Don’t know what it has to do with Tengen’s character though.

Kanroji means “nectar temple” and Mitsuri means “honey lazuli”. The “temple” and “lazuli” part are kanji commonly used in names, so that’s a pretty much just thrown in there to make her name sound more like a name. The real keywords here nectar and honey, since those are two words that can be used as horny words in a very subtle way, but suddenly look a lot less subtle when they are about the Love Pillar.

Himejima means “scream island”, but specifically the sad, crying kind of scream, matching with how Himejima is pretty much always crying out of compassion for others. Also, archaic kanji for “island” because Taishou. Gyoumei means “carita afterlife”. Carita is an umbrella term for all forms of spiritual training in Buddhism. It includes a lot of things we see associated with him in the manga, like sitting under waterfalls, reciting chants, etc.

Tokitou means “time transparent”. Possibly a clever amnesia reference (in the sense of how his past time was invisible to him)? Muichirou means “first son of no”, in a ridiculous match with his twin Yuichirou (”first son of yes”). Yuichirou references that multiple times in his backstory, saying it’s supposed to mean “no worth” or “no point”, only to then say it’s supposed to mean “no limits” in the climax of the flashback.

Iguro means “elegant black”. It’s an obvious anagram on guroi (gorey). Now, Obanai is easily the most incomprehensible name in the series. It means “small banana inside”, which is nonsensical enough for me to know for sure there’s a hidden pun involved, but I can’t find it for the life of me. The closest I can get is a pun with the English word “overnight” (OBAaNAIto), but I still don’t know Iguro’s character enough to know what “overnight” has to do with him.

不死川 would mean “immortal river“ as Fujigawa, but due to ateji it be comes more like “river of not dying“. Like with Kanroji’s names, the river kanji is only there to make the name look more like a real name (note: it’s not working) and the “not dying“ part is what really matters. Sanemi is introduced showing off his chest covered in scars and having Kanroji commenting on how he’s got a new scar in his last mission, immediately conveying to the audience that he’s a dude that’s not dying despite injuring himself a lot. Now Sanemi is a much more complicated name because 実 has dozens of meanings and I had no way of knowing which one is supposed to apply to him until Gen’ya finally came into play. Looking at them as paired names, Sanemi means “more reality“ and Gen’ya means “more illusion“. Can’t say why Sanemi is supposed to represent truth or Gen’ya is supposed represent lies, though. Could be something about how Sanemi knows the truth about how he felt about his brother while was fed Sanemi’s lies in their reencounter, could be about how Sanemi is a true breath user while Gen’ya is a fraud who needs to rely on Breath of Gun or going Kirby on the demons to fight, who knows. On a semi-related note, all of their other siblings had generic unrelated names. I guess their parents didn’t think of going with “more half-truth“ or “more ommision“ names before dropping the naming pattern.

Kyougai means “echoing fanfare”. Two sound related words for the drum guy. Pretty basic.

Rui is a regular word for bad influence, fitting of how he forced others into his abusive family play. It’s written with the radical for thread, so I that’s one of the ones I find more clever than ridiculous.

Enmu, on the other hand, means “nightmare dream”. And if that wasn’t redundant enough, it’s also an anagram for nemu(sleep).

Kaigaku means “sly peaks”. The peaks part is common surname kanji, so only the “sly” part matters. Obvious traitor name, which must be why he was unnamed in Zen’itsu’s first flashback.

Nakime means “sounding woman”. Very self-explanatory, she’s a woman who plays a biwa.

Daki means “fallen princess”, which is already meaningful enough for her character, but more importantly, it sounds very close to Dakki, the Japanese for the Daji, a famous Chinese monster disguised as an imperial courtesan. Giyuutarou is a name used for courtesan assistants, as already explained in the manga itself. Daki’s human name Ume is plum.

Gyokko means “jade vase”, as I said in the intro paragraph. Competing hard with Nakime for the title of most to-the-poing name in the series.

Hantengu means “half tengu”, because his ability is to split in halves and the tengu is the youkai species he’s themed after. Kinda weird how all oni in Kimetsu are themed after classic Japanese monster but only Daki, Hantengu and Douma get to be named after the ones they represent, I wish that was done more often. Anyways, his emotion bodies all have the kanji for their respective emotion in their names.

Akaza has my favorite name in the series, which makes sense considering everything else about him is also great. His human name is Hakuji, meaning “lion-dog healer” (yes, same ji in Tanjirou, but “demon-slaying” can’t be considered as a possibility for him for obvious reasons). As explained during his backstory, he’s named after lion-dog statues often seen guarding temple entrances. He’s someone who is supposed to be there to protect others. The healer part of his name also fits with how his spent half of his human life nursing his loved ones. And then Muzan turned him into Akaza. Due to its outdated kanji, even Japanese fans find his name a bit hard to interpret, but Akaza is generally agreed to mean “castrated dog sitting on a pit”. Delightfully humialiating name with delicious irony. In the chapter “The Useless Lion-dog”, Muzan turns the lion-dog who failed to guard its two families into a castrated dog sitting on a pit. All his nobility was neutered and he was left sitting still in a pit as he has no home to guard. Before this becomes a full Akaza meta on how he’s a full anti-thesis of what Hakuji swore to be, let’s get back to talk about names. His wife Koyuki’s name mean “love snow”. The love part represents how she’s a love interest of Hakuji and the snow part reflects she always a snowflakes hairpin and how Akaza projects the image of a snowflake on the floor when he activates his compass ability.

Douma means “child exhausted”, fitting his childish nature, especially in how he’s portrayed as a child who still hasn’t developed empathy at the age of 20, and with how his backstory is all about him being exhausted by human emotions after listening to hours of worshippers narrating their own tragedies. But most importantly, he named after Doumahoushi aka Ashiya Douman, the mythological villain he’s themed after. I like how he’s the only oni themed after a human villain rather than an actual oni or youkai like all the rest, but he might be the one oni who understands humans the least.

Kokushibou means “black death pupils”. Pupils as in eye pupil, not students, of course. He has no students, but he sure has a lot of pupils. Also eyes are often used as symbol for envy, which is the main theme of his backstory. Lastly, his name is a pun on kokushibyou aka the black plague, the disease that killed the most people in the world, just like he’s the oni who killed the most people. The 3 Upper Moons all have pretty unironically good names, all things considered. His human family name means “successor country”, probably in reference to how his brother passed down his hinomaru (symbol of Japan, the country) earrings to his next generation all the way down to Tanjirou. His name Michikatsu means “rock winner”. The winner part is obvious but I don’t know the (outdated) rock kanji was picked. His brother is Yoriichi meaning “fated one”, which probably on feeds Kokushibou’s complex harder.

Lastly and most ridiculously, Muzan Kibutsuji. Kibutsuji means “demon dance road”. Yes, the oni kanji is right there on his name, same demon kanji as the demons everyone faces. And as mentioned in the opener, the name Muzan is literally just the regular word cruelty. I’m commenting stuff with a friend as I read and we semi-consistently refer to Muzan as Meanie Demonbroadway because that’s just how stupid his name is. I really love it. Thank you anon for this opportunity to talk about Meanie Demonbroadway in a public space.

#kimetsu no yaiba

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natsspammityspamspamham · 4 years

Text

Random List of Anime Recommendation:

This is mostly directed for @caratheillustrious but I figured posting it wouldn’t really be that much of a problem anyway. I’ll divide these up into categories in terms of mood.

Feel Good Stuff – Some stuff that leaves you feeling good about stuff. Whether the majority of the series or film is lighthearted or it’s just laidback, both will be included here.

Tokyo Godfathers: one of my favourite anime movies and far more light-hearted than Koe no Katachi (warning though for slurs used in this movie towards transwomen – she’s still the best character in the movie and the movie makes a point to let her know that she’s the best human on this very planet because Hana is a treasure)

Gin no Saji: If you've watched Fullmetal Alchemist, it has the same creator except it's slice-of-life on a farm. I found it to be touching because it squares in on student experiences and connections. Also has sage advice.

Barakamon: Has children actually voiced by children. I watched it during a really important period of time for me. It centres and hits points that a lot of artists have.

Kimi to Boku: I can't remember why I enjoyed this anime. I just know that I did for some reason. It was really simple.

The Boy and the Beast: I have mixed thoughts about this movie, but at the end of the day, I really enjoyed it.

Zombieland Saga: I just find it nice to find an idol anime that doesn’t focus on the whole “the girls all have to be cute”. One is a biker chick, one is indicated to be a former prostitute, one is a verified transgirl.

Those Movies That Have to be Mentioned – I’m legally obligated to mention these.

Anthem of the Heart: sounds like a crack premise ("girl gets cursed by an egg to never speak again after seeing her dad cheat with another woman in a love hotel like a castle") but ends up being really good.

Your Name: practically everyone has watched that.

Koe no Katachi: A lot of people have watched this already. I always recommend it, but it's very emotionally heavy and deals with suicide, bullying, and disability. It's ending can make you cry from happiness though.

Wolf Children: Well, only if you're okay with crying (at least on the inside)

Hotarubi no Mori e: It's only 40 minutes. Probably won’t make people cry, but yeah, I can’t say that much.

Shounen – crack open one of these, and the boys and girls are sure to come

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic: It was my first anime. It has a lot of shonen crap, but it's also dialogue-heavy.

Seishun Buta Yarou: Drew in fanbois for the "plot" (bunny girl - what else can I say) and made people stay for the actual plot. It ended up being really quirky and funny. It was like the Monogatari series (which I tried and didn't like) but better and more "legal"

Yakusoku no Neverland: If you've watched Chicken Run, imagine that with people. It's a farm that farms children so they try to run.

Kimetsu no Yaiba: Shonen Jump doesn't have that many misses.

Noragami: The gags resonated with 14-year-old me

Assassination Classroom: Underdeveloped cast? Yeah, but it was still a really good Shonen Jump adaptation.

SKET Dance: The romance is too... canonly ambiguous for me to really put this under “romance”, it’s a comedy but can be serious, so I decided to put it under here. It’s quickly become one of my favourites.

Comedy – The stuff that’s not quite conventionally “shounen or shoujo” but still tries to make you laugh, no matter how hard they try or how hit-and-miss they are

Mob Psycho 100: The second season is amazing. I found it to be a really good solid show.

Hinamatsuri: If you like Mob Psycho or if you just like the idea of an adult adopting a kid and teaching them stuff along with the kid teaching them, this is the one for you. I was laughing and crying (from tears of laughter) at this.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun: I can’t label this a romance because the romance doesn’t go anywhere. We start at square one and we finish at square one, but the stuff that happens in the meantime makes it all worth it.

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou / Nichijou: Hit-and-miss, but there are a lot of iconic moments here.

Hataraku Saibou: I think this fits the best here. It’s just a good solid anime about cells in your body.

Shoujo/Romance – In case you need some fluff to fill the dark times; cheese levels vary.

Fruits Basket: Shoujo at its best.

Kono Oto Tomare: I don't know how this got produced by Shonen Jump SQ because it's like a cliche shoujo that would make even shoujo manga readers throw up flowers

Toradora: It's a hit-and-miss for people just because the main character is a tsundere (played by the queen of tsundere herself)

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi: this ended up being a guilty pleasure for me – not quite a direct romance but direct enough

Haikara-san go Tooru: Technically a movie and only has the first part, but the manga is from mid-70s is a shining example of the feminist boom in Japan after WWII

Gamers!: This was best explained by a comment I read somewhere going “I love this anime, but it makes me want to bang my head on a wall repeatedly”. Misunderstandings: The Anime. Everyone has a hard time.

Kaguya-sama: It was a huge hit in the 2019 Winter season of anime and for good reason. It’s getting a new season coming up too.

Wotakoi: Two adults falling in love. It’s funny and a little bit niche and directed towards otaku.

Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo: Technically a shounen, it was a harem anime that ended up being pretty good? I was so side-tracked by the idea of that, especially since I found the premise mildly interesting. The manga gets extra points for being really cute with that last chapter. I mean, it has boobs, ass, and a lot of kissing, but the female mangaka was taught by the creator of Fairy Tail so it’s really runs in their roots.

Shigatsu no Kimi no Uso: Ultimately included this one in romance, but many would say this belongs in the next category.

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime: This is so heavy on cheese that I had to pause at times and go “what am I doing? Is this how I die? How will my family react to me watching this?” (the last question is one I ask of myself often)

Hamefura: Have you ever wished for a harem with GUYS and GALS?! Have you ever wished for a bisexual harem with a protagonist is dumb, and literally everyone but her knows it?! Look no further!

Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo.: I found this to be a very empowering anime. It tackles the sexuality of women, and it does it in a very... unique package.

The Horror! The Horror! Some Dark Stuff That Belongs in a Cauldron, and those onion-cutting ninjas. – Honestly, it’s not my favourite genre, but some of these ended up being among my favourite anime?

