Momoe from Oofuri Anime Eps. 6As a follow up to the Kappa Balls post. The coach Momoe looks to be casted from the same mold as Misato-san.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Kappa Ball - Eva Link
Momoe from Oofuri Anime Eps. 6As a follow up to the Kappa Balls post. The coach Momoe looks to be casted from the same mold as Misato-san.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Oofuri anime & Shion no Ou - impressions
The Oofuri anime [1] is close to the manga, but is nicely
paced and the animation is well done. There are bits
'n pieces that are nice additions like the Mihoshi
Academy boys paying homage to the Nishiura younger
manager. It does well in retaining the alternatingly
goofy and dramatic scenes of the manga. Like when Abe
went looking for Mihashi right before the practice
game, there was just enough super-deformed and tension
breaking lines to make that scene work.
The Shion manga [2] was well drawn and I liked the overall
feel. The anime [3] kept close to the original, but I felt like the
director sleep walked through the adaptation except
when he transformed Shion into a lollicon. The
manga had a clean presentation that was lost in the
animation, especially when it came to the color
palette. Shion herself was made more scruffy with her
hair and her unbuttoned navel button. Where the manga
had a more cool and eerie air to her character design,
these subtleties were entirely lost on the animator
who gave her reddish, doughy cheeks a la Kamichu. Ugh.
Shion manga, I give a read rating. To the Shion anime,
I would say skip except when bored.
[1] fansubbed by Entropy & Saizen (watched up to eps 4)
[2] "Shion no Ou" scanlated by Hanashi (Vol 1 & Vol 2 ch 7-9) and Xiphias (Vol 2 ch 10-11).
[3] "Shion no Ou" anime episode 1 fansubbed by Live Evil, who did a good job, but I just didn't like the source material.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Recommended Scanlations: Kappa Ball & an Inverted Aunt
Today, I have two recommendations from manga scanlations. The first is Higuchi Asa's "Ookiku Furikibatte" [1] or Oofuri. It's been made into an anime series already. The quickest description would be: what if Ikari Shinji played baseball? The main character's actual name is Mihashi Ren.
Ren loves baseball. He is caught looking in on the baseball team during practice and is dragged into the team meeting by the manager Momoe. Once Momoe learned that he was a pitcher in Jr. High, she tries to make him the ace. Strangely enough, he refuses. Ren confesses that his teammates hated him in middle school, because he was put into the position by his grandfather who owns Mihoshi Academy. They also lost every game with him at the helm.
The catcher tests Ren and finds out that he lacks power, but has incredible accuracy. The first roadblock to Koshien is Ren's insecurity stemming from his previous team's ostracizing him.
Ren (bottom) in action confronting his old junior high team.
Hisaguchi is effectively at creating and growing her characters, which takes Oofuri beyond just-another-baseball-manga. It's a human journey with lots of weird and quirky travelers. The artwork is effective, the action is well paced, and the writing is skillful, making Oofuri a standout work.
Ren in Kappa-deformed mode
[1] Volume 1, most of 2, and parts of 3 scanlated by Entropy. The end of Vol 2 to 6 scanlated by Raep Time as of this entry.
[2] "Baby and Me" features a boy that takes care of his little brother in the absence of a mother. Featured in Shoujo Beat by Viz.
[3] "Aishiteruze Baby" has idiot, bishounen Kippei become a surrogate parent for his adorable cousin Yuzuyu. This one has a lot of heart. The anime is more focused than the manga. I count the lead female's unusual voice acting as a plus. The manga is available in the US an a takubon under the Shoujo Beat imprint.
[4] "Asatte no Houkou" starts with a man taking care of a young relation Karada. Karada makes a wish with her guardian's ex-lover and manages to switch ages with her. Things become awkward in a hurry.
Ren loves baseball. He is caught looking in on the baseball team during practice and is dragged into the team meeting by the manager Momoe. Once Momoe learned that he was a pitcher in Jr. High, she tries to make him the ace. Strangely enough, he refuses. Ren confesses that his teammates hated him in middle school, because he was put into the position by his grandfather who owns Mihoshi Academy. They also lost every game with him at the helm.
The catcher tests Ren and finds out that he lacks power, but has incredible accuracy. The first roadblock to Koshien is Ren's insecurity stemming from his previous team's ostracizing him.
Ren (bottom) in action confronting his old junior high team.Hisaguchi is effectively at creating and growing her characters, which takes Oofuri beyond just-another-baseball-manga. It's a human journey with lots of weird and quirky travelers. The artwork is effective, the action is well paced, and the writing is skillful, making Oofuri a standout work.
Ren in Kappa-deformed modeThe second recommendation is Unita Yumi's "Usagi Drop", which was scanlated by the relatively new group J-sis. J-sis, Josei Shoujo Independent Scans, specializes in older shoujo and josei, which is a welcome change of pace from the dominance of shoujo and shounen.
The story starts with 30 year old Daikichi who is attending his grandfather's funeral service. At the memorial, he runs into a quiet girl named Rin. He is shocked to find out that Rin is his grandpa's illegitimate and unwelcome daughter. Little Rin is actually his aunt.
After the memorial, all of his relatives want to pass off Rin and even talk sending her to government services. At that point, Daikichi becomes disgusted and rashly offers to take her in.
On the surface, "Usagi Drop" is reminiscent of "Baby and Me" [2], "Aishiteruze Baby" [3], or obliquely of "Asatte no Houkou" [4]. However, the snarky Daikichi and silent Rin gives it a very different atmosphere from these other works. Unita manages to connect the characters through the deceased grandfather with feeling, without resorting to sentimentality. The quiet main characters are also well served by Unita's clean dark lines.
Daikichi & Rin share a quiet moment.
The story starts with 30 year old Daikichi who is attending his grandfather's funeral service. At the memorial, he runs into a quiet girl named Rin. He is shocked to find out that Rin is his grandpa's illegitimate and unwelcome daughter. Little Rin is actually his aunt.
After the memorial, all of his relatives want to pass off Rin and even talk sending her to government services. At that point, Daikichi becomes disgusted and rashly offers to take her in.
On the surface, "Usagi Drop" is reminiscent of "Baby and Me" [2], "Aishiteruze Baby" [3], or obliquely of "Asatte no Houkou" [4]. However, the snarky Daikichi and silent Rin gives it a very different atmosphere from these other works. Unita manages to connect the characters through the deceased grandfather with feeling, without resorting to sentimentality. The quiet main characters are also well served by Unita's clean dark lines.
Daikichi & Rin share a quiet moment.Another well placed element is Reina. The other adults favor her energy. She also repeats and reflects the opinions of the adults, which are conventional and spiteful. Both of these aspects annoy Daikichi.
Daikichi spending a less quiet time with his niece Reina.
So far Daikichi comes across as a stand-up guy, who isn't popular because of his honesty. He is a sympathetic and realistic. "Usagi Drop" has a lot of potential, much of which depends on what Daikichi decides to do next.
The character designs are also fresh and well drawn. We can hope that more character driven works like Oofuri and "Usagi Drop" get brought over in the near future.
Daikichi spending a less quiet time with his niece Reina.So far Daikichi comes across as a stand-up guy, who isn't popular because of his honesty. He is a sympathetic and realistic. "Usagi Drop" has a lot of potential, much of which depends on what Daikichi decides to do next.
The character designs are also fresh and well drawn. We can hope that more character driven works like Oofuri and "Usagi Drop" get brought over in the near future.
[2] "Baby and Me" features a boy that takes care of his little brother in the absence of a mother. Featured in Shoujo Beat by Viz.
[3] "Aishiteruze Baby" has idiot, bishounen Kippei become a surrogate parent for his adorable cousin Yuzuyu. This one has a lot of heart. The anime is more focused than the manga. I count the lead female's unusual voice acting as a plus. The manga is available in the US an a takubon under the Shoujo Beat imprint.
[4] "Asatte no Houkou" starts with a man taking care of a young relation Karada. Karada makes a wish with her guardian's ex-lover and manages to switch ages with her. Things become awkward in a hurry.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
English Adaptation/Proofing
I just finished proofreading my 2nd assignment for Ivy Scans. From what I've seen, scanlations are usually broken up into 4 roles: scan, translate, edit/typeset & proof/QC. Scanning is the transfer from paper to digital copy.
Translation is usually from Japanese or Chinese to English. The first one that I worked on Desert Storm Story 3 passed from Japanese to Chinese to English. The second "Hana Saita" is directly from Japanese to English.
Editing seems to focus on visually cleaning up the scan. I've seen the raw scans and realize how much work goes into a cleaned up version that you see on their website. Typesetting transfers the translation onto the digital image. In a one-otaku show like Janimes, one font fits all. The Ivy Scan team has its own standards, I was impressed when I first saw it. They're more organized than my workplace when it comes to presentation.
What is called proofreading by scanlators is known as English adaptation to professional translators. In theory, the translator should be able to skip this step. In reality, there are precipitous gaps between languages and a wide gulf between readable English and enjoyable English. An example of a gap between East Asian languages and English is the "identifier". I'm not a linguist, so my explanation may be off, but in Japanese and Chinese there are words that specify a round object or a machine or tool.
For example, we say "three sheets of paper". Sheets identifies the paper as a flat, thin object. The difference is that objects take on identifiers the majority of the time, also there are a bunch of identifiers. We don't say "six machines cars" or "three round-objects balls". A common Chinese joke is the kid that mixes up the identifier and object. Now imagine trying to translate that. In construction, we often say "it is what it is" when it comes to prices. The same tautology gives a reality check in languages.
As for the gulf between muddling through a story and liking it, I will paraphrase a business writing teacher and say "we work hard so the reader doesn't have to".
Quality control is the final check of the cleaned up and text set scan, ready for public consumption.
Anyway, I've always thought that Ivy Scans produced high quality scanlations, so I'm happy to be contributing and hope that I can keep up.
03/22/08 Addendum: Innocent Dragon Chapter 1a is out, it's the first work that I contributed to. I was excited.
Translation is usually from Japanese or Chinese to English. The first one that I worked on Desert Storm Story 3 passed from Japanese to Chinese to English. The second "Hana Saita" is directly from Japanese to English.
