Death penalty!

Another week, another set of episodes of Nodame Cantabile on Animax Asia and screencap stealing from Memento.

Ep 15. Warm and fuzzy moment as Chiaki x Nodame x Elgar heals the rift between Cousin Toshihiko and Uncle Takehiko. Nodame getting stomped on by the whole clan was so sad but true; hearing it from Yuiko must have been particularly damning. This pretty much prepared the ground for her shock at being reassigned to Etou the harisen teacher who then unwittingly triggers a painful flashback. Nodame’s Ogiuesque reversion to her native dialect and outburst gave a hint of why she’s the way she is. Though, as mentioned in the opening wrt Chiaki’s childhood memories, what actually happened might not have been that serious but her memories may have become embellished to sustain the reaction to the initial trauma.

LOLOL at how Chiaki’s new orchestra squabbled about the solo performance. Man, Kiyora is hot.

By the power of Sakuya, I will punish you!

Ep 16. After Tanioka’s conversation with Chiaki, I’ve come to see Harisen Etou in a new light; I had initially just written him off as an arrogant meanie. But he has his good points as a teacher. Having being a graduate teaching assistant myself, I can understand how it can immensely frustrating when dealing with a bright but unmotivated student. LOL at how, with Chiaki’s advice, Etou managed to trap Nodame. Who then tried another Ogiuesque escape attempt. But I wonder who will get the better deal out of the peace treaty?

LOL pink Mozart. If only Kuroki knew what Nodame was really like.

Happy tree friends

Ep 17. LOL at Chiaki’s failed attempt to save Kuroki-kun. They never want to listen when they are in lurve. I think Chiaki should have called off the rehearsals earlier – didn’t he know about the competitions beforehand? But I suppose empathy hasn’t really been his strong point – LOL Little Match Stick Girl and Dog of Flanders from the Noto Mamiko chara case. LOL at how Kikuchi’s womanizing caught up with him as a result of coming in first. I liked how nicely Kuroki and Kiyora’s disappointment with their own performances sets up their impetus for their performance under Chiaki though I did not see the Kiyora x Mine thing coming at all. *shokku* But if it isn’t just a one night stand, it might be interesting to see how the dynamics work out.

Who rolled his chara creation stats!?

Ep 18. Utterly hilarous how Chiaki showed them who is BOSS with his violin playing while whipping the R☆S Orchestra into shape. And the awesome motivation of a huge audience incoming! With the above (and the support of Kuroki and Kiyora), the performances of Schumann’s Manfred Overture and Mozart’s Oboe Concerto go well though, as Kai Dowin points out, the biggie of Brahms is still yet to come. Sakuma’s thought about how talent on its own is not enough and that one needs connections and luck too. Chiaki certainly has plenty of the latter and I’ve no doubt that he’ll achieve great success. But the big question mark still hangs over Nodame who seems hell bent on *not* developing her talent. Will Chiaki manage to inspire her again with Brahms like the way he did with Rachmaninov?

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

Whether you actually carry out your delusions or not is the crucial difference between being a pervert and remaining a normal human. You don’t touch her, you only use the hand in your heart to bust check her! You don’t secretly film her, you just burn her image into the film in your head! I’m just a harmless, normal person! These are mere dreams!

re: "hug" vs "bust check", Kanako used one of my favourite words: momi so bust check it is – all hail Yagami Hayate, ahaha~♥

Actions can be completely contrary to thoughts, as seen from the protagonist (who is also a lolicon) of Gabriel García Márquez’s Memories of My Melancholy Whores, page 65, via CultureCat:

Thanks to her I confronted my inner self for the first time as my ninetieth year went by. I discovered that my obsession for having each thing in the right place, each subject at the right time, each word in the right style, was not the well-deserved reward of an ordered mind but just the opposite: a complete system of pretense invented by me to hide the disorder of my nature. I discovered that I am not disciplined out of virtue but as a reaction to my negligence, that I appear generous in order to conceal my meanness, that I pass myself off as prudent because I am evil-minded, that I am conciliatory in order not to succumb to my repressed rage, that I am punctual only to hide how little I care about other people’s time. I learned, in short, that love is not a condition of the spirit but a sign of the zodiac.

It doesn’t matter what people think, only what they do; the former is not observable, the latter is. However, implicit in this defence is an invocation of the harm principle; thinking about something doesn’t harm anyone therefore it is ok.

Mariya’s foot-licking test presents the most common counter-argument; the stronger the delusions, then it is easier it is to cross that line, moving from delusion to RL action. Which Kanako goes on to prove. Likewise a saying in Strategic Studies goes:

They never say what they think. They never do what they say. But it doesn’t mean they never do what they think.

Given how various "interests" (趣味) are important markers of identity and solidarity among the myraid tribes and subcultures of otakudom, loud proclamations of one’s coordinates far away from the border of normality allows us to find each other and to gather and to talk within but also across the various groups. As Sasahara told Ogiue in yet another one of the Genshiken manga’s moving conversations:

Nobody can stop their own fantasies. If I want to go out with you, I’ll have to accept that as a part of you.

Though, it seems, some things remain beyond the pale especially when it comes to dealing with normal people.

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

I’m not a fan of Aya Hirano. While I think she’s talented, I’m just not swept away by her voice acting the way I am by, say, Shizu-sama or Maaya Sakamoto. That said, I have enjoyed her work as Haruhi Suzumiya (megalomania ♥) and Shizu Shidou (Ijimekko~~) but, to date, my Top Favourite Aya Hirano role has to be Konata where she really made the role her own, conveying the chara’s distinctive blend of otaku passion, family/friendship love power and :3

Aya-hatred will be proof of her talent if she continues to grow and prosper in spite/because of it. Another Ogiue lesson is applicable in Aaya’s case methinks:

Real talent doesn’t admit defeat after one little beating. If she truly does have talent, then the talent will show itself no matter how many beatings she takes. She’s gotta be ready to be hated, beaten down, crushed and forgotten.

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.