Death Parade: It wasn't in the genre I usually watch (no comedy at all), yet I was moved every time? That last figure skating scene was *Canadian-French Accent* C’est Magnifique.

Shinsekai Yori: I watched this anime feeling SOOOOO UNEASY. Nothing was even happening that was “scary”. It was just the mere ideas behind it as the eerie world-building led me to go “WAHHHHH” over my computer. It’s one of the best anime I’ve watched, but I can’t recommend it to everyone.

Mousou Dairinin: It’s Satoshi Kon but sane. You actually get a conclusive ending. It has a surprisingly current message behind it though. It’s like Satoshi Kon continues to influence.

Perfect Blue: Now to the less sane Satoshi Kon work that confused me. Western movies literally copied one of the scenes from this movie.

No. 6: I can’t list this anywhere else, but it was the first anime to depict a really, really, really sweet gay relationship. Even though it was a complete fail adaptation-wise, it also gave Hosoya (voice actor) inspiration to keep going. It’s a gift.

Anohana: *ahem* I was recommended the anime by someone I’m no longer close with, but the memories that I had watching this and the message was probably the closest an anime has brought me to actually crying in a non-depressive fashion.

Gakkougurashi: Cute girls doing cute things with zombies that are about to eat them and destroy them all.

Erased: Okay, compared to other great series that I’ve yet to watch (Steins;Gate and Monster), it’s probably trash, but I remember really enjoying it when I first watched it.

And that ends my TED Talk.

#anime recommendations

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mugen-monogatari · 5 years

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Kabukimonogatari - Shinobu Silence; Humanizing a Monster

This post is the second part of my Kabukimonogatari posts. In the first post, I talked about Hachikuji and her key scene, while in this post, I’ll be talking about Shinobu and her important scene. To me personally, this climax of the arc was probably one of the best scenes in Monogatari as a whole. This entire exchange, was so satisfyingly, unsatisfying. It left me feeling empty, and almost disappointed (which sounds like a bad thing), but that’s what makes it so great. The crushingly painful realism. This entire arc was a commentary on how even our smallest actions and decisions can affect the greater world around us. It shows how we take even the smallest things for granted, with some pretty insightful commentary on depression and being in a dark place.

So with that brief introduction out of the way. Lets talk about shinobu and her climactic scene in Kabukimonogatari. For this analysis, I’ll be potentially spoiling all the way up to episode 10 of the Monogatari second Season. Keep that in mind if you haven’t yet seen up to that point. Also, this is all just my interpretation, none of this should be taken as fact.

Ironically, this arc was the first which made Shinobu, a vampire, an aberration, feel the most human in the entire series. She demonstrates, while seeming like a transcendent being, she’s very much so susceptible to the same problems everyone faces. Jealousy, pride, depression. They affect her just as much as they would anyone else. Which was top-notch characterization for this point in the story. Up to then, Shinobu was almost an enigma, being incredibly cute and wise, but having very little going for her in terms of emotional depth (that is unless you watched or read Kizumonogatari before this).

This entire humanization is what leads to the apocalyptic events of Kabuki. Shinobu’s jealousy. Her envy for the people around Koyomi, her pride and child-like stubbornness. Most of you probably didn’t remember until it was mentioned, Shinobu was missing at one point in the story, only returning upon seeing Koyomi’s efforts to find her. She saw this as an act of mutual affection. Him searching for her demonstrated his need or care for her, so she returned the kindness by helping him with the Hanekawa situation. However in this reality, Hachikuji had never incentivized Koyomi to go search for Shinobu, prompting her to destroy the world in her solitude and envy.

And that was one of the really heart-wrenching things about this arc- It shows even that little ounce of effort is enough to save someone, or to change things, even fix things. In our case, Koyomi actively put that effort in, going out of his way instead of settling for the easy route of just waiting for her to return. Shinobu while having lived for hundreds of years, still has the mind of a spoiled brat. She felt as if it was Koyomi’s job to come searching for her. She refused to be the one that put the effort in. She acknowledges this herself- “If I had only made one tiny compromise.” She realizes that you can’t expect things to happen for you, if you’re not willing to put some effort in yourself. She comes to terms with the unreasonable nature of her actions, having created this entire situation and forcing Koyomi to search for her, to see things from her perspective. But in this alternate reality- He never did.

I feel that's a painfully accurate depiction of human emotions. A lot of the time, we expect things from people that aren’t entirely fair. We can’t always admit we’re wrong, and we’re often too stubborn to just apologize. We instead run away and blame it on everyone else. “It was his fault for not chasing me-” That’s the sort of mentality she had. And that’s a mentality a lot of people have. But this entire arc shows you have to compromise. You can’t rely on one party in a relationship to fix everything. You both must actively work towards whatever happiness you seek.

“If I’d only opened up my heart to this boy a little more, Believing and entrusting…”

It also shows a slightly nihilistic view of our actions. Running away, destroying the world was completely pointless, she accomplished nothing in doing so. The void in her heart was not filled, she was just left feeling even more empty and depressed. Had she just waited slightly longer, or better yet, compromised, she would’ve had the happiness she sought after. Which is a good message told in a depressing way. Patience is key. Don’t run away from the problem and expect everyone else to fix it. If you’re not happy with the way someone acts or a situation you’re in, you can work on improving that, even when it’s hard, time and effort will help you ultimately achieve happiness.

This was a very rough scene for me personally. Your actions aren’t permanent, but your mistakes are. Running away isn’t the end of it. Had she just returned everything would have been okay, while never returning led to the end of our world as we knew it. Her world too. She was left with nothing but regrets. “My running away from home caused me to lose you… Making me feel like I had lost a wing, A half of myself.” A quote that just goes to demonstrate her pain. Her misery at making one, small, stupid, stubborn choice, which led to everything she knew ending. Leaving her with nothing but a destroyed world and a void in her heart.

Which leads me onto my second part of this scene. Depression. I know it’s a little cliche to talk about it, but I think this is a fairly accurate depiction of it. It’s not a switch or something that happens overnight. In the case of Shinobu and most people, it’s a downwards spiral, one bad day leading to another, before they pile up. In her case, she was stubborn. Taking her anger out on the world, before realizing in feeling alone, she truly became alone. She destroyed her own life, with her own hands. As DJ Khaled once said; “Congratulations, you played yourself.”(Had to get one meme in there to lighten the mood plsdontkillme).

Shinobu feels truly alone. She struggles with the fact that Koyomi is surrounded by all these girls, forcing him to divide his attention between them all, making her feel unneeded and desperate. So she flees. She runs away with the hope that he’ll chase her, and when he doesn’t- She kills everyone. In doing so, she realizes that she truly has become alone and is prompted to take her own life.

But then upon seeing her alternate self, it becomes all so painfully clear the futility of her actions. This could have all been avoided if- you guessed it- she compromised. There most definitely was a reality where she was happy. There was a certain almost guaranteed chance that everything would be okay, had she just waited or tried to put effort in herself. It’s a very touching moment actually, when she has the tragic realization that everything she did was pointless. She had ruined everything for no reason. That there was a reality where both her and Koyomi could happily snuggle together.

While that may sound bleak, I think the real hidden message is that things get better. Life will improve, and even when it’s difficult or hard or stressful or lonely, it’s not the end. There’s a lot of people out there who suffer from very serious, very real problems, and many see no way out of it. It can be draining and scary. But it does truly get better, with some time and effort, you can make a life for yourself. It’s unfair, yes, but if you just work at things, one day you’ll be able to look back on you life and wonder why you ever even worried. I think this arc was kind of like a really really depressing way of saying- “Hey. It’ll be alright. Just stick with it. It’ll pay off, your hard work and effort will be rewarded,” which is both sweet and touching. If this was truly the author’s intentions, I have to give him kudos, since I think that’s a good message to give people.

To relate this to my own life, me and my own Girlfriend argue sometimes. Occasionally the topic of breaking up will come up, but we never do. She always puts it best saying; “I won’t break up with you because that’s a permanent decision. This argument isn’t, we’ll move on and forget about it at some point.” And I think that applies perfectly with this entire arc.

Kabukimonogatari was another fanatastic arc in an amazing series, and I’m just glad I got to experience it and share it with you guys. If you take anything away from this arc, just remember, no matter where you are in life, one day it’ll get better.

Thank you so much for reading this, if you made it this far, maybe consider sharing this with someone. Next up I’ll be doing some stuff for the Fate franchise, as well as more Monogatari character stuff, don’t forget more Bleach posts too, So keep your eyes peeled.

Take Care of Eachother, Saki~

#monogatari #anime #shinobu oshino #araragi koyomi #monogatari series #discussion #kabukimonogatari #hachikuji mayoi

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pickalilywrites · 5 years

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last chapter! thank you for reading it until its conclusion and i hope you guys enjoyed it ^^

The Perfect Girl

EreHisu. Monogatari Series AU.

Part i | ii | iii | iv | v | vi | vii | viii | ix

559 words.

Buy me a ko-fi!

It’s pure torture sitting there in the hallway, his back against the wall and eyes on the carpet as he listens to the sounds of a struggle in Historia’s room. Eren hears the sound of broken glass and Historia grunting as she fights an unknown entity. He would do anything in the world to be able to throw open the door and rid Historia of her ghost, but he knows that the spirit would simply vanish as soon as he entered the room, so he sits in the hallway with his hands pressed over his ears, doing his best to ignore what was happening inside. If it’s this painful for him, it must be even worse for Historia.

He hears the muffled sounds of the scuffle from behind the closed door. Eren sits there waiting for hours, watching as the sunlight from the window drifted across the walls, across the door, until it finally disappeared. It’s only when the sun has finally set that Historia throws open the door, her hair disheveled and her chest heaving.

“It’s gone.” There’s a smile on her face far more radiant than Eren has ever seen. Although she stands with scratches on her face and neck, she has never looked happier. She welcomes Eren to the wreckage of her room. The once pristine bedroom is filled with broken furniture, but Historia is hardly bothered by it.

“How did you…get rid of it?” Eren asks. He wonders if it was strange for Historia, getting rid of a ghost that looked just like her.

“I threw it out the window.” Historia flips her hair behind her shoulder, a smug smile on her face.

“I see.” But when he looks out the window, he sees Historia on the ground, her body broken like a porcelain doll, but when he blinks, she disappears. Ah, it must have been his imagination then. He stares at the place where he had thought she had been, and there is nothing there at all. It makes sense, after all, that nothing would be there. He’s about to turn around, but Historia joins him at the window.

“I couldn’t believe that it was a ghost when I first saw it. Well, I did, but I blamed my father.” Historia breathes in a breath of fresh air and exhales. “I thought the ghost was my sister Frieda when I first saw it.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister.”

“That’s because she died a few years ago.” She glances at Eren and smiles when he winces. She shakes her head when he begins to apologize. “It’s fine. I don’t talk about her much. I loved her a lot, but so did my dad. I thought I didn’t care that much about not being like her, but I guess I did. At first, that ghost was just a version of me that my dad wanted me to be. A version of me that was perfect like Frieda. But I guess a part of me wanted to be perfect too.”

Eren watches as Historia leans against the window, her eyes closed as she enjoys the cool wind against her skin. After a moment, he speaks. “Well, I like this version of you.”

She looks at him, surprised for a moment, and then smiles at him in amusement. “Thanks. I like this version of me, too.”

#erehisu #snk #eren jaeger #historia reiss #monogatari series au #the perfect girl

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raccoonskoodilypoopdungeon · 5 years

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“The Firebird Trilogy” by Claudia Gray: A Review from an Eighteen Year-Old Teenager Doing a Bachelor’s in Biology

"So does destiny create the math, or does math create our destiny?" "Insufficient data," Paul said.

How did I get here?

So, my friend and I were talking, as friends do, and we went through this rabbit hole involving Powerpuff Girls Z and Zenith. And we came to the topic of A Thousand Pieces of You.

In short, we don’t like it. She stopped at this book. I continued because I was interested enough. That was a mistake. An generous 2/5.

And this isn’t like a thing where all of my friends disliked it. Only the two of us disliked it. Everyone else liked it.

I know I’m not the demographic. I’m not a white girl doing a Bachelor of Fine Arts. I’m asian doing a Bachelor of Science. But whatever.

Imma go into a full review.

Spoilers under the cut.

Good Things:

1. Dimensional Travel. It was the only thing that kept me reading.

2. A sort of exploration of Jean Paul Sartre’s Existence vs Essence

3. The cover art is really nice. It so good. Its like home decoration to me it’s so good.

4. Says “Capitalism is bad.” I like that.

Bad Things:

1. The Characters: Paul and Theo really like Margarita

- Marguerite Caine: I’m not like other girls

Margarita is our protagonist. She’s not like other girls.

