#��池保子

[classic-shoujo]

Green Hill Monogatari (1970) by Yasuko Aoike

[asnowperson]

Otomo Katsuhiro's Cats Head Home at Dawn

Otomo Katsuhiro has the best taste for drawing an Eroica parody manga.

Thanks to @skyblep mentioning that this manga exists, I finally got around to reading this one shot. Cats Head Home at Dawn (猫はよく朝方に帰ってくる - Neko wa Yoku Asagata ni Kaette Kuru) was first published in Young Comic in 1981, and was later compiled in Otomo's SOS Dai Tokyo Tankentai (SOS大東京探検隊) anthology. In the afterword, he clearly states that this hard-boiled detective story was drawn as an Eroica parody.

All Eroica fans should check this manga out to laugh at Detective notKlaus looking for a cat.

Otomo is a Klaus bully.

Bonus: What Aoike said about this manga in her Manben episode (naokiurasawa.com looks down at the moment, but we all know how great of a person the owner of the site is for subbing Manben episodes)

[masodemic]

From Eroica with Love Musical and why I don't trust adaptations of 1970s shoujo manga

Unlike some of its contemporaries which have reached famed accolades and mainstream commercial success, From Eroica with Love seems to have remained a beloved cult classic. It has evaded anime, live-action, or stage adaptation since its serialization began in 1976. That is until now.

When it was announced that From Eroica with Love will be receiving a musical adaptation, I – and several others – were immediately skeptical. Not only are the characters and comedy of Eroica extremely difficult to adapt with real humans, there is also a very specific aesthetic that the adaptation must abide to. This aesthetic combines the style of 1970s shōjo manga, and the contemporary rock scene, along with classic James Bond films. That alone should prove enough of a challenge, but characters are also extremely vibrant and vivid in personality, which usually demonstrates in subtle and/or comedic moments.

And this was actually not the first time that the thought of a musical of From Eroica with Love has crossed my mind. I had casually talked to a friend or two that if Eroica were to be adapted, I think it could work as a musical, if it could utilize the very theatrical and dramatic language of the stage to portray the characters, the style, and the energy of the original. So, did this production succeed in doing so? Well, I wrote a 10,000-word essay that attempts to dive into the topic, which will be split into parts, just so we could get to the bottom of this. Oh and also, it’s Dorian’s birthday.

Happy birthday Dorian Red Gloria - part-time menace, full-time FASHION ICON!!!

Link to each respective parts of this rant essay:

Part I: I want my chaotic characters back

Dorian Red Gloria, Earl of Gloria, Codename: Eroica

Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach, Major, Codename: Iron Klaus

The Case of the Missing Caesar Gabriel and the Character Assassination of Tyrian Persimmon

Part II: WTF is with this lack of energy bro?

Section 1: The tank scene was the only one they did right

Section 2: I should not be sleepy or bored watching Eroica

Part III: Wanna talk about media-mix?

[tokyo-akb48]

[toytraint]

keikyu 601 #京急電鉄 #急600系 #デハ601 #第一運動公園 #静態保存 #池子弾薬庫跡地 #keikyu_railways #600type #faiichiundou_park #preservation ✱雨ざらしのため外装の劣化が… https://www.instagram.com/p/Co9-cLZvgdM/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[hosakakyodai]

芸能人、俳優、女優の言葉に学ぶ夫婦円満術。小池栄子の言葉は「期待しないんで」 - 保坂兄弟(保坂学と保坂耕司)プロフィール https://hosakakyodai.themedia.jp/posts/48671390

[asnowperson]

Urasawa Naoki's Eroica tribute

Learn German with Major Eberbach <3

Naoki Urasawa is cool. And he drew an Eroica tribute in February 2023 issue of Mystery Bonita as part of Eroica's 45th anniversary project. The Rose Garden team going strong... Huge thanks go to mimio for making sure that the script makes sense, and to platypus for beautifully editing everything! You can find here, or on MangaDex.

