| Okay, well I wasn't able to watch the entire episode including the live parts with the three voice actresses and the part with Ikuhara and Bonjour Suzuki. But I was able to watch the OP for Episode 8.5 as well as the wonderful new ED. They are officially calling it "Episode 8.5" in the OP (in English), although I guess that Yurikuma fandom is free to debate whether this really counts as an episode or not. Quite often anime series have live-action things posted on YouTube which feature the voice actresses, but they are never considered to be "episodes". Typically, they have their own numbering system. Regarding the OP, it is pretty much the same old 90-second OP. However, it does display the words "Episode 8.5" along with the title, which is: . . . . . . . . . .～ 今すぐ、あなたに会いたい! ガウガウ! ～ Pronounced: ~ Ima sugu, anata ni aitai! Gaugau! ~ Meaning: . . . . .Now, I want to see you! Gau gau! As for the brand-new ED, it is fantastic. It features three identical unidentifiable bears dancing instead of just one small bear in the lower-right corner. I question whether a lot of the dance moves are possible except for Michael Jackson. In any case, it is charming to watch. Here are some beautiful high-resolution still images of the three voice actresses: Ginko: http://animemories.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/img1425312429.jpg Lulu: http://animemories.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/img1425312423.jpg Kureha: http://animemories.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/img1425312426.jpg As well, here are some beautiful high-resolution still images from the discussion between Ikuhara and Bonjour Suzuki who sang the OP. http://animemories.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/img1425312714.jpeg http://animemories.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/img1425312705.jpeg http://animemories.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/img1425312710.jpeg Here is a still image from the new ED with three bears dancing: http://animemories.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/img1425312761.jpeg |
okanaganMar 2, 2015 10:41 AM
| I really hope somebody decides to sub this. It could just amount to the same thing as the live screening of several of the episodes that happened a couple weeks ago, but even so, I'm still curious to know what they have to say. Unfortunately, none of the main sub groups that are subbing the show are subbing this. Even FUNimation doesn't have it on their website. |
| Guys where can i watch this episode? |
Xenocrisi said: Guys where can i watch this episode? I'm watching it here. It's not subbed, though, so I really have no idea what they're talking about. The best I can make out is that they're talking about the characters. I just got to the halfway point. The first half has the voice actresses for Kureha, Ginko, and Lulu, and the second half has Ikuhara and Bonjour Suzuki. I have a feeling I'm going to be completely lost (not that I wasn't lost already) for this next part with Ikuhara. |
| So I'm guessing this isn't like Utena where the recap episodes sometimes had important stuff spliced in between the recapping? Either way, I want to watch this. Both Idolm@ster and Yuri Kuma had a live action recap yet no one subbed it. What's with that? It's not like CR and Funi haven't subbed recap episodes before. Funi have even dubbed a few. Somehow I had a feeling Bonjour Suzuki might have been one of those mysterious artists who never show their face. |
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| Episode 9! BIG SPOILERS |
XenocrisiMar 2, 2015 12:43 PM
| So, I jumped the gun a bit when I said the episode was split in half. The first half is the three voice actresses, the part with Ikuhara and Bonjour Suzuki is about 6 - 7 minutes, and then it goes back to the voice actresses for the rest of it. The ending with the three bears was really cute. That teaser for episode 9 has me really anxious to watch the full episode! It also proves me and many others right about the fate of a certain bearachter. I can't help but think that some of the "presentation" (for lack of a better word) was very purposeful. During the conversations between the three voice actresses, I noticed that when they were talking they always looked right at the person or people they were talking to. And when they were listening, they were looking right at the person who was speaking. They really didn't become highly animated, but they generally seemed at ease. During the part with Ikuhara and Bonjour Suzuki, we never see the singer's eyes (and she's wearing