We’re pretty different, for sisters—she’s average height while I’m tall; she’s athletic while I’m anything but. She inherited our parent’s love of science and is following in Dad’s footsteps by becoming an oceanographer; I’m the odd duck in the family, the artsy one. Josie’s laid-back while I freak out about every little thing.

She has no interest in science. In a household... where everyone is a scientist. As someone who’s lived in a household where everyone’s a doctor, all of my siblings and I are in some sort of science background. My sister’s a medical doctor, my brother’s a Master in Psychology, and I’m doing a Bachelor’s in Biology. I have no doubt it can happen. But it happens a lot in young adult. I’m tired of humanities main characters. I love the humanities. I don’t know why but everyone I know in science has some sort of humanities background. Everyone in my family can play instruments and paints and does photography.

And can I just say how pretentious that ending was? Here’s my painting its a unique perspective from seeing my alternate dimension selves. She plagiarised herself. She basically plagiarised her alternate dimension selves. I’ll save those in later

- Paul Markov: Nerdy Love Interest

Love interest. Also Russian. Don’t know who he is.

- Theo Beck: Nerdy Love Interest 2: Bad Boy Boogaloo

Love interest. French(?). Does drugs to stay in bodies because idk.

- Henry Caine: Dad

Like the Beatles.

- Sophia Kovalenka: Mom

Depressed without dad.

- Josie Caine: The pretty one

The pretty one. Died in an alternate universe.

- Wyatt Conley: I see why you like Josie

Rich. Villain. Oh... but he’s in love with Josie. Oh no.

As you can see. The characters are well fleshed out. I have headcanons for all of them. Margarita hates sciences because her sister is good at it and she has to be good at something in her family so she pursues the arts. Paul and Theo have no reason to like Margarita. She’s whiny and really unlikeable. But here we are.

2. The Science: So that science huh?

This is a science fiction novel with a murder mystery element. It should something I should be gushing and loving it.

But the science is, uh, meh?

So, there’s this thing called a Firebird. And this miracle baby lets you travel between dimensions. I’m no physicist. The best of my physics knowledge involves how organisms abuse the universe’s physics engine.

The most unrealistic thing about the science here is... the fact that these people got funding. The firebird’s supposed to revolutionise modern science. And I can see how, steal info from other dimensions. But no one with enough funding would be interested. And I get that Wyatt would be interested because he could be funding from Capitalist Dimension. I get that. Okay. Fine.

But the explanation. The Firebird is made of materials that easily move between dimensions, can grab onto consciousness, and leaves a dimensional trace. What material? How does it grab onto the consciousness? What is the dimensional trace? We don’t know because Margarita doesn’t know because ALL THE SCIENTISTS WON’T TELL HER BECAUSE SHE WON’T UNDERSTAND?!?! Anyone with a PhD in science is a nerd that will jump at any opportunity to tell you how something works. You might not understand but they will try their damned hardest. AT LEAST GIVE US PHLEBOTINUM!!

There’s this whole thing where Paul explains how universes are formed because of an asymmetry and that sort of let’s us travel between dimensions and that lets us save dimensions being destroyed. Oh yeah, there’s a plot where the Capitalist Dimension wants to destroy universes to get all the fragments of Josie because that’s how consciousness works. I don’t know how it works. These people do. Whatever. But it feels like... how do you get enough energy to create enough antimatter to destroy entire universes? I don’t know but they’ve probably done enough research and experiments. Fine. How did they invent the solution though? They didn’t have the time to do any experiments or research. Oh well.

Also consciousnesses apparently show up in CT scans. Which means they’re altering the brains of these people. That’s a human rights violation. Never mind the highjacking free will thing. This would never, and I mean never, be approved. I had a research proposal where I would feed Tilapia feed that had little bits of microplastics to see how microplastics affect growth and everything. That was not approved due to ethical reasons. They’re even stricter on humans. Shocking.

3. Existence vs Essence: Does that mean I fell in love with every Paul, everywhere?

Now Claudia Gray has the idea there. But it really falls flat and the potential it had made it worse. If you want a young adult series that handles this idea well go read The Monogatari Series by Nisioisin. Its not in the entire series but in one of the books, Kabukimonogatari.

The entire series is filled with fauxlosophy on this whole thing from Jean Paul Sartre. Admittedly I’m no philosophy major. I took a college philosophy 101 class. That’s my whole thing. I got an A in that class. Those are my credentials.

But Margarita keeps asking if she falls in love with one Paul is it all the Pauls? And if someone in an alternate universe is a murderer does that make her a murderer. But, and this is important, we learn that Firebirds don’t actually find alternate versions of you but a genetically identical version of you that isn’t already in that universe. You see where I’m getting at. They even have a conversation with all the Margaritas she’s ruined in the Sextuplet Universe where she’s sextuplets Osomatsu-san style.

Her questioning was pointless especially since it continues after this point. And she tries so hard to be like, “but if my circumstances were different I’d be Murderer!Margarita.” And Mob Psycho 100 by One deals with this concept really well. Mob gets transported into an alternate world, with no memories, and spends six months there being bullied with no friends or anyone to confine to. He ends up evil. And the villain goes on to say like, “see, you’re only good because of your circumstances!” when Mob gets his memories back. And Mob goes, “that’s right. i’ve been shaped by the people around me and my circumstances. I should be grateful!”

Claudia Gray’s solution is basically Paul goes like “don’t worry because you guys are mathematically close but different so you guys are fundamentally different.” Which is like, no. They’re arguing that essence comes before existence. Which is kinda supported by the fact that every incarnation of her is an artist. Like, not a single Margarita likes science in the multiverse. That makes zero sense. Like what?

In conclusion please do not read this. Or do. Lots of people like this.

#a thousand pieces of you #ten thousand skies above you #a million worlds with you #the fire bird series #claudia gray #review #rant kinda

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books-are-my-life-stuff · 5 years

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(I love this clear file illustration from fifth gen’s movie so much)

Since I asked some people here their opinions about Kitaro series, I think it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t share what I think about this series and why I love it so much until now. It’s gonna be a VERY long post (seriously when I start rambling about my favorite series I won’t stop) so I’ll cut it under read more below.

Disclaimer: The only Kitaro series that I properly completed is 1985 and Hakaba, along with 2018 in future. I haven’t read the original manga because I’m planning on purchasing the english releases as soon as possible. Because of that, the only Kitaro manga that I read is Youkai-sen Monogatari, and only the first season of it because the rest is not localized in my country. Thus, my opinions about other generations will be limited, since it hasn’t entirely available in English. Also, this will be in order of “which Kitaro series I completed first” and later I will write which one I like the most, and this will have lots of weird rambling.

At around 2007, when the fifth series was broadcasting at Japan and when I was around 10 or 11 years old, the 1985 series was also broadcasting at my country’s national television, dubbed to my local language too. This is my first exposure to this franchise. At first, I dismissed it because it seemed like an odd series and I was never a fan of horror. After several episodes in, I started watching it again, and I got immediately hooked. Since then, I never missed any episode. Luckily the local television dubbed the entire episode including the incredible Jigoku Hen, so I was glad that I could experience it until the end. Luckily, the local television did a re-run of 1985, and while it didn’t broadcast Jigoku Hen (for unknown reason unfortunately) I could finally watch episodes that I initially missed.

The enthusiasm I felt as I turned on my television at 9.30 PM 12 years ago and the 1985 version of Gegege no Kitaro theme played, until now I still could see my childhood self smiling happily whenever I see Toda Kitaro, one of my childhood heroes.

1985 series

Since this series is my first exposure to the franchise, this will always have a special place. I was 10/11 years old and I really like protagonists like Toda Kitaro. To the point I was under the belief that it’s how Kitaro’s personality is: an ally of justice, who beats up the bad guy and do good things, also has a nice human friend, like a typical protagonist. My memories were very bad, so I could not remember much about my favorite episodes from this series, with an exception of Jigoku Hen and all episodes of that arc easily became my favorites.

Toda Kitaro’s longing for his mother will never fail to make me cry, and the fact that he went through so many things just so that he could reunite with his missing mother always moved me. I remembered watching the last episode of Jigoku Hen with my parents and older siblings, and all of us cried when Kitaro reunited with his mother.

This generation also has a really epic fight scene, to the point it had 152 scenes archived in sakugabooru in gegege no kitaro tag (2018 had the most). Toei really did an impressive job in animation, directing, and making epic fight scenes that probably some anime nowadays can’t replicate. The battles, the energy emanating from this series, you already can feel it even though you probably only watched the clips from sakugabooru. Also, there are A LOT of blink-and-you-miss-it moments that are very fun as rewatch bonus kind of thing, and sometimes the one-frame-only scenes are very cute.

In contrast to my childhood self’s immense admiration to Toda Kitaro, this is also where I hated Nezumi Otoko, so much. Back in the past, I found him very unnecessarily mean, always backstabbed Kitaro in every occasion possible and made Yumeko along with Neko Musume uncomfortable. Back in the past too, I did not understand why Kitaro and Nezumi Otoko remained friends after all that, because I couldn’t see any redeeming qualities from Nezumi Otoko.

I like Neko Musume here a lot. I already like Kitaro and Neko Musume dynamic together since this generation. She is very strong, and act like a responsible big sister to everyone, including Kitaro and Yumeko (hostile big sister to Nezumi Otoko, though). Though I don’t like when she and Yumeko start fighting over Kitaro, but overall she remains as a great character until the end. Even back in the past, my childhood self already like her so much, really a figure of big sister that I could look up to.

Fast forward to 12 years later, I finally had the time to do a rewatch of 1985 series, or at least the ones that’s available in English. It’s also the first time of me listening to the original Japanese voice, because I watched the dubbed version 12 years ago. Rewatching it when I am 21 years old means that I have to accept that my opinions about 1985 series won’t be the same as I was little (e.g. 12 years ago I found Yumeko to be an “alright” human protagonist but now I think her personality could have been so much better), but there are also some things that never change, in particular about how Toda Kitaro is pretty great. Nowadays Toda Kitaro would be considered as cliche shounen hero protagonist, but I still like Toda Kitaro so much. I enjoyed my rewatch of the available ones of 1985, including the available movies. It felt like I went back to 12 years ago.

Regardless of my slight opinion change to 1985 series, it’s still a very special Kitaro series with a very special characterization for Kitaro.

Youkai-sen Monogatari

In late 2008, the 1985 series started its second run at local television. And in that time too, local anime magazine brought up about 2007 Kitaro, and introduced the readers to the previous generation as well. It’s when I learned that Kitaro series had been going on for a while, and that there’s so many versions of Kitaro and his family, and there’s a lot that I need to catch up. I become more excited to learn more about this franchise as I dig deeper.

In the same year, Youkai-sen Monogatari was localized at my country. I was still under impression that Kitaro would generally have the same personality as the 1985 one, but I was surprised that his personality was much different. I was also bewildered at Ghost Train-ish episode of Youkai-sen Monogatari where Kitaro attempted to punish a human who misused a youkai necklace, and how the episode ended rather grim it actually made me scared when I was little. Years later, I learned that this Kitaro was more like his 2007 counterpart than 1985, and I learned more about Kitaro’s personality and how his personality is changing every generation.

For whatever reason, my country’s local publisher didn’t localize the second season of Youkai-sen Monogatari, but I really had a lot of fun reading this. Even though back then I haven’t even watched anything other than 1985, I still enjoyed this quick read, and another exposure to the franchise.

2018 series

After I finished Youkai-sen Monogatari, I was under the belief that I wouldn’t be able to watch the other generations of Kitaro other than 1985, so I gave up on thoughts of catching up with other generations. But I didn’t think that I would still be alive to follow a new iteration of Gegege no Kitaro: 2018. My childhood love to this series resurfaces as I got overwhelmed by nostalgic feeling as soon as I watched the first episode on April 1st.

I like that this series does not shy away from pulling unexpected ending, like that one involving guardian of Bamboo tree. This series also makes me learn that Kitaro’s actual personality is not just “ally of human and enemies to evil youkai” that has been emphasized back in 1985, and I like that he is willing to punish evil humans too. 2018 probably has my most favorite Yuurei Densha episode as well, and my other favorite episode would be Memories of Yoka, which is really touching and has a lot of moral value to learn from. I also like when this series did a call-out episode to modern culture, following the original satire nature. The visuals are great, music is great, and the characters are great. I love this series so much.

Sawashiro Miyuki is a seiyuu that had voiced a lot of characters I like when I was little, so seeing her returning to voice no other than Kitaro himself makes me feel so happy. I like Toda Kitaro’s hot-blooded and energetic personality, but I also like Sawashiro Kitaro’s calm and aloof personality. Of course, I was surprised at the vast difference of personality at first, but I ended up liking this Kitaro a lot. He is also very relatable in many ways, and he remains calm and wise at many situations which makes him really admirable.

