Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: christianity, melancholy, nerds, sehnsucht, the trap, time, timewasters
Revised: 13.10.2009.
Upon returning to this here blog, I discovered a link I had put in an otherwise blank draft post entitled “On Escapism.” (The link was to the curious essay “The Rabbit Hole: Anime and Escapism” from the on-hiatus or defunct Tachikomatic Days.) It was apparently part of an ongoing discussion, one which I intend to extricate from solely anime-watching and assorted nerdery.
No, what I wish to discuss today is the concept I call “cocooning,” or the deliberate and repeated self-withdrawal into private worlds of either one’s own or someone else’s devising.1 I’m no stranger to it, and I doubt you are either. In our current postmodern cultural climate, where everything seems to be subject to change and pop culture rewards us with endless variations on the same themes, cocooning could be considered an almost sensible response. But I digress…
As both a Christian and a person who cares about what’s real and what’s not, the brief but profound isolation from reality that is escapism causes at least titters of worry on my part. At one point, I maintained a full-blown obsession about it, if you can believe that. In any case, we all have our little cocoons of ephemera to amuse us and belief to sustain us, so in one way it’s unavoidable. Part of it, I suppose, is the old dividing line between what makes a hobby a hobby and an obsession an obsession. Like food or drink, it might be up to us to use such things responsibly. I’ve seen some even suggest that, especially among consumers of more creative cultural products, the obsession in question may provide a good mirror of their own lives and conduct and a worthy tool of reflection. I for one have always used concepts, the written word, and other inanimate personages to learn more about myself.
I suppose I’m saying all this because I maintain a healthy (in size, not in actual health) cocoon around myself these days. I feel more aware of those around me than I used to, however.
God willing, we won’t end up as the dessicated husks with a telepresence depicted in every major sci-fi dystopia from The Matrix to Surrogates.
Gentle reader, I yield the floor to you: what’s your opinion on this matter?
1Good gracious, that’s a convoluted definition. What am I, Samuel Johnson?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: manga, melancholy, moe, nerds, reviews, sehnsucht, surreal
“Your mischief has gone far enough, Lil’ Strawberry…”
–Doll Shakedown in Rozen Maiden
Manga >> Peach-Pit’s Rozen Maiden (Vols. 1-3)
I decided to take a trip in the Wayback Machine to a series that I have almost finished at this point (due to my avarice in gobbling up each installment): Peach-Pit’s Rozen Maiden. With the creators’ suggestive-sounding nom de plume, a rather shojo feel throughout and a downright creepy Gothicism, you think that I would despise it. But all things considered, Rozen Maiden is an intriguing little work. The blurb on the back advertises it as a “metaphysical comedy,” and it definitely does not disappoint.
The beginning of this series is where its strength lies–enter Jun Sakurada, an obstinate, oversensitive, emo lad who for some reason or another has chosen to withdraw from school, his friends, and his loving sister Nori. To give the audience some idea of how utterly petty Jun is, we find him doing the only thing he loves nowadays: buying cheap crap over the Intarwebs, then hastily returning it before the “risk-free trial period” expires. Yeah, he rolls like that.
In his computer desk one day, a note appears with the question of to wind or not to wind. He chooses “wind.” By “wind,” they mean “wind up a doll,” and by “wind up a doll,” they mean “bring said doll magically to life.” Over time, all seven of the dolls are expected to accumulate in his home, eventually destined by their creator, the Dutchman (?) Rozen, to battle for supremacy. Even… to the death?
Against all odds, this is all carried out with almost saccharine sweetness at times. From the tough-girl-with-a-heart-of-gold Shinku (who makes Jun her “manservant”) to the precious Hinaichigo (“Lil’ Strawberry”), all main characters are fully explored and given backstories in “the N-Field” (apparently synonymous with Jung’s collective unconscious!). Jungian references are my big weakness, sorry.
As always, the fragility of the various dolls and the deadliness of their capabilities are frequently drawn upon for dramatic irony and cognitive dissonance. The rather hallucinatory design of most of the work can get under your skin if it weren’t for the (sometimes forced) comedic relief segments. And for those who think it looks creepy, I have to say… that’s the idea. It’s not just Gothic, it’s Gothity-Goth-Goth Goth.
And that says nothing of the series’ broken villainess, Suigintoh. We don’t much about her this point, save that she’s bad news. Oh, and she’ll tear your arm right out of its socket. (Read and see…)
So pick up a copy of Rozen Maiden… get in touch with your effete feminine side today!