Editing seems to focus on visually cleaning up the scan. I've seen the raw scans and realize how much work goes into a cleaned up version that you see on their website. Typesetting transfers the translation onto the digital image. In a one-otaku show like Janimes, one font fits all. The Ivy Scan team has its own standards, I was impressed when I first saw it. They're more organized than my workplace when it comes to presentation.
What is called proofreading by scanlators is known as English adaptation to professional translators. In theory, the translator should be able to skip this step. In reality, there are precipitous gaps between languages and a wide gulf between readable English and enjoyable English. An example of a gap between East Asian languages and English is the "identifier". I'm not a linguist, so my explanation may be off, but in Japanese and Chinese there are words that specify a round object or a machine or tool.
For example, we say "three sheets of paper". Sheets identifies the paper as a flat, thin object. The difference is that objects take on identifiers the majority of the time, also there are a bunch of identifiers. We don't say "six machines cars" or "three round-objects balls". A common Chinese joke is the kid that mixes up the identifier and object. Now imagine trying to translate that. In construction, we often say "it is what it is" when it comes to prices. The same tautology gives a reality check in languages.
As for the gulf between muddling through a story and liking it, I will paraphrase a business writing teacher and say "we work hard so the reader doesn't have to".
Quality control is the final check of the cleaned up and text set scan, ready for public consumption.
Anyway, I've always thought that Ivy Scans produced high quality scanlations, so I'm happy to be contributing and hope that I can keep up.
03/22/08 Addendum: Innocent Dragon Chapter 1a is out, it's the first work that I contributed to. I was excited.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Fancy Lala: Bits and Pieces
In the shadow of Cardcaptor Sakura lies a maho-shoujo series called "Fancy Lala" [1]. Unless you've had a strong dose of shoujo in the past, I recommend staying away from this series. Otherwise, please read on.
The TV series opens in the neolithic era where a young girl meets a strange middle aged man and then escapes an attack from a pair of towering saurian monsters. The attack becomes dream for a dreamy third grader named Shinohara Miho. She draws manga and dreams of fame. In an early scene, Miho buys screen tone, which is cut out and glued to a drawing as shading. The young protagonist also bears an uncanny resemblance to Fukuzawa Yumi from "Maria-sama ga Miteru" or Mihama Chiyo from "Azumanga Daioh".
Miho & Lala
Miho meets the strange man from the neolithic era again and receives a pair of plush toys as a gift. Once home the plushies come to life and give the girl a magical board that can create clothes for her and transform her into her older alter ego Fancy Lala. Lala is discovered in a fashionable sector of Tokyo by a talent agency and begins her adventures in the world of show business.
My first, second, and third reason for watching this series were (ranked in order of importance)
As for the series itself, the first episodes are spent setting up the series. While they look quite good, the plot and dialogue do not stand out. The end is open and leaves the audience with a sense of loss. The middle episodes have some gold nuggets.
During a publicity shoot, Lala's gay make-up artist [3] tells her that adolescents on the cusp of growing-up can become sensitive to what they loose by leaving childhood behind. A later episode explores this idea when she remembers a teddy bear that she discarded as a child. These scenes are directed at the adults and contrasts Miho the child and Lala the grown-up. They remind me of the theme of growing-up in Pokemon, when Ash let Pikachu choose whether he wants to evolve to his next stage or not. There are other instances when Ash bucks the conventional wisdom other trainers and let his Pokemon grows-up the way that they wanted, which is a metaphor for children growing-up. In both series, the moments were sparse, but welcome.
The clock episode, the student teacher, and some of the other episodes display noteworthy animation with creative camera angles and direction. However, the overall series does not rise much beyond have good scenes and episodes to appeal to a larger audience. If you want to see old school character designs and animation, this is a good one to check out. Give this one a pass otherwise.
As a side note, the Italian opening [4] is ridiculously good.
[1] summary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fancy_Lala
[2] As opposed to the loli trends that are in demand these days.
[3] I am not making Komi-san up.
[4] The Italian versions are sung by Christina Avena.
The TV series opens in the neolithic era where a young girl meets a strange middle aged man and then escapes an attack from a pair of towering saurian monsters. The attack becomes dream for a dreamy third grader named Shinohara Miho. She draws manga and dreams of fame. In an early scene, Miho buys screen tone, which is cut out and glued to a drawing as shading. The young protagonist also bears an uncanny resemblance to Fukuzawa Yumi from "Maria-sama ga Miteru" or Mihama Chiyo from "Azumanga Daioh".
Miho & LalaMiho meets the strange man from the neolithic era again and receives a pair of plush toys as a gift. Once home the plushies come to life and give the girl a magical board that can create clothes for her and transform her into her older alter ego Fancy Lala. Lala is discovered in a fashionable sector of Tokyo by a talent agency and begins her adventures in the world of show business.
My first, second, and third reason for watching this series were (ranked in order of importance)
1. TAKADA AKEMI
Lala again
2. TAKADA AKEMI
Ayukawa Madoka from "Kimagure Orange Road"
3. TAKADA AKEMI
Painting called Moon on her Pierrot website
Her character designs captured a following during the eighties with "KOR" and "Maison Ikkoku". Her depictions of women are often beautiful, sometimes sensual [2], but always evocative. In "Patlabor", her designs brought the misfits of the SVII to life.
Lala again2. TAKADA AKEMI
Ayukawa Madoka from "Kimagure Orange Road"3. TAKADA AKEMI
Painting called Moon on her Pierrot websiteAs for the series itself, the first episodes are spent setting up the series. While they look quite good, the plot and dialogue do not stand out. The end is open and leaves the audience with a sense of loss. The middle episodes have some gold nuggets.
During a publicity shoot, Lala's gay make-up artist [3] tells her that adolescents on the cusp of growing-up can become sensitive to what they loose by leaving childhood behind. A later episode explores this idea when she remembers a teddy bear that she discarded as a child. These scenes are directed at the adults and contrasts Miho the child and Lala the grown-up. They remind me of the theme of growing-up in Pokemon, when Ash let Pikachu choose whether he wants to evolve to his next stage or not. There are other instances when Ash bucks the conventional wisdom other trainers and let his Pokemon grows-up the way that they wanted, which is a metaphor for children growing-up. In both series, the moments were sparse, but welcome.
The clock episode, the student teacher, and some of the other episodes display noteworthy animation with creative camera angles and direction. However, the overall series does not rise much beyond have good scenes and episodes to appeal to a larger audience. If you want to see old school character designs and animation, this is a good one to check out. Give this one a pass otherwise.
As a side note, the Italian opening [4] is ridiculously good.
[1] summary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fancy_Lala
[2] As opposed to the loli trends that are in demand these days.
[3] I am not making Komi-san up.
[4] The Italian versions are sung by Christina Avena.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Ashita no Ou-sama (Tomorrow's King)
The fan group Wingtip Cafe recently translated Yachi Emiko's "Ashita no Ou-sama". This work dates from 1996 [1] and follows a Japanese Literature student Sasaya Yuu. Yuu is a country bumpkin and stands out from her modish classmates. The story starts out when Yuu sees a live theater production for the first time, which ignites her passion for drama.
The art work is distinct from most of the character designs put out today, but doesn't feel dated. The author also has a great eye for detail. Yuu wears neat and conservative clothes. She also uses the postal system [2] instead of credit cards. I've read up to volume 1 chapter 3, which is all that's out, and this is a well paced and well drawn series with an appealing main character.
My older brother made some observation, which I am fleshing out.
1. There parallels between Yuu and Kitajima Maya from "Glass Mask" [3]. Yuu is a hick [4] and Maya starts out as dirt poor. Her mother is a helper at a noodle shop in the Yokohama Chinatown. During the early part of "Glass Mask", they board in the upper level of the noodle shop. Both young woman are strangers in a strange land in modern Tokyo.
Maya's passion for drama ignited when she saw a professional production of "La Traviata". Yuu similarly started by going to the theater. Yuu also shows an uncanny talent for drama, though she is more of a theoretician to Maya's acting talent. With their passion ignited both women also take the next step toward acting: joining a troupe. Both naive women stumble, uninvited and derided, at the doorstep of major troupes.
The structures of the stories sharply diverge as Yuu helps out at a small amateur troop. It seems to be more modest than Maya's frontal assault on the national stage in "Glass Mask".
They also come into the acting world cold and attempt to apply to experience acting troops that are way out of their league. Where Maya is discovered by the mysterious Tsukikage, Yuu starts out modestly in a small acting troupe.
The parallels are noticeable, but do not detract from the story. As an outsider, it is actually refreshing tag along with a fellow outsider into Tokyo college life.
2. "Ashita no Ou-sama" is also a throwback to mangas when shoujo heroines strove for a non-romantic goal like contemporary shounen heroes. More shoujo stories seem like Lovely Complex, where Risa pursues Otani and gives little thought to her own future. In "Glass Mask" and "Swan" [5], the passionate protagonists pursue their life dreams.
Compare this to "Fushigi Yuugi" (FY) and "Marmalade Boy" (MB), where the boy pursuit takes up most of the story. In Saboten no Himitsu", the main character changes her entire appearance to attract a boy and the pursuit takes up most of the story.
This theme of pursuing a goal (versus a guy) also marks the NHK anime series "Princess Nine" (baseball) and "Twin Spica" (astronaut). The trials usually leads to a stronger and distinct female lead than say Miaka (FY) or Miki (MB) and is a refreshing change of pace. My brother has a harsher opinion of the contrast.
I almost skipped this manga, because of the strong parallels to "Glass Mask". The similarities don't detract from "Ashita no Ou-sama", which stands well on its own two feet. I look forward to reading more of this quality work.
= = = =
[1] http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=11368
[2] Before the reforms being rolled out by the Diet in 2007, the Japanese postal system also stored and transferred money like Western Union and private banks in America. This will be broken into several companies, including what will become one of the largest banks in the world.
[3] Miuchi Suzue's classic manga that started in the '70s about girl who gave up everything to be an actress. http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=260
[4] Since Yuu is so out of touch with fashion, she is probably from inland Tohaku (think Kikuchi Yume from Someday's Dreamers). Shikoku is another area with a hick reputation, but is associated with fishers and the sea, which do not appear in Yuu's background.