Neko Musume’s different design made me surprised at first, even my sister almost didn’t recognize her because of her design. Though I didn’t need a long time to get used with her new design, I even like it now. Since for all these years Neko Musume has always been portrayed as having the same age as Kitaro, it’s a fresh look to see her looking older and different. She still has a crush to Kitaro, but most of the time she acts more like a responsible big sister, especially to Mana. She is like a figure that I could look up to, just like having a big sister. Considering Mana has to act responsible in front of her friends, I think it feels nice that Neko Musume can be someone that Mana can rely on.

Yumeko’s role in 1985 made me skeptical of Mana at first, but that didn’t last long. Several episodes in and I already like her. I also like how the relationship between Kitaro, Mana, Neko Musume, and Medama Oyaji resemble family, that Kitaro has a new sister who also has his back and they look up to each other. It’s not without conflicts, of course, but afterwards their familial bond become deeper and it shows in this current arc and at episode 69, when Kitaro was so hell-bent in protecting Mana from the complicated situation he’s in. I like that Mana and Neko Musume get along well like sisters and not rival-in-love or something, because the current me would dislike that.

Nezumi Otoko, on the other hand, is much more tolerable here than in the 1985 version. He is still sneaky but I don’t hate him as much as I used to in the past, even though I’m still pissed at how sneaky he is at some episodes. Episode where Kitaro established that he wanted to make a world where even the likes of Nezumi Otoko gets accepted makes me appreciate their relationship. For years I never understood why they were friends, and there’s never any good explanation for that, but I’m glad that 2018 provided the answer.

Medama Oyaji is best dad, but I think that goes without saying, especially after you know that episode 14 happened. Nozawa voicing Medama Oyaji is a pleasant surprise, and wow she does deliver her portrayal as Medama Oyaji extremely well.

One other thing that I like from this series is the antagonists. Unlike other generations who just use Nurarihyon as recurring villain (and I personally never liked his personality, either from 1968, 1985, or 2007), this series used new villain. Nanashi stands out as a very interesting villain because we didn’t know what the hell was in his mind. He remained a very abstract villain, mysterious and his existence related with Mana’s past and family history, making her has relevance to the story. I like mysterious villain like Nanashi, and bringing new antagonists to the series may attract mixed opinions, but for me this is a breath of fresh air. Perhaps because I never liked Nurarihyon because he just hated Kitaro's guts, and made chaos because he felt like it. Nanashi, however, is different. He remained mysteriously ambiguous, watching the main cast and sometimes becomes the hidden cause of evil youkais’ appearance. He also did it not because he hated Kitaro, but he only did it to make Mana as a vessel, and you know how the story goes.

The conclusion of Nanashi’s arc is very satisfying as well. Again, this series did not shy away from pulling unexpected ending, like how they did with Neko Musume. The end of Nanashi’s arc also put more depth to both Mana and Sawashiro Kitaro’s characters, that the latter could also be so absorbed in grief he ended up making everything worse, and that the former knows what happened to her and blamed herself that she can’t control it. Nanashi’s reveal is also not something that I expected, but it resolved pretty well. Nezumi Otoko also singlehandedly gave Kitaro a push that the latter needed to face Nanashi and save the world (even though he REALLY didn’t need to kick and choke Sawashiro Kitaro especially after knowing what happened, seriously...). Medama Oyaji’s reunion with Kitaro is also very heartwarming and touching. I can go on and on about how much I liked Nanashi arc, really. It’s a really good arc that also wrapped up with a nice finish.

Isurugi Rei, on the other hand, still needs some more appearance to prove that he’s a good antagonist, for me. Rei’s interesting aspects is that he’s a polar opposite to Kitaro yet they also, in one way or another, similar. They have different way of interpreting the righteousness of their actions, yet they also are very determined to do something and finish what they have started, albeit in different circumstances. As pointed out by Ibukimaru in episode 69, that Kitaro and Rei share some similar aspects. However, Rei himself, as an individual, is not really interesting. It feels like he needs Kitaro to make his personality becomes intriguing, unlike Nanashi who is an engaging antagonist even as a standalone. Of course, my opinion about Rei is not final considering that the arc is still ongoing.

This series is still ongoing so I can’t really give out my concluding thoughts about it, but so far I’m still enjoying it. This is the reason why I’m always looking forward to Sunday morning, and I’m glad to have this series accompanying me as I get through last year of college.

2007 series

With 2018 series broadcasting, as soon as I get my holiday, I started looking up for previous generation. I was pessimistic I would find any, but I ended up finding them (thank you so much TSHS) and I couldn’t be more happier. Even though the previous generations haven’t been subtitled to completion (which is understandable due to the massive amount of episodes) I’m still very, very relieved to be able to at least know about the previous generation, even though only for little bit.

So I went to get everything that’s available at TSHS, with addition to the fifth gen’s movie subtitled by Rat Hat Subs, along with Hakaba, but I was confused which one to start first. There are good amounts of episodes and movies, but from different generations. After thinking for a while, I decided to start with 2007 series.

Around three years before 2018 series, I already watched the first two episodes of 2007, but since only five episodes were available back then and even the first two didn’t really hook me into it, I didn’t continue it. Now, with 45 episodes available, I could finally continue watching and decide if 2007 is going to be interesting or not, especially considering this was originally broadcasted at the same year when I watched 1985 at my local television, and local anime magazine talked about it in late 2008 back then.

Even though I needed around five episodes to get myself fully interested to 2007 series, I admit that Takayama Kitaro’s opening narration is what hooks me for the first time. I think this part is what makes 2007 unique, including the Yokai Yokocho setting and how Kitaro has this one big family living together in harmony and in fun times. Takayama Kitaro’s opening narration really did an excellent job in setting up the mood, and made me feel excited, in anticipation of what’s actually going to happen next. I also like how other characters parodized this too, replacing Takayama Kitaro’s speech as they spoke up for the episode focusing on them. Not long, I find myself liking 2007 series way more than I thought I would.

Takayama Kitaro is so, so relatable. He’s lazy, he’s too tired for romance, he eats noodles everyday to survive summer, he can’t ride bicycle, sometimes can be scary, but remains a generally warm and welcoming personality (as shown in his opening speech too). I already can see why Japanese fans seem to love Takayama Kitaro so much. Takayama Minami’s excellent delivery to his character also helps a lot. Itazura remains as my most favorite Kitaro character song, even though it makes me sleepy every time I listen to it. I like Takayama Kitaro so much.

Nezumi Otoko is the same as ever here, with an exception that his good side is unexpectedly explored more. The episode where Nezumi Otoko took care of a stray youkai baby was really something else. Nezumi Otoko also felt much more like a part of Kitaro family here. Then again, as I grow up, I really can’t hate Nezumi Otoko as much as I used to back in my childhood.

Neko Musume is really cute in 2007 version, and her appearance looks like she shares the same age as Kitaro here than in 1985 where she seems to appear a little bit older. Her “have a crush to Kitaro” part in 2007 seemed to get cranked up as well. Though, I was hoping that in balance of her romantic feelings to Kitaro that becomes more blatant, she could be a bit stronger in combat. At the episode “Great Youkai War”, I was expecting Neko Musume to come along as well, but it turned out that Kitaro considered her as weak youkai, thus she couldn’t join. I understand that he probably wanted to protect her, but I realized that this Neko Musume wasn’t really strong, that’s why Kitaro didn’t allow her to join. Neko Musume has always been great, and this Neko Musume is great too, I just wish that she could be stronger. Then again, I watched this after 2018 so maybe that affects my opinion too. I still love 2007 Neko Musume a lot.

Medama Oyaji remains great, as ever, but 2007 Medama Oyaji is special, to the point that every episode (up to 45) that centers around him is one of my favorites. Especially the episode when he worked to buy a bicycle for Kitaro, that episode was so sweet I cried right at the beginning of the episode until the end.

The Yokai Yokocho setting makes me able to get to know the background characters more. Probably this is one of the few anime series where supporting characters get their character development and their focused episodes. And the story is also delivered in fun and organized way. Then again, maybe because Yokai Yokocho resembles the society that humans have and youkais there act more like humans--just like what one youkai criticized about Yokai Yokocho--maybe that’s why we feel like we understand them more. Either way, I like Yokai Yokocho setting so much, to the point that I prefer the slice-of-life with Yokai Yokocho cast episodes more than the monster-of-the-week ones.

Best episode so far would be the merchandising episode. Not only it’s entirely a call-out to merchandising culture but it’s also a very hilarious and fun episode. Poor Takayama Kitaro.

I can’t give any concluding thoughts because, again, I haven’t watched 2007 in its entirety, but I have a really fun time watching it and more 2007 episodes getting updated is always something I look forward to. Also, Nippon Bakuretsu is great.

1996 series

This series was broadcasted at Animax probably around the same year when 1985 was broadcasted at local television. Unfortunately, I didn’t have Animax at that time, which really is a big regret for me because I missed an opportunity to watch this beautiful iteration of Gegege no Kitaro.

After finishing the available episodes of 2007, I moved on to 1996, and immediately I was blown away. The visuals, oh wow, the visuals! Right at the episode 1 the beautiful scenery and Wada Kaoru’s familiar-sounding soundtrack caught my attention. I can see why some people called this generation as “having a high production value” or “having a very consistent quality” because you can already tell that it’s gonna be consistently great in visuals and music. The great direction makes me can tell the atmosphere that is occurring, and have I mentioned great visual? Oh wow, I really had to resist the urge to screenshot the beautiful scenes during watching. Had this been re-broadcasted worldwide, I’m sure people who are observant with animations would have sent a lot of praises to this iteration, maybe even blog it at Sakugabooru.

Immediately I also like the main cast’s characters here. Matsuoka Kitaro’s calm and chill personality sets him apart from Toda Kitaro. He is very chill, sometimes scary, but remains friendly. Right off the bat I already like Matsuoka Kitaro a lot. Nezumi Otoko and Neko Musume are also very likable here, and Medama Oyaji is great as ever. The father-son relationship also drives me to tears, in particular at the Gyuki episode. I’m always a sucker for good family relationship so with all of these greatness I’m thinking that I could certainly enjoy 1996 series. Also, this series has my most favorite Obake Nighter episode, though it’s technically a movie. Really, I have rewatched 1996 Obake Nighter episode a lot and I still like it.

Unfortunately, not many of 1996 episodes are available, which is really sad, but at least 1996 has three movies that has been subtitled. I just wish I could turn back time and got myself an Animax so I could watch it.

Hakaba Kitaro

I took a break from Gegege series and jumped to Hakaba, which has been in my mind for a while. About two years ago I started watching this, but I stopped after episode 5 because of technical issues. I’m glad that I could finally find a time to watch this again and properly complete it.

Because I have been used with Kitaro being good-hearted, Kitaro in Hakaba feels very different, but I quickly like him for his difference. This makes me realize that, I am no longer in Gegege universe and I shouldn’t expect everything to turn out the same way like Gegege universe. Hakaba Kitaro series in general has a very different atmosphere of monster-of-the-week, which I really like. I also like how Kitaro in Hakaba is pretty much someone with grey morality. If he feels like doing good then he will be doing good (the Vampire Elite episode), but if he feels like doing bad then he will be doing bad (many other episodes but especially episode 8), and nobody can stop him. Of course, I was never expecting things will turn out well with Mizuki and even Medama Oyaji, so no wholesome family moments here. In contrast, Nezumi Otoko becomes more important and I think Nezumi Otoko becomes Kitaro’s only person that he can call as friend, of all people. Considering Kitaro’s dad no longer accepting his personality turning to worse and how he no longer is interested in holding the candle for his ancestors, it’s understandable that Kitaro chooses to get along with Nezumi Otoko in the end.

The fact that it’s the original cast of 1968 who played as their main roles here makes me like this series more. Nozawa Masako is so good, Kitaro’s evil chuckle is so iconic. Tanonaka Isamu is great as ever, and I think Chikao Otsuka played the best Nezumi Otoko for me, really able to catch up his sneaky personality. Mizuki is a great dad (who deserves better), and Neko is a nice girl, who deserves better as well. She is also voiced by Nakagawa Shouko and that’s really great. I ended up liking Fake Kitaro a lot as well, and I wish I could get to know more about him.

Last episode and eighth episode are my most favorites. A Foolish Man is a great concluding episode that shows Kitaro’s life in human world and how he has been used with how hard (but interesting) his life is going to be. The Strangest Showdown is a great, and creepy episode, really goes full horror and thriller, complete with grim ending. I usually can’t handle horrors, but there are some expections that I really like, including this one.

The visuals are really great, the Wada Kaoru soundtracks are very memorable (especially Youkoso Hakaba he, it’s stuck in my head for months) and the opening song along with the ending song are superb. The opening scene where Nezumi Otoko bought a bread and commented about how prize has raised is a nice little touch. Many references in the opening that refers to later episodes, which is a nice rewatch bonus too.

