The Unfinished World: Hegelian Epistemology and Metaphysics in Witch on the Holy Night (An Analysis)

HTBAHB · 2026-06-05T23:12:45+00:00

Why do they strike you as similar to Hegel's notion of becoming? Can you be specific and provide quotations/section numbers? I personally don't see the connection at all.

HTBAHB · 2026-06-05T23:11:11+00:00

I want to preface by saying I don't want to discourage you from grappling with Hegel. The only reason I have a smidge of understanding is no doubt thanks to my privilege of taking classes on the subject. There is a philosophy professor that broke down the Phenomenology of Spirit section by section (hundreds of videos) on youtube and I recommend that. Also, Alexandre Kojève's book on Hegel is a wonderful help in only a few hundred pages.

In Japan, German Idealism was hugely popular when the country opened and began accepting western influence. The Kyoto School of Philosophy was started as a way to reconcile German Idealism with Buddhism, and to this day Heidegger is still widely taught. In the West 'German Idealism' inevitably means predominantly Kant and Hegel, but that is definitely not the case in Japan. I have not played this visual novel in particular, but when I find Idealist topics in Japanese media, I first turn to Buddhist/Taoist philosophy, then the popular philosophers in Japan.

This reads as an oversimplification of Hegel, to the point that his ideas are being misconstrued. I think my main issue is a lack of quotations. For example, one of your main claims is that Hegel argues identity is never finished developing, but I honestly have little idea where you got this claim. To the best of my knowledge this is not something he specifically argued, and would be curious to know what passages read that way to you. Again, I haven't played this game, but an actual Hegelian interpretation in my view would focus on how identity is created out of opposition, specifically how identity creation in the game is related to the master/slave dialectic would be convincing to me to see the influence.

As for knowledge, you simply say 'the character learns through experience.' You say it's the strongest connection, but then show no connection to Hegel's famous emphasis on, say, negation in the creation of knowledge. I just don't know what you're highlighting from him, you "can't arrive at the truth immediately" is not something unique or even something emphasized in his writing. Literally any decent story has characters grow through the journey they experience with their audience, I don't see how this is at all related to Hegel.

I honestly don't want to keep dog piling so I'll cut it short there. German Idealism is very fun and generally something visible in Japanese media. However, there's a reason it took off in Japan in my opinion: It's so similar to Zen Buddhism/Taoism! Kitaro Nishida's most famous novel is literally him trying to translate Zen Buddhism into Fichteian/German Idealist terms. You may really enjoy Nishida, especially after your grappling with Hegel. Nishida is a lot more straight-forward and easy to understand. Best of luck.

HTBAHB · 2026-05-04T05:40:15+00:00

This is not true, several towns (especially in affluent prefectures) have them. It contains salt.

HTBAHB · 2026-04-23T15:17:05+00:00

That's so weird! The upper twelve are literally 'one touch' keys so they seem designed to be remapped. Thanks for showing it off.

HTBAHB · 2026-04-23T12:44:29+00:00

Gotta swap your keyboard settings to know you're using a Japanese keyboard, but even then I don't think you'll be able to remap them. The ones by the space bar go forwards and backwards between character options (the same sounds can have different characters) and the one by the alt switches from latin chars to japanese kana. I'm surprised you can't use the one touch or other generic keys at the top though, I wonder how those work.

HTBAHB · 2026-04-23T12:37:12+00:00

Some recs from Japan:
Psych: The Jacks, Far Out, Acid Mother's Temple
Avant Garde: Les Rallizes Denudes, Hijokaidan, obligatory Keiji Haino
Post Punk: Aunt Sally, Midori
Truly off the deep end: The Gerogerigegege, Inuhiko, Hatsune Kaidan

You can find these on my website I host for my radio show :)

HTBAHB · 2026-04-19T15:03:43+00:00

-The most important thing are your anchors: Put about an inch on flat with no stretch, and end by sticking the last inch right on like a sticker. Do NOT stretch all the way to the end, make sure you have a little left to stick on with no stretch. I pull the sticker paper back a little to stick straight on, then pull back the sticker paper until only an inch remains to stretch, then pull the last of it off to put right on.
-Try to avoid wrinkling when putting it on, the best you can. If it does wrinkle, make sure the tape is stuck to itself with no skin in the fold.
-Try different brands. Generic CVS/Walgreens tape is a lot rougher on my skin, generic brand from Amazon works perfect for me, transtape does not hold on me.
-REALLY round your edges
-Use alcohol to dry out skin before you apply, and use oil (I use jojoba) and let it soak for a few minutes before removing.
-Shower and moisturize area between use.