such a blatant bridal gown, complete with a veil). When she's talking, Ikuhara looks right at her, but when he's talking, his eyes are all over the place. He almost never looks at her, and when he does, he quickly looks away again. Also, both Ikuhara and Bonjour Suzuki were sitting very rigidly, and except for a brief laugh they weren't very animated at all. I tried to find other video interviews of Ikuhara to see if these are just ticks of his, but the only one I could find was a really short video, and all it was was Ikuhara saying "Hi! I'm in France for a con. It's my first time here." In that video, when he's talking he looks straight at the camera. I'll have to look on my Utena discs to see how Ikuhara acts in the video interviews on those. |
| I thought it was brilliant to have Bonjour Suzuki sitting there dressed up in that beautiful white dress with the veil and the leafy garlands, and then they never showed her eyes. What a crazy idea. If anybody is curious to see her full face without a veil, it's no problem. Just search for her by her Japanese name: ボンジュール鈴木 You can search on YouTube, and find several of her music videos. You don't need to have any Japanese typing ability. Simply select and cut that Japanese text and then paste it into the YouTube search box. She is fantastically talented. Apart from her distinct whispering singing voice, she writes lyrics and music as well. She used to live in France, and speaks French and English. |
okanaganMar 2, 2015 1:24 PM
| Could the three bears in the ED symbolize at Kureha "turning into a bear" at some point? If Bears and Humans represent what we talked about representing(unbound self, versus society-repressed existence), it might as well be fluid state of mind(a bear and a human stand on stars, but can only see their own reflections, shattering those reflections a bear would see a human and vice versa). And her finding a balance between the two would essentially make the world "whole". |
AhenshihaelMar 2, 2015 2:26 PM
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| is there a MAL page for the recap? |
 If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ Let him be accursed O Lord, Amen! |
| Damn, that teaser for the next episode at the end of that special.... now it's even harder to wait for it! >w< |
| Holy Madoka! The Yuri is strong here! My Anime List  |
| Are there really no subs for this? ._. I want to watch this, but preferably with subs. xD |
| After the marathon showing event at a movie theater in Shinjuku on Sunday, February 8th, there were some news stories in some anime-related magazines which summarized what the three main voice actresses as well as Ikuhara said during the "talk event" which was after they showed Episode 4 but before they showed Episode 5. It even included a number of direct quotes. As a result, I am strongly hoping to see some articles like that to tell us about what was said in Episode 8.5. After all, in my experience it is not the case that anime- series-related live-action stuff ever gets subbed. Many anime series have a lot of it, including elaborate weekly programs which get posted on YouTube as well as weekly radio shows. But nobody subs any of it, as far as I have seen. For the past few days, I have been regularly checking to spot any articles about Episode 8.5. To this point, I have only found the usual fan reaction blogs which include lots of screen images posted by fans and ultra-short comments. However, I have found a huge volume of Yurikuma-related articles which have been published over the past twenty-four hours. A whole bunch of them were pretty much the same, and were all clearly based on the same press release. All of them are clearly labeled as "news" stories. They all have the familiar kind of "headline" associated with a news story. They are all dated March 4th. http://www.animate.tv/news/details.php?id=1425453211 http://www.excite.co.jp/News/anime_hobby/20150304/Charapedia_20150304_4272822790004.html http://news.biglobe.ne.jp/entertainment/0304/cpd_150304_1222415384.html http://news.amiami.jp/topics/2015/03/6653.html http://netallica.yahoo.co.jp/news/20150304-00010006-charapedia http://netallica.yahoo.co.jp/news/20150304-00000016-animetv http://news.nicovideo.jp/watch/nw1477858 The headlines are all minor variations on the one for Animate.TV, which says: "It has been decided that body-length pillow covers with Lulu's picture, as well as plush dolls and other character goods, will be sold!" Below the headline, there is typically a "news story" consisting of a few very short paragraphs. In the Animate.TV version, the first