I enjoyed watching Hakaba Kitaro so much, I just wish it had more episodes and didn’t cram a lot of classic episodes into one episode, but then again keeping consistent quality for more episodes would surely be hard for Toei, so it’s understandable. All in all, Hakaba Kitaro is a great experience.

1971 series

I started this series from the Geomancer Eye’s movie instead of the first episode. It’s only 13 minutes, which makes the story feels way too fast-paced, but at that time I was taking a break from working at my exams and needed a quick refreshment. While it feels fast-paced, I still understand how the story is going and I immediately like it. It’s a bittersweet end for the son, but that’s what he could do to help his Dad, especially he became more willing after knowing that the transformation to the new Geomancer Eye is going to be painless. I feel that watching 1971 is going to be a great time, but I decided not to watch 1971 first two episodes until I completed first five episodes of 1968, since I heard 1971 is a sequel to the latter.

After watching five (ended up watching six episodes) of 1968, I went to watch 1971. It started with Dorotabo story, which reminded me of 2018′s Dorotabo. It feels great to be able to watch the original episode of Dorotabo’s ambush, and the second episode is also a very fun one. Nozawa Kitaro writing haiku and living a calm life is very lovely, to the point I wished he could live like that forever (Kitaro needs a break from his seigi no mikata stuffs too, you know?). I wish that more episodes have been subtitled, so I could say much about this series, but so far I find this 1968 sequel very engaging.

1968 series

I finished the available ones of this series last because at first the weird pacing at Obake Nighter’s story (episode 1) didn’t really sit well with me. The pacing felt like everywhere, so I kind of had difficulty in watching 1968 series, but after Daikaijuu episode, I started to get hooked into watching more of 1968 series. It provides many great dialogues and the story is great, albeit with weird pacing but I soon got used with it.

It’s fun to watch the original story and the characters with their original Gegege personality. Nozawa Kitaro, while acts like a seigi no mikata, it doesn’t get as emphasized as Toda Kitaro. He still punishes evil humans (1968 Bus Ride to Hell is my favorite), sometimes pull pranks like a normal child, but sometimes acts wise and mature. Medama Oyaji is also a lot less panicky like in later generations here. He is considerably calm and act like a good leader even when his son is under distress, except maybe Daikaijuu episode. Even so, Medama Oyaji is much more blunt and sassy here, especially towards Nezumi Otoko which is great, and that makes Nozawa Kitaro becomes pretty sassy to Nezumi Otoko as well. Nezumi Otoko’s grey morality is emphasized here, shown that in some episodes he gets along just fine, while in other episodes he is in opposite side of Kitaro. This Nezumi Otoko also provided a lot of great dialogues and his weird friendship with Kitaro is also very amusing to see. Chikao Otsuka’s performance of Nezumi Otoko is really the best for me... rest in peace, Otsuka-san and Tanonaka-san.

The Great Youkai War episode, however, ended very brutally for me and I didn’t expect that at all. Perhaps because in later generations Kitaro could win the war without any cost of any member of Kitaro family’s life (2018 greatly wounded them but they’re fine afterwards), but I remembered that in 1968 Kitaro family hadn’t been established yet. I was surprised to see Sunakake Babaa, Konaki Jijii, Ittan-Momen, and Nurikabe got permanently killed, and Kitaro went home with only Medama Oyaji and Nezumi Otoko as survivors. I was expecting the youkai victims to be revived in one way or another but no, they’re dead. Kitaro fell into victim of Backbeard’s spell was also unexpected. I think 1968 also has the best Great Youkai War episode/arc, not only because it perfectly captured how hard and brutal the war is, but also how it ended very unexpectedly. Kitaro mourning that he didn’t feel like this was a victory because of the victims was also a perfect scene to conclude the episode. 1968 Great Youkai War is really good, but I won’t rewatch it because of how brutal it got.

My favorite episode so far is the first meeting with Neko Musume. Not only it has great dialogues (that part when Kitaro didn’t hesitate to choke Nezumi Otoko after the latter thought he couldn’t do that...iconic) but also Neko Musume’s character had been established pretty great here. I instantly like this version of Neko Musume, too bad she only appeared for one episode. Other than her appearance, the rest of episode 20 is very great and how Nezumi Otoko struggled with fasting to get rid the demon in his body is amusing.

I couldn’t give concluding thoughts because, again, not all episodes are available, but 1968 is very great, albeit with weird story pacing. Great dialogues, great stories, great characters, and a roller-coaster of experience.

And that concludes my thoughts and opinions about Gegege no Kitaro+Hakaba Kitaro! It’s really hard to tell which one I like the most since I enjoy all of them in different ways, but if I have to make top three, that would be 2018, followed by 1996 and 2007, but that might change when more episodes have been released.

#gegege no kitaro #long post #LIKE VERY VERY LONG POST #I know that no one asked for my opinion #but since I think it's unfair if I keep asking people's opinion without posting mine #so here it is #most of this post is just my random rambling so only read it if you can handle that #I love gegege no kitaro so much #it's a very important series for me

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pekorosu · 6 years

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re: the 20-page interview with fujimoto yukari and yoshida akimi

it covers a wide range of topics including her other works which i’m not familiar with and a bit of her personal life, so I’ll only jot down some bf related parts. note that this isn’t a proper translation… consider it a rough one with lots of paraphrasing, interspersed with my own thoughts.

- we begin with the most pressing question: why did ash die? lol

- yoshida mentioned that she had made up her mind for him to die from the very beginning itself. she did get conflicted about going through with it as the series was approaching its end, but the reason for that was river phoenix’s death. she was worried it would be in poor taste.

- fujimoto: how would the ending where he’s alive be like?

yoshida: well nothing much, he’s just not dead (laugh).

fujimoto: so nothing in particular will happen with eiji and they’ll remain separated…

yoshida: yes, that’s how it would be. but in the end i felt like what i decided at first would hit the mark just right.

- (note: this sounds like the 2nd last chapter to me...)

- yoshida started out with the concept of ash dying young bc she thought it would be sort of cool. an average person would live up to about 70 yrs while ash only lives up to 19. but in reality, dying young is p cruel so she wondered if it might a bit not good. but in the end, ash is still a killer. he spilled the blood of others to survive, so no matter what the reasons were, he would have had to settle that debt with his own life. so eventually that’s how she decided to conclude it. she also felt like he wouldn’t have had a long life anyway.

- fujimoto: did news of river phoenix’s death shock you?

yoshida: it sure did! (laugh). it felt sort of like,“why did you have to die now?”

fujimoto: and the fact that it was because of a drug overdose… it must have felt like too much of a coincidence.

yoshida: that’s true. […]

fujimoto: but there are many ways of dying, did you originally plan for him to die that way too?

yoshida: yeah it was pretty much like that. like in “ashita no joe” (laugh).

fujimoto: feels like “the fight’s finally over”.

yoshida: well it’s not exactly like that, but i did plan to have him die in a way that looked like it was for nothing.

- fujimoto then brought up yoshida’s older work, “california monogatari” where a character dies in a similar fashion. she said that there are many great deaths in shounen works, but the protag or deuteragonist always end up dying pointlessly. she asked yoshida why she thinks the reason for that is? yoshida said that in her case, “midnight cowboy” had been a very impactful movie. it’s the reason why she started drawing manga too. there’s a shocking death scene in there and she wondered if maybe she’s heavily influenced by that “imprinting”?

- fujimoto asked whether the shock came from seeing a character die such a death, and yoshida said that’s not it, it’s more of an overall thing. the idea that you’ll die if your partner isn’t there with you. it’s that sort of connection between two souls that’s on the brink of something. it’s not just a physical death, but a spiritual one, or a death of one’s self, or a “total” death when you’re connected to someone a certain way, which is what the movie is about.

- yoshida mentioned that a friend she went to see the movie with just casually went “what a dark movie” so she doesn’t know why she experienced such a huge shock either.

- (note: i know nothing about that movie so maybe i’m getting some wording wrong here >< but it’s definitely a vital piece of context as to why she writes things the way she does lol)

- fujimoto mentioned that some creators find that it takes a lot of strength to kill off characters even if it’s all fictional. she asked how yoshida personally feels about it. yoshida said that she’s not really bothered by it. esp for ash, if it weren’t for river phoenix’s death she wouldn’t have thought much of it. to her, dying young is not necessarily a sorrowful thing. whether a person was happy or lived a good life isn’t measured by how long they lived.

fujimoto: that’s true. but i think it’s hard to say that ash’s life had been “happy”. but, he died while reading eiji’s letter so maybe to ash, that was enough.

yoshida: that’s why i thought, isn’t it the happiest way for him to die? i mean, it is because he died that he gets to have eiji for eternity. eiji will never be able to forget him. it does feel kind of unfair (laugh).

- fujimoto asked if writing the story became more difficult considering that many world affairs have changed during the course of the series. yoshida said that it was. from the start, it’s been about the cold war between the east and west, so it never had much of a sense of realism to begin with. but after the soviet union dissolved, it got even less realistic and harder to write.

- (note: i think by “realistic” she meant like… it didn’t really feel close to home for jp readers?)

- fujimoto went on to ask how yoshida came up with the setting of “banana fish” as a drug that takes control over a person’s sense of self. yoshida explained that it so happened that she had an interest in drug-related stuff in her school years. read lots of books and stuff on the topic, also stories about the cia wanting to achieve mind control, us-russia competition, etc. she found that stuff fascinating.

- fujimoto: by the way, i heard that in the beginning, it was planned for eiji to be a girl.

yoshida: that’s right. i think it would have been fine if he had been a girl, but for me… i actually dislike the kind of girls who immediately go all kyaa! during action scenes, or to get in the male protagonist’s way and yet end up in a romantic relationship with him (laugh). it’s irritating, and a total nuisance. that’s why i didn’t really want to have female characters. better make it a guy then, i thought.

- (note: DOESN’T EIJI DO ALL OF THOSE THINGS THO??? LMAO IM WHEEZING also this makes eiji a trans guy in spirit i don’t make the rules :x)

- fujimoto: you also explored this sort of relationship between men in “california monogatari” in the form of heath and yves (sp?). yves had sexual feelings, but heath didn’t. it felt like ash and eiji were walking quite a fine line there too (laugh) but was it your intention to portray it that way?

yoshida: well, somewhat. eiji being a girl would’ve been fine by me, but if that were the case, the drama would get really predictable, wouldn’t it? if it becomes romantic, that would be it.

after all, there are just different emotions involved in relationships between guys or between girls. of course, if they were lesbians or homosexuals it would be the same as a romantic relationship between a man and a woman, but how is it like to be connected by feelings that are not like that? to me, that’s an enduring theme to explore, after watching midnight cowboy.

fujimoto: so, you wanted to explore connections that aren’t sexual in nature?

yoshida: well, sexuality is definitely still a part of it. more like, what is a connection between souls like?

fujimoto: in other words, for you, a soul contains sexual elements.

yoshida: that’s right.

fujimoto: so you meant something different from the idea of the soul and the body being separate.

yoshida: that’s different. it’s all lumped together, you see. i’m not adept enough to explore that.

- (note: honestly this part kinda stumped me. i’m confused bc on one hand it sounded like she chose to make this between 2 guys bc she sees that the feelings involved are different from a typical gay relationship (bc of the implication that romantic relationships are all similar regardless of gender). but at the same time she’s also saying that sexuality is still a part of ~the soul~ and she wants to explore this connection between souls… so…………?????? is she saying that the connection itself isn’t sexual even if the soul has those elements? damn i wish i had a better grasp on the language @_@)

- mention of yoshida being a tomboy as a kid and that she often went into the hills and stuff where there were pit vipers. apparently she had a cousin living with her at that time, a frail little city boy. fujimoto made a comparison that yoshida was like ash and her cousin like eiji. yoshida's like, yeah exactly! she found him extremely irritating bc he kept following her around and getting in the way. but if she didn’t look after him, she’d get scolded by her parents lol

- yoshida: eiji has the tendency to be indecisive and masochistic, but eventually when that reaches a breaking point he’ll tear everything down to shreds. he’s the kind of character who gets surprisingly bold when that happens.

ash is the type of character who is like a tough, solid tree when facing a storm. he would go head-on against it. but eiji’s more like a willow (laugh), all soft and limp like grass. but in the end the one that can outlast the storm is the willow, while the tree gets knocked away. that’s why between the two of them, i get the feeling that eiji is the stronger one… or at least the one who’s bolder.

#banana fish #banana fish liveblogging #banana fish spoilers #peko tls #long post //#someone will prly come up with a better and more complete t/l soon lol i just found out the pages have been uploaded recently

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drink-n-watch · 5 years

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I’ve been promising this post for a while now. I did a voice actor version some time ago and it was one of my favourite lists to put together. I think you guys enjoyed it too.