Behold Dorian's magnificent chest hair!

I am still hoping for someone with old Mystery Bonita issues to be kind enough to contact me so that I can see the former tributes (and potentially scanlate them). They don't sell issues older than a year on e-book stores, so get your copies while you still can! I am in particular after the 2021/9 issue which has a Maya Mineo manga.

I pray that they will compile these tributes in a single volume later. I will be so buying it!

[masodemic]

[Eroica Musical Rant] Wanna talk about media-mix?

(Series masterlist)

So, now the question I want to attempt to ask is: why? Why is this a thing? Why did somebody decide to produce, write and direct this musical even though they lack the textual understanding needed to know how?

And perhaps the answer lies in a phenomenon that’s been under fire in the recent years called: media-mix. Which, instead of consuming one piece of media contained in its medium, i.e. manga, we now live in a world where industries are creating an ecology of media with the same piece appearing in different mediums. In describing media-mix in the context of cinema, Andrew Zahlten wrote:

“[I]magine that in 1958 one entered a theater to encounter a double or triple bill that might include a comedy from the Company President series or a special-effects film such as The H Man, then returned home or continued on to food and drink. This was cinema proper, defined by a specific mode of production and, importantly, a specific space and practice of spectatorship. By the 2010s, audiences might watch the ninja character Naruto in the anime series on tv while drinking Naruto soda and browsing the Naruto website or playing the online game on their phones. In the morning they could read the manga on the train and receive tweets generated by a Naruto kyara-bot while chatting with other fans online. […] What was once cinema now entered into a less localizable space of media woven into the fabric of everyday life. […] On top of a bounded media text for consumption we find constellations of characters and worlds that are accessible via multiple, multidirectional engagements. […] Such a relation is not entirely new—just as film has always entailed connections to other media—but increasingly obvious and consequential.” [1]

The manga and anime industry has an extensive history of media-mixing their properties. From Tezuka Osamu’s Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) appearing on chocolate and children's goods [2], to Kadokawa Haruki’s “dilution” of pure cinema through adaptations. Kadokawa, if you’re familiar, is one of the leading publishing houses in Japan, owning LOTS and LOTS of manga and anime properties.

And while Zahlten did not mention them, some of the most common products of media-mix are live action film adaptations and theatrical musicals. Zahlten seems to argue that the purpose of media-mix’s is to weave media into every corner of everyday life, creating more media exposures to the images of the text being promoted, letting it diffuse into the public conscious.

Hence, if someone isn’t a reader, they can always watch the anime adaptation. And if they don’t want to watch 54 episodes, then there’s always a 1.5-2-hour-long film adaptation where your favorite fictional characters are usually played by new upcoming actor or famed idol. And if you’re a fan of the stage? We got you covered too. You are sure to receive the whole experience just by sitting through this one production hahahahahahahahahaha …

On another hand, I would argue that these adaptations target the already existing community of fans in a similar way that merchandizes do. It promotes consumerism relating to a property they are familiar with, and perhaps may feel obligated to participate in this aspect of fan culture. A great example of an intellectual property being heavily media-mixed into many aspects of everyday life, if you recall in my short video a while ago, is The Rose of Versailles, created by Ikeda Riyoko – Aoike’s contemporary.

It is likely that during the past year as Aoike Yasuko celebrates her 60th anniversary as a mangaka – an amazing feat – her team might have decided to use the opportunity to boost exposure to her works. And I stand by that, more Aoike Yasuko exhibitions, books, prints, merch, GIMME ALL OF IT. But in this age of media-mix, and an adaptation of some sort is sure to garner some kind of attention – positive AND negative – and since the anime industry is kind of difficult to barge into with a 50-year-old work right now, a musical seems to be their next choice. (I would not have mind if they gave it to Guy Ritchie and so we can have another Man From UNCLE type film, but that’s just me.)

So, after everything, what have we learned from the lukewarm adaptation of From Eroica with Love?

