#comparison analysis

[phoenixlionme]

An animated singing show that became instant hit and is popular withing LGBT community. Plus, main character is a goofy, singing, all-loving but naive hybrid with DEEP parental issues; and their main love interest is a WOC. And show created by a woman who is also LGBT.

For kids:

For adults:

[snowssilentrest]

Yasashi Watashi and Re:Kinder: Kindness and its Contradictions.

Alright. I've managed to finish Yasashi Watashi, literally Kind Me, or Gentle Me. This was a two-volume manga written and drawn by Asa Higuchi, better known for Big Windup, a sports shonen manga about baseball. This manga has never left Japan technically, and fan translations only ever completed the 1st volume; the 2nd volume was unfinished. So, I had to import Volume 2 of the manga and use machine translations in order to finish the story. It went about as well as you can expect, but I finished it, and I more or less understood it. Machine translations aren't the most reliable, and trying to get the machine to see all the Japanese text and translate it was a pretty large hassle. But I didn't want to leave my journey of analyzing Parun's inspirations incomplete, so I did what I had to do, and now here I am. With that being said, let's begin. No long introduction about the author. Let's just dive right in.

Yasashi Watashi is a love story. But it doesn't have a happy ending. The first volume follows Hirotaka Seriu and Yae Karasu. They basically meet in a meet-cute fashion, and they both eventually form a relationship. For a while, things go pretty smoothly, but in the background, we learn a lot of things about Yae, namely that she has baggage and has a history of failed relationships, as well as a lot of unchecked issues that prevent her from forming deep, meaningful relationships without something getting in the way. I really wish I could go into more detail, but the beat-for-beat points are honestly very psychological and philosophical, and for a two-volume manga, they're pretty heavy. In short, the two eventually move in together, and during this time, they discuss their lives, as well as their different views on things, and it eventually all comes to a head, and by the end of Volume One, they break up. Among these topics is Seriu having been in the tennis club when he was younger, but he got an injury that he never got checked out, and he kept playing with it until it got so bad that he couldn't play anymore, even if he got surgery. Seriu puts himself out there in everything he does and tends to ignore his needs in order to achieve a goal and make others proud. He's also really kind, often going out of his way to do small tasks when he's asked, and makes as little conflict as he can. If this sounds familiar, it should. In plenty of ways, Seriu is very similar to Shunsuke in more than just personality and beliefs. While Seriu isn't as whimsical as Shunsuke, he has a few silly moments in the first Volume that show him as someone who isn't always serious. But unlike Shunsuke, he's pretty quiet. Often waiting for the other person to finish talking before giving their view of things... But both are similar in that they keep their struggles to themselves. They don't really like to burden people, and they tend to hold their pain back until it reaches a breaking point... More on this in Volume Two.

In contrast, there's Yae, a free spirit who uses photography and traveling to cope as much as she can. When she was young, she lost her Mom, and her Dad remarried her Mom's Sister, and later had her younger sister. It was pretty quick, with him remarrying a year after Yae's Mom died, and it doesn't sound like it was a happy marriage. Yae makes comments about wishing they would divorce, and her saying they're waiting for her sister to become an adult before doing so... I do believe we see her sister in Volume Two, and, given they're six years younger than her, they don't look that far apart... This was where the struggle of using machine translations came in, as while I could identify in Chapter 7 that she was talking to her sister, I didn't get the impression that she was a high schooler. It should be noted that Yae is older than Seriu by a couple of years. Yae is in her third year of college, and Seriu is in his second, but both waited a year before entering. Seriu, because of his injury, and Yae, because she failed her first attempt at the entrance exam. Anyway, a consequence of Yae's Father having remarried is that she still technically has her Mom's last name instead of the last name, Tamura, her Dad's last name, and she didn't know this until years later when she looked in the family registry. To quickly explain that, in Japan, there is something called the Koseki, or the family registry. What that is, is basically a birth certificate and family tree. Typically, when a married couple has a child, the child is put on both the Father's and Mother's registry, but they tend to have the Father's last name. This exception usually arises when the child is born out of wedlock, and the Father is either unknown or doesn't want his child to have his last name for whatever reason. Let's use Shunsuke as an example, since he's relatively simple. We know he has Mom with the last name Takano, and his Dad's last name is Fujisawa. So, since he was born out of wedlock, he'd be on his Mom's registry, and his Dad would only be on it if he said he was the Father, which would put the Dad on the Mom's registry, and put Shunsuke on the Dad's registry. Now, this would tell on the fact that Shunsuke is an illegitimate child if anyone were to look at this registry, but for all intents and purposes, that is what it would look like. All of this to say is that Yae somehow had her Mom's last name was not made aware of this until years later, and by the time she figured it out, she didn't really care. Now, other than that odd similarity to Shunsuke, Yae is much closer to Yuuichi in terms of personality and beliefs, and is almost the complete opposite of Seriu. Where Shunsuke and Seriu are kind, wanting to be hopeful, and hide their pain. Yae is very open, honest, and not afraid to speak her mind, while also clearly having a lot of baggage that she has not sorted out at all. She's been with a lot of men. And plenty of them didn't end well. Mostly because Yae is more comfortable being someone who is told what to do and what to feel rather than feeling what she feels. She's described as having a Father complex in the first volume, and I think the story is saying she has Daddy issues and that affects her ability to have meaningful relationships with men. And... yeah, we see that from learning from either herself or her past flames that no guy has ever been able to really give her what she needed. Seriu is probably the closest, and even those two don't end up working out due to both of them just being codependent on the other. Despite that, I do think the two could've worked out... But I think Yae was too afraid to confront her problems head-on on her own, and she was too afraid to try... Seriu, meanwhile, just couldn't really help her in the way she needed, because he was uncomfortable in being needed in the way she wanted. Seriu held the belief that you can't give up on something no matter how hard it is, while Yae believed that if something was impossible, it shouldn't be done at all... This is what ultimately led to their breakup.

Both Yae and Seriu have lines that mirror similar ones Shunsuke and Yuuichi had in Re: Kinder. Before we move on to Volume 2, I want to showcase the panels that really caught my eye where I truly felt the connection. Also, Seriu kinda looks like a grown-up Shunsuke to me. Well... Yasashi Watashi came first, so... Shunsuke looks a young Seriu would be more accurate.

If Volume Two were translated and digitized, I'd be showing images of those, too. Because the art improves by a landslide in Volume Two. I'm only allowed around 30 images, and I don't really want to go through them, especially since it'd just be me showing a picture of an untranslated manga page, but anyway, these panels really show the connection between Re:Kinder and Yasashi Watashi.

Now on to Volume Two for real... I'll be honest, I wish I had a better idea of what the characters were saying. I have a very rough idea, but because I was using machine translations, it was far from perfect. Some of the sentences bordered on questionable, and I struggled to really understand what the characters were saying. But what I did get from it was still really profound and sad. Basically, Volume 2 covers Seriu's and Yae's breakup and the aftermath... We see a bit of their family life away from college, like Seriu having a cousin in middle school, I think named Sumie, it's hard to tell with the translations. But she has her own story arc that I honestly can't really retell. I think she has her own issues with her family that she struggles with, which is partially related to Seriu's struggles, but again, I couldn't really tell. She is someone who helps Seriu learn a much-needed lesson, though... As for Yae, as I mentioned, we meet her sister, and we see that she sees right through her, even going so far as to call her out as a pessimist despite her outgoing personality. We also have a scene where Yae and Seriu talk to each other about maybe starting back their relationship, but Seriu declines due to him seeing that Yae isn't confident in herself, and wants someone to guide and lean on without really trying to make herself stronger or improve on her strengths. We see this with her struggling to get a part-time job, and the fact that she sees it as impossible for herself to get anywhere in life, whether in society or in romance... Needless to say, the conversation doesn't end well... But the next chapter has her call up Seriu after an undisclosed amount of time, and the two talk again. Yae talks about what she's been up to, and basically tells her that she's getting more bored with life, and Seriu talks about how he keeps trying, and trying, and trying, because in his mind, if he doesn't try at all, then he's a failure... After this conversation, Yae drives Seriu home, and that night... Yae hangs herself...

The next few chapters are the aftermath of Yae's death and how it affects Seriu. In the beginning, he doesn't seem all that sad... But he commits himself to the photography club and talks with people who knew Yae closely, and they all basically go over who she was to them, and how their death impacts them. From a friend who found her annoying and used, but still cared for and knew her. From her sister, who saw her as a good older sister and someone she admired, and even her father, who was surprised by how many people came to her funeral. It should be noted that her Father was the one who found her... After that, the story pivots to Seriu's cousin, who briefly moves in under the guise of scouting for potential high schools. Seriu lets her stay because he doesn't want to be alone... This is where the cousins' story comes in, and again, I really can't provide a lot here because of how unreliable the translator was. It looked like she was looking for her Dad, who may have worked for the hospital, and was struggling with her own inadequacy that mirrored Yae's, who was even thinking of not even going to high school and instead getting a part-time job before changing her mind after hearing Seriu's true thoughts... What did stick out to me here was the fact that we see Seriu's true feelings regarding why he is the way he is... I already talked about how Seriu is someone who gives his all in everything to the point of hurting himself, and that goes for his relationship with Yae, too. He had the mindset that it was better to try and fail than not try at all, and even was annoyed and angry at people who just... didn't try at all... Honestly, I can relate... But with Yae, he's clearly feeling guilt over how he handled their relationship and is clearly blaming himself for not doing more for her when she needed help, not realizing that he did all he could. This is where we see why he's like that... It's to hide the fact that he's just as depressed and lonely as Yae is... He mentions that after his injury permanently made it so that he can't play tennis, he started feeling sluggish, and sleep didn't help... He's been sluggish for years, and Yae's death just brought all those feelings back up... In his thoughts, he says that he'd be okay dying with her as well, and it takes his cousin telling him that he died that way, he wouldn't see her again... That it doesn't work that way... The two talk and though his cousin didn't know Yae, she was able to help him see that he's being too hard on himself and isn't letting himself grieve... The last chapter is a little road trip with all the characters in the photography club that he and Yae were a part of, with his cousin coming along as well... During this chapter, Seriu finally cries and lets out everything he's been holding back, accepting that she's gone, but also that she was here... With his message right before the end being that he's going to try and be kinder to himself...

