#like comparing the original with adaptations

[torchlitinthedesert]

I was writing about how Paul started writing with John, and how that story has been told. Once you’ve noticed that Paul wrote songs first, you can’t unsee it. And you can’t help spotting which writers just haven’t noticed, and who is actively going LOOK OVER THERE A SQUIRREL when they have to mention Paul bringing songwriting into the group. (I’m curious to see how the new Ian Leslie book handles this; the first review I’ve seen says the partnership “began in earnest in 1962”, which suggests Leslie has at least looked beyond the usual “they met at Woolton Fete and almost immediately started writing together” take.) Anyway, here’s a LOOK OVER THERE A SQUIRREL compilation, because some of these are outrageous

During the 1960s, the official band narrative presents JohnandPaul as a unit, keeping their contributions carefully balanced. Here’s Hunter Davies, the jumping-off point for most later accounts:

[Paul] played a couple of tunes to John he had written himself. Since he’d started playing the guitar, he had tried to make up a few of his own little tunes. The first tune he played to John that evening was called ‘I Lost My Little Girl’.

Not to be outdone, John immediately started making up his own tunes. He had been elaborating and adapting other people's words and tunes to his own devices for some time, but he hadn't written down proper tunes till Paul appeared with his. Not that Paul's tunes meant much, nor John's. They were very simple and derivative. It was only them coming together, each egging the other on, which suddenly inspired them to write songs for themselves to play.

After the breakup, rock journalism tended to take John’s side, and downplay Paul. Here’s Philip Norman in Shout! (1981), doing a virtuoso hatchet job:

Paul McCartney had always used his guitar to help him make up tunes. His main objective in the Quarry Men, however, was to oust Eric Griffiths from the role of lead guitarist. One night at the Broadway Conservative Club, he prevailed on the others to let him take the solo in a number. He fluffed it and, later, in an attempt to redeem himself, played over to John a song he had written, called I Lost My Little Girl. John, though he had always tinkered with lyrics, had never thought of writing entire songs before. Egged on by Paul - and by Buddy Holly - he felt there could be no harm in trying. Soon he and Paul were each writing songs furiously, as if it were a race.

Did you think, dear reader, that writing your own songs might be a significant artistic breakthrough? No, no, it’s just a backup weapon in Paul’s Machiavellian plot against poor Eric. This is his “main objective”, and he’s manipulated the others into letting him grab a solo. Norman has, by the way, already admitted that the Quarrymen all recognised that Paul was a stronger musician than the rest of the group. Is it reasonable for the best guitarist to want to play a solo? Clearly not.

For maximum whiplash, compare Norman telling the same story 27 years later, in John Lennon: The Life (2008).

The idea of writing original songs to perform, rather than merely recycling other people’s, was firmly rooted in Paul’s mind well before he met John. He had begun trying it virtually from the moment he acquired a guitar, combining melodic gifts inherited from his father with a talent for mimicking and pastiching the American-accented hits of the moment. His first completed song, “I Lost My Little Girl,” had been written in 1956, partly as a diversion from the trauma of his mother’s death, partly as an expression of it. Around the time he joined the Quarrymen, he had something like a dozen other compositions under his belt, mostly picked out on the family upright piano, including a first draft of what would eventually become “When I’m Sixty-four” (which he thought “might come in handy for a musical comedy or something”).

For a fifteen-year-old Liverpool schoolboy - indeed for any ordinary mortal - this was breathtaking presumptuousness. In Britain’s first rock’n’roll era, as for a century before it, songwriting was considered an art verging on the magical. It could be practiced only in London (naturally) by a tiny coterie of music-business insiders, middle-aged men with names like Paddy or Bunny, who alone understood the sacred alchemy of rhyming arms with charms and moon with June.

Just imagine if Norman had published that second version in 1981. Shout! was one of the most influential Beatles books, shaping the narrative for decades to come. Even Norman now admits its extreme bias, but you can still see its lingering influence. (Also, what a natural-born hater Norman is. When he puts his Paul-bashing on hold, he makes up some fictional songwriters to despise instead.)

Next up we have Mark Lewisohn, who doesn’t write Paul as the Evil Grand Vizier, but keeps shuffling the pack to put John front and centre whenever a breakthrough happens. His prologue to Tune In is a snapshot of John and Paul writing together at the very beginning of their partnership:

Towards the end of 1957, John wrote Hello Little Girl and Paul came up with I Lost My Little Girl; the similarity in their titles was apparently coincidental but both were steeped in [Buddy Holly and] the Crickets’ sound…Buddy Holly was the springboard to John and Paul’s songwriting. As John later said: “Practically every Buddy Holly song was three chords, so why not write your own.” Stated so matter-of-factly, it could seem that writing songs was an obvious next move, but it wasn’t. Teenagers all over Britain liked Buddy Holly and rock and roll, but of that great number only a fraction picked up a guitar and tried playing it, and fewer still, in fact hardly anyone, used it as the inspiration to write songs themselves. John and Paul didn’t know anyone else who did it, no one from school or college, no relative or friend… and yet somehow, by nothing more than fate or fluke, they’d found each other, discovered they both wrote songs, and decided to try it together.

