lycoping's Blog

Anime Relations: Love Live! Superstar!! 3rd Season

I think Wien Margarete is one of the most interesting characters in the Love Live! franchise, and maybe in all of anime.

On rewatching Love live! Superstar! in preparation for Season 3, I was struck by one of her songs in a way I wasn't before. It's an extremely interesting song musically, and the performance is well animated. Basically, Wien is written as a very driven middle school girl who is going to pursue her dreams in any way possible, and steamroll anyone who gets in her way. And she is talented - *very* talented. She almost succeeded at her goal.

But she failed.

And the reason she failed is that she understands music, she understands dancing, she understands art - but she never understood idols. Her idea of winning was pure shock and awe - putting forth such an amazing performance that she'd have no choice but to win.

But, that's not what idols are about. Idols are about connecting with people, with fans.

(They've mostly never been able to achieve that with me, but I'm an odd duck).

Wien not only never succeeded at connecting with her fans and other idols, she actively pushed them away.

And now, two episodes of season 3 in, we see that facade starting to crack. She's starting to understand why she failed. She's starting to understand that pushing her fans away was only hurting her in the end, and pushing other idols away also ended up hurting her.

Look at the contrast between Wien and Sunny Passion. Liella and Sunny Passion became friends, and even though they're rivals, they support each other, even sometimes performing on the same stage. Sunny Passion might have beat Liella, in fact, they probably would have. Wien beat them. Wien outshone them on every level with it came to technical and musical perfection. But she didn't outshine Liella, because, again, she didn't understand why people love idols in the first place. It takes more than just amazing singing and dancing to make people love an idol. It takes warmth, and Wien had none of that.

This is a character with immense potential for growth, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

Anime Relations: Hibike! Euphonium

I made a statement a while ago on a forum that I believed the translation was wrong, in Sound! Euphonium, when Reina said "This is a confession of love".

I still believe it's wrong. I got some rather strong pushback on that, enough so that I gave up on the entire thread, ignored it, and decided not to participate in the forums here any further. I don't respond well to condescension, especially when I'm right.

But that said, I am willing to admit I could be wrong, so I talked to my (native) Japanese teacher about it today. I showed him that particular scene, and asked him what he thought.

The answer is, I'm largely, but not entirely, correct.

So here's my opinion, in case you missed it: I believe that while that is a correct *direct* translation, it fails to get the actual gist of the conversation Kumiko and Reina are having. In context, it's:

Kumiko: "yappari suru warukuchi" - "I knew it, you're insulting me"
Reina: "chigau" - "you're wrong"
Reina: "kore wa ai no kokuhaku" - "This is a confession of love"

There are several things to keep in mind here. The first is that "ai" is a specifically chosen word that (usually) doesn't mean romance. This word is chosen to indicate something a little different than romance. (The reason I said I'm not entirely correct is that this *can* have a romantic meaning, but usually doesn't, and the other words are often chosen for that purpose - *especially* among young people.) The fact that Reina chose this word also belies the intensity of her personality.

But the other thing to keep in mind is the context. Reina says this right after Kumiko accuses Reina of insulting her. She's correcting Kumiko's assumption that it's an insult, and this "confession" isn't coming out of the blue.

So the translation is, more accurately, "No, I love that about you", or "I love you for that", or something similar. Yes, the subtitled translation is *technically* correct, but... it's kinda not. It doesn't get the right feeling of the conversation.

And my native teacher agreed with that. He said (in Japanese) that the feeling of the conversation is more what I think it is. Of course it could correctly be translated as they did, but it doesn't get the feeling of the interaction.

So, this is the reason that in the sub vs. dub debate, I tend to like neither. The translators often get it wrong, sometimes subtly, sometimes not, and I really don't like entrusting others with it. This particular translation, if they'd have gotten it just a little differently, might have squashed the whole "yuri couple" debate right from the beginning, and KyoAni might not have been accused (at least as strongly) of yuri-baiting. If you look at it from the angle that the translation is subtly wrong, well, they really weren't. We just didn't understand what they were trying to say.

Do I respect translators? Sure. At least until I get better at Japanese, I need them. I just don't trust them. And I see absolutely nothing wrong with that stance. Because, as we can see, good intentions aside, it's better not to.

Anyway, that's my opinion, take it or leave it. If you want to leave it, just move on. It's just anime, and it's just my opinion, after all.

Anime Relations: Hibike! Euphonium, Hibike! Euphonium 2, Hibike! Euphonium 3

Hibike! Euphonium spoilers ahead.

