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Battle Royale: Literary Masterpiece or Trashy Dime Novel?

Discussion,

For many years, I’d been hearing great things about Battle Royale. Everyone and their second cousin told me I just had to read it, and everyone who spoke of it did nothing but gush effusive praise. Last month, I was lounging around on a Saturday, and noticed that my housemate had left a copy of the book on the kitchen table. So I decided to finally take the plunge and read it.

I was hooked, and finished it in a single day. I enjoyed the book: it’s quite the page turner. But that’s pretty much all there is to it: it’s a thriller. Does it have any deeper meaning? Not particularly. Does the book have memorable, well-developed characters? No, they’re mostly cliché cardboard cutouts of each other. Is Battle Royale well-written? No, although I’ll be generous and blame part of this on an awkward translation. Is it as great as everyone let on? No. Is it the “Lord of the Flies for the 21st century,“ as the blurb on the rear cover proudly proclaims? Hell no. Battle Royale is to Lord of the Flies as the Davinci Code is to Foucault’s Pendulum.

It’s no Lord of the Flies

I wouldn’t think that the fact that Battle Royale is completely unlike Lord of the Flies would even bear mentioning, if the book jacket didn’t so obnoxiously proclaim it was and if so many people didn’t seem to believe it (just take a quick glance at the Amazon reviews page for Battle Royale – 111 / 167 reviews are five stars at the moment, with half of them seeming to think it’s better than Lord of the Flies). The main commonalities between the two works are superficial: children travel to an abandoned island and a breakdown of normal civilization occurs.

First of all, the conflict in Battle Royale comes across as black and white. The children (except for the few that enjoy killing their classmates) are the good guys and the organizers of the game are the bad guys. It’s the bad guys that are ultimately responsible for everyone’s deaths. There’s never any doubt of this. In Lord of the Flies, there are no organizers forcing the children to kill each other. They have absolutely no excuse for killing Piggy: it doesn’t even particularly benefit them to do so.

Battle Royale had to invent a boogeyman out of the autocratic government of Japan (which, I should point out, doesn’t appear to even have the tacit support of its citizenry as in most dystopian works).  In Lord of the Flies, the boogeyman comes from within innocent children, making it a much more stark and relevant commentary on humanity. One of the most haunting images of the book is when the Royal Navy ship, outfitted for war, appears on the horizon to bring the children back to the cradle of “civilization.” Battle Royale, on the other hand, is a simplistic, stark battle between good and evil, with clearly defined villains— the government and Kazuo.

Repetitive Story Arcs

After a while into the “game”, you can pretty much tell how the rest of the chapters involving the side characters are going to go. Here’s an outline.

  1. Two characters randomly meet up. They had some relationship before they were thrown on the island: either lovers, friends, or one-sided admiration, typically.
  2. They each fret over whether the other one is going to kill them or not.
  3. Someone dies. Possible causes:
    1. Intentional backstabbing.
    2. Accidental backstabbing due to confusion.
    3. Lover’s suicide.
    4. They reconcile and swear their eternal love / friendship, only to have someone else jump out of the bushes and kill them both. They die in each other’s arms.
  4. Repeat ad nauseum.

So the story is rather formulaic. There are a few more interesting segments: the introduction, the very end, and the short subplot involving Shinji’s attempts to sabotage the game, at least until he runs into Option D.

Still, the arc format would have some potential, if it weren’t for…

Formulaic Characters

All of the side characters are defined entirely by one or a combination of the following traits: membership in a school club, a tragic past, or a lover. None of them really get much depth. They don’t stick around long either, so from what I can tell, the only reason for any of them to even exist in the story is so that they can die a tragic death. Of course, the fact that their development is so shallow makes their deaths all the less tragic. For the most part, I couldn’t care less. And once again, the repetitive story format made me care even less about each individual death.

The main characters are also not too interesting. The male lead, Shuyo, is your standard loser harem protagonist, with the twist that he likes rock music, which the autocratic government frowns on it. This serves as an excuse for the author to add misplaced Bruce Springsteen references (more on this later). To continue our analogy, Noriko, the lead female, is the girl in the harem with the personality of a wet sponge that the male lead inevitably picks. She is quiet, and spends most of the novel asleep or injured. She is the sweet and innocent princess that our manly lead must protect.

