#murakami tomohiko

[asnowperson]

An essay on the theme of children-parent relationships in Hagio Moto's works by Murakami Tomohiko

For years, I avoided reading the essays that were included at the end of bunkoban volumes. Reading Japanese prose felt like a chore to me, to be honest. A too high of a hurdle. And most of the time, the contents went over my head.

That being said, since I started reading them, I've come across some pretty interesting ones. The analysis written by Murakami Tomohiko, manga critic, at the end of Mesh's vol. 3 (Hakusensha Bunko, 1994) was particularly interesting for me. So, I tried my hand at translating butchering it. The author compares the boys in Hagio's manga and their family issues. You can find it below the cut.

If anyone wants to read the original, I can send pics/scans!

Province of children 

Murakami Tomohiko  (Manga critic) 

For a child, what does it feel like to be neglected by their parents? 

Mesh is the protagonist of this story. His mother, elopes with a man when he was young. His father, doubting whether he’s Mesh’s real father or not, drives him away from himself, and places him in a boarding school in the faraway Switzerland. For 12 years of his life, he believes that his mother abandoned him, and his father hates him. It’s not hard to imagine how deep the scars such feelings left in Mesh’s heart are.  

Mesh’s mother gave him a girl’s name, “Françoise-Marie.” We do not know if she wanted to have a daughter that bad, but as Mesh was separated from his mother when he was 2, he never knew the truth. But how much of a deciding factor that name became for him, and how it kept bearing heavy on him in his later years, are beyond any doubt.

When Mesh was 12, silver locks started to appear on both sides of his blond hair. After seeing a proof of genetics at work, his father finally recognized him as his own son. But that wasn’t the salvation the he was looking for. When his father shifted the blame on Mesh’s mother’s licentious behavior  for doubting his paternity, a new wound was opened on the young boy's heart.  

“I won’t say that my mother was a saint. But for a child who lives in a dormitory... a mother something that he needs.” 

Thus, in chapter 1, "Mesh,” our protagonist runs away from his paternal home. He is picked up from the streets of Paris by Millon, a young art forger. In the final chapter, “Sure Love and  Real Death,” he is reunited with his mother, now living in her homeland of Lorraine. She is mentally instable and still running after the image of her "daughter" who never existed. Mesh is an abandoned child who hates his father so much that he wants to kill him, and who is struggling to break free from her mother’s chains. This manga chronicles his story of breaking free from his parents.  

Children discarded by their parents. Children separated from their parents. Such children fumbling their way in their quest to find their personal salvation had been recurring motif in Hagio Moto’s works before Mesh. It is also is the principal theme of this work.

If we look back, in "Bianca (ビアンカ)," she drew a girl who danced away the stress the divorce of her parents caused in a forest. In “Girl on Porch with Puppy (ポーチで少女が小犬と),” she shows us another girl who sees the world through rose-colored glasses. Grown-ups who lost their dreams point their fingers at her, and shoot her with death rays. Or take Emil Bruckhardt from “Snow Child (雪の子).”  He was taken in by his grandfather after his parents’ death, who anly accepted for taking the child in if it was a "boy." 12 years of Emil's life was spent by his side, pretending to be a boy. Young Tim from “Poor Mama (かわいそうなママ)” pushes his mother out of the window. He could no longer bear witnessing her misery, as she spent her days sitting at the window sill, gazing off in the distance, and sighing. The free-spirited and brave Eru of the Nobe family in “Red-haired Cousin (赤ッ毛のいとこ)" shows no sign that would make you think that she is an orphan.  

They were all children torn apart from their parents.They had to find somewhere to belong, and find it themselves.  

The Poe Clan has two boys who were taken away from their biological human parents and turned into vampires, destined to live until eternity. If we think about under the same light, we can say it's their story of trying their hardest to create a pseudo-family for themselves time and time again on their endless journey. The beautiful Poe instalment, "Birds’ Nest (小鳥の巣)," and works like "Heart of Thoma (トーマの心臓)" that followed it, all take place in worlds that have nothing but boys torn apart from their families. It is no coincidence that dormitories were chosen as their settings.  

Mesh was published in Shogakukan’s Petit Flower magazine between the 1980 summer issue and 1984 June issue. Mesh was preceded by "The Visitor (訪問者)" in the 1980 Spring issue.  

In "The Visitor," we follow a central character from "The Heart of Thomas," Oskar Reiser, during his childhood, before he starts to live at the dormitory. Its main theme is directly connected to that of Mesh. Young Oskar’s parents quarrel over his birth. One day, a single gunshot steals that little boy’s mother from him forever. The one who fired the shot was his father. The boy covers up for his father, and the two set out on journey with no destination. However, Oskar’s father leaves him at the school, of which the principal is an old friend of his and Oskar's real father, and leaves for Southern America alone.  

Oskar kept yearning for his father, the father who stole his mother away from him, without begrudging him. He did so, because he had nothing else in life to cling onto. As his father and mother argued about his paternity, the child lost that household as the place he belonged. Young Oskar’s only wish was to be forgiven by his parents, and to believe that he would be acknowledged as the son of that family. To make his wish come true, to beg for his father’s forgiveness, Oskar covers up for his father, the murderer of his mother, and sticks even closer to him.

Our protagonist Mesh is a direct continuation of the image of boyhood we see in  "The Visitor"s Oskar Reiser. This link continues until Hagio’s current serialization, "A Cruel God Reigns", and shapes the main plot of her stories. “Children abandoned by their parents” has been present as a principal theme since Hagio Moto's early works. The turning point which made this theme even deeper, might be just this period that connects "The Visitor" to "Mesh."

How did Mesh rationalize his mother giving him a girl’s name? He mostly introduces himself using his alias, “Mesh,” to new acquaintances, and he is very adamant about it. Those who are unaware of the circumstances are left perplexed by that name, and mistake Mesh for a girl. He seems to find that amusing deep down. He crossdresses and appears on stage, and he is approached by homosexual men. Both makes him feel uncomfortable. Yet, he doesn’t seem to have a the willpower to resist.

Actually, I have also experienced something similar. So I believe I understand how Mesh feels a little.  

When I was roughly Mesh’s age, I was a child who liked to act like a girl. In high school, I put a tablecloth on my desk in class, made flower arrangements with artificial flowers in an empty wine bottle instead of a proper vase, and listened to lectures while holding a stuffed doll. Mine was quite a free-minded school, and it was an age when all kinds of rebellious acts were "in." But still, when I think back upon it, what I did seems outrageous to me. Maybe I was just too eccentric, which is why my teachers never said anything to me.  

I was jealous of my mother’s colorful outfits. I often borrowed and wore them. Her sleek green trench coat and tank top with pink and white borders from Kamoi Youko’s underwear brand, Tunic, were my favorites. I once even made a dress for myself. I chose the fabric with my girlfriend, did the basting at her place, and she sewed it for me. She tagged along because she found it to be fun, but I’m certain that she was weirded out.  

I am still a sucker for stationary and fancy items girls would like. If I go to Sony Plaza or American Pharmacy, I am confident that I can spend half a day there. There aren’t many fathers who would go to buy picture books and plushies for their kid, but get carried out and just buy whatever they want. 

Putting it like that makes me sound like a man with perverse hobbies, but sadly, I am not such inclined. I have never felt attracted to men, and never have I ever wanted to be a woman. My interest in crossdressing had something different in it. But I am interested in feminine, rather, “girlish” things, but it only means that I am slightly different than your average, common man.  

That being said, my mother’s influence on me cannot be ignored. When I finished my dress, it was her who was the happiest and told me to wear it and take a little tour outside. During my freshman year in university, she was the one who lamented the most when I cut my hair that was reaching my butt, and made a hairpiece with my hair for me. When I was in grade school, I once trimmed my eyelashes with a pair of scissors because they were getting in the way when I was using the microscope. I remember her being frustrated to the point of bursting into tears, and getting so angry with me.  

I believe it was my mother who slowly created my very particular aesthetic sense by praising things like long eyelashes, lustrous, straight hair, a slender physique which becomes female school uniforms. All things that would be the charm points of budding young girls, and she did it at every chance. I am an only child, and have no siblings. When I was a child, my mother once asked me if I wanted to have little brothers or sisters. I told her that I would like to have an older brother, which seemed to perplex her. Maybe my mother wanted to have a daughter. She could be looking for the shadow of the daughter she never had in me.  

I don’t really know the truth of it. Maybe she just said that I looked like a girl just to express how cute her son was, without putting much thought into it. But the words she said, words I have no recollection of, very likely had a huge impact on me and awakened something deep inside my soul. My personal preferences took shape around that idea, and before I knew it, it seeped into my entire being.  

My mother was a beautician, and was often away from home on business. After she opened her own store, she was always busy with work. But that was all there was to it, and it was not like she had left me, or we were separated by death.  And it never became a reason for my parents to hurt or to oppress me. I can say that overall, I grew up in a your rather ordinary, warm household. I still started to shape my very own personality, alongside the one my parents took part in creating. Then how about a child who feels hated, or abandoned by his parents? How would he feel? To heal the wounds he got from his parents and to ail himself, would he acknowledge it all, and accept everything? Or would complete denial be his only choice? 

That's why Mesh wanted to kill his father and break free from his mother’s curse. While he wanted to be freed from his mother’s desire to have a daughter, in some corner of his mind, he was curious about what would happen if he complied. Maybe that’s what made him stand on the stage as a woman, and occasionally enjoy being photographed as one. Maybe that’s why he sometimes shut up and endured it when men treated him like a girl.  

Maybe fulfilling his mother’s wish meant securing a place in her heart for him. It might have been a self-defense mechanism — a feeling that only children abandoned by their parents know. That’s why when he faced her, and saw that his mentally ailing mother would never accept him, a boy, Mesh said: “Just what does Marché want? How can I get close to what she wants? What should I become? Marché’s dreams, and my dreams... If only I knew...” 

“A thousand pairs of scissors. Scissors that cut and mince. I could have become a flower, a bird, a daughter... I could have become anything you wanted. I could have died a thousand deaths if you wished for it.” 

We do not know the reasons why she wanted to have a daughter. No matter what they might be, accepting them as they are, that complete subordination, is an expression of his willingness to bend to his mother's will. What does it feel like to hear “I hate this child” from a mother who can’t even tell his son apart? But Mesh even accepts his mother trying to stab him with shears without saying a single word.  

Where does Mesh’s determination, which is almost commendable, come from? What steeled his resolve so? I think it was something closer to despair, rather than a wish to be delivered. Mesh’s hatred and his murderous thoughts towards his father are the two sides of the same coin. Killing his father, who hated both him and his mother, and accepting death by the hands of the mother who forgot her own son: They are actually one and the same. Thus, the child abandoned by his parents try to erase his ties to them. By resetting everything, he tries to make it as if he never existed.  

