#Tokiwa no Mori

[avomagazine]

Every week, we bring you a treasure trove of captivating music videos from lesser-known, new and intriguing Japanese artists who deserve your support! Join us on this extraordinary musical journey as we shed light on the artists who often go unnoticed but leave an unforgettable impact. We also maintain a YouTube Music playlist

This week we highlighted music videos from:

🍙 Overflow 🍙 iiichanman 🍙 PompadollS 🍙 BOOKERS 🍙 トキワの森 (Tokiwa no Mori) 🍙 Disconnect Cendrillon 🍙 Junkie Machine

Since 2020, AVO Magazine has been publishing a list of seven music videos by Japanese artists in various music genres (from pop to rock to metal) that we think you will find interesting!

Enjoy the music!

[stuff-diary]

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House

TV Shows/Dramas watched in 2023

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House (2023, Japan)

Directors: Hirokazu Kore-eda, Hiroshi Okuyama, Takuma Sato & Megumi Tsuno

Writers: Hirokazu Kore-eda, Takuma Sato, Megumi Tsuno & Mami Sunada

Mini-review:

I love Hirokazu Kore-eda's style, and you can feel his hand throughout the nine episodes, even if he worked with more people. This show is such a lovely, soothing and relaxing experience. Nothing much happens (it's a classic slice of life story), but if you enjoy its vibes, it never gets boring. Sure, maybe it could have used a doses or two of drama, but at the same time I feel like that would have shattered the peaceful atmosphere it carefully builds from the first episode. I do wish the show would have delved into the many controversies and problems that surround the maiko/geiko industry, specially considering Kore-eda has strongly supported the #MeToo movement within the Japanese film world, but, once again, I get that something like that would have gone against the whole point of the show.

Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling here. The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House is quite lovely and as well acted and sensitively written/directed as one could expect from Hirokazu Kore-eda. Also, make sure to watch it on a full stomach, cause there's a lot of delicious-looking food here that will certainly make you go hungry.

[waitmyturtles]

I finished The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House this weekend, and I feel like I’m still laid out flat by what I watched. I’ve been so consumed with QLs lately, that jumping into a wholly different world of filmmaking was a touch of a shock. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY STUNNING, and I have to wholeheartedly RECOMMEND IT as a must-watch for 2023. LONG post!

First off: Koreeda Hirokazu. A MASTER director and screenwriter. His taking on the canon manga, Kiyo in Kyoto, had fans in anticipation for The Makanai to premiere on Netflix. My two favorite films of his are After Life (1998) and Like Father, Like Son (2013). He doesn’t shy away particularly from difficult stories about families and complicated relationships, and tends to cast familiar faces, especially Lily Franky. His latest film, Broker, has been on the awards circuit this season.

A couple of quick definitions and explanations before I move forward. This is a show about what us in the West called “geisha” culture in Kyoto. A maiko is an apprentice geisha, and geiko is the word for geisha in Kyoto’s dialect. A makanai means a person who cooks staff meals, say, at a restaurant or another kind of business where staffers get fed. 

Kiyo in Kyoto is about the teenage protagonist, Kiyo, becoming the makanai of a maiko lodging residence in Kyoto, after she follows her best friend, Sumire (later known as Momohana), to Kyoto to apprentice as maiko. Sumire has a natural talent for this work, while Kiyo is a carefree, unburdened soul who isn’t committed to much in her young life. Kiyo is expelled from her maiko apprenticeship, but asks to become the makanai of the lodging house, and is able to stay in Kyoto, and close to Sumire, as Kiyo had promised to remain by Sumire’s side during their journey into apprenticeships. Both Kiyo and Sumire are from the same town in Aomori Prefecture, the northernmost prefecture on Honshu island, just south of Hokkaido. In Aomori, Kiyo lived with her grandmother, a local doting soul, and her grandmother’s kitchen is where Kiyo first found her passion for food and cooking. Finally, Sumire is in love with their mutual friend, Kenta, who is a high school baseball star in Aomori. It’s not clarified directly, but it’s apparent that Sumire’s love is unrequited, and indeed, it’s indirectly indicated that Kenta might be more inclined towards Kiyo. Kenta is shown sitting with Kiyo’s grandmother for many meals, including holiday meals, without explanation as to his own family.