Is it that perhaps each medium has a specific language, and when one seeks to adapt them into another, one has to translate the tone from the original to the target medium, and not just copy down every line and call that a script? Yes.

Is it that perhaps decently good actors does not necessarily a good production make? Yes.

Or is it that perhaps certain properties don’t need to be media-mixed … at all?

References

[1] Andrew Zahlten, “Introduction,” in The End of Japanese Cinema: Industrial Genres, National Times, and Media Ecologies (USA: Duke University Press, 2017), 1–2.

[2] Marc Steinberg, “Candies, Premiums, and Character Merchandising: The Meiji–Atomu Marketing Campaign,” in Anime’s Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012), 40, 45, 59–63.

[tokyo-akb48]

[hiromusicarts-blog]

ホームスタジオにKORG D1を導入 メインキーボード（８８key)ピアノタッチ鍵盤を新調しました。 前の電子ピアノは、Roland のFPだった（中古）のだけれど、色々と不具合が出てきたので、買い換えようとあれこれ探していました。 候補には、ALESISのrecital proとかYAMAHAのP-225とかもあったけれど、KORGのD1になりました。 決め手は、MIDI in out の標準装備。 私は、PCではなく、MIDIでハード音源や、MIDIデータマネージャーに繋げているので、MIDI端子が必須項目だったのです。 問題なく、接続完了し、ハード音源の音を鳴らしています。タッチ感は、やや「ベタ」な感じだけど、本格的な演奏を目的とはしていないため、そこは目を瞑るところ。 実際の演奏入力も、ほぼ問題ないようで、割とストレスフリーになったと思う。 同時期にショルキーにも問題発覚。KX5の電池ソケットが割れていて、使えなくなっていたので、一応修理をして、稼働しているのですが、ライブで「保つ」のか心配で、同等品の色違い（中古）を仕入れ、動作確認をしているところです。

Introducing the KORG D1 to my home studio I bought a new main keyboard (88 keys) with piano touch keys. My previous digital piano was a Roland FP (second-hand), but it started to have various problems, so I was looking for a new one. My options were the Alesis recital pro and the Yamaha P-225, but I ended up with the KORG D1. The deciding factor was that it comes standard with MIDI in/out. I connect to hardware sound sources and MIDI data managers via MIDI, not a PC, so a MIDI terminal was a must. I connected without any problems and am now playing sounds from a hardware sound source. The touch is a bit "sticky," but since I'm not aiming for serious performance, I can overlook that. There seem to be almost no problems with actual performance input, so I think it's become relatively stress-free. At the same time, problems were discovered with the shoulder keyboard. The battery socket of my KX5 was cracked and it could no longer be used, so I repaired it and it is now working, but I am worried about whether it will last during live performances, so I purchased an equivalent item in a different color (second-hand) and am currently checking that it works.

[a-putain]

行刑官小池女士拎着皮包走进行刑室，神情之轻松仿佛只是一次普通的出差。

我被绑在行刑室中央的躺椅上，大部分衣物已经被事先脱去，只留一条内裤，却不是为了保留我的尊严，而是为了避免我死后流出的污秽弄脏行刑官女士的衣服。

在她为我扎针时，我看到她包裹在丝袜和高跟鞋里的美足，继而在濒死的绝望中不由自主地勃起、流出淫水。内裤上的湿斑引起她的注意，她对我邪魅一笑。

“想要一些快乐嘛？”

我点头承认自己对她的欲望。

“淫荡的家伙，死刑真是便宜你了~”她说着，却用手指隔着内裤抚慰我的鸡巴。最终，我在她的蹂躏下射精，直到灌满整条内裤。湿乎乎的温热感令我羞耻至极，我扭动身躯想要遮掩，她却将我的羞耻尽收眼底。

“准备上路吧”小池女士说着按下遥控器，注射器将毒药注入我的身体。我抽搐着死去，留下一裤裆耻辱的痕迹。

小池女士俯身跪在我身边，脱下我的内裤、拨开我的阴茎包皮，用棉签和镊子提取我的精液样本--不久后，我赤裸而淫秽的尸体将被送到女子医���院接受解剖研究。

[asnowperson]