So... yeah... I think it's obvious where Parun got the relationship dynamic for Shunsuke and Yuuichi from. Even when I had only read the 1st volume, I thought that the two were very similar to each other... I had thought that maybe things were going to work out, the two would break, talk things out, and then get back together and try again... And then Yae dies... We don't even see her death... We learn about it through a phone call. Her body is never shown, and after she dies, if the machine translation is to be believed, her name is never mentioned again. And yet she haunts the narrative for the rest of the story. This is very similar to what Shunsuke and Yuuichi could've been had they had the chance. When the two are talking in the dream world and in the final conflict, the way they talk to each other and connect is very reminscient of how Seriu and Yae speak to each other... and just like Yae, Yuuichi takes his own life because both are too afraid to confront their own weaknesses and drag someone they love down with them, not realizing that their actions basically guarantee that the person they care about will be dragged down in the swamp with them. But... something I noticed towards the end is that while Shunsuke's and Seriu's resolve are similar, there is a notable distinction here.... Shunsuke's vow is to be a kinder adult. Kinder towards others. Do what he's always been doing... While Seriu is to be kinder towards himself... Those are pretty distinct, as Shunsuke has the potential to trap himself in a situation where he can really hurt himself to the point of burnout. While Seriu's resolve is very hard... Our worst critics tend to be ourselves, but learning to be kind to yourself is learning to forgive yourself, especially in situations you can't control. I think both are powerful and important... But have similar, yet distinct risks. Seriu isn't likely to fall into the trap of being so kind to yourself that you neglect others because he is an adult. He knows better. He has life experience, and he is still the same kind man who was able to give Yae a genuinely happy relationship, even if it didn't end well... Shunsuke, however, is very young... A kid trying to be kind to others is a kid who has a high risk of being used by others due to his kind nature... A kid who already deflects his own issues, lies about how he is, and goes a lot farther than most adults would in regards to helping people, runs the real risk of burning himself out before he even finishes junior high. That said, I want to believe that Shunsuke will be okay... But I know from experience just how hard it is to be kind in a world that sees kindness as a weakness at best or a lie hiding evil intentions at worst... Kindness is underrated, and I think we as humans truly forget how much kindness can matter... Not just being nice, but being genuinely kind... You can call me naive, and hopeful, but... when the world is already on fire, and hatred is around every corner... How can we survive without hope? How can we survive without kindness? Me, personally... I choose to be kind... But that doesn't mean I'm weak; it just means I'm not going to stoop to a level so low that the only way I would feel better is just being mean-spirited and cruel. In a world that chooses to be cruel and heartless... I choose to be kind... and I want that to matter...

And with that note... Only one inspiration left... Revolutionary Girl Utena... Got me a CRT set up, so I'll likely be watching it that way over the next week or so. Once that's done, I'll give my thoughts on the series and then go over the themes of the series and how they relate to Re:Kinder. I have only seen the opening and the Rose Story at the beginning of it, and that alone was enough to hit me like a truck in terms of thematic connection. But also, I understand that the girl wanted to become a prince, which is very much similar to how Yuuichi wanted to be like the princess and be rescued... And this series is going to destroy me, isn't it? Well, I survived plenty of sad media in my 27 years alive on this planet, I can surely survive one more... Right? We'll see...

[snowssilentrest]

Revolutionary Girl Utena and Re:Kinder: When Style Gives Way to a Beautiful Story

Okay! This is the last of the essays between Re:Kinder and its inspirations! I had always intended to end this with Revolutionary Girl Utena because I had been wanting a reason for years to finally sit down and watch it, and now I finally had one. I will be blunt and say that I really loved Revolutionary Girl Utena. I watched it on all on YouTube (shoutout to Nozomi Entertainment for having the original series in sub and dub on YouTube), and I genuinely had a really good time with it. Any complaints I have are mostly nitpicks and personal preferences rather than anything wrong the show does. This is definitely a show I will need to revisit soon in order to get a better understanding of the show itself, but I think I have a good grasp on the show. All in all, it's a show about many things: Growing up, how society tries to squeeze women and even men into rigid roles, how relationships can turn toxic if boundaries aren't properly set and explained, how hard it is to break out of toxic, abusive relationships, and how certain gendered concepts, while on the surface, can be seen as beautiful, but in reality are just there to hold people back from being who they truly are and who they want to be. A lot of people have talked about this show and what it means for years, and I certainly won't be the last. But for me, I think it was basically all the things I mentioned, while also having a personal belief that the show is about breaking out of society's attempts to have us conform to certain roles and not sacrifice our individuality just to comfort others who find our existence uncomfortable. I'm not really sure if I am making sense here. I'm writing this as I go and hoping for the best. With that being said, let's begin...

So... With the last essays, I went over the plot and characters and themes of the media I was comparing to Re: Kinder in question, but I honestly believe this show is best experienced knowing as little as possible, and experiencing in all of its surreal, yet surprisingly easy to follow story. That's the thing, when I first heard of this story, it was through the lens of it being a Girls Love show, and as a result, I first heard of the premise and Utena and Anthy as a result, but... that's not exactly what the show's about. Sure, Utena's and Anthy's relationship is very important; it's practically the driving force for Utena for the entire show. But the character's romantic relationship is pretty subtle, with a lot of queer elements having to be fought for by the director in order to even include all of what he wanted to include. But the show is about so much more than a girl who strives to be like a prince rescuing a girl and falling in love. Utena kinda joins into the drama of everything by accident and chooses to stick around to keep Anthy safe. But I digress, my point I was trying to make was that as I was watching the show, I found a lot of people found it surreal, and they had to watch it again in order to get a full understanding. And while that certainly is true to some extent, the story itself is pretty good at making sure the audience can follow the story enough to clue in what's going on without someone having to say, "This is happening!" The show uses a lot of metaphors, allegory, and imagery to tell its story and really relies on the audience being smart enough to clue in on what's going on. While there are certainly moments in the show that make you question reality (The Apocalypse Saga is full of them, but the Black Rose Saga is where it really starts with metaphors), I will say that a smart viewer will be able to catch on to the most important bits on first watch, and a second watch will help you understand everything more clearly knowing what happens ahead of time (Though, that's with any second watch, honestly). I certainly plan to rewatch it again with the English Dub (I've heard mixed things about the dub, but everyone gives praise to the late Rachel Lillis' Utena, so that's exciting. I've heard it described as like a theatre production, and as a theatre nerd, that just sounds more interesting than anything). Anyway, I digress... Before we go over the similarities, I do feel the need to bring up Adolescence of Utena.

Okay, so for those who don't know, Revolutionary Girl Utena basically has three versions of the story that tell the same basic story but with differences. There's the manga, which started production in 1996 and ended in 1998. There's the anime, which aired in 1997, and then there's the movie, which premiered in 1999. All three of these tell the same broad strokes for the story, but the movie has a bit of an asterisk attached to that. More on that later. I have not read the manga yet, but I do know that Nanami Kiryu, a major character in the anime, is merely a background character in the manga; the manga delivers the story at a faster pace, and certain characters are different as well. For example, Juri (spelled Jury in the sub for the anime for some reason), is pretty much considered a lesbian in the anime, having a crush on the character Shiori in the anime, but in the manga, she apparently has feelings for Touga and another character, whom I will not name due to him being kinda a spoiler, I will say the character in question is still important to Juri in the anime, but in a different way entirely. Another example is Miki Kaoru having a crush on Anthy in the anime, but in the manga, he apparently has a crush on Utena. There are a bit more differences in the manga and anime from what I read, like with Touga, for example, but I can't really comment on them effectively without reading them, which I will do eventually. But for now, let's talk about the movie... Adolescence of Utena's place in Utena's canon is widely discussed, with some interpreting it as an Alternate Interpretation, and others interpreting it as a sequel due to Anthy's and Utena's characterization being pretty different from each other. I will say that Anthy's character is much more dramatically different than Utena's, but Utena's characterization is still noteworthy. For my part, I think we can consider it a sequel in some regards... There's no doubt that the movie definitely leans on the anime's characterizations and does kinda rely on the audience member being aware of the anime to understand parts of its story. It's certainly a lot more surreal than the anime. However, something the movie is more explicit about is the romantic aspect of Utena and Anthy. Something I really appreciated as queer person myself. All in all, the movie is great, and I really loved it as an overall ending to the series as a whole (Yes, I am aware of After The Revolution, and yes, I am aware that's pretty contentious among fans of the series. It makes choices, and those choices are not well-liked.), but again, since I want to be light on story spoilers as possible, I can't really say much more.

I do want to talk more about the story and characters, but in doing so, i fear I would spoil too much. I honestly have a lot of thoughts on the characters and story, and might make a spoiler analysis of just the show alone in the future if you're interested. If you have any questions about my thoughts, though, I'd be happy to provide them in the comments. So, let's move on to how Parun used this as inspiration for Re:Kinder...