So that’s already A LOT to manage, and still, Koreeda takes on more -- he takes on the unbelievable setting that is Kyoto and the Gion district, as well as flashbacks to winter-strewn Aomori; he takes on rivalries, regrets, sisterhood, and more among the women of geiko and maiko culture; he takes on the breathtaking theme of unrequited and resistant love, and he takes on the theme of complicated -- very complicated -- friendship, leveraging Kiyo as an unburdened foil and mirror to reflect on the complicated natures of the people around her.

First off, if you are at all inclined to be taken away simply by cinematography, you MUST WATCH THIS SHOW. I haven’t watched anything more beautiful in a VERY long time. This brings up for me the wonderful conversation that took place last month regarding the sense of space in QLs; in regards to the sense of space and how ma (that very intricate concept of place, time, and space) is incorporated into doramas -- I haven’t seen a show that does it better than The Makanai at the moment. 

The way Koreeda captured seasons. The way he incorporated fashion -- what geikos and maikos wear during performances, on their off-time, during celebrations -- my GOD. The way he used COLOR. The way he used quiet, and sound, to lift up conversations outside in spectacular settings. The way he held shots. SUMPTUOUS. I was totally taken away.

Two shots that moved me: Kiyo in a sento bathhouse, humming to herself. (She’s later teased, without her knowing, by some of the maiko, for being like an old man, scrubbing and humming in the sento.) 

Kiyo, Kenta, and Sumire, a flashback to Aomori, Kiyo and Kenta shoveling snow while Sumire built a snowman. And an immediate cut to Sumire watching Kiyo shovel snow in Kyoto. The quietness and the beauty gave me physical chills. 

Kiyo as a free soul, moved by her passion for cooking and not much else, is leveraged so beautifully as a means of a young woman being in a place at a particular time, without carrying the emotional burden of existence that many of us place on our shoulders. She’s not the person who asks why something is happening in her life. She’s the one who’s feeding the people who are doing that asking unto themselves, and suffering either because of that inquiry, or suffering simply because of an inability to transcend what they’re going through. Kiyo is clearly a Zen-like foil -- even though she’s treated often as someone “with a screw loose,” as the geiko Momoko says to Sumire in the last episode. But I think Kiyo is far more in touch with the world than anyone else that surrounds her in the show. She’s the human embodiment of ma.

So, speaking of cooking: the reason why I picked up this show is because friends of mine recommended it to me as a cooking dorama, and certainly, a lot of news coverage in the West focuses much on the food of the show. Many of the Western articles, I think, miss many points about the show, and I think it’s in part for a lack of understanding about how food and cooking are so emotionally interwoven in unspoken aspects of Asian cultures. (A lot of commentary I’m reading just focuses on the dishes -- and the dishes are incredibly important, especially in how Kiyo interprets them from her Aomori taste, adjusting seasonings and techniques for the group of maiko she’s serving who hail from across Japan. But the dishes are not the only, or the most important, aspects to this show.)

Kiyo is often asked if she’s okay with being the makanai. She kept her promise to her friend, Sumire, Sumi-chan, to stay by Sumire’s side. Sumire would ideally like to keep Kiyo by her side -- if Kenta likes Kiyo, it’s better to keep Kiyo in Kyoto. But also: Sumire is primed to be the next best maiko and geiko in Gion, as Momoko predicts (Momoko is the star geiko of Gion), and Sumire will need an ally. Kiyo is Sumire’s ally -- and we’re not sure if Sumire has Kiyo’s best interests at hand.

