Railgun was the highest hope anime of this season, yet, I don’t see any skinship friendship between Mikasa and other three, Kuroko, Uiharu, and of course our hero Saten-san!

Railgun is a Sex & The City middle school version. Four girls in a scientific town tackle problems. Oh yes, I really love female relationship. I mean, female skinship friendship, (of course, I love Yuri too, but purely friendship is what I’m talking about). That’s what I’m really into. And Saten-san, Level 0, yes, that’s like most of us proletarians, have-nots. She is representing us in this anime, while other three girls are highly advanced. Uiharu is a genius computing scientist, while her supernatural ability is just Level 1. But her intelligence is IQ 200. Kuroko is Level 4, and Mikasa is Level 5, and there are only five Level 5 people in the world. So, to include Saten-san in the anime was a very clever choice. She proves that she can also be useful while the society judges that she is just a Level 0, no ability or talent at all, unproductive, unmarketable, useless dreg of society. This Academic City is too Nazi social darwinist. Yes, screw that society!

Physically Saten-san is most advanced.

But this season of Railgun, only Mikasa is a protagonist. Other three friends were just side-characters, or extras at worst. They aren’t the main characters anymore. Acutally, the first season of Railgun, the four girls were the main-chacters. It was like they were all co-protagonists. But now, only Mikasa is leading the plot, which is not what I expected. It’s all about her clones and find out the truth about the illegal human experiment like Nazis. Where are the other girls! I mean, the story is okay, not bad, but it’s more heavy and cruel, not as bad as Attack on Titan, but still cruel, a lot of extreme violence, yes, Tarantino would love to replace Nagai Tatsuyuki, or as if Kitano Takeshi is directing Railgun. This is not what I’m expecting from middle schoolers, other Toaru series weren’t this violence and gross. It’s like Battle Royal, but at least they are high schoolers.

So, I want to see more girly interactions, and that’s what made Sex and The City so interesting. What do girls talk among girls? Yes, girls talk! Oh yes, what they talk is pretty hilarious, that’s what I’ve f0und out from Sex And City and Railgun! And Railgun, girls friendship is really cute and superb.

.

And the most important is Saten-san. Sex And The City, they are all highly achieved professionals, but Railgun, Saten-san is the only ordinary girl while the other threes are genius. Well, she is in the lowest category in the city. So, I always have a point of view from Saten-san, I kinda identified myself with her. Oh, yes. Watching Marimite, I identified myself with Fukuzawa Yumi, the only commoner at that traditionally all girls Catholic school for aristocracy, Lilian Academy. And Mikasa and Kuroko go to an all girls school, and extremely elite Tokiwadai. And Saten and Uiharu go to an average school, yet this is still a school in Academic City, so it must be very high level for ordinary Japanese. They already teach Heisenberg’s theory. But, Saten-san is so behind, so Uiharu always helps her catching up. With a little help from my friend! So, Saten-san is still my hero, a working class hero is something to be! I want that moment in this season as well. But so far, where is her heroism? Make an ordinary girl a hero in this season too! She was the true hero in the first season. I also miss Saten-san’s comedy, that she lifts up Uiharu’s skirt and check a color of her pantsu. The famous German line of “Wir Harl Chant Panz Heidelkart?” that even Wolgang Goethe couldn’t conceive.

This sister series is too frustrating. I want them all gone. It’s just dragging too long. Is this season entirely dedicated to the sisters? That would be utterly boring. I don’t care about them. This clone thing, nothing new, I already watched Schwarzenegger’s film, The 6th Day. The concept is nothing new. Just show me friendship like the last season. I understand the production team is taking a different approach, but I already know the outcome since I watched Toaru Magical Index already. So, it’s already spoiled. So, why waste time? Why can’t they do a different story? Or the anime original like the last season?

What made Railgun outstanding from other shows was school girls friendship! That’s why it was a masterpiece!

That triumph. By which I mean, the triumph of women over men. Nakamura-san annuls the contract which should have caused Kasuga to scream in joy like MLM making skinship with Kana-chan a reality. Instead he is devastated. His expression, his defeated, no, relinquished spirit as he kneels pathetically on the classroom floor cements his submission of himself to her, man to woman.

Marx is certainly not wrong when he claimed that history is the struggle between the haves and the have nots but it may be even more accurate to say the same for women and men. Dating back to The Wife of Bath’s Tale, Chaucer made a case for female dominance centuries prior.

