Midsummer Night's Dream and Moon Imagery

Those of you who normally read my blog are probably wondering what this is. It’s not in my usual style, and it certainly isn’t on my usual subject matter. After such a long hiatus, why is she back now and why is there actual Shakespeare? This is a writing class assignment that I have been instructed to post online. Just because it’s for an assignment, though, doesn’t mean I didn’t have fun writing it. So read it maybe? ^_^

So no, this will not be THIS.

In Midsummer Night’s Dream, moon imagery demonstrates how Theseus and others control women through their chastity, or lack thereof, and stigmatize female independence. Moonlight, however, also provides the backdrop for many of the play’s romances, implying that chastity, and maybe independence, is valuable.

The moon is associated with Diana, the goddess of virginity and the hunt. As an Amazon, Hippolyta was both chaste and fierce, and therefore connected to the goddess and the moon. In the play, however, Hippolyta has lost her independence before the audience sees her. The moon imagery in her scenes shows how she has abandoned her nature and how Athens would disapprove of her independence. Early on, Theseus makes it clear that celibacy is undesirable when he explains that Hermia can either obey her father, die, or join a convent under Diana. While execution is a worse punishment, Theseus devotes only three lines to death, while thirteen lines describe the supposed horrors of single life. Even stranger, though, is the idea that these completely different punishments fit the same crime. By saying that both punishments are possible, the law suggests that single life and death are equivalent. Theseus describes the moon, and the nun’s life worshipping it, as “cold” and “fruitless” (I, i, 73). These words portray chastity as inhospitable and as lacking something instead of as a virtue. The words’ sterility carries a connotation of deadness, reinforcing the idea that death and a life without men are the same. Putting less value on chastity boosts female independence if it allows women freedom before marriage. However, the chastity that Theseus opposes is in the context of the Amazons and of the convent, where celibacy reflects independence from men. The thing that makes women’s sexuality desirable is that it keeps them in male control.

The moon is not only inhospitable. It is disappearing. Theseus says “how slow/This old moon wanes!” to mean that their marriage is too far away (I, i, 3-4). He desires for the moon to disappear. “This” suggests that the moon is being exchanged for another instead of hiding to return again. Similarly, Hippolyta commits to a permanent change by becoming a bride. The fact that the moon “wanes” means that to change is to shrink. Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding is to take place on the New Moon, when the moon will not be visible at all (I, i, 83). Hippolyta must hide or destroy her Diana-like chastity and independence in order to be married.

Despite Theseus’s disapproval for what the moon represents, it remains an emblem of love. Egeus, when complaining about Lysander’s wooing Hermia, mentions that Lysander’s wooed her by moonlight (I, i, 30). The moon, here, has retained its connotation of independence, since Lysander is the match that Hermia has chosen. The ill-fated lovers in the play-within-a-play also met by moonlight. The players, even after checking and deciding that the real moon will be shining during the performance, decide to emphasize it by casting a person in the role. Despite the fact that the moon, unlike the wall, has no role in furthering the plot, the players do not want to leave it out. Again, the lovers are people who have chosen each other, exercising their independence. Even Hippolyta and Theseus, whose courtship is not shown, have a metaphorical backdrop of moonlight to their relationship, since Amazons and Diana are linked. The moon, along with the independence it represents, is both a hindrance and a necessity to romantic love.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream uses the moon to deal with the overlap between chastity, independence, and love. While the moon, associated with chastity and hunting is shown as cold, undesirable, and transient, it remains a necessary backdrop to romance.

Works Cited
"enforce, v." OED Online. March 2013. Oxford University Press. 13 March 2013. <http:0-www.oed.com.luna.wellesley.edu/view/Entry/62160?rskey=YbGWKT&result=2&isAdvanced=false>

Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ed. Russ McDonald. New York: Penguin Group, 2000. Print.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream~ Ein Sommernactstraum.” Princess Tutu. Dir. Shougo Koumoto. Aesir Holdings, (2011). DVD.