There is probably just one thing he’s trying to say with his behavior.  

"I’m sorry.  

"I couldn’t be the child you wanted.  

"I couldn’t meet your expectations.  

"I’m sorry that I was born..." 

In “The Visitor”, in the middle of his endless journey with his father, Oskar says these words time and time again: "I will be a good child. I won’t talk about my mom anymore. I’m sorry." Then he obliges his father by starting to live in a dormitory, and waits for his father to be back from South America. This must have been no different than choosing death for Oskar, a child who wanted to be the son of a warm household. 

When he doesn’t resist his mother’s attempt to kill him, something inside of Mesh shattered to pieces. He arrives at Paris train station with his broken hopes as his baggage, and he catches a glimpse of his father boarding a train. His father, who acknowledged him as “his son who shares the same blood as him” without so much as a thought about how that made Mesh feel. All Mesh can do is to stand there, motionless. Even if that's the only place he can come back to now.

All children need a place they belong. A place where they feel they can just “be.” Children do not belong to their parents, or other adults. No one shall undermine their right to self-determination. Mesh shows us how much hardship children have to endure, and the sacrifices they have to make when grown-ups forget this fact.   

[despair-to-future-arcs]

Manabu, you have feelings for Hajime?

We-Well... maybe I did but not as much anymore plus I think some of the others did too, right?

True... I did remember wanting him to become king of Novoselic if I remember right...

An-And I did ask him to take my photo since I never had that happen before.

...He did promise to watch me dance.

...

H-He did promise me that once we got out, I can make him food that mama use to make.

...Is there something I'm missing?

I'm not sure myself, I only view him as a friend if nothing else.

'Same here dude, I mean... I remember that I had a boyfriend so it be weird.'

Dude... how many people were interested in you?

Well I mean, I did remember getting everyone's underwear which was weird, don't ask why it happen; it just did...

But I do remember Tomohiko's being really weird, I remember not seeing anything.

Hmph, humans with low astral vision cannot see it. Thus it's why mine can't be seen by mere mortal eyes.

And what makes you think I would give mine, even if you are the singularity and one I do trust the most, I can't trust you until we form a pact that goes far deeper then the one we forge.

...Are you saying that marriage is the only way?

I think so? I mean, I'm use to guys at my job asking for my underwear so it's whatever for me.

Righr right... good to know, thanks for that.

Yeah... not sure what that was all about, I think that might of been a feature from Monokuma.

[oberlincollegelibraries]

Weekend Edition: Translations

Translated editions are wonderful for those of us who are not fluent in the original languages of books on our to-read lists. They give us access to stories written in other parts of the world or a glimpse into other cultures. Below are some translated works you can find right here are OCL. If you are participating in the Reading Challenge, you can also fill in your ‘Translations’ space with a book you’ve read in a non-English language, or a book translated into a language you are more comfortable with than English. It’s up to you!

Death Is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa ; translated from the Arabic by Leri Price A dogged, absurd quest through the nightmare of the Syrian civil war Khaled Khalifa's Death Is Hard Work is the new novel from the greatest chronicler of Syria's ongoing and catastrophic civil war: a tale of three ordinary people facing down the stuff of nightmares armed with little more than simple determination. Abdel Latif, an old man from the Aleppo region, dies peacefully in a hospital bed in Damascus. His final wish, conveyed to his youngest son, Bolbol, is to be buried in the family plot in their ancestral village of Anabiya. Though Abdel was hardly an ideal father, and though Bolbol is estranged from his siblings, this conscientious son persuades his older brother Hussein and his sister Fatima to accompany him and the body to Anabiya, which is--after all--only a two-hour drive from Damascus. There's only one problem: Their country is a war zone. With the landscape of their childhood now a labyrinth of competing armies whose actions are at once arbitrary and lethal, the siblings' decision to set aside their differences and honor their father's request quickly balloons from a minor commitment into an epic and life-threatening quest. Syria, however, is no longer a place for heroes, and the decisions the family must make along the way--as they find themselves captured and recaptured, interrogated, imprisoned, and bombed--will prove to have enormous consequences for all of them. Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón ; translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb Reykjavik, 1918. The eruptions of the Katla volcano darken the sky night and day. Yet despite the natural disaster, the shortage of coal and the Great War still raging in the outside world, life in the small capital goes on as always. Sixteen-year-old Mani Steinn lives for the movies. Awake, he lives on the fringes of society. Asleep, he dreams in pictures, the threads of his own life weaving through the tapestry of the films he loves. When the Spanish flu epidemic comes ashore, killing hundreds of townspeople and forcing thousands to their sick beds, the shadows that linger at the edges of existence grow darker and Mani is forced to re-evaluate both the society around him and his role in it. Evoking the moment when Iceland's saga culture met the new narrative form of the cinema and when the isolated island became swept up in global events, this is the story of a misfit transformed by his experiences in a world where life and death, reality and imagination, secrets and revelations jostle for dominance Note"a novel" -- book jacket Please Look After Mom: A Novel by Kyung-sook Shin ; translated from the Korean by Chi-Young Kim A million-plus-copy best seller in Korea--a magnificent English-language debut poised to become an international sensation--this is the stunning, deeply moving story of a family's search for their mother, who goes missing one afternoon amid the crowds of the Seoul Station subway. Told through the piercing voices and urgent perspectives of a daughter, son, husband, and mother, Please Look After Mom is at once an authentic picture of contemporary life in Korea and a universal story of family love. You will never think of your mother the same way again after you read this book. With My Dog-Eyes by Hilda Hilst ; translation from the Portuguese and introduction by Adam Morris Something has changed in Amos Keres, a university mathematics professor - his sentences trail off in class, he is disgusted by the sight of his wife and son, and he longs to flee the comfortable bourgeois life he finds himself a part of. Most difficult of all are his struggles to express what has happened to him, for a man more accustomed to numbers than words. He calls it 'the clearcut unhoped-for,' and it's a vision that will drive him to madness and, eventually, death. Zuleikha by Guzel Yakhina ; translated from the Russian by Lisa C. Hayden The year is 1930. In a small Tartar village, a woman named Zuleikha watches as her husband is murdered by communists. Zuleikha herself is sent into exile, enduring a horrendous train journey to a remote spot on the Angara River in Siberia. Conditions in the camp are tough, and many of her group do not survive the first difficult winter. As she gets to know her companions - including a rather dotty doctor, an artist who paints on the sly, and Ignatov, her husband's killer - Zuleikha begins to build a new life that is far removed from the one she left behind. Guzel Yakhina's outstanding debut has been showered with prizes and is capturing the hearts of readers all over the world.

Killing Commendatore : A Novel by Haruki Murakami ; translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen The epic new novel from the internationally acclaimed and best-selling author of 1Q84 In Killing Commendatore, a thirty-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a previously unseen painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious thirteen-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna, a pit in the woods behind the artist's home, and an underworld haunted by Double Metaphors. A tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art--as well as a loving homage to The Great Gatsby -- Killing Commendatore is a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers.

[literatureaesthetic]

For July, I set myself a challenge to only read books written by POC. I read some amazing novels, written by authors that I had never even heard of before.

I'm going to list 5 books that I've read recently, I encourage you to read them because they are truly amazing novels. I'll try to pick books that cover a range of genres:

▪ The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (YA Fantasy)

Filled with beautiful prose, this book is a retelling of Arabian Nights. It follows Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all. This duology is now an all time new favourite of mine (look out for an elaborate review which I'll be posting soon). The writing style is stunning, the Arabian setting was atmospheric and mesmerising, the characters were original and refreshing. This duology is a pleasure to read, and if you were to only read one of the books mentioned on this list, I'd recommend it be this one.

▪Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman (Contemporary)

I'm actually not sure if this author is a POC (I've done research and I couldn't find anything regarding her ethnicity) however this book does follow a half-Japanese teen called Kiko Himura who grapples with social anxiety and her narcissist mother in the wake of a crushing rejection from art school in this debut novel. Kiko finds out she doesn’t get into Prism, at the same time her abusive uncle moves back in with her family. So when she receives an invitation from her childhood friend to leave her small town and tour art schools on the west coast, Kiko jumps at the opportunity in spite of the anxieties and fears that attempt to hold her back. And now that she is finally free to be her own person outside the constricting walls of her home life, Kiko learns life-changing truths about herself, her past, and how to be brave. This is a luminous, heartbreaking story of identity, family, and the beauty that emerges when we embrace our true selves. I stuggle a lot with anxiety, this book really helped me mentally and emotionally. I should mention there are a lot of trigger warnings including sexual abuse and anxiety.

▪ Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (YA Fantasy)

Tomi Adeyemi is a Nigerian-American author, this is the first book in a African inspired young adult fantasy trilogy.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good. Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.

I love this book, I think it's well needed right now, with issues like police brutality etc. Children of Blood and Bone has quickly become a new favourite, and I can't wait for the final book in this trilogy.

▪ Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami (Magical Realism)

In Killing Commendatore, a thirty-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a previously unseen painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious thirteen-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna, a pit in the woods behind the artist’s home, and an underworld haunted by Double Metaphors. A tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art—as well as a loving homage to The Great Gatsby—Killing Commendatore is a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers.

Killing Commendatore was atmospheric, and moody and gripping. Part of this is because the plot was excellently crafted. I had no idea where the story was heading, and just when I thought I did have an idea, Murakami threw a curveball and something completely bizarre happens (which I've heard is often the case with Murakami). I loved the motif of art in this novel. Art plays a key role in the plot and in the lead character's life. I enjoyed viewing the world through an artist's eyes.

▪ 10 Minutes and 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak (Literary Fiction)

*Before I get into the synopsis, I must say it's essential that you check the trigger warnings for this book before getting into it. I didn't, and it really affected me mentally because it covers a lot of sensitive topics.*

For Leila, each minute after her death brings a sensuous memory: the taste of spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the long-awaited birth of a son; the sight of bubbling vats of lemon and sugar which the women use to wax their legs while the men attend mosque; the scent of cardamom coffee that Leila shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each memory, too, recalls the friends she made at each key moment in her life - friends who are now desperately trying to find her. . .

10 Minutes and 38 Seconds in This Strange World, is one of those books that rip your heart and make you sob uncontrollably, yet the message is so important that you have no choice but to push through and keep reading to the end. To say this book destroyed me is an understatement. I have never cried so much whilst reading a book (I'm not exaggerating). It crushed me. It dealt with so many difficult topics from child abuse, rape, self-harm, abuse towards transgender women etc.