However, it’s not simply flowers we are seeing here. It’s flowers of evil. Women don’t have an innate desire to reign over men. They seek equality. The same cannot be applied to men given that those in power are often unable to recognize the privilege they hold. It’s an atrocity not unlike stealing a classmate’s gym uniform without conscious malicious intent. It just kind of happened right?

Well, it’s not cool.

Of course, it’s not right to retaliate in kind as Nakamura does. At some point, enough is enough. Evil begets evil. The viewer never truly feels sorry for Kasuga. He deserves everything. We see Nakamura smiling and blushing. She’s in bliss with power and in that moment all seems right with the universe. Having never read the eponymous book, I believe it’s a cautionary tale.

It’s highly intriguing on how the rest will unfold. I had expected Kasuga’s confession at the end.

“Remember to breath,” Taichi thinks to himself, demonstrating more self control arguably than anyone else watching this week’s episode. And we are not even playing.

Of course, in true Chihayafuru teasing fashion, we do not know the outcome between the Hokuo and Akashi match. Chihaya’s status for the individual tournament is unclear. For the time being, none of that matters however.

ALL MY FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELSSS #CHIHAYAFURU

— The Paper (@TheRealPaper) May 18, 2013

Kana-chan’s display of love and respect for karuta astounds more than any English word can convey. At least rate, she’s going to steal my heart from Chihaya.

I am impressed with Fujisaki’s coach’s admission of fault. She made a keen observation that I agree highly with. A quagmire of skilled players does not compute to teamwork. Skill is certainly necessary in any endeavor and its importance rises with the level of play. The trick lies in calculating the point of diminishing returns especially as a function of teamwork.

What happens with skill if we take time to infinity? Teamwork? Will both increase indefinitely? It would be an incredibly groovy feat to derive an equation to determine these variables because this is as much art as it is mathematics. Somehow, I get the feeling that skill is much more finite than teamwork. The synergy of the latter holds limitless possibilities. Afterall, Mizusawa was not favored to win.

Sometimes skill and teamwork are still not enough. I don’t remember if it was Macross or Lupin that said, “For some of us, luck is a skill.” I do remember the Dean of the school claiming that luck is the one thing he always hoped to have more than anything else. It makes sense. For those of us that play poker, we have all experienced the frustration and disbelief even though we made the correct play.

Skill, teamwork and luck. The triforce of karuta!

After what seemed like years since the anime streaming market reached something of a cooling point, the week was aglow with news that there was more than one bold newcomer aboard, ready to challenge the current model in ways few others have yet to venture. As recently mentioned, the Daisuki concept and site represents a bold shift in how anime is ready to be considered and marketed to fans overseas with plenty of recent and even perhaps new series. So when folks at Yomiuri (and the help of some unexpected sources) begin working with many long-heralded anime studios in what is a most ambitious move, it might be best to take heed. Anime Sols has indeed arrived, and by way of a Kickstarter-like streaming model, could be the godsend many fans (young and elder) have been longing for.

Initial rumblings regarding this concept were made a little over a year ago, when Sam Pinansky made an appearance on the Anime News Network’s ANNCast, where he leaked a few tiny details regarding an unprecedented effort on the part of several celebrated anime studios to bring die-hard favorites streaming to the world. By the use of dedicated pledges from fans all over, the vision is to fund a prospective dvd release for each featured series in box sets of 13 episodes, each with their own unique monetary goal. Pinansky has since reappeared on ANNCast as well as AWO this last week with some fun results. Well worth the listen!

For more details as to how it all works..

Having just begun earlier this week, the Anime Sols website is already host to several classic titles long elusive to American fans, including Black Jack TV, Ninja Senshi Tobikage, Yatterman, New Yatterman, Aoi Blink & Creamy Mami!

And more updates are under way.

Not going to water any of this down, I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity for fans to step up. There are worlds of goodness that stateside anime lovers have yet to truly explore, and this is a terrific way to fall in love with a cherished medium all over again.

A new entrant into the legal international anime streaming scene has arrived—Daisuki. What makes Daisuki unique is that it enjoys the direct backing and co-production of several major Japanese animation studios, namely Aniplex, Sunrise, Toei Animation, TMS, and NAS. (In this it is similar to an analogous service launched by several major Japanese manga publishers, the now defunct J-Manga.) Launch titles include Madoka Magica, Lupin III, Gundam Seed, Prince of Tennis, and One Piece, and they have also posted a survey to help decide which titles to add next. Besides streaming anime for free, they also have plans to develop merchandise available for purchase, with a launch giveaway campaign to start.