When Lewisohn disagrees with the accepted narrative, he’s usually very keen to show you all his evidence for why everyone else is wrong. Here he suggests John wrote Hello Little Girl first, without discussion. Then he quotes John on getting the idea to write songs, before discussing what an important innovation that was. Right at the end, he says they both wrote independently - but John is in prime position throughout.

As you read on, he acknowledges Paul’s pre-Quarrymen songs, framing them as juvenilia (“exceptional for a first attempt by a boy on the cusp of 14”). Giving I Lost My Little Girl a later date than everyone else, Lewisohn notes that when Paul performed it on MTV Unplugged, his “vocal includes a Holly hiccup, pinpointing its creation to post-September 1957”. (Because the way Paul sings something in 1991 must be exactly how he sang it from the beginning.) Lewisohn also ignores the many interviews in which John says he started writing after seeing Paul’s example.

Obviously, these distraction tactics sell Paul short. But I think they harm John, too. If you’re interested in him as an artist, don’t you want to know how he developed? What he learned, how he used those influences to shape his own voice? How he and Paul worked, together and apart? How they saw their partnership, how that fed into their competitiveness, ambitions, or insecurities? Mary Sue Blorbo Leader John is no good to me. And, more than 60 years on, memories have faded and sources have died; we’ve lost so many chances to look at how they really worked. John and Paul both deserve better.

[yatagarasuhonyaku]

Yatagarasu Series Fanbook: Part 1

Disclaimer: This is fan-translation japanese-english of the original fanbook. The illustrations used are also from it, made by the artist in charge of the manga adaptation.

Blog version

The Blog version is heavily recommended for the Fanbook. Formatting is much more limited in Tumblr itself.

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Fanbook (Part 1)

A Raven for All Seasons: Chill interviews with the characters (by the author!)

She asked the four princesses at the Rite of Ascension about their worries and what they are looking forward to! What's the impression Abe Chisato, the author, got from the four of them?

Eastern House, Spring Pavilion Asebi

Q: What are you looking forward to at the current Rite of Ascension?

I'm underprepared compared to the other princesses so I'm actually worried about my place in the Rite of Ascension. Still, I'm just looking forward to being able to make new friends. It's not like I possess anything special I can take pride in, so I at least want to make an effort to be as earnest as possible with others.

Q: Any concerns?

This isn’t really the case for those already close to me, but I have a feeling that I'm often misunderstood for some reason.

Abe's impressions

The cute type, pink in particular suits her. She seems younger than she is because of how she acts and talks, but she's actually older than Masuho no Susuki and the same age as Hamayuu.

Northern House, Winter Pavilion Shiratama

Q: What are you looking forward to at the current Rite of Ascension?

It would be no exaggeration to say I was born for the sake of the Rite. I want to meet the expectations and hopes placed on me by my family, who raised me until now, and the people of the North, so I'll be doing my best out of wholehearted gratitude to them.

Q: Any concerns?

None worth mentioning.

Abe's impressions

Her skin is silky, looking like a pearl. She’s the cool type and her droopy dark eyes look adorable, but wouldn't she be that much more charming if only she smiled?

Southern House, Summer Pavilion Hamayuu

Q: What are you looking forward to at the current Rite of Ascension?

I’ll be doing what I must as someone born into this position. That's all.

Q: Any concerns?

Not enough exercise.

Abe's impressions

The type that would undoubtedly be gifted plenty of bags during Valentine’s at an all girls school. Were she in modern Japan, I see her becoming a model or something of the sort.

Western House, Autumn Pavilion Masuho no Susuki

Q: What are you looking forward to at the current Rite of Ascension?

As the other three princesses have effectively come here for mine and Wakamiya's sakes, I'm of the mind to treat them with the utmost courtesy. I may end up choosing my sons and daughters’ tutor from among them, given tradition, so I plan to watch them closely for that reason.

Q: Any concerns?

I've heard food that uses vinegar is good for your looks, so I've been wanting to try it—but I choke on it. 

Abe's impressions

She acts all mature, but she's only sixteen, close to seventeen. While I wouldn't say it looks bad on her, I think she's the type that's prettier without makeup.

Relationship chart (by the author!)

(Time period: at the end of A Raven for All Seasons)

The Raven Doesn’t Choose His Master: Chill interviews with the characters (by the author!)

She asked for the inner thoughts of these mysterious Lords and servants! What does Abe Chisato, the author, have to say about their real selves?

The next Golden Raven and ruler of Yamauchi The Crown Prince Wakamiya

Q: How are you feeling, having returned to Yamauchi after so long?

I’ve been away long enough, so I won't be escaping the Imperial Court’s backlash. So, well, let's just say that I've at least gathered my resolve by this point.