So, who's going on an Aoike pilgrimage first?

aoike character guide book

places visited in yasuko aoike's works (translation under the cut by the lovely @asnowperson)

ENGLAND 1- London (Midnight Collector side story among others) 2- The National Gallery (London) (Pt.1 A Thousand Kisses) 3- British Museum (London) (Pt.1) 4- Salibury Military Base (Lieutenant Colonel Eberbach side story) 5- Heathrow Airport (No.11 Seven Days in September among others)

GERMANY 6- Plymouth (El halcón) 7- Bonn 8- NATO Bonn Office 9- Cologne 10- Thermal Spas on the Rhine River and the old castles (Eroica, among others) 11- Lilienthal Monastery (Shuudoushi Falco) 12- Berlin (No. 15 Nosferatu, among otheres) 13- Trier (No.17 Trojan Horse) 14- German Military Hospital (Intermission side story) 15- Dresden (No.16 The Panda’s Maze) 16-Hamburg (From Lawrence with Love side story) 17- Eberbach Mansion

FRANCE/ITALY/GREECE 18- Paris (No.17 Trojan Horse) 19- Louvre Museum (No.1 A Thousand Kisses) 20- Charles de Gaulle Airport (No.11 Seven Days in September) 21- Nice (No.17 Trojan Horse) 22- Avignon (Alcazar Oujo) 23- Catacombes (No.8 Veni Vidi Vici) 24- St.Peter’s Basilica (No.8 Veni Vidi Vici) 25- St.Peter’s Square (No.8 Veni Vidi Vici) 26- Parthenon Temple (No.4 Love in Greece)

SPAIN/PORTUGAL 27- Sevilla (Alcazar Oujo) 28- Sigüenza (Alcazar Oujo) 29- Toledo (Alcazar Oujo) 30- Jerez Castle (Alcazar Oujo) 31- Jerez Monastery (Alcazar Oujo) 32- Jaén (No.18 Judgment of Paris) 33- Plaza de Toros de Jaén (No.18 Judgment of Paris) 34- Córdoba (Eroica) 35- Zuera, Alcala (No.11 Seven Days in September) 36- Aragon region (Eroica) 37- Calatayud (Alcazar Oujo) 38- Granada (Alcazar Oujo) 39- Barcelona (Eroica) 40- Valencia (Alcazar Oujo) 41- Lisbon (No.3 Achilles’ Last Stand)

SWITZERLAND/AUSTRIA/LICHTENSTEIN/ROMANIA 42- Zürich (No.13 The Seventh Seal) 43- Luzern (No.12 The Laughing Cardinals) 44- Vienna State Opera (No.14 Emperor Waltz) 45- Vienna Central Cemetery (No.14 Emperor Waltz) 46- Innsbruck (No.14 Emperor Waltz) 47- Innsbruck Airport (No.14 Emperor Waltz) 48- Hofburg Palace (No.14 Emperor Waltz) 49- Tyrol region (No.14 Emperor Waltz) 50- Lichtenstein (No.13 The Seventh Seal) 51- Romania military base (No. 15 Nosferatu)

THE NETHERLANDS/BELGIUM 52- Amsterdam (Eroica, Madan no Shashu) 53- Bruxelles (No.17 Trojan Horse) 54- NATO HQ (No.19 Poseidon 2000) 55- European Commission HQ (No.13 The Seventh Seal) 56- Antwerp (No.17 Trojan Horse)

NORWAY/SWEDEN/DENMARK 57- Oslo Airport (No.11 Seven Days in September) 58- Mora (No.13 The Seventh Seal) 59- Copenhagen (No.19 Poseidon 2000) 60- Kronborg Castle (No.19 Poseidon 2000) 61- Lousiana Museum of Modern Art (No.19 Poseidon 2000)

TURKEY/SYRIA/LEBANON/ISRAEL/PALESTINE/IRAN 62- İstanbul (No.13 The Seventh Seal) 63- Rumeli Hisarı (No.11 Seven Days in September) 64- Turkish air base (No.6 Inshallah) 65- National borders of Anatolian plateau (No.6 Inshallah) 66- Historical remains of Palmyra (No.6 Inshallah) 67- Beirut (No.6 Inshallah) 68- Jerusalam (Saladin no Hi) 69- Gaza (Saladin no Hi) 70- Tehran (No.6 Inshallah)

EGYPT/TUNISIA 71- Ancient remains outside Cairo (No.6 Inshallah) 72- El Alameyn (No.6 Inshallah) 73- Giza Pyramids (No.11 Seven Days in September) 74- Alexandria (No.11 Seven Days in September) 75- Hotel Rosetta (No.11 Seven Days in September) 76- Carthage (No.17 Trojan Horse)

RUSSIA/JAPAN/USA/OTHERS 77- Moscow (No.19 Poseidon 2000) 78- St. Petersburg (No.18 Judgment of Paris) 79- Hermitage Museum (No.18 Judgment of Paris) 80- Siberia (A Tale of Alaska side story) 81- Uspensky Air Base (Eroica) 82- Tokyo Tower (Hiiro no Yuuwaku) 83- Alaska (A Tale of Alaska side story) 84- FBI Fairbanks Office (No.9 The Alaskan Front) 85- Tazlina Lake (No.9 The Alaskan Front) 86- Hawaii (No.9 The Alaskan Front) 87- West of Eden (Eve no Musukotachi) 88- Olympos (Eve no Musukotachi)

[roskyng15]

在約會了幾次後

每天聊天保持著曖昧及濃濃的性暗示

跟男人終於找到我們都有的空檔去約會

把我帶到旅館，很細心溫柔地邀我一起泡澡

浴池中把我摟在懷裡

親吻著我的脖子，整個人讓他壯碩的身體環抱著

真的好有性慾...

已經發情到是我主動忍不住說想要去床上了

而且因為他很壯，幫我沖洗完後直接被他抱去床上

好喜歡這樣強壯陽剛的男人

身體想要到不行....

他很溫柔把我全身都親遍

當然也包括我的小穴穴

因為我已經濕到流出來，很害羞

他知道我很興奮了卻不會急著插入

小穴穴被舔到受不了

讓我不停對他說 "插我插我..想要棒棒"

他再把我摟住我們第一次開始舌吻

我忍不住，手伸向他的肉棒愛撫

他的龜頭也濕到不行

流出來的水磨擦著我的大腿

我們身體交纏一起扭動著

嘴裡的舌頭也交纏著

他戴好套套後直直挺入

我感覺到我的穴口被撐開

等肉棒深入到中段後陰道一陣酥麻

男人邊抽插著我，我一邊撫摸他健壯的身體

我們換了好幾個姿勢不停抽插

他可以整個人把我摟抱住快速猛力幹我的淫穴

後入把我插到高潮 我得要他先暫停不然整個小穴都在收縮有點無力

男人後來越插越快速

緊緊摟著我在我耳邊喘息

我張開腿勾著他的腰部

我要他射精時抽出來把套套拔掉

他猛烈噴射出好多好多的精液

從我的腹部一路噴到脖子臉頰

我全身都佈滿的男人熱熱的精液

感到很滿足

處在淫蕩的發情狀態讓我主動幫他把射精後的肉棒舔乾淨

他的龜頭上還滴著精液

他怕我會不喜歡還想用手先把殘留的精液抹掉

我說沒關係 我想舔

於是讓他把滴著精液的肉棒往我嘴裡餵

我用舌頭好好地把男人的龜頭整個含入舔得很乾淨

還整根含入嘴中吸允

這根把我插到高潮的色肉棒...

然後我們又抱著一起舌吻

趴在他壯壯厚實的胸膛上好喜歡

雖然因為時間的關係我們只有做一次

但他說如果有找到時間還要再餵飽我

對了

他是有女友的男人呢

好喜歡這樣讓別的女人的男友幹我

很刺激又有成就感

然後他說

回去後他女友有跟他要

但是他就草草了事

說跟我做感覺比較爽

我故意跟他說

那趕快再找機會還想要被他幹

每次回想這些約會都會讓我小穴點濕...

[asnowperson]

Aoike Yasuko's Aquamarine (アクアマリン). Published in issues numbers 2-5/1976 in Seventeen.

[masodemic]

[Eroica Musical Rant] The tank scene was the only one they did right

(Series masterlist)

Firstly, to discuss the energy and pacing, I have to talk about the story and how it was written.

The entirety of the musical covers 2 arcs in the manga. The first being Iron Klaus, combining character intro, minus the Caesar fiasco, up to Klaus and Dorian’s vow of eternal hostility to each other in form of Morse code. The second arc they adapted is Dramatic Spring, which follows Klaus’s efforts to foil a Neo-Nazi plot and Dorian, through a series of strange coincidence, becomes entangled in it.

Out of the 2 parts, I would say that the first arc was a little better-adapted, not that it had no flaw. In general, what was disappointing has been touched upon in the previous sections about characters and characterization. But to summarize, a lot of plot points were pulled apart and stitched together (clumsily), resulting in inconsistency and inefficient pacing. There's no sense of competition, tension, or bargain between Klaus and Dorian. Even the Autobahn chase becomes quite boring. In essence, it feels like a Wikipedia listing out the plot in bullet-points .

However, I do have to say that if this production did ANYTHING right, it would have to be the tank scene. This scene immediately follows the Autobahn chase and the 2 main characters find themselves stranded on a cliff near the North Sea. Cold, they go inside the tank and huddle for warmth, which forces them to begin conversing and sharing viewpoints and opinions, eventually both of them harbor a budding respect for each other.

Now, what is it that makes this scene better than all the other scenes in this musical?

While it doesn’t follow the manga exactly, in spirit and in energy, that was the first time (and turns out the only time) it felt like From Eroica with Love. And I think the reason is because this is the first scene that the actors are allowed to basically carry the scene without any “crucial plot point” chasing them from behind or tasteless directions dictating their performance. The actors were allowed to BE their interpretation of their characters, and both show that they understand the assignment. They've got energy, they exchange chemistry, they're dry and snarky which is amazing.

Like Dorian sings ENKA in this! I highly doubt manga Dorian has any remote interest in contemporary Japanese popular culture, but if he did – or say if he was played by a Japanese actor – in a strange way, it makes sense because that’s the kind of energy he evokes. Or say when Klaus sings the tank song, he appears very calm and serene in the manga. But in this scene, he is proud and passionate. And that also makes sense. It’s different, BUT IT’S GOOD. IT’S GOOD WHY CAN’T THE WHOLE 2 HOURS JUST BE LIKE THIS?

(As a side note, Nakayama Yuki needs to drop an enka album right now, I will religiously listen to it, his low range is SO GOOD MY RIBCAGE TREMBLED)

And THAT is the core appeal of From Eroica with Love: the characters. They are so full of personality that the story is driven by them, not the other way around. Things don’t HAPPEN TO them. They cause it, they make it happen. They make each other’s lives chaotic. And that’s why it was crucial for this production to not feel like somebody is backstage holding a script following each line and blocking. I know that’s what’s happening behind the scenes BUT IT SHOULDN’T LOOK LIKE IT. Because when characters feel directed and forced, they lack energy. And when the characters of a character-driven story lack energy, the story lacks energy.

If they had just cut the musical right there at the tank scene, curtain, bow, I would have been like “ok it wasn’t perfect but I was wrong, that was a good attempt at adapting From Eroica with Love." Because if it had ended there, the boring hour that preceded could have been setting up for one crucial climatic emotional scene.

Uhm, but then they went and did the second half.