As of now, the streaming works smoothly and ad-free, and for Madoka it uses the same Aniplex translation and video as seen already on Crunchyroll. User registration—which is not required to watch—had some hiccups, but according to the official Twitter, the matter is being addressed. (For the record, I got my confirmation email within 10 minutes, so it’s probably already resolved.)

To all those waiting for the confirmation mail, please give us a moment! We have received all your registrations properly :)

— Daisuki (@daisuki_inc) May 16, 2013

Interview

We got a chance to ask Eri Maruyama, Daisuki’s International Business Development representative, some questions about the service, its goals, and how it sees itself in a field that already has legal services like Crunchyroll and Funimation.

AD: Describe the genesis of the Daisuki idea—how did the decision to form this group to distribute anime digitally in America directly come about?

Maruyama: It was a kind of natural development since each of the companies started to think the same thing: one legal platform from Japan directed at overseas fans to provide their content. By the way, DAISUKI will be available world wide.

AD: Is there a monthly fee or is it pay per download? What are the proposed rates?

Maruyama: DAISUKI.net is a streaming service. Basically you can watch all Animes for free, some premium content will be fee-based.

AD: Some of the titles proposed, such as Madoka Magica and One Piece, are already available through legal streaming from Crunchyroll. Does this mean that CR or other legal streaming services that current carry Daisuke-hosted titles will lose their streaming license? Does Daisuke see itself as competing with those services?

Maruyama: No, they may continue their service. The streaming rights at DAISUKI are non-exclusive rights since our main purpose is not to get exclusive users for DAISUKI but to provide legal material. So, as long as fans are watching anime on other legal sites, that’s absolutely ok. We don’t see us in a direct competition with other sites. Rather would we wish to fight effectively together against piracy.

AD: What advantages will Daisuke bring to fans that they cannot get from other legal services? (For instance, since there is direct studio backing, will they all be immediate simulcasts without delays?)

Maruyama: We are planning to simulcast series. Moreover we are able (thanks to the direct connection to the studios and companies) to provide exclusive footage like making-of material or video messages of creators, voice actors and so on.

AD: With the goods/merchandising arm of Daisuki, is the plan primarily just to import related merchandise from Japan, or to also perhaps create overseas-unique items for sale as well?

Maruyama: we are still in the planning phase, but there will be definitely some exclusive items only available at the DAISUKI web-store.

AD: Recently an analogous digital distribution channel begun by several large Japanese manga publishers, J-Manga, folded. How does Daisuki intend to ensure the growth and success of the venture in an industry that is going through many transitions and challenges today?

Maruyama: It was a pity that J-Manga had to close down. The battle against piracy is indeed hard. At DAISUKI you can watch most of the content for free. We believe that overseas fans would pick the legal option if the conditions are the same. Hopefully, they will like DAISUKI and our service.

The Paper: I want to open this episode’s discussion by going back to something you mentioned last week. You asked “how come clothing fetishism is widely denounced?” which you actually answered yourself in the preceding sentence! An unhealthy level of such a fetish erases the person wearing said clothing. Would you agree that seems to be the intent of Nakamura-san here?

The beauty of a buruma fetish or any others lies in communication. Nakamura-san is only able to pervert Kasuga due to his failure to confess to Saeki-san. In other words, by discussing fetishes, a perverted act tranforms into one of respect, consent and trust. Not to mention your favorite skinship.

Likewise, a kiss is not a perverted act. In fact, it’s a very natural and healthy desire. Alas, Kasuga fails to see Saeki-san as a lover, a person. She’s a Goddess, an object of worship. And probably a host of other things you will illustrate lovingly below. Because as we all know, you’re pure like driven snow:

@gendomike I never had that perverted thoughts in my entire life, I have the purest innocent heart on earth.

— Monsieur LaMoe (@MonsieurLaMoe) May 7, 2013

MLM: LOL. Nakamura-san would say to me, “I guess kimo-ota like you really has no other way to live but as kimo-ota.”