Ever since Hibike! Euphonium first came out, there's been a bit of a ruckus as to whether or not Reina Kousaka and Kumiko Oumae are (or should be) a yuri couple. I've not only never understood that, I actively disagree with the idea that they should be yuri. I think if they were a yuri couple it would take away from what they actually are.

Now, whether or not KyoAni intended to "yuri-bait" is not a question I'm willing to engage. I'm also not making a statement on yuri in general. Though it's generally not my cup of tea, I'm limiting my discussion to Hibike! Euphounium and *these two characters*.
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Okay, so even in the first series, we have an episode where Kumiko and Reina act like two people in love, in a sense. In fact, Reina says something like "this is a confession of love", and I suppose people could be forgiven for seeing a message in there that isn't intended. But to understand what Reina said, you have to understand a bit of Japanese.

Reina says "kore wa ai no kokuhaku".

Literally, "this is a confession of love".

But Japanese has three different words for love (at least). There's daisuki, koi, and ai. If Reina had meant it to be a reomantic confession, she would have used any word but "ai". "ai" is deep, it's familial, it's the kind of love that sisters or families or married couples that have been together for years share. It's not the kind of love two, pardon the word, randy teenagers would use when infatuated with each other. That would have been suki, daisuki, or koi.

There's no way that choice of word wasn't deliberate.

This is another example of something important being lost in translation. I can't think of how I would have translated it differently. Maybe if I were trying to keep the spirit of the translation, and in context (Kimuko just accused her of insulting her) it'd be something like "I confess I love you for this." Though the wording is a lot more direct than that would imply, too (directly, "as for this, confession of love", there's an implied copula that doesn't exist). Translation is difficult.

One thing I don't understand, especially in anime fandom, is why female friendships can't just be female friendships. People "ship" them, want them to be in a yuri relationship, write fanfics and create fanart of them kissing and what not, when what is *actually* happening is actually far more beautiful. I could speculate, but I won't.

And we see an example of that in the third season, in the infamous 12th episode, where Raina and Kumiko find themselves on Mt. Daikichi again, this time, in far different circumstances. This time, their emotions are raw, laid bare. Each of them is utterly vulnerable in front of the other, and it leads to one of the most beautifully animated and voiced scenes in anime. And, yet, they're still not a yuri couple. Why would we even *want* them to be a yuri couple? What they are is far deeper than that. They're... ai. Lifelong friends. The kind of friendship you only get once or twice in a lifetime, and yet, they don't feel any need to force it into a mold where it doesn't belong. Kumiko wants, well, kind of... Shuuichi. Reina wants Taki. And yet, they still love each other.

I love this pair for what they are - friends. Deep, committed friends who love each other deeply. Friends who don't love each other that much won't have a full on breakdown when their ideals conflict with their friendship. This pair is evidence that you don't have to be romantically involved to have a deep and close friendship. And a part of me wonders if this is even an understood concept anymore.

It can be debated whether KyoAni succeeded in expressing this friendship appropriately. Maybe they didn't. But I think it's clear that that's what they were *trying* to portray. Reina's and Kumiko's friendship is beautiful.

I'm glad they're not yuri. There are other anime where yuri fits much better. In this case, Reina and Kumiko are perfect just as they are.

Anime Relations: Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita!, Hibike! Euphonium 3

The latest series of Sound! Euphonium (Season 3) is controversial, to say the least. In Episode 12, they made the gutsy decision to temporarily abandon the light novel and change something very important to the plot. Some people don't like it, some people do.

But I've been watching reactions to this episode. It's one of the few episodes for which I'm actually seeking out reactions.

I have seen four people so far, three of them men, break down and full out sob at the end of this episode. They just kind of sit there for about five minutes and they don't have words. Sometimes all that comes out is this wail of just... I don't know how to describe it. Pure emotion, I guess. That happened in two of the four cases. In one of the other, the woman (who was a vtuber) was just outright sobbing. I didn't react *quite* the same way, but I was wiping my eyes and had a hard time seeing the screen. Two or three of them even clapped when that scene finished, even as they were crying.

If KyoAni had not made that decision, we would not have had this moment. This beautiful, wonderful, amazing moment.

I've seen the last three minutes of this episode described as the best animation in all of anime. And while that's a subjective claim, I think it's defensible. When you look at Reina's face as she turns to look at Kumiko, you an see all the pain just written all over it. You can almost see her raw emotion. The voice actor nails it as well, as she says "How could I not know your sound?" And then Kumiko, too, as all of her frustration boils over and she starts crying too. You can see everything these characters are thinking and feeling, and you feel it too.

