#Harada Hideo

[choujinx]

CHIHAYAFURU: CHUUGAKUSEI-HEN (2017-2018) by tooda oto

[dare-g]

The Iron Crown (1972)

[twilightronin]

闇の狩人 1979

[celluloidchronicles]

乱

Ran

🇯🇵 | June 1, 1985

directed by Akira Kurosawa

screenplay by Hideo Oguni, Akira Kurosawa

theatre play by William Shakespeare

writed by Masato Ide

produced by Nippon Herald Films, Greenwich Film Production, Herald Ace, Toho Company, Ltd.

starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryū, Mieko Harada

2h40 | Action, Drama, History

out of plan

Browse through collections

Japanese Movies | director Akira Kurosawa | writer Hideo Oguni | writer Akira Kurosawa | writer William Shakespeare | writer Masato Ide | studio Nippon Herald Films | studio Greenwich Film Production | studio Herald Ace | studio Toho Company, Ltd. | actor Tatsuya Nakadai | actor Akira Terao | actor Jinpachi Nezu | actor Daisuke Ryū | actress Mieko Harada | Akira Kurosawa Collection

Browse through genres

Action | Drama | History

Links

trakt.tv | letterboxd

[imasallstars]

THE IDOLM@STER M@STERS OF IDOL WORLD!!!!! 2023

Information regarding the MOIW 2023 live has been revealed! The live will occur in the TOKYO DOME on the 11th and 12th of February 2023. This live will feature all five brands of IDOLM@STER on the stage together after 8 years.

The voice providers participating in this stop are as follows:

DAY 1&2

IDOLM@STER 765PRO ALL STARS 　Eriko Nakamura (Haruka Amami), Asami Imai (Chihaya Kisaragi), Akiko Hasegawa (Miki Hoshii), Azumi Asakura (Yukiho Hagiwara), Mayako Nigo (Yayoi Takatsuki), Hiromi Hirata (Makoto Kikuchi), Naomi Wakabayashi (Ritsuko Akizuki), Asami Shimoda (Ami/Mami Futami), Manami Numakura (Hibiki Ganaha), Rie Kugimiya (Iori Minase)

DAY 1 ONLY

IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS 　Triad Primus [Ayaka Fukuhara (Rin Shibuya), Eriko Matsui (Nao Kamiya), Mai Fuchigami (Karen Hojo)], Eldritch Loreteller [Haruka Chisuga (Ryo Matsunaga), Chiyo Ousaki (Koume Shirasaka)], Cyber Glass [Mina Nagashima (Haruna Kamijo), Rui Tanabe (Hina Araki)], Foreign Seaside [Nao Toyama (Mizuki Kawashima), Miharu Hanai (Tomoe Murakami)], from U149 [Asaka Imai (Chie Sasaki), Tomoyo Kurosawa (Miria Akagi), Hana Tamegai (Risa Matoba)]

IDOLM@STER MILLION LIVE 　Strawberry Pop Moon [Haruka Yamazaki (Mirai Kasuga), Azusa Tadokoro (Shizuka Mogami), Machico (Tsubasa Ibuki)], TIntMe! [Eri Inagawa (Tamaki Ogami), Akari Harashima (Iku Nakatani), Keiko Watanabe (Momoko Suou)], HanaSakuya [Yuu Kahara (Emily Stewart), Saki Minami (Tsumugi Shiraishi), Kotori Koiwai (Tomoka Tenkubashi)], Cleasky [Asuka Kakumoto (Elena Shimabara), Chouchou Kiritani (Miya Miyao)]

IDOLM@STER SideM 　DRAMATIC STARS [Shugo Nakamura (Teru Tendo)], Jupiter [Takuma Terashima (Toma Amagase), Daichi Kanbara (Hokuto Ijuin)], Beit [Shun Horie (Pierre), Tomohito Takatsuka (Minori Watanabe)], MofuMofuEn [Shogo Yano (Nao Okamura), Keisuke Furuhata (Shiro Tachibana)], C.FIRST [Yuri Ise (Shu Amamine), Masaya Miyakaze (Momohito Hanazono), Takeo Otsuka (Eishin Mayumi)]

IDOLM@STER SHINY COLORS 　 Hokago Climax Girls [Hiyori Konno (Kaho Komiya), Haruka Shiraishi (Chiyoko Sonoda), Mariko Nagai (Juri Saijo), Wakana Maruoka (Rinze Morino), Akiho Suzumoto (Natsuha Arisugawa)], Straylight [Yuki Tanaka (Asahi Serizawa), Eri Yukimura (Fuyuko Mayuzumi), Sayaka Kitahara (Mei Izumi)], noctchill [Yuu Wakui (Toru Asakura), Rio Tsuchiya (Madoka Higuchi), Saran Tajima (Koito Fukumaru), Miho Okasaki (Hinana Ichikawa)]

DAY 2 ONLY

IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS 　Threat Sign [Sayuri Hara (Mio Honda), Makoto Koichi (Haru Yuuki), Teru Ikuta (Natalia)], Dimension-3 [Kotomi Aihara (Shiki Ichinose), Shiki Aoki (Asuka Ninomiya)], flamme martini [Maki Kawase (Tsukasa Kiryu), Sayaka Harada (Miyu Mifune), Satsumi Matsuda (Syoko Hoshi), Minori Suzuki (Hajime Fujiwara)], HappyHappyTwin [Hiromi Igarashi (Anzu Futaba), Rei Matsuzaki (Kirari Moroboshi)], miroir [Hina Tachibana (Nagi Hisakawa), Rika Nagae (Hayate Hisakawa)]

IDOLM@STER MILLION LIVE 　Chrono-Lexica [Yuka Saito (Subaru Nagayoshi), Atsuki Nakamura (Roco Handa), Rika Abe (Mizuki Makabe)], Senkou☆HANABIDAN [Yuri Komagata (Sayoko Takayam), Nana Hamasaki (Noriko Fukuda), Yui Watanabe (Nao Yokoyama), Eri Ozeki (Minako Satake)], 4 Luxury [Arisa Kori (Kaori Sakuramori), Rie Suegara (Fuka Toyokawa), Emi Hirayama (Reika Kitakami), Minami Takahashi (Konomi Baba)]

IDOLM@STER SideM 　FRAME [Kentaro Kumagai (Hideo Akuno), Kento Hama (Ryu Kimura), Takuya Masumoto (Seiji Shingen)], Café Parade [Sho Karino (Yukihiro Kamiya), Takuya Kodama (Makio Uzuki), Daiki Kobayashi (Saki Mizushima)], F-LAGS [Yuko Sanpei (Ryo Akizuki), Shunya Hiruma (Kazuki Tsukumo), Takehiro Urao (Daigo Kabuto)]

IDOLM@STER SHINY COLORS 　Illumination Stars [Hitomi Sekine (Mano Sakuragi), Mayu Mineda (Meguru Hachimiya)], L’Antica [Karin Isobe (Kogane Tsukioka), Chisa Suginuma (Mamimi Tanaka), Anna Yamaki (Sakuya Shirase), Shio Watanabe (Yuika Mitsumine), Yuina Mizuki (Kiriko Yukoku)], ALSTROEMERIA [Honoka Kuroki (Amana Osaki), Ryoko Maekawa (Tenka Osaki), Noriko Shibasaki (Chiyuki Kuwayama)], SHHis [Azusa Shizuki (Nichika Nanakusa), Aya Yamane (Mikoto Aketa)]

SPECIAL GUEST 　ZWEIGLANZ [Minori Chihara (Leon), Rie Takahashi (Shika)]

[denimbex1986]

***** (out of 6)

"I See Dead People."

All of Us Strangers is based on the1987 novel Strangers , written by Japanese author Taichi Yamada. Strangers is a horror story, or more precisely a Kaidan (traditional Japanese ghost story), in which the protagonist Hideo Harada meets a couple who look exactly like his deceased parents. They form a friendship, but after Hideo's health begins to fail, he discovers that the pair are actually two ghosts that are zapping the life out of his body.