Next is Shogo. Like many of the side characters, he also suffers from tragic past syndrome. He is on a quest for vengeance, and pursues this coolly and efficiently. The biggest issue I have with him and the other lead characters is that they just feel so fake. Shuyo is boring, Noriko is an angel, and Shogo is a cool, suave machine who always knows what to do and executes things perfectly.

Finally, we come to our villain Kazuo. He is simply the devil incarnate, with no positive traits to speak of. There is some half-hearted attempt to blame this on a birth defect. Not exactly the most compelling villain. The characters are, to be frank, simply not particularly interesting.

Subtlety and Depth

A big thing which bothered me is just how subtle this book is. For example, there are some obvious Orwellian influences surrounding the setup of the dictatorship. But instead of showing us the TVs that can’t be turned off, that we have always been at war with Eurasia, and that everyone loves Big Brother, the author just decides to have Shuyo tell us everything in a huge info dump. Not exactly the best storytelling there. As another example, each of the characters is introduced through narration rather than through action or dialogue. The author didn’t get the memo on “show, not tell.”

The author also likes to make references to Bruce Springsteen’s rock and roll, which is all about rebelliousness (?). The book ends with a quote from the lyrics of Born to Run, as Shuyo and Noriko quite literally run away from the police.

Baby this town rips the bones from your back
Its a death trap, it’s a suicide rap
We gotta get out while were young
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

The novel refers to Springsteen’s song in the literal sense of running away and the figurative sense of fleeing from a physical death. To make an analogy, this would be like Murakami writing a novel about Norwegian lumberjacks.

Conclusion

Battle Royale was an entertaining book, but it certainly wasn’t “the Lord of the Flies for the 21st Century.” I highly doubt that most people will have heard of it fifty years from now.

What were your thoughts on Battle Royale? Am I an elitist prick? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!

My Favorite Anime

Discussion, ,

Here it is: the list of my favorite anime of all time. This is only including TV series, not OVAs or movies.

This list is objectively accurate, and anyone who disagrees is WRONG. OK, now seriously, the only thing it’s based on is my gut feeling for how much I enjoyed each show. I don’t even agree with myself on the ordering on the list from day to day. The shows may all have flaws or whatnot, and even I may see the flaws, but I enjoyed watching them, and in the end, that’s why we all watch anime, right?

Choosing your favorite anime is hard. For me, picking number one was easy. Picking the next twenty-nine was easy too. But ordering the next twenty-nine? Not so easy. I reordered them at least twenty times while writing this, and I’m sure that since I’ve published this list I’ve already changed my mind several times more.

My tastes are pretty varied, I feel, although sci-fi, fantasy, and horror are each heavily represented. The two things that draw most of these shows together are strong characterizations and creative settings.

Without further ado, here it is: the list of my favorite 30 TV anime.

30. Gunparade March
Gunparade March is a pretty good show all around, but I wouldn’t call it great. The reason it managed to eek onto the tail end of my favorites list is because of a single episode which I absolutely loved. For those who have seen the show, it’s the episode where Hayami and Mai are stranded in the snow, surrounded by monsters. Normally Mai is complaining about how Hayami is useless because he can’t fight, but here the situation is reversed. Only Hayami can walk among the monsters, because he doesn’t hate them or fear them as he chants the children’s story to himself. He has to knock the wounded Mai unconscious and carry her around so they can survive. This episode just pulled all the right strings for me: one of my favorites of all time.

29. Starship Operators
Starship Operators has a very interesting premise: a group of students commandeer a battleship, fight in a revolution, and are filmed by a reality TV crew. It has some good politics and raises interesting moral questions, and is a solid watch from start to finish. I particularly liked one character’s turn-about towards the end of the show.

28. Gigantic Formula
Gigantic Formula follows a tournament between countries’ giant robots to determine who will rule the world (more or less). The overall plot is kind of stupid (and let’s pretend the ending never happened) but the majority of the show is spent on episodic stories about the pilots from individual countries before they fight. This is where Gigantic Formula really shines: as a character study. With this episodic format, the creators were able to fully flesh out a large cast of characters and deliver a series of touching short stories.

27. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
*Tear* The show that made me cry the most. The empathy for the characters is made possible by some brilliant characterizations— the main lead, especially, grows tremendously over the course of the series. A very moving show, with some great twists.