Q: I've heard there are plans for a number of attendants to arrive, is that true?

So it seems. I'm sure we'll be able to build a good relationship.

Abe’s perspective on Wakamiya:

The main story's (kind of) protagonist number 1. He’s theoretically the Crown Prince, but his reputation is abysmal. He’s a wanderer by nature. Back in A Raven for All Seasons, he was just a good-for-nothing with a pretty face, but some suspicions arise about whether he's truly just a good-looking, natural airhead or not during this book. His hobby is cooking, with sweets-making being another specialty of his. Most likely, personality-wise, he was always ill-suited for the world of political intrigue.

Taruhi Township Lord's second ‘idiot’ son Arriving at the Imperial Court as Wakamiya's attendant Yukiya

Q: You got the honor to become an attendant, how are you feeling about it?

It’s been so sudden, I'm beside myself with all the surprise and shock and trepidation.

Q: Are you looking forward to your job as an attendant?

It's a prestigious position, I think.

Q: Are you looking forward to it?

I damn sure am looking forward to it. Can I go back?

Abe’s perspective on Yukiya:

The main story's (kind of) protagonist number 2. He isn’t a pretty face, that’s for sure. He feigns being a kind-hearted fool, but he's such a sore loser that his charade is full of holes. When you look at it that way, it’s clear he’s still just a simple, naive kid. No matter what he may argue about it, he's a young lord born and raised. His true nature is that of a blackhearted boy who loves his family dearly.

Wakamiya's one and only bodyguard A warrior, graduated as the first of his class at the Monastery Sumio

Q: Lord Sumio, I've heard Wakamiya requested you personally as his bodyguard, is that true?

Yes, it’s an honor too great for someone like me.

Q: You're a commoner, right, Lord Sumio? Why do you think he selected you?

I wonder, maybe my results at the Unbending Reed Monastery caught his attention?

Q: Do you have a girlfriend?

…… Eh? Why are you asking me that all of a sudden?

Abe’s perspective on Sumio:

A fine young man who, despite being a commoner, met Wakamiya by some ill fate when the latter was wandering around and became his friend. Because of this, his life inevitably went into hard mode. A hard working person—he was blessed with smarts, a good personality and great physical ability, luck is the one thing he finds himself lacking. But it’ll be fine!

The Emperor’s eldest son, born to him and the Southern Empress. Wakamiya's older brother Natsuka

Q: How do you feel about your younger brother?

He may be my brother, but he's someone I swore fealty to. It’s my intention to serve him with wholehearted devotion.

Q: Rumors say you're planning to take back the Crown Prince position from him, though?

No way (laughs). By the way, could you perhaps—tell me who said that to you exactly?

Abe’s perspective on Natsuka:

He was in fact supposed to rise to the throne very quickly, but a lot happened and he renounced his position. Everyone around him ignores his wishes and gets all wound up with power struggles, so he was left with no option but to make an effort to play along. He adores his little brother! His personality is probably actually somewhat well-suited for a ruler. Despite his constant frown, he's quite the honest sort.

Relationship chart (by the author!)

(Time period: at the end of The Raven Doesn’t Choose His Master)

(Translator’s Note: In the novels, it was Sumio and not Wakamiya who, due to Yukiya’s blood relation to the Northern Lord, planned Yukiya’s involvement in the plot together with Natsuka. While Yukiya is still upset with Wakamiya for other related reasons, the blame for that falls on Sumio.)

The Raven of the Empty Coffin: Chill interviews with the characters (by the author!)

It’s the time right before the Unbending Reed Monastery's last test, the Trial of Storm. For the sake of all the young men of Yamauchi worrying about their future paths, we got some interviews with related personages!

Unbending Reed Monastery Dropout and Wakamiya's Close Aide at present. Birth Region: West. Akeru

Q: So you dropped out of the Monastery and are now working as His Highness Wakamiya's close aide, right?

Yes. While I didn't have the talent required to become part of the Yamauchi Guard, everything I learned at the Monastery is still a valuable part of me today.

Q: Are you glad you joined the Monastery?

Of course I am! I’m a firm believer that there's no downside to going to the Monastery, no matter what your social status may be. Even if you end up dropping out midway, you'll find a new path soon enough just like me. So, if there's anyone hesitating out there, I want them to give it an earnest try. I think those who are dedicated will surely be rewarded, and His Highness Wakamiya is of the same mind as well. I'm looking forward to the day we serve him together.

A few words about Akeru from Abe:

He looks like a girl so people are prone to misread him, but he's actually quite the brat. He believes his older brother was harsh with him, but the reality is that everyone around him was simply just way too lenient. His brother was more than soft enough with him by most people's standards.

A Trainee at Unbending Reed Monastery Birth Region: North. Shigemaru

Q: You come from a mountain village in Shimaki Township, right? Are you glad you came to the Monastery?

