Type Moon Plays a Game of Pool, or the Illusion of UBW
Nasu Kinoko’s world (Nasuverse) is a game of pool where reality marbles clash.
When I was a kid, I played with marbles. It’s a great way to learn how things roll, you know? Children fancy marbles because they are pretty, shiny, and colored like the kaleidoscope. Rainbow is weak sauce in comparison. It’s like, you can’t find an identical marble. It’s like a freaking fractal screen saver. It’s also cheap.
A GRSI discussion thread appeared recently in which we discussed the merits of Index/Railgun’s universe, specifically the psionics. The underlying idea is similar; Kazuma Kamachi’s version of psionics is projection of an individual’s sense of reality to affect actual reality. I should say, the impression of Shiro’s world in Fate’s Unlimited Blade Works arc left me with the same taste. Oh yeah, this is really a UBW review post in disguise. I’ve just finished a couple weeks ago, and I guess it’s time to share before the UBW film hits the theaters later this year and before the memories fade further.
In as such that ultimately some of its plot devices play second fiddle to thematic satisfaction and poetic justice, UBW is interesting as a sample of the superhero genre. Especially as a Japanese thing. It is sadly a genre I’m wholly indifferent about, so I won’t bore you with that aspect of UBW. However, the underlying paradox and predestination of Emiya Shiro is what makes UBW interesting, and I don’t recall people really talking about that specifically. [Probably because 90% of the time when I read anything about UBW, it just makes my eyes tired and TL;DR.] I am going to presume someone has talked about it already. Instead, I’ll focus on the stupid Nasu thing that he does every time, and what went down with UBW that made it less annoying than in some of his other works.
For starters, Shiro’s ability: If you’ve seen Fate anime, you would know that he can reinforce things and make weapons or whatever. It is explained within the game as his ability to project an idea. The more he understands what he projects, the better the projection is. The stronger he believes in the projection, the more durable and real the projected item becomes.
[Oh, yeah, spoilers for UBW incoming!]
Does this make sense in terms of Shiro’s ideal? Yeah, sure, but it could work with any ideal. In as much as ideals are ideas, notion of perfections, it is almost always a goal, a destination, a race in which people strive towards but never “arrive” at completely. The general idea I got from EMIYA (to use the heroic spirit term and not the class term…speaking of which, does every Nasuverse protagonist have a projection of their other selves?) is that he merely was unable to recognize with the imperfection within the nature of an ideal, in the paradox that ideals are perfect but are also flawed in that they cannot be truly achieved (as in, the law of “conservation of saving people”). The “save everyone” ideal is a natural choice; it is a plot vehicle to have some battle and get Shiro off his lazy butt and go fight “the impossible row row fight the powah” sort of way. The particulars of that ideal eggs the plot towards an epic, climatic moment, as it would be difficult to use just any ideal and still create a satisfying story.
I recommend this other ideal that could work: “The student council is my harem!” (Yea, Good END indeed.)
Of course, I sort of jest. Shiro’s Reality Marble is, in the end, his magic that allows him to be who he was created to be and to be who he is called to be. At the same time, that doesn’t mean he is locked in his predestined ways (as in EMIYA) but in some “learn from your future mistakes” way. It still makes me chuckle how Shiro’s magic is basically a literal analogy to “my idealism/sense of perfection is better/stronger/harder than yours!” when he picked his fights with Gilgamesh. From there, Gil’s Gates of Babylon thingamajig is a metaphor of “reality” as it is full of “the original” noble phantasms; or things of the real world. The faster and harder Shiro believes in his ideal, he can fend off the harsh reality and stay on course.
So yeah, UBW is basically a story about ideal versus reality, both against cynicism and giving up. Thankfully there’s this cute tsundere on the side and a very majestic mentor supporting you throughout the game. Oh, I guess there was something about a sheath too.
I just can’t take Nasu seriously. Not that it isn’t entertaining and fun, and at times creative, but LOL. I mean if you think about it, the whole “I will stab your appendicitis” or “I will kill the poison in your blood” thing is basically the same as “I will project my ideal, you know, that idea that I strongly believe in, and because of the power of heart my ideal is stronger than your ideal, I will win, if you know what I’m saying.” Except thankfully in UBW we got an actual fight scene to resolve it, rather than just Shiki doing surgery, or some acid-tripped dream. Still, it is just ludicrous.
At the same time, when I look back to stories like Asura Cryin’ or Index, I appreciate the brutal appearance and purpose-driven sophistry in Nasu’s writing. They’re all just different flavors of the same story. At the least, Nasu’s babble is there for a reason and sometimes it’s pretty interesting, just like those marble balls to a child.
P.S. The best visual illustration of the “reality marble” term is the epilogue to the 1997 film Man In Black. It is not the same as the verbal illustration in which the term comes about, but I am sure that this happy coincidence relate beyond this persistent pun I used to build this post out of nonsense.
Year In Review: N-Squared List
Just like last year, I guess some things have not changed. This could be a reference.
Winners Don’t Do Drugs
And I thought Kara no Kyoukai 7 was about them!
I really don’t have a lot to say about Railgun, but I hope it gets licensed just so we get this pretty stuff on a BD pronto and affordable. It’s so family friendly.
Leader of the Pack: Autumn 2009
The below endorsements are not exclusive; there are a handful of shows I would like to watch but haven’t gotten around to check, but these I will definitely follow. (Well, subs and time permitting…with the caveat that some shows are better with less brain cycles spent trying to figure out what was said while watching. As a side note, lol, White Album is epitome of that statement. Thanks CR!) That is on top of the show I am watching that, heh, is not eligible for this post for some reason. Like White Album.
