Jan 18, 3:33 PM
An Analysis of the Symbolism in Warau Arsnotoria Sun!
Anime Relations:
Warau Arsnotoria Sun!
Warau Arsnotoria Sun! henceforth referred to as WAS! is an anime that aired around 2022. I've been looking since then to compile my thoughts and observations and put it into writing as I think it begs for an analysis of some sort. There will naturally be some spoilers.
It may be a good idea to watch the first few episodes so as to draw your own conclusions before reading this humble analysis.
Episode 1: In Which the Nature of Knowledge is Discussed
In Episode 1, we're introduced to the main structure of the show. Girls live in a seemingly idyllic academy. Knights show up in warning segments.
A small misfortune.
Bugs are scary.
When bugs show up, scary things happen.
A lot of consideration can be given to every line of dialogue within the show. Is the latter a commentary on empiricism, as in, do scary things happen because bugs show up? As humans, we may oft rely on inductive reasoning so as to make predictions of the world around us. This raises many questions about causality, objective reality and the role of sensory experience.
After all, if a tree falls when no one is around does it make a sound?
Mixed there are questions about the show itself- Why do warnings occur?
Such questions are left for the watcher to ponder.
But first, we must analyze how Platonic thought influenced and helped shape WAS!.
Platonic thought
It's easy to make a connection between Platonic thought and WAS. In fact, I believe they're inextricably linked and it's a good idea to get this over with before we proceed any further.
The world the knights live in is dusty, to say the least.
The academy where the girls live is almost an Ideal paradise when contrasted to the mundane world of the knights.
It could be said to hint at the distinction between the ideal world of Form and the material world common in Platonism. And it's perhaps the main takeaway given the first episode alone.
the Allegory of the Cave
The academy is an idealized world. A world of knowledge. The outsiders, upon seeing it, immediately call it heresy, so as to represent those stuck in the cave.
Plato's Allegory of the Cave is known for being a staple in movie criticism.
So then, you ask, does the Allegory of the Cave apply to WAS?
The answer I'd give is yes. Yes, it does.
It, however, goes further and delves in the occult and esoteric aspect of Platonism which is hinted by the girls being named after famous Grimoires.
Gnosticism
WAS is perhaps the first true Gnostic anime.
Gnosticism holds that spiritual salvation is acquired through knowledge. Such is called Gnosis.
If we were to grant that there is such a thing as Gnosis, and an anime can be that, then it's WAS.
The watcher is invited to interpret the show's imagery and questions-often alluding or hinting at knowledge deemed occult- as they want and if they arrive at knowledge through doing so, then all the better.
The Existence of Evil
The moment where Tori opens the jar is analogous to a bluepill-redpill scene such that it would be enough for a movie critic to call it a day.
This gives rise to a complementary Pandora's Box mytheme. As soon as the jar is opened, evil is acknowledged through the existence of bugs and this subsequently leads to the cut-in to the mundane world of the knights. The symbolic nature of the academy as an idealization is evident through the mythical-theological significance assigned and the Platonic-Gnostic discourse goes full circle.
This does not cover the entirety of the episode which shall be left to the reader.
Episode 2
Pretty things contain poison.
We can use them for herbal tea.
Is change for the best?
As they venture into the academy's garden, dialogue is once again had.
The Garden acts as a symbolic stand-in for Eden as Tori eats a red fruit much like the Fruit of Knowledge of Good and Evil while questioning the nature of change. The theme of change holds mythological significance. In the tale, departure from the garden brought change to its perfect stasis.
As if to support this,
[*] The warning changes (hah! get it?) from the end to the middle of the episode. This is coincidentally after Tori eats the fruit.
[*] Interestingly, the scene where they're shown doing chores happens after the warning. A reference to how labor began after the Departure from the Garden.
[*] Comparative mythology can be used here as yet another tool in which to understand WAS. The tale of Pandora's Box is similar to that of Genesis, and so forth.
The dialogues, allegories and mythemes follow from the other. As Tori symbolically eats the fruit, it could be said she's questioning the the nature of good and evil along with the tale itself. Tori therefore commits a taboo in the eyes of the knights which is why the warning scene happens right after as if by cause-and-effect. If we pay attention to the narrative, it's practically possible to predict when warnings occur.
Episode 2 is then a natural followup to what began in Episode 1 and makes clear the extent to which the academy might be seen as an idealized world.
