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Sankaku had a thing about some 2ch goer that actually went to Spain to take the photos of the city that Sora no Woto's city is modeled after, looked quite impressive rather.
I am skeptical of it hitting a status of that kind, but even now it should've gotten well past the initial skepticism of k-on in army. If only the artwork could've followed Kishida's artstyle..oh well.
EDIT - As I start reading bungaku shoujo and find out that Break Blade and Bungaku Shoujo are both getting theatrical releases around May, I love this year already.
On February 16 2010 09:13 Ecael wrote: Sankaku had a thing about some 2ch goer that actually went to Spain to take the photos of the city that Sora no Woto's city is modeled after, looked quite impressive rather.
I am skeptical of it hitting a status of that kind, but even now it should've gotten well past the initial skepticism of k-on in army. If only the artwork could've followed Kishida's artstyle..oh well.
EDIT - As I start reading bungaku shoujo and find out that Break Blade and Bungaku Shoujo are both getting theatrical releases around May, I love this year already.
Depends on next few episodes really, but haibane renmei explosion is about to happen in sorawoto
We'll see, I am skeptical, Sora no Woto has been shying away from being brutally honest, unlike Haibane.
I can't wait for May and Bungaku Shoujo anime/theatrical release, Touko-senpai! Such a good series so far, now if only I can dig up the other gaidens...
On February 17 2010 04:30 bearbuddy wrote: eh, the main character in Bungaku shoujo is way too emo. I know it's shoujo, but...
yeah.
I am still on vol 1 (haven't brought myself to read too much of vol 2 yet), but since you relied on translations for Break Blade, I am going to assume that you went with the manga.
While I don't know about the manga, the light novels can come across on the emo side to some. That vol 1 was based on No Longer Human only makes it worse for that aspect, I guess. Touko is for the most part free from it though, at least in front of Konoha. And Konoha...well, the character setting justifies it.
The thing is that while it can be on the emo side, it also properly provide contrast for it on top of developing both sides well. We spent a good amount of the book tracing the feelings of people that are particularly touched by No Longer Human. Like Touko said about the letters from Shuuji, eating them probably would make her want to die, it is hard to be related to something like that without feeling horrid, and the emo that results is really quite understandable. But even with all that, Touko is there to remind the readers that Daizi isn't just about No Longer Human, and that there are works like Run, Melos! that focus on the good side. The emo ultimately ended up as a contrast and didn't just overpower the whole book, No Longer Human could've been Daizi's answer. Also, while Konoha's past was rather dramatized, we were kept from concrete information, that limited much of how "emo" he is to how the circumstances involved and how it paralleled his situation. Given a different context, his trauma of the past would definitely still show, but I don't think that it'll be too emo.
Of course, this is just my take of things, so take it with a grain of salt with the knowledge that I also rather enjoy such works like Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora. Still can't finish that, got too sad reading it. But yeah, Bungaku Shoujo is practically right down my alley. Man I rant so much when I get hooked on a book.
I keep forgetting the existence of light novels. I think I may have used the wrong term when I said emo. I guess angsty would be the more proper way to describe Konoha. He is like a walking bag of sadness. It doesn't help that the manga has this person X and his/her emotional distress in many of the chapters.
The protagonist of Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora, however, takes a straightforward approach and is not bound by reoccurring lapse of emotional weakness. Sure, he is hesitant at times, but he is evaluating the current situation instead of dwelling on the past. In that sense, he is more like Touko who guides the confused onto the right path. I do not think I would have enjoyed the story if it were told through the doctor's perspective. Sure he would bring a more mature perspective, but I would also have to wade through the reoccurring theme of his mistakes of youth, something that I personally feel would jar the story.
Manga should've gone a bit into his past with Miu I think, I am not sure how they handled it, but in the light novels I feel more like it is PTSD rather than emo. Kind of hard to draw a line, but in Konoha's case it feels something well in the realm of a psychological issue rather than something I can just dismiss with emo. I guess the thing that made him stood out the most from just emo or angsty is that he has a desire to be normal, whereas other characters would wallow in their despair voluntarily, Konoha struggles and is forced back by the enormity of his problems.
The analogy with the doctor is a good one, really, but it is important to note that Konoha's position resembles that of the doctor more than anyone else. The protagonist here is more like an agent that brings change rather than one imprisoned in the past. So whereas Hanbu no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora has an injured party being forcefully dragged on by someone normal, with a third party redeemed in the process. Bungaku Shoujo shows us two incomplete beings that rely on one another to go forward, what emo and angst we see are necessary. Two different take of a similar situation in a way.