But Kiyo insists that she’s okay, that she wants to be the makanai. Even at 16, she says, this may be the job I was intended to have. Kiyo radiates simplicity in a fantastic, uplifting way. I think Western critics are missing this. Western food media tends to absolutely glorify, many times in horrific and ignorant ways, dishes without the cultural context of the cooking, preparation, or history of those dishes. In other words, Western media erases the stories behind the cooking.

The Makanai is ALL ABOUT THE STORIES BEHIND THE COOKING. Kiyo is a makanai, and to Kiyo, that’s just fine. She doesn’t find it demeaning because she is not demeaned. She even seems surprised when she’s asked by a lodge okkasan if she’s okay with this job. 

Food brings comfort, memories. It satisfies hunger, needs. Comfort, memories, hunger, needs -- these are HUGE, huge. Kiyo does that? That’s massive emotional work. She knows exactly what she’s doing.

So, what all does this show have? Absolutely EXQUISITE cinematography, and an unwinding, mature story focused on the journeys of two teenagers, with ambition, rivalry, regret, love (requited, unrequited, unresolved), and beyond unbelievable acting. 

It’s an absolute CRIME that I can’t take screenshots (eff you, Netflix), but here’s two. Hashimoto Ai, as Momoko, is on the right of the first shot. Imagine her kimono as brilliant sky blue. The fashion choices and colors in this show were mindblowing. Hashimoto Ai, by the way -- I STAN. What a CONCRETE performance.

The reason why I chose the second shot, of Sumire in her daily lessons, is because the light from the windows reminds me of when I first started to learn how to meditate years and years ago. The Makanai is one of the most meditative shows that I’ve seen in years, and I CANNOT recommend it highly enough. Utterly breathtaking.

[redsamuraiii]

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House (Ep2)

Sometimes when you fail at achieving your dreams, life is telling you that you are meant to achieve greatness elsewhere.

[mizukagami-takamagahara]

I personally don't want to make any assumptions, between things like the current situation of the BlazBlue series creating a high chance that Mori may end up parodying his work to continue his story, or the history of the BlazBlue series with Fans Jumping To Conclusions Too Soon (people thinking Hazama and Terumi were the same person, people thinking Sechs and Izanami were connected, people thinking Ripper and Terumi were the same person, people thinking all PFDs were Noel, people thinking BBDW was some kind of Phase Shift expansion, people thinking Juusan was a Nu-Ragna fusion, people thinking Tsubaki was in the Susano'o... I could go on forever.)

That said, I'm so excited to see where this goes. I mean, there's obviously a connection, the only question is what that connection will turn out to be.... and whether or not this will be revealed to be a project Mori is working on, or if it will be stuck forever in "fanart" limbo hell, depending on whether or not he'll legally be allowed to publish it.

For some additional observations; The Ragna-face I think I'll help myself to Typemoon fandom terminology until we have names for these two has a scar in the same place that Ragna's mark is, as mentioned in this post. To me, it seems to parallel Juusan's 'removed' mark. I wonder if Juusan and this Ragnaface were in development/being designed around the same time.

Honestly, now that I think about it, both of these characters have design aesthetics that fit with the BBDW original cast. I'd been thinking for a while that they don't fit the aesthetic of the BlazBlue (C-Series) cast, but the Ragnaface's design seems to follow the same guidelines as Juusan's, and the Rachelface's are similar to Tokiwa Camellia's non-combat attire.

I'm not saying that I think these would have been BBDW characters- now that I think about it, they definitely could be part of whatever story was intended to be told in that game... but for whatever reason I personally wouldn't bet on it. The ribbon on Aramasa does make me really think that whatever story this is, it takes place chronologically after the C-Series and the rebirth of that world.

I would love to see something of the world before the C-Series, where the Prime Field War took place and the Origin, well, originated, but I'm almost positive this isn't going to be it.