Okay, well, to be upfront, Revolutionary Girl Utena and Re:Kinder share a lot of connective tissue through their tone and stylistic imagery. Those who have played Re:Kinder will note the dreamlike quality of the story and how it uses imagery to convey its story. In one aspect, the two have that comment, especially in the usage of roses. In Re: Kinder, the game opens with a very similar opening that uses roses as its theming.

For Utena, it uses roses symbolically and assigns certain colors to multiple characters. For example, Utena is White, Anthy and Touga are both red for very different reasons, Saionji is Green, Miki is blue, Juri is orange, Nanami is yellow, and the final antagonist uses lavender. Now, in Utena, outside of Utena, I think characters being symbolized by certain rose colors is more to visually match their hair colors, but one can argue meaning in the color of the roses being used to symbolize our characters as twisted embodiments of the characters.

For example, white roses mean purity and innocence, and I can argue that it matches Utena to a T pretty well. She is a character who, while not completely innocent, is still naive and has pure beliefs that she needs to confront in order to truly grow. White roses, to me, are a noble color, and I think that fits her really well.

But then you have Saionji, an abusive man who wants to control Anthy, but also desires to find something eternal, and is someone with high ambitions. His rose is green, which means growth and new beginnings in the language of the flowers, and Saionji certainly doesn't represent that. If anything, he runs counter to it, and while he is a character that, in my eyes, wants to grow and find something new, his behavior is what is holding him back. However, I did get the sense that he was willing to try by the end of Utena, even though he is still a selfish man.

But then you have characters like Juri and Nanami who have the orange and yellow roses, respectively. Orange Roses mean passion, energy, and intense desire, and while Juri isn't the most expressive character in the series, she is honestly pretty cynical in her beliefs and outlook. She does have passion, energy, and desire in a twisted sense, in that she is someone who doesn't believe in miracles, and yet at the same time, is searching for one to find some form of meaningful existence. Her rose does fit her in a twisted sense, and the same could be said for Nanami.

Her rose is yellow, which symbolizes friendship, loyalty, and devotion. And Nanami is an outwardly cruel person with very few moments of genuine kindness throughout the series. Now, I actually like Nanami as a character in that she is both effective comic relief and effective as a character when she turns serious, and I honestly believe she has the most growth in the series, even though her personality doesn't change that drastically. Nanami is a character who is only loyal to her brother to an obsessive and unhealthy degree, which even the characters point out as such. She is loyal and devoted to her brother, but any friendships she has are transactional at best, and she makes no attempt to hide them as such. However, what I like about her is that she does kinda grow into her role in the sense that by the end of her arc, she turns into someone borderline obsessed with her brother into someone who recognizes such obsession is unhealthy and she needs to come into her own. So, her rose's meaning can be applied to her in a twisted sense, but by the end, she represents it by being loyal to herself by the end.

And then we have Miki Kaoru and Touga Kiryu. Miki's rose is blue (There is another character with a blue rose, but he's a walking spoiler, so I won't be including him), which represents mystery and the unattainable, and I'd say that fits Miki pretty well. He is a character who seeks something to fill the void in his relationship with his sister, something he cherishes, but with the two growing up and going down different paths, he grows more and more disillusioned with her, and his goal is to try to find something to replace his affections and move on. He is a character who doesn't really find what he is looking for by the end, but understands that he needs to keep searching, even if he doesn't find it. He must keep moving. In that regard, his willingness to jump into the mysterious unknown makes him a perfect match for the blue rose.

And of course, Touga and Anthy are represented by the red rose, which means passion, desire, and romantic love. If any character fits that bill, it's Touga, even if it's similar to Jury, and it's a twisted version of those meanings. Touga, on the surface, is a very charming young man. He's attractive, smart, and he seems like a gentleman. However, in reality, he's a manipulator and is someone who is out for himself until the end of the series, where he does actually grow somewhat when he finally learns to care again. Touga is an interesting character, and I can't really give my full thoughts on him without spoiling both his arc in the anime and how the movie uses him. Needless to say, when paired together, he is an example of how he was trapped in a role he didn't actually want, and his behavior in the show is an attempt at escape, even if his actions were very much inexcusable. He is a character who starts to learn by the end of the series. He's still not a good person in the context of the anime, but he's a character who does learn and tries to change, even if for some, it's too late. I appreciate his nuance. And then there's Anthy, who often wears a red dress during the dueling scenes, and is usually accompanied by the color red... If Touga represents the twisted meanings of passion, desire, and romantic love, Anthy represents the ideal versions of those meanings. At least towards the end. Anthy is a character who hides her true wants and desires. Often pretending to have no thoughts of her own, and pretending that she's fine with being subservient and just doing what others want her to do. She's basically the idealized version of a princess, a damsel in distress who is waiting for her prince to save her. And Utena, by contrast, represents the idealized version of a noble prince, there to save her from all that stands between her and her princess... However, in reality, Anthy just wants out... she wants out of the cycle that treats her like an object where her thoughts and feelings mean nothing. She wants to escape and be able to make choices of her own... She wants to stop being a victim... and in a sense, I think if we consider the movie a sequel, than the Anthy in the movie is the character she becomes after the end of the show... But I'll just leave it there for now...

So... I also mentioned a character with a lavender rose. Well... I won't be talking about him. But lavender roses hold the meaning of enchantment, love at first sight, and it's often associated with nobility... Make of that what you will...

All of that, and what does that have to do with Re:Kinder... Well, as I mentioned earlier, Re: Kinder has a similar opening scene talking about a Prince who rescues a Princess of a Dark Kingdom. Later, it's implied that this story is a part of a fairytale about two Rose Kingdoms. The Prince of the White Rose Kingdom and the Princess of the Red Rose Kingdom. In the story, Shunsuke is compared to the Prince of the White Rose, while Yuuichi compares himself to the Princess of the Red Rose Kingdom. Yuuichi is represented with red roses and has thorns wrapped around him at certain points, and Shunsuke eventually collects a ring with a White Rose on it. To bring up the similarities between the characters and the meaning of the flowers. One would think with our characters being elementary schoolers, they'd fit those traits better... but honestly... Not really. Shunsuke, on the surface, may seem innocent, pure, and honest. But Shunsuke is a habitual liar. He's rarely honest with his feelings except around Yuuichi, and whenever he's asked personal questions, he deflects. Shunsuke is compared by Yuuichi to the Prince of the fairytale, but really, the only comparable thing we can discern from what little we know about the fairytale is his willingness to jump into danger, and his kindness and willingness to give Yuuichi, the main antagonist, who I must remind everyone (or inform if you don't know the game), killed everyone in his hometown, including his Mom, the benefit of the doubt and the willingness to try and pull him out of the darkness. Yuuichi is honestly in the same boat. In Re:Kinder, Yuuichi plays the role of the villain. He's very theatrical and likes to act like he doesn't care about human life, and isn't sorry for what he did. But in reality, he is a depressed, lonely child who has been beaten down by every adult figure in his life who was supposed to take care of him. He's a character who is largely apathetic. He doesn't really care about his own life. He has no passion or desire, and with him being so young, he's probably not even certain if what he feels for Shunsuke is romantic love or not. In the end, while Yuuichi tries to compare them both to the Prince and Princess of a fairytale, ultimately, the comparison is surface-level at best, and Yuuichi knows this. He even implies as such towards the end, where he says it's impossible for him to be saved and have a happy ending with Shunsuke, no matter how much he wants it. He believes it's too late for him and that he's already reached rock bottom, and he's going to somehow sink lower... and he doesn't want to drag Shunsuke down with him. Shunsuke's suggestion to just pretend that he's okay, and to fool his bad feelings isn't sustainable in the long run either. In the game, Shunsuke and Yuuichi both say that they used the other in some way to either feel better about themselves or to find some understanding... And that's very reminiscent of the penultimate episode of Revolutionary Girl Utena, where a similar conversation is held. While it's not one-to-one, it's similar enough that I wanted to make a note of it. Ultimately, the imagery, metaphors, and allegories in Re:Kinder are reminiscent of Revolutionary Girl Utena, and the serious moments especially stand out in both stories, and it's honestly beautiful how the two connect, but that's not the only comparison...

You see, Revolutionary Girl Utena and Re: Kinder are also similar in how they insert comedy into the series. Utena's first arc has two comedy episodes in episode 6, where Nanami mistakenly thinks someone is trying to kill her, and it all leads into silly shenanigans, which is then followed by a serious episode focusing on Juri in episode 7, and then followed by episode 8 where Utena and Anthy switch bodies due to Anthy's curry and the shenanigans of Nanami trying to find the ingredient they think made them switch, only for it to turn out to be Anthy's cooking itself. These episodes are literally between Juri's first focus episode, and the difference in tone is enough to cause whiplash. By the final arc, they even start inserting comedy into serious scenes, and while this isn't a common occurrence, it's still noticeable. A notable scene for me is when Touga and Saionji are having a conversation while Touga drives a motorcycle and Saionji is in a sidecar, and during their conversation, which is presented as serious and philosophical, Saionji stands in the sidecar and delivers an impassioned speech, only for Touga to say what he's doing is dangerous... Insert a long pause... And then Saionji says, "Right," and promptly sits down. Cut to the next scene. Now take that moment, and the comedy episodes in Utena, and apply them in Re:Kinder, which often likes to insert comedy in the middle of certain scenes to alleviate the tension. The scenes aren't just there for randomness, though; they're there to hammer home the point about how kids are exposed to adult stuff really early in life and aren't effectively protected from or taught not to emulate certain behaviors. While also there to show that these are little kids, and while they may be more mature than kids their age, they still joke around and say stuff to make them laugh. Either way, the way both series use humor is the same, and on my part, pretty effective and consistent. It's great.