26. Turn A Gundam
My favorite Gundam show. Turn A uses the Gundam for farming just as often as fighting. The show involves interstellar politics and traps, but the characters remain thoroughly human. Turn A shows the absurdity of war through a lighter touch than other Gundam series, and has an understaded sense of humor. The ending was a bit of a letdown, however, descending into epic mecha battles with a villain I didn’t particularly care for.

25. Crest / Banner of the Stars
This is one of my favorite romance series. The first reason being that it isn’t all about the romance, with the first series focusing on an escape from a war zone, the second focusing on large scale galactic warfare, and the third on the breakdown into anarchy of a prison planet. I also like the fact that each season makes progress in the characters’ relationship, and they are actually monogamous (somehow, monogamy seems quite rare in anime). In addition, the two lead characters complement each other very well. We have neither an unpopular loser male protagonist nor a damsel in distress. Both of them have to work together to get through their struggles. There are also deep cultural differences between the two characters. And finally, they actually have to make sacrifices for the sake of their relationship. Shows where everyone gets what they want and live happily ever after ring hollow to me.

24. Welcome to the NHK
The reason I love Welcome to the NHK is quite simple: it’s funny. The antics of Satou and friends are hilarious. It’s a wonderful dark sort of humor too. The show takes a look at hikikomoris and their efforts to overcome their problems, as well as people who are broken in other ways.

23. Kamichu!
The atmosphere is what I love the most about Kamichu. It’s a show about a girl who becomes a goddess, and it’s able to maintain just the right amount of seriousness (or lack thereof). It’s humorous, relaxed and down to earth in spite of the outlandish premise. Most of our new goddess’ efforts are spent on getting the boy she loves to recognize her. The animation is also superb.

22. Rozen Maiden
Rozen Maiden is one of the most all-around solid series out there. Not a moment is wasted. It manages to tell a great story, develop some fabulous characters, and has a good sense of humor interleaved with the more serious moments. Rozen Maiden has a rather unique charm, being based around fighting magical dolls, with a lead male character whose main special power is the ability to sew. But for a show based around a boy who is too afraid to leave his house, Jun develops into a surprisingly lovable character.

21. Hourou Musuko
Hourou Musuko is the most recent addition to my favorites list. The cast is enormous, especially for a show of only eleven episodes. But the thing is, every one of the characters is more well-developed than many series’ main characters. Not a single moment in this show is wasted as it uses its time to flesh out the characters fully. I love the direction (especially the scene transitions, which flow remarkably smoothly for a show that jumps all over the place) and the animation style is unique. My only complaint is that the show wasn’t long enough.

20. Katanagatari
I appreciate the double length episode format: each episode has enough time to tell a self-contained story. Katanagatari has an excellent sense of humor, along with a plot filled with twists and turns. I reccommend giving Katangatri a try… but by then, you’ll have been torn to pieces.

19. Planetes
This is a science fiction story about orbital garbage collectors, but manages to keep its feet firmly planted on the ground and remain “realistic”. It treats on the absurdity of corporate bureaucracy, has an imaginative and believable futurisitc setting, and still finds the time to tell a moving tale of love and loss.

18. Monster
A truly epic show about a doctor’s quest to right his wrongs by killing the murderer whose life he saved. Monster has one of the best senses of suspense, some unforgettable and larger than life characters, and is filled with astounding twists and turns.

17. Oh! Edo Rocket
Oh! Edo Rocket isn’t all that popular, but I adore this show. Why? I thought it was hilarious, it had a unique animation style, and it also had an interesting story to tell. It even has a mathematician.

16. Genshiken
Genshiken has a special place in the hearts of many anime fans, as it follows the lives of the members of a club of otaku. It’s humorous, has a lovable cast of characters, and can be touching when it decides to. The characters show a remarkable amount of growth throughout the series, and yet also remain the same.

15. sola
This doesn’t seem to be all that popular among western fans (although my impression is that it had a bigger impact in Japan), but sola is my favorite romance show. It often seems to be placed in the same category as Air, Kanon, Clannad, etc., but I honestly don’t see much similarity. All of the characters are adorable (especially the two little girls), the animation is beautiful, and it’s one of the few romance shows that has a message deeper than the glorification of erotic love. Suffice to say it has a spectacular ending as well, although I won’t spoil it.

14. Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Kai)
Who doesn’t love watching cute girls lose their minds and brutally murder each other? In all seriousness, I didn’t originally think I would like this one either. But then I watched it and was blown away. The first season is incredibly intense— it takes a while to get going, but when it gets to Shion’s arc, around episode 15— damn. I don’t think I ever wanted a show to get a happy ending quite as badly as this one. The second season is even better, where instead of horror the focus is on unravelling the mystery, discovering the truth and everyone working together to escape their terrible fate.

13. Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei
This show really captured for me what it was like to be in college (well, aside from actually going to class). The format of a different alternate universe for each episode worked out beautifully, as did the wacky animation style. This show had some remarkable characters, as well as growth for the main lead as he learned to accept the choices he made.

12. Shion no Ou
This is a show about playing Shogi, but also so much more. It examines the lives of the players and their interactions, and solves a murder mystery in the process. Shion is just too cute. And an embarrassing confession: Shion no Ou inspired me to learn to play Shogi.

11. Red Garden
Red Garden is set in New York, and it actually gets the setting down surprisingly well. The characters seem genuinely American. Once again (this seems to be a recurring theme) we have an excellent characterization of four girls and their relationships. We also have an epic battle between insane vampires and immortal dolls: what’s not to love?

10. Figure 17
The second show on this list with double length episodes. The extra length helped both Katanagatari and Figure 17 a great deal, as they are able to fully flesh out a short story arc in each episode. Figure 17 has a unique format: approximately half of each episode is a down to earth, slice of life story surrounding two “sisters” and a girl’s coming of ageThe other half of each episode involves battling space aliens. The two components fit together surprisingly well.

9. Ghost Hound
Ghost Hound has strong characters (love that psychologist) and an interesting story, but the reason it’s on my favorites list is mainly due to its tense and downright spooky atmosphere. This show has some of the best production of any anime, especially the sound effects. The immersive atmosphere makes you feel fully involved with the show.

8. Book of Bantorra
Book of Bantorra has a great premise: a library collects books containing the memories of the dead. There’s also an enticing mystery regarding the true nature of the library; larger than life characters; and overall, it’s simply a lot of fun seeing what crazy things the characters will do. Volken and that ant guy are two of my favorite characters from any anime.

7. Princess Tutu
Princess Tutu is a show about little girls doing ballet. And it is beyond awesome. At first it appears to be like every other gather the magical ____ to save the prince story, but later the lines between good and evil merge and everything comes together for an unexpected but extremely satisfying conclusion.

6. Noein
Noein has simply one of the best sci-fi / fantasy settings, with heavy use of quantum physics and parallel worlds. It’s an emotional ride as we see the character’s growth and see their endless possibilities in parallel worlds, and as we watch the last death-throes of a falling world.

5. Denno Coil
This is another show that doesn’t seem all that popular. Denno Coil revolves around a group of children in a setting with a parallel virtual world that can be experienced by wearing special glasses. It explores the boundary between the real world and the virtual, as well as the relationships between the characters. Excellent characters and production combine to tell an immersive coming of age story. And Densuke is awesome!

4. Mouryou no Hako
I have a special place in my heart for mythology and religion, and Mouryou no Hako satisfied this craving more than any other anime. The deepest most anime go into these topics is shrine maidens and nuns, so an anime which spends over an entire episode with people sitting around a table discussing the nature of mouryou is a real treat. It also has an engaging mystery, some disturbing horror (that head honstly disturbed me more than most of Higurashi), and is the only show on my favorites list involving bishounen.

3. Baccano!
Baccano is simply the most fun show I’ve ever watched. We have several mass murderers, one of whom makes a moving love confession while covered head to toe in blood, a hilarious robber duo, several mafia gangs, a secret society working on the elixir of life, an intrepid news organization, and more. The show’s pace doesn’t skip a beat, and the characters are a joy to watch.

2. Haibane Renmei
This story follows a group of children who have been reborn as angels in a mysterious town, and follows them in a slice of life style format as they come to accept themselves and one another. This is yet another show with a great setting. And what I really like about it is that it actually doesn’t unravel most of the mysteries, leaving much open to interpretation. And once again, we have some fantastic characters.

