#j. a. seazer

[jewlwpet]

Alchemy, Gnosticism, and Revolutionary Girl Utena

In many Gnostic scriptures, Sophia, whose name means Wisdom, fell bc she tried to create something through her own "independent thought," without her consort, alternately described as her sibling or twin, who is the Logos/Word of God that was eventually incarnated as the Christ. What she created was a half-formed demiurge that mistakenly thought itself to be the only being in existence & created the "evil" material world. Depending on what version you read, Sophia then either "sunk into matter" (a literal fall from grace) or went down on purpose in order to do damage control.

In some versions it is Sophia who breathed life, spirit, into the two beings the demiurge had shaped from clay, & she who convinced Eve to disobey the demiurge (who wanted to keep humanity in ignorance) and eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, though she was unable to prevent Eve being made subordinate to Adam. At least one text explicitly condemned the patriarchal order as being based on "a lie" (since Eve wasn't made from Adam's rib in this story), despite still portraying it as a consequence of a woman stepping outside her assigned role.

"And the Word became flesh." Like Sophia, it "sunk into matter," but while the "matter" in her case was the entire material universe, Christ was contained within a single human body.

In sum, the narrative is that through stepping out of her assigned role, she brought the abuse of "the world" on herself, and if spends thousands of years atoning, she'll eventually be rescued by a prince she can believe in God's grace.

Carl Jung was very influenced by these Gnostics. He believed that Sophia represented something that existed in every man, and that anyone could become a prince Christ. Because each person is a microcosm of the whole universe--which is an ancient idea, one that the Gnostics probably believed too--he believed that every man had a Sophia within himself, waiting to be rescued, and he could do so by embodying the Christ principle. It's worth noting also that while he believed the psyches of men and women were different, some of the original Gnostics called for women to take on masculine traits and roles--one text even talked about Mary Magdalene being "made male" by Christ, though this is generally taken to be a metaphor).

The idea of Abraxas being a "god above God" who encompassed both the Christian God and the Christian devil is something that Hermann Hesse got from Jung. It's actually an idea that Jung got from reading something that was mistranslated rather than an authentic Gnostic belief. Still, many people have found it compelling.

The Western alchemists also believed in something they called Sophia or Wisdom, often personified as feminine, which, if one gained accessed to by proving oneself worthy, would grant them the power of God (citing parts of the Hebrew Bible, such as the book of Proverbs, as evidence) to live forever, reverse aging, transform matter, heal any disease, and sometimes even to create life. The alchemists' "great work" was often depicted as a "Chymical Wedding" in which the alchemist, or else an allegorical figure representing something within the alchemist, would "marry" Sophia and obtain these miraculous powers.

These alchemists differed from this strain of ancient Gnostics in that, first, they didn't see Sophia as being guilty of anything, and second, they did not view the material world as intrinsically evil, as to them it was the creation, not of a flawed demiurge, but of a perfect and complete Godhead. In fact, it was this act of creation that they sought to replicate on a microcosmic level in their oratory-laboratories.

Jung also wrote quite a bit about the psychological aspect of alchemy and how the transformation of matter represented the transformation of the human spirit.

Incidentally, the idea of a female alchemist was not unheard of even in ancient times, though it was uncommon in practice. There are legends of an amazing Jewish woman alchemist named Miriam (translated as Maria, Mary, etc) who lived in ancient Egypt. I couldn't tell you if she was real or not, but it's entirely possible! The bain-marie was named after her.

Anyway, if you've ever wondered why one of the Utena albums has "Sophia" in the name and what the "I am Sophia; Sophia is me" lines in Astragalus Earth Backgammon (a song from that album) were about...

[joseigamer]

薔薇門 (Baramon) by J.A. Caesar (1972)

[anguraresearch]

Lemmings (1983) with english subtitles Read about the play here

Performed by Tenjo Sajiki Directed by Terayama Shuji and J A Seazer

Ankenjo's second translation project, Lemmings is a satirical stage play about the journey of two roommates who try to find a solution to the sudden disappearance of a wall in their apartment, just as the walls of reality crumble around them.

