As some of you may know, the school semester has started! I'm taking five classes this semester, but I want to try my best to stay on top of things so I can continue to post here semi-regularly. (I'm actually writing this on Friday - and hopefully I'll have a recipe for you tomorrow, depending on how things go today.)
Warning: This post is spoiler-heavy for those who have never seen the 90s show or read the manga.
Today, we'll be talking about Rei Hino's ravens - Phobos and Deimos.
At Rei's temple, she is often seen with two ravens named Phobos and Deimos. Before discussing the background of these names, let's look at the actual animal.
Ravens are kind of a mixed bird within legends. Because of their dark colour and their attraction to carrion, they are often known as birds of death. But this was not always the case. In Greek mythology, for example, they were often seen as good luck. They were generally seen with Apollo, and were associated with gods and prophecies.
But then again, in the Talmud they aren't seen as being particularly great (they were one of the few creatures on Noah's ark that was punished for um, gettin' down and dirty). In general, it seems as though they weren't completely innocent in the eyes of many religions. In the Qur'an (specifically in its version of Cain and Abel), a raven teaches Cain how to bury the body of his murdered brother. I mean, I wouldn't really call that a good role model, would you?
I'll lastly discuss a Native American tale called How Kah'-kah-loo The Ravens Became People (specifically this comes from the Miwok, but if you know of any other stories please share!). To shorten things, people essentially come from ravens and ravens created humanity.
Now that I've given a quick background on ravens, let's move on.
First we shall discuss Phobos.
According to Wikipedia, Phobos was often seen as the Greek personification of fear. (Have you guys ever seen Disney's 'Hercules'? If so, do you remember Pain and Panic, Hades' henchmen? That's basically who Phobos and Deimos are, if you really wanna simplify it.) Phobos was the son of Venus and Mars (hence his relationship with Rei) and Deimos was his twin brother. His Roman equivalent was known as Timor (or Timorus).
Another fun fact? The word phobia comes from phobos! So, you know. Phobia, fear? Get it?
In general, Phobos and Deimos were never really mentioned in myths. They were just kind of a physical representation of emotions more than anything else (though people made sacrifices to them anyway).
Now, a quick blurb about Deimos!
Deimos, like Phobos, was a Greek personification of terror! His Roman equivalent was known as Formido or Metus. Deimos is shown on the statue of Leonidas in honor of the Battle of Thermopylae (pronounced ther-mop-a-lee). (I remember really liking the film '300', which really goes into this battle so if you've seen that, you should be caught up in the very basics.) I assume the image of Deimos on his shield was meant to strike terror into the hearts of the Persians.
That's it for now, but if you're interested in this sort of thing, you really should read the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan. (I honestly held off on reading them for a long time because I thought they sounded idiotic, but then I ended up tearing through them and now I recommend them to everyone.)
THANKFULLY we'll have another episode of Sailor Moon next week! Gosh, it kind of feels like it's been forever. For all of you back in school, I hope your semesters are going well. And if you're lucky and you've already graduated, well. I kind of hate you a little, aha!
I feel like Toei Animation is just TRYING to antagonize us at this point; first we had to wait two weeks in between these episodes, and now it's three!? Maaaaaaan.
But that's okay, because I have plenty of stuff to hold you over while we wait!
Warning: This post is spoiler-heavy for those who have never seen the 90s show or read the manga.
Today, we'll be talking about Rei Hino and Mars.
We'll be focusing on Mars and Ares, the Roman and Greek gods.
Now, if you've seen the 90s anime, I want you to do me a favour. Forget the Rei Hino that you were given in that show, and let's briefly talk about the manga Rei. (I can't really comment on the "new" Rei yet.)
In the manga, Rei was originally a very serious character. She wasn't terribly interested in romance, and she wanted a career of her own. While she obviously had a sense of humour, she wasn't exactly the most "lighthearted" girl of the group. She was one of the more levelheaded ones in fact, along with Ami. This is probably my biggest complaint about the old anime; I hated that they made her into this ditzy character that was so boy-crazy. She's so much more than that. She was concerned about her own future.
Now, moving on.
Mars is one of the most well known gods of Roman mythology.
