#just rewatched the show

[horse-girl-anthy]

Penguindrum centers on the love between the Takakura siblings. while they have many secrets and avoid sensitive topics, the family bond between them is not forced; there is plenty of evidence that they care about each other. both Shoma and Kanba let their sister down at times, but neither of them harbor any ill intentions towards her. in contrast, the dynamic between Shoma and Kanba is marked by real disdain and even hatred on Kanba's side. while the conflict between them is present from the beginning of the show, the extent of Kanba's negative feelings for Shoma is revealed in the final arc, culminating in a murder attempt. why exactly does Kanba hate Shoma so much?

one possiblity is jealousy. the tension in their relationship started when the Takakura parents chose Kanba to be the elder brother, which implies special responsibilities and privileges. from Shoma's point of view, this choice was hard to understand, but he doesn't seem to have done too badly as the younger brother of the family. we don't get much insight into Kanba's feelings on this front, but it's possible that he felt jealous of Shoma for being a biological child of the Takakuras; at the very least, Shoma didn't experience as much early childhood trauma as his siblings. another reason for Kanba's jealousy could be Shoma's relationship with Himari, as he gets along with her more smoothly. finally, there is the most likely cause of Kanba's hatred: he may be resentful that Shoma is more carefree than he is, or at least, that's how he perceives the situation.

Kanba doesn't take Shoma seriously. when Shoma raises moral objections to his plans to obtain the Penguindrum, Kanba dismisses him like he's a child. as far as he's concerned, Shoma is just an errand boy, to be trusted only with the simplest of tasks, while Kanba holds the family together.

interestingly, the very same traits that Kanba prizes in Himari cause him to disdain Shoma: innocence, purity, and kindness. of course, Kanba does also care about Shoma, so there's a push-pull between love and hate in their relationship, but why does he resent one sibling and not the other?

Kanba has worshipped Himari since the day he met her. he may rely on Shoma at times, but Himari doesn't factor into his designs at all, beyond being an princess to be saved. the most clear explanation for this is the difference in age and gender. as his younger sister, it's only natural for Himari to be innocent and dependent. on the other hand, while he is not blood related to Shoma, they are called twins for a reason. they are both male and were born on the same day. thus, they serve as mirrors to one another.

on a character level, Shoma represents everything Kanba wishes to distance himself from. it is important to him to be a provider, taking over from the father who has left them. Shoma is too soft and nurturing to understand the difficult decisions facing a real man. Kanba feels he must do anything possible to achieve his goals, but Shoma always interferes with weak-willed moral concerns. there is also the difference in their attitude towards their parents. Kanba still wants their approval and love, denying their crimes, while Shoma disowns them.

taking things full circle, I imagine that Kanba's hatred grew slowly over time. he suddenly became the brother of this other boy, taken in by a loving family after losing his old one. his new brother doesn't even know how good he has it and gets to live out his childhood unstained by misery. then when they find out the truth about the Takakura parents, Shoma has the gall to reject them--an ungrateful act which negates the family. after all, the Takakura parents were the ones who brought Kanba in. not wanting to blame them, it may have been easier to blame Shoma.

while Kanba kept his resentment for Shoma hidden, he equally kept his affection for his brother close to his chest. the embrace in episode 23 is an expression of both love and hate, another example of Kanba's self-destructive inner conflict. the final episode emphasizes the bond between them, moving the story away from being about brothers fighting over their sister to one about all three siblings coming together. the love was there before the hate, and once the hate is dissolved, the brothers are free to journey among the stars.

[lindseytaftmusic]

"Why didn't you tell me EVERYTHING???!!"

"You know, by the time you finally wake up, I'll be lying on some trash heap."

"So dark, so dark...so dark."

[candyje11yfish]

nacho ahhahaha (i hope this looks cool)

[maibeloved]

Guess who is back in their gravity falls phase! (After it being dormant for almost a decade!)

[michameinmicha]

Do you ever miss a character from a show but not like in the way that you want to rewatch the whole show because theres so much stuff going on and thats not what youre looking for but you miss your boy

[madscientistenthusiast]

Personally I think that Azula should have been redeemed simply so that she can become Zuko's horrible little advisor who whispers evil little plans to him so that he can do the exact opposite

[palarien]

sketched this out at jury duty actually

[lucdoodle]

drew greg doing the spooky month dance

[stromblessed]

Mizu, femininity, and fallen sparrows

In my last post about Mizu and Akemi, I feel like I came across as overly critical of Mizu given that Mizu is a woman who - in her own words - has to live as a man in order to go down the path of revenge.

If she is ever discovered to be female by the wrong person, she will not only be unable to complete her quest, but there's a good chance that she'll be arrested or killed.

So it makes complete sense for Mizu to distance herself as much as possible from any behavior that she feels like would make someone question her sex.

I felt so indignant toward Mizu on my first couple watchthroughs for this moment. Why couldn't Mizu bribe the woman and her child's way into the city too? If Mizu is presenting as a man, couldn't she claim to be the woman's escort?