[magicaldogtoto]

I remember when Magia Record’s final few episodes came out, there was a tweet by Inu Curry about how they saw the plot of MagiReco as a “failed revolution” (at least, that’s how I recall the Google translation putting it; the Reddit post I found to check on it translated the tweet as “a revolutionary failure”).

At the time, I kind of just wrote it off (along with the rest of the anime adaptation) as just an indicator for how Inu Curry wanted to make the anime more tragic/edgier than the gacha game’s first arc.

But after starting Revolutionary Girl Utena, I took note of how MagiReco’s anime had J.A. Seazer on the production team, mainly for the Uwasa song. And then I recalled how MagiReco’s visuals looked very surreal, far more surreal at times than anything Madoka ever had. And I remembered that tweet about the anime adaptation being about a “revolution” that failed.

And now I’m wondering… did Inu Curry intend for Magia Record’s anime to be something like Utena…?

[wiratomkinder]

experiencing real wasan hours again

[marlocandeea]

my brain is unwell & drawing birth charts for the characters. damui has pisces asc aquarius sun libra moon vibe. lara got to be sag asc with taurus sun. milo has to be an aries moon capricorn sun. tilenia might be leo moon pisces sun. piovurno has to be something cursed like virgo sun scorpio moon (possibly capricorn rising. idk)

[arscorpii]

frankenstein by mary shelley (1818) / the brothers karamazov by fyodor dostoevsky (1880) / missing link by j. a. seazer & tokyo konsei gasshodan (1997) / revolutionary girl utena, episode 39: someday, together, we'll shine (1997)

[ID: A collection of excerpts followed by a gif from Revolutionary Girl Utena.

Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it." (Mary Shelley, Frankenstein: The 1818 Text)

"In any case, what is suffering? I am not afraid of it, even though it be numberless. Now I am not afraid, though before I was. . . . And it seems to me that there is so much of this strength in me now that I shall vanquish everything, all of the suffering, only so that I may keep saying to myself constantly: 'I am!' I may endure a thousand torments - yet I am, I may writhe under torture - but I am! I may sit in a tower, but I exist, I can see the sun, but even if I cannot see the sun, I know that it exists. And to know that the sun is there - that is already the whole of life. (Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov)

See, I have vanished, yet I still sing. See, I have vanished, yet I still laugh. See, I have vanished, yet I am petrified. See, I have vanished, yet I still live. I exist, I am here. I exist, I am here. I exist! (J. A. Seazer & Tokyo Konsei Gasshodan, Missing Link)

Anthy, crying, reaches out from within her coffin to a battered Utena, and their hands touch. End ID]

ID credit to @princess-of-purple-prose

[houkagokappa]

I saw someone whose tastes I vibe with mention genuinely liking Shoujo Tsubaki. I've only heard about it as the most excessively violent and disturbing anime ever made, so that got me curious and 5 minutes later I was watching it myself.

(Also, I found out that J. A. Seazer did the music for it and what would I not do for one of my faves?)

I'm not a fan of gore, so I was a bit worried, but it wasn't that bad?? All the warnings not to watch it made me expect something else, or then the fact that I'd seen some trigger warnings and skimmed the synopsis prepared me enough not to find anything too awful for me to continue. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely a disturbing movie that will be too much for some, but it's not glorifying violence just to be edgy, and is instead a traumatic portrayal of abuse and exploitation. I actually found it really interesting and the art beautiful, but I can also see how the more "dreamlike" and distorted sequences might be too much for another set of people who want a more straightforward story. The history behind the movie is fascinating with one man being very passionate and persistent in making it and oh boyyyyy is the hatred against it blown out of proportion. Are people really so simple that when they see a character in a movie kill a dog, they think killing dogs is evil and wrong, therefore the movie and the people behind it must be evil and wrong as well? Actually, don't answer that.

My biggest takeaway from Shoujo Tsubaki was that for a shock movie, the biggest shock was seeing how it's in no way the worst anime ever made, it's deeply misunderstood and now I will be annoyed every time someone suggests it's too disturbing to be seen.

