JPN105 Finals – Flashcards

- Most influential director of post-war era and internationally known - Trained to be a painter. As a director his movies have influences of beautiful landscape visuals (as if it's depicting a painting or a storyboard) and his brother's legacy. - Major events in life - Kanto Earthquake - WWII - Inspired by brother's legacy - taught him to face his fears - Made him look at the pain and sufferings of humanity during the Kanto Earthquake impression. (Sept. 1, 1923) - His most famous film Rash?mon (1950) helped put Japanese cinema on the international map. - Film Techniques - long shots - Makes the audience consider the character's inner turmoil/sufferings, often make the viewers uncomfortable - flashbacks - Narrates Watanabe's transformation from the outside, his character development - narrator

Kurosawa Akira Characters: - Kanji Watanabe: - Main Character, old man who has worked in the bureaucratic position for thirty years. - Toyo: - Young lady who used to be a subordinate of him. - "Mephistopheles": - the writer who introduces Watanabe to the red-light district as a means to "live" (1952)

- Two hats: - old one represents Watanabe's old lifeless life - new hat represents his new life as a man. - Park: - his contribution to the world, what makes him more alive due to its legacy - The stairs: - With the complimentary Birthday song on the background - Watanabe's descending the stair at the last day of the date with Toyo represents his epiphany and his new invigorating motives. - In addition, Watanabe descends the stair because he is also completely opposite of life, but heading toward his death.

- Kanji Watanabe is a longtime bureaucrat in a city office who, along with the rest of the office, spends his entire working life doing nothing. - He learns he is dying of cancer and wants to find some meaning in his life. - He finds himself unable to talk with his family, and spends a night on the town with a novelist, but that leaves him unfulfilled. - He next spends time with a young woman from his office, but finally decides he can make a difference through his job... - After Watanabe's death, co-workers at his funeral discuss his behavior over the last several months and debate why he suddenly became assertive in his job to promote a city park, and resolve to be more like Watanabe.

- Meaning to life. "Worked hard for his son" kind of blames his son for his dead soul. - The bunny toy: meaning to work, do something meaningful. - How his co-workers and his higher ups talk about Watanabe after his death. - How nothing at the city hall changes after Watanabe's deaths. - The song "Gondola no Uta" - "You have to live before you die" - at the bar: Watanabe feels he wasted his life - at the playground: nothing is ever too late

- First scene of Watanabe working at his desk - piles of paper in the background show the inefficiency of City Hall - he seems insignificant; mass of paper overwhelming him - The stacks of papers also demonstrate a sense of oppression and disorder in Watanabe's life.

- With Mephistopheles, with whom Watanabe enjoys some of what life has to offer (nightlife) - Just got his new hat after the old one was stolen - new hat = representation of his new self - doesn't want to let it go; his old life was stolen from him because of his cancer so he wants to secure what he has left

- Watanabe and Toyo on a date, Toyo is telling him all her nicknames for their co-workers - shot is a medium close-up of them, and they are sitting apart on opposite edges, since they are two different extremes in terms of age, ideologies, and work seniority. - Watanabe has already had his epiphany that he hasn't lived life to the fullest, so he is able to laugh at the nickname (the mummy) she has give him. The nickname also illustrates Watanabe as a walking dead.

- Watanabe and Toyo on their last date at a restaurant - shot is zoomed out so as to contrast their table to the ones in the foreground and background - affectionate couple in the foreground next to each other, whereas Watanabe and Toyo are distant and awkward/stiff with each other - lively birthday party in the background, whereas Watanabe and Toyo are barely speaking

- Watanabe has his epiphany - Toyo tells him that she enjoys making the toy rabbits because it feels like playing with all kids of Japan; leads Watanabe to want to change his life - he becomes a more dynamic character after this scene because experiences a change of light and has a new plan

- Watanabe waiting for the deputy mayor to acknowledge him - His bowing stance and patience represents persistence in hopes that the deputy mayor will soon accept his plan. - Watanabe's colleague is present in the foreground while his boss is in the background. This shows that the colleague does not think that Watanabe's plan may succeed and thus looks at the viewers (us) instead of him.