Interestingly enough, Mars was known for his relationship with Venus (while we have yet to meet Minako in this new anime, this is still rather fun to know). Their romance was often seen as "wrong" because of the adultery involved (as Venus was married), but think about this. If Takeuchi had chosen to put Rei and Minako together as a romantic couple (which would probably not work, but that's a different discussion), perhaps people would've seen this as "wrong" because of the homosexual nature. Despite the presence of lesbian couples in Sailor Moon and other anime and manga, homosexuality is still unfortunately frowned upon in Japan. (Which makes little sense to me, in a way. There's SO MUCH HOMOSEXUALITY in their art and animated works and books and yet if we see it in real life, WOAH THERE. What? Here in the U.S. we're still so prudish about things sometimes, and yet in real life it's like OH HEY PARTY OVER HERE. It's just a bit of culture shock I guess. It's also fun to think about a unity between Love and War.
Though Rei is obviously mature and intelligent and calm, I can't completely see her planning any battles though. I feel like Ami would be a good strategist. But, at the same time, I think Rei would be able to detach herself more in the event of plausible casualties.
Actually, Ami is more like Athena. Maybe Makoto is more like Mars, heh.
Now let's talk about Ares.
Ares is the Greek counterpart of Mars. He's much more violent and "hey, let's go!" than some of the military gods (like the aforementioned Athena), including his Roman counterpart. He had sons named Phobos and Deimos (like Rei's... crows? ravens? I dunno, I hate birds), who I'll be discussing in a future article.
It's kind of funny that I talked about how much I loved Rei for being levelheaded and not super interested in boys when in reality, Ares was a big ol' playboy that couldn't keep it in his pants.
So... I'll admit it. I never finished The Illiad. I just can't get through it, I'm sorry. If anyone knows of a decent translation, let me know! But in it, apparently they use ares as a noun to replace battle? Is this true? I doubt Wikipedia sometimes.
Rei's birds kind of come into play again with Ares though. According to Wikipedia, "The birds of Ares (Ornithes Areioi) were a flock of feather-dart-dropping birds that guarded the Amazons' shrine of the god on a coastal island in the Black Sea". I went ahead and looked up "ornithes areioi" and apparently they were prominent during the story of Jason and the Argonauts journey to find the golden fleece.
Before we finish for the day, let's talk about Rei Hino again for a moment.
Now, according to the Sailor Moon Wikipedia, she was apparently put in for a proposal to appear in a Sailor V anime. Heh, I'm just giggling because of all of the Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus tension that I've never thought of before now.
In the manga, she was apparently also originally going to wear armor! Her birthday, April 17th, also makes her an Aries, which is associated with both Mars AND Venus. Boom.
We have a long wait for the next episode you guys, but don't worry! I have stuff planned, considering we have to wait ANOTHER two weeks for the next episode!
Breakin' my balls, Toei.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please leave a comment below or email me!
Have a lovely day and if your semester is starting back up, good luck! Mine doesn't start till August 27th, so I still have a few more days of freedom!
So, for the last month I've been trying to lose weight to no success. I've been exercising and eating well and have not lost a single pound. And it's been pretty discouraging. (I DID pig out this weekend for a party I threw, but a weekend does not a month make!)
So I looked over my blog and I realized that you guys probably think I eat like shit because all I post is unhealthy food. But I mean, let's be real. People tend to gravitate more towards junk foods and such. They're wonderful. Let's not lie to ourselves. But I do want to show you guys some healthy food occasionally too, in case any of my readers are those who just want a healthier lifestyle.
I was looking over some recipes I had pinned on Pinterest (here's my Pinterest if you want to follow me) and I have a board specifically for recipes I want to cook for my omnivore family. Now, I had created this board when I had first gone vegan, and I wasn't as adventurous as a cook as I am now. (Look at all of the as' there. Ew.) So I went back and looked over some of them and found a lemon garlic tuna burger recipe that I was interested in veganizing.
So today, I bring you some lemon chickpea burgers.
ingredients:
1 15.5-ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup breadcrumbs (check to make sure they're vegan!)
1 Tbsp dried chives
1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsps vegan sour cream
2 Tbsps vegan mayo
optional: romaine lettuce, a slice of tomato
instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahreinheit.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients with a potato masher (or, if you don't have one, a fork or your hands).
Form the mixture into four patties. Put parchment paper down on a baking sheet, then put the patties on the sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes. Serve on an English muffin with vegan mayo, romaine lettuce, and a slice of tomato. Enjoy!
Here's my mise en place! The vegan mayo shown here is the store brand from Whole Foods, but lately I've been incredibly fond of Hampton Creek's Just Mayo! (While it was originally a Whole Foods exclusive, I've heard that they'll be selling it at Wal-Mart starting in September! Not that I really go there, I hate it there. But I might start going now purely for that mayo because it is DIVINE.)
