Noise is an unwanted part of a signal. Usually, we wish to eliminate it. However, in some circumstances, noise is the driving force behind change, and the reason why this world is beautiful and complex as it is.
There is a variety of reasons why I dislike exams, but the main one must be how it locks my mind in a permanent state of anxiety, forbidding me from having any inspirations and stray thoughts that would eventually materialize into words, or something tractable. In any case, I have taken this into account this time around, and told myself to hold such seeds in incubation (i.e. jot them down here in one or two phrases) and wait till the trials of the tripos to be over before I would expand on them. Such is what I will be presenting to you, dear reader, presently:
A Brief Thought on Vulgarities and "hate speech":
Free speech (or, by extension, expression) is important. After the freedom of thought, it is the most important freedom in my opinion, more so than, say, freedom of movement. And the moment someone starts banning or putting unwarranted stigma on certain words or phrases or, god forbid, ideas and thoughts, expect to see me vehemently opposing such motion.
It is entirely one's freedom to choose what they consider offensive or pleasant. One may find certain words very disturbing, and they may choose to request them to not be spoken. Out of respect (or circumstance), the speaker may refrain from usage of such words, or they may not. Yet, it is not up to the listener to try to condemn the speaker just because of words taken out of context, not to mention ban certain words universally.
To ban a word from being used is equivalent to killing an idea. Killing a person is a crime, but killing an idea is a sin.
A Brief Thought on Banana Peels:
I came across a banana peel when I was walking today, just in the middle of the pavement.
As much as the "banana peel" is universally recognized as the symbol of a prank, and someone is bound to slip on it and it is going to be funny, I have never seen such thing happen before. I suppose with the emphasis on hygiene nowadays, litter like that would be cleaned up daily. The distinct yellow skin also stands out among the dull grey pavement tiles, so I doubt anyone would be susceptible to the trick, if there was one to begin with. I wonder how banana peels come to represent pranks and practical jokes, if they are actually such ineffective devices. Maybe someone slipping and making an elaborate gesture out of it is cartoonish and comedic, but the same could be said of a lot of other pranks.
I guess the lesson here is that universally recognized symbols sometimes do not make any sense at all.
As much as the "banana peel" is universally recognized as the symbol of a prank, and someone is bound to slip on it and it is going to be funny, I have never seen such thing happen before. I suppose with the emphasis on hygiene nowadays, litter like that would be cleaned up daily. The distinct yellow skin also stands out among the dull grey pavement tiles, so I doubt anyone would be susceptible to the trick, if there was one to begin with. I wonder how banana peels come to represent pranks and practical jokes, if they are actually such ineffective devices. Maybe someone slipping and making an elaborate gesture out of it is cartoonish and comedic, but the same could be said of a lot of other pranks.
I guess the lesson here is that universally recognized symbols sometimes do not make any sense at all.
A Brief Thought on this Blog:
I like to think about writing this blog sometimes as talking to a wall. The amount of people who will click through a text link just because I shared it is very small, and the proportion of people amongst them who actually want to read through my ramblings is even smaller.
To say that I completely do not care about whether someone would read the posts is a lie, but at the same time, I enjoy talking to a wall, as much as I like talking to myself. Confucius reflects upon his actions thrice every day. I can only hope that some of the echoes from this wall will reach back to me, maybe once every few months.
A Brief Thought on Childishness:
I like to think about writing this blog sometimes as talking to a wall. The amount of people who will click through a text link just because I shared it is very small, and the proportion of people amongst them who actually want to read through my ramblings is even smaller.
To say that I completely do not care about whether someone would read the posts is a lie, but at the same time, I enjoy talking to a wall, as much as I like talking to myself. Confucius reflects upon his actions thrice every day. I can only hope that some of the echoes from this wall will reach back to me, maybe once every few months.
A Brief Thought on Childishness:
As of writing this sentence I am 21 years old.
Some say that time passes by quicker as you are older. I suppose that is not far from the truth.
Some say that time passes by quicker as you are older. I suppose that is not far from the truth.
Some Brief Thoughts on my rewatch of the best film ever
I have taken to the habit to re-watch 5 centimetres per second every time I feel that the spectre of loneliness is about to drown me out of my senses.
Despite having watched it, partially and totally, countless of times, I still discover new messages, details and symbolism that I have never noticed before. Again, my focus was drawn to the second part of the tri-episodic film, Cosmonaut:
I have taken to the habit to re-watch 5 centimetres per second every time I feel that the spectre of loneliness is about to drown me out of my senses.