Life here is all good! The food is really tasty and you get to use a huge bath. You can also make friends regardless of social status, that's great too.

Q: Actually, about that, have you ever found yourself struggling over differences of status or anything of the sort?

Not at all! Everyone views things differently, but as long as you talk things out properly it’ll all work itself out most of the time.

Q: ‘Most of the time’, so there have been a few problems?

Ahahahaha!

Q: What do you aspire to do after graduation?

My goal isn't graduation per se, so the moment of truth for me starts once I'm finally part of the Yamauchi Guard. I'll be working hard to protect my hometown together with those important to me!

A few words about Shigemaru from Abe:

A good person unbefitting the Yatagarasu Series. He battles over the position of the most noble character with Ichiryuu's father and Azusa.

A Trainee at Unbending Reed Monastery Birth Region: South. Chihaya

Q: I’ve heard you originally joined the Monastery as an attendant for a certain noble. You seem to have cut any contact with that person at present, but have you experienced any problems afterwards due to turning your back on your backer?

Nothing in particular.

Q: Do you have an ideal to follow, a kind of Guard you want to become?

Not really.

Q: Are you glad you came to the Monastery?

Yes.

A few words about Chihaya from Abe:

He will make a point to ignore every foolish thing said around him, so he may seem like a fool himself. That said, however, his unquestionable nature is that of the straight man in a comedy duo. He'll think up some really caustic quips to what everyone around him says, but he doesn’t ever say them out loud because that's too much of a pain for him. Can you please talk more!?

Last year's Graduate and active Yamauchi Guard Birth Region: North. Ichiryuu

Q: Tell me, now as an actual Yamauchi Guard, is there any difference to how you imagined it to be?

Well, I ended up getting an unexpected promotion by His Highness Wakamiya, so I'm very happy with it, though surprised.

Q: I've heard you graduated as the second to last in your year?

Please, do not misunderstand. To graduate from the Unbending Reed Monastery is already an amazing feat all by itself. Your scores during your time there or your results at graduation aren't that relevant afterwards, really.

Q: Apparently, you picked a quarrel with an artist in the middle of painting, asking him to take on a request for a Heavens’ Portrait (TN: This is a concept that appears formally later in the novels. It’s fine to not know about it). Rumors say that you absolutely went to buy it up once it was finished, too. Is that true?

From whom did you hear that? Can we act as if you didn’t ask me that?

A few words about Ichiryuu from Abe:

He's so energetic, it’s nice, isn’t it?

A Trainee at Unbending Reed Monastery Birth Region: East. Haruma

Q: I’ve heard hierarchy is brutal at the Monastery. Any concerns about your relationship with your seniors?

None at all! Especially because Evergreen Yukiya, a senior two years above me, has been taking special care of me. He’ll always kindly advise me whenever I have any trouble.

Q: Oh, you mean the famed ‘Monastery’s Teen Prodigy’ Evergreen Yukiya! I requested an interview with him, but it got refused. What is he like as a senior? From your perspective as his junior.

He isn’t only intelligent, but also incredibly considerate. He’s the best senior I can imagine.

Q: There are rumors about how he’s a spiteful man with an awful personality, though?

I believe anyone who says that is just blind to reality.

A few words about Haruma from Abe:

Even I, the author who wrote the events, can’t quite figure out why he came to admire Yukiya this much. It’s most likely not anything rational, possibly something akin to love at first sight. And there’s not much that can be done about it if it’s love at first sight, right?

An Instructor at the Monastery and Main Instructor for Theory Seiken

Q: Apparently, there’s quite a number of problem children in this year’s graduation class?

I fail to see what you mean by problem children, but I believe they’re all hard-working kids, who have earnestly sought out their own paths to follow from hereon.

Q: You say that, but there are stories about how much they fought and how some of them even defied their instructors, though?

That’s true, yes. However, fights are bound to happen if you gather that many kids that age (laughs). The same happens every year, and I don’t believe someone is a good trainee because he doesn’t get into fights and meekly obeys his instructors. Besides, the fact they could defy one is proof in itself that the Monastery is functioning as it should again. I personally hold pride in this new Monastery.

Q: Then, is it fine for the delinquents and the rowdy to aspire to join the ranks?

Oh, keep them coming! I’ll be looking forward to meeting them.

A few words about Seiken from Abe:

He simply kinda seems like a proper well-put Yatagarasu because he’s following his calling as an educator, but I believe him to be quite the dangerous man. He’s absolutely no saint and he may seem calm, but he’s quite fierce actually.

An ex-instructor at the Monastery, once in charge of Strategy Exercise Lessons Suikan

Q: It’s said that you suffered a massive loss during a Board Drill with Yukiya of the Northern House, who will be graduating this year, when he was still a Seed. Is that true?

It’s true.

Q: From your perspective, can we expect big things from the future of Yukiya of the Northern House?