In My Life

Strangers was first made into a film in 1988 under the title The Discarnates , directed by Obayashi Nobuhiko. Now the British director Andrew Haigh has made his own interpretation of Yamada's story, in which, among other things, he has drawn inspiration from his own life and has chosen to drop the horror element altogether. A very poetic and sensitive film has come out of it.

Always on My Mind

Adam (Andrew Scott) is a middle-aged screenwriter who lives alone in a large empty phallic tower block in London. Adam's parents died on Christmas night when he was just 11 years old and it has left a huge void in his soul. In order to process his grief, Adam has therefore set about writing a story about his parents and his childhood. At first it's hard to find inspiration, but then Adam gets the idea to seek them out, in 1987... It turns into many, long talks. Among other things. about Adam's sexuality, loneliness and guilt.

Just the Two of Us - Strangers

In the midst of solitude, Adam meets the approx. 20 years younger Harry (Paul Mescal), who looks confusingly like Adam's father... At first, Adam rejects the young stranger who shows up drunk and horny on Adam's doorstep one late night. Later, however, the two men find out that they need each other's company and they start a sexual relationship. The question is whether Adam is emotionally brave and, on the whole, can give himself 100% to Harry, whom he has only just met after all.

Heart of Darkness

All of Us Strangers is a meditation on grief, loneliness and love. These are some heavy subjects that set thoughts and emotions in motion in the audience. The big philosophical question of whether our main character died in his own way together with his parents is quite thought-provoking and the problem of how to move on and let go of the past in order to make room for and let the present in is a quite recognizable feeling, which not only deals with grief as a result of death, but also in many other facets of life.

Dream reality

The reinterpretation of Yamada's story is not perfect, there is some student food about Haigh's navel-gazing when it comes to the whole love part that he has added, but All of Us Strangers has a lot of good elements and moments in it. I am especially fond of the dreamy/meditative atmosphere the film moves in, where you never quite know what is real and what is fantasy, because both parts have equal importance in this story.

The Talented Mr. Scott

It is the talented Andrew Scott ( Sherlock , Fleabag , Specter and the upcoming Netflix series Ripley ) who runs the show in All of Us Strangers . He masterfully handles Adam's many complicated emotions with impressive authenticity and a heartfelt vulnerability that resonates with the audience. As Adam lost his parents at the age of 11, one can imagine that there is a certain delay in his mental development, and Scott elegantly incorporates this into his character.

Triangle of Sadness

Of course, Scott isn't alone in telling the tragic story, he gets the perfect mental counterpoint from Claire Foy and Jamie Bell as Adam's late parents, while Paul Mescal as Harry gives him, let's just say, the physical counterpoint that completes this separate triangle drama.

All of Us, Strangers

If there's one thing you can learn from All of Us Strangers , it's this: Get to know your parents, you never know how long you'll have them. In itself a simple message, but one that is quickly forgotten in our busy everyday life, where we all too often take things for granted. So it's good that Andrew, Haigh and Scott can remind "all of us strangers" about it.'

[byneddiedingo]

Jinpachi Nezu and Mieko Harada in Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985) Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryo, Mieko Harada, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Hisashi Igawa, Pîtâ, Masayuki Yui. Screenplay: Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Masato Ide, based on a play by William Shakespeare. Cinematography: Asakazu Nakai, Takao Saito, Shoji Ueda. Production design: Shinobu Muraki, Yoshiro Muraki. Film editing: Akira Kurosawa. Music: Toru Takemitsu. Costume design: Emi Wada. Lavish in color and pattern, Ran may be Akira Kurosawa's most pictorial film, to the point that the images and costumes and sets sometimes threaten to overwhelm the human drama at its core. This is Kurosawa's second effort at translating a Shakespeare play into medieval Japanese terms, and I prefer his adaptation of Macbeth, the 1957 Throne of Blood, to this reworking of King Lear. It seems to me that in Ran, Kurosawa stumbles over the analogous figures from Shakespeare in ways that he doesn't in his earlier film. Turning Lear's daughters into Hidetora's sons robs much of the delicacy and painful sadness of the Shakespeare play, especially in the final reunion of Lear and Cordelia. And King Lear is a more complex play than Macbeth, with its intricate subplot involving Gloucester and his sons, and the multiple intrigues of the households of Goneril and Regan. Kurosawa has pared down and fused some of these secondary stories, but he still loses sight at times of his central figure, the Lear analog, Lord Hidetora. Tatsuya Nakadai is unquestionably one of the world's great film actors, but he's too sturdy a figure for the enfeebled Hidetora, and the stylized old-age makeup often hides his features -- except for the great, glaring eyes. There are grand things, however, in the film, including a wonderfully villainous performance by Mieko Harada as the Lady Kaede, and a curiously effective Fool, performed by the androgynous actor-dancer known as Pîtâ.

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: What's your take on Original Characters that make their first appearance or were made specifically for Crossover games? Examples include Ingrid from Capcom, Reiji Arisu for the Namco X Capcom Games and System for BBTAG.

Such characters certainly help "pad" the VAST VOID (applied phlebotinum?) that explains such crossovers in the first place… but I digress…

But, even from that perspective, such characters DO, at the very least, serve a cool purpose of blending some key aspects of any and every franchise they come in contact with in the process.

I'd also like to make the argument that most KOF (King of Fighters) characters were built INTRINSICALLY for this purpose, since KOF is a "crossover fighting game dream match" at its CORE.

That's not to say such unique characters are shallow by nature, far from it… only, to see them step outside their own franchise or SINGLE UNIQUE CROSSOVER GAME in which they existed is going to be like pulling teeth!

Imagine putting said characters in YET ANOTHER CROSSOVER… I mean… Fortnite DOES come to mind… but at most you're going to get maybe a handful of "Hey, I know that character!" moments from the fans.

What sort of business connections do you suppose a man like Katsuhiro Harada must HAVE in order to bring such characters together on the SAME stage? Or Masahiro Sakurai for that matter?

Even a character like Gilgamesh (Final Fantasy Series) might have just the right amount of "magic" to make the impossible "possible" (to say nothing of Hideo Kojima's creations).

That said, putting Reiji and Xiaomu in the same room as Abyss, Galactus, System, AND Leopaldon would be pretty neat!

Speaking of which... I do have an "ideas" tag, in case anyone forgot!

[likmacuhylang]

Results of 2023 Year

January

Manga: "The Reason Why Raeliana Ended Up at th Duke's Mansion" by MIlcha |09| Manga: "Who Made Me a Princess" by Plutus |12| Book: "The Signal-Man" by Charles Dickens |13| Book: "New Pass" by Amelia Edwards |13| Cinema: "Amsterdam" by David Russel |14| Book: "The Portrait" by Margaret Oliphant |15| Anime: "JoJo Bizzare Adventure" by Naokatsu Tsuba |15| Book: "Fight with Shadow" by Carl Jung |16| Book: "Diagnosing of Dictators" by Carl Jung |16| Book: "Western Nationalism and Eastern Nationalism" by Benedict Anderson |22| ------------------------------------ 6 Books; 2 Manga; 1 Cinema; 1 Anime

Febrary

Manga: "Mutant wa Ningen no Kanojo to Kiss ga Shitai" by Giba-chan |01| Manga: "Ishuzoku Joshi ni ○○ Suru Hanashi" by Suimin |12| Book: "99 Stupid Questions about Art and More One" by Alina Nickonova |16| Manga: "Frau Faust" by Kore Yamazaki |18| Manga: "Secret Alliance" by Lero |18| Manga: "Yuusha Goikkou no Kaerimichi" by Ryouji Hirano |19| Anime: "Happy Sugar Life" by Nobuyoshi Nagayama |19| Manga:"Kyuuketsuki Marguerite to Kuenai Gokinjo" by Yuu Aikawa |24| Book: "Edgar Allan Poe. Burnt Life. Biography" by Peter Aykroyd |25| Manga: "Hanamachi Oni" by Hina Sakurada |26| Cinema: "2001: A Space Odyssey" by Stanley Kubrick |26| Cinema: "The Pale Blue Eye" by Scott Cooper |27| Cinema: "Menu" by Mark Mylod |27| ------------------------------------ 2 Books; 7 Manga; 3 Cinema; 0 Anime