- Memorial service for Watanabe - he is dead and gone, in the background, but is lit up and elevated at the alter - was supposed to be a time of mourning for him, but it's insincere because everyone was bad mouthing him; eventually and after a few drinks, some come to a realization of his contributions and gives him credit for his accomplishment.

- Police Officer talking about Watanabe's last moments at the park - camera angle is focused on him making him seem bigger; conveys the accomplishment he has done - when singing the song, his tone is more uplifted compared to when he first sang it at the bar - More hopeful to his song, it's never too late to create something significant in this world. - Singing "Gondola no Uta" - Also the spotlight is on him, making him seem like a bigger person. Somewhat enlightened.

- Most important female writer of post-war Japan - Prominent Showa-era writer; grew up in Tokyo - Studied Japanese classics, plus English, French, and Chinese lit+language - Exposed to traditional Japanese theater - Breaks gender barrier of literary works; both men and women read her works - Break the mold of feminism - 1945: Enchi's home was destroyed in WW2 with Tokyo bombing - Suffered debilitating physical and mental conditions thereafter - 1950: Translated Tale of Genji in modern Japanese

Enchi Fumiko (1958)

- a 33-year old psychologist who has been best friends with Ibuki Tsuneo since university. - romantically interested in Yasuko, and eventually ends up proposing to her in the middle of the story. - Despite his feelings, however, Mikame is a person who values friendship more than love. - claims a woman who is having affair with another man is more interesting and attractive

- a wife of Ibuki Tsuneo who suspects that her husband is having an affair with Yasuko. - hires a special detective using connections from her brother, a police officer. - after she found out a truth, she sent a letter to Mieko and Yasuko to accuse them.

- one of the main female characters, shows the power of controlling other characters' lives and having them act in the ways she has planned. - elegant lady with high reputation as a poet and for her research in Heian Period's supernatural. - charm of a successful lady and gets respect from people in her field.

- one of the main female characters, the daughter-in-law and secretary of Togano Mieko. - working for and living with Mieko after her husband Akio's death. - involved with two men who fall in love with her: Ibuki and Mikame. - She reveals to Ibuki that she wants to get away from Mieko, and has an affair with Ibuki. - At the same time, Yasuko has complicated feelings toward Mieko: both admiration and fear of being her puppet.

- the twin sister of Yasuko's husband, Akio and is raised by Mieko's relatives. - returns to Mieko after Akio's death. - born with mental problems and is unable to figure out most things happening around her. - Therefore, she is mostly sheltered and protected through her life. - Afterwards, Harume is put into bed with Ibuki by Mieko, and gets pregnant by him. - end of the novel, she dies during giving birth to the baby.

- the college professor who is already married. - He is attracted to and has the lust for Yasuko's physical appearance. He is put into bed with Harume, while at the same time, he thought he was with Yasuko. - Though he doubts that he might see Harume's face in the dark, he thinks that is his illusion until he knows Harume gets pregnant by "someone unknown". - At the end Ibuki realizes that the whole thing is a plan between Mieko and Yasuko. - He is deceived and fooled all the time

- the household/servant mistress who was forced to have two abortions of her own and seems to have caused Mieko to have a miscarriage (not an as important character; - basically she is the root which caused Mieko's sufferings in Togano's family, and influenced Mieko's characteristics a lot).

- the head of the Yakushiji household and a famous N? actor who's slowly dying from stomach cancer. - In his sleep, his face resembles the mask of the Wasted Man. - As an actor who plays the role of a character that loses her child in the play, Yorihito understands Mieko's suffering and sympathizes with her, later having his daughter give her the Fukai mask after he dies.

