Blazing Copout

The ending to the Shakugan no Shana anime must have been the biggest copout ending since the Battle Royale novel. However, Battle Royale did not have magic or mysticism to fall back on, and the author could be forgiven for trying to create a happy ending to relieve the mad and gloomy premise that he had created. Since I’m talking about endings, this should obviously be a massive, scorching hot flag that this will be chock full of spoilers.

During the final scene, Shana’s patron Alastor the Heaven’s Flame manifests to drain out the overflow of Existence that the Ball Masque had created. In the transformation, Shana is supposed to irrevocably destroyed and Yuji annihilated with them. She accepts her duty and Yuji follows her willingly.

I admit that I forgot about his ability to defend against the Flame Haze’s ability through the magical ring Azure. So that explains how he survived, but Shana is suddenly able to contain Alastor’s full form and isn’t destroyed.

That ending was the easy way out after the author managed to paint the plot into a corner. I think that there was a plausible or better way to end it all. The key was Hecate, whose power was to link vessels.

Yuji’s contribution to the mess was his insight into the way devices worked. Since Hecate had joined with him, he might have been able to get a gist of how to do it as well. He didn’t need to gain the ability to forcibly invade others, but a little bit of the power would have been enough.

If he had been able to link up with Shana and then use Azure to expel some of the fire, then it would have been a less abrupt ending. Even better, it didn’t use any tools that weren’t available before. Why doesn’t someone write a fanfic of this?

Someone just might.

Complaint #2 is the pointlessness of the grand scheme of the Ball Masque. Megalomania is an old favorite. Maybe to fuse Crimson World to Earth or to fuel a war in the Crimson World so that the Judge of Paradox could conquer the other world.

Sigh, there was so much potential to blast past the sailor suit she-samurai, meido massacre, and the egregious Engrish. Despite all this, Shakugan no Shana still coulda been a contender to the Hardcore Hall of Fame, but copped out in the end. And despite these flaws, it is an enjoyable entry for most otaku.

P.S. After reading the 1st volume of the series again, I realized that this power was revealed after the battle with Friagne. From the perspective of a transfer, it was a delay revealing the power. However, taking the series as is, it looks like a clumsy Deus ex machina.

Watersheds and Tropes

I've touched on this before, but I wanted to flesh out my thoughts on tropes. Somewhere between "Lord of the Rings" and "Dungeons and Dragons", sylvan elves and deep-dwelling dwarves became common, even an old hat. It wasn't just Dragonlance or "Crystal Shard", Dennis McKiernan's "Iron Tower" trilogy featured halflings in the form of warrows. The other example was the change from the monstrous vampire of Bram Stoker to the Anne Rice/Camilla sauve immortal. These trends are not accidental, nor are they entirely acts of cynical plagarism.

E.B. White said it best when he wrote "Let [the writer] start sniffing the air, or glancing at the Trend Machine, and he is good as dead, although he may make a nice living. Any reader of R.A. Salvatore or fan of Drizzt Do'Urden can readily feel the heart felt sentiments in his early novel. Imitation has been called a form of flattery, but that statement misses the joy that sends the newborn fan to the library or bookstore fiending for more.

Out of the thousands of fans, a handful may combust and try to become creators themselves: writers, artists, film makers, game makers, etc. The first inspirational work was actually a vector with direction and the impulse that sent the fan moving. The vector may be dominant or it may be nearly lost amidst a plethora of different influences, but it is there and all of the influences are still there. Inspiration does not happen in a vacuum.

The analogy that I propose for these tropes is a watershed. A river cuts its own path through erosion. As rain falls, it gathers and reinforces the river. Tolkien's pen let flow the first stream. As other authors, tributaries, linked up with Middle Earth's conception, swelling the stream into a fullbore river.

The same idea applies to yaoi. These girls found the BL images to be beautiful. The few who decided to become mangaka had these moving images in mind when they first put pencil to paper. When they reached out for other fans, they connected with those that had similar inspirations. And when they reached the stage where they began publishing, their art reinforced the current of shounen-ai work, then a new generation opened their works and a few of them picked up their pens.

The rushing river reinforces itself as it down cut into the bedrock, but even mighty rivers meander and die, but that is an article for another time.

Current Reading

I am reading about Russia, Japan, and Albany, NY:
"Russia under the Old Regime 2nd Ed." by Richard Pipes
"Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa
"Legs" by William Kennedy

Princess Army Epiphany

I have a friend of Polish ancestry and we never let her live down hanging with us at the college anime club when it played Princess Army: Wedding Combat. This show managed to live up to it's kitschy title in all of the wrong ways. The air headed female character had two potential loves. A master martial artist who dominated the well known martial arts world in Poland of all places (this yaoi poster boy was labeled a "typical Polish male" to the consternation of our lovely Polish friend). The other was a well meaning local boy. There was also a gay guy that liked judo ground work. After the pseudo-rap scene, we just about had it.

I think that this was truly the definitive moment, when I realized that not all anime was for me. Not Detonator Orgun, not Oz, not even Battle High, I have Princess Army: Wedding Combat to thank for the epiphany.