Although this book destroyed me, I'd still recommend it. I think we owe it to everyone who suffered the same life as these characters, I think they deserve to be acknowledged.

[muhsyahrulpadli]

Cuplikan Novel Murakami, Killing Commendatore

(Terjemahan ini adalah versi kasar yang belum melalui proses edit serius)

Sub Bagian 1, Jika Permukaan Mengembun

Sejak Mei sampai awal tahun berikutnya, aku tinggal di puncak gunung di dekat mulut jurang sempit. Jauh di dasar jurang itu hujan turun terus-menerus di musim panas, tetapi di sekitarnya biasanya cerah. Itu karena angin barat daya bertiup dari lautan. Awan lembab yang terbawa angin memasuki jurang, membawa hujan saat bertiup menaiki lereng. Rumah itu dibangun di atas area batas, sangat sering cerah di bagian depan sementara hujan deras turun di bagian belakangnya. Awalnya aku pikir hal itu agak membingungkan, tetapi karena aku sudah terbiasa menyaksikannya, lama kelamaan tampak seperti peristiwa alam biasa.

Hamparan awan yang terbang rendah menggantung di pegunungan sekitar. Ketika angin bertiup, serpihan awan ini, seperti beberapa roh pengembara dari masa lalu, melayang tak tentu arah di sepanjang puncak pegunungan, seolah mencari ingatan yang hilang. Hujan putih bersih, seperti salju lembut, diam-diam berputar-putar terbawa angin. Karena angin tak pernah berhenti bertiup, aku bahkan bisa betah tinggal di sini pada musim panas tanpa AC.

Rumah ini sudah tua dan agak kecil, tapi taman di belakangnya luas. Ada rambatan gulma hijau tinggi, dan sebuah keluarga kucing membuat rumah mereka di sana. Ketika seorang tukang kebun datang memotong rumput, keluarga kucing itu pindah ke tempat lain. Aku pikir mereka merasa terganggu. Keluarga kucing itu terdiri dari induk kucing bergaris dan tiga anaknya. Sang ibu kucing kurus, dengan tatapan tegas dari matanya, seolah-olah hidup telah memperlakukannya dengan buruk.

Rumah ini di atas gunung, dan ketika aku keluar ke teras dan menghadap ke arah barat daya, aku bisa melihat sekilas samudera dari balik hutan. Dari teras aku memandangi lautan seukuran air genangan di wastafel, potongan sangat kecil dari Samudra Pasifik yang luas. Agen perumahan yang kukenal bilang kalau bahkan jika kau dapat memandang sebagian kecil dari lautan seperti yang aku lihat di sini, itu sudah bisa membuat perbedaan harga tanah yang signifikan. Aku tidak terlalu peduli dengan pemandangan laut. Dari jauh, sepotong samudera itu terlihat tidak lebih dari gumpalan timah yang dipanaskan. Aku tak tahu persis mengapa orang bersikeras ingin membeli rumah dengan pemandangan laut. Aku lebih suka menatap pegunungan di sekitar rumah ini. Gunung-gunung di arah berlawanan dengan jurang terus berubah, berubah seiring pergantian musim dan cuaca, dan aku tidak pernah bosan dengan perubahan itu.

Waktu itu aku dan istriku telah memutuskan bercerai, berkas perceraian semua telah ditandatangani dan disegel, tetapi setelah itu banyak hal terjadi dan kami akhirnya menikah untuk yang kedua kalinya.

Aku tidak tahu bagaimana menjelaskannya. Sebab dan akibat bagaimana semua itu terjadi bahkan dari sisi kami yang terlibat langsung, masih tak jelas, tapi jika aku simpulkan dengan kata-kata, itu akan jadi frasa yang terlalu basi seperti “kami berdamai”. Padahal jeda sembilan bulan sebelum kami menikah untuk kedua kalinya (antara perceraian pada pernikahan pertama kami dan memulai pernikahan kedua kami, sebut saja begitu) kami berdiri di sana, dengan mulut ternganga seolah-olah tenggorokan kami terbuat dari tanah liat kering.

Sembilan bulan — aku tidak tahu apakah itu periode yang panjang atau periode yang pendek dalam sebuah perpisahan. Jika diingat-ingat, kadang-kadang perpisahan kami tampak seolah-olah akan berlangsung selamanya, tetapi sekali lagi semua itu berlalu dalam sekejap. Kesanku berubah pada hari itu. Ketika para seniman melukis potrait sebuah objek, mereka sering meletakkan sebungkus rokok di sebelah mereka untuk memberikan pembanding dengan ukuran objek sebenarnya, tetapi satu pak rokok di sebelah lukisan di ingatanku meluas dan berkontraksi, tergantung mood-ku saat itu. Tak seperti benda dan peristiwa dalam arus perubahan yang pasti, aku mungkin tak mematuhi siklus tersebut, karena apa yang seharusnya menjadi tolok ukur tetap di dalam kerangka ingatanku tampaknya berlaku sebaliknya dan berada dalam gerakan abadi.

Bukan untuk menyiratkan kalau ingatanku serampangan, mengembang dan berkontraksi semau-maunya. Hidupku pada dasarnya tenang, berjalan dengan baik, dan, sebagian besar, rasional. Tetapi sembilan bulan itu berbeda, suatu periode kekacauan dan kebingungan yang tidak terjelaskan. Sebut saja itu adalah periode pengecualian, masa itu tidak seperti masa lain dalam hidupku, seolah-olah aku adalah seorang perenang di tengah laut yang tenang dan terbawa pusaran air misterius yang entah dari mana datangnya.

Itu mungkin alasan mengapa, ketika aku mengingat kembali waktu itu (seperti yang bisa kau tebak, peristiwa itu terjadi beberapa tahun yang lalu), yang terpenting, perspektif, dan koneksi antara peristiwa terkadang berfluktuasi, dan jika aku mengalihkan pandanganku sedetik, urutan peristiwa dalam kepalaku dengan cepat digantikan oleh sesuatu yang berbeda. Pastinya, aku ingin melakukan yang terbaik, sejauh yang aku bisa, untuk membuat catatan yang sistematis dan logis. Mungkin itu akan menjadi usaha yang sia-sia, tetapi meskipun begitu aku ingin berpegang teguh pada tolok ukur hipotesis yang berhasil aku buat. Seperti perenang tak berdaya yang menyambar potongan kayu yang mengapung di dekatnya.

Ketika aku pindah ke rumah itu, hal pertama yang aku lakukan adalah membeli mobil bekas murah. Aku sebenarnya mengendarai mobilku yang sebelumnya di bawah dan menyervisnya, jadi aku perlu mobil yang baru. Di pinggiran kota, khususnya bagiku yang hidup sendirian di puncak gunung, sebuah mobil harus dipakai untuk berbelanja. Aku pergi ke dealer Toyota bekas di luar Odawara dan menemukan banyak mobil Corolla Station Wagon bekas. Sales mobil itu menamainya bubuk biru, meskipun mobil-mobil itu lebih mengingatkanku pada orang yang pucat karena sakit. Hanya ada dua puluh dua ribu mil di speedometernya, tetapi mobil itu pernah mengalami kecelakaan dulu sehingga harganya turun drastis. Aku mencoba mengendarainya, dan rem dan bannya sepertinya dalam kondisi yang bagus. Karena aku tidak berencana untuk mengendarainya di jalan raya, aku pikir semua akan baik-baik saja.

Masahiko Amada adalah orang yang menyewakan rumah kepadaku. Kami satu kelas di sekolah seni. Dia dua tahun lebih tua, dan dia adalah salah satu dari sedikit orang yang akrab denganku, bahkan setelah kami lulus kuliah, kami sesekali berkumpul. Setelah kami lulus kuliah, dia menyerah jadi seniman dan bekerja untuk biro iklan sebagai desainer grafis. Ketika dia mendengar kabar aku dan istriku telah berpisah, dan aku akan meninggalkan rumah dan tidak punya tempat tinggal, dia memberi tahuku tentang rumah ayahnya yang kosong dan bertanya apakah aku ingin tinggal di sana sebagai semacam penjaga. Ayahnya adalah Tomohiko Amada, seorang pelukis terkenal dengan Lukisan gaya khas Jepang. Rumah ayahnya (yang punya studio lukis) berada di pegunungan di luar Odawara, dan setelah kematian istrinya, dia nyaman tinggal sendirian di sana sekitar sepuluh tahunan. Tapi, baru-baru ini, dia didiagnosis menderita demensia, dan sudah dirawat di panti jompo kelas atas di Izu Kogen. Akibatnya, rumah telah kosong selama beberapa bulan belakangan.

“Kau akan sendirian di atas gunung, jelas itu bukan lokasi yang paling nyaman, tetapi itu adalah tempat yang tenang. Aku jamin,” kata Masahiko. “Tempat yang sempurna untuk melukis. Tidak ada gangguan apa pun.”

Biaya sewanya lebih murah dibanding yang lain.

“Jika rumah itu kosong, pasti tak akan terawat, dan aku khawatir dibobol maling atau korslet lalu kebakaran. Kalau ada seseorang tinggal di sana sepanjang waktu itu akan meringankan beban pikiranku. Aku tahu kau akan merasa tidak enak kalau tidak membayar sewa rumah, jadi aku akan menawarkannya dengan harga murah, dengan satu syarat: aku mungkin harus menjadikan biaya sewanya sebagai utangmu.”

Aku oke-oke saja. Barang-barangku akan muat di bagasi mobil kecil, dan jika dia memintaku untuk beres-beres, aku bisa pindah keesokan harinya.

Aku pindah ke rumah itu pada awal Mei, tepat setelah pekan terbaik liburan. Rumah itu adalah rumah satu lantai, bergaya Barat, lebih seperti sebuah pondok yang nyaman, tetapi tentu saja cukup besar untuk satu orang yang hidup sendirian. Rumah itu berada di puncak gunung berukuran sedang, dikelilingi hutan, dan bahkan Masahiko tidak yakin seberapa jauh bentangan hutan itu. Ada pinus besar di kebun belakang, dengan cabang-cabang kuat yang tersebar ke segala arah. Di sana-sini kau akan menemukan batu alam (yang dipasang di tanah sehingga tampak seperti jalan kecil — penerjemah), dan ada sebuah tanaman pisang hias di sebelah lentera batu Jepang.

Masahiko benar tentang tempat yang sepi ini. Tapi aku menyadari sekarang, aku tidak bisa bilang kalau “tidak ada gangguan sama sekali.”

Selama delapan bulan setelah aku bercerai dengan istriku dan tinggal di puncak gunung ini, aku tidur dengan dua wanita lain, keduanya sudah menikah. Satu lebih muda dariku, yang satunya lagi lebih tua. Keduanya adalah siswa di kelas seni yang aku ampu.