Another form of comparison one must draw from Utena and Re:Kinder, is its use of queerness in its storytelling. Revolutionary Girl Utena uses its queer elements to highlight how girls react to queer feelings towards other girls with the character of Juri, and also uses blunt romantic language between Utena and Anthy in the animated series, and the film expands on this relationship even more, making the subtext into blatant text. Utena operates under the bi realization in that she holds feelings for Touga at one point, her prince, and then in the movie her affection shifts to Anthy, and it's pretty natural about it. Anthy, meanwhile, is someone who shows her love in the movie, and she honestly isn't subtle about her strong feelings for Utena. Juri operates under the reality of being queer, by falling for someone who likes men, but is also someone who is very cruel and mean-spirited, and is one to use others to get what she wants. Re:Kinder, in contrast, uses queerness in how it relates to boys. And honestly, the queer elements in Re:Kinder are far more overt, occupying the same space as movie Utena and Anthy, and show Juri. Our main character, Shunsuke, by the end of the story, says a lot of romantic language to Yuuichi pretty deliberately. He wants to take Yuuichi to see the Cherry Blossoms fall into the river next Spring. The story implies he knows what he's saying, and even in the joke ending, he grows up to become a Mama in the Nichome District, which is basically the gay bar district in Tokyo, and a Mama is basically a gay man who runs a bar. Yuuichi, however, is much more explicit, believe it or not, with there being a message at one point in the game that reveals a boy liked another boy a lot, and he eats him in order for them to be together always... And it's heavily implied that this was written by Yuuichi. Yuuichi forms a connection with Shunsuke, and as I mentioned earlier, he sees Shunsuke as his prince, and he's the princess who's supposed to save him. This story operates under the subtext that these are both young boys who recognize how different they are from what society expects them to be, and has this dark undertone that the world wouldn't be accepting of them, and Yuuichi knows this. Despite him really wanting to be saved by Shunsuke, he views a life with him as impossible. One thing Re:Kinder tackles through these two that isn't really touched upon by Utena is how the world reacts to LGBTQ couples... And I think this is indicative of how the world sees queer relationships with girls versus boys. With girls, it's seen as cute and even approved of, the cynic in me sees it as the world seeing a relationship between two girls as... well, for lack of a better word, a recipe for the male gaze. It's okay for two girls to fall in love, because it's cute and attractive. However, queer relationships between boys aren't given the same treatment. Gay male relationships have a history of being sexualized and treated as immoral and disgusting. Pair that up with queer young boys, and they're treated as disgusting, too young to have such feelings, and it's seen as unnatural. The world is ready to accept queer young girls because they will see it as either a phase or just attractive, and even they operate on highly thin ice that is ready to crack at a moment's notice. The world is ready to accept heteronormative coupling between boys and girls because that's considered normal. An acceptable and safe version of puppy love. Something normal. Something safe. At the cost of boys and girls possibly just having a platonic friendship. If a boy and a girl are friends, they can't just be friends; they have to have a crush on each other. But if two girls report an attraction to each other, it's seen as cute and a phase, something to grow out of. But if two boys show attraction to each other, you're instantly hit with "You're too young. You don't know any better. You can't like him like that, it's dirty." As if society is ingrained to see a relationship between two boys as nothing more than sexual, and thus it's inappropriate.

This is the space Re:Kinder operates on. A world that already denies the existence of mental health, and thus, would probably see the relationship between two boys as even more unnatural, makes Yuuichi see his chances with Shunsuke as doomed before it has a chance to start. Coupled with his horrible actions, he just doesn't see a world where he can be with Shunsuke. Shunsuke, on the other hand, is never honest with himself. He may know that he's attracted to guys. If we assume that the item text in the game is his view and perspective, than him callling Hiroto's shirt a word for attractive with a question mark can be seen as indicative of his preference for guys. But that doesn't really matter when, even by the end of the game, his monologue about how he felt about Yuuichi is interpreted as another lie. In the end, he says, he didn't actually care about Yuuichi, that he was just using him, and was just as rotten as he was. But... I don't know if I believe him. I have stated this opinion before, but to reiterate, what he says to Yuuichi in the storybook world goes above and beyond someone who is trying to be kind to a horrible person to feel better about someone. Those words are the words of a boy who wants to save Yuuichi. To the point that even as Yuuichi is about to end his life, he tries to save him... And I think that's something to really take note of... At the end of Utena... Utena is able to save Anthy from something... In the movie, Anthy saves Utena. But in Re:Kinder, Shunsuke doesn't save Yuuichi. He fails. And to make himself feel better, he says he didn't actually care in order to come to terms with his failure. And if that doesn't show the dichotomy in the endings of queer media with girls versus boys of the time, I don't know what does. But those are just my thoughts... Ultimately, both endings are depressing but lean towards being hopeful. Re:Kinder certainly has a more bitter bittersweet ending than Utena, which has a movie with a sweet ending to counter it.

Honestly, there are probably more comparisons I could give between the two, but I feel like I've effectively covered the similarities for now. In terms of tone, themes, and presentation, both are practically siblings in that regard, and it makes for a very thought-provoking experience from start to finish... I can't recommend either of them enough. Re:Kinder is a free RPG Maker horror game you can download, and if you're interested at all, I'd highly recommend it... Just maybe use a guide if you want to get through it painlessly. It's not hard, but a certain puzzle can be annoying (that goddamn elevator!). And all of Revolutionary Girl Utena is available on YouTube in both sub and dub. The movie can also be found on YouTube unofficially. But I believe Amazon Prime allows you to rent it for cheap in English. However, the DVD for the movie is also fairly priced on eBay. The same can't be said for the series, though.

Before I end this off, though, I want to compare Re: Kinder's characters with roses... Basically, if they were in the world of Utena, these would be the roses they would use in duels... I'll be starting with the supporting cast, before I end with our protagonist and antagonist.

Ryou Shimoya - Shunsuke's best friend and the healer of the group. Ryou is someone who really cares about his friends, even if he isn't the most reliable. He's friendly and is the one who shows the most concern for Shunsuke, while also being fairly loyal. For him... despite his blue and orange color scheme, I believe the yellow rose suits him best. To remind you, yellow roses mean friendship, loyalty, and devotion. And I can't think of a rose that fits Ryou more.

Sayaka Akatsuki - Sayaka is the comic relief of the game. You never know what's going to come out of her mouth. While I suspect she merely acts like a fool to get attention, deep down, she really cares about her friend and is very passionate about a lot of things, and is unafraid to speak her mind. For her, I would give her the orange rose. Orange roses mean passion, energy, desire, and fascination. Sayaka is someone who is curious about a lot of things, she's someone who makes very weird jokes, and often says things she shouldn't know. All of which I attribute to her being fascinated by certain scenarios, while also being a generally passionate person.

Aya Hibino - A character who is visibly gloomy and sad most of the time. She is a character who wants to disappear... but not because she wants to die, but because she's scared. A lot happens to her, and she is the character you really need to pay attention to in order to truly save her. She's someone searching for a reason to live... for this reason, and as cliché as it sounds, I give Aya the black rose. A bit on the nose; the black rose represents loss and grief, but it also represents change, new beginnings, and rebellion... And for Aya, I genuinely think this is the direction she goes post-true ending.

Rei Suzumura - A very headstrong, easy to anger young girl. Rei is someone who is implied to come from money. And despite having some spoiled tendencies, she's ultimately a reliable, caring girl who fights to survive. She may be headstrong, but she's physically active and pretty intelligent. For her, I'd say she truly represents the red rose. With the red rose meaning, which, while a romantic color, also represents courage and strength, and I can't think of a character it's more suited for.

Hiroto Yamakawa - The oldest, most responsible, and reliable of the cast. Hiroto is present for all the fights with Priestesses, and even has to fight one solo in a puzzle boss fight. Hiroto is someone we don't know a lot about, but his actions speak louder than words. He's very reliable, caring, and someone who offers advice when the need calls for it. He's also very modest and someone who acts as the big brother to the younger characters. For him... The Peach rose fits him best. Peach Roses are often symbolized by modesty, sincerity, and gratitude. It's a rose that's often given to celebrate a successful business deal. But it's also given to people whom one respects and cares for by being genuinely kind. And I think Hiroto fits this to a T.

Takumi Katsuragi - White rose. Moving on. /j Okay, in all seriousness. Takumi isn't really around long, but in his short time, he comes across as pure and innocent, and for that reason alone, I'm giving him the white rose.

Yuuichi Mizuoka - Okay. So, in-game, Yuuichi compares himself to the Princess of the Red Rose, and I do recall elements of his character using red a lot. But, as mentioned earlier, Yuuichi isn't really that passionate about anything. And since the red rose was given to Rei, what is his color? Well... I personally believe the lavender rose fits him best. Lavender roses mean enchantment, love at first sight, fascination, and wonder. And I think this fits Yuuichi in a way that even he wouldn't want to admit. Yuuichi is someone who, while cynical, does view the world in fascination and wonder, perfectly suited for a boy his age. The lavender rose is also closely related to the blue rose in its meaning of mystery and the unattainable, but with a more whimsical and fairytale-like quality. Something that fits Yuuichi, with his fascination with fairytales, and how even though he is doomed by the narrative, he still longs for someone to save him and understand him... The lavender rose is also heavily associated with the LGBTQ community and has been used as a symbol for many years.