His talent in Strategy is beyond question. He’ll probably be declared Yamauchi’s number one Strategic Counselor in no time. In that sense, you can definitely say his future looks promising, but I personally wish that doesn’t turn out to be the case.

Q: What do you mean by that?

(Laughs) I know this may make me sound like a sore loser, but I’m speaking from the perspective of an emergency. Anyway, I pray we don’t find ourselves in a situation where he ends up with total control over the army.

A few words about Suikan from Abe:

While he aspires to become an instructor just like Seiken out of admiration for the man, he’s still a complete greenhorn. He’s now being taught how to be a proper teacher by his own students. Go, you can do it!

Twitter Q&A (Part 1)

Translator’s note: This is a selection ensuring no spoilers at the moment of translation. I’ll be covering everything over time, but there’s much that would ruin future developments if read now. Spoiler questions aside, they’re translated in the order they come up in the fanbook. There'll be many more to come.

Question: Regarding the relationship between Yamauchi and the Outside. Say, for example, that a year passed in the Outside—how many years would that be in Yamauchi? Is there any difference in the speed time passes between the two, or is it the same…?

Answer: Timewise, there shouldn’t be any difference whatsoever between the two places.

Question: Please, teach us about the merchandise that Yamauchi sells to the Outside. Are there any items people back in the day or us modern people are using or seeing without realizing they were produced in Yamauchi? 

Answer: Merchandise produced by Yamauchi is considered quite the commodity among a very specific kind of client, so the sold goods are bought out by them in their entirety. Hence, as long as these clients don’t use the goods where people can see it, a normal human wouldn’t ever have a chance to see or touch any of it.

Question: What’s the Yatagarasu’s life expectancy like? They seem quite ignorant about events from just a hundred years ago, so I’m of the idea that it must be quite different to modern human life expectancy. Maybe similar to that of the Heian era?

Answer: On the contrary, Yamauchi has been blessed overall with better nutrition and less illnesses compared to the Outside, so I’m of the thought that their life expectancy and builds have been closer to that of modern time humans for a long time now. And this may be a superfluous addition, but I think that, even now in the modern era, there’s so much we humans don’t truly understand that well about events just a hundred years ago, more so compared to what we believe ourselves to know about them.

Question: So Yatagarasu women experience menses, what does that imply?

Answer: It’s not exactly the same as the menstruation experienced by human women, but Yatagarasu women go through a fairly similar physiological phenomenon. Once a month, they must discharge a failed egg out of their bodies and, when the time comes, they start to feel ill. In particularly bad cases, remaining in human form becomes difficult for them. Because of this, women will shut themselves in specialized rooms and sheds during this period.

Supplementary addition: This comes up in another question I answered later on, but pregnant women will shift to bird form as their child’s birth date gets closer. They must be in bird form during the process of laying the egg itself, no exceptions.

Question: When Yatagarasu transform, what’s the order in which the body changes? I would like to know how it works for both cases, from bird to human and from human to bird, and if there are any sort of differences from person to person.

Answer: A human’s arms and a bird’s wings have bones in common to a degree, right? Yatagarasu (excluding the True Golden Raven) will change forms from those. This mechanism works by having these shared bones first reshape themselves and then, following that, the muscles will reattach as feathers simultaneously appear or disappear. There are some individual differences, of course, but the process is fundamentally the same for everyone.

Question: Could a bird form Yatagarasu live on their own in the mountains?

Answer: If the person is lucky enough, it’s possible to survive in such a way, but I think that this Yatagarasu would have to be an exceptional hunter or otherwise be condemned to die of hunger. In fact, it would maybe be easier for that person to just cross Yamauchi’s barrier and live on the Outside as a normal crow.

Translator’s Note:

I would like to mention it here, as I forgot to make a note about it back in the day and I think it's actually fun trivia for the setting. The most popular way to read the japanese term for "feather robe" (羽衣) is not "Ue", what the Yatagarasu Series uses, but "Hagoromo" and that's how the concept is mostly known in the West: "the Legend of Hagoromo" and "Hagoromo (Noh play)" are examples that may come up in english if you search the term.

Although the finer details vary from version to version of the legend, the basic idea remains the same: it is said to be worn by celestial maidens, and it transforms them into birds and gives them the power of flight so they can come and go from the Heavens. The story usually has a man watching a group of birds transform into beautiful women to bathe in a spring. Then, taken by the sight, he steals one of the hagoromo and the celestial maiden that it belonged to gets stuck there.

From there on, according to the japanese internet, there are two main variants that diverge in plot greatly: in one she ends up marrying the man that's essentially her kidnapper, bearing him children before finding her hagoromo again and returning to the Heavens; and in the other she's adopted by an old couple, blessing them by producing extremely high quality alcohol until the couple ends up driving her away once they realize she's not their real daughter, forcing her to wander until she finds a new home.