Ketika aku merasa waktunya tepat, aku mengundang mereka untuk bercinta (sesuatu yang biasanya tidak akan aku lakukan, karena aku cukup pemalu dan sama sekali tidak terbiasa dengan hal semacam itu). Dan mereka tidak menolak ajakanku. Aku tidak tahu kenapa, tetapi aku memiliki sedikit keraguan meminta mereka untuk bercinta denganku, dan tampaknya itu hal yang wajar waktu itu. Aku merasa hampir tidak punya sedikit pun rasa bersalah karena mengundang siswaku untuk berhubungan seks denganku. Itu terlihat lumrah seperti kau bertanya kepada seseorang yang kau temui sehari-hari di jalan.

Wanita pertama yang aku tiduri berusia akhir dua puluhan. Dia tinggi dengan mata hitam dan besar, pinggang ramping, dan payudara kecil. Dahi lebar, rambut lurus yang indah, telinga lebar. Mungkin dia tidak bisa dibilang cantik sih, tetapi dengan tampilan fisik khasnya yang jika kau seorang seniman maka kau ingin melukisnya. (Sebenarnya aku seorang seniman, jadi aku menggambar sketsa kasarnya beberapa kali.) Dia tidak punya anak. Suaminya mengajar sejarah di sekolah menengah swasta, dan dia sering dipukul. Karena tidak dapat melampiaskan kemarahnnya di sekolah (pada siswa atau rekan guru atau atasan yang menyebalkan), suaminya melampiaskan rasa frustrasinya di rumah. Suaminya berhati-hati memukul agar tak mengenai wajahnya, tetapi ketika dia telanjang aku melihat semua memar dan bekas luka. Dia tak suka kalau aku melihat memar dan bekas luka itu dan ketika dia melepas pakaiannya, dia bersikeras mematikan lampu.

Dia hampir tidak tertarik pada seks. Vaginanya tidak pernah basah dan penetrasi menyakitkan baginya. Aku memastikan ada banyak foreplay, dan kami menggunakan jel pelumas, tetapi tidak ada satu pun yang membuatnya merasa lebih baik. Perih yang dia rasakan sepertinya agak menakutkan, dan tak terasa. Kadang-kadang dia bahkan menjerit kesakitan.

Meski begitu, dia ingin berhubungan seks denganku. Atau setidaknya dia tidak keberatan melakukannya. Kenapa ya, aku juga penasaran? Mungkin dia ingin merasakan sakit. Atau mencari kenikmatan yang hilang dalam hidupnya. Atau mungkin dia coba mencari pelampiasan. Orang mencari segala macam hal dalam hidup mereka. Pasti ada satu, begitulah, yang mungkin tidak pernah dia temukan sebelumnya. Dan mungkin yang dia cari adalah sebuah keintiman.

Dia tidak mau datang ke rumahku, atau memintaku datang ke rumahnya, jadi untuk berhubungan seks kami selalu menuju ke hotel di dekat pantai. Kami bertemu di tempat parkir yang luas di sebuah restoran, menuju hotel jam satu siang lewat sedikit, dan pulang sebelum jam tiga. Dia selalu mengenakan kacamata hitam besar, bahkan saat mendung atau hujan. Suatu waktu, begitulah, dia tidak muncul, dan dia juga absen masuk kelas seni. Itu adalah akhir dari hubungan kami yang singkat, perselingkuhan yang biasa saja. Kami tidur bersama sekitar empat, atau mungkin lima kali.

Wanita berkeluarga lainnya yang aku selingkuhi memiliki kehidupan rumah tangga yang bahagia. Setidaknya kehidupan rumah tangganya tidak tampak bermasalah. Dia berusia empat puluh satu saat itu (seingatku), lima tahun lebih tua dariku. Dia mungil, dengan wajah yang menarik, dan punya selera berpakaian yang bagus. Dia berlatih yoga setiap hari di gym dan perutnya rata dan kencang. Dia mengendarai Mini Cooper merah, mobil yang baru saja dibelinya, dan pada hari-hari cerah aku bisa melihat mobilnya dari kejauhan, berkilauan di bawah sinar matahari. Dia punya dua anak perempuan, keduanya bersekolah di sekolah swasta mahal di kelas tinggi Shonan, di mana wanita itu juga alumni sana. Suaminya menjalankan semacam perusahaan, tetapi aku tidak pernah bertanya kepadanya seperti apa perusahaan itu. (Tentu saja aku tidak ingin tahu.)

Aku tidak tahu mengapa dia tidak menolak ajakan bercinta dariku yang terang-terangan. Mungkin pada saat itu aku memiliki daya tarik khusus yang menariknya mendekat seolah-olah (bisa dikatakan begitu) aku seperti magnet yang menarik sebuah serpihan besi. Atau mungkin itu tidak ada hubungannya dengan daya tarik atau auraku, dan dia hanya membutuhkan kepuasan fisik di luar pernikahannya dan aku hanya kebetulan saja adalah orang terdekat di sekitarnya.

Apa pun alasan di baliknya, aku sepertinya dapat memberi sesuatu yang dia cari, menerimanya, dengan alami, dan dia mulai tidur denganku tanpa keraguan. Aspek fisik hubungan kami (dengan mengabaikan aspek lain) berjalan lancar. Kami berhubungan seks dengan jujur, murni, dan kemurnian itu hampir mencapai tingkat abstrak. Aku terkejut ketika aku tiba-tiba menyadarinya, di tengah-tengah perselingkuhan kami.

Tapi pada titik tertentu dia pasti sadar, ketika di suatu pagi di musim dingin yang suram, dia memanggilku dan berkata, “Aku pikir kita seharusnya tidak bertemu lagi. Tidak ada masa depan di dalam hubungan kita.” Kata-katanya punya efek tertentu.

Dia terdengar seperti sedang membaca naskah. Dan dia benar sekali. Bukan hanya tidak ada masa depan dalam hubungan kami, bahkan tidak ada dasar yang nyata dalam hubungan itu, tidak ada sesuatu di sana.

Kembali ketika aku masih di sekolah seni aku hampir selalu melukis abstrak. Seni abstrak adalah hal yang sulit untuk didefinisikan, karena mencakup berbagai macam karya. Aku tidak yakin bagaimana menjelaskan bentuk dan materi pelajaran, tapi aku kira definisinya mungkin “lukisan yang merupakan gambar nonfiguratif, dilukis dengan cara yang bebas dan tanpa aturan.” Aku memenangkan beberapa penghargaan di pameran kecil, dan bahkan karaku ditampilkan di beberapa majalah seni. Beberapa dosen dan teman memuji pekerjaanku dan memotivasiku. Tidak ada satu pun yang menyematkan harapannya pada masa depanku, tetapi aku benar-benar berpikir punya sejumlah talenta sebagai seniman. Sebagian besar lukisan cat minyakku selesai di kanvas yang sangat besar dan membutuhkan banyak cat, jadi biaya pembuatannya mahal. Tak usah kusebut kalau, kemungkinan orang terpandang muncul, siap membeli lukisan berukuran besar dari seniman tak dikenal untuk digantung di dinding di rumah mereka, hampir mustahil terjadi.

Karena tidak mungkin membuat lukisan seperti yang aku inginkan, begitu lulus, aku mulai menawarkan jasa membuat lukisan potrait wisuda. Lukisan-lukisan yang untuk mereka yang disebut tokoh masyarakat — presiden perusahaan, anggota berpengaruh dari berbagai lembaga, anggota kelompok diet, tokoh-tokoh terkemuka di berbagai daerah (ada beberapa perbedaan pendapat tentang yang mana orang yang bisa digolongkan tokoh masyarakat itu), semuanya dilukis dengan cara figuratif. Mereka mau lukisan bergaya realistis, bermartabat, tenang, sepenuhnya tipe utilitarian untuk digantung di dinding di area tunggu atau ruangan direktur perusahaan. Dengan kata lain, pekerjaanku memaksaku untuk membuat lukisan yang benar-benar berlawanan dengan tujuan artistikku. Aku dapat menerima fakta kalau aku melakukan pekerjaan itu dengan enggan, dan itu tetap mencerminkan arogansi artistikku.

Ada perusahaan kecil di Yotsuya yang berspesialisasi dalam lukisan potrait, dan melalui penjelasan salah seorang dosen di sekolah seniku, aku menandatangani kontrak eksklusif dengan mereka. Aku tidak dibayar dengan gaji tetap, tetapi jika aku menghasilkan banyak lukisan potrait, kebanyakan untuk anak muda, pria lajang, aku bisa menghasilkan uang dalam jumlah tertentu. Itu adalah gaya hidup sederhana — aku dapat menyewa sebuah apartemen kecil di sepanjang jalur kereta api Seibu Kokubunji, selalu memesan makanan tiga kali sehari, membeli sebotol anggur murah anggur dari waktu ke waktu, dan pergi keluar sesekali pada tanggal tertentu untuk menonton sebuah film. Beberapa tahun berlalu, dan aku memutuskan fokus melukis potrait dalam jangka waktu tertentu, dan kemudian, begitu aku sudah punya cukup uang untuk biaya hidup sementara waktu, aku akan kembali ke jenis lukisan yang benar-benar ingin aku lukis.

Melukis potrait hanya kulakukan untuk mendapat uang. Aku tidak pernah berencana melukis potrait selamanya.

Tapi begitu tercemplung ke dalamnya, aku menyadari kalau membuat lukisan potrait itu pekerjaan yang cukup mudah. Ketika aku masih di bangku kuliah, aku bekerja paruh waktu di perusahaan angkut barang, dan di sebuah toko serba-ada, dan dibandingkan dengan pekerjaan-pekerjaan itu, melukis potrait, secara fisik dan emosional, jauh lebih sedikit tekanannya. Setelah aku menguasainya, melukis potrait hanya masalah pengulangan proses yang sama lagi dan lagi. Tak lama kemudian, aku bisa menyelesaikan lukisan potrait dengan cepat. Seperti menerbangkan pesawat dengan autopilot.

Setelah aku agak acuh tak acuh melakukan pekerjaan ini selama sekitar satu tahun, aku mengetahui kalau lukisan potraitku mendapat beberapa pujian. Klienku sangat puas dengan pekerjaanku. Sudah pasti, jika pelanggan tidak puas ketika lukisan potraitnya jadi, maka tidak banyak pekerjaan yang akan menghampiri, dan kontrak dengan agen tersebut bahkan mungkin akan dihentikan. Sebaliknya, jika memiliki reputasi yang baik, akan lebih banyak pekerjaan dan harga jasaku naik. Pekerjaan melukis potrait adalah profesi yang cukup serius. Aku masih pemula, tetapi aku semakin sering dan semakin banyak melukis potrait, dan dapat menetapkan harga jasa lebih tinggi di setiap lukisan. Agen yang bertanggung jawab atas portofolioku terkesan, dan beberapa klienku bahkan dengan terang berkomentar kalau aku punya “sentuhan khas.”

