radio414

Lachlan’s reaction to Elsie’s little scare had been both kind of what she was expecting and kind of not. That was to say, the shocked little jump back right into the wall behind him never seemed to get old no matter how many times he did it -- it was kind of cute, even -- but also, well, everything after that was not anything she was ready for. After he jumped, he ran off babbling about how scary she was and how that wasn’t actually a problem but he did need to go or something like that. “Oh, okay, I mean, thank you?” she found herself saying. Being called scary was a compliment, or she thought so, at least. “I didn’t scare you too hard, though, did I?” She didn’t get an answer, of course; Lach was already out the door by the time she said it. But turning to watch him go also let her get a good look at what he was seeing from up against the wall. There was that card game going on, there were Wada and Corbin gabbing away, there was another member of their crew who had just walked in, still and there, placed at a couple places around the bar, were a few shadowy cats. It was those last few things that interested Elsie the most, mostly because, well, they were new, and not just that, but new in a couple ways. They were new to the bar, natch, but also, like, shadow cats? That was unlike most, if not all magic Elsie had seen before and therefore had to be investigated. So it was that Elsie walked on over to one of the cats with what was probably a silly grin on her face. She chose the one further from the card table mostly out of a selfish desire to get the whole cat to herself. The other one, that one surely was just about to get way too many eyes on it. This one… this one seemed meant for her. Elsie got within about three feet before getting on her knees and started tapping the ground. “Hey. Hey. Pspsps,” she said, repeating herself a few times trying to get the cat’s attention. She wasn’t sure if attracting magical cats was the same as normal cats, but she was willing to try. It didn’t work, though; the cat actually seemed even less interested in her after that. It didn’t even deign to look at her after even the first few tries, and a few after that was when Elsie gave up entirely. Maybe it wasn’t meant for her at all, she thought. But that didn’t mean she didn’t want to know more about it all the same. In Elsie’s mind, one new thing explained another, especially when, like, the other new thing had cat-esque features too. She looked around for where that cat woman had ended up (had she introduced herself? Elsie couldn’t remember…) and spotted her near the door. “It’s a cute pet,” Elsie said, before actually getting up and going over, pulling over a chair as she did so. “Some sort of illusion, or does it do tricks too? “Oh, also, hi.” Probably should have said that first but days were too short to second-guess herself. “How’s this quaint little Setsu town been treating you?” She sat down and leaned in, not so much eager to learn, but at least interested enough to try.

