#junrinan puppet festival

[bleachbleachbleach]

What do the Hanbantai Players think of Soul SocieTV? Do they jump on the bandwagon, or are they devoted to the ephemerality of improvisational theater? Or is there, like, a schism? In the true spirit of NPR, I'll take my question off the air.

They are very against SoulSocieTV, and especially against the single-camera "History of Soul Society" puppet show program, which they've decried as "soulless and derivative" ("soulless" traditionally being the worst insult one might offer in Soul Society, though the conventions of rhetoric suggest that here "derivative" is even worse).

There are two primary reasons for this:

1. They are devoted to the ephemerality of improvisational theater. More specifically, they believe that a story belongs to the actor, the audience, and the moment. For instance, there's a popular tale called the Fishgourd Princess, which is about a fishgourd princess. But what a fishgourd even is depends a lot on who's telling it and where, and what feedback the audience has offered. The details of the princess's life are entirely up for grabs. The unifying feature of all the fishgourd tales, in their many variations, is that the ending must always affirm 1) the divine rights of monarchy, and 2) the importance of watersheds.

There are stories where the facts are a bit more important ("a bit" doing a lot of legwork), such as the historical play descriptively titled "A Society of Souls," but even these vary tremendously in terms of length and emphasis, depending on which facets of the history are most relevant to all involved parties.

The most important thing to remember here is that the Hanbantai Players manage to have all the descriptive features of high art and long folkloric tradition while simultaneously being the worst band of thespians and dramaturges unknown to man and gods alike.

2. The second reason, simply put, is that they've seen the Soul SocieTV puppet show, and it looked bad. A bunch of weirdos in costumes, fumbling the movements of their arms and feet? Muffled voices shouting lines past each other? Meandering, hokey deluges masquerading as epic??

That is, they see themselves in the Soul SocieTV puppet show, even if they don't realize that's what they're seeing. Because that's not what it feels like, when they're devising these plays--it's real and embodied, almost like you have become your puppet. That's not what the stage looks like, from behind those masks. It's like hearing your own voice on a recording and hating it, because that's not what you sound like to you. And that can't possibly be how they look to their own audiences, can it? It can't, can it? At the very least, it's different in that no TV can breathe so close to a distrustful young child that is bangs flutter, can loom in ways that make art from shadows on his face, because his sister has made him home to the stupid puppet festival AGAIN.

--

For those thinking, 'god, why is this blog always so deep in its own sauce?' here is the original jar: the Junrinan New Years' puppet festival, frequented by the Gotei's very own artistic propaganda troupe, the Hanbantai (Half Division) Players! Also known as 'Hinamori bildungsroman fanfic, set deep in the throes of her Academy graduation anxiety as she thinks about her changing relationships to Hitsugaya/Junrinan and Aizen/Seireitei. also puppets.'

They're a real act! Look, they have a poster!

[bleachbleachbleach]

Sorry if you've already been asked these for A03 meme: 3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)? and 29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

AO3 Wrapped Meme

3. What work are you most proud of

I am lucky to feel proud of all the Bleach fics I wrote this year (which cannot be said of the two non-Bleach fics I wrote this year LOL). But I'm probably most proud of D O N K I because I spent the most time with it and it took the most work. I love the opening with Orihime's weird little neighbor way more than is necessary; I felt like I was writing the first chapter of an entire novel about that guy. I love the Worm TV. I love Orihime and Hitsugaya's shopping trip. I'm proud of being able to make connections between Hitsugaya and Orihime even as they're living incredibly separate lives at that moment. Hitsugaya isn't even mentally present for half the fic because he's thinking about Hinamori, a person he explicitly does not explain to Orihime; and Orihime herself is very much focused on her impending trip to Soul Society to train with Rukia--a plan she also doesn’t disclose to Hitsugaya until the very end--but they still manage to be the person each needs that night.

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

I tried to think back and be like, okay, what piece do I really, really remember at the level of the line, or language? One that comes to mind is this one, from From Afar:

"This Aizen guy," Toushirou says, taking another sip of his tea. "He inspires you?"