March

Anime: "Darling in the FranXX" by Atsushi Nishigori |03| Manga: "Bara no Tame ni" by Akemi Yoshimura |03| Cinema: "Cowboy from Copenhagen" by Nicolas Winding Refn |04| Cinema: "Breakfast on Pluto" by Neil Jordan |05| Cinema: "Holy Spider" by Ali Abadasi |06| Cinema: "Youth" by Paolo Sorrentino |07| Manga: "I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss" by Anko Yuzu |09| Manga: "Goodbye, Eri" by Tatsuki Fujimoto |15| Book: The Entire Collection of Prose by Edgar Allan Poe |21| Cinema: "i am thinking of ending this" by Charlie Kaufman |23| Cinema: "We Need Talk About Kevin" by Lynne Ramsay |24| Manga: "Beware the Villainess!" by Yeolmae |28| Cinema: "Phantom Thread" by Paul Thomas Anderson |29| ------------------------------------ 1 Books; 4 Manga; 7 Cinema; 0 Anime

April

Anime: "Konosuba" by Natsume Akatsuki, Kurone Mishima, Yuujirou Abe, Takaomi Kanasak |01| Anime: “Only Yesterday” by Isao Takahata |02| Manga: "My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness" by Kabi Nagata |02| Manga: "Koroshiya 1" by Hideo Yamamoto |03| Manga: "1" by Hideo Yamamoto |03| Book: “Tradition of Literary Gothic” by Bella Nacpock |08| Book: “Metamodernism. Historisity, Affect and Depth” by Robin van den Akker |10| Anime: "GTO" by Tooru Fujisawa, Noriyuki Abe |14| Book: “The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious” by Carl Jung |16| Manga: "Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku" by Yuuji Kaku |18| Cinema: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” by Laura Poitras |24| Cinema: “New Old Play” be Qiu Jiongjiong |25| Book: "Octet" by David Foster Walllace |25| Cinema: “Benedetta” by Paul Verhoeven |27| Manga: "Cells at Work! CODE BLACK" by by Shigemitsu Harada, Akane Shimizu, Issei Hatsuyoshi |28| Manga: "The Villainess Needs Her Tyrant" by Ta-Hong Il |30| ------------------------------------ 4 bOOKS; 6 mANGA; 3 Cinema; 3 Anime

May

Book: “Tell me a sto…” by Una Hurt |02| Manga: "The Villainess's Maker" by Jeongu, I-Su Seol |02| Book: “Lectures on aesthetics” by Georg Hegel |05| Book: “In the Shadow of the Silent Majorities” by Jean Baudrillard |06| Anime: "Cowboy Bibop" by Hajime Yatate, Shinichirou Watanabe, Shinichirou Watanabe, Akira Toba |14| Anime: "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie - Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Hajime Yatate, Shinichirou Watanabe, Toshihiro Kawamoto, Kimitoshi Yamane |14| Cinema: "The Whale" by Darren Aronofsk |15| Cinema: "Lamb" by Vladimar Johannsson |16| mANGA: "Love Advice from the Great Duke of Hell" by Unfins |17| Cinema: "Bones and All" by Luca Guadagino |18| Cinema: "Alcarras" by Carla Simon |19| Cinema: "Everything, Everywhere All at Once" by Daniel Scheinert, Daniel Kwan |20| Manga: "The Villain's Savior" by Myeong Rang, Zetson, Seur-A Yeon |22| Cinema: "The Hateful Eight" by Quentin Tarantino |26| Book: “Chrysanthemum and Sward. Models of Japan culture” by Ruth Benedict |27| Book: "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" by J.D. Salinger |29| Book: "A Haunted Monastety" by Rober van Gulik |30| Manga: "When the Villainess is in Love" by HJ, Gwi-Jo Seo |31| ------------------------------------ 7 Books; 4 Manga; 6 Cinema; 2 Anime

June

Manga: "Croa Chimera" by Kairi Sorano |02| Cinema: "Django Unchained" by Quentin Tarantino |02| Cinema: "Interstellar" by Cristopher Nolan |04| Cinema: "The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear" by David Zucker |07| Manga: "Coffin Jackson" by Chongtak |08| Manga: "Babelheim no Shounin" by Shouichi Furumi |08| Book: "Seven Night" by Jorge Luis Borges |09| Book: "Watch Cinema" by Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio |14| Cinema: "Call of the Night" by Kotoyama, Tomoyuki Itamura |18| Cinema: "Crows are White" by Ashen Nadeem |18| ------------------------------------ 2 Books; 3 Manga; 5 Cinema

Jule

Manga: "Scroll if You Dare" compilation webtoons |08| Manga: "Hell is Other People" by Yong-Ki Kim |08| Cinema: "Dreams" by Akira Kurosawa |09| Manga: "The Witch and Her Zombie Son" by Sinyura |09| Book: "Metaphysics" by Aristotle |24| ------------------------------------ 1 Book; 3 Manga; 1 Cinema

August

Cinema: "Master Gardener" by Paul Schrader |03| Manga: "Nude Model" by Tsubasa Yamaguchi |09| Book: "The Silence of the White City" by Eva García Sáenz de Urturi |10| Anime: "Akudama Drive" by Tomohisa Taguchi |12| Manga: "Miageru to Kimi wa" by Makoto Kobori |16| Anime: "Elfen Lied" by Mamoru Kanbe |17| Manga: "Shingeki no Kyojin" by Hajime Isayama |24| Manga: "Final Girl" by You Kokikuji |24| Manga: "Itoshi no Living Dead" by AidaIro |25| Manga: "Adolte and Adarte" by AidaIro |25| ------------------------------------ 1 Book; 6 Manga; 1 Cinema; 2 Anime

September

Manga: "Vanilla Jingai x Jingai Yuri Anthology" |04| Manga: "Cinnamon Jingai x Ningen Yuri Anthology" |04| Anime: "Neon Genesis Evangelion" by Hideaki Anno |07| Cinema: "Murder on the Orient Express" by Sidney Lumet |08| Cinema: "Men" by Alex Garland |09| Manga: "Neko no Otera no Chion-san" by Makoto Ojiro |10| Cinema: "Amélie" by Jean-Pierre Jeunet |10| Book: "Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects" by Bertrand Russell |11| Cinema: "Crimes of the Future" by David Cronenberg |11| Cinema: "The Scent of Green Papaya" by Tran Anh Hung |16| Anime: "Inu-Oh" by Hideo Furukawa, Taiyou Matsumoto, Masaaki Yuasa, Fuuga Yamashiro |17| Anime: "The Duke of Death and His Maid S1" by Inoue, Yoshinobu Yamakawa |27| ------------------------------------ 1 Book; 4 Manga; 6 Cinema; 2 Anime

October

Cinema: "Death Proof" by Quentin Tarantino |05| Cinema: "Jackie Brown" by Quentin Tarantino |05| Cinema: "Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood" by Quentin Tarantino |07| Cinema: "American Psyho" by Marry Harron |08| Cinema: "Fight Club" by David Fincher |08| Cinema: "Leon" by Luc Besson |09| Cinema: "Lost in Translation" by Sofia Coppola |11| CinemaL: "Autumn Sonata" by Ingmar Bergman |12| Cinema: "Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon" by Ana Lily Amirpour |14| Cinema: "El Conde" by Pablo Lorrain |14| Cinema: "Asteroid City" by Wes Anderson |15| Cinema: "Mona Lisa" by Neil Jordan |20| Book: "The Master of Petersburg" by John Maxwell Coetzee |26| Anime: "Serial Experiments Lain" |31| ------------------------------------ 1 Book; 12 Cinema; 1 Anime

November

Book: "Not After Midnight" by Daphne du Maurier |11| Book: "My Lost City" by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald |11| Cinema: "The Killer" by David Fincher |11| Manga: "Mariage busines" by KEN |16| Anime: "GOLDEN BOY" by Tatsuya Egawa |17| Book: "Men Without Women" by Ernest Hemingway |17| Manga: "Monster and the Beast" by Renji |19| Manga: "Shinonome Tantei Ibun Roku" by John Tarachine |19| Manga: "Bird Collector" by Kang Se Ah |20| Cinema: "Kurosawa’S Way" by Catherine Cadou |22| Book: "Modern Nihilism. Chronicle" by Costantino Esposito |26| Cinema: "Triangle of Sadness" by Ruben Östlund |27| Cinema: "Past Lives" by Celine Song |27| Cinema: "Rapito" by Marco Bellocchio |29| Anime: "Angel's Egg" by Mamoru Oshii, Yoshitaka Amano |29| Cinema: "A Haunting in Venice" by Kenneth Branagh |30| ------------------------------------ 4 Books; 4 Manga; 6 Cinema; 2 Anime

December

Book: "The Lake" by Banana Yoshimoto in English |05| Book: "Aesthetics. Textbook for universities" by Victor Bychkov |10| Cinema: "The Holdovers" by Alexander Payne |15| Cinema: "Chinatown" by Roman Polanski |15| Manga: "Pandora Hearts" by MOCHIZUKI Jun |19| Book: "This Is Water" by David Foster Wallace |20| Book: "May '68 Did Not Take Place" by Gilles Deleuze |22| Book: "Citrons from Sicily" by Luigi Pirandello |22| Book: "Six Characters in Search of an Author" by Luigi Pirandello |23| Cinema: "May December" by Todd Hayness |24| Manga: "The Wife I Loved Dearly" by Touryuumon Takeda |25| Manga: "Our Torsos Align: Human x Monster Love" by Ryou Sumiyoshi |25| Cinema: "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" by Joseph Sargent |25| Manga: "Red Riding Hood's Wolf Apprentice" by Sayaka Mogi |26| Manga: "Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man: 17-21" by Tatsuki Fujimoto |26| Manga: "Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man: 22-26" by Tatsuki Fujimoto |27| Manga: "Just Listen to the Song" by Tatsuki Fujimoto |27| Manga: "Look Back" by Tatsuki Fujimoto |27| Manga: "Tetteleposan" by Tatsuki Fujimoto |27| Manga: "Imomushi" by Suehiro Maruo |27| Book: "Trilogy" by Jon Fosse |28| Manga: "The King and the Paladin" by Rin-Bi Lee |29| Cinema: "Seven Weeks" by Nobuhiko Obayashi |30| Manga: "Stargazing Dog" by Takashi Murakami |31| Manga: "Star Protector Dog" by Takashi Murakami |31| Manga: "Emergency Rations & Bountiful Feasts" by Nagabe |31| Cinema: "Between Revolutions" by Vlad Petry |31| ------------------------------------ 7 Books; 14 Manga; 6 Cinema

Top the Best Books of Year: 1. "The Lake" by Banana Yoshimoto in English 2. "Not After Midnight" by Daphne du Maurier 3. "The Master of Petersburg" by John Maxwell Coetzee Top the Best Manga of Year: 1. "Frau Faust" by Kore Yamazaki 2. "Bara no Tame ni" by Akemi Yoshimura 3. "The Witch and Her Zombie Son" by Sinyura Top the Best Cinema of Year: 1. “New Old Play” be Qiu Jiongjiong 2. "2001: A Space Odyssey" by Stanley Kubrick 3. "Between Revolutions" by Vlad Petry Top the Best Anime of Year: 1. "Cowboy Bibop" 2. "Serial Experiments Lain" 3. "Call of the Night"

[uzumakih-s]

Chihayafuru Middle School Arc: Mashima Taichi

[watayaaratamblr]

Chihayafuru chapter 226 [long] impressions:

This is more of "everything that went through my mind while reading every page of the chapter"

naturally, gonna be super ..like SUPER long.

1) Shinobu in her fine Kimono was happy or proud? What are the flowers around her? Who knows, we only know that anything they might symbolize is already clear on her face and pose. She played a very strong opponent, she had “special” fun and she won. Only one remaining win and she will preserve her title for the 4th year in a row. Chihaya on the other hand was lost… She did everything she could “come up with” but she still couldn’t win any of the two matches… maybe “come up with something new” was her mistake? Could it be that it’s impossible to defeat the queen in her world, should Chihaya bring her out instead, Chihaya probably didn’t even thought of this because she is completely lost, she worked very hard and her hard work paid off somehow but it is not enough Chihaya seems unable to have any fun; it’s all about needing to win for some reason, why the passionate Chihaya feels so far away?

2) Arata is shook! He is no longer seeing the Meijin in front of him, he is rather calling Chihaya’s name! On the Meijin board we can see 4 poems, (one was shown clearer behind Hiro who was confused with Arata’s sudden distraction; Sudo also noticed and wondered + the 4 poems seem all on Suo’s side?)

30/Ariake no: the poet expresses his hate for dawns after he had to part from his lover at a dawn with a moon that looked so cold and indifferent. 76/Watanohara-ko: This is the second “Arata” poem (as it starts with the word WATA). The poet describes white waves rolling onward which can be mistaken for the white clouds up in the heavens. 20/ Wabi nureba: a consuming passion poem in which the poet tells the woman he loves that he is willing to sacrifice everything to continue their relationship and that he will go meet her despite the heavy price he knows he will have to pay. 74/ Ukari keru: The poet is in distress because the lady he loves is cold to him and his prayers to be happy with her were futile.

The choice of these poems might be clarified when the cards are read but (because Suo seems shadowed somehow and the focus is on Arata), we can still think that they are about Arata’s feelings and what he wants to do about Chihaya’s state now and how she will treat him after her loss .. She already turned her head away from him after her 1st loss, she avoided him, and now she lost again and Arata who is in love with her is really worried.

3) Arata assesses the situation, Chihaya has 2 losses which will put a great pressure on her for the next games and give Shinobu the chance to be more relaxed. The image of Chihaya’s back when she rushed out with her hand on her face as if she was crying was so strong for Arata, the background intensifies what he felt, he was really worried and repeating her name while sweating (dunno if this was intentional, but he wasn’t sweating before he noticed Chihaya (on ch225)) On the other hand, Suo was still completely focused.

4) 78/Awaji shima: was read and Arata was late. Suo took it

This poem tells about the sleepless nights of a guard at some gate caused by the cries of the plover birds crossing the place known as an exile (the plover is also used to symbolize winter) so this poem might invoke the feelings of loneliness and nostalgia.

65/Urami wabi: was the next one and Arata was also late, the difference is now only 1 card. Sudo was cheering for Suo and wandering if a luck of the draw will be the fate of this game. Arata was taken aback!

The poet of Urami wabi is a lady who is separated from her husband so she felt resentment to him, she cried and her sleeves were always wet but what concerned her more was her reputation tainted because of her failed relationship.

These two poems didn’t appear on the board (because only the upper part was showing) but 78 was on Arata’s side & 65 was on Suo’s. The fact that 78 was the poem read to pull Arata out of his thoughts and keep him focused on his match makes me see it as the plover birds keeping the guard from going to sleep. It can also hint at the distraction itself, if sleep is what we do at night but the plovers prevent it, then Arata should focus on his game but his worry for Chihaya also prevents it, so his feelings or Chihaya’s state is the plovers. As for 65, I can’t think of many possible reasons but it might be the “reputation” part, maybe it’s a hint at Arata’s “name” as the “grandchild of eternal meijin Wataya Hajime” that everyone was eager to see through him which might soon be challenged.