[5] Ariyoshi Kyoko's manga about an aspiring ballet dancer. This also from the 70s. It is released by CMX. http://www.dccomics.com/cmx/?action=on_sale&i=2419
The art work is distinct from most of the character designs put out today, but doesn't feel dated. The author also has a great eye for detail. Yuu wears neat and conservative clothes. She also uses the postal system [2] instead of credit cards. I've read up to volume 1 chapter 3, which is all that's out, and this is a well paced and well drawn series with an appealing main character.
My older brother made some observation, which I am fleshing out.
1. There parallels between Yuu and Kitajima Maya from "Glass Mask" [3]. Yuu is a hick [4] and Maya starts out as dirt poor. Her mother is a helper at a noodle shop in the Yokohama Chinatown. During the early part of "Glass Mask", they board in the upper level of the noodle shop. Both young woman are strangers in a strange land in modern Tokyo.
Maya's passion for drama ignited when she saw a professional production of "La Traviata". Yuu similarly started by going to the theater. Yuu also shows an uncanny talent for drama, though she is more of a theoretician to Maya's acting talent. With their passion ignited both women also take the next step toward acting: joining a troupe. Both naive women stumble, uninvited and derided, at the doorstep of major troupes.
The structures of the stories sharply diverge as Yuu helps out at a small amateur troop. It seems to be more modest than Maya's frontal assault on the national stage in "Glass Mask".
They also come into the acting world cold and attempt to apply to experience acting troops that are way out of their league. Where Maya is discovered by the mysterious Tsukikage, Yuu starts out modestly in a small acting troupe.
The parallels are noticeable, but do not detract from the story. As an outsider, it is actually refreshing tag along with a fellow outsider into Tokyo college life.
2. "Ashita no Ou-sama" is also a throwback to mangas when shoujo heroines strove for a non-romantic goal like contemporary shounen heroes. More shoujo stories seem like Lovely Complex, where Risa pursues Otani and gives little thought to her own future. In "Glass Mask" and "Swan" [5], the passionate protagonists pursue their life dreams.
Compare this to "Fushigi Yuugi" (FY) and "Marmalade Boy" (MB), where the boy pursuit takes up most of the story. In Saboten no Himitsu", the main character changes her entire appearance to attract a boy and the pursuit takes up most of the story.
This theme of pursuing a goal (versus a guy) also marks the NHK anime series "Princess Nine" (baseball) and "Twin Spica" (astronaut). The trials usually leads to a stronger and distinct female lead than say Miaka (FY) or Miki (MB) and is a refreshing change of pace. My brother has a harsher opinion of the contrast.
I almost skipped this manga, because of the strong parallels to "Glass Mask". The similarities don't detract from "Ashita no Ou-sama", which stands well on its own two feet. I look forward to reading more of this quality work.
= = = =
[1] http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=11368
[2] Before the reforms being rolled out by the Diet in 2007, the Japanese postal system also stored and transferred money like Western Union and private banks in America. This will be broken into several companies, including what will become one of the largest banks in the world.
[3] Miuchi Suzue's classic manga that started in the '70s about girl who gave up everything to be an actress. http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=260
[4] Since Yuu is so out of touch with fashion, she is probably from inland Tohaku (think Kikuchi Yume from Someday's Dreamers). Shikoku is another area with a hick reputation, but is associated with fishers and the sea, which do not appear in Yuu's background.
[5] Ariyoshi Kyoko's manga about an aspiring ballet dancer. This also from the 70s. It is released by CMX. http://www.dccomics.com/cmx/?action=on_sale&i=2419
Monday, September 24, 2007
With the Light - "Hikari to Tomoni"
Impressions from the first few pages.
What would the genre be called? Josei is for young woman, but is there an ouk-san [1] category? Tobe Keiko's "With the Light" initially feels like Lifetime in still life. The artwork is clean. The initial set up is familiar; a cute woman pursues a handsome guy, beats out rivals, and gets her man. He's successful, they live in a spacious apartment, and she has some fellow young mothers in the neighborhood. That's just the summary of the first few pages, but in the afterglow of josei romance, the husband behaves coolly towards our protagonist Azuma Sachiko and sides with his mother.
Part of the Lifetime feeling comes from the introductio, which focuses on her as opposed to meeting the Azumas all at once. The blurp says as much, which focuses on the young mother who raises a child with autism. Then again, having the Japanese husband mixing up with the family would have lost most of the audience.
[1] a way of addressing a married woman
What would the genre be called? Josei is for young woman, but is there an ouk-san [1] category? Tobe Keiko's "With the Light" initially feels like Lifetime in still life. The artwork is clean. The initial set up is familiar; a cute woman pursues a handsome guy, beats out rivals, and gets her man. He's successful, they live in a spacious apartment, and she has some fellow young mothers in the neighborhood. That's just the summary of the first few pages, but in the afterglow of josei romance, the husband behaves coolly towards our protagonist Azuma Sachiko and sides with his mother.
Part of the Lifetime feeling comes from the introductio, which focuses on her as opposed to meeting the Azumas all at once. The blurp says as much, which focuses on the young mother who raises a child with autism. Then again, having the Japanese husband mixing up with the family would have lost most of the audience.
[1] a way of addressing a married woman
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Heptagon: A Life Relived
A quick recommendation of a scanlation. The scanlator group Dragon Voice brought over the first three chapters of Hijiri Chiaki's "Heptagon" [1]. It's about a 24 year old girl named Nana who takes a hit to the head and wakes up in her 14 year old self. The older Nana drifts by in life, writing checks from M&D Bank [2] for a living. By contrast, her middle school self is insecure and immature, but also full of energy.
I've heard this question posed several times: "If you could go back to you teenage years, would you?" Most people answer that they would take back their youth if they could bring their knowledge and wisdom. Though Nana is not a particularly wise character, she takes her baggage with her on this trip through time. Hijiri creates a medley of complex relationships, and I'm looking forward to her answer to the musing on a life relived.
Update:
I read the ending for the second time. The first time was minus a few too many hours sleep and didn't make that strong of an impression on me. It seemed to convenient. It's kind of like Borges-lite. He had written a story about a man who had two pasts. In one, the man was a coward who ran from the battlefield. In the other, he had fought bravely.
Absolving Nana of her past regrets seemed a little overdone. A more nuanced and longer ending would have worked better. 7 chapters would have been perfect to close this Heptagon.
[1] Published by Margaret Comics.
[2] Mommy & Daddy Bank.
I've heard this question posed several times: "If you could go back to you teenage years, would you?" Most people answer that they would take back their youth if they could bring their knowledge and wisdom. Though Nana is not a particularly wise character, she takes her baggage with her on this trip through time. Hijiri creates a medley of complex relationships, and I'm looking forward to her answer to the musing on a life relived.
Update:
I read the ending for the second time. The first time was minus a few too many hours sleep and didn't make that strong of an impression on me. It seemed to convenient. It's kind of like Borges-lite. He had written a story about a man who had two pasts. In one, the man was a coward who ran from the battlefield. In the other, he had fought bravely.
Absolving Nana of her past regrets seemed a little overdone. A more nuanced and longer ending would have worked better. 7 chapters would have been perfect to close this Heptagon.
[1] Published by Margaret Comics.
[2] Mommy & Daddy Bank.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The Identity of Kiel Lorenz
There is no proof that the character Kiel Lorenz from Gainax's "Neon Genesis Evangelion" is based on any figure from myth or history. However, there is a good chance that the Gainax crew ran across the name Rabbi Joseph della Reina during their research of the sephiroth (tree of life), Lilith, elemental angels (as opposed to guardian angels), and Kabbalism in general.
In the myths, della Reina is a powerful mystic who uses Kabbalistim with good intentions, but fails. One version tells of della Reina trying to trap Samael (Satan) and Lilith to bring for the Messiah. Though mighty in magic, the demons trick him into breaking his asceticism (which in needed to harness the spiritual energy for the ritual) or interrupting the ritual. The demons then corrupt the Kabbalist and make him their minion. Another version has della Reina attempting to create a superbeing. [1] This superbeing is reminiscent of the joining of minds, the oneness that is the human complement project. There seems to be a general consensus that this oneness is drawn from a Buddhist tradition, but this does not preclude influences from della Reina's legend.
Joseph della Reina's stories warn against hubris. Modern Kabbalist Rabbi Chaim vital from Kabbala Online writes this warning:
Mystic Judaic and Christian imagery and references are used throughout the series, so it is easy to read too much into the mash of Western symbols. "Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water", which was also written by Hideaki Anno and Gainax, mentions (Red) Noah, the Tower of Babel, and Adam, though these references bears little resemblance to the original source material. [3] There are connections, but the references are mainly for visual impact, as opposed to exploring Judeo-Christian themes or using a Judeo-Christian framework to explore other themes. It is widely agreed that the ideas behind Evangelion came from Hideaki Anno's personal crises, the accompanying psychology, science fiction, and other sources. [4]
A very rough analogy would be the campy TV show "Hercules", which used an ancient Greek setting, but featured little of the violent ethos that characterized the time.
With that being said, there was a method behind Gainax's madness. The original series came out in 1995. The new millennium inspired apocalyptic fiction and cults that even infected science. News stories speculated about the Y2K bug creating mass disaster. The post-apocalyptic milieu of "Evangelion" was reinforced by the Judeo-Christian imagery and the strong emphasis of these traditions on the endtime. The popularity of "Evangelion" shows that this imagery and atmosphere were striking to the Japanese viewer. Likewise, it would be easy to read too much into the potential connection between della Reina and Lorenz.
Nevertheless, the connection informs us of how to view Lorenz's failure. In episode 21, Prof. Fuyutski tells us that 2nd impact is a disaster for humanity. He intended to unmask Seele as criminal against all of humanity. Kaji reveals a more personal view of the tragedy in the manga Vol. 7 stages 3-4 to Shinji, but echoes the younger Fuyutski's sentiments. Yet in the movie, Lorenz's final moments paint him sympathetically, as he creates these tragedies not for personal gain, but to save humanity. That is the downfall of della Reina. Though he tried to save humanity by bringing forth the Messiah, his venture is ultimately of human will, not divine, and therefore doomed to fail in the end.
[1] "Reimagining the Bible: the Storytelling of the Rabbis" by Howard Schwartz, pg. 70 from NetLibrary.
