radio414

All of a sudden, Peter found himself in a situation where his head was getting pat. It wasn’t something he was completely unused to, it was just something that happened, he found when you were young, short, and “precocious” (adults seemed to like using that word) like he was. That didn’t mean he wasn’t annoyed when it happened, of course. He really was. But he’d also learned to keep those sorts of feelings to himself. Besides, there were more aggravating things to worry about, like how he was literally dragged across the street to Pegasus Market. Peter wasn’t even sure Hana checked traffic at all, and she definitely didn’t let go until they were inside the grocery proper. And even then, it was only because Hana immediately started filling her arms with snacks. “Wait, hold on,” Peter said. “I don’t- don’t you want to check what we have to get first?” Two hundred pizza rolls? Was that, like, two hundred boxes or was that twenty boxes of ten each? Either way, it seemed a bit excessive. “Makoto, can I see that list?” He snatched it out of her hands without waiting for an answer and scanned it. “Okay, yeah, maybe one box, not two hundred.” He looked around. Grocery stores were always a bit weird to Peter. He knew where things generally were -- meat was at the deli, frozen things were in the freezers, etcetera -- but the actual logistics always seemed to be different with each new place, and no place ever had the same things in the same places. “I guess the next thing we need to find some instant noodles? Is that in the noodles section or the Asian section? I’m never sure.”

←Previous Post -- Next Post→ Duel 06 -- Take Care, Miss Namami! Or: This Is Where Things Start To Get Weird In my continuing interest to distance myself from presenting as the end-all-be-all of Utena analysis, I thought it would be nice to list a few other places one might read about this particular anime, whether those be other blogs like this one or a few actual sources. We’ll start with the latter, though. Perhaps most exciting is commentary from Ikuhara himself, provided in the 2011 Right Stuff box set and translated by Sarah Alys Lindholm, which I found online here. There isn’t commentary on every episode -- largely the first half, up to Episode 18, though there’s something poignant about Episode 39’s if you’re willing to be spoiled -- but also included are notes on the OP, Rondo Revolution, the creation process, and a bit of technical discussion on the remastering process if you’re interested in that. I recommend checking it out, and I’ll probably be drawing from it myself as this blog series goes on. It also includes this anecdote: This is just between you and me, but when I was fourteen, I saw a UFO. The UFO telepathically told me this prophecy: When you grow up, you will direct an anime about girls revolutionizing various things. Surely you jest. You must not tell anyone about me. If you ever do… Wh-What will happen to me? People will call you a sketchy guy. Next is ohtori.nu (which is partially down at time of writing but the twitter account is still active and mentions working to get it up. It was fine a week ago so... (Now it's up!)). Much of the analysis is in its forum, so you’re going to get forum-like discussions, and of course, many of them aren’t good, but it also represents most of the fan discussion from the point the show finished airing to the point when pretentious people like me started their own blogs about it. The forum is an archive now, so you can’t participate in discussions anymore, but it’s still nice to trawl through looking for something interesting if you’re in the mood. Lastly are the blogs, most of which are generally of similar quality to this one (self-deprecating joke) but the one that stands out to me immediately is Jacob Chapman’s over at Anime News Network. It only lasted halfway, to Episode 18 (what an odd recurring theme) but unlike me who alluded to Anthy and Chu-Chu’s relationship, like, four posts ago and hasn’t really since, nor have I touched on the duel songs or the shadow-play girls outside of passing notes, Jason has sections devoted to each of these recurring elements, and more besides. It’s still a different take than what I’ve been doing here, especially with how each post there has to straddle being both a review and an analysis, which I’m not sure I agree with, but it’s worth a look if you’re so inclined. Really, Utena is the sort of show that you’re not going to write thousands of words about if you don’t like it in some way. Like, the people who don’t like it are simply going to write about how inscrutable, or worse, how boring it is and leave it at that. And like I’ve said before, Utena invites a lot of analysis simply by how weird it can get. So the people writing these sorts of blogs are almost guaranteed to be over-enthusiastic in the worst-case scenario, and many of them are worth a look just for that. When a Nanami episode isn’t about general ideas of growing up, it’s about her relationship with her brother. As has already been established, Nanami loves, loves, loves her big brother Touga, and has defined herself by this relationship, to the point that she is willing to sabotage girls who try to romance him. We see in the episode, when this relationship fails in some way, so does she. But at the same time, we start to get a sense as to why with this episode. In one of her imagine spots, Anthy and Touga proclaim their love for each other and conspire to kill Nanami off. Because this is Utena, this is through literally cutting her off, sending a flower pot tumbling down onto her head. The implication is obvious -- Nanami fears losing her brother’s affection the moment he turns his eyes elsewhere. That Touga seems to permit this is interesting, but given that this is something the show is interested in addressing later, so will we. We’re also introduced to Unhealthy Relationship #523 of this show, the one between Nanami Kiryuu and newcomer Mitsuru Tsuwabuki. Remember, not only is there an age gap between these characters, but also Mitsuru’s actions are super creepy. He admits by the end of the episode to engineering dangerous situations to put Nanami in, it’s implied that it’s his footsteps at the beginning, and when Nanami admits to using their relationship to keep him in her service, he seems perfectly fine with that, going as far as to beat up three upper-class members just to keep her affection. His motivations are a little sketchy also. He wants to be like Touga to Nanami, he wants to be that older brother-like figure who protects his girl from harm (not realizing that Nanami and Touga’s relationship is already super weird), and allusions are made to him being Nanami’s prince, and Nanami being his damsel. In that way, along with some early shots that mirror Utena’s flashback with her prince, Unhealthy Relationship #523 serves as an early indication as to just what Revolutionary Girl Utena thinks of this savior/saved dynamic. With Touga and Mitsuru by her side, Nanami is a girl who can expect to be saved at any given opportunity, and we already see what kind of girl she has turned out to be. Finally, this is also the point in the show where things start to get weird. They won’t always be like this, but some elements are obviously not meant to be part of the diegesis of the scene. Namami obviously wasn’t using radio equipment to listen in on Misturu’s confession, but she was bound to find out eventually, so that’s how it is portrayed. The climax doesn’t involve a literal kangaroo with boxing gloves, but it’s a danger that must be overcome. But this is a blog that does want to at least touch on those sorts of things, so let’s go through each animal that attacks Nanami in turn: Horse: Utena’s going to keep using this metaphor of horses to their princely riders, from the opening of the show to some of its final episodes, but here it’s for Mitsuru Tsuwabuki as Nanami’s initially mysterious prince. Bull: Something of a catch-all analogy to Nanami and Mitsuru’s bullheadedness. Nanami, as stated repeatedly, only has eyes for Touga, and Mitsuru is determined to change that in his favor. Kangaroo: By drawing attention to the oddity of the situation, Utena is also drawing attention to the oddity of the relationship. Mitsuru is determined to protect Nanami, but the relationship is flawed from the start. Plus it gives an excuse to see Touga shirtless again, and you better get used to that. -r Next time: The miracle never happen, because a miracle is something that doesn’t exist. ←Previous Post -- Link to Episode -- Next Post→