5) Murao & Kuriyama wondered what happened to Arata after he achieved such good result till now. Suo had his eyes glued to the Tatami, his aunt was there, he knew but he didn’t try to look. Arata’s club-mates explained that this was a sign of Suo’s strength: he would use the least of your mistakes like losing your focus for even a sec. Riza specifically was very nervous. Arata started to revise what was read and what wasn’t. he kept good track of all read and unread cards, including the dead cards (Taichi was always praised when he did this but now that Arata is doing it, it feels normal and so like him, I believe we all know that Arata is stronger, Taichi showed us the process to arrive there but Arata was the first to arrive there, he definitely passed by most what Taichi experienced.). With this review, Arata knows what he can use his cross sweep on: Wabi & Wata-ko. Ariake is the 3rd remaining card on Tatami (besides the two above & the thress are drawn earlier on the board) but there are also 3 A cards not read yet (dead cards) which are 58/Arima+ 39/Asaji+ 64/Asaborake-u, Arata expects that Suo will wait to make sure of the 3rd syllable. Arata was worried & his grandpa’s ghost came to support him like Taichi and Harada’s ghost too, Hajime analyzed Suo before and he noticed that he wasn’t good with the cards on the outer edge of his own formation, this is something Hajime noticed back when he was alive and sane, was it like 5 years ago? So is Suo’s condition worse than back then?

6) Hajime’s teachings calmed Arata a bit, he is ready to fight again (he moves so handsomely), those where only words told to him by his mentor, but he is also a real deal, his body is ready, his hands are used to attack, he practiced enough to be able to go under his opponent’s hand to take a card, luckily an ‘A’ card on Suo’s side was read, Arata attacked and he practiced enough to be able to protect that card until the kimariji is decided (also Suo didn’t practice enough to know how to break that defense, it was a card on the edge of his playing field too, but there are only 3 cards left, so he could commit it to his memory as Arata said before on ch 223, the most important thing is memorization, having a card in your sight Then committing it to your memory, you’ll be able to see it even with closed eyes and Arata played like that before when he couldn’t find his glasses)

7) 30/Ariake is the one read, Arata put his hand on it when he made sure and Suo couldn’t find a way to it. Among the 4 poems initially shown on the board, this one was read. Who does it refer to? (if it does). Who is the unpitying moon? who parted with what? who feels longing for what? I can’t really think of an answer and I can’t even tell if there is an answer to begin with. But, it might have something to do with the idea of “committing the card to memory after sight” because when this principle was explained on 223, this card was among the ones shown around Arata & Suo. Arata’s family members where happy contrary to Suo’s family members.. These two panels made me think that in these matches between these two, the families of the players are as involved as the players themselves. (And Akira looks more surprised than happy, maybe he still doesn’t realize how his own words back at the hotel are true: “Arata, you are strong”.) The commentator confirmed the greatness of Arata’s move and there was a suspicious man behind him LOL (why was this man drawn there?)

8) Arata’s cover seems to be a high level one too, this is all Arata’s Karuta because he is the one using his body for it. Suo now seems in danger like Chihaya. Kuriyama & Murao are overjoyed and Arata went out with rather an indifferent face? there are no signs of relief or happiness, he looks rather lost in thoughts.. I was thinking that Suo acknowledged Arata’s strength (that beat him), but for some reason and contrary to Harada sensei, it’s not only “I don’t want to play anyone who is not strong”, he seems like he doesn’t even want to play this strong Arata, even when Kyoko tan who gives him enough motivation to play, he still couldn’t bring himself to use enough strength to defeat Arata…it’s like he is disappointed, he wants something else from him that Arata isn’t showing him… Anyway, Arata now doesn’t even look tired or invested in his win in any way.

9) Now he looks surprised, is it because he can’t see Chihaya anywhere? the half black & half white background was used before and in my case, it represents “Confusion”. In addition to the blush, Arata makes a completely unrelated face with the one he made after he won, it’s like the moment he came outside, he became someone else, or better, he was someone else but the moment he came out, he became himself again (can we then take the blush as an “Arata is himself” sign & its disappearance as a “Hajime mode” sign? XD) The SFX isn’t BAM right? because who is still taking cards? According to Google, it’s rather (バツ/ turn suddenly); And seeing Kana searching for her confirmed that she was nowhere around so he went to look for her right away, even before he reports his win and gives back the cards. (he looked like an old man in the 3rd panel lol) and in the 4th, he looked very concerned for Chihaya suddenly sweating and turning around in a hurry. Kana’s way of searching was by shouting loudly everywhere, while Arata’s reflects more of his personality and I like it, he won’t do random things, he goes to the places where she might be, calmly & silently.. I really love this. So he asks around, the bathroom was a good place to look in but she wasn’t there (and he was so amusing being all shy but asking anyway) These few panels tell me more about Arata’s character; he really is used to take matters into his hands. He didn’t go to ask Kana when was the last time Chihaya was seen and where etc. he didn’t approach those who were already searching for her, he went to do it himself. I already said that, but I guess, his parents & his family conditions made him this way. he couldn’t get support, he was rather the one asked to help so he learnt not to ask for help and to take care of things himself instead. The outside was the last place to look in, is it because Arata was more intuitive that he could find her before Kana who was already searching before he even finished his match? Who knows, but I certainly see Arata as a reliable guy, he always was and he is also now. And there she was, Chihaya was crouching on the cold snow…

10) Arata stuttered like usual before he gets Chihaya’s name out; A whole page just to tell us Arata found Chihaya crying desperately in the snow and her bare feet were red from cold. No special backgrounds, no hinting no indirect messages, it’s all snow and white and they were the only ones there. Arata put his hand on her back casually then lowered his head to see her face (imagining this in slow motion is so warm) and then noticed her freezing toes..

11) As Arata noticed Chihaya’s feet, he held her up on his shoulder, no blushing, no shyness, no hesitation, no clumsiness, his familiar self was buried and Chihaya is what matters now! Arata is strong! He is 177cm and weighs 65kgs while Chihaya is 167 and weighs 54kgs, not much difference right? And this wasn’t the 1st time he carries her, He did before when she fainted in her 1st nationals, he carried her bridal style, now it’s an OTS carry (yep, read about this on TV tropes and they gave it an abbreviation lol “Over The Shoulder carry”) Chihaya was surprised but her focus soon was turned to the box of cards that Arata dropped while carrying her, She started to apologize, she certainly sees the cards as living humans now, Arata wasn’t as concerned, she was 1st for him and everything will come after. When the box fell, 4 poems were revealed:

6/kasassagi no: The misty bridge between distant lovers that will bring them together for sure. 51/Kaku to dani: This is about a fierce love that the poet feels burning inside him but doesn’t know how to express it to the woman he loves. 26/Ogurayama: The poet tries to invite an emperor to visit a certain pretty place that his father visited before and he wished his son would come to see it too. He uses the maple leaves to express the felt desire & longing to see the emperor-son. And half shown, 72/Oto ni kiku: it’s about the known waves of "Takashi beach" that the poet doesn’t want to approach not to wet her sleeve, but it’s actually about her not trusting the invitation she got from a man and fearing a love affair that will end in tears, this poem can be used to express avoiding something not to get hurt by it…

Again, none can say for sure why exactly these poems but I strongly believe that they are a hint. And for me, they are saying something about the relationship between Chihaya & Arata (they are a love story!!).