Hinamori nods. She stares at the leaf fragments at the bottom of her cup. There are futures written in them, somewhere.

"Because he has good handwriting." Toushirou peers up at her wittingly, and oh, she could smack him.

"Because Aizen-taichou taught us all how to do the same," Hinamori specifies.

Toushirou looks thoughtful for a moment, then nods.

They don't speak for a long time. With the sun beginning to set, the puppets aren't telling stories anymore. They've begun to wander, moved by drunkenness or independent spirit, soliciting kan from anyone who seems wont to give it. By dusk, the stories are well past having broken apart. There will be more come morning.

It’s just a piece of casual conversation--not a culmination of anything or a scene that’s intended as a big moment. Hitsugaya and Hinamori are just drinking tea at the tail-end of a weird puppet festival. But I really like it, because from a backstage perspective it was really, really fun to put together.

Because I got to think about what is possibly my favorite dang scene to think about in this entire manga, LOL, Hitsugaya and Hinamori’s first conversation where Hitsugaya, among other things, cautions Hinamori about 3rd Division and Aizen going out for walks alone:

[Bleach 101]

Because Hitsugaya refers to him as “Aizen no yatsu.” This ensorcels me because it feels either way more familiar than we have any reason to believe Hitsugaya and Aizen are--they aren’t bros?!?--or, failing that, unnecessarily rude, because Aizen is his well-regarded milquetoast colleague.

The “Aizen no yatsu” feeds my reading of the scene that Hitsugaya is specifically trying to let Hinamori know that he’s telling these things to her as a friend, not as 10th captain. And I felt like it would make all the sense in the world if this is a way he’s referred to Aizen since long before he ever met him, was ever 10th captain, was ever planning to meet him. Where Aizen is just some guy Hinamori talks about an awful lot about.

So here’s bb Hitsugaya at some rando puppet festival in Junrinan, asking after “Aizen no yatsu” and referencing the AIZEN CALLIGRAPHY CLASS that Hinamori loves so much (read: that I love so much), so that 35 years later, when he tells Hinamori to be cautious when Aizen goes out walking alone, it is that type of moment and that relationship he means to evoke as context. 

Are these the connections the reader is expected to make in this scene in the fic? I would not expect that, no, LOL. I mean, first of all, Hitsugaya doesn’t even call him “Aizen no yatsu,” because the fic is written in English, and the translation “this Aizen guy” is less specific. This was for me. This was very much 100% for me and my obsession with this panel. XDDDD 

If this scene has an intended takeaway outside of Hitsugaya and Hinamori getting to spend time together, it’s that Hinamori tells us a little bit about why she loves Aizen as much as she does. It’s not just that he’s super powerful, or even that he’s nice. It’s that he is so willing to teach, to share that knowledge. And Hinamori wants to learn.

[bleachbleachbleach]

Fic: From Afar

Written (in my eternal tardiness) for HitsuHina Day 2022 and the prompt, seashells! Thank you so much for hosting, @rays-of-fire-and-ice​! <3

--

Characters: Hinamori (POV), Hitsugaya, Aizen; parenthetical Kira and Renji Word Count: ~5k Tags: Blanket Fic, Junrinan lore, Academy lore, the Hanbantai Players - the eminent theatre of the Seireitei, the Junrinan puppet festival, all of Soul Society was ocean once Summary: As her Academy training draws to a close and she struggles to manage the sharpness of her own ambitions, Hinamori goes home. There is change afoot in Junrinan, too.

She could say I really missed you, but she wants Toushirou to believe that she's okay. (But why wouldn't that be okay? To miss someone.)

--

It's not so different from home, she'd told him after her first four months. They each get a futon, which they are responsible for keeping clean and setting away. They sleep eight to a room (all boys, or all girls). In each room there is an alcove with a tall, many-drawered chest. Each student has a drawer for personal effects.

"Almost all of that is different," Toushirou had pointed out, and she hadn't even told him about the talon through Kanisawa-senpai's torso. She still hasn't.