And these are *animated characters*. These aren't real people.

But... for that moment... you feel like they are. These are characters you spent nearly three complete seasons getting to know and care about, and then, they give you that moment.

This is the magic of KyoAni. And this is also why, even though I would have preferred that Kumiko get the soli for selfish reasons (we did spend three seasons rooting for her, after all), I'm happy with their decision. In making that small plot change, you get one of the most emotional and *real* moments in all of anime. You get two humans, laying themselves bare in front of each other, and still accepting each other for what they are. Reina is torn up inside because of the decision she had to make, Kumiko is torn up because she cannot do the soli with Reina, and...

And people animated, and storyboarded, and voice acted this scene... and...

You know how sometimes when you see a *really bad* anime (Wataten, I'm looking at you) and you think "wow. Someone actually came up with this idea and turned it into an anime... enough people bought it that someone green lighted an anime, and someone sunk a lot of time and money into making this *trash*? Well, it kind of goes both ways. The care and passion KyoAni put into this anime shows. How can you call an emotional moment of that quality and obvious passion "trash" and "garbage", as some do?

I get it. Maybe I'm being a hypocrite. But I don't think I am. You show me a moment of that beauty and quality in "Wataten" and I'll apologize. You won't find it. And you won't find it in maybe 98 percent of all the anime out there. Some might come close in the other two percent, but this is still in a class of its own.

This is why, in spite of any creative decisions KyoAni made, or maybe even partly because of them, I will always love Sound! Euphonium.

I know some people don't. They feel cheated by this decision. I respect that, but I don't understand it. I don't understand it because it's not *their* story. It's a story given to them by people who truly care about these characters, the story, and the product they're creating. It kind of feels like dumping on them to yell at them because they made a slight change to the LN. Whatever happened to being grateful for something wonderful someone gives you?

I will always love Sound! Euphonium, and I will always be grateful to the author and KyoAni for giving it to us.

Anime Relations: Hibike! Euphonium, Hibike! Euphonium 2, Hibike! Euphonium 3

This episode has been on my mind for days.

One of the things I simply don't understand, is how many people are calling this anime "trash" and "garbage" because they decided to deviate from the LN. I think those people are having an emotional reaction, and I kind of understand it. To a degree. I also think they're not understanding what the anime was going for, and exactly *why* it differs from the LN.

I haven't read the LN in its entirety (I own it, but my Japanese unfortunately isn't good enough yet. I am very upset and embarrassed about this). But my understanding from what I have read and heart is that the LN focuses on Kumiko almost exclusively. She is the main character, and everything is seen through her eyes.

But the anime does not do this. It takes a more third person view, and there are two main characters (as well as some characters that *almost* make that status, such as Asuka). Kumiko, and Reina.

We first see Reina when she is angry because the band made "dud gold", not proceeding to Kansai. She is in tears, saying how upset she is, and Kumiko spends the next few episodes basically obsessing over the fact that she said "You didn't think we were going to make it to Nationals, did you?".

Then, in the eighth episode, we have Reina and Kumiko forming their relationship, based on music, but a kind of mutual respect. Kumiko respects Reina for her drive to win, and Reina respects Kumiko because she doesn't hold back and speaks her mind, even when it's inappropriate to do so. They do so by climbing Mt. Daikichi, and ultimately dueting.

In this episode (S3E12), they go to Mt. Daikichi again, but this time the roles are reversed. Reina is clearly emotionally *wrecked* because she had to choose Mayu over Kumiko for the solo.

Throughout the entire arc of this anime, Reina has been an "ice queen". We rarely see her cry (never after the first episode), and she is seen as distant and even scary to her classmates. But she has always been close to Kumiko, even as she is very insecure with her friendship with Kumiko. This has been an ongoing theme throughout the anime, and it came to a head in Eps. 9 through 12. She has been making friends, well, sort of, but they're Kumiko's friends, and she remains a little distant to all of them, though they do accept her.

Episode 12 does not only mark a turning point for Kumiko, it marks the completion (or near completion) of Reina's character arc too. Because she is, for maybe the first time in her life, in a position where she actually cares - and *deeply* - about another person. She did what she thought was right, but the thought of losing Kumiko absolutely wrecked her. She realized, for maybe the first time - what it means to love another person, and what it means to maybe lose that person, especially due to your actions.

This was Reina finally learning that Kumiko loves her for her, and she is not going away.

This may have been Reina learning how much she actually loved Kumiko.

Because Kumiko already knew how much she loved Reina.