Looking back on the history of poem 6, we can expect that Suetsugu is going back to the idea of "there is a distance between Chihaya & Arata which is like the distance of the two legendary lovers Orihime & Hikoboshi" but this time, Arata is the one who is preoccupied with this distance more... Kaku to dani: needless to say, this is about Arata’s feelings for Chihaya, they are burning again because Chihaya needs something to cheer her up so he needs to convey them somehow. Ogurayama: I believe this is about the maple leaves carrying Arata’s feelings. Even if he doesn’t try to show it or be vocal about it, even though he used his phone only 3 times to send something to Chihaya (was only a msg through Taichi, then a message to her & Taichi and finally a call-what a progress lol), but he longs for her and wants her to be happy like how the emperor would have felt if he came to see those pretty crimson maple leaves. He wants his feelings to make Chihaya happy somehow. And the half-shown Oto ni kiku is about fear of love and tears. This is about Chihaya who isn’t allowing herself to be involved with love yet! there is something she feels lacking which is necessary before she lets herself love and I believe it’s the thing making her turn her head away from Arata ..

Then Chihaya realized, then looked at Arata’s head, he won his much! he now has 2 wins and one more win and he will achieve the dream he shared with her, the kinda promise: “this weekend, let’s make our 1st dream the reality”

12) Then Chihaya cried, helplessly. She congratulated Arata through her tears but she was rather miserable… It’s so hard to be happy for him right? this is not a win which will be enough to get by either him OR her, whichever happens should be good if they are friends right? but no, this is about her!! I have a feeling that if Chihaya won & Arata not, she wouldn’t be very sad for him.. There is something telling me that Chihaya is only scared of being left behind by Arata, as long as he doesn’t, she will be fine, but if he does, she will feel devastated. this is such a strong word, but I mean it.

13) And she voiced a bit of her concern, she was afraid she can never win, even though she lost only by 3 cards, personally, I’ll think that from 7 cards to 3, I can make it in the next game, but Chihaya seems to think that the strongest she can be is the way she was in this second game, then she can only get close to Shinobu that much, not to lose with more than 3 cards. Arata was surprised; maybe he never thought she could lose hope? or maybe he is confused how she can say so when he believes that she can win against Shinobu.. And ofc, before he says anything Kana & Tamaru finally found Chihaya. Kana is as wary of Arata as ever, the n°1 Taichiha shipper. But apparently, she didn’t see Arata bringing Chihaya from outside, she saw only when he put her down and that looked “too close” for her and “hurry up, let’s go to your waiting room, it’s like she is saving her from Arata.. While our gentleman was putting Chihaya down so carefully while looking at her feet whether they are fine or not.

14) Kana is indeed a typical Taichiha shipper, I have seen it a lot, no matter what Arata does, he is always a target for hate or at least disdain. Approaching Chihaya is a big no for them let alone take caring of her. I tried to laugh at this panel, I thought that sensei really is referring to those fans, she might have wanted it to be a comical moment but it’s not. What I saw is that, again, Kana is putting Taichi & herself before Chihaya & it sucks. Arata didn’t even notice her though, thankfully, all he could see was Chihaya, the painful face she was making & her tears (The background of confusion as I call it).. Arata suddenly took us for another rare moment inside his stubbornly concealed heart, the clumsy guy who seems shallow & insensitive to lot of readers.. Chihaya’s weight alone made him look so deep into her and see so much…She is unfamiliar to him, he didn’t get to learn earlier about her everything, but in every second he is given, we saw him pay a lot of attention and see her with more than his eyes. Chihaya’s tears meant that she worked so hard and that didn’t pay off, she wouldn’t have cried this much otherwise. And he can already learn that much about her by just imagining what he wasn’t there to witness, she worked so so hard. Looking at his hands (Chihaya was there lol), he looked so deep in thought, but he remembered the cards he left on the snow..

15) He rushed to bring them but his thoughts were full of Chihaya and how to cheer for her, Arata acknowledged her strength, she is an amazing strong player who can really defeat Shinobu (he seems to believe he can also defeat Suo).but he is not good at communicating his feelings & thoughts, he is clumsy & he knows it..so will he hide his clumsiness to look cool like Taichi does most of the time? No, that wasn’t what Arata thinking, he was rather wondering about a way to make her know what might save her.. He took the cards getting now wet from the snow, he took 77/SE while he was wondering.. “Se” is about the separated ones who will certainly meet again.. it’s like Arata feels a boulder blocking his thoughts and feelings from reaching her and he wants to find a way to bypass it & reach her. “Se” has always been a special card for Arata and it is because of Chihaya..

16) It was the 1st card Chihaya took from him and he already got it back from her in their match but for Arata, SE is more than that. It’s the card that started Chihaya’s journey in Karuta. and Arata is confident that he is the only one who knows, and he is confident that the level she showed in her match with him is the highest she reached, or the highest anyone can reach, or at least, if she is defeated by Shinobu in 2 matches today and was already defeated by her in ch169 then it’s a level she didn’t go to again after her match with him and she still can do it. Arata’s head was really full of Chihaya, he is so focused on her that he totally forgot he too is where he worked to be for so many years, longer and maybe even harder than Chihaya herself (for almost 12 years, more than half of his life, no it’s 2 thirds of his life!!!), so the Murao twins came to remind him of what he forgot since the match ended, of the Meijin title & his grandpa. Only one other win to be were Hajime Wataya seems to have wanted Arata to be (or at least that’s what Arata thought)

17) Yep, Hajime is telling him to focus, to forget about Chihaya & concentrate on him & his goal. “Se” was shown again with the words “the mejin title”, is that the boulder separating the stream of the river?

18) Arata placed Se back on top of the cards in the box next to another card:

18/Su mi no e no: This poem is about hiding from people’s gaze when going to meet the lover, trying to avoid exposure even in dreams.. Doesn’t it suit the moment perfectly? when the twins came to remind Arata of the Meijin title and his status, he hid “SE” (representing also his feelings for Chihaya) in the box, it’s like how the poet who is an aristocrat from the great Fujiwara family (Fujiwara men are known to choose their wives in the family) is afraid of being exposed.

Arata closed the box, it’s also like “Se” keeps him the real Arata (he said that he lacked love to be himself, so maybe Se is his love poem to Chihaya, his love saves him regardless of whether she reciprocates it or not contrary to Taichi, his love always hurt him, like a curse) The Karuta officials are the happiest for Arata’s win it seems, he pleased them, he revived Wataya Hajime for them again, they are blessed, for them, it’s all about them & Hajime it seems, Arata isn’t really seen for who he is… Arata remembered when that man told him that because Arata’s Karuta is exactly like Hajime’s, he was able to see Wataya sensei again. Back then Arata cried, he said that he really loves Karuta.. Could it now turn into a curse? because it’s too much? Because he is losing himself? because he is not seen? Why was Arata happy back then? and is the reason weaker than any probable desire now to be seen for who he is?

19) Suo was upset! His dear aunt that he didn’t meet for 8 years suddenly came all the way from Kyushu to see him, but he wasn’t happy..He lost two games but he doesn’t seem worried about that... Yukiko was kind and looks like the sweets are a family thing? Sudo is confused (he is amusing when he is like that) & Suo’s cousin is more impressed because Suo had lot of female friends lol Suo was nervous, he wanted to ask how and why they were suddenly there but he stuttered and According to Yukiko chan’s answer, we learn that Suo developed the habit of soft talking after he quit Kyushu.

20) After 8 years of separation, she wanted to touch the boy she loved so much and cared immensely for, maybe it’s because she can’t see him well too, but she failed to reach his face, she couldn’t see well, and Suo felt so hurt, but like anyone else with pride, his reaction was based on his suffering not on hers. And instead of being hurt herself, she rather was worried about him, why would he be cruel to her unless he too is suffering from her same illness.