The kobold’s eyes lit on fire, and, soon after, so did Sergei. Chris assumed one caused the other, but what did he know about magic anyway? Estellise used it, and her speaking in normal-person poems was confusing enough sometimes, let alone kobold babble. He sighed, though whether it came from a place of physical exhaustion or just not wanting to deal with things anymore, he couldn’t tell. “Chris! Kill it!” Sergei said. He didn’t need to be told twice. There were two immediate problems, though, with dealing with the kobold shaman. The first was distance; Chris had been ten or so feet away before the kobold started scrambling back. The second was the noise. The kobold just kept babbling away. “Just shut up,” Chris said, and he let a dagger fly, which landed right in the kobold’s chest with a satisfying thunk. He threw his other one, too, which landed right next to the first one, and now there was a kobold shaman with two daggers sticking out of it. It was still alive, unfortunately, but at least it wasn’t babbling anymore. And if it wasn’t babbling, Chris assumed it wasn’t casting any more spells. So now all he had to do was finish the job. Fortunately, a kobold who wasn’t casting spells was just like all the other kobolds on the floor, and Chris already knew how to deal with those. It was harder, like, it wasn’t like he hadn’t spent a bunch of energy charging the ones that had come before, but he kept his eyes on his target and lunged forward, dealing one final strike before sliding to a halt.