As we all know, an actor’s performance can really drag down an anime. There’s something heartbreaking about a painfully wooden performance in the middle of a wonderful story that rips you right out of the fantasy. On the bright side, I’ve seen more than a few characters go from boring to endearing on the strength of an actor’s charisma. Voice actors don’t have as much to work with as conventional actors. They can’t rely on body movements or smouldering looks to get their message across. So it’s doubly impressive when they manage to convey subtle emotion and complex feelings though inflection and tone alone.

And for me, these ladies do just that.

Today let us celebrate the artistry that goes into bringing some of our favourite characters to life. In no real order we have!

5. Aoi Yuuki

I don’t care how petty it sounds, I’m just going to put this right here. This young woman is shorter than me!!! A musician and traditional actress, Aoi unique voice has made her quite successful in the field. Here are a few selected roles out of the tons she has had:

Hana – Ben-To

Tsuyu – My Hero Academia

Mina – Vampire Bund

The Energetic Ringo – Daily Lives of HighSchool Boys

Sosuke – Free!! (surprised? – I was)

Victorique – Gosick

Mihoshi – Gundam

Russia – Hetalia

Kino – Kino’s journey

Futaba – Persona 5

Iris – Pokemon

Mélie – Radiant

Shinra – Durarara!!

Sunako – Shiki

Borr – SSSS.Gridman

Tanya – Saga of Tanya the Evil

Oh yeah – she’s also Madoka in some magical girl show…

She’s set to play Touka and Boogiepop in the upcoming remake and I am psyched for this!

Not to mention roles in March Comes In Like a Lion, ACCA 13, Asobi Asobase, Welcome to the Ballroom, Gangsta, Gintama, Goblin Slayer, Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens, Hyakka, Hyouka, Your Name, last exile, One Punch Man, Seraph of the End, Sword Art Online II, Tanaka-kun, Tokyo Ghoul, Snafu, Yuru Yuri, and I seriously skipped over most of them. This lady works!

The surprisingly raspy quality of her vocals, and the counterintuitive depth of her tone makes her suitable for a wide range of diverse characters. A small actress with a big voice! Irresistible.

4. Chiwa Saito

Miss Saito has been acting for some time which means she’s had the chance to amass a pretty impressive portfolio. One of my favourite random facts out there, is that she is part of a voice acting groups called “MORE PEACH SUMMER SNOW”. That’s the best name ever. I’m going to rname Buddy that. (His actional name if Sir Buddy Livingston Master Chief Brown). Sadly, she is taller than me.

Yona – Yona of the Dawn

Aika – Aria

Hitagi – Monogatari series

Sigyn – Break Blade

Yuki – Vampire Bund

Chloe – Fate/Kaelid series

Natsumi – Keroro

the fantastic Riko – Kuroko’s Basketball

Louise- Gudam 00

Anita – R.O.D. TV

Kotori – rewrite

Meru – Zetsoubu Sensei

Nadeshiko – Yuru Yuri

She’s also Homura in some magical girl show…I swear I didn’t know this before researching for this post. I never realized how much I liked the Madoka casting before!

Of course there’s like a billion more titles but I’m going to name these ones because, reasons: Amanchu, Arakawa Under the Bridge, Boccano, Berserk, Dog & Scissors, D-Frag, Daily Lives of HighSchool Boys, Gintama, Girls Bravo, Kino’s journey, Last Exile, Log Horizon, Lyrica Nanoha, Murder Princess (I just like this title) One Piece, Sward Art Online, I’m just going to stop now.

You can actually hear her sing in some roles and she truly has a beautiful singing voice. It has a rich timber and she obviously has a great ear for melody. If ever she chose to switch career paths to the musical instead, I’m sure she’d have a great future. We would miss her as an actress though so let’s not encourage that!

3. Megumi Hayashibara

A more classical voice actress and one of the best known in Japan, Megumi almost became a nurse instead. There’s a certain personality that goes along with choosing a career in nursing. Caring but also resilient. You can see that peek through a bit in Megumi’s character and acting choice. Then again, there are so many to pick from I could probably make an argument for any character type.

Pai and IV – 3×3 eyes

Ai – Detective Conan

Haruko – FLCL Progressive

Haruka – Love Hina

Todomatsu – Osomatsu-kun

Paprika and Chiba – Paprika

Musashi – Pokemon

Ranma – Ranma 1/2

Lime – Saber Marionette J

Anna – Shaman King

Lina – Slayers

Ai – Video Girl Ai

Genkai – Yuu Yuu Hakusho

Hello Kitty…this woman is Hello Kitty

The incomparable Faye Valentine – Cowboy Bebop

Probably best known as Rei Ayanami – Evangelion

She can also be heard in Blue Exorcist, Bakuretsu Hunters, Sailor Moon, Blue Seed, Chihayafuru 2, Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor, Macross Plus, Lupin III, Maison Ikkoku, One Piece, Project A-ko, Shadow Skill, the Doreamons, Tenchi Muyou, and obviously a million more shows.

This lady’s body of work speaks for itself. I have to say I was already pretty amazed that spunky, opinionated Faye, with her womanly register and quiet monotone Rei were played by the same person, add in Hell Kitty to the mix and my mind is a little broken…and then you have comedy queen Ranma. This is the type of career you look up to!

2. Romi Park

Did you know that Romi studied Korean in university. I just find that intriguing, obviously she’s always liked languages. Ok I’m beating about the bush so let me just say it, miss Park’s performance was one of the best parts of FMA: Brotherhood for me. I literally caught myself in the middle of scenes just going, OMG the acting is phenomenal. I’ve heard great things about the English language cast but you really are missing ouy if you didn’t catch this performance.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya – Bleach

Teresa – Claymore

Akane – Danganronpa

Tanaka – Daily Lives of High School Boys

Igarashi – Deadman Wonderland

Kenichi – Cyber Coil

Ken – Digimon

Sena – Eyeshield 21

Natsume – Gakuen Alice

Walter – Hellsing Ultimate

Switzerland – Hetalia

Angelina – Black Butler

Taiga – Major

Falis – Murder Princess (love this title)

Temari – Naruto

My precious, precious Naoto – Persona 4

Jiro – Pokemon

Syrup – Precure

Alma – Radiant

Zoe Hange – Attack on Titan

Everyone’s favourite rocker Nana Osaki – Nana

And of course Edward Elric – Fullmetal Alchemist

And if that wasn’t enough, you can hear her in Air Master, Beelzebub, Blue Dragon , Clannad After story, Detective Conan, Devil May Cry, Garo, Granblue Fantasy, Hunter x Hunter, Kill la Kill, Lupin III, Gundam 00, One Piece (everyone is in this), RahXephon, Sengoku Basara, RDG, Samurai 7, Terra Formars (cause it’s terrible), Aquarion, White Album

Romi Parks has the most devastatingly emotional voice I know. She often plays calm, cool and collected genius type characters (a lot of boys as you can see) but when an emotional contrast is needed, she really knows how to deliver, making her characters feel so real and raw. One of the greatest performers in my opinion, she tends to make me want to see a show just to hear what she can do with the character.

Honorable Mentions

Ami Koshimizu

C,mon, she Ryuko from Kill la Kill. Always loved that sexy alto voice! Apparently she was also both Hiro and Naomi in the recent Darling and the Franxx. I loved her as Ibuki in Danganronpa. She was Kallen in Code Geass, Holo in Spice and Wolf and Yuiko in Persona. Obviously I’m skipping over st of her work including some very big roles. I suggest you look her up! The only reason she isn’t on the list proper is that I simply haven’t seen that many of her shows even though a lot are very popular.

1. Megumi Ogata

OK fine so this is a subjective choice. Well they all are really, it’s my top 5 list. Fact is, I’ve been a fan of Megumi Ogata for a long long time and I’m just always going to be. She’s the first voice talent I ever learned about and I absolutely love her work. Sure, she might have voiced a few of my anime crushes but surely that did not influence my choice in any way…. She’s much taller than me.

Ayato – Angel Beats

Haruka (Sailor Uranus) – Sailor Moon*

Jun – Captain Tsubasa

Yukito and Yue – Cardcaptor Sakura*

Makoto – Danganronpa

Nagito – Danganronpa***

Shinji – Evangelion*

Izumi Rio – Searching for the Full Moon*

the terrifying Fairies – Humanity has Declined

Cranberry – Raising Project*

Ichigou Fujimoto – Magical girl Ore

Ken – Persona 3

Yukimura – Samurai Deeper Kyo*

Akagi – Slam Dunk

Valkyrie – UFO Princess Valkyrie

Yuugi – Yu Gi Oh!*

Karuma – Yuu Yuu Hakusho*

And just o drive the point home, here are a few more at random. If you want to full list, you’ll have to look it up. I just can’t type that much! Bleach, Detective Conan, et Backers, Great Teacher Onizuka, Kino’s Journey, Magic Knight Rayearth, Tamayura, Tokyo Mew Mew,

Megumi Ogata is a revered veteran in the field. Comparing Nagito to Makoto (purposefully similar characters with a lot of very similar lines) will reveal her mastery on inflection and subtle vocalisation to embody a character way beyond their dialogue. Anyone still under the illusion that voice acting is simply reading your lines, please see master Ogata’s work!

Good list isn’t it!?! I discover new voice talent all the time mind you. I’ll be watching a show and suddenly realize that the actor is doing fantastic work. And I’m always so happy when I discover a new favourite. So please, share yours with me!

that was a lot of pics to find….

Top Five Voice Actresses in My Harem I've been promising this post for a while now. I did a voice actor version some time ago…

#anime #Lists #Voice Actors #yummy

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thatsaweirdwaytospellundead · 3 years

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Senribana Monogatari 8/11

Summary: Due to Citron’s work as the Zahran Minister of Culture and Arts there has been a surge in interest in foreign culture in Zahra. Prince Tangerine gives his brother a call, but it seems he has more on his mind than just an invitation..

Note: This event references a popular Japanese fairytale titled “The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees to Blossom”, I encourage you to read it here!

This is a 10 part story with an epilogue.

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [part 6] [part 7] [part 8] [part 9] [part 10]

Epilogue “The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees to Blossom”

Azuma

<< I am just taking a quick look. I have permission. >>

Orange

<< ..... Yeah, fine. >>

Azuma

(It’s a good thing they know English.)

Navel

<< Oh, that book.. >>

Azuma

<< Yes, this one is called “The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees to Blossom”, it’s a Japanese fable. It’s a pretty interesting story. If you would like— >>

Orange

<< Interesting? Says who? It’s the one with that neighbor who keeps running into misfortune. >>

Azuma

<< Oh, have you read it? >>

Orange

<< .. A long time ago. Our older brother was so into it that we wanted to see what was so special about it for ourselves.

But there was nothing special about it at all. Yet again only the chosen one gets the treasure. There’s nothing else to get about that book.

Yeah maybe the neighbor’s methods were wrong, but how else was he supposed to get what he wanted? >>

Azuma

<< .. He couldn’t borrow money from someone else? >>

Orange

<< But he didn’t think of doing that. There is only one treasure. It’s not like he could just ask someone else for it. In the end the only the chosen one gets the treasure. There is no way for anyone else to win against him. >>

Azuma

......

(I can sense some parallels here.

Just as I thought, the friction between these brothers runs much deeper than what we saw on the outside, there’s more history than we knew.)

Orange

<< .. Oh, by the way we heard your subtitle device broke, right? >>

Navel

<< S-So you must think we were behind it? >>

Azuma

<< I did not say anything like.. >>

Orange

<< We didn’t do it. We don’t know if our older brother believes us or not though.

Oh, whatever. What’s another strike against us anyway, it’s not like we can fall and lower.

Actually, we didn’t really want to see our brother’s performance. We even told him that it would probably be best if we kept our distance for extra precaution. >>

Azuma

—

Navel

<< H-Hey you know..

The sakura page in this book is… Really pretty, for real, it’s so pretty. >>

Azuma

<< Have you ever seen sakura blossoms? >>

Navel

<< No, never and I don’t think we ever will. >>

Azuma

—

Citron

“Yes, and it is all thanks to your guidance.

Since the very beginning I have yearned to live in this country, how could I not but enjoy myself?”

Azuma

(— Of course this is where he is.)

Citron

“From the first time I saw Kabuki on TV, I have yearned to study this beautiful art form no matter it would take me or how I would learn it. I just knew it was what I wanted.

Being able to see this world I have only imagined has only broadened my horizons as if I was living in a dream.”

<< I need to change my tone a little.. >>

Azuma

(Certainly this prince was not the only one chosen by God. If those two could just see something they could not see I am sure they would cooperate.

I am certain once they see our performance they will understand.)

“So, I guess you really are ready to begin training soon.”

Citron

Ohh, it’s Azuma above my head again? Let’s practice together.