21) The whole conversation in this page feels weird. Suo raised his voice from frustration and these relatives didn’t try to listen to him before. The cousin rather teased him about his loss as if it’s nothing, (he highlighted the fact that Arata is a youngster too) And Yukiko’s answer was soething I didn’t expect! She doesn’t seem to care much about the Meijin thing, she rather looked hopeful (notice the sudden blush), she thought that if Suo is no longer Meijin then he can go back home. What was even more surprising is that Suo looked agitated but his answer wasn’t what I expected, he asn’t worried that his title doesn’t see precious that his relatives would want him to keep, he was rather worried that what they are offering is impossible because he grew up to become a stranger and going back to his home is impossible.

22) Seems that Suo would consider his home any place Yukiko owns, but he knew that she didn’t own the house she told him to go back to. (isn’t this a reason to work harder in univ then get a job and buy a house to bring Yukiko to live with him instead?) The cousin got angry because things like these aren’t considered in a warm loving family where elderly are respected and considered owners before what papers say.. Suo didn’t seem to want to listen, and he left hurriedly causing his condition to beclearer to his aunt as he bumped with many things in his way out. (BACKGROUND of confusion in the last panel)

23) Still, Suo couldn’t leave before knowing why they suddenly came. and the description was so easy to tell him who, Suo realized it right away, the boy with big eyes who would wish for Suo’s family to come watch him (because he is incredible & wants his family to know that? or bc he pities him?) The boy with big eyes was “Mashima kun” they called him this many times, now they didn’t mention the name, I wonder how Sudou would have felt if he knew? would he realize that Taichi really got the closest to Suo, somewhere he couldn’t go?

24) Chitose left, Chihaya’s mom knew but didn’t understand why, Kana, tsukuba & Nishida stayed out of the room while Chihaya, Tamaru, Namida, Sumire & the last boy from Mizusawa that went to Shiranami were all inside, Kana told the mom it’s better to stay out and those inside were all experiencing the reason lol Ah no, Namida was doing great, he is such positive and hard working boy, he is not wasting his time by being afraid or nervous, he is taking notes instead! Chihaya is the most nervous because she is the reason Harada sensei is furious. Harada never taught Chihaya to send back a card because the opponent will place it again in its original place that they remember well (and we know that Chihaya sent it to provoke Shinobu -see ch222), provocative Karuta based on the knowledge of what Shinobu hates and the cards she won’t place next to each other was Watarai’s teaching.

25) Yep, Shiranami’s way is to target the opponent’s memorization as much as possible, Shiranai members are scared of Harada but can’t deny that he is right, he is a great teacher, has a good experience in Karuta and in teaching, maybe them being present here to hear & learn is the biggest proof. Chihaya also didn’t lift her head, she knew he was totally right, she can’t think that losing was because she was unlucky in front of the strongest queen, it’s because of those small mistakes she allowed herself to make.

26) Harada’s words kept hitting hard for Chihaya. Maybe he didn’t say that she was wrong, she learnt a new way in 2 months but she already had a strong way that she could fortify in these 2 months too.. Chihaya focused on Shinobu’s cards and neglected her own? isn’t this beneficial for an offensive Karuta player? I don’t get it well But Harada didn’t understand much of Chihaya’s new method either and he was honest & fair, he acknowledged what Chihaya still achieved: she got a strong reaction from Shinobu. Did Shinobu’s smile mean that she wasn’t indifferent with Chihaya? that she enjoyed the “strong” opponent? Harada told Chihaya that Shinobu seems to have enjoyed her match with her like she enjoyed her match with Arata which means that Chihaya played at Arata’s level back then and that is an achievement!

27) He smiled to her to make her feel better, because she really did great by learning new strong weapons in 2 months.. And now it’s time for the 3rd game. at this point, we don’t really know if Chihaya was better? if she calmed down? While Arata seems to be still in his grandpa mode, (he looks really like an old man here, calm and silent, he wasn’t like in the 1st break And he was completely the opposite of his father who was so energetic and very satisfied with Yuu’s gift, a design with the word “TOP” inspiring more will to do one’s best to reach the top! Akira seems quite fond of Yuu (I am too), she was admitted to her school of choice & he is happy for her, the Watayas talk so familiarly about her like she is really a close relative except Arata…

28) Akira is really hard to deal with, he does whatever he wants and he is very fond of Yuu. Asking for Arata’s phone to call her & thank her, Arata rejected any try to involve him in this mess (he didn’t even react when Akira said that he will make up a lie and say that Arata was touched because of her gift, Yuu would have probably known it’s a lie because Arata wouldn’t react like that… But it’s IC if he does for Chihaya right?), he was trying his best to focus, he didn’t show any enthusiasm about Yuu; Her, his father, the food or anything of the sort couldn’t break his grandpa mode. And finally, Taichi’s message was discovered, Arata didn’t want to read anything before his game but knowing it’s about Taichi, would that be still the case?

29) Arata stopped! getting a message from Taichi who didn’t come to watch made him really stop, Taichi is really special to Arata. And turning back he found Chihaya there too, she heard what Akira said & her face showed surprise!.

30) Chihaya seemed lost in her desperation, she didn’t say a word she just turned quickly wishing to find something for her too from Taichi, she needed him, when Taichi was around he could somehow find a way to make things better and she needs it now because she is not fine, Harada’s words didn’t seem to heal her fully, she sighed when she didn’t find anything.. Arata was confused (the BACKGROUND), and when Chihaya saw him she blushed & turned her head away in embarrassment, Arata lifted her suddenly earlier and she didn’t have time to do this back then. Why? if it was because Taichi now then what about the 1st time? It wasn’t because of Taichi, it was because she looked weak in front of Arata. Chihaya has always worked hard to reach him, to become someone who can meet his passion, to be worth sitting across him in Karuta.. but she kept losing where he kept winning, he was always ahead and she could never arrive there. Chihaya was embarrassed of her weak self who showed more weakness and dependence of Taichi’s help, it’s like she can’t go anywhere without his support… Arata knew that wasn’t true. Akira asked again if Arata wanted to look at Taichi’s message and Chihaya passed him just now without a word (and Kana still looked at him sideway lol) …so many distractions, Hajime Wataya’s voice was calling him again to focus, just a bit more & he’ll be the Meijin, that’s all he was about after all right?

31) NOT RIGHT!!! That wasn’t all Arata was about, not for those who care to look at him properly! Arata wasn’t worried about being ditched, or about what Taichi’s message might contain, he rather remembered when Chihaya showed him her special bond with Taichi that day when she crushed him.. This was good reason to feel jealous or upset but that’s not who Arata was… He took Chihaya’s hand and disobeyed his grandpa’s words!

32) Arata’s face looks desperate trying to reach Chihaya to make her see the truth he believes about her, she can defeat Shinobu & he means it, he knows her strength too and he could compare, he knows when Chihaya was the strongest and how Taichi is the last piece in what Chihaya fought for and became the strongest… The blush on Arata’s face says how much he wanted to make it through to her, how many times does Arata show emotions? the calm and collected guy, what does it mean when he shows such face? “You shouldn’t go play with Shinobu chan in her arena” Harada sensei pointed out Chihaya’s mistakes but he didn’t show her a way to follow, it’s like he no longer has an advice for her, he gave her everything he got and when she strayed from his path he reminded her, but that’s all, And Arata’s advice was something else, like a Karuta expert, he knew what to tell Chihaya, even though he didn’t watch her matches or maybe he did? because he didn’t seem in a pinch in his own vs Suo, maybe he got time to look sometimes…

33) Arata really had what to say, and Chihaya listened because what she heard was useful. She wanted o go where the lonely Shinobu is but she couldn’t face everything in that world and she came out leaving a still lonely Shinobu inside, Arata tells her to bring Shinobu outside instead, to show her the wonderful things outside that can give Chihaya the same strength as Shinobu, something she might want to come out to get? Chihaya saw an illusion for the calm Queen, the plant in the frame was always used for Shinobu too and it seems (and I’m not sure) that Suetsugu uses it for Shinobu who is Shinobu and not the Queen.