Seelie Reviews: Romeo X Juliet

One snowy night, King Capulet and his family were killed in a savage coup by Montague, who then usurped the crown. Fourteen years later the only surviver of this bloody deed is patrolling the streets disguised as a boy, righting the various wrongs of the Montague regime. Her name is Juliet. One fateful night, she meets the butcher king's son, Romeo, and the two fall in love without realizing that they are natural enemies. The situation becomes all the more dire, when the surviving retainers of house Capulet reveal Juliet's past to her and enlist her help in the rebellion. However, Juliet's confusion over romance, and even the approaching battle, may be the least of her worries, as an ancient and mysterious power threatens to tear her world apart.

Clearly this is not the story you remember.

Romeo X Juliet: The story of a young woman and the exact same person with different hair and eye color

Once you throw in the flying horses, magical trees, and a character named WILLIAM, we sure aren't in Verona anymore. If you approach this series expecting it to resemble the source material, it will be impossible to enjoy it. However, many of Shakespeare's favorite elements are alive and well, such as cross-dressing and plays within plays (two of them, although sadly neither of them was in the round).

Art-wise this is one of the nicest things Gonzo seems to have put out. Sure there are occasional animation errors, but you really have to be looking for them. The cities are beautifully drawn, although some of the design decisions are questionable. Apparently, going three miles to the next city completely changes the architectural period. Also curious is the CG. It is minimal, but used in the strangest places, like in fluttering flags... why?

The music for this series is truly exquisite. It supports and sometimes rescues the action, and is memorable to boot. The opening theme, a japanese rendition of the Irish spiritual "You raise me up," is thoroughly delicious and is incorporated later into the series. The first ending theme is a very dark, gruff rock number which will either feel like a reminder that Romeo and Juliet was, in fact, a very bloody story, or will just seem out of place. The second ending theme is a little too pre-teen sounding for my tastes, and I skipped it a fair bit.

The dub and sub are both solid, but the dub comes with a bonus. It uses a ton of actual Shakespearian quotations which makes for a fun game of spot the reference. To some people, however, this is just going got come off as silly. Still, the voice-acting itself is nothing to sneeze at. Brina Palencia makes for a really believable and versatile Juliet. Sean Hannigan also puts in a good performance as Montague, even if the character himself was... lacking.

He'd be stroking a white persian, if he hadn't already set it on fire.

But I'm afraid the love-fest has to stop here.

Let me point out that there really is no reason that a lack of similarity to the original should immediately damn an adaptation. For example, Juliet is a much more interesting character in this version of the story. She is aware that romance with the enemy can only mean bad news, and she does her absolute best to avoid it. Romeo, on the other hand... Well he's very pretty, and endearing, and noble, but, bless him,  he hasn't got a thought in his pointy little head. It takes him several episodes to recognize Juliet as even one of her alter-egos and he only gets more dim as the series progresses. For example, one of the later episodes features a conversation on roughly this pattern:

Tybalt: (piece of exposition no one bothered to tell you yet)
Romeo: Are you implying that ( exactly what you just said verbatum)?

It's pretty bad. And the worst part is that his frankly dumb decisions often get played as really noble and self sacrificing, when in reality very single one of them has logic holes big enough to drive a semi through.

This brings me to a major problem. While this story is based off of and is marketed as a tragedy, this is the farthest thing from it, as it is missing a few key elements. That's not to say all tragedies need to follow a classical format (the characters do not need to be high-born), but there is one thing missing from this series that prevents it from being a true tragedy. The horrible things that happen to the main character or characters have to, on some level, be their fault. The ending must stem from inherent character "flaws." ("flaw" being defined rather loosely. Excess kindness, for example, would fall under this umbrella). In the original, Romeo's inherent flaw is his impulsiveness which causes him to kill Tybalt and later commit suicide. Juliet's flaw would be harder to pin down, but it might also be impulse, or maybe loyalty. The anime? Would have had a perfectly happy ending if it weren't for a deus ex machina thrown in at the end.