paragraph included the descriptive phrase "絶賛" (zessan) which variously translates as "greatly-admired", "acclaimed", "praised" and "rave reviews". Although it was very clear that each "news story" was written by a different "news reporter", every single article included the phrase "zessan" somewhere. From this, I deduce that the phrase "zessan" was in the actual press release. I have no question that there are people in Japan who are giving Yurikuma rave reviews. The big problem is that, with only 873 Amazon Stalker points (as of this moment) for the regular-edition Blu-ray of Volume 1 (going on sale on March 25), the number of such people is small. The Animate.TV article goes on to describe the stuff in a bit more detail and then helpfully adds that you can buy it at any "Animate" store. (100 in Japan) If you don't already have a body-length pillow case for your body-length pillow, then I guess you might want to have a look, but I can't vouch for the quality or whether the price is reasonable. Besides, to my knowledge, it is apparently very difficult to purchase any of it from outside Japan, apart from some expensive options. There was only one news story which said something different. It is this one which talks about the CD (and MP3 file) which contains the OP theme, along with the classic American traditional folk song "I Met A Bear". This is Bonjour Suzuki's debut single, by the way. It is her professional debut as a singer, in fact, the way that they define "debut". It seems that, as of March 4th, they have released a version of the CD/MP3 which has 48-kHz sampling rate and 24-bit depth. (24 bits is 256 times better than the more-common depth of 16 bits, in theory.) http://banzaisanzai.seesaa.net/article/415031689.html I'll still keep checking for any news stories about Episode 8.5. Following the February 8th Shinjuku "talk event", the news stories didn't come out until a week later. |
okanaganMar 5, 2015 5:32 PM
Lancehot said: ...criticising the male gaze & all that... When did it do that? |
| Sieg Zeon! |
Hidayat246 said: RAW torrent >> http://www.nyaa.se/?page=search&cats=0_0&filter=0&term=yuri+kuma Thanks for posting this! The link I provided in a previous post isn't valid anymore because Crunchyroll (who apparently holds the copyright for ep. 8.5 even though FUNi licensed the show) requested they remove it, and they did. I'm really hoping that the interviews/discussion sessions in this episode will be included as extras in the home release. |
Lancehot said: The court, should the represent anything, show that the female characters in Yuri Kuma are reliant on the approval of men (specifically Ikuhara) to proceed with their "love" actions involving other women. The whole thing revolves around Ikuhara's (alleged) personal hangup on typical Japanese yuri literature where said lesbians are only seen as either sexually destructive aggressors, or naive girls who simply haven't found the right magic flute to toot on yet; with no room for, god forbid, two women to be in love for its own sake. Can you show me any quote where Ikuhara ever said anything like that ever? You are just listening to other people's speculation on his intent. I'm incredibly sorry if the merchandise to this show doesn't support your social justice agenda, I would suggest you not purchase it. |
| Here's an actual quote from Ikuhara himself. http://gigazine.net/news/20141012-yurikuma-machiasobi-13/ 胸が大きめなのは、キャラクターの胸をマウスパッド化したもの(おっぱいマウスパッド)の存在に「こんなものがあるなんて！」と感嘆した幾原監督が、自分の作品でもこういう商品が出ないだろうかと狙ったもの。 Lulu has big boobs because when Ikuhara learned about oppai mousepads, he was fascinated and decided he wanted one of something he created. How does that make you feel? |
| @occultangle: Thank you very much for the quote, the translation and the fascinating link! Here are just a few examples of those mousepads. ( おっぱいマウスパッド / oppai mausu paddo ) Their ergonomic design would apparently support and protect the wrist while using the mouse. They are sold in a remarkable variety of colors and patterns, including anime series themes. But indeed it seems that there are none available for any of the series that Ikuhara worked on.  In case the above image fails to display properly, please click on the link below: http://blog-imgs-35.fc2.com/s/p/e/speedrider/mousepadcolours.jpg In any case, anybody who is offended by the body-length pillow cases will likely be even more offended by the 100% polyester 220 cm × 128 cm bedsheets (flat only) which are advertised on the official Yurikuma website. |
okanaganMar 5, 2015 7:35 AM