34) Chihaya found Arata’s words interesting, that was some good technical support but she had to think more to find her arena Though, Arata wouldn’t let her, he gives her now the emotional support, he knew Chihaya needed Taichi (not the person, but at least sensing his presence in what he left) so he decided to give her that, anything she needs, he wouldn’t be jealous or needy or immature, he put her 1st and I admire the way he loves even more!

35) Everyone saw what Arata wanted to show, it wasn’t a secret or personal message to Chihaya, and Taichi is the captain of Mizusawa, he pushed that team, and Arata brought it to push it again. Arata persisted bc he knew very well how much Chihaya values Taichi & her team, he didn’t need to be there for 3 years to know, he is very attentive and intuitive too and looks at Chihaya really properly!.

36/37) Arata’s words were moving to all Mizusawa members, they all blushed emotionally, and Chihaya cried, maybe because she missed this or maybe because she somehow betrayed it by forgetting it and not working for her team like she said she would before…(this chapter looks so direct, no BACKGROUNDs, no shoujo effects)

38) Arata held Chihaya’s hand so gently (I wonder why sensei drew this panel, it’s totally unnecessary for anything other than highlighting Arata’s love (romantic love because I can’t imagine him do this to Yuu if she ever goes through something like this)) He mentions his loss to her as something big which is a compliment to Chihaya & an acknowledgement of her strength & level. He says it with no embarrassment because her win was well deserved (I want to see Taichi make a confession like this to Arata). And Mizusawa captain was strong because she played for her team, she used all she had for them… so Chihaya again, only has to play her own Karuta, this is the opposite of what Chihaya told Arata in his match against Harada, she told him to play like someone else.. Amusing!

39) In Shinobu’s waiting room, Shinobu was acting like a child, so carefree; she only has 1 remaining win to keep her title after all. She also seems so close with Kokoro chan now (Kokoro called her Shinobu without “chan” or anything, it implies so much familiarity right?) also Shinobu is a bad example it seems lol. Though Kokoro mentions something that might be a hint to Shinobu’s next loss (a 3rd game is tiresome). And then when Shinobu was about to get up, something was off, she felt something but she didn’t see what it was? Kokoro asked but she didn’t answer? Chihaya was shown right after that still having her tears while Arata kept explaining what he wanted to say, like he himself does, he gave her an image he knows will push her to win, she had to think that she is playing in a team tournament, her team is losing, they have two losses and 0 wins, now the remaining 3 members should all win at all costs and Chihaya will play the role of the three players, it’s like when they played in the finals of last year’s high school team tournament vs Fujisaki where both Tsukuba & Tsukue kun lost and Chihaya, Taichi & Nishida felt the responsibility to win each their game, Taichi was the one who voiced this desire 1st (ch81). (That was the game Chihaya felt upset because Arata told her that he didn’t care for teams and now, he is showing her the opposite of what she feared back then, he treasures "teams" & knows exactly how important one is for any member.)

40) And Arata impersonated Taichi for Chihaya! He should have felt jealous, he already experienced that feeling and wanted to be the one Chihaya sees, but now & for her sake, he accepted Taichi and even revived him in her memory to get as much strength from that as she needs. He wasn't there but he must have known Taichi would say that for Chihaya so he reminded her of it for her sake instead of being selfish & feeling miserable or jealous (reminds me of when Chihaya hid in the closet after she lost, the way Taichi brought up Arata’s name all miserable & helpless, he couldn’t forget about himself for a bit for Chihaya contrary to Arata even though he didn’t have anything to be confident about, Chihaya was closer to Taichi, she cared for him so much, she showed him this care in front of his eyes, he had every reason to feel threatened but he didn’t, Chihaya mattered more than that to him …)

[choujinx]

CHIHAYAFURU: CHUUGAKUSEI-HEN (2017-2018) by tooda oto

[formashimataichi]

I think if there is one person for whom Taichi’s love has remained pure and untainted the entire run of the series, it’s Harada-sensei. They’re such different people, not even two sides of the same coin, and yet Harada understands and cares for him more than anyone. He’s the person whose desire for Taichi to love himself and be happy burns stronger than anyone else’s. I’m so glad Taichi never turned away from him, not for a second. I’m so glad a mentor-student portrayal like this exists.

[yukippetodo]

Chihayafuru Episode 14 Thoughts

lol Suo get rejected

Oh man I wasn’t expecting that. Cards were flying everywhere and it was like “Harada-san, are you actually okay?”

The love triangle just got deeper guys. Taichi has a crush on Chihaya, Arata has a crush on Chihaya, and Chihaya has a crush on both of them, though it seems more like she sees Taichi as “just a friend”

Shinobu’s hair is adorable, I don’t care what her mom says about it.

[denimbex1986]

'Imagine your long-dead parents have come back to life. And imagine that when you meet Ma and Pa post-resurrection they are in their vigorous, blooming years and you are older and more mature than them. That is the beguiling conceit of Strangers, the 1987 novel by Taichi Yamada.

Hideo Harada’s parents died when he was 12 and they were in their thirties. A car smashed into their bicycle on the streets of Tokyo. Now, at the age of 47, the middle-aged orphan spots a man at a comedy club who is the spit of his father. They fall into conversation and the thirtysomething man invites him back to his home. Who else do we find there? A woman who looks just like his mother...'

[byneddiedingo]

Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura in I Live in Fear (Akira Kurosawa, 1955) Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Eiko Miyoshi, Kyoko Aoyama, Haruko Togo, Noriko Sengoku, Akemi Negishi, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Eijiro Tono. Screenplay: Shinobu Hashimoto, Fumio Hayasaka, Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni. Cinematography: Asakazu Nakai. Production design: Yoshiro Muraki. Music: Masaru Sato, Fumio Hayasaka. In some ways, I wish Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura had swapped roles in Akira Kurosawa's I Live in Fear. It would have been an easy exchange: Mifune, at 35, would have fit into the role of the dentist trying to mediate between a cranky patriarch and his family, and the 50-year-old Shimura could well have played the patriarch, a man a couple of decades his senior. Instead, we get distracted away from the story -- and the message it is somewhat heavy-handedly trying to convey -- by the fact that Mifune, the vital young actor from Rashomon (1950) and Seven Samurai (1954), films that made him an international star, is playing a man twice his age -- a tour de force not only of acting but also of costuming and makeup. This is not to say that Mifune doesn't do a fine job of it, slumping his body into an elderly arthritic crouch, peering through thick glasses with his face set in a perpetual scowl. It's true that Mifune brings a necessary virility to the role of Kiichi Nakajima, who has produced a large and recalcitrant group of offspring, including not only his legal family but also children from at least three mistresses. They come together to protest Nakajima's decision to sell everything and move to Brazil, where he thinks they will be safest from the nuclear holocaust that he believes to be imminent. Shimura's Dr. Harada, who has volunteered to serve on an arbitration panel for family court, is tasked with deciding on the family's claim that Nakajima is mentally incompetent. The problem with the film is not only that Mifune's performance seems like a misstep in casting, but also that the theme of the film is too large for the domestic melodrama of the story to carry. It asks whether Nakajima is insane for being so obsessed with the Bomb, or are we insane for not being more obsessed with it? During the postwar occupation Japanese filmmakers had been prohibited from even mentioning the atomic bomb, but when they were finally freed to deal with what had happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki they found, as filmmakers from other countries have also done, that the topic tends to overwhelm attempts to put it in dramatic form. I Live in Fear is an honorable attempt, and the scenes in which Nakajima fights with his family are well-written and -acted. But the dramatic resolution feels freighted with too much striving for symbolic resonance: Harada visits Nakajima at the rather grim mental institution to which he has been committed and which Nakajima thinks is another planet, and when the sun shines through his barred window, he takes it to be the Earth on fire. To date, only the satirists have been able to give a dramatic shape to our nuclear madness.