My boyfriend Eric is the guest star today! He helped me mash together the ingredients and form the patties because he's brilliant and lovely.
We have this cute little colander that's perfect for rinsing beans with. Mmmmmm.
Here's what your bowl of ingredients will look like before you mash it all together.
And here's what it looks like afterward! It's okay if you have whole chickpeas left in there, it's nice to bite into a chunk of it. Chunky or creamy, both are good!
Eric flattened the patties into a giant circle and cut it into four pieces in order to form them equally.
Mmmmm, look at those herbs.
The wee little babies.
Today was my first time making these, so it was a little bit of a risk. The photo above shows the texture of the patties after they've baked in the oven. They're a tiiiiiiny bit dry, so Eric suggested lightly brushing them with olive oil before you put them in the oven. If anyone tries this, please let me know and I'll post about it here!
Like the original post I based this idea on, I put my patty on an English muffin with mayo, a bit of romaine lettuce, and a slice of tomato.
I'd definitely eat these again. I tend to have a HUGE appetite, but one of these left me totally stuffed.
I hope you guys enjoy these as much as I do! I'm sure you could freeze these as well and perhaps pan fry them! (Not sure how these would hold up on a grill, so if you try it let me know! Veggie patties in general tend to be fairly delicate.)
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, feel free to leave me a message below or to email me!
Hello everyone, and welcome to Sailor Moon "Saturday"! (Shhhhh it's not Sunday. I don't know what you're talking about.)
To be honest, I've been kind of farting around with this entry. This episode didn't really thrill me, but at the same time I'm glad it happened.
(Warning: This post will be filled with images and will be spoiler-heavy, so turn back now if you wanna avoid all of that.)
Yesterday's episode was entitled 'Act 4 - Masquerade Dance Party'.
So, at the beginning they give us a super quick recap of what's going on.
Oh, and they're looking for the Legendary Silver Crystal. And a princess.
Coincidentally, there's a princess visiting Japan and she's throwing a party to show off some treasure.
Hmmmm.
Thanks for the news, Umino. (Also, dat height difference.)
So what does this mysterious princess look like?
Well, Umino has a picture for us.
I just like Kunzite. He was always my favourite. So here, have a picture.
I like that we're seeing more of Usagi's parents. Her dad is a baaaaabe.
In the manga, this was one of my favourite dresses and ugh I want it for real. It's so cute.
Security at this event is seriously awful though. I mean, they just walk in. Uhhhhhh.
Applause to the background artists again. Ugh, this is so beautiful.
This is why I'm glad we had this episode. It's essentially just a filler episode, but there's a bit of romantic development between Mamoru and Usagi, as well as some very slight character development for Mamoru. So that's exciting.
I'm so weirded out when I watch all of the four kings of the Dark Kingdom working together? I'm so used to the old format of "one king is a villain, dies, rinse, repeat" that this is odd.
That skyline though.
Finally, a good shot of Kunzite.
And all of the kings together.
So that princess from before wears glasses. So that explains a bit.
And this was the secret treasure she was hiding. So nope, she's not the princess. And nope, that's not the Legendary Silver Crystal.
Mamoru takes this chance to kiss his "sleeping beauty", and he and Luna have a quick discussion about whether or not he's a villain.
But, we're getting closer to having the whole gang together. I wonder who this is, hmmmmm?
FINALLY ugh yes. I'm excited for this storm to arrive, and her name is Makoto. Can't wait to finally see the next Sailor Scout in action!
Next week we're getting another Sailor Scout, so yay!
But yeah, I was kind of bored this week. And from reading the manga, I knew I would be. But that's life sometimes! The next episode will be better. (But, for those of you who remember entry #5 in this series, I WAS right.)
The next episode of Sailor Moon Crystal will be debuting on September 6th (ugh, they keep making us wait more and more!) and is entitled 'Act 5 - Makoto, Sailor Jupiter'.
I'm currently watching the show on Crunchyroll but you can also watch it on Hulu.
If you guys have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to leave me a message below or email me!
Yesterday, right after I published my post, I was given tragic news.
The beloved Robin Williams has passed away.
I've never hoped so badly for a hoax in my entire life. I kept waiting for someone to say "guys, no, this isn't real". But then, as this popped up on the news and was confirmed by the police, my heart sank to my toes and into the ground and through the Earth.
Today, I'm not going to talk about his death. I'm not going to talk about how badly the United States needs to fix how they handle mental illness. These are issues, but this is not the time or place.