Lastly, an observation one of my associates made was that the Rachelface here also really resembles Celica. My friend mentioned her facial expression specifically, but taking a look at her clothing/silhouette and even her pose, I'm actually seeing a lot of parallels.

Whatever this is, I hope we get to see a lot more of it!

PS: I mention it in the tags, but there's another thing I am willing to bet on- the Rachelface in this image is almost definitely the same girl that features as the mascot of Studio Flare. So the odds of us seeing her again are pretty damn high.

New Mori pic

Not a fan of Ragna(?)’s look here. Looks very generic.

Rachel/Raquel(?) looks cute though

Text translation

[mizukimatsuda]

アイナ・ジ・エンド × 坂東祐大 - 創造

一部衣装制作させていただきました

---

AiNA THE END

Creative Director / Kota Tohata

Planner / Mami Koyama

Art Director / Yasunari Abe

Director / Kyotaro Hayashi

Assistant Director / Toshimasa Kumagai , Yuzuha Kashihara , Masaru Ito

Steadicam Operator / Yasutomo Kevin Yoshida

1st Camera Assistant / Mayu Miyahara

2nd Camera Assistant / Megu Ishihara

Focus Puller / Shingo Ito

Key Grip / Tetsuya Tomohisa

Assistant Grip / Kazuhito Ohtsubo , Soichiro Kawase , Miyabi Tanaka

DIT / Seiji Kogami

Lighting Director / Naoto Tanoue

1st Lighting Assistant / Ryoichi Kurihara

Lighting Assistant /

Shimizu Kenichi , Isamu Suzuki , Satoshi Ikai , Kento Fuda ,

Masayuki Kawata , Kenichi Asaura , Morikawa Hisashi , Masateru Furukawa ,

Takashi Yamaguchi , Takashi Goda , Kei Katsuma , Shinozaki Seiji

Light Board Operator / Kanako Shida

Assistant Operator / Sara Yamada , Hiroki Kodama

Production Designer・Costume Design / Chihiro Matsumoto

Production Design Chief / Masayuki Nakayama

Production Design Assistant / Takumu Ishii , Momo Kawasaki , Ayaka Mori , Nono Saito   

Costume Work / Yuko Makino

Set Carpenter / Koyuki Matsuo , Mei Inoue , Akihito Mineyama , Nozomi Sekiguchi

Special Effect / Keiichi Nishioka , Kineko Sasamori , Hiroto Suzuki

Hair & Makeup <AiNA THE END> / Tamayo Yamamoto

Hair & Makeup <dancer> / Yurika Ichihashi

Hair & Makeup Assistant / Misaki Oka , Honoka Fuse , Kanematsu , Hina Nagamoto

Stylist <AiNA THE END> / Ai Suganuma

Stylist <dancer> / Koji Oyamada

Stylist Assistant / Ayane Saito , Ayumi Takahashi , Reki Tanaka

Costume Design /

KANEHIRO , Tsukasa Koyama , Syo Nomura Sachiko Tahara (Lazy Hours) , Mizuki Matsuda

Choreographer / YOH UENO

Assistant Choreographer / KAYAKO

Dancer / Doto Saya , Yamato Yoshida , Wait(Taiki) , Yuka Otani , isono , miu__________ ,

isa , Yumi , Tokiwa , YU-NA , Sassy , Yumiho , Haru , YOULI , SAYA , Ayaka Matsumoto , ninaricci , chihiro , Mizuka Imanishi , Nao Oishi , Mei , Saki Kato , Hikari , Shin , hinano , calpas , KIM SAYA , Anzu , Miyuu , Ami

Offline Editor/ Masayuki Kubo

Online Editor / Yoshihumi Hashimoto

Mixer / Showsuke Asada

#commissioned

[iunctura-arch]

-kicks open the door- for the kid meme, Toki and Airey

Okay it's time to try.

Name: Tokiwa Mori

Gender: Male

General Appearance: Long white hair, red eyes (inherited from grandpa), lean muscularity, about 5'8" and wears comfortable clothes all the time- never wears his school uniform.