1. Simoun
This is it: my favorite show of all time. It’s occupied this position ever since I first watched it several years ago, and doesn’t appear to be losing its place anytime soon. Simoun is an amazing character study. I love (or hate, in the case of Neviril) every single one of the characters, all of whom are deeply flawed. The relationships between the characters are intricate and at times tragic, and the gender ambiguity adds yet another layer of depth. Simoun has a fantastic setting (another falling world show, I am a sucker for these), and even makes a creative use of time travel. The animation is beautiful, and it has the best soundtrack of any show I’ve ever seen. Simoun even has one of the best fansubbing jobs of all time (I am honestly not making this up). I love every bit of it. If you’re afraid of yuri, as I was before my first watch: don’t be. The relationships are authentic and meaningful, and this is not your stereotypical yuri show. (I’ve since become a yuri fanboy, but that’s a different story).

 

These shows are the ones I love the most, and the reason I watch anime.

What are your favorite anime? I look forward to hearing about your favorite shows in the comments.

Seeing (Rudolf) Steiner

Discussion, Steins; Gate, ,

In Steins; Gate, the title of the show and Okabe’s ability “Seeing Steiner” both borrow their name from Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher of the early twentieth century. With Okabe’s penchant for choosing names from Norse mythology, the use of Steiner’s name appears to take a special significance.

Steiner developed a system of philosophy called Anthrosophy, a new artistic movement form called eurythmy, and an entire system of education— and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. See the Wikipedia article for the full details.

But Steiner’s biggest contribution to Stein’s; Gate is his philosophy, so I’m going to focus on that here. The main idea of Anthrosophy is that there is a spiritual world, which can be intellectually understood, and can be experience directly by developing the inner senses. I read through Steiner’s essay Mysticism at the Dawn of a Modern Age to get some idea of his thoughts and how they fit into Stein’s; Gate. You can read the entirety of the essay here, but be warned, it’s extremely dense and Steiner doesn’t appear to believe in paragraphs. All of the quotations I’ve taken are from this essay. (I glanced at a few of his other works as well, and some are more out there than others. Although that particular essay may help to explain that odd scene with Mayushii from millions of years ago.)

 

Steiner places a heavy emphasis on the idea of “seeing”. This passage provided the clearest explanation of his views for me:

Now Weigel says to himself, If the perception flowed from the counterpart (thing) into the eye, then, of one and the same thing, the same complete perception would of necessity have to arise in all eyes. But this is not the case; rather, everyone sees according to his eyes. Only the eyes, not the counterpart, can be responsible for the fact that many different conceptions of one and the same thing are possible. In order to make the matter clear, Weigel compares seeing with reading. If the book did not exist of course I could not read it; but it could be there, and I would still not be able to read anything in it if I did not know the art of reading. Thus the book must be there, but of itself it cannot give me anything at all; everything that I read I must bring forth out of myself. That is also the nature of natural (sensory) perception. Color exists as a “counterpart;” but out of itself it cannot give the eye anything. On its own, the eye must perceive what color is. The color is no more in the eye than the content of the book is in the reader. If the content of the book were in the reader, he would not have to read it. Nevertheless, in reading, this content does not flow out of the book, but out of the reader. It is the same with the sensory object. What this sensory object is outside, does not flow into man from the outside, but rather from the inside. — On the basis of these ideas one could say, If all perception flows from man into the object, then one does not perceive what is in the object, but only what is in man himself… Weigel says to himself, Although perception flows from man yet it is only the nature of the counterpart which emerges from the latter by way of man. As it is the content of the book which I discover by reading and not my own, so it is the color of the counterpart which I discover through the eye, not the color which is in the eye, or in me. On his own path Weigel thus comes to a conclusion which we have already encountered in the thinking of Nicolas of Cusa. In his way Weigel has elucidated the nature of sensory perception for himself. He has attained the conviction that everything external things have to tell us can only flow out from within ourselves. Man cannot remain passive if he wants to perceive the things of the senses, and be content with letting them act upon him; he must be active, and bring this perception out of himself. The counterpart alone awakens the perception in the spirit. Man ascends to higher cognition when the spirit becomes its own object. In considering sensory perception, one can see that no cognition can flow into man from the outside. Therefore the higher cognition cannot come from the outside, but can only be awakened within man. Hence there can be no external revelation, but only an inner awakening. And as the external counterpart waits until man confronts it, in whom it can express its nature, so must man wait, when he wants to be his own counterpart, until the cognition of his nature is awakened in him. While in the sensory perception man must be active in order to present the counterpart with its nature, in the higher cognition he must remain passive, because now he is the counterpart. He must receive his nature within himself. Because of this the cognition of the spirit appears to him as an illumination from on high. In contrast with the sensory perception, Weigel therefore calls the higher cognition the “light of grace.” This “light of grace” is in reality nothing but the self-cognition of the spirit in man, or the rebirth of knowledge on the higher level of seeing.

