evanc88 said:francismeunier said:evanc88 said:
They're six individual stories from different authors. I think this one will end at episode 4, and the next story will be Kokoro--a much more laid back and peaceful tale, by the first master of modern Japanese literature, Natsume Soseki. It's amazing, seriously.
At the end, he failed to kill himself but the woman died. You'll see next episode what effect that has on him, I assume. Those women were not his siblings, as previously discussed here.
About the story being confusing, there are two things to note. First, no it isn't, and the dialogue isn't made to be profound, it's made to accent the characters emotions. This can, admittedly, be difficult in an anime, but that leads me to my second point; this anime is based off of the second most sold book in Japan, behind only Kokoro, the next story in the cycle. A lot of people watching this there know this story by heart, celebrate Dazai's life on the anniversary of his suicide, and know the time period far better than Western people do. Keep in mind that this is made for a Japanese audience, not us watching fansubs.
Yes, it takes place in modern Japan. It says the fourth year of the Showa era at the beginning of the show. That means 1930.
Interesting post, so people were at that time not happy with the goverment so there was a Tokko (political police) to calm down revolutions and also a problem of prostitutes. This lead to major suicides. I do want to ask you if Youzou was abused as a kid? No one answered me on this one. Were all these women playing with his privates or were they exposing themselves to him? I got some mix feelings that it is a yes but not sure. They also say that Youzou liked books but his father though it was not right for him at this age? What is up with this whole lion mask thing other than festival purpose?
evanc88 said:
Yeah, the Tokko during this time were mainly there to suppress, as much as possible, anyone's involvement in the Communist party, just like in the show.
Ok, interesting. Were they brutal like it shows by clubing people or some just killed some of these protestors?
evanc88 said:
Also, yes, he was raped. It's hard to appreciate the scene, really, because the anime give so little a look into the head of the boy. In the anime, you see him sort of smiling dumbly. In the novel, you understand he smiles dumbly out of what he calls "weakness," though he recognizes what they were doing was extremely horrible.
Oh why did they abuse him sexually? What is so fun having these desires with a kid? What does the novel say exactly about this? You can PM if it is not right to say it here.
evanc88 said:
The books vs lion mask thing was confusing. In the novel, it isn't that he wants books but doesn't want to disappoint his father--he doesn't care about either one. He's completely apathetic, and only chooses one because he thinks that choosing is what human beings are supposed to do. Even as a child, he was mocking human beings, imitating them while realizing their absurdity. He wanted neither thing, but felt a "normal" human would choose one of them. Since he was a kid, he went for the mask. Weird, yeah, but it's supposed to highlight the fact that the main character is just completely empty. He literally does not understand what it means to be human. Feeling all of this at a young age, he grew up into the man he is in the show... sort of.
Ah ok, interesting psychology. Youzou has some interesting thinking.
evanc88 said:
It's not a completely faithful adaptation, but it isn't bad. You see his apathy when he spaces out at the political rally, or when he's talking to the woman.
Yeah, noticed it a little now that you mention it.
evanc88 said:
A note about the suicide, though: in the book, they both jumped at the same time. He didn't push her, or go after her. They both jumped together, and he just happened to live.
That would have been better to show but I thank you for telling the change. I would not know without people like you knowing more. Thanks again.