←Previous Post -- Next Post→ Duel 22 -- Nemuro Memorial Hall Or: Literally Pointing Out The Symbolism With A Literal Pointer Finger I put off talking directly about Revolutionary Girl Utena’s manga for a while now for two reasons. The first, and largest reason is that the manga is long enough that I wouldn’t feel justified talking about it in a single post, but also doing a sequence of posts means getting a bit more nitty-gritty with the plot (It’s not a lot different from the anime, but it is different enough to comment on more than the few posts I’ve already done on the subject). And, if I was doing that, well, I wanted to wait until I could draw specific parallels without too many spoilers. But hey, this particular episode clears up End of the World’s identity, which is the last big element I wanted to avoid talking about (I won’t call it a twist because, like, the character’s introduction set the seeds in motion), so that’s an obstacle removed. The second was, for a while, I didn’t have it. I hadn’t read it. But that’s an easily solvable problem. Like the anime, the manga has had multiple physical releases, starting with the original serial in the shojo magazine Ciao and trade paperbacks all the way to a pair of hardcover tomes in 2017. The latter are the ones I purchased and I imagine are the first things to pop up if you go looking to follow my lead. They even come with Chiho Saito’s manga adaptation of Adolescence of Utena, which is an added bonus. That being said, that doesn’t count for “all of the manga”, though. I mentioned this before, but Saito wrote a brief sequel manga, After the Revolution, which, while published in 2018, isn’t scheduled to get an official English release until this October. If I’m doing all this in sequence, I didn’t want to One volume per post is the plan I’ve decided on; it’s a decision that seems kind of obvious. There is a prolog and some side stories I may or may not lump in with them (or, in the case of the latter, with each other) due to their length, but that’s the general idea. This should solve the second problem, too, in that I should receive After the Revolution just in time to cover it, maybe with the movie-manga as an additional buffer. We’ll start next week with that. Can’t wait! This episode is tricky because, well, I’ve been trying with this blog to be like, “Utena may appear formidable, like you need to be alert and engaging with it at all times, but you only really need to engage enough to get a general gist of what it’s trying to say.” At the same time, this episode exists where the symbology can’t help but be in your face. Like I said in the joke title, there are literal pointer fingers and literal beeps to draw your attention where the show wants it to be, and that replaces a lot of work that would be otherwise replaced by dialog. I don’t mean this as a bad thing. I mean, cutting back on dialog means that the episode actually fits within the constraints of an episode’s runtime. But it also requires that level of engagement I’ve been subtly trying to avoid throughout these posts. When you’re not paying attention, the beeping is shrill enough to only irritate. Nor do I mean that there aren’t other times that the show gets significantly more surreal than normal -- in fact, the final arc is where one might say it gets the most. I do mean that this is a significant step up from every episode that came before it. On a base level, though, the episode serves as a backstory for Souji Mikage, told in flashback as he receives a letter from End of the World and ponders what to do next. This is important: these flashbacks are from his perspective, that’s why the pointers emphasize these certain elements, they’re what he remembers most from his time as a researcher, seeking eternity along with a hundred others. Most of these elements are related to his relationship with Tokiko Chida and, by extension, Tokiko’s younger brother Mamiya. The lipstick-marked cup, for example, draws particular attention, and even though we never do see Tokiko and Souji interact in a romantic sense, Souji’s recollection of her being seduced by Akio is similarly strong. Of course, since we do never see the romance onscreen, it’s not a difficult read to see Mikage as obsessive to some degree. He does fixate on a moment near the end of the episode where Utena mirrors some of Tokiko’s dialog from earlier in the episode, for example, and perhaps the cup appearing in Mikage’s office is similarly suspicious. But let’s take this at face value for now. Tokiko Chida is seduced by Akio and Mikage convinces Mamiya to burn down the research facility. The motivation is a little muddy, but my particular read is that by achieving eternity and saving Mamiya from his illness, Souji might hope to win her back. At the same time, though, Tokiko appears at the end of the episode and has moved on from all of this, and leading us into the next episode are a few questions she brings up. The first is she mentions Mamiya’s grave, given we’ve seen Mamiya around, you know, stabbing girls in the chest with the stems of his roses. The second is the age difference. She mentions how nobody at Ohtori Academy seems to age, for example, while she clearly has. Akio responds with “So long as they stay in these gardens we call schools, people will never become adults.” The only garden we’ve seen is the Rose Garden, which, as I’ve mentioned before, is deliberately shaped like a birdcage. So the Foucault metaphor lines up, but that doesn’t exactly explain why nobody, especially Mikage or Akio, seems to age. Finally, by introducing a familial relation to Mamiya, the show draws questions of their actual relation. Mamiya, after all, has been portrayed as a counterpart to Anthy, and thus looks visually similar, a distinction that Tokiko doesn’t share at all, appearing like the vast majority of the cast. There’s a whole episode coming up to address all these, though, the conclusion of the arc, in fact. Hopefully, you can take the suspense. -r Next time: Someone once asked me if I believe in ghosts. I said no, but when I asked the same question back they said, “Of course I do,” and disappeared. ←Previous Post -- Link to Episode -- Next Post→