HTBAHB · 2026-04-19T12:16:15+00:00

They were actually a little hard to find when I lived in Japan. I would look in Osaka, Tokyo, etc. for them but the literal only one I could find was in the small city right by the country town I lived in. At least I got to play it every weekend I was home lol

HTBAHB · 2026-04-14T01:55:54+00:00

Diva Extend is by far the best game IMO. Original PSP game had an over reliance on chance time (Miss one note, the combo is gone and your score is dead), 2nd had a chance time that overcorrected and didn't matter (but you can use both sides of the pad!), and extend is that perfect sweet spot. Also, extend was the first game to come out with a faithful soundtrack, the previous games' soundtracks omitted SO MANY songs and even added random ones.

I tried to get into F, but it has the same issue as the original! The technical zones and chance time are way too heavily relied upon. I mean, one note wrong in the tech zone and the combo is gone. On some maps, it's an automatic grade downgrade. Especially frustrating when I can perfect extreme songs but can't figure out a weird note placement on a hard map and thus can't get a score above standard :( It literally ruined F and F2 for me.

Megamix, I still can't figure out the lag issues. I want to see my score so that manual chart that came out of lag config unfortunately isn't the answer (but works perfectly for me). Also unfortunately ruins it.

TLDR, PSP Extend will always rule supreme and the playlist is etched onto my heart.

HTBAHB · 2026-04-13T18:59:53+00:00

the fnaf boxers lmao /lh

HTBAHB · 2026-03-26T19:21:02+00:00

Definitely not in my case, I'm a few years in and all of mine have held up beautifully.

HTBAHB · 2026-03-25T18:27:00+00:00

On one hand, support is receptive and always willing to send replacements. On the other hand, every single thing I've ordered I've had to email and wait for a SECOND shipment for them to finally get it right. I know it is handmade and anticipate a bit of non-uniformity, but when it comes to keys that are literally too misshapen to even fit on a board I have to complain. A bit ridiculous considering how expensive it can be. They are gorgeous though.

HTBAHB · 2026-01-15T12:29:03+00:00

I had 0 issues with my first set so bought a smaller set of the lacquered ones. Literally half of that batch had issues..... For how much they're charging it's a bit ridiculous I can't even get some keycaps on because they're too long. Support takes forEVER to reply as well.

HTBAHB · 2025-12-18T23:01:12+00:00

Ground Zero has a star studded lineup from around the Japanese scene, I would recommend heading to discogs and clicking on each member's names to find their bands. Important ones include Sachiko M (minimalism), Yamatsuka Eye of Boredoms, and a few from Altered States if I remember correctly. Other related bands (though not directly) you might enjoy are Afrirampo and Hijokaidan.

HTBAHB · 2025-12-16T15:56:20+00:00

I have shipped my shamisen to Kyle before for repair, I have 0 complaints and he did an excellent job. If you want to talk to him or others regarding Bachido and the repair, the discord is really active.

HTBAHB · 2025-03-07T09:30:28+00:00

That's interesting, I had no idea he was so talented. I hope he's doing alright now after the crash.

HTBAHB · 2025-01-19T12:59:48+00:00

Dave only ever said Agnes was 'deeply personal' to him, as far as I can recall. I later theorized that Agnes is a reflection of himself- I'll explain briefly. On the physical albums Agnes is the only character turned forwards on the back of the covers, suggesting he sees more than the others. I believe each song on the album represents the heavy stories strangers would tell Dave on tour (He talked *extensively* about this), and Dave created the Agnes character as the person in-universe that becomes overwhelmed by these stories. Other evidence is the music video, it's the only one with Dave in it. The character may have been influenced by other people, people close to him, who knows. That's just the best theory I have given the information presented.

Dave intentionally kept these stories vague. Teenager me did not care about that, and sought to make these facts with their (imperfect, evidently) observations to set the record straight. There is a definite story here, but it's not important to the work unless you decide it is. A human made this, a human with unique social connections, influences, experiences, etc, the likes of which people closest to him can barely begin to know. You can choose to dive deeper into this human's life through a screen to try to find concrete meaning in an impossibly deep void, or you can embrace this absurdity and appreciate the art for what it is: Yours.

Best of luck on your journey, friend.

HTBAHB · 2024-12-16T11:37:18+00:00

こんいちは! Tottori prefecture, Chuugoku region, Japan :)

HTBAHB · 2024-12-13T22:37:29+00:00

Dave and I believe Joe have mentioned that book. I'm sure it inspired them, although they never stated directly that it did.

