are you going to Scarborough Fair?
parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
remember me to one who lived there,
she once was a true love of mine.
what is it with tragedy?
why do we like them? how can they reach deep inside of and touch us at the core of one's heart? i refuse to believe it's just another name for schadenfreude, because that is something cold and cruel, an affirmation of emptiness. but a tragic tale, a tragic tale is different. perhaps it is an echo of another, very different thing, altogether.
the hurt that reminds us we are still alive.
the hurt that is the proof that some things are worth the cost paid for them.
a tragedy can be bittersweet, but it is not bitterwseet. bittersweet has an integral hope.
Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii Desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii Desu ka?WorldEnd
What do you do at the end of the world?
Are you busy?
Will you save us?is a tragedy.
it's the end of a world. it has all the trappings of a fantasy story - cities floating in the beautiful skies, absolutely wonderful magic-tech airships to get from one to another. playful cats. not even magical cats. just playful regular old black cats. rabbit people and dog people and lizard people, townscapes that feel like medieval wales, medieval italy, ogres that promise not to eat you.
and leprechauns.
oh god.
and leprechauns.
this is a smart show. it demands intelligence.
why are there rabbit people? why does a human and a leprechuan have to wear big floppy hats so their lack of wolf ears can't be seen? why are the leprechauns all girls? why is there only one human?
why do we need leprechauns?
and why do they not understand that getting hurt is not a good thing?
the answers to these questions are not simply the trappings of an animated fantasy. They are integral - they are vital - to the story being told. And what the storyline tells you ... what the people who inhabit this broken world believe ... and what is the actual nature of this world ... are three very different things.
what is a leprechaun? Oh gods, they tell you at the start. they just don't tell you what
this actually means until it is far, far too late.i could have written about
86 - one of the best military mecha shows this year. you know you are in for a powerful ride when it's a story about those who actually fight an unwinnable war than the machines they use. But then i looked at my anime history and realized i had not watched
SukaSuka (the short version of
Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii Desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii Desu ka?) just once ... but I was on my fourth or fifth time rewatching it. it's not a recent anime, it's actually fairly old - but the animation is excellent, the music perfect and the story about care. you can easily find it on Crunchyroll.
what is the cost of happiness to someone whose destiny is both brutal and unavoidable?
SukaSuka reminds us that happiness is not a matter of cost.
and if you watch the show to it's last episode - Chtholly - there is one thing I can, fairly, definitely say.
you will never ever think of the song
Scarborough Fair the same way again.