Water Trouble It was Aiden’s worst nightmare. Not only had the council been caught unawares yet again, so had those few on the island of higher standing than they were unaware as well. Up until just recently, even he had not known about Galatea’s newest crisis, though Aiden justified that to himself with the fact that he was already doing something about it. It was enough to keep him going, at least. “I could not tell you when exactly the drought occurred,” he said. “I sent some acolytes to gather some water yesterday morning, and this morning they said there was none. The acolytes under me seemed to know about it even before they left, though, so it must have happened sometime yesterday, I suppose. “I admit, water is not one of my areas of expertise, nor do I imagine it is of yours. But I do know the spring was a gift from Dia’s watchdog ages ago when the island was young and it has been a fixture of our lives since. Surely you understand how important this is, even without the threat of drought hanging over all of us. It’s just outside of town. I could show you the way, if you would like to see for yourself? Or did you have another destination in mind?” Trouble in the Water The moment Emily’s wrists were seized she not only felt the shock of the attack (not to mention that of seeing such a grotesque transformation) but also a jolt of adrenaline. Drawing the sword initially had been the initial primer, of course, but now it had taken its full effect -- she was wide awake now. It didn’t save her, nor did it keep her from dropping the sword, sending it clattering to the floor beneath her, but of all the things that happened to her in that single moment, that one was the one she wanted to focus on. It was the only thing remotely positive so far. “Where did you get that sword?” Nuumu’s watchdog asked. Wouldn’t she like to know? “I had use for it, and there it was,” Emily said. She had no doubt she would fold under whatever pressure the watchdog could inflict on her, but that didn’t mean she was about to make it easy. She would have said more -- she could imagine her eyes wild with fury now, and she was ready to do all she could even if that was just talk, explain exactly how killing Simon was the best, nay, the only thing to do -- but she stopped short the moment another voice appeared. “Neasa, you’re out of time,” the voice said. There was more, but Emily focused on the final words spoken. “I am going to kill Simon. You may have been able to hold back Emily, but that won’t prove true with me.” Fair enough, Emily thought. She would have preferred to have performed the vengeful act herself, but seeing him dead by another hand may as well have been the same thing. She struggled against Neasa’s grip again, finally breaking free, though the moment she hit the ground she crumpled. It felt like just as all that energy had entered her system, it had vanished equally as quickly, and she barely had the strength to even push off the ground. Maybe it was for the best, she realized. She’d probably just interfere if she tried again. She heard Simon say, “Ah, well, I suppose I will let you all sort this out. We should probably retreat to the sanctum for the time being, my dear attendants,” and, moments later from seemingly further away, “When you are finished, please let me know if I am to die today or not. I would hate for it to be a surprise.” OOC

Look, if Estellise had wanted a feast feast, Chris thought, she probably could have taken everyone to Fereis… castle? Manor? Whatever that family called their gargantuan estate and managed something there. It wasn’t that he didn’t think Hector or his cook were up to the task, of course, just that, well, it wasn’t rich-person food. It had been a while since he’d had any rich-person food, actually. The few times he was lucky enough to even be in an environment where he could find it, he’d been on a job, and while it was tempting to reminisce on better times and raid the pantry for whatever he could find, there were always more important tasks at hand. He’d gotten close, though. Once, he’d had to cross right in front of the kitchen doors and the smell alone had been intoxicating. But the last time he’d ever had any, again, would have been at Ellwood manor, and those memories were starting to fade. “Hello.” His idle daydreaming was abruptly cut short by a woman approaching him from further down the bar. She said she’d seen Chris before, but he had no recollection of ever doing likewise, a dynamic that immediately put him on edge. It wasn’t enough for him to brush her away entirely, though. Most people looking for him with jobs put him on edge, for example. Still, she mentioned Sergei, and that presented itself as at least a little bit of a chance to deflect. “I’m not Sergei’s keeper,” Chris said. “If you’re looking for him, there’s not much I can tell you.” That only encouraged her to get closer, though. Good gods. “Your group is full of surprises, isn’t it?” she said. “You’re not just an ordinary adventurer, are you? Call it a woman’s intuition but I think there’s a story behind you that’d be utterly fascinating to uncover.” The mention of the adventuring group got Chris to instinctively look over at the table they had picked out. He even gave an awkward wave to either of them if they happened to be looking on. But he looked back just as quickly. It was difficult to look the woman in the eye, but that didn’t mean he didn’t try. “I guess two things,” Chris said. “First, I promise you, I’m not a very good storyteller. And second, coming out of the Dungeon, I learned even information has a price. You can’t expect to get even a bad story out of me without something in return.” “Oh come now; I don’t want anything about that musty place. Is it so wrong to want to get to know people a little more?” “I mean, I don’t even know your name.” “Well, in that case, hello, I'm Julian,” she said. She smiled, too, which just threw Chris for a loop even more. “There, now you know it. Free of charge at that.” Chris didn’t think it was free of charge. Now he felt obligated to keep going; he’d fallen right into her trap, he thought. “Nice to meet you, Julian. I’m Chris,” he said. “So alright, what sort of story were you hoping to hear?”

