I know we won’t meet again,
I know
But I cannot erase these feelings of mine yet,
They wouldn’t melt yet
White memories fall down, flickering,
In a town where the lights went down
They will surely melt away in the end –
That’s what I was thinking last year [with regret]
But now I want to forget
That we were always together
You can’t be jealous of a stranger, right?
No matter how brilliant the town is
The flowers are crying, they are crying in sorrow
If I knew it would end like this, then
I wish [those feelings] could melt away I wish they could fade away that time
If we just separated silently
They’d become snow, I know
I know we won’t meet again,
I know
But I cannot erase these feelings of mine yet,
They wouldn’t melt yet
The flowers are crying, they are crying in sorrow
They are waiting for the end of winter
I wish [those feelings] could melt away I wish they could fade away that time
If we just separated silently
They’d become snow, I know
If I met you by instance,
How should I face you and how should I smile?
If I met you by instance,
I would be able to admit that
___
Well, that's something I thought of myself, but that's an obvious thing for any person who knows the art of understanding the Japanese tendency to cut 'unnecessary' words (here - a subject) out of the sentence: the verbs 'tokeru' and 'kieru' ('to melt' and 'to fade away' here) that are frequently repeated (also 'kesu' - 'to erase' - in the third line) surely are connected to 'feelings' and 'memories' that are compared to snow, that is why I put them into [ ] brackets to explain the meaning of the chorus.
Also, many sources put a ? in the last line of the song. Since I don't hear it as a question, I left it as an affirmation, which can be wrong in the end in case there really was a ? in the original lyrics.
As always, I marked in different colour my favourite lines that actually made me want to translate the song.
Детство ведь прошло в этом приторном запахе цветущих кустарников, в этих гроздьях "разбитых сердец" с белой серцевинкой, в этой влажной зелени, капающей со всех сторон.
Какой шлагбаум, какая консьержка?
Детство прошло среди этих обветшавших подъездов с отвалившейся штукатуркой в надписях и объявлениях, в этих серых бетонных опорных стенах, на этих зеленых склонах, на этих песочных склонах, на этих недо-дорогах с потрескавшимся асфальтом.
Какой стадион со специальным покрытием, какая баскетбольная площадка?
Детство прошло в этих дворах с тусклым освещением, во дворах без освещения, на этих тропинках и этих крошащихся лестницах с погнувшимися перилами, на детских качелях, одних на всю округу, на темно-коричневом ржавом железе бывших советских турников и скамеек.
Какой мост, какие немецкие автобусы? Какой свободный порт, какие конкурсы селфи?
Когда масштабы успели так вырости?
Ведь раньше все нужное находилось на расстоянии вытянутой руки - вон до того дерева, вот за тем поворотом, вот здесь, под ногами.
This trend turns out to be more common than I expected: an 8-volume long manga is made into a 51-episode long anime. If these numbers don't tell you anything, here's what they mean: with the usual speed of airing, which is 1 episode per week, 1 season of an anime takes exactly one season of a year, and 52 (frequently 51) episodes equal a whole year. Now one manga chapter may take from half an episode to 2 episodes depending on its contents, but even if we count one volume as 5 chapters, there'll be 40 approx. chapters, which is obviously not enough to create 52 episodes.
characters and story
Therefore, 51 episodes here mean that the original manga was only used as a source of inspiration and half of the contents are unique to the anime series. And unique episodes in such a long anime can only mean one thing: fillers. Fillers here and fillers there, fillers short and fillers long, going in a row, one by one. Fillers themselves are no evil, some of them even manage to be interesting and funny, 'cause you don't really want to watch serious things happening all the time and the heroines fighting with the enemy with no time to relax. However, it's no good when they get dragged too much. It makes the watching person lose his interest. So here is how I managed to watch 51 episodes in 1 week: I skipped most fillers that did not seem very interesting to me.
Since
the heroines are in 5th grade of primary school, they are just 11 years
old, and this is the age of the audience the anime is aimed at.