I wonder if after 2 years I can finally read past vol 3 of hanbun no tsuki ga noboru sora, but going from bungaku shoujo to that doesn't seem to make much sense (yep, pile emo on emo).
Really? I get the feeling that Touko is the one changing Konoha more than he is changing himself (e.g. he is being told to write again and to help Takeda(?)) . It has been a while since I've read the manga, and it didn't particularly stick to my mind, so the impression that I maintained might have been wrong.
I also agree that Konoha's problem is more than just being emo, that's why I have a hard time putting a word to describe it. I wouldn't put it as PTSD, though, as I feel that his problem is quite different than just the shock of seeing his former girlfriend die.
Hm, what I said about Touko rather constitutes as spoilers, sorry about that. Though Touko's involvements in vol 1 already showed that she had problems of her own, I guess it wouldn't be anything more than conjecture (or really, a wild guess) to say that Konoha is vital to her that way. For a parallel of their relationship, think Misaki and Saitou from NHK, pretty similar if we ignore motives.
Konoha's issues definitely isn't just PTSD from shock of that event since we are told that the whole thing with Miu also tied in to his debut as the mysterious young female author. But I really don't see it fit to call it angst since his reactions are so physically apparent.
I thought Miu's suicide and his resignation as an author are two separate incidents, with the latter happening first. I have to admit, I am not as sensitive as I should be to emotional impact, especially since I don't know the character too well. The majority of the problem I had with Konoha is the ability to associate with his feelings (perhaps I had just read/watched some sort of a comedy when I started reading Bungaku Shoujo) from the very beginning. Hence, my comment about him being too emo, to which I later revised to being too angsty.
That guess is indeed a shot in the dark. I don't think I've come across another relationship like Misaki and Saitou, though some have shown some similarities. Theirs transgressed the simple case of dependencies to slight S&M. I certainly hope Touko's view on Konoha is not like that of Misaki's on Saitou.
On February 14 2010 14:34 neobowman wrote: Football. Read Eyeshield 21 (Not watch, the anime's a lot worse). It follows the rules while doing a lot of improbable plays, and is still ****ing awesome.
Spice and Wolf was good. Railgun's decent though I'd prefer a sequel to Index rather than a spinoff. Starting Black Lagoon and Haibane Renmei.
And if you can't tell, I think Index is better than Railgun at the moment.
I checked out Eyeshield 21 and although I didn't like it I wish other studios would try and work on another football related anime. Something geared towards realism.
They have a billion baseball series, I just want to see a company do football the right way.
Miu's suicide is linked with his debut, not exactly sure how yet, but his flashbacks had a brief blip about it when he was on the rooftop the second time with the first year. I recall he referred to that inability to understand her feelings this time still, will need to wait till I get home to find the line I am thinking of. I might be mixing up segments, but I think somewhere in vol 1 they had a scene where Miu's "Someone like you won't understand how I feel" is transposed over reality as he thought about how she had aspired to become a writer.
Konoha's feelings are not exactly easy to relate to, imo, but I don't think we are supposed to be able to relate to it this early on. How are we supposed to know how it feels like to all the sudden be famous, but in a female's pen name, and to be compared to your parents and overshadow them with how much you earn in a single print? Or the results from it and how it affected your relationship with others? It is something we might learn better as the series goes on, but at the start, all we can see is how he had taken to it in an extremely emotional manner.
Well, it isn't a guess, I know it because I spoiled myself a bit digging through wiki, but as of vol 1 it is only a guess Touko's view on Konoha...well, wiki isn't enough to spoil that for me, so I'll have to read more, but my initial impression is against it. The conflict seems to revolve around whether the way the two are now is the way things should be.
Actually, I guess I won't be having time to read Bungaku Shoujo tonight, going to join a friend as he reads through Zaregoto series vol 1 in English while I bitch about how these translators suck
Yeah, didn't you know? The media hit an all new low this month. =/
I just finished reading the Elfen Lied manga, and I have to say, I liked it a lot. The ending was a little too happy for my taste though considering all the other stuff that goes on in the series. + Show Spoiler +
The biggest issue I had was with Bando getting to live. I'm pretty sure everyone else who got bisected died. But then again, this is the same series where losing limbs doesn't even seem to matter.
btw I got like halfway through Gundam Seed in the past 2 days and the angsty main character who cries in every other episode is seriously starting to piss me off