aloe-note

[aloe-note]

Land of the Lustrous (anime) – Episode 7

the winter arc always makes me remember how much i love this series.

this series features a lot of characters who are confined to one thing or another. cinnabar is confined to the night; antarcticite is confined to the winter. all the gems are confined to their given jobs and responsibilities. and they all seem content in their given constrictions and don't seek out change. it is only phosphophyllite who lacks a job and lacks confinement who can change so much in such a short time.

the lunarians too are changing by the day, and most of the static gems can't keep up with that.

though interestingly, red beryl is another exception with her penchant for designing new outfits. i'm not sure what to make of that.

i like antarcticite's masculinity. ise mariya, who largely plays male roles, is a great casting choice.

[aloe-note]

A Kiss and a White Lily – Volume 6

this volume is very important to the series. the inclusion of a polyamorous group makes the monogamous couples more legitimate. izumi's statement that she can only love chiharu actually means something in the context that being otherwise is also acceptable.

this series often uses jealousy to reinforce romantic feelings: a technique I'm not that fond of. but I think it works here. I don't have any experience with polyamory, but I've heard from others that jealousy is a common occurrence and something that has to be managed. so I like seeing this manga tackle it.

[aloe-note]

Land of the Lustrous (anime) – Episode 6

i like how the amethyst are able to be physically intimate with one another. the gems' nature mean that they can never actually be physically intimate, and this affects their interactions in ways i hadn't noticed until now. the amethysts' exception highlights this.

the other exception is kongo-sensei. he's always patting the gems on the head and otherwise touching them.

i like how the gems' swords hang off their butts. its cute.

also, this scene was way more effective in the manga.

[aloe-note]

Land of the Lustrous (anime) – Episode 5

a lot of this show's visual strength comes how varied the 3d models are. from the gems' mix of smooth cel lighting and translucent hair, to the painterly coloring of backdrops such as the sea, to the very crunch textures on objects like aculeatus' shell. it all combines to make a very effective look.

this water cut is gorgeous! i don't have more to say about it than that. i wish my technological capabilities at the moment let me record gifs for moments like this.

this transition is pretty cool. an interesting way to introduce the legs to the audience.

and this shot reminds me of episode 2 and the pillars. good stuff

[aloe-note]

A Kiss and a White Lily – Volume 5

I'd say this has been the weakest volume so far. the tender moments between Sawa and itsuki just weren't as strong as with previous couples.

I would attribute this to a lack of connection between the audience and itsuki: of the two, she's the one who falls harder and is the point of empathy for the tender moments to hit. despite this, it is never really conveyed to us what she sees in Sawa beyond the fact that they used to be close.

though perhaps this works in the story's favor in the way it portrays sawa: her hesitation towards itsuki matches the audience's relationship to her. this is all happening just as fast for her as it is for us. even then, her decision to commit to the relationship just doesn't really feel earned.

[aloe-note]

Land of the Lustrous (anime) – Episode 4

LOVE the admirabilis model. a lot of care was given to how it flows in the water. the dancing character animation fits it perfectly.

also yay its boobs jiggle

between water and wind, this episode features a lot of great flowing and wavering motion in its models. nothing makes me appreciate the quality of phos' hair as seeing it dance delicately like this.

the music hit me really hard in this episode: specifically "cinnabar" and "deep in the sea." i don't have great musical analysis skills but they're very emotional tracks. anyhow.

[aloe-note]

A Kiss and a White Lily – Volume 4

I don't have much new to note here so I id like to take this time to more precisely state the things I've been noticing

Most yuri manga are sparing with physical intimacy. Touches, brushes, near kisses, and the occasional deep hug pepper the story as romantic tension builds. It is only once the romance is fully confirmed that physical touch becomes more direct and intense.

Canno takes a different approach with this series. characters kiss, touch heads, and hold hands all throughout. kurosawa and shiramine kiss in the very first chapter: it's used as the beginning rather than the end of their will-they-wont-they. in this way, physical intimacy is decoupled from romance.

another key difference is that anokiss never states the exact status of the relationships. romantic readings are obvious, but I appreciate that the series doesn't feel the need to say so explicitly. canno knows they're writing to an audience that can understand the nuances of queer relationships.

the entire focus of anokiss is exploration of the shapes yuri can take. the differing levels and types of physical intimacy are a reflection of this. by separating romance from touch, canno allows a greater variety of yuri relationships to be explored.

this post has taken me longer to write than it was supposed to so I'll save talking about the melodrama for a later post.