Lancehot said: Body length pillows? Really? A show thats obstensibly criticising the male gaze & all that is officially endorsing one of the biggest single examples of the sexualisation of t(w)eenage cartoon characters for an adult male audience? Fuck off. ^this. Prepare for bunch of homophobic rebuttals from the usual folk btw. A lot of people find the advertisment campaigns, posters, etc, of this show to be very VERY problematic and clashing with the show itself. Sexuality should be celebrated and accepted, not turned into fanservice. |
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| @okanagan Thank you. Maybe we can help Ikuhara make his dreams come true this time. And let's include a link to the bedsheets in case anyone wants to buy them. http://animaru.jp/shop/g/g104526/ CookingPriest said: Prepare for bunch of homophobic rebuttals from the usual folk btw. A lot of people find the advertisment campaigns, posters, etc, of this show to be very VERY problematic and clashing with the show itself. Sexuality should be celebrated and accepted, not turned into fanservice. Just wow. So people who are openly enjoying a show about lesbians are homophobic? Or no, we're turning something that should be "celebrated" into fanservice. You so clearly demonstrate that you snowflakes just like being offended, and are prepared to make completely contradictory statements to rope everything and everyone into your trivial offenses. But it's all good to me. I enjoy watching you get offended, and since that is at everything, there is always good fun to be had. |
| Just watched this (without any basic Japanese language knowledge lol). What I noticed: -Kureha's voice actor didn't know Eriko Oniyama's name... haha, even she doesn't know... Why Oniyama (+Akae) even exists or why she isn't just nameless is still a mystery to me. -I heard so many "umm"s and "mhm"s, is that normal in Japan? O_O -Lulu's voice actress seems sympathic (even though I didn't understand 99% of what she said xD) and her voice is interesting. More reason to like Lulu's character. -Why is Ikuhara wearing a cross? |
| They were talking about which characters they liked. Kureha's VA first mentioned liking Yurizono Mitsuko, and then followed up with Oniyama, and yeah she couldn't remember her name. Also, Lulu liked Konomi, and Ginko liked Kureha's mother Reia. While it does seem that Japanese people use various "umms"s a lot, I think it just seems more pronounced if you don't know what they are saying, but can only catch those verbal pauses. And besides you probably hear scripted dialog more often which isn't going to have as much of that. I don't know why Ikuhara is wearing a cross, but my guess would be that it's for the same reason Bonjour Suzuki is wearing a veil and leaves, because they probably think it just looks cool. If anyone wants me to, I can watch it again later tonight and note down some other stuff that was said. Though it's mostly not very important. Ikuhara mostly just rambled on about how great Bonjour Suzuki's song was, and how well she understood the series. |
| occultangle said: If anyone wants me to, I can watch it again later tonight and note down some other stuff that was said. I for one would greatly appreciate that. occultangle also said: I don't know why Ikuhara is wearing a cross, but my guess would be that it's for the same reason Bonjour Suzuki is wearing a veil and leaves, because they probably think it just looks cool. Ikuhara definitely looked extremely cool in his outfit. However, I think that the reason why Bonjour Suzuki was dressed up in a veil and they never showed her face was likely because, in real life, she looks like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4GwurrOQQ4 There are some unkind rumors floating around among netizens in Japan that she is really a dude. Watch the video very closely to see proof to the contrary. Pabilsag noticed that: Kureha's voice actor didn't know Eriko Oniyama's name... haha, even she doesn't know... There was some of this "getting the name wrong" business during the "talk event" on Sunday, February 8th in Shinjuku. I strongly suspect that these voice actresses make these "mistakes" on purpose just so that it gives them a chance to giggle and look cute / moe / kawaii / ditzy. As the otaku schoolgirl Konata Izumi said to her klutzy classmate Miyuki-San in "Lucky Star" (2007), "those are not called faults, those are called 'Moe-points'! ... Clumsy is sexy!" |
okanaganMar 5, 2015 11:01 AM