- The features of the Ryô No Onna mask includes: - 1) a thin face from a woman who has suffered; - 2) a mysterious expression; - 3) a sudden look of tranquility; - 4) sunken cheeks symbolizing her grief and distress from being in hell. - This mask embodies the vengeful spirit of an elder woman who has ultimately managed to escape the underworld. Regarded as a hidden treasure, Ibuki says that Ryô No Onna was the most haunting of all the masks. For him, the mask "seemed almost on the point of speaking" (25); however, the mask symbolizes a woman who refuses to reveal any of her secrets. - Introductory chapter of play - Ibuki reads an essay written in this chapter, during which Mieko talks about the importance of the Rokujo lady in Tale of Genji - Rokujo lady = Ryo No Onna - Also represents Mieko

- Characterized as a young deranged woman, the Masugami mask has tangled hair that resembles a woman suffering from a frail and troubled mind. - This mask is described by its intense features: - 1) dimples on the forehead and cheeks; - 2) tension surrounding the eyes, nose and mouth; - 3) creases near the brow; - 4) a forced and tight smile; - 5) loose hair covering the silhouette of the face. The loose hair also symbolizes passion; intimacy or violence. - This is the first chapter we find out about Harume - Chapter during which Harume's background is explained, and she sleeps with Ibuki - Masugami represents Harume

- Following the death of Yohirito, Mieko is given Fukai as a gift. - This mask is a representation of a middle-aged woman, specifically mothers whom have lost a loved one. The name Fukai can be interpreted in two ways: the first as "deep well," and the latter as "deep woman." - The features in the face suggest a sense of emotional maturity; these are representations of women who have suffered and developed a clear understanding of the inevitabilities of death. Her features include: - 1) crevices along the lower part of her cheeks; - 2) deep eyes with heavy eyelids; - 3) tempered lips; - 4) a concave silhouette because of her protruding forehead and chin. - This mask, at the end of the novel, represents Mieko's true form and self - In this chapter, Yasuko makes Mieko realize that her revenge and actions ruin people - Mieko = neither happy, sad, satisfied. Just a woman who has suffered greatly

- "A woman's love is quick to turn into a passion for revenge - an obsession that becomes an endless river of blood, flowing on from generation to generation." (127) - Mieko was proud, yet her position in society prevented her from taking action against her husband (and his lover). She then resorts to a long-term plan to rid of her husband's family line. - Blood representative of women

June 10, 1935 - March 7, 2015, was a Japanese manga artist who is widely credited with starting the gekiga style of alternative comics in Japan, having allegedly coined the term in 1957. - Tatsumi won the Japanese Cartoonists Association Award in 1972. - Tatsumi grew up with very little family income in downtown Osaka. He wrote and drew manga in order to support his family. - The themes in his manga are focused on working class life in the city, dark plots, moody characters, and unhappy endings, results from his childhood experience. - Gekiga = Dramatic pictures. - Gekiga was vastly different from most manga at the time, which were aimed at children. - These "dramatic pictures" emerged not from the mainstream manga publications in Tokyo headed by Osamu Tezuka but from the lending libraries based out of Osaka. By the late 1960s and early 1970s the children who grew up reading manga wanted something aimed at older audiences and gekiga provided for that niche.

- The sewer worker - the sewer worker's girlfriend - the sewer worker's co-worker

- The story begins with the sewer worker and his co-worker clearing debris in the sewer. They discover that there is an aborted fetus in the sewer wrapped in a sack. The co-worker opens the sac and takes the gems from the sack that the fetus was wrapped with. - The sewer worker and his girlfriend get it on and the girlfriend ends up pregnant with a baby they cannot afford; therefore, they decide to abort. - The sewer worker dumps the dead fetus in the sewer. - The following day, him and his coworker find the fetus that he dumped yesterday. Thus, the main character puts the fetus back in the water with delicacy, using his both arms. When the co-worker opens the sack but does not find any gems/jewelry that he expected to find, he throws the fetus back at the water.

