At the Center of the World, Shouting "Love"

The title of this post should've clue you in on what I'm about to talk about: the Japanese novel/movie/drama Sekai no Chuushin de, Ai wo Sakebu (世界の中心で、愛をさけぶ -- for translation, see the title of this post... mmm, circular referencing in blog entries). Unfortunately, you're not going to get a deep, moving review of that fantastic jdrama from me -- since it aired in 2004, plenty of reviews have already been written, many of which are far better than anything I could've put together (you do, however, get a courtesy pic. Because I love pics.).


Instead, I'm going to tell a rambling story about a conversation Dave and I had over IM last week. Everything started when an episode of Gokujou Seitokai (good show... I'll blog more about it later) made a reference to it:

Sunday: Sekai no chuushin de, ai wo sakebe!
Cindy: Aye.











Dave points out that this is based on the title of a Harlan Ellison short story. Being the Eva trivia master that he is (sorry about that Rokubungi swag thing a while back, Dave...), he also points out that the quote made an earlier appearance as the title of episode 26 of that show (Shinseiki Evangelion):

The Japanese reads sekai no chuushin de ai wo sakenda kemono, and the "ai" written in katakana here is wordplay -- the English word "I" is pronounced "ai" in the syllabary. It's interesting to see the same basic phrase pop up in all sorts of places -- Harlan Ellison, Human Instrumentality, and a mother-daughter reunion between two people who have very little grasp of proper Japanese (you'll see what I'm talking about later)...

P. S. -- The English title of the Sekai no Chuushin de, Ai wo Sakebu franchise -- "Socrates in Love" -- is just ...random, isn't it?

Today's Densha Otoko Moment: Slow Dance

So yeah, I love Densha Otoko (Shiraishi Miho ROCKS!). But then, I'm an otaku. Just to further demonstrate to y'all the immense power of my otaku-ness (wanna see my license?), I shall now share a Densha Otoko-related discovery that only a hardcore otaku would even notice, much less be amused by:

In the last episode of the 2005 drama Slow Dance (as its name suggests, a very slow-paced, grinding drama about the nature of relationships, social reality, and pursuit of your dreams in the stressful, nerve-wracking world of Japanese adulthood), the fianceé of the minor character Ichisaka-san (a timid, awkward 50-ish man who leads a rather uneventful life) remarks to male lead Serizawa Riichi (who was Ichisaka's driving school instructor in the early episodes and offered enough encouragement -- through both words and action -- that Ichisaka finally managed to get his driving license after having failed to do so 10+ times previously) that her man had been "going on the 'net" a lot lately -- and that he now keeps saying strange things like 'kita----' (watch Densha Otoko!) or 'moe~'." Nukumizu Youichi, who plays Ichisaka, also plays one of the more prominent "Net no Juunin" (ネットの住人 - residents of the 'Net/cyberlurkers; those guys provide some of the funniest and most entertaining moments of that show) on Densha Otoko, so that line was a rather subtle reference to the awesome Densha drama, which is amusing. What's even more amusing, Slow Dance happened to be a direct competitor of Densha Otoko's (i. e. the two dramas aired at the same prime time slot on competing broadcast stations), and it's highly unusual that you'd see a show reference its fierce competitor, even if the two of them share the same minor actor...











Nukumizu-san selling takoraisu (i.e. octopus rice) in Slow Dance











Ruminating shortly before Densha Otoko's "ore, tabidatsu yo" scene

P. S. - Just noticed that Densha Otoko returned the favor in its later episodes as well. Note the "Tako Raisu" katakana in the laptop sticker in the pic above... or just look at this pic, which was ripped straight out of the last ep of Densha TV:



(Apparently the makers of Densha Otoko got to use imagery of Nukumizu's Slow Dance "fianceé" as well; curiouser and curiouser...)




P. P. S. -- Did a little research and found out that Slow Dance actually aired on Thursdays whereas Densha Otoko aired on Mondays, so the two were not direct competitors. Also Densha Otoko credits Nukumizu's character as "Ichisaka Susumu," so we seem to have a simple crossover scenario on our hands. Sore ijou, sore dake. Mystery solved.

Kawaii naa~~~

So yeah, it took the Densha Otoko TV Drama exactly 48 minutes and 50 seconds to really *connect* with me.

If you follow me, Dave, take a look. I WANT IT, MAN.

And for the three of you left in the world who don't know it yet: yeah, I'm as big a Sakura Taisen whore as anything you can find elsewhere.

EDIT: This figure now graces the top shelf of my computer desk. Thanks, Dave! --K. 2/26/07