| I was somewhat put off by the body pillows as well, though I have no idea who's in charge of that sort of thing, or how often anime merchandise is dissonant from the show it's of. occultangle said: Here's an actual quote from Ikuhara himself. http://gigazine.net/news/20141012-yurikuma-machiasobi-13/ 胸が大きめなのは、キャラクターの胸をマウスパッド化したもの(おっぱいマウスパッド)の存在に「こんなものがあるなんて！」と感嘆した幾原監督が、自分の作品でもこういう商品が出ないだろうかと狙ったもの。 Lulu has big boobs because when Ikuhara learned about oppai mousepads, he was fascinated and decided he wanted one of something he created. How does that make you feel? The thing about Ikuhara is that a lot of the time he's not entirely serious or honest with his answers in interviews. I've heard from others (so this is secondhand info) that studios or production companies often handle the creators of stuff, restricting what they can or can't say in interviews. I have no idea how prevalent that actually is, though. Another thing is that all of Ikuhara's works are highly interpretive and abstract. He seems to generally like that kind of thing. His interviews are a lot like his shows in that it's sometimes hard to tell when he's being straight and when he's trolling. Also, that answer in particular is so absurd that I'm hesitant to take it at face value. Takuan_Soho said: I don't know how you can say that this show even "ostensibly" criticizes anything male, let alone their gaze. The theory that the court is "evil" is ridiculous, they are going out of their way to help Ginko (saving her from Mitsuko AND giving Ginko the warning that the "invisible storm" was attacking Kureha). And the only other male character, Lulu's younger brother, is without question the single purest character in this series. When did the court save Ginko from Mitsuko? Also, I don't know if I'd call them evil because I have no idea what they're actually up to (that, and evil is too simplistic anyways), but the way the Judgmen have been presented in the past couple episodes (7 and 8; and maybe 6 but my memory could be wrong) seems very ominous. Depending on what they're actually trying to do, it's very possible that they could be manipulating everyone while seeming benign, a la Akio from Utena. It's nothing stated explicitly (although I don't think it's that subtle, either), but things here and there certainly give me the impression that the show is criticizing the narrow societal perceptions of who women should be. Some of these things (the ones that I remember most clearly) are the fact that the Judgmen are male, that all the men in the show are in positions of authority, and some of the design choices. In particular, the school itself and Yuriika's drawers are in the shape of an upside down pink triangle. Also, when we're shown the city, it's tinted blue. There are also more specific things like the design of Kureha's living room: I do think the show's messages about prejudice can be generalized (in fact that's probably intentional), but that doesn't mean their more specific use in the show should be ignored. It can be both at once. |
| There is a hint about which Yurikuma-related merchandise Ikuhara likes the most. Of the news articles which I mentioned yesterday, there was the one in "Amiami Hobby News" which takes a more dignified and respectful tone and makes no mention of the body-length pillow cases. It emphasizes the plush dolls and the bear-head pillows. Out of all of the news stories, only Amiami Hobby News did not include a picture of the pillow cases. Everybody else showed them prominently. In addition to posting this news story on their news website, Amiami Hobby News also sent out a Tweet a minute later. Ikuhara then later "retweeted" this Tweet. No doubt, Ikuhara would have been aware of most if not all of the other news stories, so he must like the Amiami Hobby News story the best since he wants all of his Twitter followers to see it. The body-length pillows might not have been the only issue for Ikuhara. Even though all of the news stories include the phrase "rave reviews" somewhere in the text, the story in Amiami Hobby News is the only story that includes it in the headline itself: It has been decided that plush dolls and cushions will be released for Ginko and Lulu in the TV anime series Yuri Kuma Arashi, which is currently being broadcasted to rave reviews Once again, here is the March 4th 4:39pm "Amiami Hobby News" story: http://news.amiami.jp/topics/2015/03/6653.html Here is the 4:40pm Tweet from the "Amiami Hobby News" Twitter account: https://twitter.com/amiamihobbynews/status/573025160581660672 Even if you don't know any Japanese, you may still find it enjoyable to check out Ikuhara's Twitter account since he retweets so much amateur fan art. You can follow it here: https://twitter.com/ikuni_noise The (new) official Twitter account for the series has so far not retweeted any of those "news stories". Also, they have not emphasized the body-length pillow cases or the bed sheets. You can follow their Twitter account here: https://twitter.com/yurikuma_TV . . . Just checked: No more Yurikuma-related news stories in the past 24 hours. |