Shunsuke Takano - Our last character, and with his rose being stolen by Takumi, that means he also gets a different rose. As I said earlier, white doesn't actually suit Shunsuke that well, so what does suit him... Well, I have to go with the ever-elusive blue rose. Blue roses, as I mentioned earlier, represent mystery, uniqueness, the unattainable, and elusiveness. Blue roses aren't naturally occurring in nature, often having to be dyed or genetically modified. And with how much Shunsuke deflects from the truth, and how he also desires something seen as unattainable, I can't think of a better flower for him. When said that they represent the unattainable and impossible, it's not viewed as hopeless, but rather, the encouragement to chase something viewed as impossible or unattainable. Shunsuke is someone who, at first glance, you would think is just your average boy, but when you pull back the layers and look at this story, he is a unique boy in his own right and is someone who is truly kind and caring. And while others may view him as unnatural, he's still beautiful in his own right... While not as historically deep as the lavender rose, the blue rose, in recent years, has been used in queer spaces just as much as the lavender rose because of its meaning of achieving the impossible. In recent years, actor Gideon Glick and Jonathan Groff of Spring Awakening fame launched the Blue Roses Project, a not-for-profit dedicated to providing queer artists in New Orleans a means to create queer stories with theatre professionals across America. Because of this, I think in the end, Shunsuke being given the deep yet hopeful, unattainable blue rose, and Yuuichi being given the rare, fanciful, yet idealistic lavender rose, and with how closely related the two are, I can't think of better roses to give to the two boys...

One last thing before we go, I want to discuss the opening and first ending songs of Revolutionary Girl Utena. The opening is a classic. The song is amazing, and it gives some really good visuals to match. I actually looked at the lyrics for the song, and I think that both songs fit Shunsuke and Yuuichi really well. Also, they're very catch and good, and I love them. None of them will ever leave my head. But to really sell what I'm talking about, here are the songs with lyrics, and I'll let you guys be the judge of that.

This song, Rondo-Revolution, is ultimately about choosing to fight in a world that chooses apathy. The song goes over fighting against the world even if the singer is separated from the person they care about they will keep on fighting to change the world. While I do think this song fits Shunsuke more than Yuuichi... I still think it fits the two really well.

And there's truth, a song about wanting to be true to yourself and smashing all the lies that hold you back. This song is once again, on the surface, is a stronger fit for Shunsuke than Yuuichi, but I like to think this song is more fitting for Yuuichi in the end. A song about wanting to look beyond the lies and be hated by them, but there's also a verse about a boy who wants to know the singer, while the singer wants them to be misunderstood... Ultimately, I think this song really fits Yuuichi and I just wanted to voice that.

So, that's the end... I don't really believe in rankings or scores at all, so I won't score the series, but I will list the series that inspired Parun from ones I most enjoyed to least enjoyed.

1st: Revolutionary Girl Utena and Night on the Galactic Railroad.

Yeah, I started strong and ended strong. I'll be honest, I couldn't really pick between the two. The products of both stories in their respective mediums are masterpieces in their respective arts, and I just loved them too much to separate them. Both are highly meaningful, symbolic, and very effective. I can't reccomend them enough. If you want to know my thoughts on Night on the Galactic Railroad, I have an analyis post on my blog.

2nd: Confessions

A pretty close second, but just loses out to both. Confessions is a dark story with no clear morally good characters. It's a story that really touches a lot on very dark subjects, and it's really effective at what it sets out to do. Honestly, I really liked it, but I listed it second simply because I liked Revolutionary Girl Utena and Night on the Galactic Railroad more. Speaking of which, I got my hands on the movie! The subtitles were terrible! Thank God I read the book, or I probably would've been lost. But the movie was fantastic, a masterclass in direction and acting, and while it does play with the events of the novel, it's ultimately a really good movie, and I wish it were more readily available with good subtitles.

3rd: Yasashii Watashi

Honestly, I wish this story were finished in terms of English translations. The first volume is good, but a lot of the meat of the story is in the 2nd volume, and I had to use pretty unreliable lens translations to finish it. I was able to get a majority of the story, and what I got was good, but I can't really give a full opinion because of the way I had to experience the story. That being said, the story is a real look at how the relationship between two people, no matter how much you care for them, can turn toxic and codependent to the point you end up hurting each other, even if you don't mean to. It's a very sad story with a hopeful message, and I hope one day we can get it completely translated in some way. I think the opportunity to turn it into a movie has come and gone, but hey, never say never.

4th: The Sirens Lament

While relatively simple, I appreciate it as a look of obsession and how it can affect someone to make selfish decisions, but also how, when you beat it, you end up making decisions that not only help the other person, but yourself at the same time. My enjoyment of this story comes more from what it's trying to say than the actual content of the story. It's good and well written, and I won't deny that, but it's also not that fun to read. I'm not really someone who needs something to be fun for me to enjoy and appreciate it (I'm a Persona 1 enjoyer and apologist. If you've played that game, you'll know what I mean by that). So, there's that. It's good. I just liked the stuff above way more.

5th: The Immaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

This film is one I really want to enjoy more than I do. But Terry Gilliam both helps and gets in the way of this film. The visuals are excellent. The writing is competent. The direction and acting are good. So... what's my problem... Well, the fact that it uses blackface in one scene for comedic effect and it treats it's female lead as an object for older men, while also trying to make her a strong character which leads to issues for her characterization. I will still argue that the film is worth watching at least once if you want to experience something truly trippy, and if you're ever curious about Heath Ledger's last film. But if you can't get past the blackface or the way it treats it's female lead. You can skip it.

6th: Tideland

And now for the one thing I really did not enjoy. Tideland is a film that exists to make you uncomfortable, and it's to its detriment. The film is saying things, and it provides a deeply uncomfortable look at how children cope with trauma in real time. But... It's just way too uncomfortable for me to enjoy. Another Terry Gilliam film, the DVD apparently opened with him saying to give the film a chance and recognizing that it's a polarizing film, and that honestly doesn't make it better. It doesn't make it worse, but it doesn't make it better. Honestly, if you must watch this film, only do so once. I can see why Parun was inspired by this film, and its use in Re:Kinder is evident. But let me put it this way, the stuff Tideland does and tries to do is done better in Re:Kinder. And that is honestly the highest endorsement I can give Tideland: Not bad, but done better by others by a country mile. If you want to watch it, go ahead, but if you ever feel uncomfortable, you can skip it. It's not worth it in my opinion. Even if its ending is a good one.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I had a really good time with this, and I think next time, I'll give a list of works that inspire me to write and how I feel they could connect with Re:Kinder. I think if Parun had lived long enough, I think these stories could have offered him inspiration to write other stories... I hope to provide a list one day, like I did with my musicals that fit Re:Kinder list I did months ago. As for Revolutionary Girl Utena, I might write more in-depth thoughts on the series one day. But for now, I'll end it here... It's been a long road... Thank you for joining me...

[snowssilentrest]

The Imaginarrium of Dr. Parnassus, Tideland, and Re:Kinder: How Style Gives Way to Substance

I watched The Imaginarrium or Dr. Parnassus yesterday, and Tideland this morning. I meant to watch them Saturday, but I didn't... Since these are films, and not books, I will likely just copy and paste the plots from Wikipedia to help streamline this particular post, because I'm not sure if I can really give a beat-for-beat explanation for these stories like I did for the others. Before we get going, it should be noted that these movies are both directed by Terry Gilliam. Terry Gilliam, for the uninitiated, is a film director most known from films like Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Before this, I only really knew Monty Python, and nothing else. To start off with the positives, I'll be upfront and say that Gilliam has an eye for cinematography. In both of these films, there was an undeniable eye for detail that makes a lot of shots stunning to look at, so with these films, I can at least say you're getting something nice to look at. I will also say that his films are unforgettable in both good and bad ways, as we will see with both of these films. If I can, I will be sure to include photos and shots from both films just to get you an idea of what we're dealing with. To be honest, I think if Parun got anything from these films, it was the aesthetic. To be clear, I did enjoy the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, and I'm still reeling from Tideland, but I will say that while the former was visually engaging and an enjoyable story with good twists and turns, the latter made me incredibly uncomfortable and was not one I enjoyed watching, but couldn't really look away from. It wasn't a trainwreck, as it was well acted, especially by a young Jodelle Ferland, who played our main character, Jeliza-Rose, well shot, and well directed, but... I struggle with finding a message in this film. I think there's one, but it's lost in trying to make the audience feel as uncomfortable as possible. Now, for Dr. Parnassus, Parun likely was just inspired by the imagery, as in my eyes, I didn't really see much of anything that could lead to his story being inspired by it. For Tideland, I can definitely say there were aspects of the story, and themes definitely had a hand in inspiring the themes of Re:Kinder, and I would even argue that Parun handled the themes of Tideland better in Re:Kinder and succeeded in giving us a message to think about when compared to Tideland. But that will be talked about in due time, before we officially begin, I do want to say one more thing before we continue... I'm not a fan of Gilliam as a person, he's a transphobic piece of shit who in the last 6 years has called the MeToo movement a witch hunt, victim-blamed the victims of Harvey Weinstein, and has made transphobic comments trying to get a laugh that very much failed to make anyone laugh, and when called out on his behavior by people trying to work with him for a stage production of Into The Woods, he recommended to watch a comedy skit by Dave Chappele, another wellknown transphobe and supposedly a comedian. So... yeah, Parun couldn't have known any of this, as he died a decade before he showed his true colors, and I can only speculate how he would've responded to his behavior, but that being said, he got something of value from his work, and even though I dislike Gilliam, that doesn't mean his work is without merit. So, with that being said, let's begin...