[2] http://www.kabbalaonline.org/Meditations/jewishmeditation/Practical_Kabbala_Today.asp
[3] Noah is a spaceship that became an island, the Tower of Babel is an energy cannon, and Adam is a giant prototype of man.
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion_%28TV%29
In the myths, della Reina is a powerful mystic who uses Kabbalistim with good intentions, but fails. One version tells of della Reina trying to trap Samael (Satan) and Lilith to bring for the Messiah. Though mighty in magic, the demons trick him into breaking his asceticism (which in needed to harness the spiritual energy for the ritual) or interrupting the ritual. The demons then corrupt the Kabbalist and make him their minion. Another version has della Reina attempting to create a superbeing. [1] This superbeing is reminiscent of the joining of minds, the oneness that is the human complement project. There seems to be a general consensus that this oneness is drawn from a Buddhist tradition, but this does not preclude influences from della Reina's legend.
Joseph della Reina's stories warn against hubris. Modern Kabbalist Rabbi Chaim vital from Kabbala Online writes this warning:
"This is the significance of the Practical Kabbalah. It is forbidden to make use of it, since evil necessarily attaches itself to the good. One may actually intend to cleanse his soul, but as a result of the evil, he actually defiles it... Learn a lesson from Joseph Della Reina and Rabbi Shlomo Molcho, who made use of the Practical Kabbala and were destroyed from the world." [2]
Mystic Judaic and Christian imagery and references are used throughout the series, so it is easy to read too much into the mash of Western symbols. "Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water", which was also written by Hideaki Anno and Gainax, mentions (Red) Noah, the Tower of Babel, and Adam, though these references bears little resemblance to the original source material. [3] There are connections, but the references are mainly for visual impact, as opposed to exploring Judeo-Christian themes or using a Judeo-Christian framework to explore other themes. It is widely agreed that the ideas behind Evangelion came from Hideaki Anno's personal crises, the accompanying psychology, science fiction, and other sources. [4]
A very rough analogy would be the campy TV show "Hercules", which used an ancient Greek setting, but featured little of the violent ethos that characterized the time.
With that being said, there was a method behind Gainax's madness. The original series came out in 1995. The new millennium inspired apocalyptic fiction and cults that even infected science. News stories speculated about the Y2K bug creating mass disaster. The post-apocalyptic milieu of "Evangelion" was reinforced by the Judeo-Christian imagery and the strong emphasis of these traditions on the endtime. The popularity of "Evangelion" shows that this imagery and atmosphere were striking to the Japanese viewer. Likewise, it would be easy to read too much into the potential connection between della Reina and Lorenz.
Nevertheless, the connection informs us of how to view Lorenz's failure. In episode 21, Prof. Fuyutski tells us that 2nd impact is a disaster for humanity. He intended to unmask Seele as criminal against all of humanity. Kaji reveals a more personal view of the tragedy in the manga Vol. 7 stages 3-4 to Shinji, but echoes the younger Fuyutski's sentiments. Yet in the movie, Lorenz's final moments paint him sympathetically, as he creates these tragedies not for personal gain, but to save humanity. That is the downfall of della Reina. Though he tried to save humanity by bringing forth the Messiah, his venture is ultimately of human will, not divine, and therefore doomed to fail in the end.
[1] "Reimagining the Bible: the Storytelling of the Rabbis" by Howard Schwartz, pg. 70 from NetLibrary.
[2] http://www.kabbalaonline.org/Meditations/jewishmeditation/Practical_Kabbala_Today.asp
[3] Noah is a spaceship that became an island, the Tower of Babel is an energy cannon, and Adam is a giant prototype of man.
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion_%28TV%29
Friday, July 20, 2007
Lovely Complex 14
Blogger’s Note: I’ll get back to the earlier episodes. Please bear with me.
Otani on the mind.
Summary
Lovely Complex has reached about the halfway point and the third year has begun in episode 14: A Killer Crush on Maity! [1] In episode 13, Otani and Koizumi capped off their second year with an Umibozu concert. Otani managed to catch a fever right before the concert, and Risa visited her bedridden friend. She met his parents, and they talked.
Risa was thunderstruck when Otani revealed that he didn't have any attractiton to Risa. He said: “Even though the two of us are alone in this room right now, I don’t feel a thing.” Moments later, Otani leaned close to Koizumi, brushed his lip against hers. This light kiss seemed to contradict his earlier words.
Otani puts the moves on Koizumi?
Otani recovered in time for the concert and when they met for the concert, Koizumi showed up with a surgeon’s mask, which signified that she was sick. Otani seemed ignorant of where she might had gotten the cold, which was his lips. He then revealed that he did not remember the kiss. Koizumi fell into the black pit of despair.
Another family watches powerlessly as their child is enslaved by otaku-dom.
The first fresh scene from episode 14 displays the horrified faces of the loving Koizumi family coming to grips with their daughter transforming into an otaku. She specifically indulges in the smooth, suave electronic seduction of a dating sim character known as Cain-sama. Risa eats up Cain-sama’s canned lines with gusto. Even as she tries to escape into her fujoshi fantasy land, the images of Otani’s denials gnaw at her still.
Risa becomes a full blown fujoshi.
Risa drags her carcass to school the next morning. Nobu excitedly tells her that they are all in the same class: Risa, N2, Chiharu x Suzuki, and Otani. Risa spazes out at Otani’s name. When the real McCoy shows up and starts joking as usual, Risa jumps down his throat. Nobu beats a hasty retreat, leaving Risa alone with Otani. He confronts Risa about her foul mood since the Umibozu concert.
Risa readies for her guest appearance in the next “Devil May Cry”.
Risa spaces out while walking with Nobu and Chiharu. Nobu asks Risa if something happened at Otani’s place. Risa hysterically denies it. They are interrupted by a bishonen trying to get by the hallway. The newcomer is the spitting image of Cain-sama.
Legacy of Cain-sama: Shojo Reaver
Risa is moved. Chiharu is stunned. Nobu undergoes hypovolaemic shock [2]. Nobu is not sure why she feels so cold, until Risa squeals “Cain-sama”. Much of the remaining female studentry is as drawn to him as the male students are repulsed. Risa waxes on about his tall, glacial good looks. Chiharu points out that Cain-sama is the diametric opposite of Otani. Risa doesn’t deny this; rather, she declares that Cain-sama is the One for her.
Risa is still mooning over Cain-sama during the year’s first homeroom, when Otani asks about her syrupy mood. She reveals that Cain-sama said the she was cute. To Otani, Cain-sama is just a video game character. Coupled with her earlier allegations of a kiss, Otani is chilled to the core.
Otani fails his SAN check.
The familiar homeroom teacher waddles in and immediately picks out All Hanshi-Kyojin as his class reps again. They contest the nomination in stereo. Nakano-sensei interrupts them by announcing that there is an assistant teacher for homeroom. It is none other than the beautiful Cain-sama who reveals his true name as Maitake Kunimi or Maity. The girls go wild. Nobu and Otani are creeped out.
Risa's senses go on an extended vacation.
Caught by Maity’s spell, Risa volunteers to be a class rep and volunteers Hanshin as the other nominee. The class enthusiastically accepts. The teacher calls them All Hanshin-Kyojin. Risa objects until Maity approves of it, and then she eagerly embraces the name. Otani becomes physically ill at this point.
Nobu begins intervention, demanding to know if Risa has cast aside Otani in favor of a hollow dating sim character. Risa laments that she could reset if it were a game. Nobu swiftly chastises her for being unrealistic, but beneath Risa’s fujoshi madness is a growing fatigue at Otani’s refusals and rejections of her.
Risa walks home with Otani after an eventful first day. Otani asks her about what’s been eating at her. She tells him to drop it. He then remembers to give her a souvenir Umibozu towel from the concert. Though she is happy about the gift, she feels worn down by the pendulum of push and pull with Otani.
Koizumi in doubt.
In English class the next day, the girl go ga-ga over Maity-sensei while the guys are grossed out. Maity calls on the slumbering Otani. Nobu tries to awaken him, but to no avail. Maity blows into Otani’s ear. Otani screams in primal, soul-wrenching horror at the queer ambush.
Maity’s Super Flaming Critical-Strike Rose-Scented Assault
After class lets out, Maity calls Risa to help out as class rep. Risa zealously agrees. Nakao tells his teammate that the coach is out, so Otani skips on class rep duty to organize the basketball club.
Risa isn’t happy about being stuck with the work by Otani and wonders why she’s drawn to him. She stops by the gym to complain to Nobu. Nobu steps up in Otani’s defense and informs Risa that Otani is the new team captain. Risa is again impressed by his resolve and focus. Risa leaves a message for Otani that she’ll be in the classroom. As she leaves she still wonders why she’s drawn to Otani, but frames the question in a positive light; there are too many reasons to pin any one down.
Otani on the mind.While alone in classroom, Risa reminisces about the strange guy she’s fallen for and the good times. Otani shows up tired. Risa expects him to help; he complains about her dragging him back into the role of class rep. She answers that she would have felt bad for Maity if there were no volunteers; the name sends him into convulsions. The needle digs deeper as she jibes about the ear-blowing incident. Risa enjoys teasing him.
Otani turns serious and tells her not to go for a “cold” guy like Maity. His words lead Risa to believe that he wants to stake a claim over her. They make her happy, but she refuses to get her hopes up again. Just when she’s mulling over her thoughts, Otani remembers what happened during the sick visit. He reenacts the event by bringing his face close to hers.
A dramatic re-enactment.
Rice, rice baby.
He apologizes about the rice, but it was his brutally honest words that wounded her: “Even though the two of us are alone in this room right now, I don’t feel a thing.” Compounding the pain, he accidentally kissed her and raised her hopes in spite of the harsh words.
Otani says what any man would say in this situation: “Huh?”
Koizumi grabs him and kisses him. When he freaks out, she knows for certain that it was all a paradox-laden bit of vulgar shojo magick [3]. With her built-up hopes demolished, she declares that she’s finished with loving Otani and flees from the classroom. Otani is stunned. He follows her from the classroom door, but doesn’t follow. She barrels past Maity-sensei with tears flooding her eyes.
Maity looks thoughtfully at her retreating back. Otani sinks into his own heavy and perhaps dark thoughts, while Koizumi is at the end of her rope.