okanaganMar 5, 2015 6:48 PM
okanagan said: However, I think that the reason why Bonjour Suzuki was dressed up in a veil and they never showed her face was likely because, in real life, she looks like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4GwurrOQQ4 There are some unkind rumors floating around among netizens in Japan that she is really a dude. Watch the video very closely to see proof to the contrary. Whoa! Hold on. I'm quite sure that man in the video is a man, and not her. The lyrics of the song are from the viewpoint of her being the doll. None of her videos feature any images of herself, and even the profile pic she uses has her face blurred by some sort of fluffy snow stuff. I haven't seen anyone speculating that she is a man, but if they are, it seems silly to me. She obviously doesn't want her face that well known, and she is still at the moment relatively unheard of. Though she will be making a live appearance somewhere soon, so that should put it to rest. Sejin said: The thing about Ikuhara is that a lot of the time he's not entirely serious or honest with his answers in interviews... That may well be true. BUT, it also might not be, which is obvious, and not something that should usually need to be said. I realize that Ikuhara's works naturally provoke speculation. I personally enjoy art for art's sake and don't feel the need to get involved in it, but I do enjoy reading other people's opinions. However, if someone uses these speculations as justification for extremist, hate-filled attacks, the speculation has gone too far, and that needs to be demonstrated. None of that applies to you. I completely respect your opinion. |
occultangleMar 6, 2015 4:35 AM
| And so as promised, I made a sort of list of basically everything that was said in this special. I have simplified it all down to general, rough points of what they have said, but it still ended up incredibly long. Had I known it would be this long, I probably should have just completely subtitled the whole thing, which I may do if no one else ever does. I occasionally added time markers in the list. These are the times in the raw released by Ohys, so they may be off with other versions. I typed everything out super fast, and simply can't be bothered to clean it up right now, so it may be very horribly written and misspelled. I hid it all as spoilers. Sadly, I have to agree with okanagan that most of everything seems staged, so to speak. They probably choreographed most of the conversation. Though I would like to imagine at least some of the details were spontaneous and genuine. |
occultangle said: I personally enjoy art for art's sake and don't feel the need to get involved in it, but I do enjoy reading other people's opinions. Art for art's sake in anime. Requesting further explanation and contextualization. |
surfboard_ said: occultangle said: I personally enjoy art for art's sake and don't feel the need to get involved in it, but I do enjoy reading other people's opinions. Art for art's sake in anime. Requesting further explanation and contextualization. Cute. Though I never even actually said there was art in anime. It was just a generic statement. |
| I am certain that this is what Occultangle had in mind by his earlier comment: "art for art’s sake" is a slogan translated from the French l’art pour l’art, which was coined in the early 19th century by the French philosopher Victor Cousin. The phrase expresses the belief held by many writers and artists, especially those associated with Aestheticism, that art needs no justification, that it need serve no political, didactic, or other end. See here: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/36541/art-for-arts-sake |
okanagan said: I am certain that this is what Occultangle had in mind by his earlier comment: "art for art’s sake" is a slogan translated from the French l’art pour l’art, which was coined in the early 19th century by the French philosopher Victor Cousin. The phrase expresses the belief held by many writers and artists, especially those associated with Aestheticism, that art needs no justification, that it need serve no political, didactic, or other end. See here: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/36541/art-for-arts-sake Thats exactly why I replied to him. |