Despite having watched it, partially and totally, countless of times, I still discover new messages, details and symbolism that I have never noticed before. Again, my focus was drawn to the second part of the tri-episodic film, Cosmonaut:
- I have been well aware of the rocket launch being a symbolism of Tohno, resembling the uncertainties that lie ahead of him. More importantly, the loneliness that surrounds such an exploration into deep space is described with unparalleled artistic sense: To just press forward in true pitch darkness, barely encountering even a single hydrogen atom, wholeheartedly believing you'll come closer to discovering the secrets of the universe within the unfathomable abyss of space... I wonder how far we should go, how far we CAN go? In this rewatch, this segment struck me the deepest.
- Notice how Tohno is always portrayed with a gaze downwards. Not only does this bring out a level of maturity beyond Sumida's figure, but also a sense of longing that is exhausting, and even sickly and overwhelming, thorough exhaustion.
- The music, description and brilliant animation signaling the coming of autumn, together with how this energizes Sumida never fails to bring me chills. I severely miss the early autumn weather back home, with the sickening summer heat fading away, and the first signs of chill breeze bringing the crispiness of the season to my breath. (nowadays, this would occur in November or even December, but back in my childhood, it is more around the time this section is set in, i.e. October)
- I was struck by this frame near the end of Cosmonaut:
We see in this shot that the moon is full, on a clear, unobstructed night sky, yet is cut in half by the cable in the way. The scenery is almost perfect, but not quite. Like the audience at this point of the episode, Sumida is desperate to confess, to seek the happy ending of unity we all are wishing for. However she also knows this is impossible, for Tohno is looking for something much further, much more than she could offer. She knows that no matter what she does, her parting ways with Tohno is inevitable, that the moon will never be full for her. Pardon my cliche, but the silence in this scene is deafening. The scene is deliberately dark and quite monotonic: as the day falls into dusk, everything suddenly clears up, and reality of Sumida's fate is clear as the conspicuous moon shining right above.
ED Discussion 17: Flip Flappers ED, Flip Flap Flip Flap by TO-MAS ft. Chima
"Let's go! To the world the twinkling stars are guiding us.
You and I, FLIP FLAP!"
ED Discussion 17: Flip Flappers ED, Flip Flap Flip Flap by TO-MAS ft. Chima
"Let's go! To the world the twinkling stars are guiding us.
You and I, FLIP FLAP!"
I came to this show for the mysterious ED, and stayed for the unparalleled rich allegory and wonderful symbolisms.
At the heart of Flip Flappers are the heroines, Cocona, Papika and Yayaka. The beginning of the series feature Cocona, leading her stereotypical uneventful school life, meeting Papika, who invites (read: quite forcefully drag) Cocona onto an adventure in a world known as Pure Illusion in order to collect shards known as "amorphous". The premise sounds quite unimpressive, but as they venture into the depths of this alternate reality, and the connections between the real world, the psyche of the characters and Pure Illusion start to surface, the actual themes of the series emerge.
The ability to flesh out characters with seemingly uninteresting "shells" is a force to be reckoned with. The overarching character growths of the main characters are well presented. From a cynical, distant and cold Cocona, Papika brought out the side of fierce compassion and caring for her friends, compatriots and even rivals through their ventures into the world of PI within Cocona. Same goes for Yayaka, who initially approached Cocona only for a recon mission, yet was influenced by Cocona to put her life at risk to save her friend. The show also goes above and beyond to attach symbolic meaning to each character, with Papika, Cocona and Yayaka representing Id, ego and superego in Freud's structure of the psyche. All these are not only done with focus on the characters, but also with each PI world the trio ventures into, depicting their personalities in a rich environment of props filled to the brim with symbolism and allegory. So, as they seek the piece of amorphous in each world, they are also coming to realization what their (among other characters') real desires, their real personalities, and who they really are in a more powerful manner than simple conversations can achieve.
Most psychological series flesh out the minds of characters through dialogues and monologues, with prime examples being the Monogatari series. Of course, Monogatari provides a brilliant atmosphere that partners with the characters well, but Flip Flappers takes it to the next level, integrating the objective, observable world with the immaterial, psychological world through PIs. It is through these worlds that we see the depth of characterization, all the while enjoying the feast of sakuga. From the snow world of Cocona, Papika emerges to break the ever-frozen lake of idleness. From the di-chromatic world of Iroha, we witness the past of a seemingly ordinary artist, and the powerful link between art and the mind. From a groundhog day scenario within a house haunted with faceless aberrations, we witness the power and omniprescence of fear and complacency that results. Countless aspects of the so-called "mind" of a human is explored within the context of these adventures.
I have always believed that the study of psychology lies on the boundary of science and art (not that I know a lot to profess anything substantial). While the scientific method is effective at examining the links between the physical (brain) and the immaterial (mind, psyche), it is often through art that some characteristics of human behaviour are explained the most thoroughly and articulated the most powerfully. The motif of mixtures between art and science is prevalent in this anime. While we have scientists, namely the Salt family, studying the world of PI and later exploiting it to gain control of the world, this entity is largely untamed, since it is the creation of Mimi, a character that is all but human. While Mimi throws into a fit of insanity when she discovers her daughter is about to be taken from her, the world of PI turns into the current state, and eventually infringes into the real world to take control of Cocona.