Hinamori keeps letterhead in her drawer. With this letterhead, she has written nearly five years' worth of letters to Junrinan, all unanswered, and several dozen copies of her resume. She has earned a dozen interviews. Nothing formal at this stage, but everyone knows you cannot wait until your final exams if you are to stand out amongst the graduates. She has interviewed with the 5th Division nine times.

Beneath the letterhead, Hinamori keeps one seashell. (She'd lent Abarai letterhead once. He'd failed to buy the regulation size. Actually, he'd failed to buy any size at all. "Honestly, this is Kanashiro's fault," he'd said, his only elaboration the way his fingers danced over the lockboxes. "Did she sell it by the seashore?" he'd enunciated, when he saw the shell.)

Hinamori has never seen the sea.

[Read on AO3!]

[bleachbleachbleach]

Do you think the soul reaper academy followed boarding school traditions like school dances? Also possibly could the captains have chaperones at these dances?

Given that the goal of the Shinigami Academy is to train shinigami for the Gotei 13, Onmitsukidou, and Kidou Corps, I think it’s unlikely that they have any kind of fun, coming-of-age, school traditions. It’s probably more of a professional school, and there probably isn’t all that much interest in things like chaperoned school dances, since all the attendees are practically already (functionally) adults. However, there are probably a couple of things that operate more like a “regular” school that we would recognize.

If shoujo anime is any indication, youth wouldn’t be complete without at least an episode on the Class Trip. The same goes for shinigami students. Advanced classes get to do cool things like go to the Living World (akin to going to Hawaii). Maybe other classes take domestic trips, like visiting the archives at the Kuchiki manor or maybe having a pottery weekend at Ugendou (these very trips tend to be boring and no one actually enjoys them).

However, if there’s one time-honored tradition that the Shinigami Academy holds onto, it’s the bunkasai (culture festival). But, it has a propagandistic spin on it, because well, this is a military school.

Unohana Shen Yun: Is Shen Yun a meme outside of the Asian American community? I don't know, but making this poster felt very necessary.

Hanbantai Players poster: I had to take this opportunity to bring back the Hanbantai Players, AKA the Half Division, the Gotei 13's finest division, the shinigami troubadours who entertain while also affirming the Soul Society world order (and the expected roles of souls and shinigami). There's a representative from every division, chosen via surprisingly competitive auditions.

The plays themselves are more "local Renaissance Faire" than Broadway, but the true talent of the Hanbantai Players lies in the fact that they act as histrionic chameleons, bringing in the local flavor of wherever they are performing to make their nationalist message feel as organic and "native" to the place as possible.

For example, this poster was made specifically for their Junrinan show, which integrates into Junrinan's extant puppet festival. (Not all Hanbantai shows are puppet shows.) The bronzy background elements reflect a map of Junrinan, with mountains and valleys (山, 谷) in the top left, then a river (川) flowing to a pond (池) through woods/forest (林, 森) before transitioning into a space for souls (魂魄) and, importantly (and in boldface), shinigami (死神).

The Hanbantai's Academy shows all open with the pledge (see below), and tend to be allegorical morality plays about why serving as a shinigami is important–but conveyed through hijinks. One of the playwrights did pitch a scene from a play about the Quincy Genocide, but to date it's never been performed, and the full play has never been ordered.

During the bunkasai, there's probably also some kind of horrible Rukongai World’s Faire type deal that describes the "culture of Rukongai" but it’s very colonial and also just generalizes the entirety of Rukongai to either being the 1st or the 80th (in one particular sector). Imagine visiting an “Inuzuri cafe” in lieu of a maid cafe, where the only drink you can get is water and also you have to fight for it.

Shinigami Oath: If you grew up in the US during a certain time period or were ever a member of any Scouting organization, you’re familiar with reciting a pledge/oath/promise at the start of every meeting. The Academy operates in a similar way. At the beginning of each day, all the students have to line up and recite the Shinigami Oath in front of the flag, and pledge their commitment to the cause. It’s something every shinigami can recite in their sleep, which makes it all the more insulting when Aizen insinuates Soi Fon doesn’t know it. The Academy might not teach much, but it certainly knows how to indoctrinate.