| Four still images from Episode 9 have just been posted on the official website: ( Be warned: Major spoilers ! ) http://yurikuma.jp/story.html Below the still images, there is the usual three-and-a-half line mini-synopsis, which I have not read yet. No doubt it contains major plot spoilers. It is very unusual that they post the still images so far in advance of the episode air date. Normally, they post the mini-synopsis first. In some cases, the still images did not get posted until after the episode aired. So I am guessing that Episode 9 is already "in the can" now. |
okanagan said: Four still images from Episode 9 have just been posted on the official website: ( Be warned: Major spoilers ! ) http://yurikuma.jp/story.html Below the still images, there is the usual three-and-a-half line mini-synopsis, which I have not read yet. No doubt it contains major plot spoilers. It is very unusual that they post the still images so far in advance of the episode air date. Normally, they post the mini-synopsis first. In some cases, the still images did not get posted until after the episode aired. So I am guessing that Episode 9 is already "in the can" now. Thank you! Seems and interesting episode, and i see a new invisible character! I think will die in 1 episode xD. Mitsukoooooo! She is my pref character, i love her design!. Thank you ^^ |
| @occultangle: Thanks so much for taking the time to translate and write up that rundown of what's said in the special! :D Also, regarding hitorikabuto, I looked it up on jisho.org, and hitori means "alone/one person/unmarried/solitary" (there's also something about an incense burner and a utensil for carrying live charcoal, which is probably irrelevant here), while kabuto means "helmet (of armor)/headpiece". I see where Asenshi got their translation, but I couldn't figure out where FUNi's "wolfsbane" translation was coming from. I tried mixing and matching syllables (e.g., hitorika, hitorikabu, etc.), and found that torikabuto means "aconite/wolfsbane/monkshood/traditional bugaku hat". So, FUNi's "lone wolfsbane" translation seems like it's from a combination of hitori and torikabuto, just like how "Kumaria" is a combination of kuma and Maria (this actually makes it more baffling that FUNi messed up with Kumaria, since they caught this one). The wolfsbane translation is very interesting, and I wrote something about it in a post for an earlier episode. For ease I'll just copy and paste it here: Ginko was wearing a crown from the first time we saw her. I wonder if that means she was royalty. If so, why was she abandoned? The bullying bears called Ginko the "Lone Wolfsbane". Keeping in mind that, in stories and tales, wolfsbane is used to prevent people from turning into werewolves or to allow them to retain their rationality while transformed into werewolves, that werewolves in stories are used as metaphors for awakened/awakening sexuality, that the bears are this story's werewolves, and that it seems like Ikuhara is using sexuality as a go-to stand in for our various animalistic urges and impulses (our non-rational aspects), this seems like it strongly implies Ginko's ability to control herself while a bear, which may be what allows her to be a bear who can bridge the gap between bears and humans. If my memory is correct (and I admit it may not be), this is corroborated by the show, because every time we see a bear in bear form, aside from Ginko, it is in some way acting on its impulses. In contrast, Ginko, while certainly feeling her impulses, is able to control them. And if the bears are supposed to represent people who indulge their impulses and desires, if that's their defining characteristic, it would make sense that they'd shun and bully Ginko for being able to control herself. That could also offer an alternate explanation of why Kureha said she loved Ginko upon meeting her for the first time: by being able to control herself, she might seem appealing to humans, whose defining characteristic that is in this analogy. My current thoughts about it aren't quite the same as they were when I wrote this, but the gist of it is still the same. I need to look into wolfsbane a bit more. When I briefly read up on it while formulating my thoughts, I saw it was related to some toxin or poison found in the aconite plant, and from looking on Jisho.org just now, "torikabuto" mainly refers to the Japanese variation of the plant. |