The essential idea of the hagoromo, as in a robe worn by minor divinities (Yatagarasu are originally gods of guidance, associated with the Sun, sometimes depicted acting as messengers for other more important gods) that allows them to shift between a bird form and a human form and that must be necessarily worn/produced to access said bird form, does however remain mostly intact in its implementation into this saga as the "Ue" or, as the english version of the anime (and my translation in turn) call them, feather robes.

[tutanchanup]

About the curse and that it should be more destructive:

By a complete coincide some time ago I wrote a whole post about how from psychoanalytical view the curse would destroy your psyche even if the only thing it did was make you immortal and drink human blood

If anyone would be interested: here 😄

....I also came to the conclusion there that it wouldn't actually work this way on Vlad the Impaler in particular

Which is what we kinda see in Hellsing, isn't it?

At least I feel that Alucard is a totally different vampire than the others, and that the curse doesn't have this kind of influence on him (it's still destructive for him, but in a different kind of way than the others

-> it seems to me that instead of being drunk by power like the others, he's destroyed by the feeling that he's forsaken by God - which would be pretty in line for someone who grew up in the mediaeval super-religious era)

Hah, I can't believe that of all adaptations where they make Vlad the Impaler into a vampire, Hellsing seems to be the most historically accurate one 🤣. I mean compared to what we have... 😅 (don't get me wrong, there are tons of inaccuracies and it's also completely unhinged 😆...but all the other depictions I've seen are just much much worse - I don't know, is there any other adaptation where he isn't either an irresponsible maniak nor passive tragic hero? Be sure to let me know!)

...Even more than Hellsing maybe Hellsing Abridged - for the sole reason that Alucard there is not broken and subdued so much like the Alucard in original Hellsing, and he has a more trolling personality. And if you look at the personality of real Vlad the Impaler, he too was a sassy menace who liked to break the rules, and didn't really let anyone break him.

(Warning for those who watch me and don't know Hellsing nor it's parody, Hellsing Abridged - yeah, it's unhinged 😅. And if you try to watch Hellsing Abridged without knowing Hellsing first... maybe not a good idea 😅)

I would have dropped the whole virgin girl rule. Not only does it contradict itself in its own canon multiple times, not only is it a weak plot device, with weak disclaimers, but it's based largely on pop culture, and definitely not on Dracula. In Dracula, the horror is that anyone in the story can turn into a godforsaken version of themselves and have to deal with it. The Romanian First Mate commits suicide so he won't have a "worse" fate than death when he realizes that Dracula is the killer (paralleling Jonathan choosing to climb and fall to death rather than become one of the "semi-demons" by the Three). Dracula targets Mina to become a vampire, despite knowing she's been married for months. She's expected to turn Jonathan, since vampires first target their loved ones (see vampire Lucy beaconing Arthur). The poison doesn't operate differently based on sexual purity and gender. In fact, in Balkan folklore anyone who is not a prepubescent child can turn, hence why in rural Serbia and Bulgaria people would check any adult's grave every 3 and 7 years post-death. (7 because if a vampire went around undetected past that, they could leave their homeland and spread.)

On that note, I'd have given the consequences of vampirism to be more dire than "now you have sick superpowers and a liquid diet." There's a reason why that was the main horror instead of death.

YES. That's an excellent point. I've always thought that that was kind of bullshit; imo it was a cheap plot idea to get that scene with Seras and the Cheddar priest before Alucard arrives and does HIS whole virgin shtick. It does have a plot point later, where Integra starts to suspect about artificial vampires because of the ghouls they find being so young in age they shouldn't have become ghouls; it was an interesting plot point, but also the whole "a male vampire can only turn female virgin humans" and vice-versa thing is kinda bullshit because we literally have an intersex character in the show?? What kind of vampire would we need to turn Heinkel into one???

In the additional time we could've given Seras, we could've explored the nature of vampirism more. Maybe it changes you so fundamentally that you feel rotten and turned into a creature so vile you'd be repulsed. Maybe it makes you give into your deepest darkest wants; Seras is someone with a lot (and I mean a LOT) of internalized rage and trauma; what if the extremely violent and sadistic side we saw her get in her moments of bloodlust were what she could become if she wasn't careful? The Cheddar priest was a rapist and a mass murderer, the Bonny and Clyde vampires killed entire families in a power trip— is that what most people would become if they were infected? The idea of such destruction is terrifying; most people hold hidden resentment and power fantasies that they don't act upon because of obvious societal cohabitation and maturity. Imagine if everyone just started to act upon those unrealistic feelings of destruction and anger that all of us have. If I started to attack family members and loved ones because of some hidden anger and blame I feel, or tried to make them into That too. It'd be terrifying and truly something more than just "anthropophagic predator" and "liquid-based diet monster" imo.

[mokeonn]

Was anyone going to tell me that the 1954 animated adaptation of animal farm was actually funded by the CIA's Office of Polivy Coordination to be anti-communism propaganda? That they hired Brittish film directors because they didn't trust American animators due to the Red Scare and the Hollywood Blacklist? That they changed Snowball because he was "too sympathetic" and purposefully made the movie make a point that Jones is just a bad apple and other farmers aren't bad?? And that they (the CIA) specifically hid the fact that this is the CIA funding and overseeing the project from the film's directors and when they bought the films rights from Sonia Orwell???

