Memory and Oblivion in Sora no Woto

The price of a memory, is the memory of the sorrow it brings.
― Pittacus Lore, I Am Number Four


We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.
— Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933)


Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.
― Marcel Proust


The scars that are left in a person’s soul after surviving a war, the ways a society tries to console and redeem itself, how the historical truth gets twisted, suited and tailored to different people’s needs: these are topics that Sora no Woto, beyond its flaws, managed to sing about elegantly. The sound of the sky carried and awakened memories…

Animediet was kind enough to host me once more. Check the rest of my post there.

A small comment on Ojii-san no Lamp

Ojii-san no Lamp is a 23 minute long short film that was produced in 2010 for the Young Animator Training Project, an effort for revitalizing the anime industry. Out of the four short films that were produced that year, this one was unanimously the best. Not only did it amaze with its graphics, but also with its plot and storytelling.

A boy finds a strange object while playing hide-and-seek. His grandfather tells him the story of his own youth, and the important role the old lamp played. This story is about the modernization of Japan and the changes that came with it. ~ My Anime List

If you haven't watched it, just go already. The summary should be intriguing enough. If it hasn't convinced you, you can check other reviews and analysis. I'm here to contribute something else, even if it's just a small comment, that hasn't been mentioned up till now: the probable reference and meaning of the opening scene.

Retrospect on CLAMP: In good and bad times...

5 things I LOVE about CLAMP and 5 things I want to complain about...

Diary of Anime Lived - Potpourri Part 2

Neko's turn in anime confessions.

Diary of Anime Lived - Potpourri Part 1

by Child of Ginger

Anime is a rich medium that knows how to deliver good/ powerful/ touching stories, if used properly. Their impact, of course, depends also from their viewers' experiences and tastes. When the viewers can see themselves in the story, that's when the strongest emotions are stirred and get unlocked. In this post, we reminiscence such key moments.

Part of the Diary of An Anime Lived Project. You can also check the Remembering Love project by trzr23 that is pretty similar.

Someday We'll Shine Together - Utena and Us

revolutionizing cosplay and photo by neko-tin and tajfu

Many people have 'their song'; we have 'our anime'. This is the story of how an anime revolutionized our world and how we met. (mildly NSFW photos)

The Brilliance of Chihayafuru

Chihayafuru shines among anime not because it gives us perplexed stories or some philosophical notions, but through it's simplicity and beauty.Snippet Tee from Lemmas and Submodalities has already talked a bit about what she enjoys in Chihayafuru and I couldn't agree more with her. I'm going to try putting my excitement in my own words and in the process adding more reasons why this series has taken a special place in my heart.

Offering a Prayer to Tempus Spatium's World

"The maiden ... wavers., the maiden drifts. Forever escaping from reality, she paints the sky ... with her unending beauty." ~ Onashia

Simoun's themes and revelations are many and large: the loss of childhood, and the progressive narrowing of our lives by the choices we make. The idea that gender identity is not so solidly fixed as we believe. The elusiveness of time and space. The fact that even after the worst has happened, life goes on. The contradiction between religious principles and fighting a war. The possibility of respect and fellow-feeling between enemies. The dreadfulness and inescapability of social class-distinctions. The mystery of love.
The gnawing, self-defeating harm caused by jealousy. The corrosive effects of grief, and of refusal to connect with others in a vain attempt at self-protection. Love and hatred between siblings. Love among a group of friends. The fact that we do not really know even the people we love. Self-sacrifice for the sake of others, and for one's own self-respect. And the fact that suffering can make one regret having made the sacrifice. Simoun brings ideal and real together, and leaves us with a real world that, despite its inescapable sorrows, is transfigured by hope and love. - by hashihime

If you want a guide to Simoun for the confused and the perplexed, then you can find a well-done one by Nathan here. Hashihime above provides an all-inclusive, full-blown review that is also recommended.What I attempt to do in this post, is highlight the aspects and themes of the show that grabbed my attention and are carved brightly into my memory. I try to offer a hymn, a prayer to Simoun in my own humble way.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée: Episodes 10 - 12

Camille, Alice, Yune, Oscar and Claude - the main cast of Ikoku Meiro

Final 3 episodes that revolve mainly around Claude and a review - the aftertaste.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée - Episodes 7-9

We get to see lots of Camille and Claude and of childhood moments.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée - Episodes 4.5 - 6

I think that I won't ever try blogging a series episode by episode. Always something happens: it gets busy, PC has problems, I face personal problems... and I'm not really fast at screencaping, deciding what to write etc. You get the picture. But since I started Ikoku and it has some things to offer, I'll blog it to the end; changing the number of episodes reviewed per post- from 2 to 3.

Fear of blood and silence - An essay on my relationship with Silent Hill

Introduction

I recall being a little boy, one who, at the time, could barely understand the English language. I remember how deeply in love I was with video games, the long agonizing hours I sat down playing my favorite stories.

One day of that age, I visited the neighborhood's video club and I noticed a new game, one that had many copies on the main shelf. The cover was blurry and I could hardly tell the main face apart from the rest of the image: there it was, a person looking pale and weak appeared, with a vague look in its eyes. I decided to give the product a try and so I rented a copy. That same night, with the lights turned off and total silence surrounding me, I started walking my path in the streets of Silent Hill.

