#satouxtanaka

[lathidraws]

Tanaka asked Gen to take the pi.ctu.re, Takahashi added the filter.

[eidolonlathi]

Aesthetical References of Sato’s Black Ghost

Since the beginning of the manga Sato’s character tends to make remarks about pop cultural references. And looking at the kind of media he is talking about might not only reveal references hidden in the design of his black ghost but also holds information about the time frame of the story’s events.

The fact that Sato and his IBM are calling each other “Sonny” and “Tubbs” during operations is an clear reference to Miami Vice’s, to its main characters Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs. Not much hidden meaning in this one and a reference surely picked up by many readers.

Living the neon-noir dream. Tell me Sato, if your ghost is your Tubbs then who is your Castillo?

It gets more interesting though if one has a look at the head of Sato’s IBM. Clearly a reptilian inspired design, especially in panels that show its teeth. A long snout, sharp teeth… an alligator might be the most fitting comparison. Alligator? Fun Fact: Miami Vice’s Sonny Crockett is proud owner of a pet alligator called Elvis, which lives a spoiled life at his epic sailboat. Looking at this, I think there might be a good possibility the design of the head of Sato’s IBM was directly inspired by alligator Elvis.

The secret of the alligator: In some parallel universe Sato’s black ghost is named “Elvis”

Observation two: Early in the manga, when staging Tanaka’s breakout, there is the famous line where Tanaka is missing Sato’s A-Team reference and instead ends up comparing himself to the Clarice Starling to Sato’s Hannibal Lecter: A Silence of the Lambs reference.

Tanaka shows ambitions to become Clarice and can you blame him for it?

So, where does Sato’s IBM fit in here? Ever noticed how the black ghost has six fingers on each of its hand instead of five?

The number of the beast is six-six-pool ‘gator

In the Silence of the Lambs novel, it gets mentioned that Dr Lecter was born with an additional sixth finger on each hand (can’t remember if this detail made it into the movie). And that he later had those extra fingers surgically removed. So, the design of the hands of Sato’s IBM might be inspired by that.

What to make of these observations? Outer universe that the writing not only loves bringing in pop cultural references but also manages to re-insert them in interesting ways. Having the effect that they feel deeper than a simple one-panel joke. And Inner Universe? Probably that during the time his IBM started appearing, Sato not only went watching Silence of the Lambs at the cinema but also didn’t miss any episode of Miami Vice running. Both media are fitting into the approximate time frame he would have discovered being an Ajin. So, on top of being entertaining references, I think there is a good chance the writing did not pick these two titles randomly but was inserting hints about the time frame of events.

[eidolonlathi]

four haiku and a moodboard created for @ajinweek 2020

Day 05 - Justice: Core Motivations of the Sato Squad

Trying to narrow down the broad term of "justice" into a subjective form for each character, I wrote a bunch of haiku that have the individual motivations of the different Sato Squad members as a theme.

In addition I did a moodboard supposed to support the overall motive in these.

  Haiku 009: Okuyama Electric current Rushing through our shared systems My earned victory

Haiku 002: Tanaka Dust clouded my mind Your voice is reaching me now I mean to listen

Haiku 006: Takahashi and Gen Became two monsters By intention, so we can Bite before they do

Haiku 001: Sato Patiently waiting Desire melted into glass Shattered silently

[eidolonlathi]

10 days of ajin day 10 - favourite anime episode: episode 24 - Tanaka deciding to stay with Sato