Yes, I think after seeing episode 6, yes, basically agree with The Paper‘s proposal, it seems to me that Nakamura-san’s intention is to bring down Kasuga’s goddess figure, telling Kasuga that Saiki wants to have sex with him. But I didn’t know Kasuga was such shojo-chuu (virgin-mania) that he thought Saeki never thinks about sex. That Saeki is not a sexual being. That is the first time I knew he was a virgin worshiper. What kind of shunamitism is that? I mean, isn’t sex the purpose of dating? To get laid? Is romance without sex possible? He wants to have “Platonic relationship,” but I think Kasuga should read Platonic Sex instead of Flower Of Evil. Platonic Sex was a novel written by Ai Iijima, the most famous ex-porn actress from Japan.

I really can’t picture myself that the fact that a dream girl wants to have sex is shocking to him. I mean most guys would think that would be a paradise. A girl wants your body, how awesome is that? She fancies you! How envious. How riajuu he is! There is nothing more awesome than that, but that is shocking to him. I don’t get it. He never watched porn before? While only 2D girls, such as Love Plus girls, tell me that they want me, otaku life…(sigh)

Why does his ideal woman have to be virgin without libido? Holiness? So, sexual desire is evil? But isn’t love motivated by libido? Without libido, how can you get attracted to girls? Saeki obviously wants him, but he denies Saeki’s libido. And he also denies his own libido, despite his crime, kunka kunka buruma without Saeki’s consent. That’s like saying I want her but I don’t want her.

Libido is holy and sacred, so fetishism is holy. The object of libido is holy, so sexual Saeki is the Goddess, thus, her buruma is holy, which indeed brought a miracle to Kasuga, that he can now date his ideal girl! So, magic actually worked. It’s more magical than a maid addressing you as Master. And I must admit that Saeki with buruma on is just amazing. I can eat three bowls of steamed rice with that! So, I would say if you want to date your dream girl, get her buruma, if impossible, then her jersey (school tracksuit)!

Yes, jersey is also irresistible. I remember during our school trip to Kyoto, girls were wearing jerseys, and these protruding oppai were guys’ night talk at hotel. Oh yes, Kana-chan’s jersey, that’s what I want! A legal way to get indirect skinship is just ask her, “Can I borrow your jersey for a moment? I forgot to bring mine today.” That’s how you wear your crush’s jersey, achieving oneness with her indirectly, inhaling sweet smell of her perfume by taking deep breath. Then, you can say, “I’ll wash it and give it back to you tomorrow.” Then, you can bring it home without any problem. So, jersey would be a great alternative. Yes, jersey fetish, more viable than buruma fetish! “Can I borrow your buruma?” would freak a girl out, so jersey is more acceptable, so you don’t need to steal, don’t need to suffer from a guilty conscience. Also, no space for Nakamura to enslave you! Oh yes, feminazis already abolished buruma from Japanese schools, so there wouldn’t be any Nakamura-san in Japan.

Persona moment.

Yes, discussing fetishes would lead to accept pervertedness, or maybe not, depends on how strict a society is, especially here is rampant with religious fundamentalism. That prevents people from talking about it. Merely asking “What kind of fetish do you have?” would get us into trouble, we would get punished for that. I hope people will be more open to paraphilia and sexual orientations. This ongoing argument at the Supreme Court is part of that. If gay rights people win this case, then a society will become more tolerant on paraphilia, eventually a buruma fetish will be acceptable, and Kasuga can smell Saeki’s buruma all day long as he pleases, not to be afraid of being exposed as a buruma fetish, but be able to be proud of his own sexuality. We don’t need to be underground Mahou-Tsukai (magician), hidden from public in the catacombe to perform magic on buruma for our stairway to heaven. Oh yes, we no longer have buruma in the first place, so I’ll say revive buruma! Sukumizu, jersey, buruma or shimapan, fetishism is a human right!

Arata isn’t even trying and he’s still oozing sex simply by squatting outside the tournament doors. That’s the key to being truly sexy. It’s never forced. It just is. I am upset we got to view Shinobu’s pantsu but never Arata’s underwear. Sexist. Anyways.

This week will be a public service announcement on introversion. I am too lazy to look it up now but at the time of publication, the most popular article written on The Atlantic was one explaining introverts. Extroverts and society in general seem to have great difficulty in understanding their counterpart.

The state of being alone does not equate loneliness. The latter mostly stems from an inability to connect with others and partly from a lack of stimulation. I love being alone. I am a fierce introvert. I much prefer my own company over others. This is why I would attend cons with friends but rarely hang out with them throughout the duration.

