Yami to Boushi to Hon No Tabibito: A Review in Eleven Questions

[quietprofanity]

1.) Why does Japan resurrect Jewish and Christian Apocrypha for its H-games and not do anything that cool with it?

2.) Why does this anime, based on an H-game, not bother to explain ANYTHING in it's non-H anime form?

3.) What the hell is that small thing with the hat and why should I care?

4.) Who the hell is that guy with the brown skin and purple hair and why should I care?

5.) Why did the animators think it was a good idea to flood bright light into half of the scenes, making it hard to see?

6.) Am I the only one who thinks Hatsuki really should have gotten the idea that Hatsumi was never coming back earlier and that if the anime had tried to exploit that instead of these ridiculous side trips, it would have been a lot better?

7.) Why did the anime ruin its big emotional hug with a boob shot?

8.) Did anybody else feel there was never a successful ending to any of the side stories?

9.) Did anyone else feel totally unmoved by the lovers' reunion in the last episode, even before it was revealed as a fakeout?

10.) Why was it shown out of order and thus causing me to think about this stupid piece of fluff that means nothing?

11.) My apathy is strong ... and yet I have written this ... why?

Comments

[47nite.livejournal.com]

Whoa. You got through it sooner than I did. ::needed to overcome 18 months of apathy at the halfway point:: XD;

6) I'd hypothesize that Hatsumi/Eve is supposed to have some exquisite Helen-of-Troy effect on all who cross paths with her (and to some extent Hatsuki is nothing more than a tome figment like any of the [much, MUCH] more dim-witted side characters- so her mindset is skewed as such).

7) You seem to notice these things more than me. ^^;

9) I was somewhat moved by Hatsuki's resolution in episode 12. Because any viewer with common sense at that point totally knew Hatsumi deserved to die by her hands

Iiiiii dunnoooo. I guess they thought telling the whole thing en medea res (w/ Aaya as our cheerful, crossplaying storyteller) would add more weight to the inevitability of fate and a universe run by the first two women would be full of dreariness- both real and imagined- but still feasible...?

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

6.) Oh, I'd totally agree with that. I just ... well, considering she had special information the others had, I kinda hoped she would wise up and snap out of it.

Also, I hypothesize any girl baby she has will leave before her 16th birthday. Her life has the potential to totally suck from now on, poor thing.

7.) Well, they are kind of ridiculous ...

9.) Yeah, episode 12 was pretty effective, overall. Although call me having no common sense, I don't Hatsumi was supposed to die. Then again, I've been inducted into "The Gods are bastards"/"You can't stop the signal"-type storytelling and felt cynical.

Re: Last point. I suppose so. I just wish the story overall had more of an emotional element, y'know?

[47nite.livejournal.com]

6/9.) Another possibility is Hatsuki gradually went from wanting to save her "sister" to just wanting to throttle her, after witnessing all the baggage Hatsumi dumped on everyone else.

I think some of my (unexpectedly) favorite parts were when Hatsuki had the decency stop and to help others out. It probably dampened the Big Payoff, buuuut I'm in ancient mythology mode right now where I'm told every story was interwoven to provide the bigger picture. Plus characters that can't take their minds off their One And Only for one minute are douchebags ...usually.

Bastards indeed. If stones were any measure, Lilith would be like having a pebble drop on your head every minute. Eve would be the once-a-century asteroid. @_@

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

Hatsuki gradually went from wanting to save her "sister" to just wanting to throttle her, after witnessing all the baggage Hatsumi dumped on everyone else.

Eh ... I like that idea but I honestly don't think the text supports it. Hatsuki isn't a total selfish douche, as evidenced by her empathy for others she meets along the way. (I actually did like a lot of those characters ... I just felt like their endings were cop-outs. Miss Perpetual-Five-Years-Old I would have liked to see more of, for instance.) I did think she came off really selfish in the last two chapters, though.

Of course, compared to Lilith and Gargantua she does look better by proxy.

If stones were any measure, Lilith would be like having a pebble drop on your head every minute. Eve would be the once-a-century asteroid. @_@

Heh. Thinking about it, I did like how the narrative named Eve as the greater than Lilith. Lilith is an interesting story, but I never liked how she's been reclaimed by some feminists. Eve deserves re-claiming too, poor thing!

[47nite.livejournal.com]

she does look better by proxy.

Well, EVERYONE in the show makes Hatsuki look sane. Except maybe Fuji-hime, Mikuru, and the mothership computer, it was just a parade of "I'd Rather Read the Unabridged History of Dental Floss Than Read Your Book Again" characters.

Lilith is an interesting story, but I never liked how she's been reclaimed by some feminists.

::...suddenly wonders which account Ms. Mooseburgers subscribes to:: or rather, which biblical figure is most applicable to her.

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

"I'd Rather Read the Unabridged History of Dental Floss Than Read Your Book Again" characters.

For the most part, yeah. Some individual characters amused me, but I didn't love them. That Stone Age story can particularly suck it.

::...suddenly wonders which account Ms. Mooseburgers subscribes to:: or rather, which biblical figure is most applicable to her.

I'm guessing since it's Apocrypha, she's probably dismisses it entirely. When you point out Genesis has two slightly different creation stories, she probably says there's no conflict.

As for the Biblical figure most applicable ... my first instinct is to say she probably wants to be like Mary mother of Jesus, but that may be more of a Catholic thing. I wanted to say she was like Athaliah but I think I mis-remembered some of that story. (The wiki says she was a negative character, but more active.) So I don't know by this point. :)

BTW, I've only read half the Tanakh and a third of the Christian testament, but I'm naming The Book of Judges as the one with the coolest women.

[47nite.livejournal.com]

My Swiss classmate at school flat-out called her "that whore [that we're all going to vote for]" (he says everything in a hilariously menacing accent, so... it's automatically funny?) Also the ramifications of her apparent sexualizing of the election has been much talked about.

On ~that~ note I need some preemptive passing-out now.. :P

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

I try not to use those words anymore, to be honest.

Interesting perspective from a military female. The first one ... well, the last time I heard her compared to The Handmaid's Tale the commentator called her "Serena Joy" (basically an analogue for Tammy Faye Bakker/Messner before her husband blew up his own ministry and she faded into The Surreal Life golden years and succumbed to cancer).

Look at me talk about books I haven't read yet ...

BTW, for a real-life example of "Aunts" check out this. And then consider that most FGM procedures are carried out by other women. Very scary.