Of note,
[*] The academy has 33 wards so as to correspond to the 33 degrees of masonry.
[*] What's meant to be the Player is blurry. This may be an attempt to depict the Form of a Player. Simply showing one of the possible designs a player can have goes opposite to the idealized nature of the magic world as it would not denote ideal Playerness.
This interesting narrative structure culminates in Episode 3.
Episode 3
let's say it was the sun's magic.
It can be gathered from the end alone that the episode's theme is the Sun. Is it really so?
Of note,
[*] The narrative starts with Tori waking up and ends with her sleeping.
[*] Sun! is not part of the original title. It was added for the anime and derivative media. This might mean not only this specific episode but they all share this theme to an extent.
[*] The warning happens at the beginning. A knight quotes the Bible. "All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust." The warning is in the beginning to show our fate is inescapable; neither can we avoid returning to dust nor avoid the warning.
[*] "The Sun will rise up again tomorrow" is a commonly-used example of inductive reasoning.
[*] The Allegory of the Cave is preceded by Plato's Allegory of the Sun. Plato compares the concept of Goodness to the Sun. The Sun imparts knowledge and truth through sight, yet sight is not the Sun itself. We're imparted a fraction of knowledge through goodness but that is not Knowledge or Goodness itself.
Once one's out of the cave, they have the Sun to guide them.
[*] In theology, God is sometimes compared to Goodness.
[*] If we put our analyses of 1-3 together, Tori has by this point questioned Knowledge (1), Evil (2) and Good (3). I've already commented on the mythical-theology significance.
Finally, in what's by far the most intricate composition in anime, the time of warnings depicts the Sun when seen in conjunction as a pictogram.
Episode 4
A moon-themed episode follows and the Grimoires begin stargazing.
Summary
Episodes 1-4 could be called the anime's "first arc" both literally and literally.
It may be a good idea to take a step back to take all the miscellaneous symbolism in before we delve in how the anime follows all that in the middle arc and the conclusion. I'll refer to episodes 5-9 as the middle (Part 2) and 9-12 as the end (part 3).
cont.
It may be a good idea to watch the first few episodes so as to draw your own conclusions before reading this humble analysis.
Episode 1: In Which the Nature of Knowledge is Discussed
In Episode 1, we're introduced to the main structure of the show. Girls live in a seemingly idyllic academy. Knights show up in warning segments.
A small misfortune.
Bugs are scary.
When bugs show up, scary things happen.
A lot of consideration can be given to every line of dialogue within the show. Is the latter a commentary on empiricism, as in, do scary things happen because bugs show up? As humans, we may oft rely on inductive reasoning so as to make predictions of the world around us. This raises many questions about causality, objective reality and the role of sensory experience.
After all, if a tree falls when no one is around does it make a sound?
Mixed there are questions about the show itself- Why do warnings occur?
Such questions are left for the watcher to ponder.
But first, we must analyze how Platonic thought influenced and helped shape WAS!.
Platonic thought
It's easy to make a connection between Platonic thought and WAS. In fact, I believe they're inextricably linked and it's a good idea to get this over with before we proceed any further.
The world the knights live in is dusty, to say the least.
The academy where the girls live is almost an Ideal paradise when contrasted to the mundane world of the knights.
It could be said to hint at the distinction between the ideal world of Form and the material world common in Platonism. And it's perhaps the main takeaway given the first episode alone.
the Allegory of the Cave
A human is trapped in a cave, seeing only shadows. They perceive the shadows projected in the wall to be reality itself. When they manage to escape, the human realizes it's not so. If they come back, the inhabitants of the cave may not believe it.
The academy is an idealized world. A world of knowledge. The outsiders, upon seeing it, immediately call it heresy, so as to represent those stuck in the cave.
Plato's Allegory of the Cave is known for being a staple in movie criticism.
So then, you ask, does the Allegory of the Cave apply to WAS?
The answer I'd give is yes. Yes, it does.
It, however, goes further and delves in the occult and esoteric aspect of Platonism which is hinted by the girls being named after famous Grimoires.
Gnosticism
WAS is perhaps the first true Gnostic anime.
Gnosticism holds that spiritual salvation is acquired through knowledge. Such is called Gnosis.
If we were to grant that there is such a thing as Gnosis, and an anime can be that, then it's WAS.
