Why I Love Nanami Kiryuu

Your friend and mine, Mr. Scamp, has recently started watching Revolutionary Girl Utena, and last time I checked (although he could be past this episode by now, who knows), he was close to one of my favorite episodes in the series, ep16, aka the infamous cow episode. And it got me to thinking more after that about how much I enjoyed Nanami throughout the series, and how relatively little love she seems to get elsewhere . . . mostly because not only is she a scheming asshole who looks down upon others, but also because she’s not particularly good at the scheming, especially when compared to the heavy hitters in the show. She’s a punchline (always the star of the comedy episodes, notice), someone not taken seriously by the world at all despite the inflated opinion she has of her own worth.

But I always got a kick out of Nanami, for serious and not-so-serious reasons. She may earn scorn from a sizable (though it’s not for me to say how sizable) portion of the fanbase, but I love her nonetheless. Here’s why.

(Spoilers past this point, particularly for reason No. 3.)

Star Driver 2 – Needs More Fetish Gear

I think she should have more than a whip here. What, she couldn’t have some chains to go along with it? An armband to complement the hat? Handcuffs? Let’s go all out here!

Kidding aside, I really enjoyed this scene, especially all the cheering and booing in the background. It was like the Glittering Crux (which would be a hilarious stable name, and they would absolutely be booed at every show because wrestling is totally not homoerotic at all no way!!!) held their meeting in front of a biased wrestling crowd from the ’80s that is ready to cheer and/or boo at the drop of a hat. Hilarious. Life is much more fun with raucous crowds.

(By the way, you all should be glad I did not start this blog this season, because it would definitely have been named “KIRABOSHI” if that were the case.)

Bakuman 2 – Sexism Is the Key to Your Dreams!

lolwut (Yeah, I am way late to the party on this. That’s what I get for watching anime rather than reading manga.)

But, hey, I guess invisible fathers have earned the right to make rulings on things like this — that’s the kind of authority you get when you’re never around and don’t have real interactions with your kid. Why waste time with dumb shit like that when you can delegate to the little lady? That’s how men get things done. Respect.

Star Driver 1 – Listen to My Song?

From what I’ve read, people have been going on about the camp value of Star Driver‘s first episode: The mecha designs (Takuto’s mecha looking like something the Scarlet Pimpernel would pilot, George’s mecha having a cock ring of all things, etc.), Takuto’s flamboyant transformation, the crazy masked cult, and so on. Takuto’s whole vibe actually reminded me of a true piece of anime camp I watched during the summer . . .

Yep, throughout that whole sequence, I kept expecting Takuto to shout, “Listen to my song!” and was actually somewhat disappointed that he didn’t. (Just so people know, that link is from Macross 7, which is by far the campiest anime I’ve ever seen. I bet Shoji Kawamori would be proud to know he crafted such a thing.) He kept talking about singing out his youth — he couldn’t belt out a little tune while kicking some ass? Takuto doesn’t appear to have Basara’s pacifist streak, but I couldn’t think of anything else while watching him; don’t know if that’s a good thing so far, though, since I’m not a huge fan of Macross 7, to say the least. (Will admit to enjoying the extreme goofiness of the first half before it actually turns seriously serious, though.)

Bakuman 1 – BURNING MARRIAGE PROPOSAL

First episode of Bakuman is pretty entertaining to me, but then again, for whatever reason I enjoy watching goofy, idealistic teenagers. I guess it’s nice to see people before life forces ’em to call a few audibles or be crushed by reality, like what apparently happened with Mashiro’s uncle.

I’ve heard that Bakuman actually goes through a decent chunk of Mashiro and Takagi’s lives, so it will be interesting to see how they evolve, especially as they come up against the adversity that tends to come with pursuing dreams and whatnot. For now, though, they’re free to be dumbass teenagers, and I write that in the kindest way possible. The scene at Azuki’s place particularly put a smile on my face because I — and probably many others — were exactly the type of goofballs Mashiro and Takagi are there. Talking big about dreams in one scene and almost pussying out after ringing a doorbell? Yeah. I’ve been there.

Becoming the Tiger

When I read Landon’s posts about when pacifistic heroes do and do not work, they resonated a bit with me because it’s interesting to me when a non-violent character’s (or maybe a character who isn’t afraid to throw down, but stops short of killing) ideals are challenged, and there’s a choice with clear consequences on both sides — compromising one’s ideals, or watching real damage be done as a result of sticking to one’s guns (so to speak).

I’ve been watching Moribito lately, and it’s this type of conflict that is at the crux of the show’s 13th episode, “Neither Human Nor Tiger”. When Balsa and Chagum are discovered after they show themselves during a village festival in the previous episode, Balsa is challenged by a man she defeated and left in shame because she did not kill him. The rival makes his terms clear: Balsa must engage him in a fight to the death; if she refuses, then he will kill the first people who pass by the village. Balsa attempts to circumvent this by protecting the couple that passes by the village, but the rival is relentless in both his attacks upon the couple and in chipping away at Balsa, forcing her to go a night without sleep.