Direction of Tomorrow
Commentary
The series has slowed down, not in time, but in the movement of the story. The plot has ebbed and flowed with Risa’s emotions and hopes. This has not made the comedy fans happy, but is a necessity to develop and ultimately move forward the shojo storyline. Being shojo these days means that emotions are paramount, and unless Risa is annealed by fires and hammers of rejection and struggle, her happy ending will be too easily won.
While the end of this episode was melodramatic, it was built up well by genre standards. Risa was made to hope and brought the audience up with her fond memories, which all came tumbling down with one grain of rice. The dramatic end also sets up the next episode.
In the defense of Lovely Complex, this IS her first love and her self-esteem is at stake. She is painfully aware of her height when it comes to boys and his rejection doesn’t help her self image.
The scene still maintains some of the humor that has brought it this far. After Otani tells Risa about the rice, she screams “I am Japanese! Rice is a staple in my diet! I eat plenty of rice!” The outburst was well timed as are many of the jokes in the series.
While Risa has donned the angsty role, Nobu picked up the comedy mask. Her super-willies at Cain-sama’s phoniness are the perfect foil to Risa’s fujoshi gushing. She also serves as the bridge between Otani and Risa. When Risa didn’t know about his captainship, Nobu filled her in. And logically, she would know about Otani through Nakao. When Otani wanted to know about Cain-sama, Nobu gave him the scoop on Risa’s illness. The directors have expanded Nobu’s role, and the voice actress and the animators have stepped up to the challenge.
Episode 14 also introduced a new opening and ending sequence. At first blush, the new music can suck a golf ball through a garden hose. Despite the audios, the visual maintain their quality. The opening is more dynamic and has a flying scene reminiscent of the Karekano opening. The ending visuals are a real treat and shows series of painted stills. I would guess that they emulate oil colors on canvas. I’m not certain, but these images ARE emotive.
Clean Closing Shot
= = =
[1] KissSub fansub.
[2] Symptoms of hypovolaemic shock:
· Cool, clammy skin due to vasoconstriction and stimulation of vasoconstriction.
· Rapid and deep respirations due to sympathetic nervous system stimulation and acidosis.
· Hypothermia due to decreased perfusion and evaporation of sweat.
· Thirst and dry mouth, due to fluid depletion.
· Fatigue due to inadequate oxygenation.
· Cold and mottled skin, especially extremities, due to insufficient perfusion of the skin.
[3] Vulgar vs coincidental magick. Vulgar magick was a flagrant disruption of reality and invoked an immune response from reality. What we saw was definitely an entropy rote known as Accidental Kiss. Reference: Whitewolf’s Mage: the Ascension 1st Ed.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Genderbent: From Seiko Time to the Wandering Son
After watching Lovely Complex episodes 4 & 5, fellow otaki-in-arms causeiambetta was bothered by Otani's easy acceptance of Seiko's homosexual crush and cross dressing. I explained to him that cross dressing and gay relationships are accepted staples in shoujo manga. The rank 800 pound gorillas lurking in the background are shounen ai [1] and yaoi [2]. Lovely Complex is published in the shoujo anthology Best Margaret and can expect its audience to accept the conventions set in other shoujo publications, even if the story is not primarily shounen ai.
One only needs to look through the science fiction and fantasy section at a bookstore to see other examples of the unusual becoming convention. Dennis McKeirnan's LoTR clones and Dungeons and Dragons fiction followed in Tolkein's footsteps and made human-like elves and dwarves staples of swords and sorcery stories. Rice's "Interview with a Vampire" and Vampire: the Masquerade helped to push a shift from eternally damned monsters ("Dracula" and "Salem's Lot") to suavely sexy immortals.
A bit of digging unearthed an article by post-doc Mark McLelland from around 2000. [3] Most yaoi manga are fantasies made by women for women. At one gay film festival, about 8 out the 10 audience were women. The reasoning is simple, shounen ai create fewer female characters to clutter the eye candy.
The manga series "Hana Kimi" and "W Juliet" feature protagonists in drag. "Hana Kimi" features a girl infiltrating a girl's school, while "W Juliet" has a guy going the other way. Old school manga "Here is Greenwood" takes place at a boy's school and features shounen ai relations. Even the kiddy series Cardcaptor Sakura has BL elements between the heroine Sakura's older brother and his best friend. Her grade school rival Li also has a boy crush on Yukito.
The pretty boy potential for slash fics in "Fruits Baskets", "Prince of Tennis", and even Gundam Wing cannot be ignored. The last two aren't shoujo, but intentionally or incidentally drew some of the shoujo fanbase.
Shounen ai is a prevalent theme in girl's comics. It also appears in some non-girls comics as a nod to the fans. The accepted convention is that gayness is accepted or, if it is not, it should be. Since these are fantasies for non-homosexuals, the eye candy is played up, while the challenges of being in an often reviled minority are played down or all together ignored. McLelland wrote:
I also believe that it is possible for a non-gay to write a sincere story with homosexual themes. Otherwise, we could automatically dismiss the opera "Porgy and Bess" consign Tennessee William's "Streetcar Named Desire" to the rubbish bin. Nor does every story that features gays need to relentlessly hammer home the gender identity struggle. The strangeness lies in the pervasiveness of homosexual depictions with nary a gay reader in sight. [5]
The other factor that cannot be ignored is the Lowest Common Denominator or MTV factor. Metrosexual fashion, "Real Life" unreality, and shounen ai manga are inundating young minds with a usually neutral to positive image of homosexuals as opposed to vilification. The effects of these depictions should be evaluated for what they are worth. My stance is read it if you like, but recognize the fantasy for what it is.
Shuuichi getting his temperature taken by his mother in "Houro Musuko". The author brings the reader close enough to feel the characters' body warmth.
On the flip side of shoujo convention is "Houro Musuko" by Shimura Takako . [6] The story follows a 5th grade boy Shuuichi Nitori, who transfers to a new school. The quiet and feminine Nitori meets a tomboy name Takatsuki. Takatsuki wants to be a boy badly enough to dress up in her brother's castoff middle-school uniform and eventually gets Nitori to come out with her in her sister's old sailor uniform.
The pair ventures into town in drag. A comradery develops between Nitori and Takatsuki and the others who share their secret. The story goes far beyond dressing up and delves into their complex feelings and the condemnation of their classmates. The Kotonoha team is up to volume 3 chapter 20 and the ring of secrecy and safety around Nitori has been broken, driving a hard wedge between Nitori and his best friend. The pain and tears are palpable.
A less warm moment between Shuuichi and his sister Mahou. (right to left)
Shimura breaths life into her distinct cast. Nitori's sister Mahou has a fantastically defective personality. His friend Saori has the potential of becoming as crazy and charismatic as Kashiwa-sempai from "Welcome to NHK". The mangaka give the characters' families important roles. If there's one genderbent work that you read, make this it. [7]
[1] Shounen = boy, ai = love. Shounen ai is also called boy love or BL. This is the softer side of the genre. Yaoi is the harder stuff. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaoi#Yaoi_vs._BL
[2] forum writers for the Naruto fansite www.tokehgecko.com invented the term Yaoimaru as a dark presence that infects fanfiction.net and other websites. I thought the idea was hilarious until I heard read about Harry Potter slash fics in the Boston Globe.
[3] McLelland, Mark. "Why are Japanese Girls' Comics full of Boys Bonking?" http://web.archive.org/web/20050401090315/http://www.cult-media.com/issue1/CMRmcle.htm
[4] In the movie "The Office", there is a scene of geeks destroying a fax machine to hard core gangster rap. It's kind of like that.
[5] Blogger disclosure: I suppose that I might sound stridently pro-gay rights in this article. I'm actually not, frankly I believe that there are a lot more important issues to be dealt with in the political arena at this juncture. However, I want to clarify what I think about this genre.
[6] scanalated by Kotonoha, which fan translates some great stuff. Houro Musuko can be translated as Wandering Son. http://kotonoha.monkey-pirate.com/ongoing-series/hourou-musuko/
[7] As an aside, I think that Kano Yashuhiro's "Pretty Face" is second. It has a dumb-as-dirt premise with a dumber-than-dirt hero, but manages to pull off the mess with heart. This manga is better and funnier than it has any right to be.
One only needs to look through the science fiction and fantasy section at a bookstore to see other examples of the unusual becoming convention. Dennis McKeirnan's LoTR clones and Dungeons and Dragons fiction followed in Tolkein's footsteps and made human-like elves and dwarves staples of swords and sorcery stories. Rice's "Interview with a Vampire" and Vampire: the Masquerade helped to push a shift from eternally damned monsters ("Dracula" and "Salem's Lot") to suavely sexy immortals.
A bit of digging unearthed an article by post-doc Mark McLelland from around 2000. [3] Most yaoi manga are fantasies made by women for women. At one gay film festival, about 8 out the 10 audience were women. The reasoning is simple, shounen ai create fewer female characters to clutter the eye candy.
The manga series "Hana Kimi" and "W Juliet" feature protagonists in drag. "Hana Kimi" features a girl infiltrating a girl's school, while "W Juliet" has a guy going the other way. Old school manga "Here is Greenwood" takes place at a boy's school and features shounen ai relations. Even the kiddy series Cardcaptor Sakura has BL elements between the heroine Sakura's older brother and his best friend. Her grade school rival Li also has a boy crush on Yukito.
The pretty boy potential for slash fics in "Fruits Baskets", "Prince of Tennis", and even Gundam Wing cannot be ignored. The last two aren't shoujo, but intentionally or incidentally drew some of the shoujo fanbase.
Shounen ai is a prevalent theme in girl's comics. It also appears in some non-girls comics as a nod to the fans. The accepted convention is that gayness is accepted or, if it is not, it should be. Since these are fantasies for non-homosexuals, the eye candy is played up, while the challenges of being in an often reviled minority are played down or all together ignored. McLelland wrote:
"An article in the American gay magazine The Advocate (February 4, 1997, p. 66) discusses the 'gay' relationship between Ranmaru and Enjoji portrayed in the Japanese animation Kizuna based on a manga by the female artist Kazuma Kodaka. The review is dismissive of the plot, stating that 'never once is their gayness questioned or explained'."