Scanlations

Here are the Ivyscans releases that I've contributed to:

Desert Storm part 3
Innocent Dragon chapter 1A & 1B
Yokohama Monogatari Vol. 1 chapters 7 & 8

In the works are
Hana Saita (short story)
Innocent Dragon chapter 2A & 2B
Yokohama Monogatari Vol. 1 chapter 9

Gee, it really felt like I did more in the past 10 months. However, I shouldn't complain since I can barely keep up when I do get the assignment and, more importantly, quality takes time. Also, each piece was 40 pages, which will bring me up to 9 x 40 pages = 360 pages.

Back to work.

The Pen and the Scythe

I went to a funeral today. A friend's mother passed away. She was 64. He was always talkative and solid guy. Not book smart, but sharp and wise. He's a family man.

At the funeral, under the warm, clear sky, I couldn't say a word. I signed the card that was passed around work. I said what I could in there. Whatever is written is never enough, but the only way to write is to remember who it is for. In this case, it WILL not be enough. However, if the words and sentiment can bring a moment of comfort, then they have done their job.

The preacher quoted the "Prairie Home Companion" while speaking directly to the grandchildren. He talked about a "storm home", where the children of Lake Woebegone stayed when the snow cut off the roads and couldn't go home. He told the children that their grandmother had gone to her storm home in Heaven and quoted a Psalm where there he talked about a city where there is a foundation and walls made by God. And where Jesus prepares rooms for people and there was one for their grandmother.

The preacher sounded a little bit like Garrison Keillor, while his words were more hushed that huge, he tried to comfort the children, who needed it the most. Here were simple words at their best, performing the miracle of connecting human sorrow. That sounds can connect human hearts really is amazing.

The RICE must flow.

I'm convinced that this is a law of medieval East Asia and still a force in modern Asia.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080919/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_tainted_rice

Creativity versus Originality

"The difference between originality and creativity is that the originator is the one who is the surprised by creativity."

I might be mangling my Teacher's quote, but in that sentence, he provided razor sharp dividing line between the two phenomena. Many moons ago, when I was in college, an art exhibit showcased crucifixes soaked in urine. One of my then-friends gleefully pointed it out as a poke in the eye to Christianity. Reflexively, I declared that it wasn't art, but had to back away when asked to define art. Instead, I commented that it wasn't good art. My friend had the grace to conceded that point.

More recently, a young woman claimed that she had created an exhibit from the remains of an abortion. Fortunately, the story turned out to be just a story. Again, here was art as a statement, which turned out to be bad art. No one had done it before, so it stood in its originality. Yet it was so starkly lacking in creativity, which is necessary to transcend the level of an intellectual exercise or a gaudy show of technique.

The truly creative appeals to the senses through perspiration, the mind through skill, and to the emotions with the lingering echo of the spontaneity that gave birth to the work. It is this holistic trinity of body, will, and spirit that grants great novels, paintings, movies, and other works a life of their own, like Pygmalion's statue. They are truly the children of their creators, and like children of flesh and bone, the creator gains immortality through the continuing life of their children.

Sister Soldier

For the longest time, I hesitated in watching a show about nuns with guns. Between the price and Hillary Haag's voice, I decided to give "Chrno Crusade" a try and, ye, it was good. The series is uneven, but very good.

At the outset, the tone and the animation of the series changed drastically from episode one to two. The pilot episode was deliciously dark and moody with drained bodies and a monstrous demon. The smooth action and detailed animation won me over. During the next few episodes, the series looked like it was going to settle into a monster of the week slugfest, with a kid sidekick (Azmaria), and ominous overtones, but still formulaic. This was reinforced by the introduction of gadgets like the Gospel round.

My expectations were pleasantly shattered, when the story ramped it up with the Prophecy of Fatima and continued to grow in size, until it encompassed a rebellion in the realm of Hell and an assault on Heaven itself.

Despite the DBZ inspired battles between the Devils, the sincerity of the series and pitch perfect voice acting carried the spirited series to the level of definite quality.

Shinkai III: Killing Me Softly

I admit that I'm a sucker for sappy, sentimental movies, so Shinkai's "5 centimeters per second" go me hook, line, and sinker. This work showcased even more sophisticated animation and visuals than his previous work "Place Promised in Our Early Days". However, "5 cm" shed the storyline and plot that weighed down Shinkai's poetic bent in "Place Promised".

Practically every scene looks beautiful and amazing. The character designs are simple, but effective against the soulful backgrounds and incredible landscapes. There is none of the foil-shine from early CG fractals; these are digitized oil colors. He managed to capture the smear of dusk clouds, the blaze of the sunlight, the glare of the train lights, and even the subtle motion of falling snow.

My personal siren Hillary Haag played the lead female role Akari and completely pulled me into the sweetness of the first story and led me to the kill by the end of the third, short vignette. I knew what was going to happen when the trains passed by each other in the last scene, and I had to ask "carve my heart out with a spoon, why don't you?" And so they did. Sappy stuff gets me everytime.