The Imaginnarium of Dr. Parnassus (Trigger Warnings: Mentions of Blackface and Innapropriate relations between a teen and adult.)

An elderly sage, Doctor Parnassus, runs a travelling theatre troupe, which includes his teenage daughter Valentina, barker Anton, and dwarf Percy. The troupe's main attraction is a portal to a magical "Imaginarium", a surreal dream world that transforms according to its participants' desires and offers them a choice between difficult self-fulfillment or easy ignorance. After a surly drunkard is swayed to the latter, Parnassus says he has lost "another one" to Mr. Nick, a suave personification of the Devil, who often taunts Parnassus and gloats over Parnassus's failures. He reminds Parnassus that in three days Valentina turns 16, and her soul will belong to Mr. Nick. Hundreds of years ago, Mr. Nick tricked Parnassus into accepting immortality.

As the troupe crosses a bridge, Anton notices someone hanging beneath it. They rescue the man, and he spits out a golden pipe that allowed him to continue breathing while being hanged; the man claims to have amnesia. Mr. Nick visits Parnassus and reveals that the rescued man is disgraced philanthropist Tony Shepard, who was hanged by Russian gangsters for owing them money. Mr. Nick offers Parnassus a new wager: Valentina can stay with Parnassus past the age of 16 if Parnassus wins five souls before Mr. Nick.

Tony joins the troupe as a barker and persuades them to remodel the show into a more modern act. Tony lures a posh, affluent woman into the Imaginarium and follows her; they enter a pastel-coloured dream world representing the woman's imagination. The woman's imagination changes Tony's face as well. Tony dances with her, and they encounter a motel run by Mr. Nick, but Tony persuades the woman instead to take a gondola ride that wins the first soul for Parnassus. Tony falls out of the Imaginarium, his face returning to normal. The woman exits shortly after and gives the troupe a vast sum of money as thanks for her experience. Three other women enter, each re-emerging elated. Mr. Nick claims the souls of four Russian gangsters hunting Tony down for his debts after they chase Tony into the Imaginarium and fall into a trap laid by Mr. Nick, with Tony's face changing again in the process.

Parnassus reveals to Valentina her past: after aging from normal mortality, Parnassus made a pact with Mr. Nick to be youthful again, in order to win the heart of a woman he loved. In exchange, any child he fathered would become Mr. Nick's property at the age of 16. Valentina is horrified by her father's revelation. Having discovered that Tony stole organs from orphans in developing countries and sold them to wealthy westerners, Anton confronts Tony, but Tony fights him off, pushes Valentina into the Imaginarium, then joins her. Influenced by Valentina's desires, Tony's face changes to that of her dream lover, and they float along a river in a gondola, fulfilling their shared sexual feelings. A child in rags disrupts their trip, transitioning the scene to one of Tony as a philanthropist, speaking at a fundraiser for impoverished children. Anton appears in the form of an outspoken child exposing Tony as a fraud. A mob of angry benefactors pursues Tony. As the landscape disintegrates, Anton confesses his love for Valentina before falling into a void.

Distraught over her father's bargain, Valentina gives her soul over to Mr. Nick even as he tries dissuading her. Disillusioned by the easy victory, Mr. Nick offers Parnassus another bargain: Valentina's soul for Tony's. As the mob approaches Tony to hang him, Parnassus presents Tony with his golden pipe that will allow him to survive the hanging, and, he also gives Tony a brittle replica. He then tricks Tony into choosing the replica; Tony dies when the mob lynches him. Mr. Nick frees Valentina's soul but does not reveal her location to Parnassus, who is abandoned to wander in despair, trapped in the Imaginarium.

Years later, Parnassus finds himself a beggar back in London, when Valentina walks by. She is married to Anton, has a daughter with him, and lives an affluent life. Percy walks up to him, dissuading him from interrupting Valentina's new life. Parnassus and Percy team up again, selling toy theatres of the Imaginarium and the troupe on a street corner. As Mr. Nick appears and beckons Parnassus to him, Percy tells Parnassus to return to work.

And that's the story. I will be fully transparent and say that this summary is directly from Wikipedia. Mainly because I wanted to get my own thoughts on here. So... all in all, this is a good film. I have my issues, and they're pretty big ones, but all in all, it was good. It had very beautiful imagery, even if the CGI was a bit dated in some aspects, it was overall a creative movie, if not a bit shallow in terms of any complicated and daring themes, but not everything needs to be thought provoking and meaningful. Sometimes, a movie can just be a good ride, with a decent story, and fun set pieces. For those that want to watch the movie, I discovered plenty of uploads of the full movie on Youtube, and if you ever want to watch it without putting money in Gilliam's pocket... Well, you know where to go now. I don't personally believe in rankings or scores, so I'll go by what I liked and didn't like about the movie.

In terms of the story, it was a fun ride. I don't really have any complaints with most of it, outside of a couple scenes that I take a very big issue with, but first, let's go over the characters. They're very much the right kind of characters for a story like this. Not quite normal, but not so crazy that it doesn't distract. The actors in this film did a great job, and I have to get shoutout to the late Heath Ledger (along with the three other actors who played him in the Imaginarrium after Heath Ledger passed away, making him unable to finish the film, more on that later), the late Christopher Plummer, Andrew Garfield, and Lily Cole. All four of them delivered a great performance and they're worth seeing the movie for. The other actors in this film also do a good job, and I honestly have nothing more to say on that front. Plummer plays Parnassus as both a man trying everything to save his daughter, while still clearly being a very imperfect man who lies to her. Heath Ledger does a good job playing the twist villian, and so do the other three actors who had to play him in scenes where his face changed. The choice to have three actors play him in the Imaginarrium is a great example of an idea brought about by both unfortunate circumstances. Since Heath Ledger died before the film was finished, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Collin Farrel were brought on for three different scenes to help complete the movie, and they all do a good job convincinly playing the same character which is not an easy feat at all. Andrew Garfield is Andrew Garfield. He's great in pretty much everything he's in, even in movies where they're not that good. I will say his character did annoy me at first, but he came around for me towards the end, and the story did a good job in vindicating his hatred in Tony, if you can't tell by the plot summary above. But despite all these great performances, the standout for me was Lily Cole, who played Parnassus' soon to be 16-year-old daughter. She both plays a character with a strong moral compass, while still clearly being a teenage girl trying to find her own strenght and is well rounded character in her own right... However, this does lead to one of my major criticisms of this film... The film kinda has a love triangle between Valentina, Tony, and Andrew Garfield's character, Anton... now before the twist with Tony being a complete scumbag is revealed, the movie strongly pairs Valentina and Tony together, and there's a scene where Tony almost kisses her, and there's a scene where they do actually kiss and it's implied that they made love... And Tony is very clearly written as an adult... No age is given for either Tony or Anton, but it's very obvious that Tony is at the very least in his late 20s and he's openly flirting and taking advantage of Valentina's attraction to him before the film ever outright says he's a horrible human being. The film doesn't actually call this out as inappropriate. There's even a scene where Parnassus and Percy (played by the late dwarrf actor, Verne Troyer), discuss both Anton liking Valentina, and Valentina being attracted to Tony, and while Parnassus does say neither are good enough for her, him being a full blown adult is never once brought up as a reason, and the film is perfectly content with telling the audience that their relationship is okay and normal until the reveal of him being an organ trafficker is brought up... Now, while Anton's age isn't brought up, he looks closer in age to Valentina, and very easily passes as being the same age as her physically, and there are a lot of moments where his behavior is more akin to a teenage boy, not a grown man, so it's honestly a releif that Val and Anton end up together at the end of the film because, yikes... Another thing I have to criticize is the use of blackface in this film. At one point in the movie, right around the time Tony starts getting a bunch of customers into the Imaginnarium, for some ungodly reason, they had actor, Verne Troyer, who played Percy, dress in blackface, complete with an afro wig...

I should not need to explain why this is bad in the year of our lord 2026. It was bad in 2009 too, and the people making this film should've known better. But considering Gilliam has once mockingly said that he''s and I quote, a black lesbian in transition (BLT... Yes, I know. It's bad), asshole likely didn't care... And no... the film doesn't acknowledge this as bad and it's not really treated as such, it's just a cheap joke and nothing more, and considering how the world grew tired of blackface by the 1940s... Like... this is just highly disrespectul and a giant what the fuck.

Other than those two very egregious parts of the film, I do praise the performances, the visuals, and the overall product is still worth your time... Just maybe watch the film on Youtube and avoid giving Gilliam your money.

Now, onto how this movie, might have inspired Parun... To be blunt, the visuals. The visuals, and nothing else. None of the plot of this film, as far as I can tell, is used as direct inspiration. And to be honest, the visuals are the best part of this film. I'm going to show a few images, a concept art, the trailer, and a couple scenes to really showcase what I mean, because while this movie isn't perfect, and in fact, there's plenty wrong with it as I've just discussed, the visuals alone are almost worth the price of admission.

There's quite a bit more beautiful visuals in the film, but I think I've proved my point with this. All in all, the film doesn't really have anything in the plot to make think it's related to Re:Kinder in anyway other than visuals. If anyone can see something that I might have missed that proves otherwise, please give me your thoughts. Again, the film is on Youtube in pretty good quality, just... keep in mind that there is blackface in this film, and Valentina, while still a good character in her own right, is still the object of desire for a grown man, and is sexually harrassed in the beginning of the film... while being described as 16... I seriously wonder why 16 was picked for the age instead of 21, which would've been closer to the actress's age at the time of the films release, or at least make her 18, just... anything is better than having her character be 15 going on 16. But, it's whatever at this point. I'm ready to move on.