There are definitely instances where I can’t stand to be around others but it’s usually an inclination to observe, reflect, introspect. An extrovert shouldn’t take that personally.

Introverts are not shy. I have spent hours standing next to the busiest intersection at Otakon asking passing cosplayers for photos. I do not make small talk and consider it a waste of time. I strive for more intimate conversations. Introverts keep a small but intense circle of friends. The choice of conjunction there is tellingly curious. Extroversion is the dominant, default state.

While one isn’t necessary healthier or better than the other, demands of life and progress tend to require collaboration. That said, introverts would outlast on an island =P

Playing against those better certainly helps but lacking the magical logic of MLM, I fail to comprehend how one may improve in karuta from isolation. We got a glimpse of Shinobu’s childhood in which she is matched against older karuta players in an effort to keep her alone, almost to the point of alienation.

This sheds some light on some of her actions meant as comic relief such as sneezing on someone else’s sleeve and wearing unconventional pantsu and not seeing the merits of team karuta. It’s troublesome. Introversion is perfectly healthy. Alienation is not.

Let’s hope Mizusawa takes three wins and demonstrate to Shinobu that team work is a lot of fun and rewarding as well.

For MLM

Girls never talk erotic stuff. Why don’t they talk dirty? What kind of eroticism they have on their mind? What kind of fantasy? That’s what I’m always interested in, and I want to have extensive conversation about it with girls since it’s a complete mystery to me. The Severing Crime Edge is a fetish anime, and it shows few kinds of paraphilia. So, it’s anime for the advanced level, which is very educating.

And there is a Fifty Shades of Gray character in it. Oh yes, Ruka, the VP of the high school student council. This red hair girl is totally BDSM, a sadist. Yes, dominatrix with a whip. Oh yes, master and slave play, SM play. That is like Aku No Hana, Nakamura-san as master and Kasuga as slave. Ruka has her own philosophy, that pigs must be obedient all the time. Yes, I’m a moe pig. So, I need to be obedient. Tame this delinquent pig with your mighty whip! But I rather want to be a master though, so I go to Maid Cafe.

Ruka is a hot looking girl, so she is constantly surrounded by guys. But she complains to Iwai-chan about it. She says, “Men should all die.” She accuses, “Men are all ‘I want to fuck her, fuck her, fuck her,’ that’s all they have on their mind when they approach me.” Immediately, after her accusation of men, otakus commented at once, “I’m sorry.” We simply made an apology to her.

But don’t girls also want to sleep with ikemen? Of course, they do. They want to sleep with Fabio. I have no doubt about it. Guys always talk erotic stuff openly, but I don’t hear girls talk that kind of stuff, so I have no idea, so I just google to find out. Only in anime, girls show their libido obviously. But not in reality. They don’t even talk about it. And then, this anime comes out and now I’m learning that girls actually do have fetishism. But why can’t girls be more open about it? Are they socially repressed? Because girls have weaker desires? I don’t think so. 50 Shades Of Gray got successful because girls are extremely perverted, more perverted than most men do. Otherwise, this can’t be selling 20 million copies worldwide. They just don’t express it in public. So, they are basically muttsuri (covert sukebe).

Speaking of fetish, just recently I’ve found out that a lot of girls are hand-fetish when googling girls’ fetish. But that’s the first time I ever heard about it. But why do they feel sexy from hands? Hand is just hand. I don’t feel anything from hands of girls, I don’t even look at them in the first place. We dudes are oppai fetish, we always feel aroused by looking at T&A, but hand? Umm, can’t get it. Complete mystery to me.

Yet, back in my college years, I remember some girls suddenly took my hand and said, “Your hands are really pretty” without my consent. Well, I didn’t know what was going on, and I didn’t know what the hell they were doing with it, so I just let it pass. On top of that, this was the same hand that was doing self-consolation, so I didn’t understand why they wanted to toy with such impure sinful part like that. But now I know why, so when they took my hand, I could have said to them, “Please make miso soup for me every morning. (=Will you marry me?)”

