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Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari (TV) (w/ index).


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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23904
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 5:09 pm Reply with quote
@ Edjwald - actually, there are currently 15 Japanese volumes (according to the all-knowing, all-wise deity, Wikipedia) so there's lots of material to adapt should a highly intelligent authority with impeccable taste wish to do so. Looks like Seven Seas intent is to release about 5 volumes a year, whereas the release in Japan seems to be only 1 or 2 volumes per year.
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Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 8:38 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
@ Edjwald - actually, there are currently 15 Japanese volumes (according to the all-knowing, all-wise deity, Wikipedia).

Yah, I figured it was something like that from the way Harley's been talking. I meant the two volumes accessible to plebians like me on Amazon right now - I think the 3rd one comes out in a month.

Looking at the summaries, it looks like the first 3 volumes don't reach the events they've covered in episode 8, though there may have been some skipping or rearranging of bits. Since we're two thirds through the season, that means they probably won't get to a point past the anime until volume six or seven.

Which probably won't come out for another half year at least.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 8:45 pm Reply with quote
Which is okay by me. I prefer to wait until there is a healthy number of volumes available for sale rather than buy and read as they come out. The other reason for me to wait is that I do prefer experiencing a story via anime first before reading the manga. So by holding off, it increases the chances I might get to see a sequel, first... if there will be such a beast.
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Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 01, 2023 4:08 am Reply with quote
Yah, the relationship between translated anime, Manga, and light novels is a bit weird.

I can probably count the number of times I've liked a movie better than the book it was based on with one hand.

But when I first started dipping my toes into these waters, I rarely found a light novel or manga that I liked better than the anime. But that might come down to that whole lost in translation phenomenon, and how excellent the Japanese voice acting industry is as a whole. I also didn't persist and try a lot of light novel or manga.

And I might just be the thing that's weird <--If I was voice acting, you could hear the doubtful scoffing in my tone when I said that..
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Edjwald



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PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 8:16 pm Reply with quote
Episode 9

Don't get me wrong, I'm still loving this show, but...and I'm just wondering about something that occurred to me here....

Is it possible that Hyoma really isn't all that bright?

Now I'm questioning every scene where he stared blankly without saying anything for a long time...
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 10:20 pm Reply with quote
Perish the thought, Edjwald. Hyouma's fierce vacant glare clearly signals a powerful and incisive intellect amply demonstrated by his immediate and unquestioning acceptance of Poppa Kadomori's jocular claim a couple of episodes back that OF COURSE he wasn't trying to enslave Hyouma and make him kill Botan, he was merely TESTING him. No flies on that kid.

Loved Yu saying that Hyouma "has a woman in every town" and threatening to rat him out to Botan. The sentiment is particularly funny given that Hyouma has all the sauveness and facility with the fairer sex of a rock... and I'm not even talking about one of those charismatic rocks, just your run-of-the-mill boulders.

Anyhoo, Hyouma's homestay with the Nagitsukis continues to reap its bitter harvest. The Sogenbi were not wise to drag Aogi and Ushiki into the proceedings, turning what could have been a 3 on 3 fight into a 3 on 5 brawl. Not that the extra help was particularly needed. Oh, and apropos of nothing, I just want to point out that none of the Sogenbis were... coffee makers.
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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 10:44 pm Reply with quote
#9

With the Sougenbi finally showing their hand, that's everyone featured in the OP animation. I'm almost certain where this adaptation will stop as well, unless the animators have permission to do something original which isn't part of the source material. So far, everything is what I expected at the very minimum.

All of the Tsukumogami so far have been generally benevolent and work with humans to some capacity, even objects which might be harmful if they obeyed their true natures (Nagi, Yuu and Ougi to a lesser extent). One reason why Hyouma and the Kyoto group are so hostile to Tsukumogami is because groups like the Sougenbi exist. The Nagatsuki Six have already stated most Tsukumogami have a purpose which drives them in the living world (matchmake Botan to someone suitable in their case), so if Tsukumogami are formed from instruments of torture then the Sougenbi are effectively unlawful armed militia as their only goal from being in the living world is to torture and harm humans. Unlike the small fry wild Tsukumogami who get a power trip from harming humans having recently attained form, the Sougenbi were a huge group whose sole aim is inflicting harm on humans so it's no wonder they were suppressed by the Kyoto group years before the story begins. Stereotypical villains in that sense, but these are the Tsukumogami Hyouma is used to dealing with so he doesn't really have to think and can let instinct take over.

Tsubaki didn't side with her family during the "interview", which is just as well since she's very strong and Hyouma might well have lost had she intervened. Like her father, she's also capable of using Tsukumogami like puppets so Aogi (and Uchiki) are essentially forced into battle despite their explicit intention to guide and then run. Turns out a war fan has sharp edges, and the pair have pride in their status as private investigators and really hate it when others question their neutrality.

For all the action, viewers might miss two things:
1. Tsubaki is also looking for the Umbrella which killed Hyouma's elder siblings.
2. If viewers didn't already know this, his "weapons" are really his siblings which were thrown to him way back in episode one.

