How to Build Your Own Euphoric Field
Yes, ef - a Tale of Memories is awesome. Yes, I think it is a masterpiece. Yes, I think you should watch ef. No, I don’t think you’ll enjoy it (most of you anyways). Yes, I know I am elitist. Someone once said that all the visual tricks for the show is akin to putting lipstick on a pig, but sometimes shows like ef expose who are really the pigs around here. Oink! And yes, you should watch ef anyways and decide for yourself. Yes I could be wrong!
So. How do you build your own euphoric field? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can either read some of those nice episode summary blogs or just watch the anime (I recommend this, as always). If that doesn’t help, well, I’m sure you’re not alone. Think of it as a top 10 list about ef, in no particular order.
1. Expect opposition. The road to life is narrow and treacherous. But like many other things in life that’s hard to do, it’s also worth doing. Like cheering for a show that most people probably won’t get or enjoy. Or better yet, making one of such.
2. Use your head. Even if you appeal to the most basic of instincts and emotions, it is still not going to make you better than the next guy or the guy before who also appeal to the most basic of instincts and emotions. Masterful storytellers weave coherent, internally consistent and effective narratives. ef is, for the most part, just that. Sometimes it takes time for ef to do its thing, but all signs point to that the people behind it thought it through, and spend the time putting it together.
3. Plant a secret message in your episode titles. I mean, com’on, this guy obviously never looked it up on ANN, right?
4. Have a ball. Having fun is always a prerequisite to greatness. Sometimes it’s not so fun, but all the more to keep this one in mind.
5. Open your mind’s eye. Perhaps miracles are, as Menclave puts it, “inevitabilities and accidents, and what you’re going to do.” But for a people blind to their dreams and visions, they need all the help they can get. As clichés go, believing is seeing. Kuze puts it forth pointedly. All it takes is a gust of wind to change fate.
6. Repetition is the real test. Fact is most people (myself included) just don’t have the time to watch new shows and find time to rewatch old shows all the time. Most of my experience with a show happens inside my head or when I talk about it with someone, long after I’ve finished watching it. What a good show does is, well, what Renji does with Chihiro. I have to like to recall that show. It has to leave an impact. It has to withstand repetition, both in viewing (and ef does this well; watching it twice is almost necessary to understanding it fully) and being able to withstand analysis. Plus, of course, all that fuzzy warm feeling you have associated with something rushing back each time you remember the realization of a wish engraved into memories you don’t want to forget. That leads to…
7. Intercorse is good when you make it meaningful. It is pretty tough if you want to try to forget about meaningful sex the day after.
8. Cheer. Praise is an instinct, and it should be kept as an instinct. Not empty, calculated praise but genuine and heartfelt appreciation of something worth sharing with each other. The word cheer seems to be a little down to earth and gets the idea across a little better I think. Regarding to this anime, though, it’s exactly the sort of shows I watch and follow anime for. It’s edgy, it’s flawed, but the humanity shines through. All the while it’s entertaining and emotionally charged. The fact that it’s clever is just icing on the cake.
9. Field questions. Give answers with comment and suggestions. Pingback and trackbacks. Good o’ electronic mail. The postal service. Digital or analog telephony. Community and communicate have the same word root for some unknown reason that I cannot even begin to fathom. Right.
10. Stop being lazy–don’t do what I do.
I’ll just repeat myself slightly and say that like what X-Men the movie did to the comic book adaptation industry in Hollywood, finally we got one right in the eroge visual novel adaptation side of things. I’m not so much afraid that new shows following the same footsteps will get it wrong as much as just having that kind of production happen at all. Even among eroge, the ef game (soon games?) is peculiar. But without failures there cannot be successors, as ef itself only followed countless others that fell in the wake of the late-night otaku TV war. So, bring it on please!
In the Stillness, There Is Big Hair
While I am no less vulnerable against the sensual, frilly designs sported by Touka Gettan and Carnelian’s usual fare, I am very sensitive about hair.