Aku tidak tahu mengapa lukisan-lukisan potrait itu diterima dengan sangat baik. Aku tidak tertarik ingin tahu, aku hanya bekerja semaksimal yang kubisa dari satu pekerjaan ke pekerjaan yang lain. Sejujurnya, aku tidak bisa mengingat wajah satu pun orang yang pernah kulukis potrait. Tetap saja, karena tujuan akhirku adalah menjadi seniman sebenarnya, begitu aku mengambil kuas dan menghadap ke kanvas aku tidak bisa melukis sesuatu yang berharga, dalam gaya lukisan mana pun. Menghasilkan karya seperti itu bisa merusak kepekaan seniku, dan menunjukkan penghinaan terhadap jalur seni profesional yang aku harapkan. Bahkan jika aku melukis potrait yang tidak aku sukai, setidaknya aku tidak pernah merasa malu terhadap pekerjaan yang aku selesaikan. Kau bisa menyebutnya etika profesi, mungkin. Bagiku, itu hanya sesuatu yang aku rasa harus dilakukan.

Bersambung …

*Catatan: cuplikan ini diterjemahkan dari novel panjang terbaru Murakami, Kishidanco goroshi (Killing Commendatore).

Sumber ilustrasi: https://ar.pinterest.com/pin/687995280560831389/

[cicivford]

So excited when I get A+++ bookmail. Thank you so much @aaknopf for sending me Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami. I own 1Q84 but have never gotten around to reading it so this will be my first Murakami read!! And @sumaiyya.books said it’s amazing!! I started a bit of it last night. ————— Synopsis: In Killing Commendatore, a thirty-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a previously unseen painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious thirteen-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna, a pit in the woods behind the artist’s home, and an underworld haunted by Double Metaphors. —————— Hope the start to your week is peaceful so far!! Have any of you read Murakami!? ☕️

[ohriogi]

東京虎ノ門にオープンした“白老食堂”の店内外のグラフィック、サイン、Tシャツやショップカード等のデザインを担当しました。

北海道白老町の食材を使用した白老食堂さんでは、ARAMAKIの村上さんによるインパクト大の鮭箱を再利用した建具がまず目を引きます。店内にも同じく鮭箱の切文字が付けられました。

建具の次に目を引く入り口暖簾の素晴らしい地図は坂口さんによるものです。店内の北海道、白老近郊の地図も描いて頂きました。店内外で白老の方、北海道に縁のある方等様々なお客様を立ち止まらせ、惹き付けているようです。暖簾の色は白老の自然を、店内の暖簾は白老の空の色をイメージしました。

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Designed and directed signage, interior, T-shirt, shopcard etc. of "Shiraoi Shokudo".

The iconic and eye-catching door made by Tomohiko Murakami who found ARAMAKI, welcomes customers, at the same time Noren by @k.saka1634 too. Noren shows the color of Shiraoi's nature and the color of sky. All the dishes are fantastic, worth to visit and enjoy Shiraoi, Hokkaido's foods and drinks!

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Interior: ARAMAKI; Tomohiko Murakami

Graphic Design, signage: Ohri Ogi

Photo: Akari Hasegawa

Map drawing: @k.saka1634

T-shirt printing: @iori1976

Shiraoi Shokudo @shiraoi_shokudo

[casesmains]

Jonathan kunie wikibot

The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (Ningen no jôken) (1959) After changing his mind about killing himself and deciding he wants to live, he accidentally shoots himself in the head with his rifle.Identification of Elongation Factor 1alpha as a Ca2＋/Calmodulin-binding Protein in Tetrahymena Cilia.Ĭell Motillity and the Cytoskeleton, 55, 1, 51-60, May, 2003. Hironori Ueno, Kohsuke Gonda, Tetsuya Takeda, Osamu Numata*. Purification and Characterization of a Hemolysin-Like Protein, Sll1951, a Nontoxic Member of the RTX Protein Family from the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. Tetsushi Sakiyama, Hironori Ueno, Hideya Homma, Osamu Numata, Tomohiko Kuwabara*. Journal of Biochemistry 140 3 393-399 September 2006ģ. Tetrahymena Eukaryotic Translation Elongation Factor 1A (eEF1A) Bundles Filamentous Actin through Dimer Formation. Fumihide Bunai, Kunie Ando, Hironori Ueno, Osamu Numata*. Homologues of Radial Spoke Head Proteins Interact with Ca2+/Calmodulin in Tetrahymena Cilia. Hironori Ueno, Yoshinori Iwataki, Osamu Numata*. Uyeda*.Ī novel system for expressing toxic actin mutants in Dictyostelium and purification and characterization of a dominant lethal yeast actin mutant. Noguchi, Noriko Kanzaki, Hironori Ueno, Keiko Hirose, Taro Q. Hironori Ueno, Takuo Yasunaga, Chikako Shingyoji, Keiko Hirose*.ĭynein pulls microtubules without rotating its stalk. Uyeda*.ĭominant negative mutant actins identified in flightless Drosophila can be classified into three classes. Noguchi, Yuki Gomibuchi, Kenji Murakami, Hironori Ueno, Keiko Hirose, Takeyuki Wakabayashi and Taro Q. Maryam Saadatmand*,Takuji Ishikawa, Noriaki Matsuki, Mohammad Jafar Abdekhodaie, Yohsuke Imai, Hironori Ueno, Takami Yamaguchi.įluid particle diffusion through high-hematocrit blood flow within a capillary tube.īiochem Biophys Res Commun., 396, 4, 170-175, January, 2011.ġ. Takuji Ishikawa*, Hiroki Fujiwara, Noriaki Matsuki, Takefumi Yoshimoto, Yosuke Imai, Hironori Ueno, Takami Yamaguchi.Īsymmetry of blood flow and cancer cell adhesion in a microchannel with symmetric bifurcation and confluence.īiomedical Microdevices, 13, 1, 159-167, February, 2011.ģ. Takuji Ishikawa*, Naoto Yoshida, Hironori Ueno, M.Wiedeman, Yosuke Imai, and Takami Yamaguchi.Įnergy Transport in a Concentrated Suspension of Bacteria. Inertial migration of cancer cells in blood flow in microchannels.īiomedical Microdevices, 14, 1, 25-33, February, 2012.ġ. Tatsuya Tanaka*, Takuji Ishikawa, Keiko Numayama-Tsuruta, Yousuke Imai, Hironori Ueno, Takefumi Yoshimoto, Noriaki Matsuki, Takami Yamaguchi. Nanomedicine –Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine. Mouse respiratory cilia with the asymmetric axonemal structure on sparsely distributed ciliary cells can generate overall directional flow. Hironori Ueno*, Takuji Ishikawa, Khanh Huy Bui, Kohsuke Gonda, Takashi Ishikawa, Takami Yamaguchi. Separation of cancer cells from a red blood cell suspension using inertial force. Tatsuya Tanaka*, Takuji Ishikawa, Keiko Numayama-Tsuruta, Yohsuke Imai, Hironori Ueno, Noriaki Matsuki, Yamaguchi Takami.

[birdwholanded]

I chose this book to read because I am interested in art history, Japanese culture, and music history. I have also read Muraki’s other books like 1Q84, the Wind Up Bird Chronicle, Stange Library, and After Dark and I wanted to read what this story was about. When I first look at the cover of the book Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami, it’s a pair of eyes staring off into the distance in a blue background. I didn’t know what to expect from the title of the story because from what it sounds like, it has to do with violence of some matter. The book was published in 2018 so it is fairly new. I have never been to Japan, but I do want to visit there some time because from what I’ve read about and watched on tv about, they seem strict, very proper but also fun.

When I began to read it, I like that it discusses art history through ancient Japanese art periods. The Asuka period was from 538 to 710 ad.

There are the characters Masahiko Amanda, Tomohiko Amanda, Yuzu, Komichi or Komi, Mr. Menshiki, Mariye

The places described in the story are Odawara, Tokyo, mountains out and n the middle of nowhere outside of Odawara, and Vienna, Austria.

The artist likes to paint abstracts because they don’t have a clear meaning and one has to infer about why he was painting it. Killing Commedatore is a Japanese painting that depicts a father getting stabbed with a sword and becoming bloodied with it from his son. It’s an ancient artwork. I like how the book describes ancient Japanese art periods so far because I did not know anything about it. I hadn’t studied that much about it in High school or college. It also relates to Nazism in Austria during world war Mr. Menshiki’s name means avoiding color so it is a perculiar name for the subject matter of the story because art is supposed to be representative of bright colors of the whole spectrum instead of just black and white or lack of color.

The story refers to operas from Mozart, Shubert Brahms Shumann and Beethoven, like Don Giovani. It is a strange book so far because there is a lot of adult stuff going on in the story like the protagonist sleeping with several different women after he gets a divorce from his wife. He doesn’t seem to care about what he is doing, but later he reflects about the relationship that he had with his wife and having the closeness between them that will never be shared again. He goes into detail about that he loved his ex wife a lot. It weaves in dream like scenes that are actually occurrences. When I think about it, I wonder if Japanese were influenced by western art that much. “The concept of Japanese art was born as a way of asserting something that could be distinguished as standing in opposition to western art” (116) Haruki Murakami uses similes as in “When it came to those things my father’s mouth was clamped shit, like an oyster at the bottom of the sea.” (67) “Like a hermit crab chooses the prettiest and most sturdy shell to live in” (257) “like the pale moon at dawn.” (341) “She looked like a lone night heron motionless in the shore glaring at the water’s surface for hours I end.” (442)”Like an octopus trying to survive by devouring its own legs.” (462) He connects the Western Opera Don Giovani to a Japanese painting called Killing Commendatore. The protagonists reflects on his childhood with his sister and tells about his sister’s death and how the whole family had changed after that moment. It obviously does have dark sections in the narrative like the protagonist describes another instance in his childhood where he and his sister were exploring inside of a cave and his sister had gotten lost inside of it and had no light around her and was having a difficult time of trying to find her way out of the cave. Her brother, the protagonist thinks that going into the cave and getting lost in the darkness of the cave killed his sister because metaphorically her soul could have been taken away in the cave’s darkness. That was a difficult section to read in the plot so far. It is distressing. In the book, Shintoism is referred to, with statues guarding a character’s property.