song ends at 6:43 the rest is applause also there's flashing lights in the video so warning for that

new tfs is very exciting

←Previous Post -- Next Post→ Duel 21 -- Vermin Or: Yeah, Touga Has Had, Like, Two Lines In Nine Episodes But That Doesn’t Mean He Can’t Get A Sword Pulled Out Of Him I know I’ve been rallying against praising Ikuhara and Ikuhara alone for the creation of this series, but at the same time, he’s also the one with his name all over everything. It’s not a coincidence, for example, that Nanami’s three cohorts are named Aiko, Keiko, and Yuuko, or I-ko, K-ko, and U-ko if you follow the Shadow Girls’ lead. The other ones are a bit less obvious, though, so maybe it’d be worth it to talk about the other ways people find Kunihiko Ikuhara in this series because it’s not just cute acronyms like that one. The first character I’ve seen described as an Ikuhara avatar is actually a representation of someone else already: Chu-chu. On paper, this makes sense. In addition to frequently acting as a stand-in for Anthy, he’s also the series mascot animal, so it makes sense that he’d provide the occasional commentary on behalf of the director. This can make some interpretations of his actions interesting, especially regarding earlier in the series when things aren’t otherwise as ambiguous. On the other hand, I also kind of feel this particular read is mostly used to excuse some of the more out-there things Chu-chu does in those early episodes -- things I never thought really needed explaining outside of “he’s a silly monkey.” I could easily be wrong on this, of course; I could have missed the connections that point to Ikuhara injecting himself while looking for the other. Fortunately, the other major insert has actual dialog. Throughout this entire arc, Akio Ohtori has been opining on the relationship problems Utena brings him, scenes that, so far, have occurred just before Utena goes off to duel someone with a Black Rose. Narratively, these are to bring Utena closer to Akio to set up where this next arc is going, but given the nature of the conversation, it’s easy to read these as the author preaching to the audience as well. But even then, some of the comments Akio makes are a little weird? Like, just last episode, Akio comments about Wakaba suddenly feeling special as if it must be only temporary, as if Wakaba was doomed to come crashing back down simply by her nature. Of course, the nature of that particular situation means that Saionji was probably always going to leave, an action that would have consequences no matter what, but using this “Akio as the director’s commentary” lens would mean that such statements can’t only be about the work itself. As a last little throwaway, the three recurring triplets Yamada, Tanaka, and Suzuki (and yes, I did have to look up those names) are apparently based on people Ikuhara knows, and they show up from time to time in his other works. It’s not a direct avatar, but at least this one has been confirmed by the creators. In case it’s not clear by this point, I’m not exactly convinced by the lines of reasoning. Both Chu-chu and Akio have significant arguments in their favor, but also, I’m not confident they track all the way through. Revolutionary Girl Utena says a lot of things, but I’m not sure this is one of them. Keiko is the one the episode focuses on. Anthy tries to clear that up near the end of the episode, though her more important point, and the one that really needs to be focused on, comes just after. “If it's for someone you love, how you feel about others doesn't matter. You keep lying to yourself for as long as it takes,” she says. And even given the context of the episode it’s in it’s a little sad -- Keiko can’t express herself to Touga out of fear of retribution from Nanami -- but also, given who is saying it, and given what they were also told to do this episode, it also provides a glimpse into Anthy’s perspective. It’s definitely something to keep in mind as the arc comes to a close. All that, of course, is entirely separate from the main story of the episode, which wonders just how Nanami’s posse can put up with the abuse she lays on them. Who do they love and desire to be close to? The episode even comes with its own flashback to how they first met at the entrance ceremony. I couldn’t tell you why Nanami then focuses her efforts on ruining Keiko, though perhaps the intent there is that it could have happened to any of the three, and Keiko was just the one that got lucky spotting Touga in the rain. But this means it’s also unclear if the other two have come to their own conclusions regarding Nanami’s treatment towards them. The flashback shows them together even before Nanami, and right after meeting her is when they form their friendship pact, but they don’t exactly get time to explore their own feelings like Keiko does. And Keiko, again, chooses to ignore her happiness in favor of a blissful lie, one that’s going to come crashing down on someone sooner or later. Yes, I say this with knowledge of future events, but also it seems inevitable anyways, doesn’t it? By giving people normally under Nanami’s thumb even a hint more personality, it also shines a light on her own actions. Her possessiveness of Touga was already weird, but unlike coming after an uninterested Utena, now she is actively denying other people who would otherwise like to court. Next time: The show increases in symbolic imagery to the point of self-parody. ←Previous Post -- Link to Episode -- Next Post→