Or was I supposed to find that out by googling Animal Farm 1954 and seeing the summary mention the CIA all on my own?

[summertimemusician]

Local Self Proclaimed Mythology Buff is Delighted by the Impromptu Renaissance of People Being Interested and Obsessed with Homer's Odyssey Due to Hit Musical Adaptation, more after 11

[thecoolerliauditore]

Well! This is probably better formatted as an ask than as a reply to your comment, so... tumblr user thecoolerliauditore! Whatre your "#thoughts" on adolesence of utena?🎤

oh boy. mic'd up. okay crazy

(oh my god i wrote fucking a lot im sorry)

So first things first. Enjoyable movie! I liked it and it's high point for me is definitely the art, cinematography and overall spectacle. And I'm always happy for more Utena, so I'm very glad I got to watch it!

But just from that you can probably gather that I. Might not have the highest opinion of the movie otherwise.

Don't get me wrong it's still a very solid and fun watch and I liked it but I just think it's vibe is very. distinctly different from the series? It actually reminds me a lot of what I expected Utena to be before I watched it, if that says anything. Very artsy and symbolism-y, but the characters felt distinctly less human than in the show.

Utena herself I actually think is the biggest downgrade from show to movie, maybe as a consequence of so much of it being mainly from Anthy's POV (not a bad thing Ily Anthy <33) but her motivations felt very. ??????? to me several times in the movie. Especially when it came to her relationship with Anthy and Touga. The car thing is like absolutely my favourite thing to come out of the movie and I rewatch that car wash sequence and chase scene sooooo much but I do think it's funny she Literally turns into a vehicle for Anthy's development.

Anthy is cool I don't have any beef with Anthy and I never will. Her flashback scenes are really awesome, the sound design in this movie especially in those scenes is sooooo‼️‼️‼️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 I personally don't really know what to make of the "sequel" read of this movie but I do think it makes the most sense for how Anthy acts here.

Mixed feelings with Akio. On one hand I think it's very fitting that Anthy-in-recovery would now see through his facade and see him as pathetic instead of menacing, but on the other hand he really just feels like a complete separate entity to show Akio. His scenes are really funny though.

I think my hater tendencies might have a strong basis in the fact that I think it. grits teeth. understandably considering the runtime sidelines my favourite characters from the show -- Wakaba gets reduced to the plot-irrelevant best friend role her Black Rose episode worked to challenge, Nanami is entirely erased and Shiori. Is maybe the one I have the most thoughts about because they essentially gave her an entire new thing to do independent of her plot with Juri and it's??Actually really awesome to me. Like she WOULD is the thing she WOULD do this and I've talked about before how hilarious it is that while she's literally having sex with a guy all she talks about is Juri.

But the plot treats her with this? Idk if I'm just not getting it or what but it feels like she's treated very unfairly and her comphet isn't acknowledged as comphet. It's almost like they needed someone to fill the mean girl role and they knew Nanami wouldn't go down well so they shoved Shiori in there and said good enough.

The shot of her license plate being run over by the remaining black cars is heartbreaking to me but like. Hey Juri hey so your crush is um Fucking Dead yeah uh you should know?

Idk just. very strange treatment of her character that feels very anti-utena to me. Her depth is hinted at but not explored, and what we're left with is kind of. Making me sad.

Speaking of Shiori the sex scene with Touga might be my favourite thing to come out of the movie other than the final car sequence. It's not only gorgeously animated but horrifyingly portrayed, I always read it as Touga forcing himself to focus on the butterflies to avoid having to acknowledge his rape and thus they're shown so significantly in the flashback. Idk if that's. Right but I think it's neat.

Touga himself is. Interesting I guess? Idk it feels again very anti-utena to me to even attempt at redeeming Touga or making him more sympathetic when the message I walked away from the original show was that his actions are horrible but they can't really be judged by me, an audience member, when he too is a victim of the system. No problem with the CSA, I think it makes enough sense in addition to the rest of the character, but turning him into literally an innocent child who died trying to play prince instead of acknowledging that he is 1. an abuser and 2. still a victim of the system who can one day move on from it makes me feel. Again a little sad. Out of all the characters he feels the most detached from the original to me and I honestly wonder what the intention was here, especially if we're looking at this as a sequel to the show.

I think other people might have stronger feelings regarding Touga and Utena's kiss scene than me. Personally I just umm. Good for them but thumbs down hashtag just my opinion

The other student council members are fine, I think. Cuts galore but whatever it's a movie. I do think it's a massive shame that they had Utena just straight up beat Juri when one of my favourite things about their dynamic in the show for me was that she never actually beat her fair and square. But whatever man. Kozue is Also Here.