You will learn to hate this tree

Now you might be wondering what this means for the series as a whole. After all, it shouldn't matter if the category is just wrong. The problem here is that because the source of our "tragedy" exists solely outside our characters there is no amount of foreshadowing (and believe me they try) that would make this ending seem anything more than forced and pointless. If it had been a forced, corny, happy ending it would have been easier to swallow, because we're used to that sort of thing, and deep down, lots of people secretly crave them. But a sad ending makes you ask "why?" and the reason why just doesn't make enough sense to justify itself.

Another, but lesser, problem with this series is the romance. I can understand why Romeo likes Juliet. She's strong, good, smart, and beautiful. Romeo is just good, and his lack of defining, interesting characteristics sometimes left me scratching my head as to why she liked him so much. For a lot of the series, he's just kind of there. It's funny too, because there are other, more interesting characters who like Juliet. But you can't exactly root for them either, since by my calculations they're approximately twice her age. (I know that this would be more loyal to the period, but this hardly seems like the detail I would choose to keep.)

So with the two aspects of this story you would expect to be strongest gone, is this still a good show? Well, it is enjoyable, or at least can be so long as you aren't expecting much sense. If you, like me, are the sort who can often be fooled by pretty art and music into caring about a show, than I absolutely recommend it. What's more, the beginning of this anime is extremely interesting.

Plot: C
Characters: B+
Visuals: A
Music: A+


Overall: B+


The way I see it, there are two ways to watch Romeo X Juliet. You can watch it seriously and just ignore some of the silly bits, or you can watch it to pick out all the things that don't make sense. Either way, it can be an enjoyable experience, despite its not being a brilliant work.

Sheep... Why.

Seelie Reviews: Baccano!

The plot of this anime concerns a train heist by not one, not two, but three different groups of criminals while an unknown monster strikes from the shadows. This is the story of a young pure girl in search of her misguided and violent brother who has disappeared. Actually, it's really more about this one guy with the secret of immortality and gangland politics and...

Let me start over.

Baccano is one of the most confusing anime out there, and it isn't because of any sort of mind screw. This sucker has three plot lines, all going simultaneously. But that isn't confusing enough, so let's mess with the chronological order. And not in the Haruhi Suzumiya sense, no no. This is Haruhi Suzimiya stuck in a blender with a piece of chewing gum, because if you want to watch this in chronological order, you'll have to spend roughly a month in front of some editing software. And you would still fail. Add to the confusion tons and tons of characters, many with nigh unpronounceable names (can't imagine what the japanese audience must have thought) along with staggeringly cringe inducing (and amusing) violence and that is Baccano.

And it is glorious.

That is the worst plot summary you will ever hear from me, and it isn't because the series makes no sense. It just doesn't seem to at first. Also, any attempts to explain anything will immediately spoil this series horribly. You can not even do an image search for this series without spoiling *something*. The best I can do is say that for the most part this takes place in America in the 30's and that immortality and gangsters figure very prominently.

The characters fall all along the morality spectrum and are unique to this series. One can't file these characters into standard anime character slots. There aren't even main characters so much as there are people who show up more or less often. There are more of them than one would think prudent , and while none of them get a ton of development, they are all sufficiently and interestingly explored to the point that they are likable and one of a kind. The lovable nature of these characters is incredibly important to this series' success, because while the well-timed plot twists and the slow clarification of the events might have been rewarding by themselves, no one would have stuck around without all the marvelous (and totally insane) characters.

This series has a beautiful look. Since there are more named characters than you can count on both hands it is extremely important that everyone have distinguishing features. And that they do. This is a testament to the sheer quality and variety of the art, because this distinction is not achieved through ridiculous haircuts but through facial structure, something that often gets ignored in anime. The characters are not the only beautiful aspect of this show, however. The backgrounds are well-researched and beautifully executed.