I wouldn’t have guessed at all that A Certain Scientific Railgun was so much fun a month ago; perhaps that is why I didn’t guess at all. On the other hand I recall some people lamented that it was Index that got adapted back half a year ago, and not the stories surrounding the electrifying campus celebrity herself. At any rate, Railgun episode 3 got to a point that it reminded me of the more enjoyable/fun TV anime from the 90s, except it looks sooooooo much better. I would think anyone who followed Index from earlier this year would watch Railgun just by virtue of still being in the hobby of watching anime, but this is good enough to pull in new fans, and make people hopeful for a future that is not just darker than black.
However, that’s not writing off several other shows which might be more directly targeting certain demographics–
- Seitokai no Ichizon is the surprising hit for me. Episode 3 raises the stakes by introducing Toudou-san, and having Mamiko Noto play a major foil/antagonist, well, satisfies the kind of otaku that’ll likely get enough of the actually-funny references to keep with this frantic anime 4-koma-kind of thing. What is ultimately surprising is that not only I got enough of the jokes to enjoy each episode, but the jokes were easy enough to get for someone like me!
- Kimi ni Todoke gets a mention only because, well, there’s so much left to go and so little to go on right now. I enjoy the art style and the animation, first and foremost. And yeah, Mamiko owns me. At any rate it has not hit its stride yet.
- While I wasn’t overly fond of Mind Game, I think Trapeze will be a better experience simply because I only have to take it 22 minutes at a time. The first episode at least strikes a balance between the interesting (as in, makes me want to watch it) and the odd (as in, makes me sleepy/bored). Strictly for the art house crowd though.
- Sora no Otoshimono–you already know this. (As an aside I wrote up a little thing about the whole panties disjunction, but I’m debating about revising and posting it. Maybe you have a different take than mine: It seems like a redundant exercise, and a bad idea. I mean it’s like trying to explain a joke to tell you why it’s funny. Or why porn is…porny?)
As to sequels–
- Sunred is as you know it; I don’t think they can screw up a show like that simply by making more episodes of it.
- On the other hand, it’s not out of the woods yet, but the moe-relationship craving crowd probably will also stick with Haruka’s Secret for now. Second season jumps on what makes the first one worth following, and really cranks up the dial. It might not be what some who enjoyed the first season want to sign up for, but you win some, you lose some. Regardless Haruka scores better-than-expectation for me.
- And remember, November 11 is only 23 days away. The non-coupled episode arcs for Darker than Black 2 is something I have not gotten used to (it’s only 3 episodes in!) but so far it’s got all the charm from the last season, almost.
It seems that sequels this season are somehow better than sequels of yore; a welcomed change if it follows through.
Alternative to Bookcover Judging 2009: Judging Bookcover of Ads for Books
I’m not sure if my opinions on the new shows this season are worth anything, but that doesn’t stop anyone I guess…
I am kind of looking forward to The Sacred Blacksmith, if just for the seiyuu angle. Fujimura Ayumi may be just a generic moe voice to most, but I think she can deliver a fun sword-and-sorcery adventure. It’s her first, not counting Kaze no Stigma and… Rakkyo’s Azaka? LOL. The story might set itself up as a classic bag o’ tropes, but I always watch for the execution anyways, and this show’s got Manglobe! It’s just a question of if we get a pair of big ones or something less.
Letter Bee and Book of Bantorra are probably fated to be compared side by side. Anyone notice the huge increase of light novel adaptations this season? Here we have light novel adaptations of stories about mail carriers…and librarians? Oh, Japan. At least it’s not about a maid… It seems Bantorra is more interesting in terms of a solid fantasy story, setting-wise, and Letter Bee is more your Vampire Hunter D kind of thing? If we think of anime adaptations as commercials for the books, I think they are probably on the mark… Well, again, Bantorra might be more interesting in terms of execution, so we’ll see.
The odd ball adaptation is Seitokai no Ichizon, which Hashihime does a better job than I do laying out the pros (and some cons). And Hashihime’s post is a good read just for the seiyuu lineup. Unfortunately, even if I can get the jokes, it’s a chore if I can’t watch a sub. We are at somebody’s mercy to bring it over, however it is. Without judging a book by the cover (is this meta enough? Evoking this saying on an anime adaptation of a book about the meta characters and jokes inside the book talking about the anime?) … there’s not a whole lot to say, I guess. Or I should say the cover says everything, for once? The source material is something to steer through cautiously, according to one at least. But then again, does it matter?
Speaking of the meta, I would totally watch Nyan Koi if it involves some cute romance and a lot of Ghost in the Shell jokes. Seriously. Next time I watch Stand Alone Complex I’ll totally have a cat in my mind when I see the Major on the screen. It’s a manga adaptation, which is a tad rarer now eh?
Kämpfer, on the other hand, makes me wonder how possibly a book like this would read…well. I mean, seriously, at least when it comes to Seitokai no Ichizon, there are jokes, however unfunny they may be. Gender-bending fireball-slinger? I guess that’s a joke that writes itself. As an anime, however, I have no qualms about the concept as long as it’s executed no worse than the first episode…
The Railgun anime, unlike most other shows in any given season, is definitely exciting from the get go. Regardless if you have a soft spot (although it definitely helps), it’s worth checking out the first episode. If I can stay with Index anime for 21 episodes, this can’t possibly be worse… /knockonwood.
Sigh. Can’t wait for skyboobs to screen on Crunchyroll… And someone can tell the rest of the world if Miracle Train brings all the ikemanglobes to the choo-choo, because I’m on a boat instead. In fact if you know better, please share, in regards to any of these titles (and better new titles that I need to watch, that I didn’t list).
As you can see I have little worthwhile to contribute; just noise.