Tideland (Trigger Warnings: Mentions of Child Abuse, mentions of depictions of inappropriate adult-child relationships, and drug use. If these are all uncomfortable, you can skip this part. Honeslty, I wouldn't blame anyone for doing so.)

Jeliza-Rose has solitary adventures during one summer in rural Texas while staying at a rundown farmhouse called What Rocks. The girl creates an increasingly dark, imaginative fantasy life with the aid of dismembered Barbie doll heads that she often wears on her fingertips. With names such as Mystique, Sateen Lips, Baby Blonde and Glitter Gal, the doll heads not only engage in long conversations with Jeliza-Rose, reflecting different aspects of the girl's psyche, but also act as her companions while she explores the barren Texas landscape.

After her mother overdoses on methadone, Jeliza-Rose and her father, Noah, flee to Noah's mother's home, a remote Texas farmhouse. Before they leave, however, Noah fears that with all the drugs in their house he will lose Jeliza-Rose and be sent to prison, so he attempts to set it alight, although Jeliza-Rose manages to stop him. They find the farmhouse abandoned, but they settle in anyway. Their first night there, Noah dies from a heroin overdose. For much of the rest of the film, Noah's corpse remains seated upright in a living room chair with sunglasses covering his eyes. As her father slowly begins to decompose, Jeliza-Rose doesn't readily acknowledge his death because she has grown accustomed to him being unconscious for long periods. Instead, she retreats deeper and deeper into her own mind, exploring the tall grass around the farmhouse, relying on her doll heads for friendship as an unconscious way of keeping herself from feeling too lonely and afraid.

During Jeliza-Rose's wanderings, she eventually encounters and befriends her neighbors, a mentally impaired young man called Dickens and his older sister Dell, who is blind in one eye from a bee sting, and who has a past connection to Jeliza-Rose's deceased father Noah. The eccentric neighbors take the girl under their wing, going so far as to preserve Noah's body via taxidermy. Amorous feelings, initiated mostly by the much younger Jeliza-Rose, begin to creep into the childlike relationship between her and Dickens, and it is revealed that the deeply troubled Dickens once drove a school bus in front of an oncoming train and keeps a stash of dynamite in his bedroom that he intends to use against the "monster shark" he believes is roaming the countryside (in reality, the nightly passenger train that travels past the farmhouse where Jeliza-Rose and her dead father reside). It is also revealed that Dell and Noah were once "kissers", as Jeliza-Rose finds pictures of the two in the room Dell shares with her own taxidermied mother.

Following a violent confrontation between Dell, Dickens and Jeliza-Rose, a train wreck is caused by Dickens' dynamite, creating a scene of chaos near the farmhouse. Wandering the wreckage among the confusion of injured travelers, Jeliza-Rose is discovered by a woman who survived, who assumes she is another victim of the wreck. The woman offers to adopt Jeliza-Rose, and they sit together by the burning train and watch as fireflies flit through the sky overhead.

Hoo boy, where do I even begin with this film? It was... certianly a movie. I'm still not sure if I liked it or not, but I'm leaning towards an, it's complicated... The movie has stellar performances, great visuals, solid direction, and a lot of questionable stuff... Very similar to our last movie, only this time the questionable stuff is very much designed to make you feel incredibly uncomfortable... It's to the point that I honestly struggle to recommend this film. The film very much has a lot of dark aspects with this film,as you can tell by the summary... If anyone wants to, the film is available on Youtube for free with spanish subtitles, but I will not be linking either films because I don't want Tumblr to get mad at me for linking two full length movies. So... let's move on to my thoughts...

Well... I will say this, this movie is uncomfortable. This movie is a "your mileage may vary" kind of film. For me, I appreciate it bringing attention to some very uncomfortable topics and themes, child abuse, incest, drug overdose, mental illnesses, and how it all effects a child having to witness it all to the point it's their normal life... No one in this film is particularly likable, except for Jeliza-Rose, and that's because Danielle Ferland does a great job playing her as a girl escaping into her fantasies just to cope with her surroundings. Very early in the film, both of her parents die of a drug overdose. Her Mom dies around 10 minutes into the film, and her Dad dies 30 minutes into the film. After that, the girl just kinda wanders around the Texas prairies just playing pretend as she's used to her Dad being out for days at a time... Yeah, I guess I'll go into that first. Jeliza-Rose's home life isn't good... Her Mom and Dad are both heavy drug users, and her Mom espesically doesn't treat her very well in the little time we spent with her, being very rude and mean to her daughter, but the next minute she's crying and telling her she's sorry and that she doesn't want her to leave, and then saying she'll do something nice for her real soon, only to hit her for trying to take her chocolate, and then proceeding to cry and apologize. Her Father, isn't much better... He definitely acts a little nicer towards her, but he partakes in heroin habitually leaving her to fend for herself while he's off on "vacation" as he puts it... The film doesn't stay on either of them for long...After her Mom dies, they leave for her deceased Grandma's home, and then 10 minutes later, her Dad is dead. And for a good chuck of the movie, her Dad just rots in a chair, while Jeliza-Rose convinces herself he's just sleeping... It isn't until later she meets her neighbors, Dell and Dickens, and both are... not right... Dell is confusing, going from mean, to nice, and back again, and is very much not right in the head... And then there's Dickens, her brother, who is mentally disabled and has bouts of epilepsy... and is implied to be a victim of CSA...

Honestly, this whole film is designed to make you more and more uncomfortable as possible as we a girl disaccociate with her surroundings, playing a fantasy in her head to the point of very unhealthily getting attached to her neighbors. While her relationship with Dell is contentious for most of the film, her relationship with Dickens is... uncomfortable. So, uncomfortable, I'm not even sure I really want to talk about it more than the summary does... If you read it, it does mention Jeliza-Rose initiating an amourous relationship with Dickens... Who is a grown man. Despite his mental disabilties and him being very childlike, and unlike Imaginnarium, the film makes it very clear that this is not okay. And the tone of the film makes it clear that Jeliza-Rose's infatuation with Dickens is nothing more than based on her fantasy of him, rather than the reality of him being a mentally unhealthy man, with delusions and a penchant for seeing the world around him as something it isn't. To the point of causing very serious, yet intentional destruction. The film, I feel, lingers on the two's "relationship" far more than necessary, to the point that at a certain point in the film, I verbally said "Stop!" out loud. It seriously made me uncomfortable. And I think it's to the films detriment. We do not need a scene of a child kissing a grown man on the lips, even if they are just innocent pecks. It's gross, disgusting, and I hate it so much. And I'm going to stop talking about it here because it genuinely makes me upset and uncomfortable.

Moving on. The film does have a good ending... It's the only time in the film I felt a sense of relief. At the end, Jeliza-Rose goes towards a train wreck caused by Dickens and she meets a young woman who thinks she was a passenger. The film has the woman sit and comfort Jeliza-Rose knowing she's been through a lot, but not exactly knowing what. The movie implies that the woman is going to care for her from now on, ending with a hopeful scene of the two watching fireflies over the wreckage. After everything I witnessed watching this film, I just hope Jeliza-Rose gets the help she needs with that kind woman, far away from the craziness that is Dell and Dickens...

In terms of message, I struggle to really say this film has one... but I do think it wants to say that there's an ugly truth in how children cope in situations with adults indulging in unhealthy habits and ignoring how those habits can affect those children, and how we expect them to be aware and know how to handle these situations. Jeliza-Rose is seen twice giving heroin to her Dad, which implies a normal, and she plays with the heads of Barbie dolls, putting them on her fingers, and pretending they talk to her as she just wanders and plays into the Texas prairies... Jeliza-Rose oftens makes up stories for her surroundings, and is very much inspired by Alice in Wonderland. She actually reads the book around the beginning of the movie. There's also a couple of moments that directly reference Alice in Wonderland, such as her falling into a tree in her mind, while in reality, she's just unconscious and taken back to her farm house, where she wakes up to find Dell applying taxidermy to her Father's pretty decayed corpse by this point.. Once both of Jeliza-Rose's parents die, she escapes into her mind to cope with her neglect and abandonment, and eventually finds neighbors are very much not safe for her, and the movie is aware of this, but it's not till the end where we're given any amount of hope that she'll be okay...

Yeah... I think it's safe to say after writing all of this that I wasn't a big fan of this film. Like I said, there are parts that are good. But the story is far too disturbing and indulgent for my liking, and anything I can say in positive about this film comes with a "but." The performances are great, but I can't get behind the story. The visuals are great, but sometimes I wonder what I'm looking at. The themes and message are daring and important, but I'm not sure if it does a good job in really selling those message in a tasteful and coherent way. Considering, I had to really think about this deeply for this film, I can see many people coming out of this film thinking it's just there to be uncomfortable with no point...

