Hello Hello! This is my multi fandom blog where I talk about anything that interests me at the moment. Even if Iām talking about something other than the thing you followed me for, thereās no harm to bringing up that thing again when Iām involving myself in another fandom!
Backstage conversation between Mori Ougai (Nemoto Masakazu) and Ozaki Kouyou (Mutsuki Sera) about Nakahara Chuuya (Ueda Keisuke).
At the end of the play, Mori and Chuuya have a long chat as the final scene. Chuuya thinks Mori is still waiting for Dazai to return, and Mori agrees that Dazai could lead the Port Mafia after him. But he explains that there's a method where Port Mafia members can vote on who they want to lead them, namely filling out a āsteel oracleā. All of them had voted for Chuuya. He tells Chuuya that there are boxes of steel oracles from current mafia members supporting Chuuya. Chuuya breaks down in tears and has to leave quickly, rushing past the arriving Kouyou and Kajii who wonder why he's crying.
(Translation under cut)
Mori: These are the steel oracles that we used onstage. Pianoman, Albatross, Lipman, Doc, and Iceman. Theyāre handwrittenā¦see, look, theyāre all in everyoneās own writing. Oh yeah. In the scene where I gave these to Chuuya, Keisuke looks at me with such a lovely gaze. Well, itās because to Chuuya, this is truly his family. Kouyou-san, you have some too, donāt you, from the rest of the mafia. Is that one yours? (She nods)
Kouyou: Higuchi-san, Gin. And more.
M: All the members. Ooh. Everyone wrote their own?
K: Everyone filled theirs out.
K: But you know, Chuuya is really cute when heās a little shaken.
M: Thatās right. Even though heās confident-
K: Yes, heās a little concerned. Itās cute.
M: At the end, when he thinks Boss is going to say that heās going to choose Dazai (to succeed him) heās - how best to say - he seems jealous.
BUNGOU STRAY DOGS STAGE PLAY: DEAD APPLE
Source: My blu-ray
This was a really interesting and beautiful stageplay! Fleshed out several confusing bits from the movie which are now making a lot more sense now that part one of the manga is over.
There are so many good disgusted facial expressions that Akutagawa makes when Atsushi is being criminally stupid, but I only included a few. We also learn a lot more how Chuuya and Akutagawa work as a team. Atsushi offers to let Akutagawa hold onto his tail-belt in the dense fog, and Akutagawa looks SO DISGUSTED by this foolishness.
Not because I have nothing to say at all times, but I just have a ton thatās going on with me at all times. I read webnovels, Iām constantly analyzing everything I do and like, I want to further my own knowledge on every subject I touch, but I also have fandoms I want to give more time to talk aboutā¦
Not because I have nothing to say at all times, but I just have a ton thatās going on with me at all times. I read webnovels, Iām constantly analyzing everything I do and like, I want to further my own knowledge on every subject I touch, but I also have fandoms I want to give more time to talk aboutā¦
i kind of donāt relate to the way other people Hate fictional characters in fandom spaces most of the time because to me a character is first and foremost a vehicle for Making A Story so if the character does Story. then itās good. i donāt know how to explain what i mean by this. the only time i feel like i dislike a character is when i feel like their presence is not interesting and isnāt doing anything for my experience of Story. you know.
People talk of āsocial outcasts.ā The words apparently denote the miserable losers of the world, the vicious ones, but I feel as though I have been a āsocial outcastā from the moment I was born. If ever I meet someone society has designated as an outcast, I invariably feel affection for him, an emotion which carries me away in melting tenderness.
fictional character discourse would be more fun if we all internalized the fact that characters are narrative tools, not people. once we have that basic fact down, we can start talking about what story the author is trying to tell using these characters, whether theyāre successful, whether the story itself is successful and by what means we are measuring successāwhich are all really fun and interesting things to discuss! but we simply cannot get to that point unless we first accept that fictional characters simply do not have thoughts, feelings, opinions, or any agency on their own. a fictional character has more in common with the fictional chair theyre sitting on than with a real person
I don't know if you pay attention to any DR collabs, but I thought you'd appreciate this one! Particularly the amount of detail to Komaeda: the corrupted halo with the symbol on his shirt in it, the single horn, the chain....I'm so obsessed with this collab and its implications are making my head spin in a good way
I donāt particularly look into collabs often (my attention is everywhere), but this does have a lot of interesting choices! It plays well into Komahinaās similarities and differences. Theyāre already have religious-like undertones inside sdr2 anyway because of what Hopeās Peak Academy was to them. Izuru Kamukuraās name could be read as āexiled from the throne of godsā if I remember correctly, like a god thats unbelonging to the realm of mortals.