However, this moment makes things pretty clear. Mizu knows all too well the plight of women in her society. She knows it so well that she cannot risk ever finding herself back in their position again. She helps in what little way she can - without drawing attention to herself.

Mizu is not a hero and she is not one to make of herself a martyr - she will not set herself on fire to keep others warm. There's room to argue that Mizu shouldn't prioritize her quest over people's lives, but given the collateral damage Mizu can live with in almost every episode of season 1, Mizu is simply not operating under that kind of morality at this point. ("You don't know what I've done to reach you," Mizu tells Fowler.)

And while I still feel like Mizu has an obvious and established blind spot when it comes to Akemi because of their differences in station, such that Mizu's judgment of Akemi and actions in episode 5 are the result of prejudice rather than the result of Mizu's caution, I also want to establish that Mizu is just as caged as Akemi is, despite her technically having more freedom while living as a man.

Mizu can hide her mixed race identity some of the time, and she can hide her sex almost all of the time, but being able to operate outside of her society's strict rules for women does not mean she cannot see their plight.

It does not mean she doesn't hurt for them.

Back to Mizu and collateral damage, remember that sparrow?

While Mizu is breaking into Boss Hamata's manse, she gets startled by a bird and kills it on reflex. She then cradles it in her hands - much more tenderly than we've seen Mizu treat almost anything up to this point in the season:

She then puts it in its nest, with its unhatched eggs. Almost like she's trying to make the death look natural. Or like an accident.

You see where I'm going with this.

When Mizu kills Kinuyo, Mizu lingers in the moment, holding the body tenderly:

And btw a lot of stuff about this show hit me hard, but this remains the biggest gut punch of them all for me, Mizu holding that poor girl's body close, GOD

When Mizu arranges the "scene of the crime," Kinuyo's body is delicate, birdlike. And Mizu is so shaken afterward that she gets sloppy. She's horrified at this kill to the point that she can't bring herself to take another innocent life - the boy who rats her out.

MIZU'S ONE MOMENT OF SOFTNESS AND MERCY, COMING ON THE HEELS OF HER NEEDING TO KILL A GIRL TO SPARE HER THE WORST FATE THAT THIS RIGID SOCIETY HAS TO OFFER WOMEN, AND TO SPARE A BROTHEL FULL OF INNOCENT WOMEN WHO ARE THE CASTOFFS OF SOCIETY, NEARLY RESULTS IN ALL OF THEIR DEATHS

No wonder Mizu is as stoic and cold as she is.

And no wonder Mizu has no patience for Akemi whatsoever right before the terrible reveal and the fight breaks out:

Speaking of Akemi - guess who else is compared to a bird!

The plumage is more colorful, a bit flashier. But a bird is a bird.

And, uh

Yeah.

I like to think that Mizu killing the sparrow is not only foreshadowing for what she must do to Kinuyo, but is also a representation of the choice she makes on Akemi's behalf. She decides to cage the bird because she believes the bird is "better off." Better off caged than... dead.

But because Mizu doesn't know Akemi or her situation, she of course doesn't realize that the bird is fated to die if it is caged and sent back home.

Mizu is clearly not happy, or pleased, or satisfied by allowing Akemi to be dragged back to her father:

But softness and mercy haven't gotten Mizu anywhere good, recently.

There is so much tragedy layered into Mizu's character, and it includes the things she has to witness and the choices she makes - or believes she has to make - involving women, when she herself can skirt around a lot of what her society throws at women. Although, I do believe that it comes at the cost of a part of Mizu's soul.

After all, I'm gonna be haunted for the rest of this show by Mizu's very first prayer in episode 1:

"LET" her die. Because as Ringo points out, she doesn't "know how" to die.

Kind of like another bird in this show:

[rawstrap]

I've seen people say terf rhetoric is any hatred of men and I've seen people say terf rhetoric is anything transphobic said by anyone. the refusal to actually engage with the reality that terfism is primarily focused on oppressing trans women is in itself a form of transmisogyny. yes they hate all trans people, but it is quite easy to see who they primarily target with their words, actions and policies, you just don't want to care about trans women. claiming someone is a man hater doesn't mean you get to call them a terf or a radfem, thats an obvious, willfull dilution and denial of what terfs are.

[mishaesque]

my issue is that just rewatching Supernatural isn’t enough. It takes too long. I want it all at once. I need a room covered in 327 monitors that feed me every single episode at the same time. I need the DVDs melted down and put into an IV drip. I want every single minute of the show tattooed on the inside of my eyelids. I need to live inside its flesh.

[bellwethers]

Her.

[linipik]

dude.... they are taking vld out of netflix :/

have I rewtched it since 2018? not really, but i reference it often, and the wave of new fans from time to time was always refreshing.

[annaleigh]

How the gentle wind, beckons through the leaves~

[gay-strawberry]

edwin: can you open it ? (with your lockpicking set and lock picking abilities we've seen several times thru the show)

charles: way ahead of you mate ! (smashes the box against the floor until it opens)

[killjoystrashcan]

I will forever love you Mr. Honor student