One of the central ideas here is that “everything external things have to tell us can only flow out from within ourselves.” This sounds confusing, but actually makes a lot of sense from the reading example. It is our brain’s interpretation which internally allows us to “see” and to read books. Okabe’s Seeing Steiner is likewise an internal sense which allows him to experience other timelines. It is simply another thing he perceives, a sense that comes from within himself.

Another central idea is that man, through these internal acts of seeing, rises above the natural world, and that the “universal soul… tears down the barrier between the outer world and the inner world… and embraces both.” Could this barrier be what the title of Steins; Gate refers to?

Man is entangled in the world of the senses and in the laws of nature, by which the world of the senses is dominated. He himself is a result of this world. He lives because its forces and substances are active in him, and he perceives and judges this world of the senses in accordance with the laws by which it. and he are constructed. When he directs his eye upon an object, not only does the object appear to him as a sum of interacting forces dominated by the laws of nature, but the eye itself is already constructed according to such laws and forces, and the act of seeing takes place in harmony with these laws and forces. If we had attained the utmost limits of natural science, in all likelihood we could pursue this play of natural forces in accordance with natural laws into the highest regions of the formation of thought. — But in doing this we already rise above this play. Do we not stand above all mere conformity to natural laws when we survey how we ourselves are integrated into nature? We see with our eye in accordance with the laws of nature. But we also understand the laws in accordance with which we see. We can stand on a higher elevation and survey simultaneously the external world and ourselves in interplay. Is not then a nature active within us which is higher than the sensory-organic personality which acts according to natural laws and with natural laws? In such activity is there still a partition between our inner world and the external world? That which judges here, which gathers insights, is no longer our individual personality; rather it is the universal essence of the world, which has torn down the barrier between inner world and outer world, and which now embraces both. As it is true that I still remain the same individual in external appearance when I have thus torn down the barrier, so it is true that in essence I am no longer this individual. In me now lives the feeling that the universal nature speaks in my soul, the nature which embraces me and the whole world.

Okabe certainly stands on a higher plane, observing the external world and himself from afar, in perhaps a more literal sense than Steiner intended. With his ability to experience multiple universes, he has become an outside observer of the external world, observing the external world and himself in interplay across the vast expanse of the multiverse. In essence, Okabe is no longer the same individual he once was, as now the universal nature (his multiple selves) speaks in his soul.

Another thing we may be able to glean from Steiner’s ideas here is why Ruka and Feyris are able to remember their lives in the other universes. We can surmise that Ruka and Feyris have managed to tear down the barriers between themselves, Okabe and the different timelines in order to unite with the universal soul and connect with their experiences in parallel universes.

Here are a few more excerpts related to “seeing” that I enjoyed, you can decide for yourself how (or if) they relate to Steins; Gate.

Man finds himself to be an individual being, a creature of nature. And no science can reveal anything more to him about this life than that he is such a creature of nature. As a creature of nature he cannot go beyond the state appropriate to a creature of nature. He must remain within it. And yet his inner life leads him beyond it. He must have confidence in something no science of external nature can give and show him. If he calls this nature the existing, he must be able to advance to the view which acknowledges the non-existing as the higher. Tauler does not seek a God who exists in the sense of a natural force; he does not seek a God who has created the world in the sense of human creations. In him lives the recognition that even the concept of creation of the teachers of the Church is only an idealized human creating. It is clear to him that God is not found in the same manner as science finds natural processes and natural laws. Tauler is conscious that we cannot simply add God to nature in our thoughts. He knows that one who thinks God in his sense, does not have any other content in his thoughts than one who has grasped nature in thought. Therefore Tauler does not want to think God; he wants to think divinely. The knowledge of nature is not enriched by knowing God; it is transformed. The knower of God does not know something different from the knower of nature: he knows differently. The knower of God cannot add a single letter to the knowledge of nature, but through his whole knowledge of nature a new light shines.