Today I'm going to talk about how Robin Williams saved my life, and why he was such a treasure to the world.
Everyone knew about Robin Williams' depression. We all knew that he had suffered. He never made it a secret. And that is part of what made him so great. In a time where people look down on you if you're ill, he spoke up and showed people that you're not a freak for being depressed. You're not a freak for having problems. People could look at him and go "Oh wow, I'm not alone!".
I'm scared to write this article. I'm scared that, well, people (my parents) will see this and they'll be devastated. But it's easier to write than to speak, so I guess I'll just say it.
There have been multiple times in my life when I have wanted to die. Where I have planned it, where I have curled up and cried over it.
One of Robin Williams' films helped save me. And that is part of why I am so upset about his death. This is part of why I get so mad when people say, "You've never met him so you shouldn't be crying". Even if I never met him, his work saved me. And everyone has the right to be sad. I have the right to be sad about a man's death, for goodness sake.
(Parents, I'm sorry if you see this. It's hard for me to admit this to you guys because I know you only want my happiness and I know you try very, very hard to make me happy. And I always appreciate and love your gestures. So please know that none of this was from anything you did. It was a mixture of my own illnesses and my personality in general. Please do me a favour and don't talk about this with me, though. If we tried to speak, I'd leave the room. I can't talk about this face to face. Only when I write can I really talk about this comfortably.)
I still have days where I think about what it would be like to die tomorrow. I think people would be lying if they didn't admit to at least one moment of this in their lives. And I also think it's true that the funniest, kindest people are usually the ones who are ripped apart inside and can't find happiness for themselves.
But, humour can save lives. And I'm glad Robin Williams could help save me, but I'm heartbroken that he couldn't save himself in the end.
(And I realize I didn't mention it earlier, but the movie that saved me was 'Patch Adams' of all things.)
Not only was Robin Williams able to educate people on the dangers of addiction and depression, but he genuinely did make people laugh.
Robin Williams was kind of like a big kid. I feel like, maybe in a way, he had more power than he knew what to do with. Maybe that was overwhelming at times. He just wanted to make people laugh, and suddenly it was like everyone in the world was watching him.
But with his jokes, how could we not look at him?
This scene, from Mrs. Doubtfire, was the first thing to honestly make me laugh after I heard the news. One of the upsides of this incident is that people are talking about him. We're all talking about our favourite scenes from his movies, and while this whole thing is a tragedy, it's also bringing laughter.
Almost every single person I know is falling apart from this news. Everyone is posting about it. Everyone is crying about it. Everyone is making memorial posts and beautiful photo collages and singing praise for him. And in a way, this is beautiful. Coming together like this is beautiful.
He was my childhood. He was my hero. He saved me. He was like any person; he had his problems. But he was also special because he took those problems, said "Fuck you", and tried to make people laugh anyway.
Rest in peace, Robin Williams. And I really hope that people respect his family during this awful time. (I'm especially worried for Zelda Williams - I enjoy her work and she seems like an incredibly nice person, so I hope she's relaxing and has friends and a good support system during this time.)
So a few days ago, my parents insisted that I had to go see a movie with them. (I say insisted, but really I love movies so maybe that's too harsh of a word.) They said I'd love it. They wouldn't tell me what it was or who was in it or anything like that.
Today, I finally went with them to see it.
It was playing in a little theatre in Philly (the best one) and I never get to go here anymore, so I was thrilled.
I cannot even describe my love for this place. I hate that I can't go here for every single movie. They kick you out if you use your phone and it's so clean and beautiful. Also they've started showing older movies again (ughhhhhhh they're gonna show 'Back to the Future' and I wanna go!).
(I saw a preview for a movie that I demand to see, by the way. A piece called 'A Letter to Momo'. I'll let you guys know if/when I see it.)
So as the film started, I was trying to figure out why they had chosen this for me. And then I figured it out.
Audrey Tautou? Michel Gondry? I'm on board! (From this point on, I'll refer to the film by its English title.)
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
'Mood Indigo' is a colourful film about a dashing, rich young man named Colin. As he watches his friends enter relationships, he grows lonely and wishes to fall in love. He meets the beautiful Chloe at a party, and from there they continue their awkward and adorable relationship until he asks her to marry him.
While on their honeymoon, Chloe falls ill. She has a "water lily" in her chest, and the only way to help her is by surrounding her with fresh flowers. He loses his fortune while providing for her, and does his best to work hard and save money to keep her alive.