Oh Yes! This manga-ka is a genuius. Even Urobuchi can’t come up with this creative idea.. How can he come up with that incredible idea? That you wear bloomers of the girl you are about to go on a date. And she doesn’t know about it! Yes, bloomers, or buruma. Oh, yes. Dragonball’s heroine’s name was Buruma. Ms. Amelia Bloomer, a 19th century American feminist, promoted the bloomers, thus the name “Bloomers,” becomes “buruma” in Japanese. And in Japan, it was worn by girls for PE class in K-12. Yes, until I was a high schooler, buruma was the official PE uniform for girls. But now, because Tajima Yoko and Azuma Chizuru, those two Japanese femi-nazis, made a fuss about it, it has been abolished. So, now, we can never see buruma girls again. It’s so ironic that buruma was started by feminists and abolished by feminists.

Oh yes, PE uniform is so fetish. The huge name tag on the chest, and you write your name by yourself with a marker, so, it’s that girl’s handwriting. Same with that handwritten name tag on sukumizu (school swimsuit). The handwriting of the girl you fantasize, and the protrusion of the handwritten name tag on the breasts, and with combination of tight buruma, ultimate fetish. Yes, tight buruma, eating up in the butt cleavage. That was our Seishun (youth). But now, no one sees that anymore, so I feel sorry for the current Japanese youth who grow up not knowing of buruma. They just see it in anime, and they don’t know it actually existed. So, there is a generational gap. Thus, buruma becomes moe-zokusei, a thing you can never attain in reality.

Saeki talking to a guy who actually stole her buruma.

And who wears a buruma of the girl that you are currently dating, especially without her knowledge? But, how does that happen in the first place? Well, this Nakamura girl, she catches Kasuga stealing buruma from Saeki’s locker after school. And Saiki is the girl he has a huge crush on! Because Nakamura blackmails him to wear a buruma and go on a date with Saeki, otherwise, she will tell everyone that he stole Saeki’s buruma. So, basically he does everything Nakamura orders him to do like a slave. It’s so hilarious. Comedy gold. I never laughed this hard. Yup, reap what you sow. And what’s funny is that Nakamura-san does look like that femi-nazi woman, Tajima Youko! Yes, the one who abolished buruma from Japanese schools. Nakamura-san is young Tajima! Both of them have buruma connection.

But this burumania Kasuga, smelling buruma on the spot was still okay, but why did he bring it home? It’s contagious magic, according to the theory of James George Frazer. I remember back in my high school years, our HR teacher told the class that some girl’s bicycle saddle went missing. And the whole school went panic. But no one came forward. The statue of limitations ran out. Oh, yes, she was so cute, many guys were after her, and we were sure that one of these guys did it. We accused of each other, but no one could find out who actually did it. Police didn’t even care to do the investigation. But I felt sorry for her, she had to go home with her bicycle without the saddle. But, my point is, this crime was still based on the idea of contagious magic. Yes, contagious magic, in other words, is “indirect skinship.”

Kunka Kunka (smelling).

Yes, anything she is wearing or in her possession. Yes, her property, which is buruma in this case. But rather than property, I rather get connected to her things-in-themselves, like Kana-chan’s or Chii-chan’s. Why has to be one step further away? Because Japan is skinshipless society, can’t get directly to her, which produces so many clothing fetish. Yes, as substitutions for the real girls.

But anyway, how come clothing fetishism is widely denounced? I think clothing fetishism is wonderful, it’s humanity. Deep longing for buruma is romantic adventure. Even in the Scriptures, a woman grabbed the garment of Christ, and her sickness was instantly healed. See, that is contagious magic, indirect skinship, yes, indeed fetishism! Same thing, you want to grab the garment (buruma) of the girl you have a crush on. Because buruma is elixir! Buruma is the life saver. It cures everything. See the connection here? But, these femi-nazes took away buruma from us. How could they…? Buruma is as holy as Shroud of Turin. So, garment fetishism is sacred, since Christianity is garment fetishism. So, if you denounce buruma-maniac, then automatically you are anti-Christ.

So, I declare that whoever abolished buruma from Japanese schools, especially Tajima Yoko and Azuma Chizuru, are anti-Christ!

Last week was a total tease. At the cusp of the finals, we were fed a recap episode instead. The interrupted timing subdued the excitement of the match for this week but it ended in spectacular fashion as usual.

This week definitely revolved around Chihaya but I keep thinking of Kana-chan. The seemingly effortless yet heartfelt manner in which she paints a landscape for each card is inspiring. For her teammate it’s a catalyst to take cards. For me, it’s an attempt to make art.