In brief, most anime character designs rely on hair as the primary distinguishable trait. If you’re a Touhou fan, you might notice this is a very visible trend for the mass number of Touhou characters. It just sort of bothers and intrigues me that the same works for Carnelian’s characters. I guess that is why I’m still watching the darn show. (Well, I suppose all the fanservice does help.)
The similarity doesn’t stop there. The frilly tresses and flowing bangs and the curious headgear on top of the mystical, miko-ish motifs. In fact, aside from the fan-injected nature of the characters themselves, I can see how even the feel of Touka Gettan can translate into a Touhou anime.
So… yea. This is what I’d like to see if there’s ever a Touhou anime. Somehow I get the feeling it might not be such the case for the various Touhou anime projects.
How to Bukkake the Moon - Tsukihime Edition
Maybe Onegai Twins is just a tribute to Tsukihime? The drama between Kohaku/Hisui and Akiha, and the drama between Arc and Ciel… It’s just so memorable.
Kinoko Nasu’s popular smash hit is a tour de force in a lot of ways. It’s sort of like eating a burger the proper way, and you’re not sure if your body agrees with some of the burger’s content.
But having said that, I downed the game in its entirety over the course of a week. It was a lot of fun and somehow I gotten to like Shiki a lot. I think, in all things, having some kind of significant attachment to the main character really helps the reader. It is probably the best thing about Tsukihime. (And probably the largest flaw with Shingetsutan Tsukihime.)
But starting out the new year about a porn game, sadly, is not how I’d like it. And as much as some of us may deny the erotic aspect of the game (in honest), Arc is still pretty hot. Perhaps my biggest complaint of the game, then, is that there’s just way too much pornographic material in the story. And I think a lot of it is excessive. It’s to the degree that after I was through with my second major ero scene I was holding down the fast forward button. Come to think of it, nearly all of the ero scenes were excessive and can be either simply cut, or worked around with the same effect. To be honest there were only a couple more enticing in-game scenes than the 6 different faces of Hisui, and that sort of stuff is just more amusing and morally sensible. In other words, I was just skipping 80% or more of the erotic content just fine, and to me they’re just excessive baggage of the genre norm for these kinds of games. Boooooring. Honestly I’d rather be more bothered if the porn part of the game was better, and as much as it may be something that I initially expected, I was pretty quick to resign to a more morally sound position.
What is more disturbing than the tender loving care Shiki Tohno dispenses to his nonlinear harem is the psychotic violence described in Tsukihime. It didn’t agree with me, but I see why it’s there and the point it makes. It’s pretty interesting because as much as it’s easy to bring about disturbing, snuff-like violence, it’s another to do so by making you feel it. Doubly so with just words. Tsukihime has little visual violence, and those moments aren’t the ones I’m talking about. I’m partly impressed but also kind of put off because a lot of it is not exactly directly related to the story it tries to tell, either.
I think the primary Tsukihime schtick is basking us with ambiance and then it paints our minds with careful, concise statements about whatever Kinoko Nasu wants to talk about. As a result a huge amount of the story is dedicated to painting that ambiance. it’s like drowning your resin kit with a sea of primer, only to put three dots on it with your paintbrush. Mmm, hairless naked figurines? It’s not the most masterful in the execution, but it isn’t terrible. A little blunt, but it gets the point across well. Well, it’s really blunt. For example:
The torrent breaks through.
Spinning. Spinning. Spinning spinning the world is spinning.
Sun and moon. Female and lion. Angel and pollution. Colliding uphill paths. Broken hourglass. Upwards falling sand. Shattered window and a door without a handle. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness.
* * *
I’m getting crushed.