The music is utterly divine. It colors the world wonderfully bringing exactly the needed emotion for each scene whether frightening, sad, or just plain goofy. It is also lots of fun all by itself. The ending theme is pretty and dissonantly calm considering the chaos of the episodes. It is skippable. The opener, on the other hand, is anything but. Not only is the music in it extremely addicting, but the names of the major players are displayed in it. Also, in the middle of it is a slot set aside for relevant snippets of previous episodes. Without these two features, the show would be even harder to understand.

Both the sub and the dub are very good, but there is absolutely no reason to watch anything other than the dub. This is a show taking place in America that is heavily dependent on an American movie tradition. Add to this the brilliant performances Funimation puts out and the decision is made. (The amount of thought put into the accents in the English dub is extraordinary, complete with mellowed and softened accents over time. Some people will think the French accents sound fake. I defy you to find a French person who doesn't speak with a "fake" French accent.)

Plot: A+
Characters: A 
Visuals: A
Music: A

It's important to realize that this show isn't for everyone. First off, it is bloody as sin. Second is the fact that you will need to stay focused to have any hope of understanding it. You will have to watch it twice. Still, I can't recommend this enough (unless, of course, you're squeamish).

Can someone please explain Claus Valca to me?

I've been looking into Last Exile a bit, since I managed to find some cheap DVDs. I've got to say I've got a ton of burning questions on this one (not this is remotely a bad thing), but the one that's got me right now is... What is Claus' deal? Five episodes in, he'd already made some of the most mind-boggleingly arbitrary decisions I've ever seen made (most of them dangerous). Why, for example, was there any need to try and "rescue" Alvis from the Silverna? And what the blazes changed his mind? (other than, perhaps, being whacked upside the head a couple of times)  I'm just sort of wondering if there's some fact or philosophy I need to bear in mind or if this is just going to be one of those "Um... it's heroic?" sorts of things.

Ah well.

The next two weeks there isn't going to be any more content because of traveling stuff (not that this would be all that different from a normal week).
Thanks for sticking with me!

Also, can someone please find this poor boy some normal clothes?

Glance Through:2011 Summer Season

So now that I've watched two episodes of all of these, here are my first impressions.

This anime follows Saya, a sweet girl who loves her father and is so clumsy she spends more time flat on her face than standing up. Nevertheless, it is her family duty to tackle the menacing demons that threaten the small town in which she lives.


Also, high school.

I don't buy these uniforms for a second, btw.

This last bit is kind of a sticking point, so far. I'm all for blending the every day life of a character into the  adventure, but the word blending is very important to that. So far those two parts of her life do not seem to touch each other. And the high school life is that kind of hyper-idealized high school where the teachers are hot and no one does any school work. This does strange things to Saya's character because she goes from walking down the street singing about how great it is that she got her laundry done and that it won't rain because Daddy says so, and then we get a light change and a music shift and she's off to slashing up mutated water lilies with a samurai sword like she does it all day long. It's like two different girls.


This shift is either going to make her an interesting, complex character, or just confuse me.


The production is thoroughly solid here. The fights are exciting, the scenery is lush, the music fits both kinds of situation, and the food makes me HUNGRY.

owie

The opening is nicely put together, even if I'm not yet much of a fan of the song. The ending has a really great song, but the art is mostly still images.


Also, both the episodes so far have started with these weird barometers filled with what I can only assume is blood, while some guy philosophizes about what makes someone who they are. Nothing definitive on this yet. I like the image and hope it has something to do with the rest of the series.

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Nyanpire follows the adventures of a cat who was once a dying stray.A vampire takes pity on it, saving it's life by turning it into one of the children of the night before evaporating into thin air and, presumably, never being seen again. Now the cat is owned by a normal human (of whom we have only seen the shins) and has no real worries other than hunger.


It's cute. It made me giggle. And that's all it seems to be trying for.