Very often art is simply the act of recognizing something as such. In other words, it’s seeing something that’s not apparently… apparent. Good writing, writing that shapes into art, literature is rarely apparent. Writers are very egotistical in a sense. They think they have something worth saying when it’s usually just some trite thought thrown into a blender and repackaged like a shiny new toothpaste box.

Sour grapes is literary art. I remember reading the fable when I was five and questioning my mother. Even after her explanation I still failed to comprehend the fox. The eureka moment didn’t come until years later and it hit me like a brick. It’s genius really. Thousands of years, billions of books, infinite human emotions and experiences later, every possible word has likely been written. In fact, there is nothing original in the preceding sentence or this entire piece. (I can’t find the source to attribute it to though.)

Yet art will endure. Kana-chan or someone will develop a feeling or thought and conjure it into something greater. Something that others can relate to and draw inspiration from.

Chihayafuru is art. Before the first season (or the manga really), could anyone even fathom a story built on karuta? So I sit here at my keyboard and strive to achieve what the anime of the year accomplished.

The Severing Crime Edge episode 4 now is having Inoue Kikuko (aka Onee-chan) as Mama of Velvet, a snack bar! Snack Bar, or just “snack” in Japanese, is a type of bar where the female owner, so called “Mama,” is going to have conversation with you. And then, you can sing karaoke if you want. Mama is a jukujo, or more likely, bimajo! And she plays jazz piano!

There are basically four major services in Japan that customers can enjoy female conversation at a bar: Snack, club, lounge, and kyabakura.

1. Snack usually only serves alcohol at a counter, and it’s pretty cozy. So, you sit on a stool, and Mama and her young staff will talk to you over the counter. Mama, the snack owner, is relatively older.
2. Club has tables and sofas where good looking young girls with sexy outfit will serve you drinks and sit next to you and have flirtatious conversation. Yes, this is more like companionship. But it is only for the high-end customers, they only accept new clients by the introductions of the existing clients. So, people can’t just go in. So, it’s only opened for VIPs like business leaders, politicians, diplomats, lawyers, doctors, lobbyists, and so on. And it’s super expensive, so proletarians can never afford. It’s exclusive.
3. Lounge, contrary to club, it’s open to ordinary salarymen. So, this is more for the mass.
4. Kyabakura is probably the most famous type of bar in Japan. Kyabakura (cabaret + club) is basically the same with club/rounge. Girls are assigned to certain tables and they rotate until the customer finds his favorite girl. Then, he chooses the girl. Then, he becomes a repeater, and if it goes well, he can even date her outside the bar. Oh yes, so it’s basically dating service, mostly inside the bar. Yes, 3D dating sim. But the difference is that Kyabakura is based on an hourly rate. So the more you stay, the more you have to pay, while at club, lounge, or snack, you can sit as long as you want until the bar closes, so you don’t need to go home early to avoid the accumulating bill.

So, Onee-chan plays Mama at a snack bar. And she is a jazz pianist! So, her bar has a piano, and Mama herself performs piano for customers. Wow, that’s really awesome. The best service I can ever get! Reminds me of Sakamichi No Apollon. That is the sexiest character I can ever find. A woman with piano skill, especially jazz or bossa nova, is just amazing. You know, even if the girl doesn’t look that pretty, if she plays piano, I would fall to her. Ahh, I want to go to this snack bar!

Bimajo and loli! Incredible combination!

I’ve been to maid cafe, but they only do janken pon. They don’t sit next to you and flirt. They don’t date you in the first place. Maid cafe is not a dating sim. So, I need to go to Kyabakura. But which is better? Buy Nintendo DS and play Love Plus? Or go to kyabakura? Of course, Nintendo DS is far more affordable than Kyabakura. For freeter, NEET, hikky, or otaku, definitely Love Plus is better. So, I’ll go for 2D dating sim rather than 3D dating sim.

Bimajo fondles loli’s hair. Kimashiii!?

But if I have dinero, I would go to this snack bar every night. Ahh, how beautiful jazz piano is…with Kikuko’s voice, romantic jazz tune, a sense of evanescence, kind of Rahxephonish, yes, totally saudade! And that certain mood of an adult woman, yes, Mama is a bimajo with jazz piano skill. I totally fall in love with her…with that kyonyuu (large oppai) too. What is the name of this song anyway? Anyone has any idea? I so wanna know! So, I can check out my Real Book.