Corner Some of the questions Levanna got were easy. Tourist attractions? Would Galatea like an ocean? These were things she could deal with. “Well, outside the Temple Square and perhaps Tavern street, we do have a natural spring we get our water from,” she said. “A Dia watchdog long ago came and blessed it so we would never run out. So no, I don’t think we need an ocean. I appreciate the thought, however. And people do find it tranquil. Would that interest you? Or perhaps you’d rather the excitement of the theater? We have a rather exciting amphitheatre that maybe you would be interested in visiting sometime. And, ah, no,” she gestured at Finn to indicate the other inquiry he’d had. “Aiden is not a watchdog, merely a priest for Lar.” She laughed. “Maybe he thinks he’s a dog sometimes.” It was Kitt, the Taros watchdog, that made things difficult. Vagaries, of course, invited questions she didn’t want. She’d already answered one and all of a sudden he came back with “I would love to inquire as to what could be more important than that.” There were a lot of things Levanna wanted to say. She could conceive, for example, of a lot more important ceremonies -- even Taros ceremonies -- than just waving a sword around and saying “I made this!” or whatever the ceremony was supposed to do. Maybe they were dedicating a whole smithy or something like that. But at the same time, it was like a bolt of clarity hit her, and she realized that simply making excuses wasn’t going to cut it anymore. She’d revealed a nugget of the truth somewhere, and now she had to follow along with that. At the very least, she could regain her ground that way. Levanna stood up from her desk. She was quicker than she’d hoped, and certainly not as smooth, but the point was still the same. “Alright,” she said. “Well, I imagine you’ll want to see the Temple Square, then, seeing as you’re so anxious about its goings-on. I think, ah, Finn, you said you were interested in visiting Dia’s temple at some point today as well? We could all go together and then after that, we’ll see about your temple, how does that sound?” She didn’t wait for an answer. More questions were not what she wanted right now. The only other things she said were “You can leave your teacups on the tray if you like. I’ll make sure someone cleans them up for you,” and, when she reached the door, “After me, please.” Coroner “Can we not pray to our patrons for aid?” The dog who Emily had not asked to follow along asked. “I don’t want to give you any false hope, but I feel it is a waste to not at least try to ask for help, no?” By the mark on his chest, Emily assumed he was a watchdog of Myria, but she didn’t want to make assumptions, nor did she care whether she was right or wrong. “False hope?” she said. “My mother is either going to be dead soon by your hand or continue to suffer and end up lost to me later, what hope is there between those two options? You cannot give me false hope; I lost it all when Doctor Wendell failed to treat my father. As I said, I’m working to keep my mother from the same fate.” She was wasting time and she knew it. And from what the Nuumu watchdog said, they were going to spend even more time getting the correct tools. Did they not just always carry their tools with them? Couldn’t they just mutter a few words and have it be so? But it wasn’t her place to argue. She knew enough of her theology to know what she was doing, enough to make her daily offerings to Lar, and that was enough. “Do as you like,” she said. To Nuumu’s dog, she said, “You said it’d be best if we moved her, though, so we’d best get to her.” As soon as she’d finished speaking, she heard her mother call from upstairs. “Emily!” her mother said. “Emily, dearest, are you there?” The frustrated determination Emily had with the dogs in front of her immediately melted away and was replaced with worry. “Coming, mother!” Emily gave a quick beckon to the two watchdogs to follow her, adding a “We do need to hurry,” before racing up the stairs to her mother’s side. The bedroom was as she had left it that morning. Her mother was even in the same position she had been, clutching her covers and forehead drenched with sweat from her fever. The only things that had changed were the light from the single window overlooking a barely-attended-to garden now more suitably lit the room, and the water cup Emily had left out had been drained to its last drop. “Mother, I’m here,” Emily said. And she was. She was kneeling right by the bed, grasping her mother’s right hand with both of hers. “What do you need? More water? A change of sheets?” “Oh, Emily, dear Emily,” her mother said. She turned her head and looked Emily in the eyes. “I’m glad I got to see your face one more time. I’m afraid your father’s disease is getting the better of me.” “Mother, please hold on. There are people here who can help you, I petitioned them mysel-” Her mother interrupted her. “No, Emily, listen to me.” With her left hand, she drew back her bedsheets, revealing Emily’s worst fear to her. “There is no hope for me, Emily. I’m sorry to have been such a burden. Do good, Emily. Take care of yourself.” Emily’s mother had two final words. First was an “Ah…” as she lay back in her bed, as her grip relaxed on both her sheets and Emily’s hand, and the second, fainter than a whisper, was “Ina͠ni̷s...͝” as the rest of her body turned to stone. Crowd? Er... The Temple Square was, as Levanna had expected, rather empty. A few people were out and about, but instead of the general milling about normal for an open and public space, their eyes were kept right on the stones in front of them, as if that would get where they were going faster. Levanna couldn’t help but remark on it. “Ah, normally there wouldn’t be this much peace and quiet, but surely you can appreciate it, no? “Dia’s temple is right over there.” Levanna gestured at a large building with an exterior the color of the sea. “You know, here’s a fun fact you might not know. Inside is one of the last remaining Mother of Pearl stones in all of Naviim.” Right as she started in its direction, there was a roar from across the way, from Taros’ temple. As if what was already a hastily-put-together plan couldn’t get any worse! And it was just starting to go downhill, soon after, the doors to the temple were flung open, and a number of people started crowding the entrance, calling after anybody who looked at them funny or dared get too close. They were incomprehensible from where Levanna was standing, but she knew what they were saying all the same. They were beckoning people in. “Pay them no mind,” Levanna said. She clapped her hands twice to summon a few guards over. “Please, could you contain this rabble for me?” she asked. Behind her, she said, “See, it’s all under control. Shall we visit Dia now?” OOC

i'm curious too

I'm pretty bad at picking favorites, but I can list some influential ones. In no particular order: The Beatles / ABBA (okay that's technically two but they're what my mom would play driving to and from school so they fill the same purpose) Barns Courtney Justice Katzenjammer King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard