#THE WAY THE NARRATIVE BREAKS APART INTO ALL THE OTHER SONGS AND COMPOUNDS INTO THIS VICIOUS BASS AT THE END

[coulson-is-an-avenger]

tagged by @pocketsizedquasar and @banashee uwu haiyoo

Rules: When you get this, post 5 songs 🎵 you actually listen to. Then, tag 10 of your favorite people on here. ✨

taggingggggg: @nerdangels @iggy-flump @methaim @grayscaleskies @beneath-the-willow-tree @storm-in-a-tea-cup0 @anotherfandomok @definitelynotloki @mankillercalledbunny @lasilhouetteinbianco @resident-dumb-fuck and anyone else who wants to! feel free to say i tagged ye

[mychampagne-mybubbles]

AS IT WAS…

for now.

It took me a while to understand the essence of what Harry is talking about in As It Was. I have seen so many directions and how this fandom stays attached to some strong beliefs, so I wanted to avoid reading into them before I made up mine first.

The hints over the teaser & campaign took me to a place from where I could picture Harry was standing and also knowing his past use of visuals & lyrics, helped me to understand that there is not necessarily a direct link to the video. Here I will break down what I have found in the song itself. The possibilities the video offers are wider and can be carrying many additional symbologies to it, so this is about the rawness of the music, which entails a lot already.

The entry it’s so telling, it is not a random cute phrase that he found convenient to have in his phone and added it out of a gift to a loved one, but a clear statement of where this man was standing at the moment. Harry is distanced from his people, far away and closed up mentally from his beloved ones and this call out is just proof of the complexity he was battling inside.

He knows he can use a hand, needing help, but not ready to face the explanations behind it. The whole song is an inner conversation with himself, the two clear identities he cannot get rid of. I have talked before about his gender-fluid journey and how that hidden side has gained relevance over the years; he could be referring to this or to a younger self and about the realization of its still unavoidable presence, which he has to deal with their stronger growth while he is stuck projecting his outsider image, his recognized persona.

H refers to his home, we all know it has been his safe space despite every crazy situation he has dealt with in the past; however, he couldn’t find relief in it either: he would be down "on the floor", his daddy/partner or this immovable pillar role until the moment is feeling like left apart from his dilemmas and inner struggle, while he just wants to know if H is ok there is not a way for reaching in. H really hit a bottom point here. His closer circle was concerned, but unable to help, this was an inner process that just H (and his inner identities) could unravel. He needed to get better but he didn’t want to face it, talk about the process, the journey, definitely not the past.

I believe the paragraph about “leaving America” is an interesting double game of words (as usual) but this one is worthy to stop into. Since I am taking it as a reaction to covid to fit it in a context. This health crisis hit society & each of us differently, but mostly everyone's priorities came upfront. This is a clear inflection point for this inner mess H was fighting to put in order.

In the paragraph I can read over a mundane choice as going home and leaving America, as the land of opportunities before everything falls apart but how this, applied to Harry’s point of view in the song, is a trigger to really decide to get back HOME, back to his comfort place, put down those walls and reach out for what matters in order to find himself and probably leave his profession (America’s metaphor) aside for putting his own priorities first.

Some find this paragraph weird or even concerning because of its supposedly link to the stunt. Others, find in it the description that Kid Harpoon’s (writer of the song) family faced back then…which made me reflect a bit and added that piece of reality to the song. I see no implications of the stunt, or Louis, or Gemma… but how H was in this particular situation and how all these satellites that compound his universe were affected or affected him in this journey.

So somehow when he spoke about losing and finding oneself again over interviews, he was being pretty accurate, such as how he said the pandemic made him stop for the first time. Who knows if that trigger was the pandemic or if it is used as a reasonable explanation in the narrative, but his path has been quite an interesting one.

The contrast between the message and the music it’s interesting because I see it as a celebration of the outcoming of a journey such as that, a process of maturity and acceptance. When the world seems to be spinning and your own seems to stop. This is not a sad nor concerning point, but a transformation and reflection of oneself as part of a better understanding of the human process.

[adapembroke]

Venus square Neptune: In This Together or Better Apart?

I was going over my astrology notes recently when I stumbled on something Steven Forrest said in a workshop on Venus. When you are in trouble or are under stress, not just anyone can give you comfort. You need your people, the people you really connect with in a special way, the people with whom you have rapport. Venus’s love and Neptune’s love are not the same.

One of the nicknames astrologers have for Neptune is the "higher octave of Venus." Both Venus and Neptune are planets of love. Venus is the love of human relationships, while Neptune is the transcendent love that accepts everyone no matter what. It is, in the words of the old saying and the song by Pete Townsend, the sea that refuses no river.

Between May 3 and July 28 2020 Venus in Gemini is square Neptune in Pisces, we're going to repeatedly find ourselves in situations that highlight the difference between Venus and Neptune. They are showing us the places where we have issues with unconditional love, the places where we haven't been choosy enough in our relationships, and the places where we need to set boundaries.

When two planets are square, they are in tension with each other. The needs of one planet can only be met at the other planet's expense. The easiest way to resolve the tension is to choose a winner and silence the "losing" planet. 

I have been noticing during the pandemic that Neptune is getting most of the press: "Together, together, together. We're all in this together." 

We're hearing this everywhere. 

But very little is being said about the cost of giving Neptune what it needs. There are personal relationship costs to protecting humanity during the pandemic. Relationships between people who don't live together have been put on ice. Relationships between people who live together are sometimes less than ideal, unhealthy, or even violent. 

Universal love is separating us from our special people or forcing us to be intimate with people we don't want to be intimate with during a very stressful time. 

There are a few quiet stories on the news about the increased problems with domestic violence in quarantined homes. I know several people personally who are in quarantine with their ex-spouses because they couldn't afford to separate into two households when they got a divorce, and they were living together as roommates when the pandemic hit. But these problems are whispered about quietly because taking them seriously might compromise our ability to deal with the pandemic.

This difficult situation is compounded by the fact that Venus is preparing to go retrograde. When Venus is retrograde, it is the natural point in our relationship cycle for us to retreat--just like it feels natural to step away from technology (or throw your broken phone at the wall) when Mercury is retrograde. 

Venus retrograde has a reputation for “making people break-up.” The truth is that retrograde personal planets don’t cause problems. They highlight areas of our lives where we’re already in trouble. If we are already aware of issues, we can choose to work with them consciously instead of waiting for the inevitable to knock on our door.

Many people choose Venus retrograde times to withdraw from relationships to help them get the clarity they need to do relationships consciously. I tend to get my hermit on during Venus retrograde. Ironically, this year, circumstances conspired to force me to retreat a few weeks early. If you’re part of my community, you might notice that I might be showing up in settings where I have my work hat on, but I’m not socializing as much.

This year, we all have much less choice about how we respond to Venus retrograde. Those who live alone have been hermit-ing against their will for weeks, and some who would like to hermit are unable to get away.

My intent in raising this issue is not to declare war on Neptune, it's to say this: If you are finding the "togetherness" message difficult right now, you are not alone. You might not find your situation reflected in the collective narrative, but the planets are singing your song in the sky.     

[southeastasianists]

On a warm December day in one of the last cemeteries in Singapore, Man Zu begins to chant. His orange Taoist robes stand out amidst the thousands of gray gravestones; his round face is tan and leathered from years of working in the sun. He is here today to help a group of siblings exhume and relocate the remains of their father, mother, and uncle.

Choa Chu Kang Cemetery does not look like the busy metropolis that is Singapore. There is barely a building in sight; the tallest structure stands about 1,000 feet away, a single-story building equipped with a food stall. In the vicinity, there is a branch of the National Environment Agency, situated near the cemetery to help families exhume their ancestral graves.

Much of the cemetery looks dilapidated, dotted with heaps of rubble and clumps of weeds. The air smells of mud, sand, and grass. Destroyed tombstones stand next to others that are still intact, scattered with miscellaneous debris: incense holders, empty Oreo packets, broken vase fragments. Stray dogs, a rare sight in urban Singapore, patrol the area.

The mass obliteration of graves—or, as it is more commonly known, exhumation—is a result of the government’s redevelopment plans. The Choa Chu Kang Cemetery Exhumation Programme was announced in 2017 to make space for the expansion of an airbase, which necessitates the relocation of more than 80,000 graves. The Cemetery is home to Chinese, Muslim, and Hindu graves. In the current phase, more than 45,500 Chinese graves will be exhumed.

Choa Chu Kang Cemetery’s fate is a mirror of what happened to Bukit Brown Cemetery in 2013. At the time, Singaporeans protested its destruction. Bukit Brown was the resting place of key historical figures and home to a quarter of the bird species in Singapore, but it was was demolished to make space for a new highway.

As recently as 1978, there were 213 cemeteries in Singapore, with burial grounds both large and small scattered across the island. (At approximately 278 square miles, the entire country is smaller than New York City.) By 2011, there were only 60 cemeteries. Many estates and malls stand on former cemeteries, from Singapore’s most popular shopping district, Orchard Road, to residential neighborhoods in the heart of the city-state.

Though most cemeteries have been demolished, the few that remain serve as reminders of the many communities that have called Singapore home. The Japanese Cemetery Park, established in 1891, offers a glimpse into the world of early Japanese settlers: soldiers, merchants, young women brought to Singapore as sex workers. Cemeteries also showcase Singapore’s religious and cultural diversity, with designated sites for Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and the different Chinese clans.

Today, only one—Choa Chu Kang Cemetery—is active. Even then, the government imposes a burial period of 15 years, after which families must relocate the remains.

Jo’s father, mother, and uncle have resided here since the 1980s. She is here today with the rest of her family to exhume all three graves. Since each exhumation takes about an hour, they have decided to divide and conquer: Jo oversees the exhumation of her mother’s grave with her children, and her brothers have split up to attend to the other two graves.

Two workers from the National Environment Agency stand by to help collect the remains, which will be cremated and stored at the government-owned Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium.

After the Taoist rites are complete, gravediggers clear away the soil, revealing the surface of a wooden coffin. A tarp, propped up by poles, covers the grave, preventing the dead from being exposed to sunlight. “Ma!” Jo exclaims, when they approach the grave. She starts singing a classic Chinese children’s song: “Only mother is good in this world.”

The worker breaks open the coffin. The lid is still intact, though visibly worn down. They had used good quality wood, Jo points out. The worker descends into the grave, muddy water coming up to his knees.

Calmly and deliberately, the gravedigger moves remains from the coffin into a white bucket. He also recovers pieces of clothing and a rectangular black block: joss paper, or paper money that was buried with the dead. Some of the bones are blackened from their years underground; some are large and long, while others are small and brittle. The last to come out is the skull. Jo calls out in the Chinese dialect of Hokkien: “Mama, we’re moving house.”

In 2019, a man named Tan helped his family move his grandmother’s remains from Choa Chu Kang Cemetery to a repository for ashes of the deceased, Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Columbarium. The family has yet to celebrate the annual Qing Ming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, at his grandmother’s new home. He fears that few people will show up. “There’s no space here,” he explains, gesturing down a narrow aisle.

Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery is the largest monastery in Singapore, with two dedicated columbaria within the compound. Tan’s grandmother is located at the newer, more modern one, next to thousands of cremated neighbors. (Due to COVID-19, visits are currently by appointment only, masks are required, and groups are restricted to five members of the same household.)

The niches for each set of ashes are organized into blocks and lined up in rows inside the air-conditioned room. Some are so high that they can’t even be seen, and nearly touch the ceiling.

Death is expensive in Singapore, given the scarcity of land here: Prices run up to $7,000 for a single niche (less-visible units are cheaper). A few niches have been purchased but are not yet occupied, and some are marked with a hongbao, the red envelope usually stuffed with money for Chinese New Year. Others show signs of recent visits, such as flowers, keychains, and even small food magnets.

Tan says that his grandmother’s new home has changed the family’s traditions. “We would gather at seven in the morning at my father’s place, and then drive to the cemetery,” Tan explains. “Then we would sweep the tomb and the whole family would picnic together. How can you do that here?”

In the columbarium, there’s not enough space for the usual offerings of rice, roast pork, and other dishes to be placed near the ashes. Instead, the monastery has an allocated outdoor space where families can lay out feasts for the dead.

The practice of burning joss paper, too, has been streamlined for efficiency. An Eco-Burner has been installed in a parking structure nearby, where joss paper is collected from families and burnt in bulk by staff members.

By 1985, Singapore had already exhumed 21 cemeteries. According to the government, cemeteries take up too much space, and Singapore needs to grow if it is to accommodate its nearly six million residents. Some families scatter their ancestors’ ashes at sea; columbaria are a more permanent alternative.

Tightly pressed together, the rows of niches in columbaria look almost like Singapore’s ubiquitous public housing blocks, each one almost indiscernible from the next. It’s even possible that apartments will eventually replace columbaria, says Bernard Chen, who studied history at Oxford University and has experience in the funeral services industry.

Under British colonial rule, Chen explains, burial grounds were located on the outskirts of the downtown area. But as the city of Singapore grew and more space was needed, cemeteries were seen as “space wasters.” As early as 1952, a Burials Committee had already been set up to encourage cremation instead of burials.

“Whenever the state appropriates land for the dead as land for the living, it always uses the same narrative, which is that the land is for national development.” Chen says. “If you bring this to its logical conclusion, in time to come, there will be zero land for the dead.”

“When we are left without cemeteries, what is the next collective community to be sacrificed on the altar of national development? Columbariums.”

For the sake of national development, the dead are constantly moving house: from cemeteries to columbaria and perhaps even into homes. “Because the state squeezes the land out for the living, it's either you dump the ashes out to sea, or you bring the ashes home,” Chen says. “Every single unit [becomes] an urn space.”

In land-scarce Singapore, where a luxury apartment can cost thousands of dollars per square foot, urban redevelopment demands that the dead make way for the living. With that, rituals of death like Taoist rites and ancestral worship are uprooted along with places of death.

The destruction of Singapore’s cemeteries is striking, but it is not sudden or surprising. It is an ongoing project that started before the nation’s independence, and Singaporeans have accepted and adapted to it, with some reluctance. Still, Tan worries about what will be lost in a country without cemeteries as places to gather and remember the dead. “At Qing Ming, we would have 40, 50 people, three generations all attending,” he recalls. “It was the only time they would come together.” He looks at the columbarium, holds out a photo of his family at the cemetery, and shrugs. “It’s different, right?”

[nikitasbt]

Raise the Red Lantern (大红灯笼高高挂 ,1991) by Zhang Yimou

Three pivotal features of early Zhang Yimou’s films are the spectacular usage of colours, the sublime visual beauty of the photography and breathtaking performance of director’s key collaborator Gong Li who makes the viewers sympathize her characters or adore them. All these features culminate in Raise the Red Lantern which is considered among the greatest modern Chinese films and one of the most remarkable features of the 1990-s. The third feature-length film of Zhang Yimou has made him one of the most acclaimed Chinese directors, even though the final version of the film was banned in China for a period, possibly for obvious allusions on the Chinese society suppressed by the authoritarian regime.

Raise the Red Lantern based on a very clear and dramatic narration set in China in the 1920-s, a few years before the outbreak of the Civil War which would last for 27 years. The story revolves around 4 mistresses of a rich landowner living in a large compound. There is a room for decent suspense, tragedy and soap opera in the story which is being shown from the eyes of the 4th wife 19-years old Songlian (portrayed by Gong Li) who arrived in the house recently. She is an educated girl from a middle-class family. However, as her father recently passed away, the family didn’t have any sources to make living resulting in forcing Songlian to become the youngest wife of rich master. She has not chosen her fate, yet she has obeyed just like the other wives did and like the women have been doing for centuries. But Raise the Red Lantern is not just a story of a suppressed young girl.

Shortly after settling down in the new house, Songlian learns the life in the house is defined by the set of ancient laws and traditions. For example, everyday master makes an announcement which of the women would be chosen to spend the night with him. After decisions, the servants are requested to light the red lanterns next to the favourite mistress’s house. The chosen woman gets the best treatment, selects the meals for everybody and receives power for some time – as long as it is not stated the lights would be lit near to the other house. So in fact, the master uses women like dinner outfits. Moreover, Songlian learns her living space on this planet would be now squeezed to the square meters of her house and courtyard: she would never go out anymore. This fruitless life starts being annoying and traumatizing very fast.

As time goes by, Songlian realizes the entire house is overwhelmed by the intrigues, gossips, violence and different sort of sins. All the mistresses certainly don’t love the husband, as they were forced to this marriage. Yet they adapt to life in isolation and start fighting for master’s favour granting them temporary power within the house. Moreover, a servant of Songlian Yan’er (Kong Lin) is also playing a game dreaming of becoming another mistress. Songlian collides with the first wife in her 50-s (played by Jin Shuyuan), second mistress Zhuoyun (Cao Cuifen) offering friendship and beautiful but dangerous and jealous third mistress Meishan (He Saifei) who is a former opera singer. All the women are rarely called by name as they are treated like another adornment of the compound. They have nothing to do, apart from serving their master. To see them in this desperate state is disturbing, but Zhang Yimou in a great way shows indifferences in their personalities and ways to deal with such life.

Songlian initially is not willing to adapt to the rules and games to win the master’s favour. Zhang Yimou shows the will of an educated girl to rebel against the oppression and traditions she is forced to become part of. Though, in no time pretty much to her own surprise, she finds herself in the center of all intrigues. The environment breaks her down very fast. She hates her life, but she starts fighting fiercely for the power in this house. She employs different methods such as lying, being cruel with the servant, setting up the other mistresses and so no. Her pointless life is now a fight for the red lanterns to be lit by her side. She is smart, but the other mistresses are playing the game not worse than Songlian. Another layer of narrative shows how Songlian changes gaining the power within the house. Despite being a slave de-facto, she is not able to stand against this tantalizing desire to oppress the other victims just like her. She becomes corrupt and more and more violent. The story becomes very entertaining and catchy, the suspense of it is quite good, though many twists of the plot can be easily anticipated. The house ends up with a tremendous tragedy resulting in violence, blood and insanity Songlian falls into.

Raise the Red Lantern can be also interpreted as a metaphor to the oppressed society in general (especially, the Chinese society). We see a master representing the power or monarch who commands the other people’s lives. The viewers never get a proper look at him as he is shown to be sort of anonymous power. His face is shown just once or twice for split seconds from the far distance. His servants are forced to live according to the rules. Though who obey might get favour, while those who try to rebel get destroyed and could be even killed. After a while, the members of society find themselves adapting to life conditions, seeking the ways to manipulate the master and trying to do everything for his favour. People set each other up, betray and murder dreaming to hold the symbol of power in their hands – the red lantern. Though, this symbol is just an illusion as in fact everybody is enslaved. This is a simple but obvious metaphor to the society oppressed by the authoritarian regime.

The third film of Zhang Yimou is a complex psychological and political drama with several layers emerging slowly as the plot advances. The different dimensions are problems of Raise the Red Lantern to open as the characters change and compete. The drama of films is just great, and it literally haunts the viewers for quite a long time after watching the film.

Above all, as it has been already mentioned the most important part of Yimou’s feature-length films is their exuberant visual style. Zhang Yimou proves to be a great master creating such a cold and desperate environment with usage of dim grey light, an abundance of grey colours, and brilliant decorations of a castle-like compound where the women are trapped. The main colour is red though, not grey. Arguably, the red colour is the most important for Chinese culture symbolizing many things. In Raise the Red Lantern this is the colour of power and desire, and the scenes with red are always bright and charged with some tension. It mixes with grey colours and dim lights very well. The photography is absolutely spectacular as the film is very attentive to every littlest detail. Arrangement of all these lanterns and decorations is just breathtaking. Visual style is slightly influenced by Hou Hsian-Hsien’s early films such as City of Sadness. Moreover, Hou has produced Raise the Red Lantern.

The visual part and camerawork enhance the story in the best possible way. Many plans are absolutely beautiful, especially the takes from the house’s rooftop. The frequent close-ups focus attention on the fantastic actors’ performance, out of whom Gong Li and He Saifei are stealing the show to contribute in film’s overall success. I also enjoyed the music written by Zhao Jiping for Raise the Red Lantern. These haunting sounds of drums and lanterns getting extinguished stay in the head for a long time. Moreover, the Chinese songs that Meishan sings are exquisite and sublime.

Raise the Red Lantern has gained positive feedback and attention in the Western world. Later, Zhang Yimou would have written and directed many other films pleasing the Western taste, yet he remains among highly acclaimed directors in China whose drama Raise the Red Lantern is remembered as one of the finest pieces of his work.

[canvaswolfdoll]

CanvasWatches: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

Sarcastic lead? Goofy supporting cast? Loving use of nerdity? Maid uniforms? Fantastical elements stuffed into a slice-of-life narrative? Well, that’s certainly something for me!

Also, it’s alarming how often Quetzalcoatl's been popping up in my work and entertainment. I mean, it’s not an excessive amount, to be honest, but considering my original assumption was ‘Obscure Mythological Figure improperly transplanted into an anime film’, anything more than once is notable.[1]

Perhaps this is punishment for using a mondegreen of the name as my sign off phrase…

Anyways, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid! It was spoken of highly by an anime reviewer I follow, it was on Funimation, and I need to justify that subscription beyond letting my brother watch Case Closed all the time, so…

Let’s talk about the show.

In a bit of an oddity, I’ve found the Opening and Closing sequences very absorbing. Now, I’m not one to ever skip either in a series, as it’s usually well animated, the music is catchy, and it’s a couple minutes to settle in or grab food or whatever, plus (depending on the player) it can be a chore to skip anyways. There are often neat details hidden away, too, and it’s fun to learn the context of images as you go through the series.

The OP in this case struck me by how it triggered not the ‘Ah, Anime opening song’ switch in my brain, but a ‘Ah, Visual Novel opening song’ switch, which is a weird switch to learn I have, since I haven’t actually played that many Visual Novels. Still, the music itself is upbeat, very energetic, and very “Oh yeah! Let’s get into this! Time to read a bunch, make choices, and seduce a girl!” But I have no agency in the upcoming events, Anime! Why are you trying to make me hyped? It’s working, but I don’t understand the effort.

It’s also paired with the trippiest imagery I’ve seen in awhile, with fractal dragons and people spinning like falling seedlings. Still bright and colorful, and there’s faces to meet over the course of the show, but it’s just utterly bizarre. Maybe because I don’t get exposed to purely comedic animes that often I’m not used to it, but it’s still a ride that I lack the tools to properly contextualize.

Actually, now that I think about it and listen to the song divorced from the imagery, the song reminds me of Rune Factory Frontier’s opening. Huh…

The EP, on the other hand, is a more reasonable montage of Daily Life, with a song that’s also fun. It actually strikes me as more of an OP piece. I really like the song. Considering it’s been a very recent realization for me that Music Albums are intentionally curated objects meant to be listened to straight through to convey meaning, instead of a bunch of singles thrown on a disc, I may not be the guy for musical criticism.

Music is an ineffable magic to me. I lack the tools to create or understand it, but some songs are good?

This had been a tangent. Let’s go to what I’m comfortable with: storytelling!

So let’s take a brief look at something most people take for granted: the episode titles and, in relation, names.[3]

Naming things is a hard task which I have managed to become moderately good at, a fact I derive from the time a classmate in a scriptwriting class asked with mild awe at how I came up with so many names[4] for my 10-minute comedy play. The secret, as with all artistic aspects you find difficult, is figure out a functional system and maintain it.

So I’ve developed a few methods for characters:

Start with a theme (in the case of my play, I was actually going through alphabetically as characters are mentioned) but don’t be afraid to break it if you feel like it.

Stick with one or two syllable names. The longer the name, the harder it’ll be to remember. Same with not going too archaic or foreign with the name. If your audience can’t remember the character’s name or how to pronounce it, they’ll focus more on that than the story.

  If you break rule two, it’s on you to have a nickname prepared that follows rule two. If you don’t, I’m going to call you Windy Jerk in my post RPG Session write-ups.[5]

Which is fine for characters, but then there’s titles, which I’m no good at. Titles need to be both intriguing and vague, to draw in an audience, but keep them surprised. This is compounded when you have 13-26 episodes to name. Some shows do a good job at consistently coming up with names, or at least semi-adequate puns, and others just call the episodes ‘[Episode/Chapter/Part]’ and the number in the sequence. Both of these are valid techniques.[6]

Which is why Word Salad Titles stick out so much, and why I love them yet can’t quite master using them myself. They manage being vague not by carefully revealing little information, but overloading with data so fast the audience doesn’t have time to parse it before the shows starts.

Also, they just sound funny.

What’s intriguing about Dragon Maid is that it’s not an extreme example of the Word Salad some comedy animes tend towards (Exclamatory statement! Vague plot summary), but it is a style very similar to myself.[7]

Dragon Maid’s episode titles follow the structure of exclamatory sentences, then gentle snark about the title in parenthesis. While I don’t use exclamations often, the statement followed by snark is something I do with my art work [[Maybe provide examples?]] and is even punctuated the same way, with parentheses implying an aside.

Which is also the speech style of our titular Miss Kobyashi. (Check out my sweet transition!)

Ms. Kobayashi is the first character I’ve deeply related to in a long while. Sarcastic and pretty asocial, she starts the series living alone in an one-bedroom apartment and has a single friend from work. Otherwise, Kobayashi is content with her solitude, engaging in quiet interests. It's not exactly emotionally fulfilling, but it's okay. She doesn't really feel the need for more.

Which is just the opening needed for a Manic Pixie Dream Girl! In the form of a Yandere Dragon Maid Girl.

Manic Pixie Dream Girls have received some negative press,[8] which isn't completely unwarranted, but sells the trope short. After all, when you really get down to it, they're the personification of the inciting incident. A character whose arrival kicks starts the protagonist’s journey of self improvement. Sometimes they need to be dragged kicking and screaming for the first leg, because it's funnier that way. Often times, when using a Dream Girl character, writers take a romantic angle because… that's a popular and relatable motivation I guess? The problem comes when the narrative is locked close to the protagonist, leaving not enough space to develop the Dream Girl beyond that scope.

Fortunately, since Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a serial narrative, and it's Tohru bringing in most of the supporting cast, our Dragon Maid doesn't fall into that pit trap.

Tohru is a fish out of water, which I really love seeing when the environment is our own. It’s a good method to work observational humor into a work, as well as odd ball humor for the alien being. Usually, there is an air of innocence to the character. Tohru, meanwhile, comes from what is implied to be a war-torn fantasy realm, and prefers to default to chaos and destruction when unsure.

It’s a good take.

Kobayashi doesn’t take too much interest in Tohru’s origins, greeting (most) new acts of magic and property damage with half-lidded neutrality or annoyance. Since the focus of the show is ‘The supernatural adjusting to the mundane,’ Kobayashi’s disinterest is important. There are many other shows you can watch if you want to see a normal person come to grips with a magic world,[9] so Kobayashi needs to act as a guide character for the normal world.

Even as these dragon interlopers force her into a parental role and build out her friend circle.

That first point is possibly one of more unique traits, as rarely do Animes present their protagonist taking on the role of adoptive parent. Or parent at all. Maybe a few world-wandering shows will have found families, but I can’t think of another example where the character’s arc is that of becoming more domestic.

Which is why I appreciate Kanna.

Kanna is the second dragon to move from The Other World to Our World, banished for playing too many pranks to get attention from her parents. However, despite this supposed impish nature, she’s the most reserved of the Dragons, content to living like she’s Kobayashi’s nine-year old daughter, with Tohru acting as sort of an older sister. I think this is kind of a lost opportunity, because we could’ve kept all that, and also have Kanna play a few small pranks from time to time out of boredom and discontent. That could’ve been a nice, additional reason for Kobayashi to enroll Kanna in school: not out of malice but to give the young dragon some engagement during the day.

Then Fafnir and Queztal ‘Lucoa’ Coatl start visiting, then moving into the neighborhood.

Fafnir is my favorite of the dragons. He’s initially introduced as your usual bloodthirsty and treasure-obsessed dragon, which is fine, but then the series uses those traits to have him comfortably slip into a NEET lifestyle, which is hilarious. He gets to enact violence in video games and collect treasures in the form of promotional items, while still staying a grump.

Lucoa is… she started as the Sane member of the Dragon cast, giving exposition on what Tohru was like before and generally just being chill. However, in moving her to the world, she signs herself up as a familiar for a young mage, and starts… creeping on him is the best I charitably describe it. Shouta has no interest in these advances, and watching it played out on screen isn’t charming. Also, I’m afraid I have to align myself as opposed to the ‘Patriarchy’ line, because it does seem out of character.[10]

About halfway through, Elma arrives, after seven episodes of being the mysterious water dragon in the opening, inspiring me to see if I couldn’t align the dragons with the Rune Factory dragons.[11]

I… like Elma, but she’s underutilized. After her introductory episode, she’s just food obsessed and does literally nothing of consequence. She doesn’t even get a human to bond with like the others. Nothing is fleshed out for her. Unfortunate, as she looks cute with her glasses.

As a part of the theme, most of the dragons[12] are given a human to who they grow close.

Tohru, obviously, has Kobayashi. Tohru is very direct with her affections, while Kobayashi has to warm up to her dragon maid, and the exact degree Kobayashi returns the affections (whether it’s platonic or romantic on her end) isn’t pinned down exactly.

In contrast, Kanna has Saikawa, who has an obvious crush on Kanna, which she hides poorly. Though Kanna acts oblivious to what she does to Saikawa, Kanno does indicates an interest in… some sort of relationship that parallels Kobayashi and Tohru.

Actually, the show seems to have a problem with putting minors into sexual situations. It’s fine with Kanna and Rika, as they are essentially the same age and Saikawa’s squeeing, though transparent, is kept at an age-appropriate level. The two only have the one moment while visiting Saikawa’s house that’s uncomfortable, and that’s initiated by Kanna.

Shouta and Lucoa are just uncomfortable.

Fanservice is a contentious subject. What is okay, and what crosses a line? What level of slapback against perverts makes it even? Why am I (seemingly) one of the few that takes no umbrage against MHA’s Mineta but dislike Lucoa’s portrayal?

I typically avoid Anime that put sexual fanservice as one of its selling points. For example, before starting on Dragon Maid, I watched the first two episodes of WorldEnd: What are you doing at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us? which is an epic word salad of a title which invokes the image of some shy person trying to ask someone out on a date that’s also a world-saving quest, but doesn’t want to over step. However, it quickly became clear the focus is pretty much a rescue romance focused on a bunch of characters the narrative goes through pain to tell you are 15 at the oldest. Also, a troll that wants to eat the protagonist which, recent meme culture aside, would’ve been an interesting dynamic to watch. Too bad the rest of the introductory episodes were too skeevy.

Which is to say, I’m easily tossed when a piece of media’s centerpoint is fanservice, made worse when it’s creepy fanservice to the detriment of world and narrative.

Then there’s Mineta who, foolishly, I’m going to try and defend now? Because the subjects of Mineta’s perversions are also approximately 15 years old, as above. However, Mineta is the same age as his classmates, which flattens the power dynamic.

‘But Canvas! It’s an excuse to show the audience fanservice of 15-year olds!’ you may say.

Okay. It’s a Shonen. The target audience are young males, approximately the same age as the cast. Are you really going to say you didn’t have a couple crushes on your peers as a teenager? It’s okay to let teenagers be attracted to other teenagers. As for the adult members of the audience? Let them smile whimsically at what it was like to be that age.

And his peers do admonish and punish him for going too far. If it’s not enough punishment for you, well, that’s up to your interpretation. I give it a pass because the tone is kept light and Mineta unable to do any actual harm. And comedy works best through exaggeration. A man getting stabbed is tragic. A man getting impaled onto an oversized firework that shoots into the air and explodes is slapstick. Also, the kid’s 15, he has time to mature and get character progression.

But you know who I never hear any ill words against? Midnight. Superheroine in a skintight outfit, whose schtick is bondage, and uses flirty tones towards students. Now that’s super uncomfortable. Because she is in a position of authority, and receives zero pushback for how she acts around her students.[13] Yet, the fanbase seems to give her a pass. Why? She actually acts more predatory than Mineta, and her power literally knocks her opponents out. She is dripping with poor implications.

I could go in depth, but I think that’s enough of a baseline to continue the review. The appropriateness of Fanservice depends on the viewer, and can be fickle, so excuse me if I can’t give a bullet point list of my own policies.[14]

So, let’s return to Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, which undoubtedly has strong element of fanservice. Why does it (mostly) succeed?

Well, first off, it’s kept tongue in cheek. The adult female dragons have ridiculous proportions, which gets lampshaded heavily, but their huge tracts of land are rarely used as a value judgement on the cast. They’re magical beings, if they want to look that way, it’s on them.

Next, there’s little power imbalance in the relationships. Tohru begins the series making her intentions towards Kobayashi clear, but after a couple rejections, the lines are established and respected. Tohru loves Kobayashi, but she wants any return in affections to be gained honestly. So even with Tohru’s immense physical and magical strength, and Kobayashi being placed in the role of ‘Master’, they’re both equal in establishing boundaries and respecting them.

And tone is very important. It’s a comedy series, so actions and emotions can be big and exaggerated. So, exaggerated proportions, exaggerated yuri-teasing, exaggerated violence, and exaggerated reactions. Saikawa happily screams every time Kanna does something cute, and it works because it’s a comedic reaction.

However, Lucoa breaks these rules. She answers Shouta’s summons and becomes his familiar. However, Shouta is maybe 10 or eleven to Lucoa’s presented, let’s say, late-twenties, and Lucoa comes on to this literal child. A child who rejects the advances and explicitly tells her not to. And Lucoa can’t claim ignorance, so she’s intentionally violating boundaries. It’s unbalanced power, ignores established lines, and turns Lucoa’s physical form into a joke, which all shifts the comedic tone.

Then (and I originally wanted to avoid this topic) the dub gives her a line about changing to more conservative dress because she was growing tired of patriarchal pressure. Lucoa had spent the series to the point as the most overtly sexualized character by her own decision, even getting into legal trouble once or twice, and creeping on a child. Then the writing wants to try and shame the audience over a character placed before them. It’s a line that might’ve worked if delivered by Tohru or Elma,[15] as it would’ve continued the theme of the the world pushing back against Lucoa. It’s also winter, so passing it off as the ex-goddess caving to nature would have worked, especially since the feathered serpent is from a tropical climate, and is a giant snake, so needing to bundle up against cold works.

I should not be forming opinions about this mythology! Why are you doing this to me, anime?

So, late-run Lucoa aside, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a fun show with strong world building, an interesting story, and pretty good comedy. I recommend it.

If you enjoyed this review, you should check out my other writings. I like talking about things, so if you want to send me asks, I’d be happy to engage. Also, hey, I have a patreon, in case you want to support me and my various endeavours. Thanks for reading.

Kataal Lucoa.

[1] I was kind of sort of hired to write a children’s play about Quetzalcoatl once, and I was not the person to suggest it.[2] [2] It was an okay piece. There was talk of maybe developing it further, but to be honest, South American Mythology doesn’t interest me. [3] A topic I must’ve covered before, but I can’t remember where. Repeated lessons can be good, though, so tough it out. [4] To be fair, there were only two active characters on stage, one body, and three further mentioned names, for a total of six. I still take pride because I lack confidence in names. [5] I only do this when I’m a player. As a GM I try to respect player choices, but still, throw me a bone, please. [6] This is why my reviews have the formula of Canvas_____: Review Subject. [7] I am vain and like things that remind me of myself. [8] Says the never been kissed white guy… [9] I recommend Digimon! [10] However, it’s a brief throwaway line, so I’m not one to make a fuss. Just gentle tutting. [11] It falls apart very quickly. Terrable could be Lucoa, but there’s no one for Ventuswill. [12] Or ex-goddess, in the case of Lucoa. [13] Student-Teacher romances being, of course, a bugbear that’s been growing for me recently. [14] It’d probably be mostly glasses focused, anyways. [15] Who is lawfully aligned. And would’ve given her more than food to stress about.

[movieswithkevin27]

Le Cercle Rouge

Fate and destiny can be tricky beasts. In life, we all have both and how in control we are of either is certainly up for debate. Yet, what is clear is that the song "Que sera sera" is impeccably true. Indeed, whatever will be will be, whether or not it is the desired outcome. In essence, as director Jean-Pierre Melville puts it, we all meet with our fate/destiny in "the red circle", no matter the path that is taken to get there. Visualized in a heist/crime film by the legendary French director, Le Cercle Rouge shows the actions of three men that unexpectedly bring them together for this heist and the showdown with the law that will force them to face their fate. Unable to run away from this fate, the criminals in this film and their fate are just one handle by which Melville displays this theme of inevitability in his masterful Le Cercle Rouge. A slow-paced, thrilling, and impeccably directed work, Le Cercle Rouge is just yet another work of genius from Melville.

Throughout the film, Melville shows the power of fate and inevitability in the chance encounters between men or the intertwining of fates. Escaping from a prisoner transport, Vogel (Gian Maria Volonte) is chased through the forest by Inspector Mattei (Andre Bourvil), before managing to elude capture for the time being. Constantly looking over his shoulder for Mattei and with the Inspector tasked with finding Vogel at any expense, the two are on an obvious collision course for one another. Dedicating all of his time to tracking down Vogel, all while Vogel goes into hiding with Corey (Alain Delon), the two's fates are entangled and the two, regardless of path, are doomed to wind up facing off with one another in the end. Narratively, it is an inevitability. Thematically, it works in much the same fashion. Pitting these two against early on in the film, Melville must give resolution to the opposing paths by the end to tell a good story for one, but it also furthers the film's thematic endeavors. Depicting the vastly different lives of the two men - with Mattei going home to his three cats and Vogel hiding out with Corey as they plot a jewelry store heist - there is a certain inevitability that the two will bump into one another no matter how different their paths may become.

This inevitability and chance encounter is similarly represented via Vogel and Corey's meeting. Recently released from prison for good behavior, Corey is driving along and stops at a diner. Once there, Vogel breaks into his car and hides in the trunk. Seeing him get into the car and driving him to a secluded field to confront him, the men's differing paths to the same car is one that, nonetheless, brought them together. By the end, it is clear it was for a reason as Vogel helps to fight off the men after Corey, helps to pull off the heist, and then leads Mattei right to Corey and himself by the end. This powerful inevitability is one that winds up encompassing them all with Mattei coming to represent the hand of justice and the pair of thieves being the criminals. No matter the difference in course, the cops and the robbers always come together at the end as they do in Le Cercle Rouge. Demonstrating our inability to run away - as they do run from Mattei - from our destiny no matter how hard we try, Le Cercle Rouge uses Mattei and his slow, ponderous search as a representation of destiny or of death. Though it may take its time, be slow in approaching, and come cloaked in a mask, everybody's destiny/death will eventually find them. Any road taken or path chosen bears no matter in delaying this face-off, as it will arise without our assistance and always come to collect when it does arise.

The inevitability presented by these encounters is similarly offered as being true about the morality of man. To the Chief of Police (Paul Amiot), all men are guilty. Repeated throughout the film - even right after the capture of the men guilty of the jewelry store heist - the belief that we are born innocent but quickly become guilty like the rest of humanity is perhaps Melville offering his take on corruption of the human soul. However, as the entire film is about the inevitability of destiny/fate, the inevitability that we are all guilty is presented in a similar light. Much like one's destiny, becoming guilty of anything - even if it not a crime - is a fact of life. Though one may strive to lead a good life where they harm nobody, becoming guilty of something is one cannot escape. Once this is established, it is nearly impossible to avoid encountering this feeling of guilt in one's life as it, like destiny, is always lurking in the shadows and waiting for the right moment to strike. Arguing that this guilt of man makes humanity rather doomed, Melville's film is often quite bleak and solemn without any burst of life or energy. Rather, it is a film that barrels on ahead to its inevitable ending - men facing both their guilt and their fate - and does so without pomp or circumstance, rather with solemn recognition that these men are doomed to fail, no matter the care they take for their actions and the heist. Religiously, this concept that all men are guilty is akin to the belief that all men are sinners. Though all religious people try to walk a path of righteousness, slips and bumps in the road are to be expected and experienced by all. It is only human nature to be imperfect and sinful, with no man to date able to avoid becoming either, not even the police.

In perhaps the film's best and most noteworthy sequence, Melville shows the heist. Highlighting the care and attention detail undertaken by Corey, Vogel, and Jansen (Yves Montand), in executing the heist, Le Cercle Rouge uses no dialogue for approximately half an hour. Rather, it allows the precise movements of its characters and the operatic way in which they floated from station to station to commit the heist to take center stage. Giving the audience the key players in the heist, their role, the security level at the store, and the potential score from the heist, Melville jumps right into the heist without an elaborate pre-heist planning scene and ends the heist with a similarly unassuming nature, never going back to show us what happened. Rather, Melville directs the heist scene with great attention detail, showing the audience every bit that matters without having to pull off the cover to reveal the inner machinations of the heist. Letting the heist itself do the talking and allowing the scene to be a classic example of "show don't tell", Melville nonetheless manages to make the sequence impeccably thrilling and a true highlight in his impeccably impressive body of work. Directed with grace and style, the heist scene is one that lives up to the hype cinematically, while also further highlighting the hopelessness of these men's endeavors, as none of them will actually help the group avoid their fate or being revealed as guilty souls.

Lacing the film with so much tension and anticipation throughout, Melville manages to make even the most mundane sequences thrilling. One such example is whenever Mattei comes to feed his cats. Walking in to his apartment, greeting them, turning on the bath, and then putting out their food for them to eat, Melville somehow makes the simple act of a cat getting up and walking over to eat a thrilling experience. Waiting for all three cats to make their way over - perhaps a symbol of Mattei's chasing of the three men - there is always a straggler and an underlying fear that, perhaps, one of them will not get up for dinner. This same level of tension and anticipation is felt throughout the film as Melville consistently keeps the audience in the dark - for example, the woman in the photographs held by Corey is shown once in reality without any backstory of their time together being discussed - and consistently plays with our emotion. Keeping us on edge and constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, the film's slow pace allows the anticipation to build to a boiling point consistently, but one that Melville never allows the film to fully reach until the very end.

Though named Le Cercle Rouge, Melville's film is nonetheless one that looks very similar to his other works, namely Army of Shadows. Relying upon cold colors - namely blue, gray, and brown - Le Cercle Rouge is an incredibly cold film and that is not due to any cold weather in the picture. Rather, the bleak and solemn color scheme comes to embody the cold world lived in by humanity. It never seems too sunny or bright and the characters' emotions are consistently held back from being expressed. Compounding to being a film that is wholly unwelcoming and dark, Melville's film manages to explore this tragic inability of man to either remain innocent or avoid what is waiting for them around the bend through the color scheme as well. Communicating the cold, bleak feeling around this inevitability, Melville manages to perfectly communicate the hopelessness and despair of the situation as these men, and ourselves, barrel unknowingly to a fate that is out of our hands and always lying in wait.

Thrilling, brilliantly told, and terrifically acted, Le Cercle Rouge is another masterful enterprise from director Jean-Pierre Melville. Placing a premium on emotion and words in a similar fashion to Le Samourai, Le Cercle Rouge is hardly a talkative film, but in the words it does choose to use, it finds great power. Similarly, in his smart and structured direction, Melville manages to use the words and actions of his characters to create a power and bleak look at the hopelessness faced by all. No matter how one chooses to live and no matter how meticulous they may be, in the end, death, our fate, and our own inherently sinful nature, are always lurking around the corner in the red circle that is looking back at us from the barrel of a gun.

[wellthatwasaletdown]

Harry is a young man who just went through a brutal five years. The other four did too, but remember that press was always geared toward the negative with Harry, painting him as the womanizer, the condescending leader, the deceitful bandmate who worked apart from the group, etc. Zayn went through negative press too, and they all dealt with fans who absolutely shat on their rights to privacy. It's no wonder that those two wanted to go solo, and to assume that the other 3 were blindsided just because the media paints it that way is naive. Any person in that situation would rather have more control over their life than less, and with such a packed and strenuous schedule for five full years, a schedule that fans could TRACK, I would wager that although they might have been hesitant to call it a hiatus, all four of those boys agreed that a break was necessary. Harry is not doing anything different than I thought he would do. We knew he was looking at acting. We knew he was working with artists that didn't fit the One Direction mode. His first solo songwriting credit for Stockholm Syndrome was (I'm fairly certain) one of the, if not THE, first One Direction song to be in compound meter. He was steering away from the narrative since Four, and I think all the boys worked together to create a more evolved sound. But it was never going to be the sound we got on Harry Styles. And doesn't Harry deserve the right to make music HE loves and wants to listen to? None of this is a shock.