Therefore, it's absolutely impossible to take it seriously. It's not
like fantasy, here the main disturbing factor is not magic they use or
the standard story of good guys fighting bad ones, but the fact that all
events so much depend on the creators' will and are explained by
'because it's a fairytale for girls!'. Moreover, many of fillers in 'Rune' were poorly composed, and I wouldn't want even to show it to children at all
Thanks to the fact that the anime is full of fillers and obviously different directors were responsible for different episodes (and this is a normal thing for anime series, especially when it's that long), the story is not smooth enough and jumps from serious events to having fun, with each segment length varying at the directors' will, which made it difficult to follow.
Still, it's not that this story has no appeal at all. First of all, welcome a heroine who's not a tender fragile damsel, but isn't that friendly-to-anybody good-for-nothing type either.
Though she retains the tomboyish traits of your-usual-shoujo-heroine, and does not lack kindness in her heart.
As for humour, the creators made an attempt to make supporting characters as strange as they could, like a super-star-mentor or granddad with uncommon hobbies...
Or the always-optimistic classroom teacher who obviously specialised in English.
It's not without any fanservice, too...
Though my favourite was the delivery man. Sure.
Owww....
Well, that is to say, if middle-school blond student with ice-blue eyes makes you worried you'll be imprisoned for corruption of minors is not good enough for you, or even occupied by your younger sister, there are enough grown-up men to lay your eyes on.
graphics
Now here is what happens when the original mangaka is a fashion writer. Well, it's a fact I read on MAL, but it was 100% visible that the mangaka had something to do with design. During the 51 episode the heroines changed a lot of clothes and hairstyles and were shown frequently wearing something beyond school uniform, and all of their clothes demonstrated good sense and style. The stop-frames dividing every episode in 2 also showed the artist's talent for design explicitly.
My favourite characters in terms of design was, of course, Chocolat's mama, whose appearance in human form was a sheer delight and looked like a page from a retro fashion magazine.
Moving objects, unlike stop-frames, were poorly drawn and many movements were unnatural. Some were lame, to put it bluntly. A frequent thing for this genre - two pictures changing one another to create an image of, say, dancing.
And this wonderful work of art is simply begging me to put it on my avatar, I tell ya.
voice acting
Here is the aspect I cannot defy even if it still follows the general trend of this anime which is being childish.
Even though I watched a lot of anime series of mid-00's, the main heroines' actresses Matsumoto Marika and Ihata Juri, as well as Konishi Ryousei, Iwahashi Naoya, Kimura Ryouhei, Uran Sakiko, Maeda Takeshi, Shimamoto Sumi, Yasoda Yuuichi and many others among the key characters were a discovery for me. Others were not, like miss Minagawa or Yokoyama Chisa, who did a great job in character-making (I so want to use the Japanese '...zukuri' here).
And Tsuda Kenjirou. Did I say that 'Rune' is an anime where there are enough adult guys to fall for? Of course, Robin was the most prominent among them. Awwww that voice...
music
Unlike what you'd expect from a shoujo anime aimed at children, the background music in 'Rune' was diverse and some melodies were pretty seriously done, it seems the composer really put a lot into his works. Other melodies, like those that played at funny moments or illustrated everyday life, were plain and simple, and thus did not leave any particular impression.
The opening and ending themes were in general just the mainstream cute songs that are usually performed either by seiyuus or by some girls who have neither unique voices nor special abilities. However, in 'Rune' they were at least bolder and certainly had some style, and this impression was magnified by the manga-like pictures that the video itself consisted of. I'd say, all three songs were listenable, but if the opening was ok, the first ending revealed Nomoto Karia sucks at singing.
My favourite was the second ending was performed by the main 2 seiyuus, and I heard that the mangaka wrote the lyrics herself, which probably makes the songs fit the anime so much.
conclusion
'Rune' sure is childish. And full of fillers. And strange.
And... like where are these names Japanese???
Surely I'd recommend it to any young girl who is wondering what anime
series to watch, because as a fairytale it is very good, having
beautiful visual style and moral that's just perfect for children.