The film is also like. I don't like using this word because wOw UtENa Is CoNFUsInG but it is genuinely like. Very incoherent? It feels like to me a a list of scattered unused ideas from the show and some semblance of an epilogue for Anthy that got mushed together with some really beautiful visuals.

I don't really get who the target audience is? If I hadn't watched the show I'd be confused and lost. If I have watched the show I'm still confused and lost but for entirely different reasons.

The scene where Utena chokes Anthy the fuck out and then the really beautiful iconic dance sequence embody this to me where these scenes are GORGEOUS on their own and make my brain tick but the first time I watched it I was like. ???? weren't you fucking her ass up a moment ago.

Utena with short hair is cool I like.

I think that's about it holyyyy. Okay awesome I'm sorry man.

[lollytea]

I do love the netflix avatar in my own way because it provides me with enrichment in the same way brain puzzles do for chimps. Like something is WRONG here and it's your very special job to figure out why! And then you will get juice reward!!

[arolesbianism]

Time for more eternal gales isat au, this time featuring Sier as Isabeau, creating a sprite I can never use next to Aris’ because despite my best efforts it would make them look tall

[ultfreakme]

I think the words "Ember Islands Players" should be retired from all of the ATLA fandom. All of it. Doing so would bring peace and balance to the world.

[lookninjas]

So I went ahead and watched the new Crow trailer

Yeah, it's exactly what I thought. Simultaneously too clean and yet extravagantly gory. The villains lack any kind of the weirdness we got from Michael Wincott and Bai Ling, who were both so spectacularly deranged. Going to be a lot of CGI (which -- absolutely, yeah, use it for the shooting sequences, please, but if the original production could afford some ravens, you can afford some fucking ravens). Not a fan of them making it so the attack on Eric and Shelly appears to be targeted, as opposed to the random violence of both the original comic book and the original movie. And using a line from the original trailer that was voiced by Brandon Lee is probably just an unwise move in general. (Edit: actually, I'm pretty sure it was the girl who played Sarah who said that line in the trailers. Still not a great way to set yourself apart from the original.)

As far as it being "inspired by the comic book, not the film" -- I mean, okay, it looks like they have the Skull Cowboy? Which did get cut from the 1994 version due to Brandon Lee's death. But again, the whole Shelly backstory thing is very different. The villains look very different. What the fuck they're doing in the whole scene when it looks like there's a prison and everyone's in pink -- I don't know what that is. It wasn't in the comics. This wasn't a girl who saw some stuff that a billionaire crime lord was doing and then they came after her and her fiance. This was a random, senseless killing out of the blue.

And that actually matters, right? Because James O'Barr lost his fiancee out of the blue, to a drunk driver. The Crow was his response to that loss. Changing how they died really does change everything that comes next. It can't be helped.

And it just looks like extruded comic book product. It's like... again, everything's too clean and everyone seems kind of vaguely rich for no real reason but there's also this really cartoonish violence with armies of NPC characters, and it's just extruded comic book product.

Which is unfortunate, because I do get the sense that Bill Skarsgård is legitimately acting his heart out. But it just isn't enough to make this feel like anything but a cash grab on the part of the producers with at least one good performance.

He deserves better. This whole story deserves better.

I just don't think it's going to get that.

[ishikawayukis]

i do find it hilarious when whoever is adapting a thing says that they're not gonna do it play by play but rather a reinterpretation of the story in a way, and then people get mad because it's not a play by play but a reintepretation of the story

[fraudue]

how are mappa doing ranma dirty?

my main problems with the new adaptation is that its so desaturated and undynamic compared to takahashi's original vision and even kitty film's adaptation... the character designs are flat and lackluster (just ugly imo), the direction for the trailers have been relatively uninspiring considering the studio its coming from, and considering the opening ive stopped hoping for more lol. idk whats going on behind the scenes but i wish they spent more of the budget on pushing takahashi's fluidity and charm into animation/direction instead of hiring the same voice actors from the original adaptations (i love megumi hayabashira as much as the next person, but their rates have definitely gone up significantly since the og and in ranma tradition they could've introduced a new talent to the role, no?). obv this has been a long list of what i hoped could be because i love ranma and i think any ranma 1/2 adaptation could be a masterpiece. tbh from what ive seen mappa didnt do an awful job and theyve put a lot of work in evoking elements of the original anime but im just a hater and im sad ranma has been relegated to another desaturated seasonal anime that is reliant on nostalgia baiting instead of introducing something fresh the way only an anime adaptation can do.

[soft-serve-soymilk]

Wow I love asshole gay people (things have ALIGNED in the ASTRAL PLANE and Pav is WATCHING SOMETHING?? 🤯)

[tragicclownwrites]

🤡

[snakedevour]

live action casting of yumeko is so good actually

[hirookouji]

my theory that (most) comedy anime r better in english dubs (as an english speaker) vs the absolutely stellar japanesa va casting for seemingly all comedy anime