| So initially, I could only think of "hitori" and "kabuto", because I didn't know the word "torikabuto", but yes, now I do believe it is a play on "torikabuto." So I did some research myself. The name of the plant is Aconitum, but has many other common names such as Aconite and wolfsbane. Another name is Monkshood, presumably because its flowers look like a monk's hood, and similarly, the Japanese name Torikabuto comes from a hat of the same name that is used in Bugaku. Torikabuto literally means "bird helmet" by the way, there has been a lot of bird symbolism in this show, but I don't think it was used for this reason. So I couldn't find any theories on why it was used here, or at least none that seemed viable. One person claimed that it is famous for killing bears (again, the English Wolfsbane supposedly comes from it being used to kill wolves.) I couldn't find much evidence to support the claim that it was used on bears specifically, but the Japanese wiki page did say it was used to make poison arrows for hunting in Siberia and Northeast Asia. (which I guess could include Hokkaido, where there are bears, and where that Sankebetsu bear incident happened. Nobody talks about that anymore, I wonder why.) Anyways, yes it is poisonous, and has a long history of being used for that purpose both in Japan and in the West. The folklore about it and werewolves is so western that I don't know if Ikuhara would have known about, or included it, but who knows. One other random neat thing, though I seriously don't think it has any relevance, the root of the plant is called "bushi" or "busu" when used in Chinese medicine. It's believed that this is the origin of the insulting Japanese term for women "busu." Possibly derived from the expression on the faces of women who had consumed it. |
| I have been checking each day for additional news stories about Yurikuma, even though in the past week I have found no legitimate news stories, but rather only thinly-veiled advertisements for goods with the trappings of a news story, such as being posted in the "news" section of an anime news website. Whatever... Today, the one-and-only newly-posted news story was in "Amiami Hobby News". Among the stories earlier this week, only the one in "AHN" gave Yurikuma a reasonably respectful and unsexualized treatment. Here is the "news story": http://news.amiami.jp/new_item/2015/03/6822.html Today's "news story" in AHN is quite short, but perhaps a bit entertaining. So I will very freely paraphrase it. They are advertising two new products. First, they mention stickers which say "Watch for Bears. Gaugau. Gaugau." They show Ginko and Lulu in their bear form. Interestingly, there is a lot of English text on them as well. Apparently, these are fantastic stickers. They are waterproof. They are sun-proof so that they won't fade. Furthermore, it is possible to stick them anywhere. Obviously, you can stick them on your car. But you can also stick them on your briefcase, your laptop computer, or anywhere whether indoors or outdoors. Anywhere where bears might appear! These stickers are 11.5 cm in diameter, which is big. Secondly, they mention beautiful full-color acrylic carabiners. Mountain climbers use carabiners to clip onto and guide their climbing ropes. In case you do your mountain climbing freestyle without using carabiners, here is what an ordinary one looks like: . .  A typical carabinerBut the Yurikuma carabiners are only 7.5 cm by 5 cm, so you should probably first check whether they fit your mountain climbing rope. They also mention that, between your mountain expeditions, you can use them as a keychain. - - - - - - - - - - Kureha's Twitter account posted some photographs of an internet meme where people pose their plush dolls of Ginko and Lulu in various places. One was taken next to the ocean in the Maldives. https://twitter.com/arinacchi/status/573834482580508672 Another shows the bears sitting waiting for the subway in an unnamed station. https://twitter.com/ymnnzm/status/573763384396550144 - - - - - - - - - - Ikuhara retweeted a Tweet related to a commercial smartphone app that lets you retrieve dialog lines from manga. It shows a manga drawing of Utena enthusiastically mentioning that Chiho Saitou's popular shoujo manga version of "Revolutionary Girl Utena" has just become available through their app. https://twitter.com/comi2_info/status/572728368874983424 - - - - - - - - - - The (new) official Twitter account retweeted this announcement that you can actually see Bonjour Suzuki revealed for the first time in person at a live event at some record store in the trendy Shibuya district in downtown Tokyo. https://twitter.com/TOWER_Shibuya/status/573824620408610816 |
okanaganMar 7, 2015 2:55 PM
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