- Sewer: - the sewer is underground, hidden from the city and society - a place to abandon waste, a place of isolation. - babies = waste

- Points where the main character is nurturing - the way he holds the aborted baby

(1970)- The working man - his fiancee - the mother.

- Ubasuteyama: - historical references: such as abandoning the old on a mountain so that the rest of the family has a better chance of surviving - Crows: - The crows in certain panels throughout the story represent the loneliness associated with obasute

Summary: - The second in a series of short story anthologies by the seminal gekiga mangaka Yoshihiro Tatsumi. - Thematically, Abandon The Old In Tokyo is a continuation of The Push Man: working class male protagonists in gritty urban settings dealing with poverty, alienation, sexual dysfunction and a general disconnection from society. - The working man lives in an apartment with his dying mother. The apartment smells bad and he gets tired of taking care of his mother. - His fiance wants to see his apartment, so he moves his mother out and abandons her so that him and fiance can live their life together - The working man realizes that the fiance is just as nagging as his mother, realizes what he did to his mother, and gets her back at the apartment - The mom is close to dying, and he carries her on his back throughout Tokyo

- Conflict between folk tradition and modern tradition - Leaving the old mother to live with his girlfriend or leaving the girlfriend to support his mother - Old tradition called "????obasute" where people from poor families that are unable to take care of their parent literally dump them away so they have enough resources to make ends meet - Crows - Both the mother and girlfriend cling onto the protagonist with the intention of holding on to him forever. As a result, both of them become dependent on the protagonist in order to survive. The protagonist's choices of abandoning either of them become cruel: The mother is weak and old and must reliant on her son to provide for her needs while the girlfriend has left her family and becomes increasingly clingy towards the protagonist. - Protagonists - The traditions have changed - mother: she expects her son to take care of her until she dies (differs from tradition when old people accepted their faith of being abandoned) - Son: he wants to leave her. get on with his own life. He hates that his mother makes him feel guilty

- Nogowa - who can see vultures - his colleague - old man who died at his apartment (1971)

- The apartment = representing the mountain - Vulture = death - Vulture flying around Nogawa could symbolize that there is no meaning in his life. In other words, although he is living, his life in the city basically means that he is dead (i.e. he doesn't have meaning in his life)

- The short manga is based on the Tibetan ritual as mentioned below. The story is based of the man (Nogawa) who seems to be lost in life. - A vulture is seen flying around in. His room reeks and he doesn't eat. He dropped out of college and breaks up with his girlfriend. - When he returns to his apartment, he sees people surrounding his apartment building. He discovers that his old man neighbor is dead - He gets questioned by the police and claims that he is "trying to get [his] life together." - He comes out of a dive and realizes that he has no meaning in life. Everyone is moving out of his apartment but he decides to stay. Vultures continue to fly around him.

- Based off of a Tibetan ritual - someone who dies is taken to the top of the Himalayan mountains and fed to the vultures - "soaring into the sky"

Biography: - Best known for his science fiction, dark humor - Also dabbled in satire and television acting. - He protested the "excessive restraint" of publisher. - Sci-fi published in magazine = his stories reached the "mainstream" - wider audience Perfectly Lovely Ladies

(1974) - Akiko Kamei: - leader of the group, felt left behind in the economy, follow code of honor of thieves - Mrs. Toba: - rich elegant lady - Maid - Mrs. Ise, Mrs. Watanabe, Mrs. Sakata, Mrs. Urabe, Mrs. Usui, Mrs. Suruga, Mrs. Kataoka (belong to Buddhist organization, tell Maid she's going to be with the Goddess of Mercy)

panties: - in the end, Akiko changes Mrs. Toba's underwear. - Represents that despite the fact that they just murdered her, that these women are still "elegant ladies".