Hourou Musuko- 9. Cool girlfriend ~ Green eye

In the mirror: Takatsuki's girls' uniform she left behind.

I am not sure if the 'cool girlfriend' applies to Anna, because we don't get much of her this episode, but the green eye applies easily to many of the characters of Hourou Musuko for this episode. We have Takatsuki that crossdresses finally at school and the teacher sees this action mostly as jealousy towards Sarashina; then we have Doi who visits Yuki and seems kinda jealous of a guy that can look that beautiful (there are other feelings there, too) and so urges Nitorin who wants to crossdress, as well. Oh, I almost forgot Maho who is surely jealous about how her brother not only looks like her,but people find him so cute, that he gets attention.

Now that I'm thinking about it... if girlfriend is meant as a female friend, than this title applies firstly to Chiba, who is a good counselor to both Takatsuki and Nitorin in subtle ways, and then to the quirky Sarashina, who takes a bit of her time off job to talk with Nitorin about crossdressing.

The hot spot of this episode: the different reactions towards Takatsuki and Nitorin crossdressing due to their sex.  

Hourou Musuko - 8. Spring ~ Brand new me

After episode 6, a new arc begins that puts in focus the relationship of Nitorin with Anna and the one of Chiba with Takatsuki. The storyline evolves really smoothly, adding details each episode that complement what we already know. In episode 8 things start to move faster: it's a new school year, the group is separated in different classes, they share typical discussions about which class they are in, with whom, how is their teacher. With the new school year start Takatsuki's feelings for crossdressing re-emerge. Nitorin is going out with Anna (though their relationship can't really be defined as romantic, at least from Anna's part) and he really enjoys shopping with her. His desire to wear pretty clothes again are barely held back only by the fact he's in relationship.

Nitorin and Takatsuki remain distant. On the contrary, Takatsuki and Chiba have become pretty close again, at the point that Takatsuki grows her hair back, influenced by Chiba's request. Those four meet by chance and get better acquainted. With Chiba-san with them an almost quarrel errupted. In the end, things went quite well. The only ominent event is the reappearance of a former classmate of Nitorin from primary school, Doi. Doi had bullied him and now sits in front of him in the class. Soon, he seeks to get involved with Nitorin once more, with the motive of getting to know Yuki, the 'hot chick' he saw with Nitorin one day.

Hourou Musuko- 7. Rosy cheeks~ Growing pains

Growing pains refer of course to both Nitorin's acne problems but mostly to the troubles a love relationship can bring to the people involved and their friends.

Hourou Musuko- 6. Cultural Festival ~ Dream of a butterfly

I'm back! Exams ended back in June but there's much going on still now, searching for a job, studying for a public exam... and my laziness. I'm going to blog to episode 9 for the time being, since later in the summer and early fall the last dvd volumes of the series will be out with bonus stuff and episode 10 and 11 seperate and whole, unlike the way they got aired (due to noitama slot's restrictions).

As the title says, we finally get the festival day. The episode can somehow be split into 3 parts: pre-play (the preparations of last moment before going on-stage), play and after-play (comments from friends and family members to our little actors). And since the main actors are Chiba as Romeo and Makoto as Juliet, the episode centers around their feelings and reactions.

Light in the Darkness

from the first pages of Children of the Sea

 The ocean is like a starlit night sky...

Hourou Musuko- 5. Long, long shadow

End of summer and they are gathered to finish the play script. Momo here is yelling at Saori.

Episode 5 revolves around the preparations of the upcoming festival and the interactions between the cast. Saori is sour as always, trying to cause troubles at first, then accepting the situation. Fumiya is introduced, Saori's friend, that causes quite a fuss by being reckless and indiscrete, and Chi is way too curious and nosy without understanding that she makes people uncomfortable. Maho can be cute and rude. And Anna has looks but... I wouldn't say she's the epitome of a good-hearted person... As for Nitorin and Takatsuki they go on being good friends and protecting each other. The same goes for Nitorin and Makoto.

Hourou Musuko- 4. I'll give you my name

First time in a 'special' shop for queers

Episode 5 is mostly about Nitorin's and Takatsuki's first visit to a shop where transgendered people can buy, about them 'exchanging' names and about Chiba's questions and nerves.

Hourou Musuko- 3. Romeo and Juliet

Violet (purple hues) seem to be Nitori's colour... after all it's a mix of blue (see boys) and red/pink (see girls). Do you also remember that in the 1rst episode violet was the flower assigned to him? Violet stands for 'I'll always be true', faithfullness and modesty... let's see if he's gonna be true to himself...

Pink might be a girlish colour but my thoughts on it revolved around how we get it from the red (strength, determination, passion) with lots of white... White is a colour reflecting all the others, so someone could say it's like a mirror. Takatsuki wavers in her determination to 'be' a boy and in the end she gaves in a bit... more inside

Back to the themes of episode one, though more elaborated. Here problems start occuring; problems with their body : deepening voice and growing breasts for Nitori and Takatsuki respectively. They have to confront the changes and accept them...