Everything is bright and colorful. The drawings are simple. There was this weird plinky-plonk sound that the nyanpire made when it walked that sort of annoyed me, but I got over it. This is not a bad show, it's just not trying for much. It really is cute.

How a nyanpire sees the world

There isn't an opening to speak of (except a backstory re-cap). The ending is live-action and it is an earworm. The only thing that has saved me from humming it all day long is that I just haven't heard it enough times to understand it.

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Subaru Hasegawa has been charged with a basketball team of elementary school girls. He had previously decided never to get involved in basketball again, but when the club's advisor blackmails him, he agrees to help the girls for only three days. He discovers that none of the girls knows a darned thing about basketball, none except Tomoka who may well be a prodigy. We learn that if the girls can't beat the ambitious boy's club, they will no longer be able to practice. Subaru, realizing that Tomoka would quit forever if the club were dissolved, decides that he'll do his best to get the girls up to snuff. 

Aren't you a cute little power-house?

So far, I'm really liking Tomoka and Subaru is okay. I'm really beginning to hate Maho(one of the other girls), though. She's a really obnoxious Tsundere, who decided it makes sense to get Subaru to stick around by using fan service. groan. (thank god, she's not the one who finally convinces him)


You see this is definitely a lolicon anime. For chrissake the eye-catches tell you the chest sizes of the girls (they say the grades, too, so okay). Yet in the midst of all this uncomfortable stuff, there is something here that's very endearing. Not to mention that lolicon is directly mentioned in other scenes and not in an approving light. So does lampshading make it better? Is it common for anime with a tendency toward lolicon to diss that part of its fan base? Comment if you know more about this...

Have I mentioned this show makes me uncomfortable?

The art is very pretty and the girls' heads and eyes are totally Giant. What's more, everyone has this look, so the advisor that recruits Subaru looks like she's in middle school. The basketball sequences are suprisingly well-done (remember I almost never watch sports...)


The opening feels really epic at points. The ending is active, art-wise, but the music tastes like diabetes.


I'm sticking with it, because it hasn't thoroughly grossed me out yet.

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When Shion was 12 years old, everything was perfect. He was smart, and lived in a great neighborhood because of it. The girls liked him. He was the highest class there was in No. 6, one of six nations to spring up after the rest of the world went to pot. But one day, in the middle of a typhoon, and boy his age comes to him with a wound on his arm. Shion and Nezumi (aka Rat) get on famously, and Shion patches him up even after it becomes clear that the police are on his tail.


Time skip four years: Shion lost his station in life, but is still reasonably happy with his new job working at a park. Things begin to turn south when he discovers some suspicious happenings in said park. It's not the sort of thing he's supposed to notice, apparently, because he is promptly arrested when he wonders aloud why it wasn't in the news. Luckily for him, Nezumi isn't out of his life just yet...


This series is so far performing up to my expectations. Unlike Blood- C, it does a very good job of managing the contrast between the every day and the extraordinary. Part of this is the fact that every day life is different, anyway, and the context is important for our understanding. The plot is very fast paced, and the tension is huge.

That's one hell of a punch-clock

I am already loving the characters. Nezumi is a BAMF, even as a 12 year old, but he cuts that seriousness with a flair of showmanship which rounds him out well. By comparison, Shion is much more innocent, but his curiosity gives him drive and makes him interesting. Their differences make their interactions tons of fun... if occasionally strange. I suppose directly after saving someone is as good a time as any to say that you've seen them nude. o_0

Daw, look! They wuv each other!

This is Studio Bones. So the production is absolutely gorgeous.


The opening is fantastic. The song is at times whiny sounding, but omg the art! The ending has a much more mellow character, but it holds the interest almost as much.

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These are my opinions so far. I may come back to them mid-season, or maybe just at the end. If you're watching any of these, feel free to leave a comment about what you've been thinking.

See you then!

Announcement! the 2011 Summer Season.

