Sowing the Seeds: The Flowers of Evil, volumes 1-2

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When you’re following an angel
Does it mean you have to throw your body off a building?
Somewhere they’re meeting on a pinhead
Calling you an angel, calling you the nicest things.

-She’s an Angel, They Might Be Giants

Colloquium: Shin Sekai Yori Episode 8

“Hey…is it fun?

Being alone and chasing after Maria?

Is it fun?”

-Saki Watanabe to Mamoru Itou, Shin Sekai Yori Episode Eight

Digital Roses atop the Anisphere

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other pseudonym would smell as sweet;

Names, quite simply, are the labels by which we refer to objects. Though these objects might be inanimate, or non-sentient life such as a flower, they are mostly associated with people. These names can be arbitrary, or descriptive. The latter obvious in English surnames; inspired by the bearer’s profession or personal characteristics, alternatively patronymic or matronymic, or even an indication of one’s estate. As such, a surname will hold as much importance as the family and individual that bears it.

Then what of pseudonyms? Noms de plume are often created to be worn as masks for the internet. They act as a defence, or as a shield, but also impart presence, and perhaps existence itself, online. Yet, can they be said to hold as much weight, bestow as much meaning, or bear as much importance as those we use, shuffling along this mortal coil?

In A World Of My Own: The Anisphere Beyond The Kitchen Window

[Insert witty quote here in desperate attempt to link picture with post.]

Suppose you glance at Twitter. What, pray, do you see?

It will most likely be your timeline; with its short textual messages reaching desperately towards the bottom of the screen.

Within this, a reply is relatively easy to spot, and its context easily understood by expanding the conversation. From time to time, however, one might see a reply that is not so average. A tweet, perhaps initially seeming a non sequitur and without the characteristic mention at the beginning, that is nevertheless a reply.

These fascinate me for a number of reasons. One of which is that they offer a glimpse of another’s timeline. A peek into another’s world.

Nisemonogatari and the Arrow of Female Hysteria

So. Nisemonogatari. Sure, you’ve got your Shinbo-tastic fanservice and your racy banter, but these traits really operate in the service of patriarchal cognitive bias. Yup. We’re going all Stroop Test on this one for my first outing at Altair & Vega.

The Ani-sphere All Atwitter

Twitter is an intriguing beast. It is one of the two dominant social networks found on today’s internet, and at its simplest, offers one the ability to broadcast one’s thoughts to other people. Admittedly anywhere on the internet is now wont to do this, however, twitter’s defining trait lies in its limit of 140 characters per post. One could perhaps argue it a social network centred about brevity.

Having such a limitation, presumably it can be dismissed? Not worthy of one’s attention?

Colloquium: Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 24 END

“As it turns out, living was a punishment.
I’ve been punished in small doses living as a Takakura.
…But, still, we were together.
We took all the punishments, no matter how small and trivial.
They’re all precious memories.
Because the only reason I felt alive was because you two were there.”

-Himari Takakura, Mawaru Penguindrum, Episode 24

Colloquium: Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 22

"Coming to see you...right now!"

ajthefourth: Towards the end of Revolutionary Girl Utena, director Kunihiko Ikuhara and his writer Yoji Enokido decide to re-introduce the audience to its Greek chorus element, The Shadow Girls, by showing them briefly out from behind their customary screens and shadow puppetry, talking to the main character, Utena Tenjou, in class. The Shadow Girls then proceed to put on a play for Utena and the two other main characters. In doing so, they present what has come before and recontextualize it a bit; setting the stage for the series’ final arc, The End of the World.

The Bitterness of Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms

I spent the majority of the afternoon today reading this manga that I had picked up at a Borders fire sale earlier this spring. What took me this long to finally read, I can not say. And truth be told I’ve yet to finish it, but that isn’t meant to be a commentary on any perceived lack of quality to be found here, but rather the contrary. After about 35 pages, I nearly began to weep.

Colloquium: Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 19

"I remember now...the person who shared the fruit of fate with me was..."

 “Am I not good enough?”

-Seiya Kou, Sailor Moon: SailorStars