I think it has some suspenseful parts that are supposed to be unsettling and to put the reader off guard and at the edge of his or her seat. From what I get out of the story so far is that it has a lot of layers to it, but it’s all one story. It doesn’t switched time periods, however it reflects into the past for some parts of it. The story stays in Japan too. It could be described as mystery and suspense book so far. The story teller painted scenes of a white subura and of a person named Mr. Menishiki. He is commissioned to paint a young girl from his art class that he teaches by Mr. Menshiki.

I have been reading the story fairly quickly so it is a story that has kept my attention to see how it progresses which is a good thing for a book

It relates eastern culture to western culture. Asuka period. The story refers to Vienna Austria. “The truth is a symbol and symbols are the truth” (324) It is interesting to ponder the idea if there is more lighter or darker subjects and ideas in this story.

“‘On March 12, 1938,the Wehrmacht smashed across the border with Austria, invaded the country and soon gained control of Vienna. They threatened President Miklas and made him designate Seyss-Inquart, head of the Austrian Nazi Party as Prime Minister.’” (332) In this section of the story, Murakami discusses Nazism and Kristel Nacht during World War 2. The Wehrmacht is the unified armed forces of the Nazis from 1935 until 1945. Austrians were put into concentration camps. War is a theme in the book.

The narrarator paints Mariye because Mr. Menshiki wants him too. He is commissioned to do so. I think painting someone keeps their image around forever and that’s why families want paintings done, to have keepsakes and heirlooms passed down. It could relate to when Nazis came and destroyed a lot of things, families didn’t have any paintings or artwork to remember their loved ones by. It’s a story with difficult subject matter. “Tomohiko Amanda returned to Japan from Vienna in early 1939. On paper he was deported but in fact he was rescued by the gestapo. Officials from the foreign ministries of Japan and nazi germany had met in secret and agreed that he be extradited but not charged with any crime. The failed addassination attempt had taken place in 1938 but was linked to two other important events of that year: the Anschluss- Hitler’s Annexation of Austria and Kristellnacht in November. Once they occurred the brutality of hitlers plan was obvious to everyone. Austria was firmly installed as a part of the Nazi war effort. An inextricable cog in the machine” (415) The plot talks about the fall of Nanjing as well. The battle of Nanking was a battle of the second sino Japanese war. It was fought early in December 1937 between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese army for control over Nanking, the capital of the republic of China. (Wikipedia) I cannot believe that the Japanese were so violent during the war. It sounds like they were ruthless. They sounded like savages on a mission.

He sets and leaves scenes well. For instance with this ending a chapter in the story “ A large flock of cowing crows was winging across the valley heading to their nests.” (434) When one thinks of crows, they bring up gothic and dark symbolisms. War is mentioned throughout Haruki Murakami’s books a lot. In the last book of his that I read called the Wind up Bird Chronicle, war was a major theme as well.

Romance is discusses in ways as in reminiscing because the main character is actually in the process of getting a divorce so in his head he is reminding himself of all of the good times he has shared with his wife Yuzu. It sounds like they had a good marriage until the end when they decided to seperate. .

I have learned new things from this story like the Asuka period in Art history, the war between China and Japan during 1937, new things about the nazi party during world war 2 that I did not know prior.

“Even Ideas can fathom the import of moral obligation” (572) Double metaphors are discussed later on in the story and I don’t know what it quite means yet. I like how this sentence is phrased: “With the flashlight my only ally, I stepped down into the inky blackness of the path of the metaphor.” (596) “Your thoughts become a tree of riddles whose branches trails off into the dark.” (599) He travels through the dark until he heads towards a lighter area. The light to him was “the clearing was the shape of a half-moon and perfectly level.” (614) He had to travel into a cave like his sister did before she died. In this cave he see someone from the Don Giovanni opera named Donna Anna. It seems like she is a spirit that came back from the after life. She says “‘No was ne can tell what is pris not the real thing….All that we see is a product of connectivity. Light here is a metaphor for shadow, shadow a metaphor for light.’” Maryie went missing and that is why the Narrator had to go on a journey or mission to try to find her. The ending of the story is odd leaves me unsettled as reader, even though he gets back in touch with his ex wife Yuzu and she says that they can build a new relationship when she is pregnant. In the last chapter of the book, it discusses about when a tsunami came and did a lot of damageto the area. The narratator kills Commendatore. I like that history is talked about openly in the book because if the current generation forgets history, then it will surely repeat itself. I would recommend the book to people who are interested in international affairs,)

. ,

[rrowrrow]

"Saya pikir begini," kata Menshiki, "di masa tertentu orang butuh perubahan drastis dalam hidupnya. Sekali titik waktu seperti itu kelihatan di depan mata, orang harus cepat-cepat menangkap ekornya. Menggenggamnya erat-erat dan tak boleh melepaskannya. Didunia ini ada orang yang bisa menangkap titik itu dan ada pula yang tidak bisa. Pak Tomohiko Amada bisa."

Membunuh Commendatore - Haruki Murakami

[ocupania]

KILLING COMMENDATORE

Haruki Murakami

★★★★☆

_______________________________________________________________________

Soundtrack for reading the book:

Magnolia by J.J Cale

The firebird (version for piano) by Igor Stravinsky 

Astral travelling by Phararoah Sanders

All My shades of blue by Ruen brothers 

_______________________________________________________________________

My thoughts 

This is definitely one of my most favourite book of all time. I always say to anyone who have never read Murakami before that they should read ‘Killing Commendatore’ as their first book because it is the most ‘Murakami’ story ever -if that makes any sense. Killing Commendatore is the name of the painting that the protagonists discover in the mountain house he is renting from a famous painter called Tomohiko Amada. The unnamed protagonists move away from Tokyo after his wife Tuzu leaves him after 6 years of marriage. The protagonist is a professional painter who is known for his good portrait work. The painting ‘Killing commendatore’ initiates a series of strange and mysterious events. Like with the other work that I have reviewed ‘Norwegian wood’ Murakami is amazing at story telling. One of my most favourite aspects is how he is able to smoothly make the plot seem realistic but at the same time incorporate supernatural elements. One thing that stood out to be was the way he describes painting as the protagonists spends a lot of time painting portraits. I never thought the description and the process of painting would be interesting but in this case it is. However, there are a few aspects which I didn’t like as much. Firstly, the book is around 500 pages and tend to be a bit repetitive, which I personally didn’t mind but if you do read it you have been warned. Another element is the odd description of every female character’s breast. This is something I have noticed have happened in a lot of Murakami’s work. Seriously, almost every female character that is introduced in all of his works he always describes the way that their boobs look. Which I guess is fine, but in this book he describes the breasts of a young girl and there are number of scenes where the young girl talks to the protagonists about when her breasts will grow. I just found this so unnecessary as it doesn’t add anything to the plot and could be left out. However, other than that I really enjoyed the novel, like I said it is one of my personal faves but the novel do lose some points due to the repitition and the breast element.

Later!

[shadyfacewolf]

Después de 2 días sin subir dibujos á Tumblr,ahora vuelvo:

Kimiko Tomohiko de Duelo Xiaolin con el traje nacional y bandera de Japón (es un kimono que ella usa y es japonesa) (c) Christy Hui y Warner

Juniper Lee,la “Te Xuan Ze” con el traje nacional y bandera de China (ella es descendiente china) (c) Judd Wininck y Cartoon Network

Lou con el traje nacional y bandera de Francia (ella es francesa,tenemos que respetarla por haber sido creada en un país europeo) (c) Julien Neel,G-ON Productions

Shizuka Minamoto de Doraemon con el traje nacional y bandera de Finlandia (primer personaje de animé que usa un país ajeno al que fué creado) (c) Fujiko F. Fujio y Asahi TV

La dulce princesa de Hora de aventura con el traje nacional y bandera de Bolivia (c) Pendleton Ward y Cartoon Network

Eileen de Un show más con el traje nacional y bandera de Somalía (c) J.C.Quintel y Cartoon Network

Andy Johnson de Niño ardilla con el traje nacional y bandera de Estados Unidos (Andy es americano,tenemos que respetarlo también) (c) Everett Peck y Cartoon Network

Rocko con el traje nacional y bandera de Australia (Rocko es un wallaby australiano) (c) Joe Murray y Nickelodeon

El comandante Peepers de Galaxia Wander (c) Craig Mc Cracken y Disney

Y terminamos con Raven original de los únicos y verdaderos Jovenes Titanes del 2003,no el reboot malo de ahora (c) El personaje es de Glenn Murakami,no de Sam Register y Warner

[despair-to-future-arcs]

You cannot play the victim card forever. Yes Sakoto needs to be desposed of, yes your lives sucked and yes Hope's Peak is a mistake.

But they didn't tell you to do nothing while Hiyoko bullied Mikan, They didn't tell you to all gang up on Nagi because she "stole" a slot, which is a massive joke given how Peko stole Charlotte's slot and yet Peko hasn't been ostracized by that logic so you are all hypocrites. And you still decided to join a death cult on your own free will and end the world because you are the eternal victims.

And look at the anger. You aren't angry that Hiyoko almost killed Nagi because none of you even gave a single damn about her. You are mad because you were lied to, and Hiyoko is upset because she's been caught and when she says "I'm sorry" what she really means is "I'm sorry I was caught being a bitch, I promise I will be sneakier next time."

And yes you all loved Yukio but the point is his death is on YOUR hands as well because if none of you were such cowards to allow Hiyoko to torment Mikan to the point she felt the literal embodiment of the devil was her only way out, that is a colossal failing in your part.

You lot are so damn lucky Junko ordered you to hide those briefcases and Future Foundation has decided to be the better people, because if none of that was true you guys won't be here, you would be suffering a thousand deaths at the hands of a angry bitter world.

In short, accept responsibilty, grow the fuck up and start acting your age or else as soon as those briefcases are found you will all be killed.

Do we make ourselves very clear?

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Guys, I know you all went through it, there's no denying that you all were hurt and yes, the teacher was horrible and awful but does that excuse you to treat others that badly?

All of us hurt people before and we did it without meaning to, that means we all need to get this sorted and work on trying to stop the tragedy; that means we have to deal with our past and realize where we went wrong!

I mean, holy shit! You all treated Nagi like shit and she still wants to help you out! So tell me why you did that?

Because she took Hatomi's spot, that was it.

Exactly, that's the only thing she did here and guess what, she's still wanting to help you all to redeem yourselves because frankly, I don't think any of you deserve it, y'know?

We-Well if she hated so much; she could of just drop out!

Exactly, if she was bother so much then she could-!