I should've known this wouldn't be a carefree film. Not really, anyway. It starts with a bright palette and joyful characters, but quickly turns into a drab, sad film.
Some of you may know of director Michel Gondry's work - he's also directed 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' and 'The Science of Sleep'. I couldn't really place his name until I had watched a few minutes of the film - he uses a lot of the same filming techniques in this that he did in 'The Science of Sleep'.
I was trying to figure out why I recognized Romain Duris, and it wasn't until I got home and looked him up that I realized he was in the French film 'Populaire' (I haven't seen it yet, but I've researched it recently so his face was familiar to me). He was incredibly captivating as the hero, and I just wanted to squeeze him up.
And I mean, I'm such an Audrey Tautou fan. I think she's ridiculously cute. Like a woodland creature.
Like many, I was introduced to her from 'Amelie'. And after that, I was hooked. My other favourite film of hers, I think, is 'He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not'.
Basically, you'll enjoy this film if you like films by Wes Anderson. The director is the French version of Wes Anderson. He creates these whimsical, emotional pieces that can be a bit slow sometimes, but they're always filled with heart.
I ended up crying at the end of this and the only thing keeping me from sobbing outright was my own shame. And naturally, they turned the lights on in the theatre while I was mid-bawl. Great.
People look at me like I have seven heads when I tell them that I am generally not a fan of Stephen King. I remember I once told a guy about how much I disliked King's writing, and this guy immediately started calling me obscenities and told me I must be stupid.
Well then.
Despite not really caring for him, I've read a lot of his work. A part of me keeps hoping I'll find stuff I really like (and I have), but I'm usually disappointed.
Before I talk about Cujo specifically, I guess I'll address some of the reasons why I tend to dislike King's writing.
I have a problem with unsympathetic characters.
I find most of King's characters to be completely nasty and vile, and it makes it hard for me to read his stories. This is a basic complaint in the literary world. People want to cheer for the hero. Or for anyone. Maybe even the twisted anti-hero, or the villain. Just, somebody!
But King's characters are usually these mounds of farting, pissing, shitting, cursing flesh. (Typically his male characters, anyway.) And that's fine. People do fart and piss and shit and curse. So why not write about that? And in a way, it's kind of a relief - in books, writers tend to romanticize their characters to death (I'm glaring at you, Nicholas Sparks; you hack). You just start picturing these 60s-esque TV characters that couldn't be shown in bed together or weren't allowed to use a toilet. So, while it's fun to run from reality and picture a world where we all have our pinkies in the air 24-7, it's also nice to occasionally be reminded that we're only human, and we all have bodily functions.
King kind of takes it to the other extreme, though - the Sparks extreme. Instead of writing these fluffy and clean characters, almost ALL of King's characters are just these vile buckets of soul, I guess. They're so disgusting and terrible that I don't even want to be near them anymore.
And not only are they these vile people in their natural behaviours, but they're vile people in their hearts! Almost every story has a man that beats a woman or cheats or steals or kills. And I know he's a horror writer. I am FULLY aware of this. I don't expect his tales to be filled with unicorns and happy bouncing babies. But it's almost as if he's incapable of writing someone who is good. I'm not even asking for like, Superman-level goodness here. Just an okay kind of guy. And while this happens in his work, it's RARE. And in those rare instances, it's usually a child. (And while children are usually seen as these innocent beings, children can also be horrific. And I find it cliche of him to write the children as the good guys.)
One of my other problems with him is his within his actual writing style. He's in this weird level between Hemingway and a college student sometimes. And then other times, he writes beautiful sentences that portray the surroundings well. It's conflicting. The quality that we get from him isn't consistent.
You don't have to use a lot of beautiful words to write a beautiful story. But sometimes, it doesn't hurt.
For example: as I stated earlier, he often talks about bodily functions of people. But he'll say it as simply as "He farted". And I just... It does nothing for me. It's okay I guess, but there are so many other routes he could go with that. He could make farts a lot more eloquent. (But I guess that kind of takes away from the farts in the first place.)
The last and final problem that I'll poke at before I go into the actual review is this... Well, just watch the video.
Sometimes, King really reaches.
But rather than purely turn this into an entry where I complain about King, let's delve into this actual book review.
(Today's special guest - my Nook named Lucy.)
I started this entry in a kind of negative tone, but actually I started off this possible Stephen King marathon with one of his books that I actually generally like.