Though, I think the wiki decided to read his name divided. So instead they see it like his individual characteristics. Out of place compared to normal people and the vessel for a āgodā or power thatās godlike.
My heart burns seeing that Hinata is not an angel like the other protagonists. Akamatsu is not an angel here because she had been forced into becoming a traitor in her narrative and the first killer, but for Hinata, this is about his position as the unchosen by god (HPA). However, he worships its image no matter how its ideals view āscumā like him. So he has a priest stole on his design as a demon trying to redeem himself.
Komaedaā¦. Iāve always had trouble with that symbol on his shirt as itās meant to be shifty looking but thatās about it. But now that Iām looking at it here, I guess it would make sense to see it as a bastardized reticle as I compare it to the other protagonists halos. Like how his views are focused but in the wrong aspects. Or Iām just looking too much into it haha! It doesnāt matter, the point of him being a corrupt angel is because of his close following to a fundamentally corrupt outlook thatās impassive to an extreme.
Or hmmā¦ I guess the collab planners were more so thinking along the lines of his soft demeanor Vs his harsh views that are unforgiving, even against himself. His death is obviously one of a āselfless martyrā, even if itās purpose was not for anyone but his own sake (I have too much to say about the way he died). Itās his one foot in, one foot out attitude that caused him to have only one horn in this design. I couldnāt actually tell if that was a horn.
His chain reminds me of how I view its place on this design in UDG. The chain is paradoxical, just as he is. The chain to his collar binds him to the whims of hope and despair as its willing slave to the bigger picture, but is that really the case if the chain is not attached to anything? He has too much of his own will and beliefs guiding him contrary to how he believes them to be the truest fact of life that lives through him. Like Peko, how can you be a tool if the ātoolā is a human being?
I think thatās all I got right now. I know I have a pattern of saying that Iām tired at the end of my posts, but I am!! I canāt help it.
In fact, that disturbing feeling of "having left something behind" had been bothering him of late. The oppression of not being able to fulfill his obligation weighed heavily on his mind. Yet he did not want to trace the source of his torment. It was terrifying to know. It terrified him to have to wake himself up, to have to rouse his consciousness.
Yet why was it terrifying? Why?
Nakajima Atsushi, Landscape with an Officer: A Sketch in 1923
Oh my god! I never saw this, my bad. Iāve been doing fine, but the essay is kicking my ass everytime I write at least 4 paragraphs. Komaeda in the OVAā¦
I love the idea of the OVA, I think it makes a lot of sense that instead of completely going braindead, the Neo World Program (as a therapeutic device) would end up triggering a version of their ideal world to hide away the traumatic experiences they had gone through to support their fragile minds after death. The ambiguity of the ethics to doing so fits the nature of the simulation very well. However, I do wish this topic could be explored outside of just an episode long OVA. Itād be nice if it were a movie or light novel instead. Sad.
(This was getting longer than I thought, more thoughts bellow. Very extensive thoughts on what I didnāt like and what I did.)
I have my problems with the OVA, like what happens after he leaves the pod. Itās very meaningful to me that Komaeda took Hinataās hand as thatās a first step towards a hopeful future for the both of them, but Iām also a bit iffy on Hinata calling himself both Izuru Kamukura and Hajime Hinata. I understand why he had introduced himself like that as technically āIzuru Kamukuraā (the state) is still himself and thatās not going to suddenly go away. Itās said in the ending of sdr2 that heād choose to live on as Hinata, which is an ambiguous statement on how he currently is mentally, but still somewhat hopeful.
It really wouldāve been better if there was no dr3 anime as the point of the ending is that you donāt know if things will truly change for the main cast, but there was still and effort to see it through. Anyway, my main problem with him introducing himself with āIzuru Kamukuraā (the identity) is that the point of rejecting it in the first place was the fact this identity is not his own. This identity is the representation of ideals gone bad, HPAās worst problems bundled up into one person, and Hinataās own insecurities killing him.
This is why youāre thrown into a trial grounds to shoot down the thoughts and insecurities of a āIzuru Kamukuraā whoās just Hinataās with long hair and red eyes. This had always been himself, but he doesnāt have to be like this. So when he rejected this identity, he had not been rejecting what he had become outside of the simulation (thatās counterproductive), heās rejecting a future where he still had thoughts like that. He is reclaiming who he was on his own accord. So itās a little nitpicky of me to say anything since itās not that big of an issue, but hmm.
