colin-night

[colin-night]

Tyler, The Creator's "DON'T TAP THE GLASS" is a wonderful entry into his discography, showcasing another side to his artistic views and deeply real passion for music. A half hour long running mixtape filled with club anthems and cheerful upbeat radio songs which make you want to sway back and forth with only a few chords, continuing to exemplify his extremely strong and varied production that he prides himself upon. Just a wonderful experience and leaves you satisfied rather than wanting more. The subtext behind the creation of this project and Tyler's desire to free his audience from the shackles of cringe culture or the fear of becoming immortalized as "memes" is so sincere and wholehearted, the posts describing his listening parties showcasing people dancing their heart out with no end in sight for the night almost makes you wish you were THERE, that's part of the magic of it, the lack of recording or evidence- It's as if everyone who attended partook in some kind of ritual, some mystic event. The only history of this ever taking place will remain in their memories. And they must have had a beautiful time.

[colin-night]

The Ten-Count Bell of Sorrow Hatred, Grief and Regret in Ashita No Joe The final three episodes that close off the pre-filler of the initial 1970's adaptation of Ashita No Joe condense the last stretch of the manga's Toru Rikiishi arc into one beautiful trilogy, greatly elevating the manga's (still fantastic) somber and melancholic transition into the latter half of the narrative. The first season caps off with Episode 54 - "The Ten-Count Bell of Sorrow". Joe Yabuki at his worst after the grief of what he had done to his lifelong rival, Toru Rikiishi, drove him away from his friends and family and to wandering the snowy streets alone. Having lost track of time and become imprisoned with his own thoughts, Joe is truly, utterly defeated in every way. Following up the last episode's conclusion of him being beaten into the ground by two egregious punks at a food stand, we've now realized that Joe has lost the spirit of a fighter. The "wild" nature of his character has drained from him, just like the color in his life. After begging a group of paparazzi who were looking to take advantage of the incident for money, he ends up at Club Baron. This scene is what I consider to be one of the best moments in the entire story, and probably one of the most personally touching scenes I encountered in the art I interact with. The liveliness of the jazz bar and flashing lights fail to impress Joe, who in his depressed state sits alone at the booth, continuing to drink his sorrows away. However, the room shifts as his gaze turns to the dance floor, witnessing Shiraki Yoko partaking in a carefree dance. Yoko, his moral opponent as a rich girl from a successful family and Rikiishi's greatest supporter, his greatest critic. Even then, he couldn't escape her. The way the rhythm of the dance continues following Joe's eyes, the motions of her dance trailing infront of him and the whiskey glass slipping between his fingers and landing on the cold ground is a perfect sequence. It conveys so much raw emotion and meaning without needing to say anything. I find it beautiful in the most sincere sense, a humane display of weakness and coping in various forms from all the characters involved. Joe lashing out at Yoko and ruining the party, accusing her dancing on Rikiishi's grave is met with equal bite, Yoko returning his words with a simple "I saw you laying in the snow. You've been on your back since then. I guess that means Rikiishi died a stupid death, didn't he?". Her words bite vicious, considering Toru Rikiishi had nothing but the utmost respect and belief in Joe despite Joe's sheer hatred of him and their status as boxing rivals. Rikiishi endured a horrifying diet and gave up a shred of his humanity in order to honor Joe with a match, and yet Joe couldn't live with the consequences of that match which he desired for years and ran from them. Everything Rikiishi did resulted in the death of everything that gave them purpose, because Joe wasn't strong enough. His fire didn't burn bright enough. He wasn't hungry enough for victory, like the true savage he was made out to be. In that one confrontation, ending in Yoko requesting for Joe to follow in Rikiishi's footsteps and die in the ring, as to give everything that happened one final purpose. This episode is the spark that ignites the fire in Joe's heart, as later down the line after several run-ins with friends, both old and new, he returns to the boxing world- With a new purpose: To burn his fire as bright as possible, until there's nothing left but ash. To reach his greatest heights, to fight his greatest match, and die with a smile.

[colin-night]