Itazura na Kiss And Where You Can Go on a Train
There’s not a whole lot to say about the romance story of Itazura na Kiss. Yet at the same time, there’s a whole lot to say that should and will be said about a story that is integrated within societal norms, posed both from the perspective of the ones in love and the various viewpoints around the couple. You can look at Kotoko and Irie as an abstraction of a set of social norms. You could look at them as tvtropes. You could even look at them as parallels from your own life. I’m sure people will say what inspires them, as Itakiss is fundamentally inspirational.
Recently I’ve been finally reading Train Man, partly because of Saimoe. To me that book, much like 90% of asian dramas out there, tells the same kind of story. So on that end, much like what I think this guy is getting at, Itazura na Kiss offers more origin than originality to a tired genre that almost dare not touch its foundational core. Probably because it’s so played to the death from the mainstream media’s bombardment. At least in East Asia.
But from the Densha Otoko perspective, Itakiss is a story that approaches the opposites-attract concept in a wholly different manner. Itakiss has a friendly and relatively popular girl who chases a boy who’s hard-to-get despite his well-broadcasted virtues. Densha-san is however a self-professed outcast, gathering courage from others like him, to pursue a girl he likes.
The method between the two are the same–both Kotoko and Densha carries with them some inner virtue which translates into some overt behavior. The behavior did the talking despite each’s best effort of the contrary, just as much so as their steady chasing of their potential partners. However, the way the two romances are framed within society is the polar opposite. Kotoko and Irie’s family are part of their romance story. A bunch of random strangers on 2ch are who is behind Densha’s push to transformation and we don’t really hear about Hermes’s and Densha’s real life.
I guess that’s just how kids roll today. Itakiss started 18 years ago, and it makes me wonder just how far we have come in both the liberation of the individual affair as it clashes with the erosion of nuclear family ties. But maybe new ones are forming to compensate?
Back then I certainly would not have thought this kind of “Autumn Anime Preview” posts would be the only one worth reading. Enough of mainstream romance stories. Give me some Psychic Lover + Space Opera + …actual Opera? Is it me or is Shikabane-hime is kind of cool?
And that’s probably why the otaku is so withdrawn.
To note, I will be at the NY Anime Fest starting tomorrow, and hopefully at all three days. I can’t say what events I will cover but most likely the Rie Tanaka events and the anime blogging panel on Saturday. Others are all up in the air. Still going to charge my batteries and hope for the best. Here goes tomorrow’s prereg won’t be 4+hr linecon. And yes, I’ll be taking the train in, so coverage of it will be even more limited.
Don’t worry, NYAF is 347283472834982 times more organized than Anime Boston.
I think Anime Boston set a record that’s hard to beat (but even so, Acen beat them this year…)
I think ItaKiss has inspired both the good and bad stereotypes we see in shoujo series… good = the positive “row row fight the power!” vibes, bad = sissy masochist girls whose world revolves around the guy, the ones who become too dissolved in their fantasy to see reality. But oh well, that’s just me being jaded =.=;
I think you’ll find fans who find both/either sides inspiring, so yeah. Later shows took cues and focused on the various thematic niches in Itakiss.