- A group of women who are frustrated by their husband's low salaries and inflation get together and rob people's houses and the kill their victims. - They go to Mrs. Toba's house, a wealthy woman and pretend to be part of the PTA, the woman lets them in and is deceived by their clothes and lady-like demeanor. - The group of women surprise her and proceed to tie up and kill Mrs. Toba and her maid. They steal food, and cash. - A lot of the story is the women going through Mrs. Toba's belongings - Mrs. Toba takes her death

? Contrasting behaviors between the victims ? Maid - begged not die, Akiko thought she's ill-bred and suggest she should behave with dignity, Mrs. Suruga said it's unladylike to struggle because the skirt would be hike up indecently ? Toba- wet her panties and cry but stop when she heard the maid was killed, regained composure and die like a true lady

Biography: - Worked in the hotel industry after graduating college for nine years before publishing his first story. - blue-collar worker before going into writing - themes included corruption with business world/rich - He did Detective fiction, suspense thrillers, mysteries, Historical novels, corporate novels, poetry. - The Devil's Gluttony: controversial story which called out the government

(1976) Characters: ? Masao: ? the model student--too perfect for his own good--that ends up being the main culprit of the death of pets and his mother's lover ? Soichi Ono: ? the "scapegoat", is seen in a bad light due to his delinquent past which were Masao's real doing--he was blackmailed into his bidding due to his father's position towards his family ? his father works for Masao's father ? dad is also disabled ? Makiko: ? Masao's mother, she is very proud of her son but had no idea of his evil deeds ? Obata: ? Maiko's lover and Masao's tutor, presumably a college student

- The Garden: - hides all of his bad deeds under his family's noses - friends' cat and fishes buried in here - just as a garden is pretty on the outside, so is Masao

- the mother (Makiko) finds a boy running into the street almost getting run over, she finds out it's a popular game in the boy's class who happens to be in her son's class. She finds out that the boy ran into the street due to another boy named Soichi Ono. - Ono is a bad boy, he is accused of killing some girl's cat, a boy's tropical fish, and other bad things happening. - Ono is from an unfortunate socio-economic background. Makiko is so proud of her son, who's perfect and nice, helps old ladies, lets friends bury their dead pets. - Makiko has an affair, she's afraid of masao (son) finding out about the affair. - On her way back from her affair, she's being driven by him, and the Ono bombs the car. - Obata (Makiko's lover) dies and Makiko is brought into the police station, where she finds out all of Ono's doings are actually Masao (her son). - Shoichi Ono has a telecommunications transmitter to contact Masao, when to throw the molotov cocktail at Obata's car - The son just wanted to be number one in class so he sabotaged all the tops of his class. wow plot twist.

- Masao is driven to such extremes because he is shocked by his mother's affair and his eagerness to please his father - need for perfection

Biography: - Most widely read Japanese author in translation - Themes - lonely and alienated characters - surrealism - characters relatable to common man - Translated English works to Japanese - Japanese ; Western establishment criticism - Reading market in Japan and abroad enjoy his work - Unique for his writing style that doesn't seem Japanese - divorcing from a Japanese identity - Brought the written language even more towards the spoken language

- Narrator - "Girlfriend" - Friend - Narrator's best friend and "girlfriend" ex, suicide - Roommate - Geography major (loves maps and know what he want to do in the future, daily routine to exercise, gave the firefly to the narrator)

(1983) - firefly: a representation of the narrator's mind. - The capturing represents the narrator's best friend's death. The light is dimmer, like the narrator's outlook of life. - When it is first released, the firefly stays still. This is like the narrator feeling somewhat directionless in his college years. - Eventually the firefly takes off with its dim light. The narrator might one day also move on with his life, even if he is uncertain.

