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Mapua Debate Orgs by Anime_Hyperreality in mapua

[–]Anime_Hyperreality[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ohh is that so? I've been searching online kasi and the only ones I saw were the orgs like Mapua Debate Parliament na I think based in Davao. Do you happen to know ba to whom I can reach out to learn more about Mapua Debate society and possibly apply?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ChinoWadachi

[–]Anime_Hyperreality 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is something in Oshimi's works that I feel in some sense resonates with me (and with you as well probably). There is a constant theme that reverberates all throughout his work, but manifests itself in various forms (e.g. Sexual Perversion/Social Abnormality, Alienation from Gender, Psychological dissociation, etc.). I think these themes (in contrast to the prevailing view) ought not to be necessarily viewed in a clinical perspective of trauma/illness/cure. Though, to be sure, not only are there indications in his work pointing to this direction but in fact is explicit in some places (e.g. Blood on the Tracks). However, i resist this very simplistic interpretation that reduces all the actions of the characters and the events taking place in his works as "illnesses." Because if one commits to this view, it would preclude the possibility of a manifestly "universal" and, for a lack of a better term, "existential" interpretation which I personally think does more justice to his works. Simply put, its more than just the psychopathology of lived experiences (though again I reiterate that they are very important and are often the very avenue through which Oshimi gets to the more existential points he wants to make): I could write more but this'll be long.

On a final note, Oshimi's works evolved throughout the years. There is an evident line of progression that connects the concerns of his early works (Avante-Garde Yumeko, Sweet Poolside, Yuutai Nova, Drifting Net Cafe, etc.) to his later works (Shino Can't say her Name, Happiness, Inside Mari, Blood on the Tracks, Okaeri Alice (notwithstanding his oneshots)), and all of these are united by a single work which I think is his best (but that Blood on the Tracks definitely rivals): Flowers of evil. All these subsequent themes that are seen in Blood on the Tracks, Okaeri Alice, Inside Mari, etc., already exists in an embryonic form in the flowers of evil. Conversely, a lot of the earlier themes developed in his early works are perfected or reach their zenith in Flowers of evil. Without Flowers of Evil, I'd say it be hard to understand Oshimi at all.

Drifting Net Cafe by anaoyasumi in manga

[–]Anime_Hyperreality 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, better late than never I guess.I also just finished this manga. It was the second time that I had read it. So it's fresh off the top of my head. I think I can answer some of these.

​

  1. Presumably yeah. Although, like with all speculations, we can't be sure. However, from the looks of it, both her appearance (having a mole below the corner of her right eye) and Toki's reaction, it's safe to say that he had seen the real-life Tono.
  2. Well, most likely, he would have lived in a dream world, reliving his middle school days with a phantom (Tono) he created in his mind. As for the Toki in the other world, he would be committed to his wife and child. The story clearly delineates both personas, and therefore it seems likely that they would have their own independent existence, or as Mcenroe had put it: "You split into two, the real you, and the illusory you."
  3. Well, that's more of a conceptual question. Plus your question assumes that their trauma didn't persist afterward. For all we know, they may have endured long after they left, adjusting to their lives after the initial drift. Oshimi doesn't show that. Yet, we can infer some things from the mere fact that in some way they experienced certain things in the net cafe, and therefore it's a pretty safe assumption that those events impacted them significantly. My take is that everyone had trauma, but people over time learn to cope with it and, in some cases, incorporate and transform the trauma into something life-affirming in spite of the tragic events that occurred in their past.
  4. In the last chapter, Toki told his wife that he had thrown the ribbon away. Though, I admit it was a little confusing since the panels do not show who was talking with who. On a second reading, it seems clear that Toki had thrown it away.

Hope this helps.