I am sure there is a lot more thematic considerations to discuss, and one could go much deeper with the implications and symbolism flashed in front of the screen in rapid succession. What I will highlight here is the concept of synchronization.
The ability to flesh out characters with seemingly uninteresting "shells" is a force to be reckoned with. The overarching character growths of the main characters are well presented. From a cynical, distant and cold Cocona, Papika brought out the side of fierce compassion and caring for her friends, compatriots and even rivals through their ventures into the world of PI within Cocona. Same goes for Yayaka, who initially approached Cocona only for a recon mission, yet was influenced by Cocona to put her life at risk to save her friend. The show also goes above and beyond to attach symbolic meaning to each character, with Papika, Cocona and Yayaka representing Id, ego and superego in Freud's structure of the psyche. All these are not only done with focus on the characters, but also with each PI world the trio ventures into, depicting their personalities in a rich environment of props filled to the brim with symbolism and allegory. So, as they seek the piece of amorphous in each world, they are also coming to realization what their (among other characters') real desires, their real personalities, and who they really are in a more powerful manner than simple conversations can achieve.
Most psychological series flesh out the minds of characters through dialogues and monologues, with prime examples being the Monogatari series. Of course, Monogatari provides a brilliant atmosphere that partners with the characters well, but Flip Flappers takes it to the next level, integrating the objective, observable world with the immaterial, psychological world through PIs. It is through these worlds that we see the depth of characterization, all the while enjoying the feast of sakuga. From the snow world of Cocona, Papika emerges to break the ever-frozen lake of idleness. From the di-chromatic world of Iroha, we witness the past of a seemingly ordinary artist, and the powerful link between art and the mind. From a groundhog day scenario within a house haunted with faceless aberrations, we witness the power and omniprescence of fear and complacency that results. Countless aspects of the so-called "mind" of a human is explored within the context of these adventures.
I have always believed that the study of psychology lies on the boundary of science and art (not that I know a lot to profess anything substantial). While the scientific method is effective at examining the links between the physical (brain) and the immaterial (mind, psyche), it is often through art that some characteristics of human behaviour are explained the most thoroughly and articulated the most powerfully. The motif of mixtures between art and science is prevalent in this anime. While we have scientists, namely the Salt family, studying the world of PI and later exploiting it to gain control of the world, this entity is largely untamed, since it is the creation of Mimi, a character that is all but human. While Mimi throws into a fit of insanity when she discovers her daughter is about to be taken from her, the world of PI turns into the current state, and eventually infringes into the real world to take control of Cocona.
I am sure there is a lot more thematic considerations to discuss, and one could go much deeper with the implications and symbolism flashed in front of the screen in rapid succession. What I will highlight here is the concept of synchronization.
The power of the Flip Flappers, Cocona and Papika (and later Yayaka), lies in the idea of synchronization. Once the "impedance" between them is eliminated, they can realize their powers in the world of PI. That is why their powers come up when their lives are in danger: Even though Cocona is skeptical of Papika, she empathizes with her in the brink of lethal danger, and this eventually builds upon their friendship to achieve immeasurable, prodigious power.
Indeed, when distrust is eliminated between humans, we can achieve what cannot even be imagined. This is also a major theme in Neon Genesis Evangelion: No matter how hard Shinji tries, he cannot eliminate the fears and anxiety in his heart to synchronize with the mecha suit, or with his compatriots. He is always overshadowed by feelings of inferiority, loneliness resulting from an unfulfilling childhood. Flip Flappers takes on a different view. Through trials and tribulations, Cocona realizes her true feelings for the one and only Papika, and her craving for adventure, which has always been suppressed by her mundane lifestyle.
Yet, are we better off with perfect synchronization? As I have examined in an earlier post, this is quite reminiscent of the Sibyl system in Psycho Pass, whose setting is mostly agreed upon to be a Dystopia. Individuality is an important trait of humans, and is what defines our existence. It is also synonymous, ergo, to imperfect interactions. Indeed, the actions of Salt Sr. is not dissimilar to establishing an all encompassing entity composed of nothing but minds. Controlling the resources of the world leads to taking over the world, but taking control over the "mental" dimension is almost by definition controlling the world as we know it. Hence, one of the overarching questions that this show throws out is whether we should explore the mind as it is under the lens of science, or appreciate it from afar, behind the barrier of artistic expression. Will we one day tap too far into the realms of the mind, and release the symbolic "Mimi" of the real world, who will wreak havoc in the world as we know it?
In passing, I would just recommend checking out the ED again. It gives me seriously nostalgic vibes of the fairy tales I have long abandoned since childhood.