Warning: There are spoilers past this point. It's been out for over three decades, but god forbid.
Donna Trenton and her son Tad are going out to get their car fixed. You know, run-of-the-mill kind of chore. When they reach the home of the man who does their repairs, they're met with the sight of a rabid dog named Cujo. It's then that Donna's car finally chooses to die, and she's stuck in this car with her son while this nasty dog tries to kill them.
Oh, and did I mention there's a record-setting heatwave happening? And they're stuck in a CAR? And conveniently, everything falls into place perfectly so they're left stranded for days?
Yeah, not an ideal situation.
Since I started this entry on a rather negative foot, let's get all of it out of the way now and end it nicely, shall we?
I actually don't have many issues with Cujo. My biggest one seems kind of silly, actually.
While this seems like a simple "dog's gone rabid" kind of situation, King wants to make you doubt that. He talks of a man who went a bit postal before the Trentons moved to this town - a man named Frank Dodd, who murdered women and children.
Throughout the story, King keeps coming back to Dodd and linking him with Cujo. He gently implies, at times, that Dodd may be possessing Cujo through the rabies. I believe it's the sheriff named Bannerman who says something along the lines of "Was hell too hot for you, Dodd?".
And I just... Ugh. This IRKED me.
Personally, I find that the more realistic horror stories are the scarier ones. I tried to actually ignore these Dodd comments because I just wanted it to be a dog with rabies. Not a dog with rabies that was possessed by a dead killer through the rabies. There's something terrifying about this story because it could easily happen (although not as much nowadays because of how strict people are with vets and animals, but it could still occur). The heart of true terror comes from being able to imagine it happening to you, and I can't really picture some dead guy taking over my neighbour's dog before it goes insane and tries to kill me. I CAN, however, picture that same dog getting rabies and jumping over my fence and ripping my throat out.
You see what I mean?
The supernatural is nice, but once in a while you just have to let it go and face the fear. The real fear in real life. This could have potentially been a great story if he had eased it a bit with the Dodd references (although I think the idea of Tad overhearing the story of the Dodd murders and later imagining him in his closet was good).
My other problem with this story was that, yet again, I was left with a (mostly) unsympathetic character. I really didn't like Donna. I found her to be shallow and kind of idiotic and selfish. And I mean, some people are like that. But they're people I try to avoid in real life, as well as in literature. Maybe the presence of Tad was supposed to help, but it didn't really. (When she talked about how she slept with Steve Kemp because she was afraid, I was ready to throw a table. I couldn't handle how childish and stupid that sounded. You're afraid of getting old, basically? How vain are you? I don't want to be your friend or know you, go away.)
Now, with all of that out of the way, let's address what I liked about the book.
I liked that we finally had a sympathetic husband! Usually they're selfish or stupid or mean too, but poor Vic was actually fairly nice. I mean it's not like he was giving candy to babies on the street, but he was a sweet and simple guy. He didn't beat his wife or beat his kid, he actually took care of his kid, and he somehow didn't instantly leave his wife when he found out she had had an affair? I mean, go Vic.
I also really enjoyed the parts from Cujo's perspective. How he thought of THE MAN and THE WOMAN and THE BOY. It was almost a shame that he had to die, and that Donna was only able to see how "bad" he was. (I wasn't alive when this was first published, but I wonder if this book inspired people to distance themselves from Saint Bernards? You know, kind of like the Jaws effect?)
My favourite part of the book is also definitely the most morbid part - I liked that King killed off Tad. Not only was it realistic, but it just made the book really grim and you were left with this sadness at the end. He didn't cop out. (Although they copped out with the film, damn it. I was so angry! But I guess reading about a child dying from dehydration is easier than seeing it, so maybe I should let that go.) And I mean, let's be real. Even though I just talked about King's lack of realism at times, this was the one point where he really nailed it. There's no way Tad, a little four year old boy, would survive that. Maybe if he was older, sure. But not a little boy. And not when Donna was dumb enough to eat some of their rations early on because she didn't assume the worst, sigh.
I think I'm going to go on a Stephen King kick here and review all of his books, but we'll see what strikes my mood! I started The Shining (my other favourite book of his) and then who knows after that?
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about what I should read next, feel free to comment here or send me an email!
Hello everyone, and welcome to Sailor Moon Saturday! We'll have a new episode next week, but until then we'll talk about more mythology today!
Warning: This post is spoiler-heavy for those who have never seen the 90s show or read the manga.
Today I'll be discussing Ami Mizuno, as well as the traditional mythology of the planet Mercury.