Then why didn't the rest of you drop out then?! You all hated the teacher, hated being at Hope's Peak, hated how Hatomi and Natsumi were treated after their deaths and didn't even consider dropping out! I mean Kei, you didn't like being the Ultimate Imposter but yet you still stuck around, right?! So why didn't you drop out as soon as you realize they were encouraging something you hated! Actually I want to ask Fuyuhiko and Hiyoko the same as well!

...!

...because I just wanted Peko to have a better life, that's all.

And I just wanted to get away from my family, that's all.

Exactly, I mostly wanted to attend because I wanted to feel special and now I have to live with some alter for the rest of my life, I have to be stuck with this and I'm not whining about it - I'm doing something.

So for god sakes, stop playing the victim! We all hurt people and made mistakes, hell the only reason Yukio got killed is because none of you stepped in when Mikan was getting bullied by Hiyoko and oh right, I remember that Nagi was the only person to get Hiyoko kicked out which none of you helped and no one even thanked her for that because even with her gone the teacher was still awful, right?!

I mean... fucking hell, now I see why Nagi keeps a lot of this shit to herself, because frankly you all would just make it about yourselves, that's it and I'm relieved she doesn't have to deal with this garbage.

I know it's hard for me to say since I do care for you all and want to help, but you guys have to help yourselves; the tools are there and Future Foundation can offer so much help but there's so much they can do so just help Future Foundation, you all need to.

Yeah and since it seems Nagi looked really tired from today and everything, I can see why she doesn't want to deal with you all right now, frankly I think I would rather head to bed then deal with this nonsense.

[sandreeen]

Missing Kings Stage Play Character Visuals Release #3

Shiba Konona as Neko

Ueda Keisuke as Yata Misaki

Ono Kento as Munakata Reisi

Koyama Momoyo as Yukizome Kukuri

Osaki Natsuki as Isana Yashiro

Ensemble:

Hinata Akihisa

Yoshida Yuuki

Murakami Wataru

Ayagiri Takuya

Kakoi Ryouta

Shinzawa Tensho

Takashi Yukiya

Masuda Tomohiko

[sambart93]

2017.10.26-27 K: Missing Kings Stage - Review!

I was super duper lucky enough to go to this three times! As you may know, Hide got injured the second day of K Stage in Kyoto so for Tokyo his had a body-double, but that didn’t stop me from being any less excited as fuck for this! I was a little unsure of how the next cast would fair beforehand, - especially Natsuki and Kido (UGH KIDO...) - but anyway lets start going in order...

Official Site here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Video Coverage 1, 2 PreOrder DVD/BR here, here and here

CAST and CHARACTERS

Aramaki Yoshihiko as Kuro Shiba Konona as Neko Ueda Kandai as Suo Mikoto Isobe Karin as Anna Juri as Kusanaga Izumo Ueda Keisuke as Yata Misaki Maeyama Takahisa as Totsuka Tatara Nakao Kenya as Kamamoto Rikio Ono Kento as Munakata Reiji Marimura Kaoru as Awashima Seri Kido Yuya as Fushimi Saruhiko Osaki Natsuki as Shiro Koyama Momoyo as Kukuri Sasaki Yoshihide / Moritoki as Mishakuji Yukari Ensemble: Hinata Akihisa, Yoshida Yuuki, Murakami Wataru, Ayagiri Takuya, Kakoi Ryota, Shinzawa Tensho, Takashi Yukiya and Masuda Tomohiko

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: If we ignore how bad of an actor Kido is, and how damn short this play is (even though it’s 8000yen a ticket), and the fact that the first 30 minutes is a damn boring waste of a digest of the first two stages; this play is so good! The project mapping was spectacular, the music - as always - superb, the choreography and the fight scenes were so, so good and complex and so fast paced; I fell in LOVE with Moritoki (Hide’s body double) straight away; badass as fuuuck. He did AMAZING! I cried at this stage at least two or three different times throughout one showing; I LOVE the new Shiro!! The new Neko is adorable too! They were so faithful to the movie also, and the scenes they did extend were done very well! It’s a shame they didn’t bring back Idol K for this stage though (it was in the third one). Rating: 8/10

SPOILER REVIEW

My tickets were weird. I went from bad seat to alright seat to the best seat. Even though my best seat was my biggest gamble - it was a MiKire seat which means there’s a chance you’ll get a seat which blocks part of the stage but it ended up being 4th fucking row! It was SUCH a good seat! My seating went: 26th: 3rd Floor, First row, center right. 27th: First Floor, 2nd to last row, first seat on the left. AND First floor, 4th Row, First seat on the left. I had amazing views every single time! I am so happy with how well I got to see everything, as well as the fact I got to see it three damn time ^_^

Anyway you’re all here to hear about the play right?! Lets go!

As I said previously in the non-spoiler section; the stage follows the film faithfully; it’s almost an exact copy of the movie. But to make the time longer, they extended a few scenes and/or added higawari scenes too. They extended the Yukari/Kuro flashback scene a little more with Kuro and their master actually talking to Yukari in the flashback. 

They also extended the Yata birthday flashback and added a higawari into it where Yata has to flip his skateboard. So here’s that information:

26th - Night Show: UeChan failed the first flip but succeeded on the second one. But after the first one, the skateboard almost slipped off-stage which was a little scary.  27th - Afternoon Show: Took him two attempts again, but before he tried it the second time, the rest of Red Gang were egging him on like ‘you can do it! You can do it!’ and UeChan was like ‘SHUT UP! I can’t concentrate!’. 27th - Evening Show: UeChan got really nervous before even his first flip and Kusanaga was like ‘calm down. It’s okay!’ and UeChan went ‘shhh! .. If I do this.. it’ll be sunny tomorrow,’ and then he managed to do the flip perfectly the first time and yelled ‘TOMORROW THERE WILL BE SUN!’ xD so cute.

I really love this scene because we get really involved, both audience and cast. We get to clap when Yata gets his skateboard present and we all clapped when he succeeded in the flip, then we all clapped and sang when they did Happy Birthday for Yata - it was so good!

Also, before the show began, two of the Spector guys would do the Rules and Welcome message. But every time it was a little different. The first show one of them dropped his sword, perfectly timed, and Awashima and Fushimi walked on stage and looked at him in disgust before leaving xD And then the third show I saw he went ‘there is no Idol K... let me repeat... No Idol K...’ so clearly fans had been complaining in the anketto/questionnaire about there being no Idol K -- glad I’m not alone with that.

I want to split this review into good and bad things about this stage and then go in-depth on some points...

GOODS POINTS: Lighting, projection mapping, music, action scenes, action choreography, higawaris, comedy scenes, the body double, the new cast, the costumes, the serious/comedy balance, they extended the Kuro/Yukari and the Yata flashback scenes a little.

For some reason - maybe because it was my first time seeing K in real life - but I felt the lighting this time was so on-point and so great! We had all these flashes and some really funky lighting sequences going on; I also love the red/purple/blue they have going on when characters are on stage - they’ve had that in previous stages too - but I fell like this time, the lighting was so much more of an apparent character! I wonder how well it’ll show up on DVD though...

While the fight scenes are technically rather short - shorter than what I was expecting -, the choreography is actually phenomenal. I didn’t realise the first time around but upon my second and third, I realised just how FAST PACED the fight scenes are; especially the final one between Kuro and Yukari; it’s a short scene (technically) but the pace at which they fight and twirl and run up and down steps.

Seriously, I can totally understand HOW Hide got injured when the pacing of the fight is THAT fast, it’s so easy to miss the stairs and fall up them or land wrong as you spin around, or accidentally clashing into MakiChan because you lost your balance a little; I totally get HOW Hide could’ve gotten injured in this stage - the speed is just out of this world for most of the fight scenes. A lot of jumping up steps too during the fight scenes! Even with UeChan’s fight scenes he jumped up and down stairs! So he could’ve been easily injured too!

Lets ignore the unfortunate outcomes of the fight scenes for a moment to go back and being more positive: The fight scenes are SO good in this one! I really, really, really love the big fight scene between Kuro and Yukari so much and how they incorporated the projection mapping to make it look like they jumping between buildings and flying through the air and Kuro trying to hang onto the edge of a windowsill and stuff! So great! Also freaking MakiChan doing a one handed cartwheel in the middle of one of his fight scenes! I didn’t realise the first time but the second time I realised he used only one hand! I don’t think even I can do that anymore!! I didn’t think he was any-acrobatically-inclined but clearly he can do some basics which really impressed me! I kinda want to challenge him during his next fan event now; try a cartwheel, try the splits, can you do a handstand etc. xD 

Technically not a fight scene but when Neko uses her Trick Magic and we have the projection mapping which shows the giant cats she created attacking the bad guys and barging through the halls - so good!

Sticking to the Project Mapping: I love how they introduced Anna’s dream scene! They have a short clip of Anna waking up in this pristine white bed and then getting up and walking towards the camera; which we then go back to what’s actually happening on stage. Karin (Anna) is so beautiful in that clip <3 is that creepy? I like seeing her wake up face? xD

Going onto some comedy scenes: the comedy in this is SO up my street! I was giggling and laughing so hard at times! A few scenes that stick out to me are:

1. The Ninja Scene between Muna (Ono) and Saru (Kido): they have video evidence of someone who can go through walls stealing Anna and Muna’s automatic response is ‘this is a ninja!’, about three or four times Saru tries to correct him and tell him it’s not a ninja but Muna is so set on calling this guy a ninja that Saru gives up. It was so well done and the fact that Ono keeps a straight face and all calm as he’s like ‘this ninja is something! NINJA!’ is what makes it even more hilarious.

2. Another scene is between Kuro and Yata when they meet inside the infiltrated, Green Clan over-taken building and they started aruging and end up rubbing and pushing their heads against each other’s - I thought it was funny every single time. I can just imagine MakiChan and UeChan having so much fun internally with this scene**

3. I also loved the main fighting scene for Yata but he grabs one of the Green Clan members by the jacket and it unzips and reveals a woman’s chest and bra and he freaks out and runs to the other end of the stage going ‘ARGH! WOMAN!!!’ xD Also later in the stage when it’s revealed that the “ninja” is actually a woman too, he freaks out again and almost hides behind Kuro and grabs onto Kuro’s arm! It’s totally amusing AND adorable at the same time! I wonder why Yata is ‘afraid’ of girls xD or he just doesn’t like the thought of fighting a woman? We’ll see xD

4. We get a SUPER hilarious moment from Kuro after he and Yata stop fighting and Kuro plays a recording of his master and he gets SUPER fangirly and actually full on squeals - literally like a ‘KYAAA!!’ type squeal - it’s fucking hilarious! I legit think UeChan does partially crack up laughing every time MakiChan does that moment! It’s so good! Cannot wait to plaster it ALL OVER THE INTERNET when the DVD comes out! xD

So there’s some comedy teasers for you to look forward to!