- The story begins in the narrator's dormitory. The dormitory is a males only dormitory and the narrator describes the dormitory as a very dirty and messy place. - However, his room is not like the others because his roommate is very clean. - His roommate has a routine in the morning of exercising. His roommate is also a geography major and has a plan, unlike the narrator, again showing his isolation from society and inability to connect with others. - The narrator has a "girlfriend". This girlfriend is his best friend's ex-girlfriend, the narrator, "girlfriend", and best friend always hung out. The narrator was a third wheel, but did not affect relationship. The friend dies of a suicide in high school (by car) and is affected by it - He meets his girlfriend, now both of them go to colleges in Tokyo. They go on walks, but make circles and do not talk a lot. - Everyone at the college dorms refers to her as the narrator's "girlfriend" - The only time that they talk is when her ex-boyfriend dies and on her birthday. - On her birthday, she gets drunk and talks a lot more - She reveals a lot, and when the narrator is about to leave, she cries and he stays. They both have sex, but maybe both are left more emptier than before - Later in the story, the ex-girlfriend is revealed to have been sent to a sanatorium - The narrator captures a firefly and when his friend asks him to give it to his girlfriend, the narrator releases it.

- Narrator and "girlfriend" are connected over the girlfriend's ex-boyfriend. Other than that, the two have nothing in common - Narrator's inability to connect with others (Examples- find flag-raising ceremony silly, major in drama but not interested, want to talk to "girlfriend" but can't find the right words) - The Firefly represents the narrator's state of being as he doesn't know where it is he wants to go in life much like the firefly doesn't know which direction to fly in upon release. - Even though the firefly and the narrator do not know the direction to go in, they're both moving, a little at a time - Narrator's best friend's death leaves a powerful impact on him which is a major factor of his trouble communicating with others. - Narrator and "girlfriend" on communication - When the girlfriend gets drunk, she talks a lot, and he just listens - Yet, narrator does not really care for her

Biography: - Most prominent ; only writer of buraku ancestry - Grew up in the "Alley" - violence, sex, thieves, backstabbing - 3rd illegitimate child of unmarried women, graduated HS, did not go to university (proud) - Revealed Japan as a discriminatory society in his writing - Characters in writing are often uneducated, violent, and give in to base human instinct. - Was awarded the Akutagawa prize - Has a I-novel type of writing style and his writings had a cult following - He writes essays in his later years after his success that the public found too intellectual and rejected them.

Kumano Hijiri: - wandering in the forest, rapes the forest woman and desires to kill her, begs her to stay - Forest woman: - Tiny hands, beg to stay in the forest, crows covered her to reveal there was no one there - Village woman: - killed by the hijiri for calling him a holy man (1984)

- The forest woman's tiny hands: - symbolizes the contrast in power between the woman and the hijiri. (pg 432) - Constant chanting of Jaarajaara: - The hijiri's way of coping with his feelings of anguish and loneliness from being abandoned by hill/valley people as a child. pg 429 - Forest woman: - character who is manifested by the hijiri's desires and loneliness. - Monkeys and wild boar semi-humans: - embodies how the hijiri sees himself. (pg 43z6) - Leeches: - meant to let readers know the story is intentionally referencing The Holy Man of Mount Koya, which the author will later twist the meanings of the hijiri

- The hijiri escapes from a town and wanders into the forest in search of the warmth of a woman. He walks deeper and deeper into the mountains and goes through all sorts of unnecessary hardships. - He finds the forest woman at a river and decides to rape her multiple times. Though the hijiri views the woman as divine, he has an evil thought of murdering her, then asks her to live with him. - Even though she is raped, she wants to stay with him - She says that she cannot live in a village with people. Soon after, there is a flashback of the hijiri murdering a village woman whom he engaged in coitus with. - It is revealed in the end of the story that the forest woman was never there.

