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Forum - View topicNEWS: TV Station Skips Koikaze Episode
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v1cious
 Posts: 6227 Location: Houston, TX |
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anyone seen it yet? what's wrong with it?
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xxmiyuxx
 Posts: 109 Location: Bordentown, NJ |
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I watched it, or at least the first part. But I don't understand Japanese. It doesn't seem like there was anything wrong with it.
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Iron Chef
 Posts: 487 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Though I've not seen this episode, I'll extrapolate from previous episodes that what's "wrong" with it would have a lot to do with the fact that brother and sister do bad and unlawful things to each other. Koikaze is keeping my morbid sense of curiosity piqued.
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2307 Location: Online Terminal |
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So do we have a Flowers in the Attic situation here? |
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Although the emotional (and sexual) tension between Koushirou and Nanoka has been latent all along, this is the first episode that actually has them acknowledging that the tension is there. It is obvious that the hints of possible incest, if not the age difference*, are what makes this episode unpalatable to the network.
As for me, I've never really viewed it as a story about incest - though I can see why everybody is focussing on that angle. To me, Koi Kaze is a story about a man struggling with his emotions. Koushirou is clearly in love with his sister, and there are hints that she may reciprocate the feelings. That being the situation, he is fighting a battle to normalize his love (to turn it from incestuous and forbidden into the proper love of sibling for sibling). I find myself glued to the screen, to see whether he prevails. - abunai * But not Nanoka's age, as such - please remember, Nanoka is 16. In Japan, it is quite legal to marry at this age. |
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v1cious
Posts: 6227 Location: Houston, TX |
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but that's pretty much the whole theme of the cartoon isn't it? i'm thinking they would pull it altogether, cause obviously it's gotta be leading up to something that's much worse. Last edited by v1cious on Sun Jun 20, 2004 12:50 am; edited 2 times in total |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Actually, no. I don't think it's at all "obvious" that the story is leading up to something "much worse" - by which I take it you mean an actual act of incestuous sex.
The entire theme of the series is the emotional tension within Koushirou. There is no storytelling requirement for actual incest to occur - the story works just fine without it. Koushirou doesn't need to commit the act to suffer the emotional consequences, nor does the story require an overt act - he's already being tortured by guilt. - abunai |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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I went back and had another look at the episode in question, trying to look at it with the eyes of a studio exec.
Although Koushirou is very clearly aware of the tension, I believe that Nanoka is still largely oblivious at this time... so maybe we should look elsewhere for a reason. After all, the other episodes didn't get censored. Keeping that in mind, I looked for other reasons - and found something. Namely, the situation between Zenzou and Makei, the parents of Koushirou and Nanoka. This episode is the only one that goes into detail about the divorce, a subject that is still pretty much a mild taboo in Japan. Very little information is given within the corpus of the episode, although it is hinted at that Zenzou (the somewhat wimpy father) is to blame for the split. We are only told that Zenzou is "no good when you really need him". However, in the afterword, after the end credits, we are given a great deal of information, albeit couched in euphemism. In the afterword, Zenzou states that he was unable to stand Makei-san's "inconsiderate behaviour" and resorted to "this" (image of him holding up his pinky). The word "this" or "her" (along with the gesture) is a common Japanese euphemism for having a female love interest. The corresponding gesture for a male love interest is "this"/"him" and holding out a thumb. You see this gesture a lot, when people are asking "Are you a couple?" or similar questions. Som Zenzou is basically saying that because things weren't working out between him and Makei (the "inconsiderate" behaviour is indubitably denial of sex), he resorted to a love affair with another woman. In other words, the cause of the divorce is his adultery (although he clearly feels the adultery was justified). I'm far from certain, but maybe this was the issue that TV Asahi felt was unpalatable for their audience. - abunai |
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Chrno2
 Posts: 6172 Location: USA |
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I'm trying to figure that out myself.
I watched the enitre series. And it is a good story but it can make anyone with low tolerance very uncomfortable. But yes, the idea that we are dealing with a story about 2 siblings love, is pretty evident. As far as the unaired episode. I watched the series fansubbed and I found nothing objectionable about the episode. I found the other stuff to be more objectionable but yet were aired. spoiler[The only thing that happens in that ep., which was renumbered 7.5, which is in actuality episode 8. They basically touch grounds on Koushiro's background as a child. You sort of get an idea of what he was like as a only child at the time, long before Nanoka was born. The rest of the episode is him dealing with her presence as in the case of most siblings when they are years apart. Him being the oldest sibling and once only child, now to have his life disrupted by a little "rug-rat". But you can see that even at her young age she tries to make a connection. All the while staying at a distance because "my big brother just isn't crazy about me." Little by little he starts to gain a little acceptance until he gets a ball dropped in his lap that his parents are filing for a divorce. She will be moving out and taking Nanoka with her. Of course he has to stay and look after his father. And just like how he deals with his previous relationships, he deals with in the way he knows how. Which was the one thing his mother didn't like. So you can look at those things as other factors contributed to his personal being now. He's on an emotional rollercoaster, and Nanoka shows that she desires to be with the one person she never had the chance of knowing. ] So I never knew why this episode was so controversial. Unless divorce in Japan is a touchy subject. I mean I could understand the whole deal with the new 'Black Jack' anime. They didn't air ep. 3 because it depicted an earthquake. Considering the overall nature of 'Koikaze', most of the episodes that were aired, threw stuff around that one could considered questionable. But if they did that then no one would be able to watch the show and it would be an OVA instead. We wouldn't even air it. That one episode which wasn't aired contained (in my opinion) nothing controversial in nature. Now if anyone else wants to add to this feel free. I would like to hear from ANN editors to see if they have any light on the subject. Last edited by Chrno2 on Wed Mar 09, 2005 5:54 am; edited 1 time in total |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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1. You just resurrected a REALLY old thread. 2. See what abunai has said, right above your post. 3. Get some spoiler tags. |
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Chrno2
Posts: 6172 Location: USA |
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Thank's dormcat! Sorry about that 
I went back and read abunai's post like you mentioned. And found that it mentioned exactly what I had perceived all along. It's just that I spent so much time trying to find out why the episode was so controversial. But again it's not like anyone would have caught the cultural euphemisms. But at least I was thinking considering what I caught in that episode. I'll have to watch it again and pay closer attention. I also went back and put in the spoiler tags. Since I pretty much summarized and entire episode. At least abunai pointed out the main points without doing that. After all this I woul've liked to have been able to delete the whole post and just have this one entered. Thanks again. |
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