#otera

[morriemollu]

Okay, so having read both of Namina Forna's Otera books thus far.

CAN WE PLEASE, discuss how the first and second books compliment each other so well and guide us through the typical feminism process.

Misogny > Femininine Power > Misandry > Gender Awareness > Equality for All.

Like you gotta do that awful hard swing into Misandry to realise how bad it gets before you come to a balance.

Also the magic system in this and the religious components of this just make is INCREDIBLE.

The found family and feminine rage and fallible gods just MWAH.

Loved them both, devoured it in days, just wish I paid better attention to death shriek descriptions early on

Also the first person POV added a whole new level of wow!!

[shoujo-dreamland]

[fusudesu]

[offbeat-manga-ships]

NEKO NO OTERA NO CHION-SAN / 猫のお寺の知恩さん / CAT TEMPLE'S MISS CHION by Ojiro Makoto / オジロマコト • chapter 36

[bobbole]

Makoto Ojiro

[mangachi]

[tierra-paldeana]

"Nah you're about the same height as me now, Mordy."

☠🌏– "Still cool either way, nahah! Would'ja looka dat!"

"...Ya can still hold n' carry me though, right?"

A rhetorical question cause she knows Otera's capable of carrying Clods and Quags single-handed. Just making sure she's not put off by her extra height for whatever reason.

[anomyn]

[ID: a manga panel of a person lying down on the floor, their face covered by a grey cat, various other cats are curcled up next or on the person's body. end ID]

[furinana]

The downplayed significance of Nanashi's family dynamic with Boss and Asahi

Before we start, let's cut the main root of concern for many people: The concept of Nanashi and Asahi being a possible romance option. Would it be taboo in Japan?

From a legal viewpoint: No. According to Article 734, Paragraph 1 of the Civil Code, marriage is legally recognized for non-blood adoptive siblings.

[Panel from Neko no Otera no Chion-san]

For historical background, here's a translated excerpt from Oshiete (Q&A Japanese website):

"[...] Before the war, it seems that there were many cases where daughters were adopted by families with the intention of becoming their sons' wives in the future. Also, if a girl was born as a biological child after a boy was adopted, there were inheritance issues, so the two would often be set off to marry. Nowadays, parents are no longer allowed to decide to whom a child will marry, but they cannot stop their children from wanting to get married as well".

Asahi and Nanashi are basically in a gray zone where they ''could'' be called siblings by social definition but nobody-cares-or-thinks-it's-a-big-deal if they decide to marry, specially given their circumstances of growing in a devastated Tokyo.

[Puppy love... everything goes back to Asahi being a Pascal reference.]

They don't call each other or are referred to in any way by words synonymous to brother and sister. Despite the elephant in the room that Boss took care of both, nobody raises a brow because they aren't blood-related. The best you could say is that they're technically an example of this trope.

Gender roles be damned, one could go as far as think that Boss's constantly telling Nanashi to look after Asahi (repeating it even in his last breath) enforces the incredibly narrow line between adoptive father and father-in-law...

[Three different instances prior to the unseal of Krishna where the same dynamic plays. In the first one, Nanashi complies to what Boss asks of him in both options; from then on, the option box doesn't show anymore, with the third instance being the most indicative that Nanashi being obedient to his father's figure (thus contrasting with Asahi's impulsiveness) is an established fact.]

Now, if we were to comment on Nanashi's individual relationship with Boss through the clues we were given... Nanashi certainly felt distant given that he only referred to the man that raised him as "Asahi's dad" and moved on rather quickly compared to Asahi (or that's how the world he lives in expects him to).

Hallelujah is the only character that was able to sense that Nanashi might hide unsolved feelings underneath his composed persona, and it says a lot considering how Hallelujah would often be in awe of how reassuring his peer felt compared to himself.

Hallelujah's friendship with both Nanashi and Asahi is earnestly felt through the story but it's particularly intimate in this part.

That being said... while Boss would be shown as more protective of Asahi, an attentive player would notice the few glimpses where he also displayed fatherly feelings towards Nanashi.

The most subtle and yet telling example is Nanashi's design itself. What would come first to someone's mind over Nanashi's punk attires and fondness for those lyrics from a John Lennon song would be that they come from his own preferences alone. But then one of the relic descriptions reveals this:

And yet, Boss was also the guy that lacked self-awareness regarding his partiality towards his own daughter compared to the unnamed orphan he took care of... well, it's complicated. Certainly not a black-or-white relationship.

[Similarly to Asahi, Boss reacts in a more positive tone if Nanashi decides to stay 'nameless' as he's been since birth. Manabu and the rest of the cast are impartial to what Nanashi chooses]

It's ironic that the people Nanashi felt the closest to were the ones that grew attached to his lack of name. We have seen fair reasons for Nanashi to be read as a protagonist that perceived a clear distinction between him and Asahi but hints of family affection from Boss are felt nonetheless.