Final Grade: A-.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: anime, madness, magic, melancholy, reviews, satire, surreal, the trap
Anime >> Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade (Vol. 3)
ARUMI: Yeah, but that outfit is totally dumb…
SASSHI: STOP SAYIN’ THAT! Now listen carefully: this is an excellent costume based on geomancy and mystical physics! Its first awesome feature is the number of paper dolls you can carry with ya at all times–50! That’s an amazing 1.5 times the amount of previous costumes…. What’s more, you get the Demon’s Gate and Rear Demon’s Gate at your disposal, plus this all-directional gyroscope comes standard. Not only that, the size is adjustable, and extra urethane makes this baby completely airtight! Wait, hold the phone… it’s even reversible! [Awkward Pause] ARUMI, WAKE UP!!!
ARUMI: Alright, alright, I get it. So now you’re an honest-to-God Omryou mystic, right? Well how about shakin’ a leg and gettin’ us back to our own world?!
SASSHI: Well, uh, I could, but…
–No Sale in Abenobashi
Volume 3 sees Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade1 hit its stride once more, not only in comedy, but in heartbreaking tragedy as well. **SPOILER:** Yes, Grandpa Masa is actually dead from his fall in Volume 1. **SPOILER:** Ms. Munemune (whom Sasshi crassly refers to as “that boobalicious babe”) is, in reality, his grandmother. If there was ever a time to use my “THE TRAP” tag, it would be now.
Look, without getting into specifics, Eutus is in fact the original Mr. Abeno, a powerful 10th-century expert in the purported science of “Omryou mysticism” and the space-time architect of the Abenobashi Shopping Arcade. Since Omryou mystics are in the business of diverting horrific fates, we learn that the entire reason the shopping arcade was built on these grounds (and the only reason all this gobbledygook continues to happen) is to avoid past-Masa from killing himself and past-Munemune once he finds out the affair she and past-Abeno have attempted. Thus, when the shopping arcade was built in like the 1950s or something, Abeno, Masa, and Munemune were reincarnated around its construction. Thus, the events of Episode 7 are explained. Got all that?
Apparently, this all justifies why various friends and relatives of Sasshi keep on showing up in the young lad’s wacky dreamworlds: as an Omryou mystic lite, he has been attempting to deny the impending fates of both Arumi moving away to Hokkaido2 and Masa’s tragic fall to his death. With all the cast and characters assembled by Abeno for his original purpose, Sasshi has plenty of material to work with as he inadvertently warps reality into various shopping arcade “worlds.”
Phew!
Anyway, that’s basically what happens before they converge with wacky satire once more in Episode 10, a conventional parody of the easily lampooned “magical girl” genre.3 Whoops, almost forgot about Episode 8, this gloriously bizarre send-up of not only dating sims, but a classic revelation of Arumi’s jealousy of Sasshi and her pervasive hatred of the worlds that are inevitably for only his pleasure and no one else’s… High drama fer shure, I know. Some have sniped at what they view as an overwrought mythology behind the series, but hey, I like my dark drama and high comedy mixed together as closely as possible. In sum, this critical mass definitely qualifies as grounds for an A+. Congratulations, Abenobashi: you just accrued an Epic Win.
Final Grade: A+.
2Apparently they haven’t discovered e-mail yet.
3“Where’d you get this flimsy outfit?” “At a thrift store! But that’s not important now!”
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: anime, madness, magic, melancholy, reviews, satire, sehnsucht, surreal
Anime >> Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade (Vol. 2)
MASA: Aw, come on, don’t you have a sympathetic bone in your body?
BANK TELLER: No, sir, I don’t.
–Pithy Exchange in Abenobashi
I was all set to review this and give it my highest honors.
But that would be if Episode 8 were included. And since it’s not, well, I’ll have to mark off a few points. Tough.
Episode 5, involving a Tex Avery-esque chase scene in Neanderthal times or something, was a noticeably weak point in my opinion. Granted, they did choose to steal from the best with Avery, but things just didn’t cohere as wondrously as they could–and some rather grating sexual humor and cartoon violence didn’t help. Also, for those with Internet access and ability to Google… what’s with Sasshi’s view of his aunt? Honestly, the events of this episode involving both Sasshi’s aunt and the enigmatic Ms. Munemune are somewhat of a beatdown, I think.
Anyway, Episode 6 involves a witty send-up of American gangster flicks (where “the Snail Prohibition” is still in full force), with Episode 7 giving us that sweet melancholic elixir of pure drama. Heck, isn’t that how life feels sometimes… surreal comedy bracketed by sadness? Also, Ms. Munemune is revealed to be… uh… more directly related to Sasshi than previously thought. I don’t know exactly how the writers will deal with this situation, but in any case, it will be quite an exercise in narratorial finagling.
I’ll try to keep Episode 8 out of my mind as I review, but suffice it to say that this section “prepares for great things to come” (lame phrase, ain’t it?). This review is shorter than usual simply because this three-episode slice wasn’t as impacting as the former or the latter. Here’s to completing the set.
Final Grade: B+.