And honestly, that seems to be the common consensus. While now, you'll find people defending this movie and what it's trying to say, this film was not a critical or financial success except for one major exception... Japan... Apparently this film did really well in Japan critically and financially, which explains why Parun listed it as an inspiration for Re:Kinder. Overall, though, this film is either loved, despised, or people didn't know what to think. Which, I fall into the last category... Which leads me to discuss how this film was used as inspriation... I think Parun was really attached to imperfect, and downright horrible adults indulging in vices around children and not considering how it all affects them. But where Tideland feels exploitive and indulgent, Re:Kinder feels a lot more conscious and self-aware. Re:Kinder takes the interesting parts of Tideland and does a better job at really showing how kids deal with certain situations in unhealthy ways, by virtue of having the characters being at least a little aware that how they're handling the situation likely isn't the best way, but they don't know anything else. This isn't to say Jeliza-Rose being unaware makes her less interesting, I'd argue Jeliza-Rose is probably a more realistic portrayal of a child using unhealthy coping mechanisms, but the film never really outright says it's unhealthy, it just kinda expects the audience to see it as such without really acknowleding that being aware of what is being shown and portrayed as unhealthy and uncomfortable is sometimes not enough to assure an audience and acknowledgment goes a long way in making sure an audience can stomach the story. I really feel like Jeliza-Rose's family and neighbors can be seen in Yuuichi's family dynamics just without the drugs, incest (Yes, apparently, there is in incest in Tideland, but I mercifully missed it), and very uncomfortable adult-child relationship. Jeliza-Rose's Mom saying she'll do something to make her daughter happy, while making it clear this is probably not the first time she's heard that, mirrors Yuuichi's Mom saying she'll hang in there, only to rely on her own son for comfort. Jeliza-Rose's Dad is well meaning, but incapable of seeing what's best for his daughter, not even once considering that maybe his daughter is better off away from him, and indulging in vices that end with him leaving his daughter behind, mirrors Yuuichi's Dad and how he abuses his wife who clearly needs help, and leaves his son to handle everything, knowing that she'll likely use him to make herself feel better. He knows, and understands that what he is doing is wrong, but either can't or won't do what he knows is right because he's too much of a coward to do what is necessary for his son, while indulging in an affair that would only exacerbate the harm he's causing. And that's just going into Yuuichi and his parents. As much as I write Shunsuke's Mom as a good mom, she still willingly participated in an affair with Yuuichi's Dad knowing that it could hurt his family. And while we don't know much about her relationship with Shunsuke's Dad, we can assume that she didn't know he was married until later, which makes her a victim in that regard, but she still didn't tell Shunsuke his Dad was likely not going to come home at some point. Now, granted, this is much less bad than Yuuichi's parents, and I think we can give her some slack, since we have enough to determine that she was likely a good Mom, at least in Shunsuke's perspective. But as for the other kids parents... even if we don't know exactly what their issues are, we are given enough to know that whatever thier issues were had a profound affect on all of them.

Ryou, for example, tries to help whenever he can, and plays pretend with Sayaka, roleplaying innappropriate relations. Ryou likely had to help out around the house whenever his Mom was tired and depressed, at roughly nine years old.

Sayaka says a lot of out of pocket things for attention, which is indicative of her likely not getting a lot of attention at home due to her Dad's suicidal ideation. Because of this lack of attention, she knows about a lot of scenarios she really shouldn't at her age. She probably didn't get a lot of attention and thus did and said whatever in order to get any kind of attention.

Aya is self-explanatory. Her parents divorce profoundly affected her to the point of her getting depression, and while we do have enough information to discern that her parents divorce wasn't dramatic, it was still a surprise that affected her deeply. And her Mom taking care of her, likely didn't help as much as it should've.

Rei is surprisingly self-sufficient and independent. While she has a few moments of being spoiled and selfish, she's overall intelligent, strong, and surprisingly responsible. But she's in 5th grade. That's 11 years old at most. Outside of that, she's also surprisingly concerned with fashion and looking good, which tells me that she was taught at a young age to be considered pretty, or you'll be worthless. And her strength and smarts reads as compensation to me.

Hiroto is the character we know the least about, but he's the one who says "When someone like Yuuichi opens their heart to another, they tend to lean heavy on them. If you aren’t ready to provide that kind of support, you shouldn’t even be thinking about saving Yuuichi." I've discussed this at lenght in his Musical Character Analysis post, but he has to know that because both of his parents had the mind illness, which put him in a position where he had to take on responsibility at a young age. With him being so mature and responsible, it's easy to forget he's in 6th grade, making him 12 at most.

These are all kids forced to cope with the failures of adults without fully understanding why they act the way they do. They just do, and that's their normal. If there is anything I can appreciate Tideland for, it's inspiring Parun to take what Tideland was trying to do, and doing it better. Even if that wasn't his goal, in my eyes, he took a movie that is profoundly uncomfortable and hard to watch, and used some of it's themes and messaging to make what I consider to be the best, and most underrated RPGMaker Horror game of all time... I just wish he was still alive to hear this praise...

Alright, with that... we've only got Yasashi Watashi and Revolutionary Girl Utena next. I've just got a Japanese copy of Volume 2 of Yasashi Watashi, and will be using lens to translate and follow through the whole story. I do have thoughts on Volume 1, but I wanted a complete view of the story before I gave my full thoughts. As for Revolutionary Girl Utena... I will likely just be discussing my personal thoughts on the show, and how the themes connect with Re:Kinder rather than give a full summary of the story because it's a 39 episode anime, and I'm not about to blog my thoughts for all 39 episodes, I am not that bored in life. Honestly, of the list, I was most highly anticipating Revolutionary Girl Utena and Night on the Galactic Railroad. Well, the latter didn't disappoint and was one of the most profound children's book I've had the pleasure of reading, and Revolutionary Girl Utena is a classic that is very dark and has a lot to say, so it's very exciting that I'll finally be watching it. Until then, I'll see you all later...

[phoenixlionme]

Who Would Win? Battle 549

Stitch

Maui, Shapeshifter, Demigod of the Wind and Sea, Hero to All

Voting ended onSep 19, 2025

If you're wondering why I tagged this post "comparison" and wondering what they have in common, I'll explain: Both are otherwordly, superbeings that start off as selfish jerks but their bond with their respective Polynesian human has them evolve into better versions of themselves. They also have dark pasts that contribute to their (initial) bad qualities and have the ability to shapeshift to their own respective degree.

[phoenixlionme]

Biracial lead characters of the respective tv series, with each series being a fantastical, morally grey, beloved, and beautifully animated show that tackles heavy and mature themes

All are half Asian, coincidentally from East Asian descent - Caitlyn is half Chinese, Ezran is half Japanese, Mark is half Korean

They all have a somewhat complicated relationship with their respective parent - In general, they love said parent but also must come to grips with the fact said parent has done some bad things

They have sibling like relationship with someone in the show, whom they deeply love and are close to- Caitlyn has a big brother figure in Jayce; Ezran has an older half-brother, Mark has a younger half brother

All of them go through physical changes that also symbolize their emotional character growth

All of them, at some point, have been criticized for their simplistic, tunnel vision, and/or naive beliefs of the world. Growing out this mindset, while also retaining their inner pureness, is a major character arc for each of them.

They all hail from royalty - Caitlyn isn't a literal princess but she comes from one of, if not the most powerful and affluential families in her world and has been described as a princess; Ezran starts off as a prince before becoming King; Mark turns out to be descend from Viltrumite royalty and he late becomes ruler of Earth.

They are one of the most kind-hearted, soft, and loving people in their respective worlds, and seeing them become truly and viciously angry is scary to behold.

They each have their own coming-of-age stories

Most of their physical looks come from the parent who they have conflicted feelings for - Caitlyn and her mom; Ezran and his dad; Mark and his dad

They try to solve issues through nonviolence and rationality, even when other parties want differently.

They hold so much power in their respective hands, but are ultimately humble people who want to help instead of hurt

Their respective shows are streaming show and are very popular on their respective networks.

They have particular interest and/or liking that is repeatedly emphasized in their own shows - Caitlyn and her detective and sharpshooting skills; Ezran and his love of jelly tarts; Mark and his love of comics

They are some of my favorite characters and this world, and they are purely fictional characters, and yet:

[phoenixlionme]

Caitlyn and Mizu Compare/Contrast

For some reason, I find that these two characters. Two different women from very different shows, have striking similarities to one another as well as differences.

Differences

Caitlyn comes from one of the wealthy families in her series; Mizu grew up broke poor

Caitlyn is driven towards helping others; Mizu is driven by revenge

Caitlyn's biracial heritage is never once brought up negatively, it's just a matter of fact; Mizu was viciously ostracized by many people because of her mixed heritage

Caitlyn was sheltered; Mizu was forced to live through and witness cruelty at a young age

Caitlyn is basically a saint; Mizu is an anti-hero at her best

Caitlyn's world is scifi/fantasy setting where the only bigotry is classism; Mizu lives in ordinary world (with the genre being of Western Samurai) and the accurate depictions of sexism, classism, and racism are all on full display

Caitlyn grew up with her parents in a loving, though controlling, household; Mizu doesn't know who her father is, had an abusive mother, and barely a place to call home

2. Similarities

Both are from one of the most popular adult-animated shows on Netflix, praised by critics and fans alike

Both are of East Asian descent - Caitlyn is half-Chinese; Mizu is half-Japanese

Skilled in respective traits - Caitlyn in marksmanship; Mizu in swordsmanship

They both have a connection to the color blue

Following from the previous point, both have blue eyes

They both have a strained relationship with their respective mothers - Caitlyn resents her mother meddling in her life as an adult; Mizu's "relationship" with her mother is just straight up abuse and neglect.

Both are biracial -> half Asian and half white

Both were ostracized -> Caitlyn stated she was a "misfit" herself and her Enforcer colleagues believes she's a rich, entitled brat; Mizu's ostracization is even more pronounced given how many people saw her biracialness as "demonic"

Have some sort of LGBT connection - Caitlyn is a lesbian and in an evolving romance with Vi; many LGBT fans have connected to Mizu because her struggles with her gender was similar to their own, and she's had palpable romantic tension with both a male and female character

[phoenixlionme]

Connected by similar shows with some crew who worked for both; connected via similar intelligence and personality; connected via similar love interest(s); but, more importantly, connected via...boomerangs