But I also enjoyed it myself a lot. It won't become my favourite and won't take a special place in my heart, but it was a good thing to relax at home after work on cold May evenings.
When you're 10 years old, Sailor Soldiers, who are just in middle school, are perfect adults for you. When you're 15, you gather a big harem of anime-guys - bishounen, macho, ikemen, cold and cool or nice and shy. When you're past 20, you start looking at those shoujo stories from the angle of judging whether you could recommend it for your cousin, or niece, or your friend's daughter.
story and characters
Some people say, the anime version of 'Ginban' only tells the story of the first 2 volumes of the original light novel. Some say, all 9 volumes are packed into this 12-episode series. I say, the hell I care.
Well, we have a story about a girl who's into figure skating, and she's serious because she'll go to the '06 Olympic games.
Her rivals are girls of different types, who never fail a chance to demonstrate their personalities. Even at international competitions.
Well, our heroine is not less bold, either.
Her main rival among Japanese sportsmen, however, is a modest girl. She even doesn't bother to change clothes and always wears the same costume that shows her maturity, apparently.
The creators made a feeble attempt to make the story more humorous by making the Heroine's coach behave like an idiot, and her younger sister - the opposite, behave like an adult, even though she's obviously in primary school. Sometimes the popular trick of 'stop-frame as if from a different genre' was used, but it didn't save the story from being boring.
The love interest of the Heroine - a ghost that possessed her and was to go back to Heaven in 1000 days - was just a good guy, but did not show much of a personality to count as an attractive character, though certainly he was supportive and kind.
Though I would probably say thanks to the creators that they did not make it a usual happy-ending story, the ending was nevertheless very sweet and plain.
graphics
On one hand, here you'll see eyes showing through thick forelocks
On the other hand, move movements of figure skaters were created with love and scrupulously and looked very naturally.
And there were a few attempts to create an atmosphere with the means of visual image.
In general, I would not say the graphics was bad, but if you look at the light novel covers by Hiro Suzuhira, you'll find them much more attractive and appealing.
voice acting
Among voice actors I would not really name any particular person who impressed me, but I cannot say there was anything odd or unsuitable. For the goal set before them, I guess they all did a good job. Saito Chiwa was probably the only one whose voice was at least interesting.
It was embarrassing, though, to hear Maaya Sakamoto struggle to pronounce "authentically" the English phrases of her American figure skater.
music
Music in shoujo anime was good in 90's. Take 'Rayearth', for example - opening and ending themes and background music and character image songs alike, all tracks were composed with style and with love. Since then the trend changed and now it's a rare thing to find anything decent in shoujo series. Mostly they just compose a cute easy-to-sing song and either give it to the seiyuus or invite some random girl to perform it. Music in 'Ginban' was almost unnoticeable, and OPED songs were so plain and mediocre that I payd no heed to them.
conclusion
I won't say this was a waste of time, oh no it wasn't. However to say I gained anything or enjoyed anything particular in this anime would be an exaggeration. I guess, that's the fault of the creators that they mostly made it a comedy than a story about relationship with a person who is destined to die soon. This theme could be emphasised more and make the story a real profound drama. Instead, it was not properly shown until late in the series and thus, was not developed enough to make a spectator sympathise and cry together with the Heroine.
But well, I guess, as a short shoujo story it's not bad.
Every day when I hurry to the bus stop I see the same scene: a cat sunbathing on a windowsill of a local pet-shop. Today I'm already late for the bus I usually take, so I have don't have to hurry anymore.
Good morning.
05 May 2015
Этот неловкий момент, когда жевательная конфета признается тебе в любви...
I usually skip those long, boring introductions and afterwords written by the publisher or translator in the beginning or in the end of the book. Often such introductions present some biased criticism, sometimes, at best, they do contain some analysis, but since no analysis can be conducted without touching upon the book itself, they usually spoil everything possible. Last time I decided to read such an introduction, I learnt that the protagonist of one story is alive and well in the end of the book while that exactly was the main question of the story. It was my fault, however, since there was a warning that the article contains spoilers.