The art of the absolute *pain* on Reina's face as she faces the friend she loves after having betrayed her (in order to stay true to herself and her ideals) is some of the best animation, ever.

Those who were upset about "yuri-baiting" kind of missed the whole point, because now that we see this episode, it was never about yuri, and was never intended to be yuri (though I wonder if making it an actual yuri relationship was one of those changes that the LN author said she could not tolerate). It was about a close female friendship, it was about two people who grew to love each other deeply, and it was about two friends who took almost their entire high school career to learn how deep their friendship went.

This is not the only important character arc, clearly. Kumiko's growth from being a wishy-washy, distant conformist to maybe one of the best suisougakubu buchous ever at kitauji, definitely better than the first year one (and learning what she wanted to do with her life) was important character development, and clearly Reina had a great deal to do with that. But Kumiko had just as much to do with Reina's as well. Reina was afraid that she would lose Kumiko if Kumiko didn't go to music school, and we can see now that that will not happen, and most importantly, so can Reina, now.

I think we got it all wrong. This was set up from the very beginning, and quite frankly, if this had been yuri it would have actually *cheapened* it, in my opinion. What Reina and Kumiko share is something much deeper and closer than one of those anime yuri relationships with lots of pantsu and lack thereof, etc. And being able to convey that kind of emotion is, well, one of the most amazing things about anime, and KyoAni as well.

(this is not a statement on yuri and should not be seen as reflecting my viewpoint on yuri in general, which I will keep to myself as it's not important. It should be seen as a statement regarding *these two characters*.)

So, I don't understand people who call this "trash" or "garbage". In my opinion, they're not understanding what KyoAni was trying to do here, and in just considering this a trite anime with "waifus" or "best girls" they're missing out on some very, very deep emotional exploration. But, I guess that's not for everyone. But if not... why did they watch Sound! Euphonium all the way to S3E12? It's not like this is a surprise, especially after S2E10, or S1E11, or even S1E8...

Oh well. I shall not speculate. I will simply say that for those who can appreciate this for what it is, this episode, for all of my other criticisms of the pacing and drama-forcing of this season, may cement Sound! Euphonium as maybe (at least arguably) the best anime of its genre of all time, and arguably the best anime... ever. I can't think of a single episode or scene, from any anime I've seen, that has topped it.

I hope we get a little more content from KyoAni in this universe.

And can we spare some praise for those voice actors? That was a work of ART.

Anime Relations: Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai

I watched most of the "Love! Live" series, and I mostly enjoyed them. I have quibbles with their unrealistic nature, and also have some quibbles with how the the first one, Sunshine, and superstar were basically a rehash of the same plot, with only a few differences. But at the end of the day I found them to be fairly enjoyable.

But I couldn't even start with Nijigasaki.

It really had nothing to do with the plot itself. It looked like it was starting out like all the rest, you know, student council president is dead set against the creation of a school idol group, etc. It didn't have anything to do with that.

It had to do with the fact that they took a *convention center* (the Big Sight convention center in Odaiba) and turned it into a girls' school.

Now, my reasons for even that aren't what you might think It's not because it's unrealistic. It's because it was the worst, over-the-top example of something that's been bothering me for a while about all sorts of anime, especially the good ones.

The scenery is too beautiful, the characters are too dynamic, the plots are too interesting. Basically the lives of the characters are so rich and vibrant they make mine look like shades of grey - and not the movie kind.

After I watched the first episode of Nijigasaki, I went out into my backyard, my boring suburban Central Texas backyard. It was quiet. Nothing interesting was going on. There were no trains, no konbinis nearby (well, there's one, but I still pretty much have to drive there), there was absolutely nothing interesting at all about my world. But then I turn on an anime, and that world is so dynamic, the contrast is jarring, and in point of fact, a little bit painful.

I'm not an idiot. I know that the "real" Japan isn't (well, completely, anyway) like that, and that makes it even worse, really. The world of anime has carefully and skillfully created a world that's so entirely unlike the one I live in it's actually painful, sometimes.

I may try watching "nijigasaki" again. I might even enjoy it. But there are times when the utter boringness of my middle-aged American salaryman life contrasts with the dynamic life of anime, and it's really hard not to see my life now to be found wanting. I'm not a NEET, not a weeb, not an otaku... but I can see why someone would be. It's not a world you want to leave willingly sometimes, especially when contrasted with the mind-numbing boringness of the world I wake up in every day.

I've learned a lot from anime... but it's also hurt me in some ways too, and deeply. It's hard to even describe how, sometimes. I wonder if anyone else has experienced this.