The logos, on the other hand, is the product of a careful reflection (dianoia), and refers, for its truth-value, not to the immediate moment of “grasping” a phenomenon (prolêpsis), but to the moment of reflection during which one attains a conceptual knowledge of the phenomenon, and first comes to “know” it as such—this is gnosis: insight.
The watcher is invited to interpret the show's imagery and questions-often alluding or hinting at knowledge deemed occult- as they want and if they arrive at knowledge through doing so, then all the better.
The Existence of Evil
The moment where Tori opens the jar is analogous to a bluepill-redpill scene such that it would be enough for a movie critic to call it a day.
This gives rise to a complementary Pandora's Box mytheme. As soon as the jar is opened, evil is acknowledged through the existence of bugs and this subsequently leads to the cut-in to the mundane world of the knights. The symbolic nature of the academy as an idealization is evident through the mythical-theological significance assigned and the Platonic-Gnostic discourse goes full circle.
This does not cover the entirety of the episode which shall be left to the reader.
Episode 2
Pretty things contain poison.
We can use them for herbal tea.
Is change for the best?
As they venture into the academy's garden, dialogue is once again had.
The Garden acts as a symbolic stand-in for Eden as Tori eats a red fruit much like the Fruit of Knowledge of Good and Evil while questioning the nature of change. The theme of change holds mythological significance. In the tale, departure from the garden brought change to its perfect stasis.
As if to support this,
[*] The warning changes (hah! get it?) from the end to the middle of the episode. This is coincidentally after Tori eats the fruit.
[*] Interestingly, the scene where they're shown doing chores happens after the warning. A reference to how labor began after the Departure from the Garden.
[*] Comparative mythology can be used here as yet another tool in which to understand WAS. The tale of Pandora's Box is similar to that of Genesis, and so forth.
The dialogues, allegories and mythemes follow from the other. As Tori symbolically eats the fruit, it could be said she's questioning the the nature of good and evil along with the tale itself. Tori therefore commits a taboo in the eyes of the knights which is why the warning scene happens right after as if by cause-and-effect. If we pay attention to the narrative, it's practically possible to predict when warnings occur.
Episode 2 is then a natural followup to what began in Episode 1 and makes clear the extent to which the academy might be seen as an idealized world.
Of note,
[*] The academy has 33 wards so as to correspond to the 33 degrees of masonry.
[*] What's meant to be the Player is blurry. This may be an attempt to depict the Form of a Player. Simply showing one of the possible designs a player can have goes opposite to the idealized nature of the magic world as it would not denote ideal Playerness.
This interesting narrative structure culminates in Episode 3.
Episode 3
let's say it was the sun's magic.
It can be gathered from the end alone that the episode's theme is the Sun. Is it really so?
Of note,
[*] The narrative starts with Tori waking up and ends with her sleeping.
[*] Sun! is not part of the original title. It was added for the anime and derivative media. This might mean not only this specific episode but they all share this theme to an extent.
[*] The warning happens at the beginning. A knight quotes the Bible. "All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust." The warning is in the beginning to show our fate is inescapable; neither can we avoid returning to dust nor avoid the warning.
[*] "The Sun will rise up again tomorrow" is a commonly-used example of inductive reasoning.
[*] The Allegory of the Cave is preceded by Plato's Allegory of the Sun. Plato compares the concept of Goodness to the Sun. The Sun imparts knowledge and truth through sight, yet sight is not the Sun itself. We're imparted a fraction of knowledge through goodness but that is not Knowledge or Goodness itself.
Once one's out of the cave, they have the Sun to guide them.
[*] In theology, God is sometimes compared to Goodness.
[*] If we put our analyses of 1-3 together, Tori has by this point questioned Knowledge (1), Evil (2) and Good (3). I've already commented on the mythical-theology significance.
Finally, in what's by far the most intricate composition in anime, the time of warnings depicts the Sun when seen in conjunction as a pictogram.
Episode 4
A moon-themed episode follows and the Grimoires begin stargazing.
Summary
Episodes 1-4 could be called the anime's "first arc" both literally and literally.
It may be a good idea to take a step back to take all the miscellaneous symbolism in before we delve in how the anime follows all that in the middle arc and the conclusion. I'll refer to episodes 5-9 as the middle (Part 2) and 9-12 as the end (part 3).
cont.
Posted by
adelechan
| Jan 18, 3:33 PM |
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