Hey there, everyone.
Sorry about the wait.
There are several projects I've started for this site but have hit stumbling blocks for. (My Baccano! DVD's, for example, don't let me take screen caps, it seems).

But here's what's in the works right now...

I always love watching things when they first come out in Japan. Sure, it's always a gamble, but it allows me to go into something having no idea what to expect. In addition, it's always fun to be able to point people in the direction of something they never would have heard of.

So, without further ado, here are the shows I'm watching from the current season (all of them will at least get a Glance-Through).

Blood C is the story of an extremely clumsy, kind girl who lives in a shrine. She cannot seem to take two steps without falling on her face. She fights demons.

This is one of Clamp's babies. The super-tall, super thin character designs don't seem to get in the way too much (Production IG is doing a good job). I have reasonably high hopes for this one... if I can get used to Saya's cheery attitude.

Nyanpire is a series of 5 minute shorts about a vampire cat and his other feline friends. Cutesy is the word of the day here. Very colorful. Not very thick on plot, but that hardly seems to be the point.

Subaru Hasegawa has quit basketball, but nevertheless has been roped into coaching the elementary-school girl's team. the team is full of passion, but none of the girls knows offense from defense. He eventually decides to help them achieve their goals.

This is really new for me. I've never seen a sports anime, and I almost never watch anything in this kind of style. Basketball and loli's... this is either going to be adorable, or REALLY uncomfortable.

Or possibly both, come to think of it.

Shion has everything going right for him. He is part of the most respected class in an extremely peaceful society. Things change for him, after a fugitive known only as Nezumi (rat) comes to him seeking shelter. Shion learns more about his society than he ever wanted to.

I have extremely high hopes for this series. SF Dystopia animated by Studio BONES with a sprinkling of very sweet, very subtle shonen-ai? Where could it possibly go wrong? guess I'll have to find out!


^_^


I want to thank the people who read this blog for sticking with me even though I never update. You guys are the best. Let's have a great season!

Live Action Wuh? : The Trip

I just saw this movie... so why not.

This movie, not to be confused with the Tv series it's based on or the gay romance flick with which it shares only a name, follows two actors (Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon) who are essentially playing themselves. Steve has decided to go on a restaurant tour of Northern England (for the Observer) in order to try and impress his substantially younger foodie girlfriend. She, however, is not able to come because of work responsibilities. Steve, unable to find anyone else to go with him, invites his colleague Rob. The rest of the movie follows the two of them trying out restaurants, having weird conversations in the car, and mocking each other's impressions technique. At the same time Steve has to cope with his becoming older and his perceived lack of success in comparison to his better known companion and his own expectations.

The first thing I can really say in this film's favor is that  it feels a good deal like a road trip one might take, complete with all the introspection and random conversations one tends to have on such things. more than anything else, though, it just captures the feel of getting away from your life for a while, but as a result, having to think about a little differently. Both Rob and Steve react to their trip in ways dictated by the way they live their lives back home and how they think about themselves, but any home drama is for the most part, left at home, only poking in on occasion to remind us that these guys have lives.

You don't have to know much about impressions or even have ever heard the people being impersonated in order to appreciate the exchanges, because the competition between the two actors really has more to do with their sense of where they each stand as people and as professionals. (One particular scene has Steve practicing one of Rob's acts in front of a mirror, finding himself unable to do it). The car conversations are very funny, because they are extremely reminiscent of those running gags you have with friends that you just don't let dies, because you keep finding new things in it. It works extremely well.

The scenery is utterly stunning.

The music in this is not part of the film

The tone of this movie might, for some people, be a double-edged sword. It's a tad sleepy. You aren't sure how much is left of the trip until it's over (Unless you've actually been counting. They do give you day of the week title cards). However, this feature also seems to me very similar to vacations. You never remember how long you've been away until you actually sit down, tally it out, and think "Holy cats, where did the time go?"

I like this movie rather a bit, and I recommend it to anyone who likes brits and doesn't mind being patient. It's still in theaters.