Melting wall. Solvable meaning. Self who can explain. Smoothness of changable permeability. Transitioning time. Observation life and execution function. A pinky-less hand. Headless eyes. Rolling carpet. Once. Twice. Three Times. 777 cages. Burst balloon. Unfulfillable promise. Unprotectable law. Death contract. Poison and honey. Red and afterbirth. Murcury lamp and bug light. Light refracting to countless dimensions. Swimming fish, singing at the ocean bottom. Tools, tools, tools. Towards endlessly reproducing stars without meaning, without will. Better than wishes. Another only me. Unraveling deep sea. Contradictory that appears from microscopic organisms. Detailed view of a quark. Rejection of everything. Formless form. An embryo within a hearse. I curse and celebrate their existence.
* * *
“What, is this—-”
Cessation is disregard. The bleeding earth. Trade your blood for poison and you will attain immortality. Rose. Rose. Rose. Rose. Your splendor will not last forever. The way to reach Lohan’s temple, eat this bread. Spreading defilement. The April that’s farther than May, the reversal of limbs, awaken in the shrine of balance beyond the dual serpent and scorpion. The skin of rotten fruit. Burned puppet of celluloid. The cannabis of Legion. Grinding and friction. Sun and Moon. Colliding uphill paths. Female and lions. Broken hourglass. Spiraling clouds. I am unparalleled. Upwards falling sand. Eight years ago. Killed. Killed. Killed. Killed.Killed. Killed. Killed. Killed.Killed. You. Killed!
One thing Tsukihime does, like many other complex, multi-pathing kinetic/visual novels, (well) is having a couple major story lines and then fill those out with character story lines, each filling in the gap the other missed. What makes Tsukihime marvelous in this aspect is that its two main stories “near side of the moon” and “far side of the moon” complemented each other very well. I sort of think that the “far side of the moon” was really a story about Kohaku, but they realized how it’s very useful by forcing her story to be unlocked last, it gives Hisui and Akiha’s stories much more “oomph.” It’s a bit of a cheat, I guess, but it’s to good effect. Well, I suppose “well” is kind of relative too, given the fairly lean connection between the major story lines.
I shouldn’t play favorites, but it’s so fun to do it with this game–pretty much everyone’s story are fairly good. One personal favorite part about Tsukihime was that the whole Arcueid-cide aspect came about very well. In fact I think overall Arc’s story is probably my favorite because it is a hair’s breadth away from invoking a Jesus allegory with a straight face. An allegory in the line of Aslan in C.S. Lewis’ famous book about a wardrobe. And it’s subtly wonderful in that how the story BEGINS with it. It’s probably not a common way to look at this story, but I think it pans out in full.
There was a lot of thought that went into Tsukihime, I get the feeling. If a visual novel is the paradigm of excess in a text-narrative world, then Tsukihime loaded this visual novel up with a lot of excessive text, true to the nature of the medium. Excess in words, in feelings, in the relationships and what’s unnecessary but yet so vital to the entire experience. What’s more, it carries the weight, look and feel of a doujin production. It’s a game not for the squirmish, but if you’re adventurous and open minded, this is one hella of a ride.
Flawed, but not fatal; highly recommended.
For reference, I played the game using my copy of Tsukihime from Tsukibako, and used the ONScripter adaptation in English from Mirror Moon. Make sure you use the latest version! The translation, as a post script, is adequate but leaves a lot to be desired; but don’t let that turn you away from this landmark piece of gaming history. For post-post script, a shoutout to chendo and a certain friend in Japan who made this experience possible.
The Tsukihime Half-Time Show
No wonder Coyote Ragtime Show sounded so familiar when I first heard of it.
Sorry, this is not so much of a show and much more of a tell. But half way through Type-Moon’s first big-time hit, it struck me that what made the stuff tick is translatable. Stuff was ticking; people who I don’t expect to enjoy or to be remotely interested in the game were playing it. Its warm reception seems to give credit to its content.
Admittedly on the other hand, I find the material a little unreal. In some ways it tries very hard to bring a sense of seriousness about death and holding onto a selfish sense of existence. At points it spirals out on the edge of existential panic to drive Shiki’s motivation home. Yet, so many other times they don’t explain his motivations. Maybe it’s a thematic point they’ll explore later on in the game, but it seems a bit odd.