Azuma

Before we do that, let me see your hand.

Just as I thought, covered in blood blisters again. You need to keep applying the cream or else it will get worse.

Citron

Sorry, I kept forgetting.

Azuma

....... I just ran into Prince Orange and Prince Navel in the library.

Citron

Oh, and what did they say?

Azuma

We just had little chat.

They told me they have never seen sakura blossoms before and that they don’t think they will ever get the chance in the future.

Citron

...... Sakura blossoms? I am surprised those two even want to see sakura blossoms.

Azuma

We were reading “The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees to Blossom” and they pointed out the sakura page was pretty.

Citron

Those two read it..?

Oh I think you might have misunderstood. They probably just wanted to know what was so interesting about it. They have always tried to copy whatever I do.

Azuma

Fufu, just like an older brother, you can see right through to their true intentions. Come to think of it, this is the first time I have seen your brotherly side.

Citron

Is it now?

.. But maybe you’re right, maybe they do want to see the sakura blossoms.

Azuma

I think so. Just like you did way back then.

Citron

.......

Azuma

...... Hm? What is it, oh? Hey, look up at the sky—

Citron

OH NO THIS IS BAD! IT’S A USA! THE ALIENS ARE GONNA COME TAKE US AWAY!!!!

Azuma

I think you mean UMA, an unidentified mysterious animal.

But oh hey.. it looks like a balloon. Maybe it’s leftover from the balloon release earlier.

Citron

You spent a lot of time watching those balloons to identify it so fast.

Azuma

I guess you have a point.

.. At the ballon release earlier, I made a wish to my older brother.

Citron

What kind of brother was he?

Azuma

We were very close. We did not really fight. What I remember is that he was a very kind person.

Citron

Oh, I’m jealous.

Azuma

......

Guy

“Citronia wishes that he could have the same relationship to that of you and your brother.”

Azuma

(Now that I think about it, I think Guy mentioned that before.)

I love him a lot, but unfortunately I do not know where he is now nor do I know when I will be able to see him again.

I have many things I would like to tell him, but at the same time I do not think I could ever find the words. Even during the few times we would fight, somehow I never had any words.

So that is why I wished that he find peace wherever he may be.

Citron

.......

Azuma

I understand the relationship you have with your brothers is different than most. The conflict between you and them is something not easily solved.

However, if you have just an ounce of desire to to resolve things with them, I think you should invite them to our performance.

Citron

..... I haven’t been a good older brother.

I have always just worked hard for myself.

As the crown prince, I needed to work extra hard in order to prove my worthiness.

But despite being an older brother, I didn’t consider my brothers' pain. I couldn't spare time for that.

I never saw those two as brothers. If anything I saw them as my rivals in a constant power struggle within the palace.

Only now do I understand that like me, those two have also carried a heavy burden and had to work hard.

But now I have given the throne up to Tangerine so I am free to do as I wish, but still I wonder.. What to do about those two..

Tangerine already understands why I did what I did back then, but I don’t think those two could ever forgive me.

I do want to reconcile with those two but I am afraid that my actions could come off as a rodent band.

Azuma

You mean “arrogant”, right?

Citron

Yeah, that.

But— after hearing what you had to say, I think you shattered any of my doubts.

Even if they do think I am a rodent band, I want to do this for myself because it is the right thing to do. I want to give it a shot.

Those two do not know anything outside of our little island. That is why I want to show them everything. I want them to see what I have seen. I want to do this as an actor and most importantly, as a brother—

Azuma

Yes. That sounds good.

Citron

Oh, we took too long of a break. We gotta get back to practicing!

To be continued.. Read part 9 here!

#a3 #a3! translation #エースリー #s:senribana monogatari #a3:citron

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beneaththetangles · 4 years

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Teasing Master Takagi-san, and an Easter after Lent

Teasing Master Takagi-San has been a joyful surprise for me. This slice-of-life school comedy about the excessively self-conscious Nishikata and his clever and humorous female deskmate, Takagi-san, is full of color and light and small moments in which I could find myself—and God—went much further than I thought it would, and really pulled me along for the ride.

And very appropriately, as this is a twofold story about gradual change for the better in the midst of daily life, about heading in a direction and being able to see more clearly as you grow. It’s about being guided, which requires hope, and about what seems a messy cycle of everyday chaos at first glance, but is really a path. After all, our everyday life may be, in fact, a series of miracles, and one day I will join Japesland and write about why Our Lord probably likes Nichijou.

Takagi-San may not have the crazy originality and brilliance of that series, but it has strongly reminded me of how I felt watching it as well as other favorite comedies of mine like the Haruhi Suzumiya series, Toradora, OreGairu, Barakamon, and Ore Monogatari, all fish-out-of-the-water stories of a sort.

Enduring the crazy status quo, half-knowing that something is growing and solidifying at the other side, as in all romance, as in Christian life, and as in Lent too, which is like a small parable of Christian life, I must confess Takagi-San has rapidly become one of my favorites, and has also taught me a great deal.

On the surface, Takagi-san seemed like a well-paced mix of the similarly named Tonari no Seki-kun (which I also enjoyed a lot) and Tsuki ga Kirei. There are the seemingly endless variations of the same basic premise, each done in a wildly inventive way. There is the absurdist character comedy centered in small moments. There is the indirect connection through a feeling of “but I can´t help but be interested.” There is the recreation of the school ethos, with all its small pleasures and small torments (Get yelled at in class—the horror!). And on the other hand, there is also the attention to detail, the small moments, the side characters, the luscious colour and detail and developing relationships of the second. Yet, too-cute shows usually push me away (it ended up happening even with Tsuki ga Kirei, despite its other virtues), but here, the teasing, the constant battle of wits, the slow reveal of new aspects of our characters, did the trick: I was invested in them from beginning to the end.

Part of its appeal for me is that I remember, and can still imagine, how nightmarish it would have been to be sit next to a Takagi-san as a kid. I would have died. At that time, I was a good student, I practiced a faith that few around me practiced, and I did read a lot of books that nobody else read, so it was only natural for me to model many of my attitudes on those books. Sometimes this was helpful, and I’m glad I did that instead of finding other models. Oftentimes I was more or less socially awkward and self-serious, a time-traveler from the Victorian era or downright ridiculous, bordering on having the infamous 8th-grade Syndrome. In time, my demeanor at school became that of a Hikki (more so around girls). I would go in my school suit as if it was armor. While I changed at university (not without a not-so-little help from my friends), I was still told once by a classmate that I was the most serious person he had ever known, and I’m intimately familiar with all species of Phariseeism you can think of, and maybe more.—Luckily, my parents are wise and dealt with all my antics with patience and a good sense of humor, and God played the role of a Takagi-san in my life. That is, He teased me, threw me off balance, told me who He was, and patiently guided me so I didn’t become completely trapped in my own defense mechanisms. Like Norman in The Promised Neverland, He was the one who told me something like, “Come with me, and I´ll show you something cool.”—That being so, I really appreciate how without fail, Takagi-san teases Nishikata in a way which subtly helps him mature and develop, while also making herself known to him. Her jokes are never separated from her appreciation for him. It is truly an art. She pays attention to him, to how he thinks, to what he likes and dislikes, to what he seeks and to how he reacts, and uses all that to play him. She has the courage to make herself comical and compete, and seeks the occasion with delicacy and cunning cleverness, again and again. She searches for the weak spot in his defenses, and for the correct word and the correct time. She patiently waits, and when the time comes, she takes him out of the frontiers of his small world like a rollercoaster, showing him a ray of intimacy he did not know she knew (or even that existed) and places him again in the floor of a broader world, shared to a greater degree and more open to the true meaning, to the joyful surprise, to the deep adventure.

And now I will discuss more specific aspects of the plot, so spoilers ahead.—Nishikata may or may not have realized, but Takagi never humiliates him for the sake of humiliation alone. She does it to let him know when he is being ridiculous; to make him acknowledge what he likes and dislikes; to strengthen their bond; and to encourage him to try harder. She offers him a way, and asks for him to choose to go on at the crucial times. She trusts him. God has acted like that many times in my own life, and in that I see the fatherhood of God the Father, the intimate knowledge and loving wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and the humanity of Christ, Who told the Apostles, “Let the children come unto near me.”—Just as He approaches in the Bible and the Gospel to each person at His own pace, to John and James through the Baptist and a day of hanging out, to Peter through the miraculous catch of fish, to the Samaritan by asking her for water and discussing Jew-Samaritan issues, to Zacchaeus by requesting he host Him at his house, to the sickly woman by letting her touch Him in a crowd, or to the Canaanite by debating and testing her, He has often chosen to approach me and make my head spin with His unique sense of humor, and offered me a way which certainly takes control out of my hands in many situations, but that I would not change for any other. And I am very grateful.—The path of the Christian, for me at least, feels very much like that of Nishikata sometimes. After all, God knows everything, and if I am being dumb, evil, or infantile, He sees it at first glance. Yet, He is kind, and interested in develop a personal bond, an alliance. So He speaks to me every day while everyday life goes on, challenging me, putting up with my antics, leading me further, showing me my folly, forgiving me, taking the effort to get me to feel that He really understands. And from there, it is a strange and sometimes downright embarrassing world full of crazy situations where I find myself confessing my blackest sins to a guy I just met; asking for a McFish for the first time in my life because it is Lent; returning at once forty books I had been taking out of the library during the years; engaging in practices, prayers and devotions that only in time come to “unblock,” so to speak, their meaning; trying to love in some way the cartoonish teacher whose philosophy and manners with which I violently disagree; the cheerleader-like classmate who constantly shows off how rich her family is or to the man trying to rip me off twice with the same story on the street; discovering that I am crying at the Passion; singing at the Church with the very elderly choir; letting Christ wash my feet or sharing all this in an article at Beneath the Tangles. And this is not even the crazies part. It is being a long and strange journey.

Takagi’s trust in Nishikata has another aspect I like: It highlights how chaste he is. Nishikata is often dumb, very much immature, believing everything he sees on TV and would die before admitting that he enjoys a romantic comedy show, but he is remarkably noble and respectful in dealing with Takagi-san. Chastity as a virtue is not a popular topic outside a Christian context, and may make him sound like a loser. Yet, he is not losing. He is fiercely competing with a girl who teases him all the time, yet he wouldn’t take advantage of her, respecting her space and her intimacy, refusing to risk hurting her feelings even at the cost of the game and the joke, and rushes to protect her whenever she is in danger. He will not tickle her, even though she tickles him. She can be alone with him, flirt with him, close her eyes in front of him, or make herself vulnerable, knowing that she is safe, that he would refuse to take advantage of her.—He wants to trick her (and so badly!), but never to humiliate, use, or demean her. He chooses to interpret Takagi’s teasing as a challenge to become stronger, both physically and in cunning, and he does, everyday. It is meant as effort, as he is being teased and they are always competing, and more so as their bonds grow. Of course, giving his immaturity and the context of romantic comedy, his barriers on this matter are sometimes excessive and even an obstacle, but I cannot help feeling that he puts this embarrassment to good use.

As Takagi-san, I admire that: I´d rather be cool than uncool, but I´d rather be as chaste as him when dealing with girls and women, who are the precious daughters of God. The life of St. Joseph’s example (Medieval Otaku commented on this here a few years ago), for instance, is one of trusting God, taking care of Our Lord and of His Virgin Mother and dealing with major inconveniences at a maddening pace: the duty under the Law to reject his betrothed, carrying out with a love which would have taken the fault before the world; the sudden change of plans and the courageous faith required to accept God´s design; the edict of the Emperor and the rushed voyage to Bethlehem; the birth of Jesus in a barn; the flight to Egypt; and Jesus lost in the Temple at twelve. All of it unplanned, and probably a mess in the eyes of those who knew him. And through it all, he exhibits the chastity, the respect, and the paradox of being the guardian of St. Mary, who he always loved and always respected. His relatives and contemporaries may not have admired him, but I certainly do.

Returning to shame is described in the Bible as being a result of the Fall, of the end of Edenic innocence. Man and woman, both being now broken inside—unclean, with their sins ingrained in the heart—in a suddenly hostile world where the inner ugliness was present and the gaze of fellow human beings was not warranted to be one of love, became ashamed. They needed clothes to hide, and a path to communion with God and with others, sometimes full of hardships, in which both maturing and cleansing, purifying our intentions, play a part. They tried to do it with leaves, and God gave them better clothes.

Shame, like a guardian, is intended to protect our intimacy and that of others to let us share ourselves with purity, with respect, in a way that helps and enriches us and others. We need to overcome it to achieve communion, but it helps us realize that, in sharing ourselves or entering the space of others, we are dealing with something valuable, something that must be protected. I think we must understand what our shame tells us, not merely deny it. Like Nishikata, we need to gradually learn to be vulnerable, but also to love with all our strength, and to be faithful.