[kamil-a]

if im going to like Reccommend anything on that list if im gonna say you Must listen to anything its 1. Rose by abra (oooooo sexy music!!!) 2. Lp1 fka twigs (its weird its good) 3. alchemistic girl by j a seazer (interesting departure from utena's sound) 4. scary jokes burn pygmalion (#fav #me #kin) 5. Going going gone hemlocke springs (ONE OF THE BEST TO EVER DO IT IM NOT KIDDING)

[maletofujoshi]

15 minute medley of songs that were made in a style called “BAROQUE ROCK” mixed to be “ELECTRONICA CLUB” this is the best music experience ever. like it’s so fucking good and sounds like nothing else that i know of. give me more of this. if it exists. music lovers and faggot followers:

https://on.soundcloud.com/y566hTAhwQknDw4N8

open yourself to her

[asalesbian]

I was tagged by @isitcasualnow to post my top 9 albums of 2023, thank you!! I tend to just chuck songs I like into various playlists so the album supply is a little meager. Cheating by adding some older albums that I only listened to last year :)

In no particular order:

2023 section The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We / Mitski This Is Why / Paramore The Loveliest Time / Carly Rae Jepsen Unreal Unearth / Hozier Yellowjackets Season 2 (Music from The Original Series) / Various Artists [TECHNICALLY listed as an album, so......]

2022 or earlier Like an Echo / Emma Lloyd SOS / SZA バルバラ矮星子黙示録-アルセノテリュス絶対復活光とオルフェウス絶対冥府闇- / J. A. Seazer The Fool in Her Wedding Gown / The Crane Wives

I'm tagging @asaraphale, @liapher, @whodoesnataliehave, @lottiemilfews, @lottieurl, @jettewing and anyone who sees this and feels like doing it :)

[jewlwpet]

Hello! What do you think is the meaning behind referencing Baroque in utena songs? In particular in "Baroque Rock", but I suspect it's also tied to that one line "I Am All the Mysteries in Creation." So far I've been thinking that it has something to do with atificiality and pointless performance. Do you have any ideas or something to point me towards?

This is a great question! I love getting questions like this!

To a certain extent I think Seazer just writes about stuff that interests him, and he gets a lot of it from the stuff he reads. He reads a lot of Tatsuhiko Shibusawa. I bought a Shibusawa book once and it is so full of stuff that Seazer referenced; it's amazing. None of his work has been translated into English, but Shibusawa himself was a translator and you can read stuff that he translated into Japanese. There's a complete list of everything he ever translated here. You can see some familiar terms even in the titles, like "marionette" and "archibras."

But that's not the most satisfying answer and I'm sure there's more to it than just that. Likely there are answers lying somewhere in his blog posts. But I like your guess. Though, I see those themes just as much in songs that relate to other artistic movements, like Mannerism.

When I was reading Umberto Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum, there was a passage that really stuck with me and that referenced the Baroque. I don't think that all the references to the Baroque in Seazer's music are referencing that one passage, but it does connect the idea of the Baroque with ideas that run through Seazer's music and through Utena.

When I posted that passage, I mentioned in the tags that I'd heard a rumor that one of Seazer's Utena CDs was inspired by one of this author's other books--I've since confirmed that as fact. I forget which CD (I have posted about it before so you may be able to find it in my Umberto Eco or J. A. Seazer tag), but I did find a quote from Seazer saying he took inspiration from Eco's novel In the Name of the Rose as well as the movie adaptation of it for at least one of the Utena CDs.

There is actually a passage in Foucault's Pendulum that is remarkably similar to the lyrics of a certain duel song iirc (I forget the title, but the one with the lines about the interval between two mirrors), but the timeline doesn't quite match up--when that song was first released, the book hadn't been translated into Japanese or even English so I don't see how Seazer could have been referencing it. Maybe someone translated an excerpt in some publication that he read, idk.

Back to the subject of the Baroque. In my opinion, based on the lyrics to Baroque Rock, I would say it relates to the idea of orbit, of perpetual motion, and of the spiral which represents the mystery of life and death and rebirth--in other words, eternal cycles from which people seek release.