McLelland then tries to defend the omission of the gender identity issues.
I disagree. Try this quick thought experiment. Substitute gay with blacks. Imagine if a sub-genre of gangster rap and hip-hop were entirely produced and made by non-blacks for a largely white suburban audience. Gangster rap IS largely consumed in the the white suburbs, and I think that's strange and crosses the line into soft exploitation. [4]"However, it should be remembered that YAOI is not written by or for gay men and should not be criticised for failing to represent their concerns accurately."
I also believe that it is possible for a non-gay to write a sincere story with homosexual themes. Otherwise, we could automatically dismiss the opera "Porgy and Bess" consign Tennessee William's "Streetcar Named Desire" to the rubbish bin. Nor does every story that features gays need to relentlessly hammer home the gender identity struggle. The strangeness lies in the pervasiveness of homosexual depictions with nary a gay reader in sight. [5]
The other factor that cannot be ignored is the Lowest Common Denominator or MTV factor. Metrosexual fashion, "Real Life" unreality, and shounen ai manga are inundating young minds with a usually neutral to positive image of homosexuals as opposed to vilification. The effects of these depictions should be evaluated for what they are worth. My stance is read it if you like, but recognize the fantasy for what it is.
Shuuichi getting his temperature taken by his mother in "Houro Musuko". The author brings the reader close enough to feel the characters' body warmth.On the flip side of shoujo convention is "Houro Musuko" by Shimura Takako . [6] The story follows a 5th grade boy Shuuichi Nitori, who transfers to a new school. The quiet and feminine Nitori meets a tomboy name Takatsuki. Takatsuki wants to be a boy badly enough to dress up in her brother's castoff middle-school uniform and eventually gets Nitori to come out with her in her sister's old sailor uniform.
The pair ventures into town in drag. A comradery develops between Nitori and Takatsuki and the others who share their secret. The story goes far beyond dressing up and delves into their complex feelings and the condemnation of their classmates. The Kotonoha team is up to volume 3 chapter 20 and the ring of secrecy and safety around Nitori has been broken, driving a hard wedge between Nitori and his best friend. The pain and tears are palpable.
A less warm moment between Shuuichi and his sister Mahou. (right to left)Shimura breaths life into her distinct cast. Nitori's sister Mahou has a fantastically defective personality. His friend Saori has the potential of becoming as crazy and charismatic as Kashiwa-sempai from "Welcome to NHK". The mangaka give the characters' families important roles. If there's one genderbent work that you read, make this it. [7]
[1] Shounen = boy, ai = love. Shounen ai is also called boy love or BL. This is the softer side of the genre. Yaoi is the harder stuff. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaoi#Yaoi_vs._BL
[2] forum writers for the Naruto fansite www.tokehgecko.com invented the term Yaoimaru as a dark presence that infects fanfiction.net and other websites. I thought the idea was hilarious until I heard read about Harry Potter slash fics in the Boston Globe.
[3] McLelland, Mark. "Why are Japanese Girls' Comics full of Boys Bonking?" http://web.archive.org/web/20050401090315/http://www.cult-media.com/issue1/CMRmcle.htm
[4] In the movie "The Office", there is a scene of geeks destroying a fax machine to hard core gangster rap. It's kind of like that.
[5] Blogger disclosure: I suppose that I might sound stridently pro-gay rights in this article. I'm actually not, frankly I believe that there are a lot more important issues to be dealt with in the political arena at this juncture. However, I want to clarify what I think about this genre.
[6] scanalated by Kotonoha, which fan translates some great stuff. Houro Musuko can be translated as Wandering Son. http://kotonoha.monkey-pirate.com/ongoing-series/hourou-musuko/
[7] As an aside, I think that Kano Yashuhiro's "Pretty Face" is second. It has a dumb-as-dirt premise with a dumber-than-dirt hero, but manages to pull off the mess with heart. This manga is better and funnier than it has any right to be.
Lovely Complex 5: Seiko Time II
Summary: Episode 5 “Send Forbidden Love Flying” [1] starts with a recap of Seiko pecking Otani on the cheek. Risa was left stunned.
Risa tries out the powers that she acquired from the Great Old Ones.
The next morning, we find Risa glumly accusing Otani of being ‘shameless’. They exchange taunts. Otani’s jibes land on the mark, and Risa is reduced to screeching nonsense at him. Seiko’s affection has also gone to Otani’s head. He declares that small men have joined small cameras, computers, and phones in the limelight. Well, he can always dream.
"Small is in!" he proclaims from a tall place.
Risa is irritated by Otani as she and Nobu head to the physical exams. Nobu points out that Seiko is the only girl that considers him cool rather than cutesy. Risa is surprised by Seiko’s boldness; that’s the first public kiss she’s seen.
Risa and Nobu meet Seiko in the hallway. Seiko continues to gush about Otani. The girl’s intensity weirds out Risa and Nobu. Seiko asks Risa to support her pursuit of Otani. Risa agrees, but has second thoughts afterwards.
The Seiko Horror Picture Show
During the physical, Nobu comments that Seiko is sex kitten, which is the opposite of Risa. Nobu also tells Risa to do her best. Risa colors and demands what she needs to do her best at. She snarls at Chiharu, when Chiharu calls her up for a measurement. [2] Risa quickly apologizes and steps on the scale to be measured. She disparages her height, especially when compared to the petite Seiko. Thus it is the absolute wrong time for her timid friend to report that the giantess has grown 2 cm.
Risa wants a redo, on her whole skeletal structure.
Otani has grown 2 mm and gets pissed. He bolsters his ego by referring to Seiko’s declaration to him. N2 calls him a little pervert as Seiko shows up to meet her man. He happily meets Seiko at the door. Nobu warns Risa that Seiko will end up with Otani if Risa doesn’t act. The Kyojin stubbornly refuses to admit her feelings for the Hanshin.
The meeting leaves Otani insufferably smug. Koizumi trips him, which triggers another All Hanshin-Kyojin dispute. During the argument, Risa notices that Otani is wearing her gift. Her mood brightens when she finds that he likes the wristband. He wears it during practice.
Seiko unexpectedly joins Risa and Nobu in watching the BB practice. Seiko calls out encouragement, which distracts Otani. Risa warns him about the incoming ball. Otani stubs his finger. Seiko freaks and drags Otani to the nurse’s office. Risa is perturbed when Seiko slithers her arms around Otani’s arm. Nobu narrates of seduction in the infirmary. Risa tells her to knock it off as one of the team members approaches Nakao with information about Seiko.
Nobu’s does a good Seiko impression.
In the infirmary, Seiko is acting out Nobu’s perverted fantasies. However, there is an unexpected twist. Nakao’s teammate reveals that Seiko is actually named Seishiro. The damsel in distress was actually a tranny in trouble; Seiko is a guy. Risa busts into the infirmary to find Seishiro half-naked and Otani aghast. Otani fails his constitution check and faints.
Otani is a self-proclaimed sinful man.
The next day, Otani tries to put the incident out of his mind, while his friends try to contain their laughter. When Otani demands to know what’s so funny, and they can't hold it anymore. Risa indulges in schadenfreude in response to Otani’s earlier arrogance, but the prevailing feeling is relief. The feeling surprises her.
Nobu and Risa meet Seiko on their way to watch BB practice. Seiko declares that she must have been simply born into the wrong body. Seiko apologizes to Risa for insensitively asking the second year to support her relationship. The freshman astutely reasons that Risa must like Otani as well, since she gave Otani the nice wristband.
Otani just might be avoiding Seiko.
Risa once again denies it. She argues that it would be strange for a giantess and a midget to go out. Seiko counters that her feelings for Otani would even be stranger.
Seiko fears that Otani might find her disgusting and might be avoiding her. Risa assures the freshman that Otani is a little confused. Seiko is relieved and declares that they are rivals for Otani. Seiko hasn’t given up, not by a long shot. Risa protests the rival label, but to no avail.
Magical Pretty Soldier Seiko-chan declares war on her nemesis: the Kyojin.
Later on, Risa is down and slouching. Nobu points out that she might be hung up on the 2 cm, because she like a shorter guy. Risa’s traitorous eyes immediately turn toward Otani. Seiko bursts into to the room to glomp onto Otani. She is dressed as a cheer leader. Otani is in disbelief over the girl part. Seiko doesn’t catch onto his sarcastic tone.
Risa observes the exchange. Before she found out that Seiko was guy, she admired Seiko’s petite attractiveness and boldness. Even after finding out that Seiko is a guy, Risa still admires Seiko’s unrelenting spirit. Risa quietly berates herself for hiding her own feeling for Otani, because of her height. In the face of the divide that Seiko is trying to cross, Risa’s 16 centimeters is a small distance to cross.
Inspired by Seiko’s outfit, Nobu convinces Risa to join the cheer squad for the Sports Festival. The pair approach Seiko about the squad. In the course of the conversation, Nobu asks Seiko “Say, why do you like Otani? Wouldn’t you prefer someone stronger and more manly?” Seiko replies that Otani is plenty manly and adds that the difficulties he’s faced over his height might make him more sympathetic toward her own struggle with gender identity.
Though the leading question was ostensibly aimed at Seiko, Nobu’s eyes look straight at Risa. Risa admits that Otani is kind. Seiko agrees and glomps onto Otani. His three basketball fan girls are present.
In the next scene, Risa finds that the three basketball followers have cornered Seiko and are grilling her. They state that Otani and Seiko could not possibly being going out. While this is true, the tone and proximity make the words cruel. The words echo the comment they made about Risa. Risa confronts the three on Seiko’s behalf and the three girls retreat.
Hunter & quarry.
Seiko tries to ignore the painful words, but is cut to the quick. Just as she is sinking into despair, Otani comes to rescue her with kind words. He does state that, though, that he won’t become Seiko’s boyfriend anytime soon.
The Sports festival arrives and Otani finds out that the guys are wearing the mini-skirts, while the girls are dressed in gakurens. He runs to avoid dressing in drags. Risa hunts him down and carries him back to gym to fulfill his duty in the cheer squad. More importantly, she decides that she going to let herself be embarrassed about being next to a shorter guy. After many denials, Risa admits that she likes Otani.
Let Lovely Komplex Begin!