Every time Nishikata is foolish, he is also vulnerable in a way he cannot help, as he is exposing his true self. There are aspects in which we all behave like idiots, in which our silliness is exposed to others. We may not think anymore that having a two-storied house with one story dedicated to manga and other to video games is a sophisticated and mature thing, but we believe things which are equally ridiculous. We become comical, and it is easy to make fun of us. But even the dumbest can do that, to laugh at others: The real challenge, the interesting, helpful thing, is to make them enjoy the joke, to bring them to smile even so, as God does with us and Takagi-san does with him.

That´s why gossip, slander, dirty humor, frivolity, and cynicism are repugnant: to take advantage of the weak spots of others, real or imagined, to have a laugh. The foolishness of man shows something of the inside in a way beyond his control and perspective, and thus becomes hopeful when looked at with a hopeful view, with compassion, joy and tenderness, reflecting the view of God. Our friends and our loved ones are like messengers of God when they do this: They are godsends. And humor is precisely one of the biggest challenges that every tyrant pretending to be God will face: It will reveal that, despite all his might, he is in some way ridiculous.

Which leads me to the final episodes, and the connection with both Lent and Easter. Having endured the constant teasing for more than a year, Nishikata has grown, and he and Takagi-san are closer and closer. Through all this embarrassment, all this effort, all this training, all this hard-conscious guidance, all this hardship (and what may seem trivial to us may be a world to a middle school boy), he has changed. He is able to bring comfort to Takagi-san when she is sad, and when she leaves an open spot, also to triumph over his shame and ask her to the festival, where they will be together in public.

And there, after the final separation and reunion (Our Lord, when He was twelve, also used the separation and reunion during the feast to prophesy His passion to St. Mary and St. Joseph), she tells him the secret: Whatever he thought, he was not losing at all. Every part of it is now a part of their valuable future, a sign of the triumph achieved through them, not by sheer force, nor in the sense he expected: The triumph of having freely chosen to follow an uncertain path, and to have letting himself be guided, enduring the proof, confronting the obstacles. He has come to see what he could not see at the beginning, a whole new world.

The road for Nishikata and Takagi-san is ahead, but they already have a joyful sign of hope in this first triumph. Likewise with us and the Lord: I hope you will let this Easter celebration be the conclusion of your Lent, rest in the bond between you and Christ, and prepare yourself for what lies ahead. I assure you it will be worth the wait.

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Teasing Master Takagi-san can be streamed in Netflix and Crunchyroll.

#Anime #Christianity #Karakai Jouzu no Takagi san #Teasing Master Takagi san #Lent #Holy Week #Comedy #Easter #God #Articles #Author: Gaharet

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natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk · 5 years

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Anime Highlights of 2018 (SO FAR!)

I haven’t watched all of this year’s anime because I have a ton of other stuff on the “watch later” list, but I wanted to get my two cents in. I know it’s just the start of 2019 (when I started this post, it was 2018).

If you don’t see a show on here that could’ve been on the list, scroll to the bottom and click “Keep Reading” because it might be included in the shows I didn’t get around to watching!

For this list, I will be ranking the shows into categories:

Raisin Cookie: Low-Tier

Sugar Cookie: Mid-Tier

Chocolate Chip Cookie: Top-Tier

No sequels allowed! No shows that are continuing from the previous year.

Honestly, there were a lot of good shows this year. Even this summer (which was considered the weakest by many) still got a lot of good shows in.

youtube

This video covers a lot of this year’s good anime.

Raisin Cookie:

Conception

Read the synopsis. Do I really need to say why? I watched one episode, cried on the inside, then asked why I was even born.

Goblin Slayer

The first episode was gruesome and horrifying. It was seeping with edge, but I couldn’t figure out why they would make that the first episode if the rest of the anime was just an ecchi harem. We knew this would be a disappointment, but we didn’t know it would be a disappointment because of that.

Bakumatsu

I watched the first episode and wondered why I even tried watching this. You can’t carry a show with just voice casting and arguable fujoshi-baiting.

Mahou Shoujo Site

This rivals Goblin Slayer’s edge. Mahou Shoujo Ore takes the magical girl genre and makes fun of it through comedy. This makes fun of it through gore. Think of it as an extremely poorly done, awfully written, badly executed attempt of trying to recreate a show like Madoka Magica.

Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes

For a mystery show, this show was sure full of bullcrap and nonsense. I watched the first few episodes and found myself disliking this anime.

Kitsune no Koe

I watched nine episodes before giving up. The music is subpar. The acting is subpar because the story and script are so poorly done. I would even argue the casting is all wrong.

Akkun to Kanojo

I just don’t like relationships where people are overly tsundere. I get the whole getting flustered thing, but resorting to violence and bullying over it is not my thing. This guy is so mean to his girlfriend, and sure, some people might enjoy it (which is why it’s the top of the trash pile), but I didn’t enjoy it at all.

Sugar Cookie:

Mahou Shoujo Ore

This show was supposed to be stupid. That’s the point. But the jokes get overused and stale after a while, and I found myself wanting it to be over near the end. It got me to laugh once every couple of episodes, but that’s about it.

Devils Line

This was a cringy vampire romance. That about sums it up in a nutshell. Miyuki Sawashiro deserved a more badass character, and so did Yui Ishikawa. Still better than Twilight.

Satsuriku no Tenshi

This was edgy like Mahou Shoujo Site and Goblin Slayer, but this show didn’t take itself as seriously. For the video game fans, they pretty much followed the story of the game. There were little to no discrepancies. But if you are only watching the anime, you’ll find this show so cringy and awful. Kudos to Nobuhiko Okamoto who took on this role knowing that it would strain his vocal cords.

Ani ni Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai! 2

The charm of the first season was just lost. They had a lot of hit-and-miss episodes where I was either going to like it or think it was a waste of time. I want more sibling antics and fewer love triangles, but it was still a solid season.

3D Kanojo: Real Girl

I watched three episodes of this, and as much as I wouldn’t mind watching more, I couldn’t build attachment to any of these characters. I felt nothing for the story either. Okay, so a pretty misunderstood girl gets into a relationship with an otaku... what else?

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai

I watched this because the OP was so darn good, the art looked nice, and it gave off the same vibes as Gekkan Shoujo, but it ultimately disappointed me with the ending and the whirlwind of “Wait... what just happened?” The relationships were not developed enough and came out of nowhere like the truck in Zombieland Saga.

Phantom in the Twilight

Giving this the benefit of the doubt... this didn’t make it past this category because the art was so poorly done that I found myself wondering what the budget even was. The story wasn’t even as poorly done as other otome game adaptations (actually, this one is an original I think?) A Kana Hanazawa lead bumps this show up a notch though.

Nil Admirari no Tenbin

This is probably right beside the previous entry, but this one had better character designs. It was another otome game adaptations... why do I even try? It was okay. It’s more episodic than one would think because you have a “guy of the week” or something. It was just meh... but I’m saying this as someone who doesn’t like guys all that much.

Sugar Cookies With Icing:

Dame x Prince Anime Caravan

This is separated from the other two otome anime because this one made fun of itself. It was openly wondering what the heck happened to itself, and it was a lot more fun to watch because of that. It was kind of like Konosuba in a way because none of these guys were all that desirable. Picking “best guy” would be tough with a cast like this. It was a lot more enjoyable than the others because I found this cast more likeable because they were so over-the-top.

Gakuen Babysitters

I don’t like kids. This show... tried to change my opinion. I still don’t like kids.

Pop Team Epic

Yeah, you’re probably wondering “WHAT THE--??” That’s normal. It's basically parodying with famous voice actors. You won’t like it as much if you have a normal sense of humour. This anime is really strange, and like a lot of comedy, it will be hit and miss.

Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet

This show was okay. It was well-animated, and I liked the cast a little. Okay, I liked Hasuki. Besides that, you are basically watching the whole “Romeo and Juliet” stuff again with anime cliches.

Chocolate Chip Cookie:

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

This was a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting this show to be good, and the art was subpar, but the cast (despite a huge lack of female characters) found itself being oddly good. It’s crafty and gives off the same vibes as Durarara but with hitmen. Who will hit the hitmen next?

Grand Blue

Let’s ignore the romance elements. This is a comedy, and while this is a bit ecchi, I found myself tolerating that part. This show had me laughing at least once per episode, but if you were looking for a diving anime, you have to look somewhere else.

Banana Fish

I watched the first six episodes of this one, and I found myself liking the cast. It was pretty good. The animation is great, the voice acting is good too, and the story is riveting. I just jump around series a lot.

Asobi Asobase

Same with this one. Six episodes have been watched. It has a very odd sense of humour, and it gives off the vibe that “this is going to be a cutesy anime” with its opening then screws you over with their antics. I found this anime oddly charming despite me not being so excited about its art style and watercolour palette.

Hataraku Saibou

I never thought that the least questionable ship out of the summer 2018 anime I watched would be between two fricking cells. This anime was great, it was cute, and it was educationally entertaining! It was a very solid series. Plus, a Kana Hanazawa lead is always a bonus!

SSSS.Gridman

This is an amazingly animated series by Studio Trigger that can excite even non-mecha fans like me. I just started it, but it’s turning out great! This might even go all the way to triple cookie status by the time I reach the end.

Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san

I never thought a skull face bookseller could be so entertaining, but it is. This series is charming, and even though it didn’t have the greatest animation budget, it uses it in all the right ways. The relatability that retail workers will feel is astounding, and even non-retail workers like me can find this enjoyable.

Violet Evergarden

Kyoto Animation can make anything look good, and they made this look amazing. This story is oddly touching, and a lot of people got emotional. I wasn’t really one of them, and I found them reaching a bit too much sometimes. I feel like I was supposed to feel stuff, but I didn’t. That’s kind of my fault though. This series is stunning and beautiful visually. The soundtrack was well-written, but it was sometimes misused by the sound director. The stories are pretty solid, but I found the development a little rushed at times. I would recommend it still though.

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii

The otaku jokes resonated a lot with me, and I found this story to be cheesy in the best of ways. The cast is so likeable and pure, and I found myself looking forward to a new episode every week.

Hinamatsuri

This anime had be laughing so hard to the point where I couldn’t watch it around other people, and I had to conceal my laughter as I watched it during the middle of the night. I never thought such a wholesome father-daughter relationship would occur between an OP esper and a yakuza. If you like Mob Psycho 100, you will like this one and vice-versa. This, to me, was the best comedy of the year.

Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai

This anime was so darn misleading. I was about to skip this because I thought it was going to be some tasteless edgy show, but I found this to be a weirdly pleasant show to binge-watch, and it was a much more easy and arguably better take on the Monogatari series and whatever genre that is. The girls are likeable, there isn’t a lot of fanservice that is shoved in your face, and the writing got me attached to a lot of the characters.

Zombieland Saga

This anime sounded so stupid at first, but after watching a couple of episodes, I started really liking the cast. These are all relatively new seiyuu minus Mamoru and Risa Taneda. Honestly, words cannot describe this show besides surprisingly amazing. You thought this would be a stupid idol anime? Instead, we go an intriguing, touching, and oddly inspirational anime with great music, art, and everything.

Let’s announce the stuff that I’m excited to watch later!

These are the amazing shows that I’ve heard about that I haven’t gotten around to watching.

Sora yori mo Tooi Basho (Winter)

Also called “A Place Beyond the Universe”, this anime is about this group of girls taking the journey across Antarctica. I heard it’s a lot of fun.

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san (Winter)

Her forehead is as big as her face. I’ve heard this is funny, and I’ve watched clips of it. Rie Takahashi and Yuuki Kaji have the main roles in this anime, and they do a fantastic job playing the trickster and her victim.

Megalo Box (Spring)

This one is probably one of the biggest things I’m missing out on. If it weren’t for one of my anxiety triggers being sports, I would’ve jumped on this. Yoshimasa Hosoya does an amazing job as the protagonist in this well-animated boxing series.

Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken (Autumn)

I’ve watched one episode, and yes, tsundere dragon is the best girl. Besides that, it just looks like a lot of fun for a show that sounds so weird.

Yuru Camp△ (Winter)

Cute girls doing cute things while camping. That’s pretty much what this is about. Whether you like that kind of show will determine whether it’s worth watching for you.

Golden Kamuy (Spring)

This another big thing I’m missing out on. It already got a second season, and it looks like a fun action series. Minus the bad CG, it looks good. I heard the lead sounds just like Hosoya, but Hosoya is in the show too! Along with a new score composer with a lot of new series under his name, I’m excited about this one too!

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru (Autumn)

I’d be more excited about this series, but I haven’t finished Haikyuu yet, and I have a really bad history with track and field.

Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara (Autumn)

This series looks beautifully animated, and this is one of Kaori Ishihara’s big roles besides Aladdin from Magi which was years ago.

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