[1997thebracket]

Round 4

Revolutionary Girl Utena: If it cannot break its shell, the chick will die without ever being born. This sentiment, originally found in Hermann Hesse’s 1919 novel Demian, features during a repeated sequence in the 1997 anime Revolutionary Girl Utena. Hesse is far from the only reference to philosophical, surrealist, or heavily symbolic text in the show, which trades in visual metaphor and multi-layered subtext. Revolutionary Girl Utena follows the story of Utena Tenjou, a young orphan who aspires to princehood-- challenging or outright circumventing the place of gender in that aspiration-- and is entangled in a series of duels centered around a girl named Anthy Himemiya. Written by Kunihiko Ikuhara, Chiho Saito, and Yōji Enokido (known collectively as Be-Papas) and soundtracked by J.A. Seazer and Shinkichi Mitsumune, the show has an instantly recognizable style, combining lush fairytale visuals and French-inspired architecture with a choir that functions as a sort of Greek chorus to the internal worlds externalized in combat. Utena is a story about many things, arguably all things, taking a surgical scalpel to adolescence and using the flat of the blade as a paintbrush, leaving a deeply human, visceral work of art in its wake. It has been massively influential on feminist, queer & sapphic, and otherwise gender-deconstructive or gender-subversive modern media. Smash the world's shell! For the revolution of the world!

Men In Black: Fifteen hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow. Men in Black is a sci-fi comedy, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, which would go on to spawn a franchise after the success of the 1997 film. It centers around a secret government agency known as the Men in Black, tasked with monitoring and regulating extraterrestrial activity on Earth; these agents, notably our protagonists Agent J and Agent K, protect humanity from aliens living among us and ensure the world remains oblivious to their existence. The franchise was praised by critics and audiences alike for its unique screenplay, action sequences, and the humor and chemistry of the lead actors. Over the years, Men in Black has expanded to include multiple sequels, an animated series and spin-offs, all contributing to its enduring popularity as a cheekier take on the sci-fi genre.

[anguraresearch]

Shintokumaru (1978) with english subtitles Read about the play here

Performed by Tenjo Sajiki Directed by Terayama Shuji and J A Seazer

Ankenjo's first translation project back in 2023, Shintokumaru is a musical stage play about a cursed boy who would descend to the depths of the underworld to find his birth mother.

[wiratomkinder]

got tagged by @sludgenaut for. music albums top 11, in no particular order.

murder of the universe - king gizzard and the lizard wizard. chunky shrapnel tears through everything around me

the girl who knew poetry - j a seazer. terayama's poems put to music -- "ash girl" is excruciatingly beautiful

atrocity exhibition - danny brown. i listened to this album on constant repeat my first year of grad school. also excruciatingly beautiful but in a very different direction than seazer

in a poem unlimited - u.s. girls. had this one on equally heavy rotation on an internship commute. i would just line this up with carpenter brut's trilogy and play both over and over, which made for an interesting driving experience

soul food taqueria - tommy guerrero. go-to focus music; "it gets heavy" is now overwhelmingly nostalgic because of it

there existed an addiction to blood + visions of bodies being burned - clipping. counting these as a single album-- conjoined twins-- "something is underneath" has such impeccably structured cadence

the worm - hmltd. wyrmlands was my #1 most played song last year by a large margin lol

maggots: the record - the plasmatics. if i had a nickel for every time i liked a concept album about allegorical worms and worm adjacent creatures infesting the world, two nickels, etc

manic candid episode - the murlocs. "withstand" got me through a lot of circa two years ago 🫡

black sails in the sunset - afi. afi was my obligatory highschool era emo-ish band. this album holds up imo

0 + 2 = 1 - nomeansno. album and band that i am normal about

if you read this uhh you have to tell me a top three albums of your own so i can add them to my to-listen playlists

[automatisma]

Tagged by the lovely @emspooky to post the first ten songs that come up when shuffling my on repeat playlist! Except I don’t have an on repeat playlist so they will be taken from my generic “liked songs” playlist on Soundcloud.

1. Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku - J. A. Seazer

2. Bunny Is A Rider - Caroline Polachek

3. Judas - Lady Gaga

4. Isolated - Chiasm

5. That Funny Feeling - Bo Burnham

6. Hymn for the Weekend - Coldplay

7. Sex with a Ghost - Teddy Hyde

8. HOT LIMIT - T. M. Revolution

9. Ti sembra normale - Max Gazzè

10. Nemo - Nightwish

I tag @girldante @gabriellovescandy @weirdisbetterthanormal @girljudasiscariot and whoever feels like doing this!