Quickly, we'll talk about something REALLY basic. So, as you probably know, Sailor Mercury uses the power of water when she fights.
Well, for those who don't speak Japanese, here's a basic lesson - see her last name, Mizuno? The kanji for mizu (水) stands for water! So, there's that. Basic lesson. Now, onto the fun part. Roman mythology. So far, our characters have been the same genders as our mythological gods, right? But now we're drifting from that a bit. While Ami/Sailor Mercury is a woman, Mercury in Roman mythology is portrayed by a man. (We'll discuss it in a future article, but there's a lot of gender fluidity within the original Sailor Moon manga, so we can't really be surprised by this.)
One interesting thing is that in traditional tales, Mercury is often seen as the son of Jupiter (watch out there with that boy-chasing attitude, Matoko). Mercury was also known by multiple, similar names! It varied from Mercury to Mercurius (which is probably what really lead to the word mercurial) to Merqurius to Mirqurios to Mircurios. One fact that I did find interesting (and actually kind of links Mercury to Ami/Sailor Mercury a little bit) is that there was a festival to celebrate Mercury called the Mercuralia. It took place on May 15th and involved sprinkling water over the heads of merchants and their merchandise/transportation. The water was taken from a well located at the Porta Capena, a gate in Rome. I'm kind of going backwards with this article, but now let's discuss Hermes, the Greek counterpart to Mercury (and the god that came first, actually).
I'll talk about it more in a second, but really Ami doesn't relate much to the god counterparts. However, she at least shares one common trait with Hermes - she's smart. Hermes may not have held the same type of intelligence that Ami has shown to us, but they're both smart in their own ways. But that's pretty much the only common element between the two characters. While reading the Wikipedia entry for Hermes, I did find something interesting. Psychiatrist Carl Jung had once discussed the psychology behind Hermes; Hermes was seen as a guide to the underworld, and Jung interpreted this as a way of guiding information between the conscious and the subconscious. So perhaps Ami does this too, in a way? She brings information that would seem obvious to attention in order to constantly save the entire party. I highly doubt this was the author's original intent, but it's an idea to chew. To be honest, I feel like Ami is the character that can least relate to her god counterpart(s). Usagi and Luna remind me of theirs, but when I was researching Mercury and Hermes, I just didn't get the same feel. Which is good! It's nice that Naoko Takeuchi wasn't afraid to carve her own path with these characters and not stick entirely to mythology. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please leave a comment below or email me! Next week we'll have another episode. Thank goodness. I can't handle the wait in between new episodes, ugh. xo, Kate
Originally I was just going to watch this week's episode when it came out at 6 a.m. (which is the EST for the releases, I think) but I ended up going to sleep around then so whoopsie!
Let's dive in!
(Warning: This post will be filled with images and will be spoiler-heavy, so turn back now if you wanna avoid all of that.)
Today's episode was entitled 'Act 3 - Rei, Sailor Mars'.
Within the first few minutes of the episode, we're introduced to some of the other villains in the first season.
Nephrite! Lookin' good, chickadee. (I wonder if they'll keep the romance between him and Naru in this adaptation? It didn't happen in the manga but all of my friends really liked it in the original anime so hmmmm. They've already taken some liberties from the manga so I could see this happening. But I'm doubtin' it.)
And a view of Zoisite! AND HEY HE'S A MAN AGAIN. (American censors felt the need to change his gender because he's so ~*feminine*~ and by that I guess they felt like kids would be confused at the idea of a man with a ponytail? I dunno. Understanding gender in the United States is like trying to understand trigonometry when you're in diapers.)
We haven't gotten a GREAT shot of Queen Beryl yet, but I thought this was the best one as of now. We get quick glimpses of her in the opening theme song and throughout other episodes, but it's always a flash and then she's gone. I wonder when they'll actually give us a grand reveal of her? Hmmmmm.
I need to sit everyone down and just praise the background artists right now though. I think they're the ones who worked the hardest on this anime. I'm blown away by the beautiful watercolour illustrations? I mean, I suck at backgrounds/landscapes AND watercolours, so this is overwhelming to me.
Like the original anime, today's episode talks of the haunted demon bus that basically spirits whoever is on it away. Unlike the 90s version though, this seems less like the Magic School Bus and more like a messed up version that I'd expect to see in a Japanese horror film. I'm just waiting for girls to come crawling off it with their heads twisted backward and their faces covered in long black hair.