As for this week's Tsukumogami, spoilers below:

spoiler[
挽切 = Hikikiri. Saw-blade Tsukumogami. The object he's based on is 鋸, but the name he's picked reflects the sawing motion of his tool.
筵 = Mushiro. Straw bed Tsukumogami. One would think this isn't based on a torture instrument, but the straw bed in this case is one used to light bonfires for humans to be burnt at the stake.
笞 = Shimoto. Also written as 楚. Rope Tsukumogami. Specifically rope wound into thick rods to strike at bound criminals on their knees. Historically one of the lighter punishments in the Japanese criminal code was a set number of lashes with this whip-like instrument.

The group's name is 叢原火, which isn't an automatic result when typed out. That's because the first character can also be written as 草, and 草原火 would imply "Grass Field Fire" or "Prairie Fire".
]



Yuu having a hair done up in her namesake object means it's hard to imagine what it's like when she lets it down. Might as well enjoy it, since it's rare for her to let down her hairdo in most circumstances.
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Edjwald



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PostPosted: Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:38 am Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
Perish the thought, Edjwald. Hyouma's fierce vacant glare clearly signals a powerful and incisive intellect amply demonstrated by his immediate and unquestioning acceptance of Poppa Kadomori's jocular claim a couple of episodes back that OF COURSE he wasn't trying to enslave Hyouma and make him kill Botan, he was merely TESTING him. No flies on that kid..

Well...Hyouma is earnest, disciplined, loyal, brave, athletic, and probably a pretty boy if the way he's drawn translates. 6 out of 7 ain't bad on any state test Wink .

Blood- wrote:
Oh, and apropos of nothing, I just want to point out that none of the Sogenbis were... coffee makers.

Well, m...maybe they just didn't love their coffee makers as much as I do!
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Edjwald



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PostPosted: Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:44 am Reply with quote
Harleyquin wrote:
#9

2. If viewers didn't already know this, his "weapons" are really his siblings which were thrown to him way back in episode one.

I thought that was just their weapons or totems that were thrown back. Huh. That means his weapons are sort of like tsukumogami themselves?
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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 07, 2023 5:21 am Reply with quote
Silly mistake. I missed out the apostrophe. The weapons Hyouma uses were actually his Siblings'.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 07, 2023 8:00 am Reply with quote
I didn't realize until this last episode that those are door pulls. Kind of a cool detail.
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Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:35 am Reply with quote
Harleyquin wrote:
Silly mistake. I missed out the apostrophe. The weapons Hyouma uses were actually his Siblings'.

Heh. On most anime threads, that typo would have been obvious.

Or maybe I was just distracted because I've been looking into solar powered coffee makers. Y'know...just in case...
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



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PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 3:27 pm Reply with quote
Some more thoughts on the last episode. I guess I'm surprised that the Sogenbi were not sealed years ago, but rather merely suppressed. I can't remember if any explanation was given for that. Perhaps they were strong enough that they couldn't be sealed, so the Kadomori accepted the next best thing? Clearly, nobody would think that allowing tsukumogami created from implements of torture to exist is a good idea given the extremely high likelihood that they'd want to act upon their original purpose... just the way the Nagatsuki Six, as objects originally part of a bridal trousseau, can't help but try and get Botan hitched.
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Harleyquin



Joined: 29 May 2014
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:03 pm Reply with quote
The three Sougenbi members fought in this episode are described as the remnants of the group's top cadres. Hikikiri personally states the last four years prior to the fight were spent in hiding, unable to act out the vessel's instincts to torture and maim humans. In addition, minor wild Tsukumogami previously under the Sougenbi left leaderless after the purge are kept on a loose leash by the Kyoto Saenome as a way of keeping eyes on the ground (which is why Ougi could obtain his information so quickly).

Explanation: Kadomori Taiju didn't hold back trying to destroy the organization, but they failed to find and seal all of the big fish. If some slipped the net and went into hiding, one cannot say an organization is destroyed when they have members still extant (both their top-level cadres in hiding and the leaderless minor rabble deliberately allowed to roam). Suppression is thus the most appropriate label.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



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PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:59 pm Reply with quote
@ Harleyquin - I hear what you are saying and I went back to rewatch certain sections. Perhaps it's because of faulty subtitles, but I'm still confused and I'll explain why.

As you remember, Aogi and Ushiki have lead Hyouma, Yu and Tsubaki to the presumed hideout of the Sogenbi. As gets explained, Aogi got his information through the practise of "connivance" which Yu helpfully explains to us viewers in a bit of inner monologue: "Connivance... letting lawbreaking tsukumogami run free, if under supervision."

Yu continues her inner thoughts, and we learn that Kadomori granted connivance to the "remnants" of The Sogenbi and has Aogi and Ushiki check in with them periodically. So at this point, I guess we can assume that Yu is not referring to the three Sogenbi the group is about to encounter. Instead, she is talking about small-fry who the Kadomori don't consider a major threat. But here's where things get confusing for me.

Yu notes the "we let you roam free and you don't turn on us" aspect of connivance. She thinks to herself that the Sogenbi would have known that is the deal and for years have been abiding by it. Then she asks "why would they break that unspoken law now?" To me, that suggests she isn't referring just to the small-fry Sogenbi, but rather to the ones who attacked the saenome - the same ones they are about to battle. Those are the ones who have broken the unspoken law, not the small-fry. So to me, rather than suggesting that the three have been hiding successfully for four years, it suggests that they had been granted connivance and had been abiding by it until now.

If my interpretation is correct, then I circle back to my confusion over why such clearly dangerous tsukumogami were granted connivance instead of being sealed.
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