It seems funny when they are doing the whole crime-and-punishment bit. What would wash away Shiki’s sins? Nothing but the blood of a Jesus allegory, I guess. Or who’d know that tidbits about South American zombies to be relevant? Those were pretty good highlights, as they made me chuckle (at the wrong moments).
But how about the ero scenes? I pretty much smashed the mouse button furiously, for better or worse. Not so sure if the writing was holding up, either…
It’s an intriguing story. Which is probably why I’m still playing it. Shingetsutan Tsukihime, I think, wasn’t as out of whack from this as what people say because it also had an intriguing story. Sure, it doesn’t have the best parts from the game, to start the list of its failures, but it’s not that bad…
Anyways, do yourself a favor and play this game. It’s pretty expensive to buy it, but maybe you’re one of those kind souls who would help to adopt a copy of Tsukibako and give it a good home for the rest of its life. It’s a good thing that I didn’t pawn my copy for a small profit. I’ll be cool about it if that means you’ll have to pirate it first. It looks like you’ll have to pay an auction service but the overall cost isn’t really more than $400, and maybe as low as $100.
One more funny thing. I remember when I first played Tsukihime around the time I first got a copy of Tsukibako. I remember some retarded curfew in the Tohno household. And I remember Akiha and the maids getting into hissy fits like Shiki was when Shiki breaks it cleanly to meet up with Arcu. That was actually kind of fun, aside from the whole “Waaah someone help all the innocent peeps preez” thing going on. Somehow, I get the feeling that Tsukihime is a great multi-pathed visual novel, it would’ve been a lot more fun if it wasn’t visual. And that’s coming from someone who really likes the character designs in Tsukihime, to boot.
This half-time show is brought to you by Mirror Moon, for setting standards at LOL fansub games.
Rabid Kanon Fans Blow Hot Air or Illogical Harem Hate
To really do Kanon and Air, as two franchises, justice, we really need a solid footing in history. It just makes no sense to head into it without getting your bearings right. Sadly, I’m not sure if I’m qualified to even try.
Well. I did try, but after writing a few paragraphs I realized it’s futile to explain it in detail. It’s beyond me. Instead, let me just be brief and sweet.
Kanon is about the girls, their stories, and the fable feel in that fantasy winter wonderland. Or winter tragicland. It’s enough, more than enough, to gather its own fans just based on the merits of Kyoani’s animated adaptation alone. The power of moe transcends petty franchise labels, after all.
Older Kanon fans, either from the Toei era or from the original uproar of Key’s success, will enjoy the new anime just like how the fans do. I’m not sure what that means, but just seeing Mariko Kouda back in action (older, mellower, and more moe!) is enough to send me to that winter wonderland. It probably vary between each fan, and you know the drill.
But to compare it to Air? Sure, you can, but there’s so much one could say about the two beyond the superficial. In fact, you really have to get to the root of both adaptations: that they were sister games in a true sense. Kanon was a proof of concept, and Air is more radical and original which came at the wake of Kanon’s success. It shows in the nonlinear storytelling. It shows in the choice of narrative devices. it shows in the simplicity.
These fundamental differences surface in their adaptions. Kanon was by all means a straight-up harem, and Kyoani’s Kanon currently is just that. It’s no surprise people who are, for one reason or another, coming to be allergic to harems generally “don’t get it” why so many of their equally-jaded fellow fans like it.
The moral of the story, I guess, is to read Wikipedia. It’s common to mock Kanon as an eroge, but that’s kind of like laughing at Michael Jackson as a man with black skin–you could, but it betrays a good-faith understanding of the situation. It’s stupid and ignorant. It’s also a little disingenuous to compare Kanon and Air just on the grounds that one is really a harem and the other isn’t really a harem. There are probably a lot of great insights we can gleam from such an exercise, but we got to go deeper to grasp it.