 

“We are to be united with God essentially; we are to be united with God as one; we are to be united with God altogether. How are we to be united with God essentially? This is to be accomplished by a seeing and not by a being. His being cannot be our being, but is to be our life.” Not an already existing life — a being (Wesung) — is to be understood in the logical sense; but the higher understanding — the seeing — is itself to become life; the spiritual, that which belongs to the idea, is to be experienced by the seeing man in the same way as the individual human nature experiences ordinary, everyday life.

1860: The Japanese Ambassadors Visit the United States

Discussion,

I just completed the first episode of Ikoku Meiro no Croisée, in which a Japanese girl travels to France in the late 19th century. This brought to mind an earlier (and non-fictional) cultural exchange which I thought I should share, since most people are probably unfamiliar with the story, even though it was a big deal when it happened.

As you probably are aware, Matthew Perry opened up trade with Japan in 1854. Shortly afterward, in 1860, a delegation of Japanese ambassadors arrived in the United States to greet “his Majesty, the President of the United States,” a welcome distraction for a country which was edging closer and closer to civil war. I highly recommend reading this excellent article for an account and discussion of the trip.

I have a few assorted observations on cultural differences which weren’t mentioned in the article. All of the excerpts are from the Times articles linked to below.

  • The Japanese delegates are frequently referred to in the newspapers as “Japs”— my impression had been that this originated as a derogatory term during the second world war, but clearly the term has much older origins, and originally didn’t have its current insulting and demeaning connotations.
  • The shop owner in Ikoku Meiro no Croisée is not the only one who had the bright idea of using the Japanese as an advertisement. From the June 12 New York Times article (referenced below) on the delegations visit to Philadelphia:

    The occasion of [the Japanese delegation’s] presence in the street was, however, the signal for a popular rush, and had it not been for the strenuous efforts of the Police, they would have been quite run down. The shop windows on Chestnut-street are filled with various articles which are marked “to be presumed to the Japanese Embassy,” “To be presented to his majesty the Tycoon,” which attract crowds of the curious. Whether they will ever reach their pretended destination or not, they serve as excellent advertisements, and cheap. Indeed, the visit of the Embassy to Philadelphia seems to take a practical turn — a number of purchases have already been made, and private establishments visited, which affords an able prominence to some of the Quaker City merchants. The attractions of most of the jewelry are however wasted on all but the inferior Japanese. The higher classes dress in the plainest manner, and, if perchance they carry gold watches, they keep them out of sight. The exhibition of trinkets and ornamental jewelry about the person is considered vulgar in Japan. 

    Yune seems to wear quite a bit of jewelry. Does anyone know whether this is a misunderstanding by the Americans, this aversion to jewelry is limited to men, or this is an inaccuracy in Ikoku Meiro no Croisée? The delegation did appear to have a deep interest in clocks and watches, however.

  • The American hosts were taught Shogi by the Japanese delegation, and displayed a deep fascination with it, printing the entirety of the rules in the Times. The Japanese were also observed by their hosts playing Go.
  • The Japanese appeared to have a much stronger desire for privacy than their hosts.

    Measures have been taken to secure for the Embassy the utmost seclusion and privacy should they desire it. No one will be allowed to enter any part of the corridor of the second floor devoted to their use, without special permission. This rule will be strictly enforced, as it has been found by experience in other cities, to be absolutely necessary to the comfort of the guests.

  • The ambassadors developed a liking for western music.
  • The ambassadors couldn’t quite figure out what to do with western furniture.

    The after part is devoted to the Ambassadors, who soon after taking possession of it summarily kicked all the elegant movable furniture out, and then squatting down on the soft velvet carpets, resumed their normal positions.

  • Anyone know what to make of this, if anything?

    The Ambassadors while away the time in eating seven or eight repasts a day, puffing small whiffs of tobacco, playing chess and caressing their big toes — the last occupation affording them apparently the greatest solace and satisfaction.

  • The ambassadors weren’t quite sure what to make of Christian prayers.

    When the crew are summoned to evening prayers the Ambassadors regard the proceedings with extreme attention. At first, when our excellent Chaplain began, and as he would throw his head back in addressing the Supreme Being, the Japanese would follow the eye of the speaker and peer intently at the maintop or the mizzen-stay in the most inquiring wonder, and then turn one to the other, bob their shaved crowns and inverted pigtails, as much as to say the matter was entirely beyond their comprehension.

