Sweet Blue Flower: N Things List
Just to posit some questions now that the anime has concluded:
1. The concept of mono no aware applies to yuri in that it is a phase for some people, where a perfect storm of hormones, social pressures, societal organization and adolescence make perfect such unions, despite their flawed and fleeting nature. The key “flag” in Aoi Hana is memory. And in the romanticized form of yuri that we find in stories like Aoi Hana, does the lens of memory achieve the same notion, as a vehicle to tell a story about a fleeting moment in life via the perspective of a timeless aspect of human existence? It’s like, “press-butan, receeb-mono-no-aware.”
2. Speaking of memory, I have this book that I’m like 4 chapters into, but it’s written in that opaque, dense academic style. Maybe once I run out of translated light novels to read and grow weary of Love Plus, I will get back to it (could be the case, soon)! But if you want a theory as to why the memories are a common theme/plot device in anime, I’ve found it a better starter on that theme than any single thing, on or off the internet, that I have ever read. The only major problem I had with it is that it refers to about 30-40 different titles and even I have not seen all of them, and you do need a firm grasp of some of those shows to understand some the pieces. Thankfully I did see far majority of them, as they tend to be the variety that sees US/UK distribution.
3. And it does make me think of Kanon, immediately. Thanks to the way the last episode of Aoi Hana was framed…and how could you not, Nayuki?
4. The ongoing manga is curious from what I hear, but I don’t think it’s worth parting with that sweet blue impression that I have of the anime, “just to figure out what happens next.” The artistic direction is typical of JC Staff’s latest renditions with Kenichi Kasai, but at the same time it may just mean I cannot get enough of that watercolor-y, soft style…that is assuredly missing from the manga.
5. But when it went from that subdued but organic coloring style into “sad memory flashback” mode in the last episode, at the scene in the library, I cracked up. Because someone just oversaturated the video with blue. I mean, okay, Aoi Hana. Yeah. But it felt like a cheap thing to do. Perhaps it is done in good style and taste that is common of anime, but still.
6. I realized one thing that I do like about Aoi Hana is how all the relationships are kind of cute. Every one of them. Sure, they are mundane relationships you could find anywhere (well, almost), but even the intra-sibling bickering between the Sugimoto sisters came off to me with less malice but more half-hearted tease. It’s like they know it is inconsiderate, but they do it anyways because it lets them express their own emotions. Kind of like teasing the girl you like when you were little, not realizing that was the case? At any rate, I think the cute statement also includes the straight-up male-female pairings in the show, including Sugimoto’s crush and even Motegi’s bold confession, as they are cute in their own, different ways.
7. Which is to say, Motegi’s plot thread is really the one I’m curious about, and how that plays with Akira’s life. That might be enough to get me interested in the manga, especially if that plot thread has content and is not out of dressing or convenience.
8. On re-inspection, however, Fumi is a rather well-crafted character; from the inexperienced voice acting to the crybaby nature. In some ways she is not meant to be a very likable character. She wears her self-loathing on the outside, and that managed to come across to me as genuine rather than irritating. It is like as if she really doesn’t care if you like her or not, except it bothers her to the extent of being able to fit in with society. It’s a very natural feel of selfishness, and it comes across in a sympathetic manner. I think Fumi is both the weakest link and the riskiest link in the show, but without her it would not have worked.
9. Last but not at all least–the train man strikes.
1) I don’t think there are enough examples specific to the genre to make a call on that one.
4) If you’re content with the way the anime ended, just leave it at that (for now).
5) That was a hand-holding moment.
7) Thus far in the manga, the effect is virtually nil.
As a follow up to 1), there is precisely what you describe in the manga in the form of short stories outside of the central storyline. Most or all of them in the “Sugimoto arc” (Vols 1-3) involve one of the sisters in some capacity, but they’re sufficiently fleeting that they are of no consequence. I guess you could call them fluff pieces, in fanfic parlance.
Based on what I’ve read about the mother of Japanese lesbian fiction, Yoshiya Nobuko (whose influence definitely informs the tropes of yuri manga/anime), a certain sense of mono no aware is practically required of such relationships: A strong and independent woman finds her feminine flower, but their beautiful time inevitably ends with graduation, marriage and entrance into society. One side effect of this is that homosexual women in Japan are seen as somehow immature or stunted, which is both fascinating and sad.
Regarding 1):
I think yuri (and…well almost anything) can be used to channel that mono no aware feeling, but it is in the “how” and rather in the “what.” Or in other words, it’s how you tell a mono no aware yuri story versus one that isn’t.
@intro:
For 4), I don’t think anyone who would follow up with the manga needed the ending to implore them to continue, but mere the fact that it continues onward in the manga. Most that I knew who did have already done so before the series ended anyways. In other words, I think anyone who wouldn’t follow up on the manga probably found the ending to be satisfactory? I mean, it’s hard to say it ended badly if you have nothing to compare it to.
And thanks for the update on Motegi. Yeah. Saves me the trouble…
If I read you right, a “proper” telling must have a revolving cast, there must be a graduation scene, subtext, a cameo appearance demonstrating that it was all just a phase, or a mix of the two. That would describe Maria-sama ga Miteru, but not Aoi Hana (not yet, anyway). The goodbyes aren’t particularly heavy. There are flashback elements but they are not sweet memories as Shinako suggests. The scars are still fresh.
Then I don’t think you read me correctly. Or maybe that is what memory is for.
Point eight manages to tease out exactly the nagging issue I had with Fumi but was struggling to identify.