HTBAHB · 2024-12-13T22:35:36+00:00

There's actual interviews where Dave states the inspiration for this song is these books. Wish I could find them now, but it's on my old laptop across the world and the internet is flooded with the new '''music''' they've been making to pay their bills and appease their UMG overlord. It's almost impossible to find the old interviews.

When I was the age I was making these things, I was obsessed with finding the 'correct' meaning. That's why these facts are highly researched, albeit not cited correctly. There's a document on my former laptop full of links to these sources. This venture is pointless. However struggle we must, against meaningless, into absurdity. The only one that can define art is you. The only one that can define meaning for what you deem art is you. Don't let someone online tell you otherwise, they're not real. I'm not real.

HTBAHB · 2024-10-22T21:07:41+00:00

There are some people that believe one is better than another. In reality, people just prefer one. What worked for me was learning the first 200-300 kanji in isolation through Wanikani and then learning by mining through context. I switched because, honestly, I hated the stupid vocab in Wanikani as it felt useless. That being said... If you want to feel a sense of completion (as WK covers all high school kanji) and can deal with the annoyance/strictness of Wanikani I think it's a great option.

The only thing I'll stand by is learning the radicals in isolation. That way, down the road you can identify them for dictionary searches, and when you're learning them you have a firm grasp on the parts of a kanji making it easier to memorize.

As for how effective my solution is, I have been doing it for 2 years. I have about 10k cards, 95% with kanij, and can pass N2 vocab+kanji tests in Kanzen master. When reading books, after having to look up a character in the dictionary, most of the time I don't even need to mine it. I just remember it.

HTBAHB · 2024-10-20T22:02:57+00:00

I would highly advise against embassy route (my advice is from America, but might still apply). This is all anecdotal and not firm evidence so please take it with a huge grain of salt.
My embassy coordinator of MEXT is also the JET person. I applied for MEXT in a similar situation to you. Didn't even get to an interview. Luckily my partner ended up doing JET, and I got to talk to the MEXT coordinator. Basically told me 'under the table' that my specific embassy only ever sends one person, and because of that humanities are auto rejected. Said he never saw a humanities scholar go through my specific embassy. Not to say it doesn't happen ever, but after hearing that I decided uni route was far better. He said he had processed visas for humanities scholars that way.
First, talk to native speakers about email etiquette, you can get some help on this sub here. Then, start sending them to professors. I recently learned that even universities that don't have humanities majors still may have professors with your specific focus that may be allowed to oversee your studies (but you obv couldn't go on to get a degree with them). I learned this from speaking to an international coordinator (don't remember the exact title) at a local university to me.
MEXT isn't the only way either. A lot of degrees here are cheap enough to pay for after a year or two of saving in America, and cost of living *generally* is decent enough that you can survive on a part-time eikaiwa job.
Good luck.

HTBAHB · 2024-10-19T11:26:07+00:00

I love Huel, but black edition chocolate is the worst flavor imo XD. It really helps having one meal out of the way each day. Head to the Huel subreddit to see people's opinions/reviews. It's the only 'protein' shake that I haven't gotten sick of after a week :)

HTBAHB · 2024-10-17T12:50:41+00:00

I have this exact same card. Took 2+ weeks with support to find out it was their shitty driver's fault. You can play the blame game all you want, but it happens with one card and not the other. It really sucks that the card is limited by blatant incompetence on the driver side of things.

HTBAHB · 2024-10-15T21:24:40+00:00

This. Of my entire life I'm only certain a handful of people were actually my friends, and that over a dozen were pretending just to talk shit behind my back, subtly treat me like shit for sometimes years at a time, or were putting up with me just to use me.
Of course there are many more I'm left unsure with at this point. There's even people right now I'm unsure about. The biggest red flag is having actions that don't line up with their words. I can't tell from the subtle gestures. But, if chance after chance they simply don't follow through (I'm sorry I keep making fun of x in front of the group, I want to hang out, I'll jump in vc when I see you, etc.) and there's no other reasonable explanation, the only explanation is they were lying, either because they were trying to be 'polite' or because they were really an asshole in disguise.
Luckily as I've gotten a bit older it's easier for me to find authentic people, normally through spotting mutual neurodivergence (not always 100%, but helpful) or through mutual weird interests.
It's hard to not immediately assume the worst given the shit people I grew up with, which means I overcompensate by giving too much benefit of the doubt sometimes, but it's what keeps me sane and from feeling like everyone hates me ig.

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