Besides the very obvious complaint of the fact that everything is going too fast to actually see proper development, I have two issues with post-simulation Komaeda. The first one is just a problem I have with how they wrote Komaeda in the anime in general. Heās tooā¦ open? Itās hard to explain. This isnāt about his honesty. I do love that they made sure to keep Komaedaās smiling, soft faced character. The dissonance between that and his actions is the point and very important. However, thereās still a problem when heās a little too expressive with certain emotions.
They get his archetype wrong. I wonāt get too into it here because itās not that important to the OVA, but the point is that youāre always supposed to feel that distance in Komaedaās emotions and actions. His views are divorced from reality because the material world is not livable for him. Heās stuck in his head and always scared that heāll just hurt someone when he genuinely starts caring about them. So Komaeda would not at all hug Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi!! Itās honestly questionable why he even did that.
It doesnāt matter that, for whatever reason, he was friends with them in the fake world. Even if he still felt like he had a connection with them (donāt really understand why though, this entire choice was odd because neither of them like him and his emotional attachment to literally any of them is nonexistent compared to how he feels about Hinata), he would never do such a thing so easily. It takes him rationalizing that everything in Island Mode was bad luck just so he could convince himself to ask to be Hinataās friend.
Even UTDP and DR S gets it more correct with how his relationships with Hinata was formed, but still a bit distant with everyone else. Like heās more present with class activities, but Kazuichi still comments on how Komaeda talks to them like they arenāt people, but instead just some other version that doesnāt exist. Thatās just how Komaeda is. He doesnāt hate his classmates, but heās always hung up on his ideals first. The whole reason he can make a proper bond with Hinata is because heās not talented.
This brings me to my second point, and Iāve brought this up before when talking about post-game Komahina. Komaeda would NOT at all act the same as he did in the simulation. Whereās his lost feelings on his ideals slowly crumbling from the inside after seeing the Ultimate Despair still trying their best for their future? Whereās his even harsher emotional distance to everyone else? Komaeda would never praise them for their talents, having used them for despair.
Like maybe Servant would, the car crash version of Komaeda. Komaeda in despair is a total mess, visibly confusing himself in his conversation with Izuru Kamukura. That guy would totally say that symbols of hope using their abilities to cause despair will only lead to the brightest hope of all. Heās probably so funny when he interacts with other Ultimate Despair, I wish we got to see more of him. Insulting them and praising them in the same breath.
But usually when people depict post-game content, the simulation events get put to forefront first in how they act instead of completely resembling who they were pre-game. A reading that Komaeda is acting the same he usually would because he refuses to pick apart his world view is fine because that is how Komaeda can be. He wouldnāt just let go of them entirely, itās his lifeline. He can only accommodate it.
But, hereās my problem with the OVA. If heās getting on that boat, then it must mean that heās accepting a path similar to Hinata. To want and expect a future for himself is a huge jump for Komaedaās development. Again, this is a bit nitpicky, but Komaeda should be showing more resistance. This keeps coming back to my problems with whoās writing this story and the time limit on what they could do with this story. I should stop talking about this minimal stuff.
Onto actual content from the fake world hahah. I donāt have much to criticize with this because itās just a rendition of what Komaeda thinks would be an ideal world. One where everyone is happy while he still gets punished by bad luck for just being Komaeda. His self hatred runs deep as someone who considers himself a source of despair just by existing. Other people make a good point about how his luck in the fake world doesnāt affect other people, but it makes you wonder if Komaeda unconsciously still thinks his parents are dead in this world.
Komaedaās āideal worldāā¦ how ideal is it? Heās friends with his classmates, but he still thinks of himself as a background character. Again, it goes back to Komaedaās psychology and his worldview being on the bigger picture rather than the individual. Komaeda is still Komaeda after all, even when he shows a side of himself that hates talent. Itās an unconscious thought he thinks is nothing like himself, but deep down under Komaeda false ideal that even he believes in, Iām sure that he has resentments against what he believes in being absolute truth.
Out of everything the anime has done with Komaeda, this is the most correct one and plausible path to explore when it comes to Komaedaās psyche that he shoves deep down. I think of it as a play on Hinataās question about what he would do if he lived in a world with no despair and hope in FTE. Komaedaās reaction to it fascinates me so much?? I donāt think heās ever entertain the idea because he canāt imagine a world where his luck doesnāt exist and doesnāt have to experience total extremes at all times.
His reaction is soā¦. neutral. Thereās nothing positive or negative he expresses against this question. Like heās responding to a hypothetical that has nothing to do with him. But, Iām sure somewhere inside of him, this question would tear him apart. Is he jealous of normal people? Is he jealous their supposed ignorance and false confidence that they can be someone? Does he hate them because of envy, deep down? Or like this OVA is saying, does Komaeda hate talent as a source of a horrible issue that makes it so the individual can never be happy no matter which one they are?