Anyway, here’s a rough chord progression of that jazz piece she was playing:

Cm7   D7(b9)   Gm7    C9

Cm7   A7   DM7

Cm7    D7(b9)  Gm7  Abdim

EbM7   D7(b13) D7    AbM7

Am7    Dsus4    D7    Bm7    Esus4  Em7

AM7    B7(b13)   B7  Em9

AM7    Dsus4     D7   Bm7    Esus4   Em7

EbM7      F#       Gm7      C7(b9)  C7(#9)  C7 (b9)

Bbm9     Abm9    F#m9    Em9    Ebm9

I wish I could play piano. But I wasn’t a bourgeois kid, so I couldn’t afford any piano lesson. If I could, I would have been playing jazz piano to Iwai-chan right now!

Iwai-chan, kawaii!!!

Chuunibyou, originally stipulated by Dostoyevsky, recently talked by our Anime Diet philosopher, gendomike. And Eric Hoffer too, an American philosopher, talks about it. Oh yes, “17 forever” by Inoue Kikuko, Tamura Yukari, and Horie Yui is basically the same kind as chuunibyou, puer aeternus. And Hoffer laments the American youth’s immaturity.

According to Hoffer, the youth from the 1960s didn’t have any real world experience, because from the 1960s, high school graduates from middle class families started going to college or becoming hippies instead of going straight into the capitalism world. From Hoffer’s view, college education makes today’s youth immature, because they miss their initiation stage to adulthood. More academically knowledgeable, but socially immature, thus lack of social responsibility. So, what he’s saying is that affluent society made them still keep a minor mentality. Only halfway responsibility like single young people with a lot of part time works and odd jobs. Oh yes, like freeters in Japan. Basically, college kids and freeters have the same lousy mentality.

But, that doesn’t mean all freeters are immature and don’t have a sense of social responsibility. Even for freeters, there are divided into three types: moratorium type, dream-pursuing type, and alternative type. And Eric Hoffer regards moratorium type as such, because this one doesn’t develop a sense of social responsibility, in other words, still a Peter Pan. Yes, motarorium forever is “17 forever.” Therefore, moratorium is chuunibyou or Peter Pan syndrome.

The leftist movement, hippies, flower generation, gay rights, marijuana, drug culture, psychedelic, anti-Vietnam activism, these are all chuunibyou according to Eric Hoffer? But what about the conservative movement then? What about these people who admire the recently deceased Maggie Thatcher and Ronald Reagan? Of course, Chuunibyou is also prevalent in conservatism according to Bill Maher. He says Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are chuunibyou patients. Yes, Chuuni = 8th grader = 14 years old kid. In fact, Bill Maher disdains that all conservatives, including Tea Partiers, are merely chuunibyou patients.

So, what is a cure to Chuunibyou? Hoffer advocates today’s youth to have a real world experience, which would be a initiation ritual into adulthood, like going into military service or becoming a person with a real job. Hoffer himself was a dock worker, so become a stevedore, or longshoreman?

In turn, Maou is an alternative type, not a moratorium one. It’s just a step to become a full time employee. So, he’s temporarily a freeter until he gets a full time position. And how he struggles to make ends meet at McDee, or MagRonald, yes, blue collar experience: low wage, a mac job, six-mat apartment, is completely lumpenproletarian. That is the real world experience that they are going through. So, he’s not an immature freeter, but rather a freeter philosopher, can be qualified for proletarian hero.

Therefore, MagRonald (probably ran by Ronald Reagan as our Ray suggested?) is an ideal work place to cure chuunibyou. Yes, it provides the very authentic real world experience. And what does Maou exactly do at MagRonald? Well, he contributes to MagDonald’s recycling project, in order to make the world more eco-friendly, as a part of the green initiative. Yes, with sponsorship from WTO, he recycles wastes and resells it to consumers as this video presentation shows. Recycling sanctifies excrement. In other words, reclaim trash and make it usable and marketable again instead of sending to landfills. Maou the recycler. If Hoffer was a longshoreman philosopher, then Maou-sama is a recycler philosopher. That’s what Yes Men do. And that is THE real world experience to cure chuunibyou. Indeed, Yes Men is the cure to chuunibyou!

So, if you want to overcome, grow out, and graduate from your own chuunibyou, become a Yes Man like Maou-sama!