This is another instance of just a BEAUTIFUL background. It may seem really simple, but oh man just look at that shading. Mmmmmmm.
One of my biggest complaints about this show is the conflicting quality of animation and artwork. Unless you have an EXTREME closeup of the characters, I feel as though they look sloppy. And when you put that next to gorgeous background art, it kind of leaves you feeling a little muddled. It bothers me, heh. In this episode especially I've noticed basic anatomy that was really thrown off (and I mean, I know anime anatomy and art school anatomy are two different things, but I'm specifically talking about anime anatomy here).
And here we have Rei Hino! Thankfully they've kept her eyes relatively small (to convey how serious and "adult-like" her character is) and she's not really loud and chasing after boys. At least, so far. In the manga she's more concerned about her career and her own success and isn't really boy-crazy, and I'm hoping they keep that aspect of her character. Not because being boy-crazy is necessarily a bad thing or that being concerned with your career is necessarily a good thing, but because this attitude brings a nice kind of "foil" reaction to the rest of the group. Since, you know, everyone else besides Ami seems to be kind of boy-crazy and loud.
This scene quickly reminded me of the anime 'Jigoku Shoujo' (another great series) due to the specific nature of the red here. I wonder if they brought someone in from that animation team?
I wish I could read Rei's talisman here. I wonder if anyone can? (Which, on a slightly related note, I've noticed the English translation is a little off. I can understand Japanese better when I hear it than I can read or write it, and I've noticed a few little things. Maybe they cut dialogue to save time or because it was unnecessary, but I haven't really seen the point yet.)
Rei is a miko shrine maiden (part of the Shinto religion), as evidenced by her earlier methods of prayer and her outfit here. Perhaps I'll go into that more when I talk about her character another week.
More mentions of the demon bus, wo0o0o0o.
GUYS LOOK MAMORU OWNS SOMETHING BESIDES A TUXEDO! (Granted, it's still a suit, but shhhh. And I think it's kind of weird that he wears a suit as his school uniform - even if he goes to an exclusive high school, I'd still think his uniform would be more practical - but whatever.)
More applause goes to this series for the quality of their background music. It's much darker than the 90s series and adds a more serious tone to conversations like these. Rather than expecting a melodramatic sob story ripped off from a soap opera, I get a more supernatural and sad sense from these kinds of scenes. It's a good thing.
GOD this series is more traumatically scary than the 90s one. I fear for the children.
For some reason, Usagi felt the need to transform herself into a flight attendant while chasing the bus??? Which apparently included adding A SUITCASE WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST DROP IT AND RUN and also you're not even flying please stop.
(I couldn't even make that into a proper sentence, that scene frazzled me that much.)
Well, at least Luna's safe. But uhhhh yeah, bye bye.
I felt kinda bad for screenshotting this because do we really want to see Usagi being so sad? But I was just kind of happy that the animation for her face wasn't bad soooo. Whoops.
Does the idea of Luna using a computer tickle anyone else, or is it just me? Catsby just rolls all over mine and ruins everything.
OKAY SO, before anyone starts really calling the "creepy alarms" on this statement...
In the manga, he and the other "Kings of the Dark Kingdom" (as they are referred to in this anime) are actually kind of like knights for Prince Endymion. So they're like Earth knights. And while Endymion was off frolicking with the Moon Princess, the four knights were like "oh uh uh". And they all basically went off and paired with the Moon Princess' knights for some hookin' up fun I guess. And hey, you guessed it, the Sailor Scouts were her knights.
So in a past life and before he was kind of "hypnotized" by Queen Beryl, Jadeite was romantically involved with Rei. So he's kind of remembering his past relationship here, not just drooling over an unconscious girl.
Rei won't take your nonsense. I love how she just grabs these supernatural villains WITH HER BARE HANDS? BEFORE SHE EVEN KNOWS SHE'S A SAILOR SCOUT????? That takes dedication.
I can't stand the fact that everyone else so far has a much better transformation sequence than the star of the show. IT'S DRIVING ME UP THE WALL.
Ahhhhh, so wonderful.
Now, this kind of confused me, but if this is going to be like the manga I think I know where this is going. I'll let you guys know if I was right when I write up Sailor Moon Saturday #7.
The next episode of Sailor Moon Crystal will be debuting on August 16th and is entitled 'Act 4 - Masquerade Dance Party'.
I'm currently watching the show on Crunchyroll but there are a few other places to watch it too! Hulu also has it.
If you guys have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to leave me a message below or email me!