Am I insecure and have attachment issues from being an orphan? Despite everything, was I still a child blessed with love from those around me? This is the turmoil inside our protagonist's mind where it's our role as the player to figure out which answer he would give. And just like the middle ground tends to be the biased view for the SMT4 duology instead of relying on extremes, you could conclude that both statements can be applied for Nanashi's background.

But the rather understated yet possibly most important element from this discussion is the "untold" consequence of the act of Nanashi sticking with his placeholder name behind the themes of the main antagonist of the game. As YHVH's power is amplified through his followers' fear of pronouncing his name (thus staying unreachable and not be at risk of being distorted as other deities), the parallel in the Massacre ending becomes intrinsic as the one who snatches YHVH's throne for himself is none other than our John Doe Protagonist, going from an anonymous human to an anonymous God.

Perhaps Nanashi unintentionally turned out to be the ultimate form of protection a father could give to his neglected adopted son.

[bkh-s-7449]

Adept Otera says that the. The

the infested

The infested on Deimos "glow a nauseating cyan under the light of vome" and that "it reminded him of me".

[ausetkmt]

The Eternal Ones - Namina Forna

Mere weeks after confronting the Gilded Ones—the false beings she once believed to be her family—Deka is on the hunt. In order to kill the gods, whose ravenous competition for power is bleeding Otera dry, she must uncover the source of her divinity. But with her mortal body on the verge of ruin, Deka is running out of time—to save herself and an empire that’s tearing itself apart at its seams.

When Deka’s search leads her and her friends to the edge of the world as they know it, they discover an astonishing new realm, one which holds the key to Deka’s past. Yet it also illuminates a devastating decision she must soon make…

Choose to be reborn as a god, losing everyone she loves in the process. Or bring about the end of the world.

[tierra-paldeana]

☠🌏– ''Oof!''

Suddenly she's lifted. ...She's lifted?! Isn't she supposed to be super heavy right now?! Holy heck, Otera was much stronger than she thought! A quiet 'quag' escapes her which she wasn't even expecting, but she isn't exactly uncomfy in her arms. But at least it seems she's not freaking out about her being a Quagsire and has identified her.

Clodsire followed behind, wagging his tail as well.

''Wait, snack time? Whaddya mean...?''

Was she gonna feed her kibble? Honestly, wouldn't be the first time she'd eat it, but...

She blinks. That's a talking Quagsire. Mordy the talking Quagsire.

Well she had met like four other versions of herself so this might as well happen. Just don't think about it Rika, don't do it. You'll hurt yourself.

"Aww, poor thing!" She had to admit, Mordy was a cute little bean. "Come here, let's get you sorted."

She leans down and scoops up Quagsire Mordy like she weights two grapes.

"Snack time for you and your boy." She gestures to Mordy's Clodsire.

@tierra-paldeana X

[curlyhairedbibliophile]

Cover Art | The Eternal Ones by Namina Forna

The dazzling finale to the groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling Gilded Ones series. One girl holds the power to defeat the gods—but can she become one?

Mere weeks after confronting the Gilded Ones—the false beings she once believed to be her family—Deka is on the hunt. In order to kill the gods, whose ravenous competition for power is bleeding Otera dry, she must uncover the source of her divinity. But with her mortal body on the verge of ruin, Deka is running out of time—to save herself and an empire that’s tearing itself apart at its seams.

When Deka’s search leads her and her friends to the edge of the world as they know it, they discover an astonishing new realm, one which holds the key to Deka’s past. Yet it also illuminates a devastating decision she must soon make…

Choose to be reborn as a god, losing everyone she loves in the process. Or bring about the end of the world.

Artwork by Johnny Tarajosu

Release date | Feb 13, 2024 Storygraph

[fusudesu]

[offbeat-manga-ships]

NEKO NO OTERA NO CHION-SAN / 猫のお寺の知恩さん / CAT TEMPLE'S MISS CHION by Ojiro Makoto / オジロマコト • chapter 33

[hicamemberts]

マンダム mandom さんのコーポレートムービー

出演とナレーションを担当しています。

「今日は、いつもを変えて、いってみよう」が気持ちいいムービー！

是非ご覧ください。

mandom Corporate Movie Branding

CLIENT：mandom corp. PRODUCER：Toshiharu Oohara CREATIVE DIRECTOR, COPYWRITER & SOUND DESIGNER：Morihito Kumano MOVIE PRODUCER and DIRECTOR & EDITOR：Taichi Hishikawa DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY：Ikko Irisa PRODUCTION STAFF：Kyoka Ishige、Hayato Nakamura ACTORS：Yuki Otera、Haruko Madachi、KEIGO、Maho Takachi、Yohey Niwano NARRATOR：Haruko Madachi YEAR OF PRODUCTION：2024