Commentary: Lovely Complex continues to solid characters and laughs. Nobu looked like another pretty sidekick in the manga, but her voice actress plays her like a hardened veteran of many campaigns of the heart. Her kindness and offbeat sense of humor, that makes her compatible with Risa, are well developed. Her ability to sink an octave with Risa, then switch it back up around the guys also plays off of Risa well.
The seiyuu and the character designer have made me into a Nobu fan.
The emotive Nobu.
Episodes 4 & 5 introduced Seiko in a dramatic fashion. Like Haruka and Kanzaki, Seiko looks like a rival at first blush. However, the story introduces Seiko to further stoke the fire under Risa's tush. Risa may be half of Hanshin-Kyojin, but the internal thought are Risa's and the perspective is also Risa's.
Kanzaki made Risa think of life without Otani and how much he meant to hear. Koizumi also rejects the tall and handsome Haruka, because height is a hangup, but isn't the main motivator for her affections. Finally Seiko's struggles inspire Risa and remind her of how kind Otani is.
The author used the three almost rivals well to the run up to the first main event; Koizumi's romance with Otani.
[1] KissSub
[2] This is Chiharu’s fate, to quail at Risa’s fierce and bizarre turns of mood. It must have been some strange stroke of fate that this shy girl fell into the clutches of these weirdos.
Risa tries out the powers that she acquired from the Great Old Ones.The next morning, we find Risa glumly accusing Otani of being ‘shameless’. They exchange taunts. Otani’s jibes land on the mark, and Risa is reduced to screeching nonsense at him. Seiko’s affection has also gone to Otani’s head. He declares that small men have joined small cameras, computers, and phones in the limelight. Well, he can always dream.
"Small is in!" he proclaims from a tall place.Risa is irritated by Otani as she and Nobu head to the physical exams. Nobu points out that Seiko is the only girl that considers him cool rather than cutesy. Risa is surprised by Seiko’s boldness; that’s the first public kiss she’s seen.
Risa and Nobu meet Seiko in the hallway. Seiko continues to gush about Otani. The girl’s intensity weirds out Risa and Nobu. Seiko asks Risa to support her pursuit of Otani. Risa agrees, but has second thoughts afterwards.
The Seiko Horror Picture ShowDuring the physical, Nobu comments that Seiko is sex kitten, which is the opposite of Risa. Nobu also tells Risa to do her best. Risa colors and demands what she needs to do her best at. She snarls at Chiharu, when Chiharu calls her up for a measurement. [2] Risa quickly apologizes and steps on the scale to be measured. She disparages her height, especially when compared to the petite Seiko. Thus it is the absolute wrong time for her timid friend to report that the giantess has grown 2 cm.
Risa wants a redo, on her whole skeletal structure.Otani has grown 2 mm and gets pissed. He bolsters his ego by referring to Seiko’s declaration to him. N2 calls him a little pervert as Seiko shows up to meet her man. He happily meets Seiko at the door. Nobu warns Risa that Seiko will end up with Otani if Risa doesn’t act. The Kyojin stubbornly refuses to admit her feelings for the Hanshin.
The meeting leaves Otani insufferably smug. Koizumi trips him, which triggers another All Hanshin-Kyojin dispute. During the argument, Risa notices that Otani is wearing her gift. Her mood brightens when she finds that he likes the wristband. He wears it during practice.
Seiko unexpectedly joins Risa and Nobu in watching the BB practice. Seiko calls out encouragement, which distracts Otani. Risa warns him about the incoming ball. Otani stubs his finger. Seiko freaks and drags Otani to the nurse’s office. Risa is perturbed when Seiko slithers her arms around Otani’s arm. Nobu narrates of seduction in the infirmary. Risa tells her to knock it off as one of the team members approaches Nakao with information about Seiko.
Nobu’s does a good Seiko impression.In the infirmary, Seiko is acting out Nobu’s perverted fantasies. However, there is an unexpected twist. Nakao’s teammate reveals that Seiko is actually named Seishiro. The damsel in distress was actually a tranny in trouble; Seiko is a guy. Risa busts into the infirmary to find Seishiro half-naked and Otani aghast. Otani fails his constitution check and faints.
Otani is a self-proclaimed sinful man.Nobu and Risa meet Seiko on their way to watch BB practice. Seiko declares that she must have been simply born into the wrong body. Seiko apologizes to Risa for insensitively asking the second year to support her relationship. The freshman astutely reasons that Risa must like Otani as well, since she gave Otani the nice wristband.
Otani just might be avoiding Seiko.Risa once again denies it. She argues that it would be strange for a giantess and a midget to go out. Seiko counters that her feelings for Otani would even be stranger.
Seiko fears that Otani might find her disgusting and might be avoiding her. Risa assures the freshman that Otani is a little confused. Seiko is relieved and declares that they are rivals for Otani. Seiko hasn’t given up, not by a long shot. Risa protests the rival label, but to no avail.
Magical Pretty Soldier Seiko-chan declares war on her nemesis: the Kyojin.Later on, Risa is down and slouching. Nobu points out that she might be hung up on the 2 cm, because she like a shorter guy. Risa’s traitorous eyes immediately turn toward Otani. Seiko bursts into to the room to glomp onto Otani. She is dressed as a cheer leader. Otani is in disbelief over the girl part. Seiko doesn’t catch onto his sarcastic tone.
Risa observes the exchange. Before she found out that Seiko was guy, she admired Seiko’s petite attractiveness and boldness. Even after finding out that Seiko is a guy, Risa still admires Seiko’s unrelenting spirit. Risa quietly berates herself for hiding her own feeling for Otani, because of her height. In the face of the divide that Seiko is trying to cross, Risa’s 16 centimeters is a small distance to cross.
Inspired by Seiko’s outfit, Nobu convinces Risa to join the cheer squad for the Sports Festival. The pair approach Seiko about the squad. In the course of the conversation, Nobu asks Seiko “Say, why do you like Otani? Wouldn’t you prefer someone stronger and more manly?” Seiko replies that Otani is plenty manly and adds that the difficulties he’s faced over his height might make him more sympathetic toward her own struggle with gender identity.
Though the leading question was ostensibly aimed at Seiko, Nobu’s eyes look straight at Risa. Risa admits that Otani is kind. Seiko agrees and glomps onto Otani. His three basketball fan girls are present.
In the next scene, Risa finds that the three basketball followers have cornered Seiko and are grilling her. They state that Otani and Seiko could not possibly being going out. While this is true, the tone and proximity make the words cruel. The words echo the comment they made about Risa. Risa confronts the three on Seiko’s behalf and the three girls retreat.
Hunter & quarry.Seiko tries to ignore the painful words, but is cut to the quick. Just as she is sinking into despair, Otani comes to rescue her with kind words. He does state that, though, that he won’t become Seiko’s boyfriend anytime soon.
The Sports festival arrives and Otani finds out that the guys are wearing the mini-skirts, while the girls are dressed in gakurens. He runs to avoid dressing in drags. Risa hunts him down and carries him back to gym to fulfill his duty in the cheer squad. More importantly, she decides that she going to let herself be embarrassed about being next to a shorter guy. After many denials, Risa admits that she likes Otani.
Let Lovely Komplex Begin!Commentary: Lovely Complex continues to solid characters and laughs. Nobu looked like another pretty sidekick in the manga, but her voice actress plays her like a hardened veteran of many campaigns of the heart. Her kindness and offbeat sense of humor, that makes her compatible with Risa, are well developed. Her ability to sink an octave with Risa, then switch it back up around the guys also plays off of Risa well.
The seiyuu and the character designer have made me into a Nobu fan.
The emotive Nobu.Episodes 4 & 5 introduced Seiko in a dramatic fashion. Like Haruka and Kanzaki, Seiko looks like a rival at first blush. However, the story introduces Seiko to further stoke the fire under Risa's tush. Risa may be half of Hanshin-Kyojin, but the internal thought are Risa's and the perspective is also Risa's.
Kanzaki made Risa think of life without Otani and how much he meant to hear. Koizumi also rejects the tall and handsome Haruka, because height is a hangup, but isn't the main motivator for her affections. Finally Seiko's struggles inspire Risa and remind her of how kind Otani is.
The author used the three almost rivals well to the run up to the first main event; Koizumi's romance with Otani.
[1] KissSub
[2] This is Chiharu’s fate, to quail at Risa’s fierce and bizarre turns of mood. It must have been some strange stroke of fate that this shy girl fell into the clutches of these weirdos.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Lovely Complex 4: Seiko Time I
Summary
At the end of episode 3, Haruka declared his intentions to Risa and claimed that Risa liked Otani, though Risa has not admitted this to herself. Otani and Risa also made up over his refusing her “giri-choco”. Episode 4 “Kiss! I’ve fallen for you!” [1] starts two months later.
Otani & Risa. A typical teen drama scene drifting by at 5 cm/s.
Koizumi Risa and Otani head to the opening assembly for their second year beneath a shower of cherry blossoms. Otani is still lethargic from spring break. He yawns extravagantly, which touches off an All Hanshin-Kyojin exchange. A scream interrupts their comedic routine. The duo see a girly-girl being threatened by a scarred mongrel.
Damsel in distress? Inquiring otaku want to know.
Otani calms the cur with his presence. His bravery impresses the damsel. Koizumi comments that he’s hopeless with women, but is gets along with men. These words also affect the new girl for some reason. The damsel thanks him and asks for his name, but he tells her not to worry about it. By the end of his oh-so-cool response, the girl has fallen in love.
Risa and Otani press onward toward school. They find that All Hanshin-Kyojin are together again. Nakao x Nobu (N2) share their class, while Chiharu x Suzuki are paired in the class next door. Risa comments that it’s the same old comedy routine, but admits she may feel a little differently about Otani this year. Otani points out that Haruka has completed transferred.
Summoned by his name, Haruka appears out of the blue and as blue as blue can be. Otani leaves Risa to be cornered by her annoying friend. Nobu saves Risa, which is what girlfriends are for. [2] The girly-girl shows up at Maido High as the crew enter the gym for assembly. She gushes that her savior and love is her sempai.
Their homeroom teacher has returned as well. He immediately shoehorns the two into being the class reps. Risa and Otani protest at first, but Otani quickly throws in the towel. He considers it to be a continuation of their first year. Though Risa protested openly about being the giant of the comedy duo, she warms to the idea of being near Otani for another year.