[aloe-note]

A Kiss and a White Lily – Volume 3

the conflict this volume is presented even more dramatically than previous ones. take the main reveal:

towako's face is framed and lit in a way that emphasizes her actions as really villainous. it doesn't match the severity of the situation: yeah, what she's doing is really awful but you would expect this framing for something graver. the framing instead reflects yukina's perspective on the matter. it's the worst thing anyone's ever done to her.

this volume furthers the series' exploration of shapes of love. towako and yukina are constrasted in their love for each other and for the garden and what shape that takes for each of them. we also learn more about the shape of kurosawa and shiramine's love, featuring more intense framing.

anyhow.

[aloe-note]

A Kiss and a White Lily – Volume 2

this manga's structure is excellent. each volume's focus on a single story gives a regular pattern of satisfying arcs, but canno skillfully interweaves the overarching story of kurosawa and shiromine.

volume 2 really showcases the strengths of this ensemble cast with the way it mixes the stories of two couples in with each other. I know from the first time I read it that this strength gets stronger with time.

I like this page. the fingers on the rightside panel are not the most anatomical but it's a cute way to frame hoshino's perspective.

[aloe-note]

A Kiss and a White Lily – Volume 1

Canno includes a lot of physical intimacy between their characters in a way I really appreciate. there's not a clear divide between what counts as romantic or non-romantic intimacy. one could read this as being uncommitted to the story's queerness, but that read is fucking stupid.

some of these displays of intimacy are very melodramatic: take this biting and hand-worshipping. similar melodramatic imagery is used in metaphorical instances such as these:

doing so blurs the line of reality within the piece. the line between reality and metaphor is blurred in the same way as the line between "real" properly romantic intimacy and ambiguous intimacy (I am going to let that point cook as I read I think I might be on to something).

[aloe-note]

Land of the Lustrous (anime) – Episode 3

this may be more relevant to the last episode, but i'm fascinated by the way character and object models are deformed by the snail's acid. all jagged and stuff.

hey, look at sphene here. that's not a 3d model (to my eyes)! i'd say i was right about the importance of 3d: the detail on sphene's hair is just not on the same level as the modeled characters. they do still do the light refractions on the shoulder which is cool.

i've noticed a lot of shots with characters cordoned off to the site of large scenes. yet to identify a significance to this trend but it's worth noting in my notebook here.

dia's rainbow shine is awesome. studio orange really understands the importance of the gems' colors and uses them to bring out visuals that the manga couldn't.

dia skips the corners on the steps! adorable character detail!

okay. this scene. this fucking scene.

this is a really lavish way to adapt this spread from the manga. the use of liquid to represent the reconstruction (present in both mediums) is an interesting abstraction. but the anime's depiction of the liquid draws a closer visual parallel to gemstones.

the speckled highlights on the liquid are geometric, directly recalling the gems' geometric nature. the limited framerate common in CG anime enhance this geometric, blocky feel. most of all, the capacity of fully rendered color grants the liquid the same texturing as the solid phosphophyllite.

anyhow. good episode.

[aloe-note]

Land of the Lustrous (anime) – Episode 2

excellent foley work again here. the penetrating ringing noise of rutile's hammer in the opening scene draws your attention to that same noise in dia's fight, where it becomes actually relevant. there's also a super juicy squishing noise when euclase strikes the slug thing. love that.

the storyboards work well to show how sudden the sunspots are. they most often appear in a sudden pan away from a conversation scene, already mostly formed. the manga gets the same effect through the inherent time jump between panels. i like this adaptation choice.

i'm glad the anime understands that bort's most important role is making really cool compositions with that hair.

on that note, i think i'm beginning to understand ichikawa's character designs better. fights in this series work so well because the characters are designed as compositional tools. the lanky body types in black and white uniforms, the stupid-long swords, and the arrows used by lunarians form really strong straight lines that ichikawa (or in this case, kyougoku takahiko) can use for striking visuals. the architecture of the gem palace (i forget its proper name) does this too with its rows of pillars and barrel vaults.

this episode *really* loves those pillars btw.

[aloe-note]

Land of the Lustrous (anime) – Episode 1

3d is really the only way this anime could have been produced. the shine and texture of the gems is so important to the story's identity, and 3d enables studio orange to deliver that consistently.

look at the green light refracting onto phos's shoulder here. you wouldn't do that with 2d. you could, but you wouldn't. it'd take too much time.

the main appeal of an anime adaptation is seeing a work in motion and color. but lotl has a problem: ichikawa haruko's artwork already has amazing motion and color despite being still black and white images. the anime adaptation needs to find other ways to stand out from its source.

it achieves this well in adding sound. the foley work is excellent. from the first moment phos moves, the clinking sounds signal the material of their body. the voice acting is also great (kurosawa tomoyo my beloved). the score so far is good but i haven't had moments where it really hooked me. there is that one song reminiscent of a part of the spirited away ost, though my drawing that comparison is mainly cause of the sheer number of times i've seen that movie. anyhow.