Personality: Really relaxed and chill, like dude's always in the zone and rarely, if ever, gets upset.

Special Talents: He grew up in a clock/everything repair shop so he can repair whatever you throw at him.

Who they like better: Toki

Who they take after more: His grandpa

Personal Head canon: He's got the biggest sweet tooth.

Face Claim: Ayane Sohma from fruits basket.

[flicksnfilms]

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House Season 1 (2023)

Plot premise:  Maiko-san chi no makanai-san Two inseparable friends move to Kyoto to chase their dreams of becoming maiko but decide to pursue different passions while living under the same roof.

Network: Netflix Episodes (and episode length): 9 (38-46 mins) Creator: Koreeda Hirokazu Cast: Mori Nana, Deguchi Natsuki, Makita Aju, Matsuzaka Keiko, Hashimoto Ai, Matsuoka Mayu, Tokiwa Takako, Luna Yuuki IMDB | RottenTomatoes

± A slice of a different kind of life. Thus, not very predictable and i was a little lost but the characters and the heart is where it's at. The final episode was an unexpected tear jerker. Just something about achieving things with that kind of support and the bond between soulmates just pulled the happy tears from me. Or maybe sad tears of missing my own best friend ahead of when she was going to leave the country.

[arundolyn]

still going fucking bonkers over the whole white justice thing. the fact mori had been basically like OOOOHHHH TSUBAKUMEN HOWD SHE GET THE SUSANO'O UNIT AND OOKAMI HUH? 😏

and then he reveals the most fuck ugly design ever conceived and also has the audacity to go "hehe the izayoi can just do that 🥰"

[mia-japanese-korean]

Actors Bandō Hikosaburō V as Oda Harunaga (R), Sawamura Tosshō II as Mori Ranmaru (C), and Kataoka Gadō as Koretō Mitsuhide (L), Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1862, 8th lunar month, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Japanese and Korean Art

detached triptych: three male figures on wooden decking with white curtain in background; man at L, in blue with white flowers, sits and looks to L; figure at C holds black fan up over head with PR hand, and holds out sword with PL; man at far R points at C man while holding closed white fan Related to the play Tokiwa ima yakko ukejō 時皞握虎券, performed at the Nakamura Theatre in the 8th month of 1862. Size: 14 5/8 × 9 7/8 in. (37.15 × 25.08 cm) (image, sheet, each sheet; vertical ōban triptych) Medium: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper

https://collections.artsmia.org/art/127765/

[petrichoraline]

that snippet of tokiwa yelling mori no kuma san with a distraught expression is what got me hyped for the finale

[ao3feed-pacific-rim]

into the air

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2E1MeVJ

by tokiwas

Originally posted in the Pacific Rim Kink Meme way back in 2013.

Prompt: "Basically, tell me the story of the Ghosts of Oblivion Bay, the haunted remnants of the kaiju war and those who died fighting it, and the survivors who try to deal with them. Make it as angsty or as creepy or as tragic as you like, I don't mind."

Words: 6166, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Pacific Rim (Movies)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Relationships: Mako Mori & Stacker Pentecost & Tamsin Sevier, Raleigh Becket & Yancy Becket, Chuck Hansen & Hercules Hansen

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - Ghosts

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2E1MeVJ

[redsamuraiii]

Live Action Maiko-san chi no Makanai-san (2023)

Maiko-san chi no Makanai-san gets a live adaptation on Netflix which is based on the manga and anime of the same name, which will premier in January 2023.

It stars Nana Mori as Kiyo and Natsuki Deguchi as Sumire, two best friends from Aomori Prefecture who goes south to Kyoto to become Maiko.

While Sumire excels through her talent and diligence, Kiyo's talent in cooking is discovered, and she is hired as the new cook of the maiko house. 

The show will also stars Ai Hashimoto and Takako Tokiwa.