Et tu, Nobu?
The class reps are ordered to help with the freshman introductory ceremony. Otani tries to sneak off to basketball practice. When Risa stops him, Nakao reveals that Otani is a starter. Risa is duly impressed, but still drags him along for menial labor.
The class reps are pressed into cleaning the gym. Nobu stops by to chat with Koizumi. They see the first years and reminisce about their introductory ceremony, when Nobu showed up in casual clothes. The past repeats as a teacher rounds on a first year for dressing casually; it’s the damsel in distress from before. Nobu identifies her as a fashion rival. Otani’s new fangirl quickly reveals herself to be an airhead, or a reasonable facsimile of one, and immediately pisses off the strict teacher further. Risa creates a distraction to save the freshman.
Got enough sugar and spice, honey?
The freshman thanks Risa and recalls the her from that morning. Risa is struck by the girly-girl's cuteness. Otani stops by before heading off to the BB team; he’s done his time. Risa notices the girly-girl going ga-ga over Otani. Koizumi’s a little surprised.
The encounter with the fashionable freshman femme leaves Nobu shaken. She drags Risa shopping on the next Sunday. [3] While Nobu delves through the outfits, Risa gets a wristband for Otani to congratulate him for becoming a starter. She pictures his smiling face when he receives the gift. Risa gives it to him during the next school day. He’s in disbelief, but happily accepts the present after some rough joking. Risa is bothered that his reaction is sharply at odds with her imaginary shojo moment.
Otani thru RisaVision ver. 2.0
After school, Risa complains that she wants to be more feminine to Nobu. Nobu observes that Risa sounds like a “maiden in love”. Girly-girl shows up, and Nobu’s fighting spirit begins to burn. Nobu befriends the freshman after the girly-girl gives a single complement for the veteran's bracelet.
Otani’s fangirl wants to talk about clubs, but Risa and Nobu are members of the go-home society. The talk turns to the BB team. Nakao is dressing in black [4] for a mystery demo. The fangirl’s cuteness both impresses and depresses Risa.
The next day, Risa and Nobu sneak out of self-study period to see the BB team’s demo for the freshman. [5] The club president claims that even a shorty, like Otani, can dunk after joining the club. Nakao in a black suit, but without a black background, hauls up Otani to the hoop. Nobu is mortified by Nakao's role in the lame stunt, while the freshmen are amused. Otani is bothered by being called a shorty, but does his best to drum up business for his team. Otani's fangirl is blown away by the faked dunk and removes all doubt that she’s a certified airhead.
Nakao’s Kage Ninja Techniques.
Risa lets Otani know that she wasn’t thrilled by the embarrassing display. Otani gets defensive. He explains that they were trying to get more tryouts, because most newbies drop out. Risa needles him about their “lameass” tactics, when the girly-girl shows up to stick up for her man. Risa reminds Otani who the girl is.
Otani thru Girly-girl Vision
The girl is a little disappointed that Otani doesn’t remember her, but glosses over it. She praises her man on his awesome slam dunk. Otani introduces himself, and the girly-girl reveals that her name is Kotobuki Seiko. He praises her as cute. Every word incite’s Seiko’s passions until she kisses Otani.
Seiko crossing the Revlon Rubicon
Seiko declares her love. Everyone is stunned by the development. The strange girl wants to be Otani's friend after kissing him. It gets worse for Risa as Otani, after giving Risa a sidelong glance, accepts Seiko’s friendship.
Risa reacts.
Commentary will follow after Episode 5.
Footnotes:
[1] KissSub fansub.
[2] I had a friend who made the mistake of going out for coffee with a guy from her gym. After “hi”, Mr. Gym proceded to lay out the first two of his five year economic plans. This took up about 14 mins 55 sec out of the opening fifteen minutes of the encounter. She text messaged her friend, who called with an “emergency”. Instant save.
[3] Monday to Friday are school days as are most Saturdays. They are in their street clothes, which means that it's probably a Sunday in the anime version.
[4] This is a reference to Kasou Taishou, which is a variety show. People perform skits with special effects created with people with black suits. Matrix ping-pong and the Pet Shop Boys’ Flamboyant video are famous examples of this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasou_Taishou
[5] Is Chiharu skipping too?
At the end of episode 3, Haruka declared his intentions to Risa and claimed that Risa liked Otani, though Risa has not admitted this to herself. Otani and Risa also made up over his refusing her “giri-choco”. Episode 4 “Kiss! I’ve fallen for you!” [1] starts two months later.
Otani & Risa. A typical teen drama scene drifting by at 5 cm/s.Koizumi Risa and Otani head to the opening assembly for their second year beneath a shower of cherry blossoms. Otani is still lethargic from spring break. He yawns extravagantly, which touches off an All Hanshin-Kyojin exchange. A scream interrupts their comedic routine. The duo see a girly-girl being threatened by a scarred mongrel.
Damsel in distress? Inquiring otaku want to know. Answer during the next episode.
Otani calms the cur with his presence. His bravery impresses the damsel. Koizumi comments that he’s hopeless with women, but is gets along with men. These words also affect the new girl for some reason. The damsel thanks him and asks for his name, but he tells her not to worry about it. By the end of his oh-so-cool response, the girl has fallen in love.
Risa and Otani press onward toward school. They find that All Hanshin-Kyojin are together again. Nakao x Nobu (N2) share their class, while Chiharu x Suzuki are paired in the class next door. Risa comments that it’s the same old comedy routine, but admits she may feel a little differently about Otani this year. Otani points out that Haruka has completed transferred.
Summoned by his name, Haruka appears out of the blue and as blue as blue can be. Otani leaves Risa to be cornered by her annoying friend. Nobu saves Risa, which is what girlfriends are for. [2] The girly-girl shows up at Maido High as the crew enter the gym for assembly. She gushes that her savior and love is her sempai.
Their homeroom teacher has returned as well. He immediately shoehorns the two into being the class reps. Risa and Otani protest at first, but Otani quickly throws in the towel. He considers it to be a continuation of their first year. Though Risa protested openly about being the giant of the comedy duo, she warms to the idea of being near Otani for another year.
Et tu, Nobu?The class reps are ordered to help with the freshman introductory ceremony. Otani tries to sneak off to basketball practice. When Risa stops him, Nakao reveals that Otani is a starter. Risa is duly impressed, but still drags him along for menial labor.
The class reps are pressed into cleaning the gym. Nobu stops by to chat with Koizumi. They see the first years and reminisce about their introductory ceremony, when Nobu showed up in casual clothes. The past repeats as a teacher rounds on a first year for dressing casually; it’s the damsel in distress from before. Nobu identifies her as a fashion rival. Otani’s new fangirl quickly reveals herself to be an airhead, or a reasonable facsimile of one, and immediately pisses off the strict teacher further. Risa creates a distraction to save the freshman.
Got enough sugar and spice, honey?The freshman thanks Risa and recalls the her from that morning. Risa is struck by the girly-girl's cuteness. Otani stops by before heading off to the BB team; he’s done his time. Risa notices the girly-girl going ga-ga over Otani. Koizumi’s a little surprised.
The encounter with the fashionable freshman femme leaves Nobu shaken. She drags Risa shopping on the next Sunday. [3] While Nobu delves through the outfits, Risa gets a wristband for Otani to congratulate him for becoming a starter. She pictures his smiling face when he receives the gift. Risa gives it to him during the next school day. He’s in disbelief, but happily accepts the present after some rough joking. Risa is bothered that his reaction is sharply at odds with her imaginary shojo moment.
Otani thru RisaVision ver. 2.0After school, Risa complains that she wants to be more feminine to Nobu. Nobu observes that Risa sounds like a “maiden in love”. Girly-girl shows up, and Nobu’s fighting spirit begins to burn. Nobu befriends the freshman after the girly-girl gives a single complement for the veteran's bracelet.
Otani’s fangirl wants to talk about clubs, but Risa and Nobu are members of the go-home society. The talk turns to the BB team. Nakao is dressing in black [4] for a mystery demo. The fangirl’s cuteness both impresses and depresses Risa.
The next day, Risa and Nobu sneak out of self-study period to see the BB team’s demo for the freshman. [5] The club president claims that even a shorty, like Otani, can dunk after joining the club. Nakao in a black suit, but without a black background, hauls up Otani to the hoop. Nobu is mortified by Nakao's role in the lame stunt, while the freshmen are amused. Otani is bothered by being called a shorty, but does his best to drum up business for his team. Otani's fangirl is blown away by the faked dunk and removes all doubt that she’s a certified airhead.
Nakao’s Kage Ninja Techniques.Risa lets Otani know that she wasn’t thrilled by the embarrassing display. Otani gets defensive. He explains that they were trying to get more tryouts, because most newbies drop out. Risa needles him about their “lameass” tactics, when the girly-girl shows up to stick up for her man. Risa reminds Otani who the girl is.
Otani thru Girly-girl VisionThe girl is a little disappointed that Otani doesn’t remember her, but glosses over it. She praises her man on his awesome slam dunk. Otani introduces himself, and the girly-girl reveals that her name is Kotobuki Seiko. He praises her as cute. Every word incite’s Seiko’s passions until she kisses Otani.
Seiko crossing the Revlon RubiconSeiko declares her love. Everyone is stunned by the development. The strange girl wants to be Otani's friend after kissing him. It gets worse for Risa as Otani, after giving Risa a sidelong glance, accepts Seiko’s friendship.
Risa reacts.Commentary will follow after Episode 5.
Footnotes:
[1] KissSub fansub.
[2] I had a friend who made the mistake of going out for coffee with a guy from her gym. After “hi”, Mr. Gym proceded to lay out the first two of his five year economic plans. This took up about 14 mins 55 sec out of the opening fifteen minutes of the encounter. She text messaged her friend, who called with an “emergency”. Instant save.
[3] Monday to Friday are school days as are most Saturdays. They are in their street clothes, which means that it's probably a Sunday in the anime version.
[4] This is a reference to Kasou Taishou, which is a variety show. People perform skits with special effects created with people with black suits. Matrix ping-pong and the Pet Shop Boys’ Flamboyant video are famous examples of this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasou_Taishou
[5] Is Chiharu skipping too?
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