  • The Americans saw the Japanese as polished and refined, yet selfish. Only of them appeared to bathe, and had an astonishing way of going about it.

    They are, indeed, a very polished people in their peculiar way, and at the same time extremely selfish, never refraining from asking and taking all they want, and not unfrequently much more than they want; but yet they are the Nation’s guests, and it behooves us to smile upon them and put up with their exactions. Nor are they the scrupulously neat and cleanly people we had supposed they were; for although commodious bathing rooms have been provided for them, yet I doubt if a man of them has so much as wet his fingers since coming on board. I most except, however, the hawk-nosed Ambassador, who takes what an old Quartermaster told me the other day was a “spirt bath,” every morning. The process is simply this: The chief bather sits down before his lord, with a large teapot of warm water before him. After a decorous interval he fills his capacious month with the liquid, and then purls it in a spirting stream over the tawny skin of the Ambassador. The operation lasts about an hour.

  • The youngest member of the delegation, Tateishi Onojero, was overwhelmingly popular with the ladies, and the menfolk were not amused. He was quite upset to finally put America behind him and head home. One of his love poems is included in the Oct. 6 article.

    TATEISH ONOJERO, or TOMMY PUNERTERO, as he is commonly styled, is a very amusing young vagabond, and goes hoppling and toppling about the decks wherever he can find guzzling or edible matter to consume. He takes a lesson daily with the chaplain, whom that profane small Pagan calls the “Joss Pidgeon,” after the heathenish term applied to his own idolatrous worshippers. When not studying or guzzling he writes soul-touching love-letters to his sweethearts in America — lying in the most polished manner to all of them, and signing himself “Your lovely TOMMY.”

  • One of the delegates was a bishounen, and the public began to suspect he was a crossdresser.

    Another individual of this interesting Embassy has, however, caused more alarm than amusement. It is a soft, round person, with rather a pretty, beardless face, and black glossy hair. It is attired in a sort of blue blotting-paper gown, and from some outward indications we began to believe it was a lady in disguise. After a time her situation became apparently so very interesting, and knowing that amongst all the Purser’s slop clothing no baby linen was supplied, we thought it advisable to consult the surgeon. That gentleman being a practitioner of much obstetric experience, and a close observer, made some few casual observations, and assured us that there was nothing in it — that it was a simple case of adipose, and that we might set our minds at rest.

  • The delegates came to like American food, but would not stop eating rice.
  • One of the Times articles mentions that the Japanese bear a close resemblance to the American Indians.
  • Observers commented that the Japanese were industrious, busy and good-natured.
  • The ambassadors requested a warm fresh water bath for the entire delegation while on a ship offshore Africa, and were offered the use of the engine boilers but politely declined.
  • The Americans were also fascinated by Japanese acupuncture and herbal medicine.

Further Reading:

Softenni: Alternative Uses for Trophies

Discussion,

As someone who recently packed / disposed of my childhood trophy collection, I cracked up at this:

I guess I shouldn’t have thrown half of them out after all.

Softenni is Xebec’s seasonal excuse for drawing panty shots, but it’s still been surprisingly enjoyable so far. The fanservice is toned down compared to their other recent exercises in the same vein, and the humor is spot on.

This season’s been marked by a pretty decent crop of fanservice shows, as far as these things go: I’m enjoying Softenni, Dog Days, 30-Sai, Hen Zemi and Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai. That’s four or five more than I usually like. The first four I appreciate mainly because of the humor (which the fanservice complements well). Oretachi came as the biggest surprise for me, as I decided to drop it after the first episode, watched the second a month or two later and was hooked. It takes a unique twist on your usual harem, which makes “one” guy having multiple girlfriends somewhat plausible. Oretachi also has a great sense of energy and a tight script.

We still have the usual mix of mediocre fanservice shows (Aria, Astarotte, and A Channel: I’m looking at you), the extraordinarily mediocre (Hoshizora) and the beyond terrible (Qwaser). I can’t help but wonder if this season might be the beginning of a trend for the better, but the cynic in me says it’s just an outlier. Let’s hope for more Oretachis and less Hoshizoras in the future.