Of course, his unconscious feelings in talent have to do with his feelings on his own talent causing him as much distress as it does others. I donāt think Komaeda genuinely hates normal people or ever has. The way he talks about them has to do with viewing their collective worthlessness to society as fact. It is interesting though to pick at some of those thoughts Komaeda might be having if he hadnāt brainwashed himself so thoroughly. Him reacting horribly to the flashing thoughts of the game was so scrumptious.
The only other part to comment on is World Ender, the coolest concept ever that existed for so little time. Iām exaggerating, but analysis-wise heās sooo good. A break in Komaedaās ideal world thats destroying his illusion being a Hajime similar to how he looked when he chose a future Komaeda never did, just to get him to come with him on their path? kyaaa!!! So cool!!
Like I do think the way World Ender does it is a bit too abrupt and I still think his character could be perfected to be even more with how he destroys the illusion for Komaeda (it could even be called too cruel), but then I might as well just rewrite the OVA hahah. For what heās worth as is, the abruptness is just like how Hinata feels to Komaeda. Imagine meeting a guy that cuts through everything you believe in, makes using your ideal system on him hard, and even after finding out the worst news in the world, youāre confused as to why you still care for himā¦
Alright, no more talking. I have nothing else to say right now about the OVA. So all in all, I like the idea of the OVA, but I can get nitpicky about things that donāt line up with Komaedaās initial characterization. I donāt think the fake world needs much criticism because itās just a conceptualization, butā¦ I wouldāve loved to do more with the whole idea.
Just popping in to say that something I really love abt your analyses is how concise + articulate you are. Like. You still give an in-depth analysis, but there's no fluff. Sometimes I'll read analyses (this is particularly from back in my time in the DSMP but I do see it in Danganronpa from time to time) and I can't help but think the author is waxing poetry more than analyzing the canon text. Ofc people can do that if they want more power to them but I always appreciate when people are able to state their ideas clearly and understandably. Your analyses may be long but to me they're perfectly understandable and I think that takes a lot of skill...smiles
Ah Iām blushing, thank you!!! Thatās very nice of you to say. Itās one of the things people comment on about my writing, which Iām very glad! The point of me posting is to be understood without too much of it being lost.
I know what you mean. They add too much jargon and tangent on about things that donāt have any clear connection to their thesis, itās very annoying. You have no idea how many times Iāve read an essay or analysis and begged them to stay on topic. At least get to the point. It feels rude of me to say, but itās not a very good way of getting a point across. Itās even more nauseating to feel like youāre reading a summary rather than an analysis. You do need to write overview to write a larger scale essay, but if you never come back to your initial statement, then what are we doing??
To write analysis, you need to have a clearer target on what you want to tackle. Like a theme they align with, a character trait you think needs to be looked at with more depth, a perspective you think would create interesting conversation, etc. but you still need to have a thesis you always come back to. It really is annoying when they want to have little conversation with the text itself when thatās the entire point.
For example, my thesis for the Komaeda essay is to approach Nagito Komaeda as a character within the danganronpa setting from all aspects (bc I do think Komaeda is very interesting as a metanarrative character and I donāt think itās an aspect explored enough with the fandom) and where he falls into the narrative of Sdr2, which is why Hajime Hinata is being went over after the section about his death and flaws to his ideology. Komaeda is an important narrative foil, a very tragic story about a man who left his life to fate instead of choosing his future.
So do trust that this essay will very extensive about everything Komaeda!
Anyway, I get worried that my words become too concise sometimes and wonder if it effects the quality of my work to others, but so far that doesnāt seem to be the case! I donāt mind when people do get more artful and show their character in their writing because itās their own work, but errā¦ I can tell when theyāre just trying to add to their word count.
Thank you again! I really hope youāll like it when itās done.
What Iām surprised about is how much people pick up on the irony of The Narrator guiding the story of the freedom ending to his image, but donāt pick up on how Stanley is technically supposed to be a game character suddenly recognizing that heās within a construct that has been controlling him all this time. The irony is that both you the player and the narrator are controlling the narrative of Stanley, so him crossing that wall to the outside world doesnāt really mean anything.
Itās what happens when you try to make a meaningful story hahah.
Donāt feel bad for Stanley, you are Stanley. Stanley is the player insert, just as the narrator is the game developer insert. They are just roles youāre playing into depending on the path you go through.