Now onto:

BAD POINTS: Kido, 30 mins digest is a waste of time, too short, the flashback scenes still could’ve been extended, Kandai’s voice.

I don’t want to spend too much on the negative points so I’ll get through them quickly. Kido keeps being cast as if Marvelous has decided ‘guys this is Suzuki Hiroki’s replacement’ which really pisses me off. I’ve never been impressed with his acting; I don’t think he’s particularly good. And Marv isn’t helping him by giving him shoes he very clearly cannot fill. He’s an atrocious Arakita (Yowamushi Pedal) - he just looks like he’s trying way too hard to match the version of Arakita Suzuki made -, and he’s the exact same here; he’s not made Saruhiko his own; it just looks like he’s watched Suzuki (and Anzai)’s performances as Saruhiko and copied those. It’s so cringey. Please get him replaced asap and start giving him roles he can actually do instead of hiring him for every role Suzuki USED to do. That 30 minute digest at the beginning of the stage man - what a waste of time. When the two Scepter guys explained at the opening that there’s a 30 minute digest, I legit automatically blurted out ‘30 MINUTES?!’ seriously, it’s boring as fuck. No real fan in their right mind would go to the 4TH STAGE of a stage series without A. watching the previous stages, or B. watching the anime or original format of the story, or C. researching what the hell it’s all about beforehand. Any fan who DOES go into a stage series that’s well into it’s counts without researching or spending a little time to get to know it is stupid as fuck and doesn’t deserve to be at that stage! I think it’s actually insulting to fans (and a waste of time) that they thought it was a good idea to ‘explain what happened in the previous stage’ -- we’re 2.5 fans! WE ALL BLOODY REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED! Hell some of us rewatched the stages AND the Missing Kings movie the day BEFORE we went to the freaking show! I cannot express enough what a boring 30 minutes it was every. damn. time. Such a waste of 30 minutes. Which leads to my next point: TOO SHORT! Take the 30 minutes out and you’ve got a 1hr15 play! What the actual fuck?! You’re telling me you couldn’t extend the movie past it’s original runtime?! Fuck off. You could’ve done so much with this stage! You could’ve EVEN , instead of a digest, thrown in flashbacks WITHIN and THROUGHOUT the stage itself - you did it easily with Yata’s birthday flashback/video so why not do it a further 2 or 3 times too?! It’s not difficult! You could've brought Idol K back - which clearly fans were annoyed was NOT back after the third stage. You could’ve extended the fight scenes (instead of making them so fast paced and technically). You could’ve added extra scenes, made scenes up, made some more character development scenes - like scenes of Kuro and Neko searching more for Shiro before Anna turns up, or showed more of Yata struggling to get by in life now that the Red Clan has broken up, or made a really good reuinion scene between Yata and Fushimi, you literally could’ve just added a bit more information that the movie doesn’t - K Project is well known for not fully explaining and/or being confusing, but the stages have done a damn good job of making things much clearer, so you could’ve done that! Maybe show more flashbacks between Kuro and Yukari to show just how deep their ‘brotherly’ love went. Hell, even extend the Anna finally seeing Totsuka and Mikoto again because that was way too short in the stage. It would’ve been so easy to extend this stage and stuff have it fun, enjoyable, meaningful and not feel like a massive waste of time. This stage is 8000yen a ticket and you’re not going to give me AT LEAST 2 hours of stage time? What a rip off! I am so very much pissed about how damn short this stage is. Final one is Kandai’s voice as Mikoto; it really grated on it; it was like this ‘I’m so lazy I can’t even be arsed talking’ mumble and it was super annoying and super difficult to hear; it almost sounded like his mic was HALF the volume of everyone else’s because it was so difficult to understand what he was lazily mumbling out most of the time.

OKAY BACK TO FUN STUFF!

Scenes I Want to Mention/Comment

There was only one good thing about the digest: all the hugging and holding. We had Fushimi holding a collapsed Yata, Muna holding a dead Mikoto and I think we had Kuro holding Shiro. Also when I was on the third balcony, the re-enacted the whole Muna getting ontop of Mikoto scene and from my seat, it looked like they were kissing which made me excited xD silly brain >.<

I think I already lightly mentioned but, I cried so hard at Anna’s dream scene every single time! She’s just so adorable and when she sees Mikoto, she runs into his arms and he hugs her and it’s just so beautiful *cries* also I love Karin so freaking much!

Moritoki always got the biggest applause every damn time and he bloody deserves it! The audience had so much love and respect for him!

Acting Points

I’ll mainly be commenting on the new cast.

Shiba Konona as Neko: I’m going to be honest, Neko is a character who, if ever given the one in a billion chance, I would love to actually play her on stage. I’ve always liked Neko and I love her relationship with Shiro and Kuro and I love her mysterious and strange powers and just how much she pisse Kuro off in an adorable way, as well as her positivity even when the world is going to shit around them. Having said that, I really like the new actress they got for Neko this time so I expect to see her next time around! But yes,Marv, if you want a legit WHITE cat -- pick me! I’m not cute but I certainly want the role >.<

Nakao Kenya as Kamamoto Rikio: I really liked him as Rikio and I hope he continues in this series. He had a few higawaris which were great! There’s one scene where Rikio explains how he used to be fat but down he’s lost his appetite as well as weight since Mikoto was killed and at the end he always has thi little change in his words. I don’t remember what he said the first show but on the 27th (when I realised it was an higawari/adlibs) shows; the afternoon he said ‘sexy’ which people were too busy laughing from the previous joke to really hear, but in the night show he did this huge ‘WAOH!’ and even MakiChan cracked up laughing along with the rest of the crowd; it got a huge result! His clumsy, cute fight scene was nice too!

Osaki Natsuki as Shiro: He was/is totally Shiro! I was watching him and was like ‘I actually don’t remember Ryo’s Shiro at all.’ I sat there racking my brain trying to remember Ryo’s Shiro and I literally couldn’t imagine it. I just imagined ‘well he’d just look like..Ryo’, but Natsuki actually makes me think ‘hey there’s Shiro!’ rather than ‘oh that’s Ryo playing Shiro.’ And to be honest, Ryo only played Shiro once right (we don’t include the video he had in Lost Small World)?! And I don’t think any of us remember the first Shiro at all - I certainly don’t. But I am SO down for Natsuki as Shiro! I can’t wait for him in the next stage where we get to see Shiro much more! Natsuki did so good at being evil and being crazy, and then able to shift to this ‘omg what is happening! I’m scared of myself’ Shiro. He had a scale of emotions to work with in this one - especially because of the digest - and he did brilliant! Sometimes I was reminded of Nazuna (his character in Ensemble Stars) but that’s only natural because he’s using his natural voice in both stages.  really liked his final scene in this stage too! And his outfit in the final stage is gorgeous.

More Show Differences and Curtain Calls

I already mentioned the Yata Birthday scene differences but now here are some other, either scene differences or mistakes that I noticed/remembered:

26th

During the curtain call both Moritoki and Hide did greetings. Moritoki cried during his speech and explained how he’s not an actor and when he came on-board he would work from like 5am til midnight learning the lines and learning the fight scenes. MakiChan spent a lot of his time with Moritoki too which Moritoki said he was super thankful for that MakiChan spent so much time and late nights with him.

Towards the end MakiChan just had to lighten the mood by messing up his ending speech and UeChan next to him just cracked up laughing.

27th Afternoon

Unfortunately, Moritoki slipped a little during one of his fight scenes but very quickly recovered.

Also TokiEntertainment’s (MakiChan’s Ent Biz) Shachou was there! he was about 10 seats down from me! I freaked. Of course me and Shachou would go on the same day! xD

There’s another higawari where Kusanaga and Awashima are in the foreground and are on ‘pause’ while Muna and Fushimi talk; at the end of this conversation Muna asks Fushimi to join him in a doing his puzzle but Fushimi rejects him and walks off, and every time when we went back to Awa/Kusa’s scene, Kusa would start by commenting on Fushimi. During this show he said ‘I think he’s bad at puzzles (that’s why he doesn’t want to do them)’ xD

No greeting during the curtain call, but at the end UeChan and Kido were laughing hard because MakiChan messed up like three times during curtain call and even though UeChan was alughing harder, MakiChan slapped Kido against his chest and Kido looked shocked and asssaulted >.< everyone was laughing at him xD such a good moment!

27th Night

The reply from Kusa this show was ‘BUT puzzles are good!’ xD

No greeting again from anyone, but during the curtain call, MakiChan didn’t mess up this time! UeChan was so shocked which caused us all to laugh at MakiChan yet again.

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GOODS

Everyone wanted freaking MakiChan/Kuro again which was a total pain -__- but getting Shiro was so freaking easy >.<

Also the pamphlet has some freaking GORGEOUS pics! Lets appreciate them for a moment:

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MISC

K-Stage had some really bad luck this year; first we had Hide’s accident and then it turns out; apparently on the last day; MakiChan almost collapsed from either low blood-sugar or anemia. Also UeChan got injured and apparently he had to have two stitches near/next to his eye; he’s been wearing an eye patch too the past couple of days. I hope he feels better soon! Also MakiChan spent the Monday after K-Stage finished in bed all day with a fever >.< I keep telling these boys to take some fucking time off but they just won’t! -_- *sigh*

BUT Ending on a positive:

Both MakiChan and UeChan had streams the Monday/Tuesday after K-Stage properly finished and both of them talked about how they ended up kissing each other twice! Apparently the conversation was something like ‘if I have to kiss someone for a stage. No problem. Doesn’t mean anything’ and then the other was like ‘well I can do it too!’ hence all the kisses between them. ALL the fans went freaking wild! xD MakiChan was super drunk when he told us and after he finished the story he went ‘what the hell am I talking about?! Let’s move on!’ xD also UeChan apparently (I only watched MakiChan’s stream) said at the end of the story something like ‘what is with the TokiEnta Boys and kissing?!’ because last year TakaChan (Takasaki Shouta) got drunk and kissed UeChan on video xD It’s a pretty easy video/screenshot to find.**

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And that’s all! I really wanted this stage DVD ASAP! XD It was so good!

[omoionline]

Continuing our book-themed posts as of late, we've got the newest tome from Haruki Murakami, for anyone looking to delve into this 700-page odyssey:⠀ ⠀ "In Killing Commendatore, a thirty-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a previously unseen painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious thirteen-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna, a pit in the woods behind the artist’s home, and an underworld haunted by Double Metaphors. A tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art—as well as a loving homage to The Great Gatsby—Killing Commendatore is a stunning work of imagination from one of our greatest writers." http://bit.ly/2ED23oW