This time, however, those introductions and commentaries were that what saved me from hating the book. And by the way, beware of spoilers here in my post, too.
'Tender is the night'
It was thanks to that afterword that I understood what the author intended his character to be:
a natural idealist, a spoiled priest, giving in for
various causes to the ideas of the haute Bourgeoise [sic], and in his
rise to the top of the social world losing his idealism, his talent and
turning to drink and dissipation
Now the next phrase was impossible to find in the web, but here is what the commentary was saying in my book quoting the 'General plan' of Fitzgerald:
His downfall is determined not by his spinelessness but by genuinely tragic factors, internal contradictions of an idealist and compromises imposed on the hero by circumstances
And I truly thank him for explaining me because, while in case of
Gatsby it was pretty obvious what the author wanted to say and it was
understandable why the Hero did that and why he did that (and why it ended like this), in case of
Dick Diver the narration was extremely complicated - too much for me to see at least a resemblance of any logic in his actions.
What I finally made myself believe in was that he was an idealist because he wanted to be a good man to his friends and a good husband to his poor wife who made him the centre of her world. What I couldn't understand even after reading all those commentaries was what exactly those 'circumstances' were. At least there were some positive traits in Gatsby, the self-made-man, but I could not find anything to relate to or respect or admire in Dick. Of course, all people around him turned out to be cheap and disgusting, including those whom he thought dear, but that does not change the fact he finally never managed to struggle, ruined himself, his health and talent.
What was my surprise when I 'heard' mr. Stahr in 'The last tycoon' say exactly what I thought while reading 'Tender is the night'.
“I thought Em was very sympathetic.”
“Did you?” asked Stahr sharply. “I could just barely believe she
was alive. And when I came to the end I said to myself ’So what?’”
“There must be something to do,” Rienmund said. “Naturally we feel bad about this. This is the structure we agreed on -”
“But it’s not the story,” said Stahr. “I’ve told you many times
that the first thing I decide is the kind of story I want. We change in
every other regard but once that is set we’ve got to work toward it with
every line and movement. This is not the kind of a story I want. The
story we bought had shine and glow - it was a happy story. This is all
full of doubt and hesitation. The hero and heroine stop loving each
other over trifles - then they start up again over trifles. After the
first sequence you don’t care if she never sees him again or he her.”
I mean, I really could not understand if there were any real feelings in Dick, whose both romances had 'bad ends', speaking the language of visual-novel games. What I did see was that he had his own view of how the world should be constructed and moving, which was sometimes explained in small amounts in descriptions of his attitude to work, children and other things.
'The last tycoon'
I guess I'm sad that the book is not finished, but that's not a praise to its story, rather to the fact that the language of the narration changed very much and the story was composed in a different manner, which made it at least pleasant to read, if not interesting.
I highly doubt, though, that I would like Stahr or any other character in the story very much, seeing the same old pattern again - he loved her, but she left him for another and he wasn't able to stop her. Or didn't bother to.
conclusion
The few conclusions that I managed to draw out of these two books are something like this:
Fitzgerald is really good at describing mental disorders. His descriptions were so naturalistic I almost shivered.
He is also good at describing details, no matter how important they are to a story. Even if they're not important, he's still describing them. Which is all good for understanding the epoch, but boring.
And finally - I'm glad to live in the 21st century when all you have to find a job is to open a local job-hunting website and make a search. The rich of the early 20th century really had too much money and too much free time. That's not a very fresh idea, and I'm not pretending to have invented it just now, but the book makes one realise it very well.
In the end, it was time and money that was making those people so carefree and lazy. Too lazy to even love sincerely. The women were finally choosing the most convenient partner. The protagonists were creating some images in their minds and living in them rather than in reality. They were too lazy to live in reality.
Some say, the circumstances are to blame, and some say, it's their own fault that the protagonists ended like that. That does not change the fact that all of them finally yielded to the circumstances.
It's not that I hate them for that. I rather pity them. It's just that even though these books are undoubtedly extremely educating, still the only thing I can say about the stories - so what?
