Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Despite Being Gray, Life Usually Feels Black-and-White

Zeldaru here, listening to "Kings" by angela, the opening theme to K (project). I....have not been too regular here, have I? Maybe my inability to grasp basic sentence diversity has led to my downfall. Maybe my mind snapped after all those essays.

Recently, I have been reading yet another shoujo (girl's) manga series -- everyone is thoroughly nonplussed by my change in behavior -- that is occupying my time. House of the Sun tackles "homelessness," but not in a literal sense. Rather, it is the feeling of, despite having a house to live in and a roof above one's head, belonging absolutely nowhere. Natsume, for instance, finds abode with his distant relatives after being shunted for years; Nanami takes residence in a shrine after helping a kind old man who turned out to be a god. But in these situations, the "homelessness" serves to galvanize the characters into action. Honestly, where this is going (logically, emotionally, etc), I don't even know...but, even without ever facing the danger of being homeless, I can certainly relate on some deeper level.

Mao Motomiya, the rather awkward -- even compared to a hapless fellow like myself -- shoujo protagonist of this story, has found herself living with her childhood friend Hiro Nakamura. Despite having known each other for years, they, at least to an outside observer like me, do not seem to understand each other very well at all.

However, there are some points made absolutely clear by the mangaka. Whatever you think about Hiro. You. Cannot. Deny. That. That...that.....he is an excellent housewife. And that Mao is the exact opposite -- she's the stereotypical husband in this pairing if you will, even if she insists ! insists ! ! * that she is not in like with him. Sometimes their misunderstandings are hilarious and make you think, and sometimes their misunderstandings are devastating and make you sad. I can't put my finger on what exactly draws me to this manga. Except for how so many parts of it resonate within me, and how it reminds me of some of my favorites. To borrow a friend's phraseology, "total zrucore".

From here, there are two directions -- acquire greater cringe from Tsukimi (Princess Jellyfish), or dive into the sadness (Kamisama Kiss).

That said, I should attempt to give an update or something. But instead, what matters most is....

How darn good this show is.

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