- Village woman: - "Holy man...reverend priest...Give me salvation!" (pg 441) - The words the village woman said made the hijiri feel as though he was being mocked and tormented. - the reason why he murdered her - Hijiri's thoughts: - "I am inferior even to the grass, inferior even to a wild dog, a man who cannot live with other people...lacks wisdom to become a scholar priest." (pg 441)

Biography: - Born in 1978 - Pen name of Adachi Hirotaka - Casio pocket computer FX-890P-Z1 - Wrote mostly short horror novels (J-Horror) - Has also worked on a couple of movies - Won Weekly Shonen Jump Novel Award for "Summer, Fireworks and My Corpse" (1996)

Characters: - "Uncle" - the original creator who was human that died from the disease that killed all of humanity 200 years ago - The Creator - going to die, spends final days with female android - actually an android - Female android: - The protagonist of the story. Created by the male android to clean the house and to bury him after he has "died". - her existence is to do housework - role of male and female

- Rabbit: - helps the female robot know what it means to die, funny since originally she didn't really like them

- A female robot wakes up to realize she is a robot made to look like a human - Humanity mostly extinct because of a germ plague - The creator's uncle died and buried by their house - A robot learns more about feelings and what it's like to be human (p. 133-135) - Female android asks why his creator's food is nibbled on? It's the rabbits - One day, the female android is looking at a view by the cliff when she sees a rabbit on the edge of the cliff. She tries to save him, and the both of them fall off the cliff. Her body gets damaged, and the rabbit dies. This is the first time she realizes what death is - Also gains ability to shed tears - Female android resents creator for making her when he is about to die, but also loves him for allowing her to have emotions. - it is revealed that the creator was never infected with the germ plague, but also a robot. He is going to die because his body parts are wearing down, and the life of a robot is predetermined. His uncle was a human - told female robot he lied about being an android because he thought she would feel less pain - in the end, female android is grateful for everything he had done for her, says she would do the same thing. Story ends with her waiting for him to die.

- the sunny spot is the window during which the creator opens it as he is finished being created - getting one last look at the world before the creator dies (p. 142) - Her fear of death - parting from the world and parting from herself - No matter how much you love something, you will stop - female android asks for a name, but creator says "what's the point?" - Afraid to give her a name, make a connection - Memorized how to make a sailboat from his creator = memories - Sci-fi story, yet applicable to present moment

Characters: - Mother: - Intelligent and beautiful but weird - Father: - stern man that loses his left hand fingers - Narrator: - Beautiful voice but he doesn't think so - paranoid that his younger brother, Kazuya, knows his secret - uses his power, but at the same time doesn't like it - people pleaser, childish - Yuichi: - Fast runner, prettier Morning Glory - Kazuya: - Younger brother

- Morning Glory - Bloody Noses - Blind Girl

- Narrator believes himself to be an evil kid fooling everyone around him. - Has the power to make anything come true with what he says: - Chants over Yuichi's Morning Glory, gets a bloody nose, then it withers and dies. - Tamed a neighborhood dog. - Wishes Dad's fingers off. - Tries to kill brother. Fails hard. - Kills family in a way that starts killing everyone. - He eventually is only person on Earth plus a blind girl.

- his power only works on living things. Cannot undo.

Ideas Narrator: - No plans or goals - isolated by others - ex. his roommate asks him about his major and goals, doesn't know what to say - Releasing the fireflyGirlfriend: - Nothing to talk about after boyfriend's death - Distanced herself from her family

Ideas Compare: - both on a pilgrimage - training to be a holy priest, go through trials and tribulationsContrast: - Mt. Koya man - Does not heed to temptations = innocence - dumb luck = did not commit to the woman because he ran into someone who told him not to - never violent - woman was more aggressive in this story - Hijiri man - rapes the woman - stockholm syndrome - thinks about murdering village woman, does so - woman is weak -> "infant hands"

"Explain the significance of the rabbit in the story. Explain the narrator's earlier interactions with the rabbit, and contrast them with the narrator's reaction to the rabbit's death in the story." Ideas - character is becoming more human -> rabbit dies as it falls off cliff - at first, the narrator does not like the rabbit. After the rabbit dies, she feels sorry and experiences the sadness of death

Ideas - Narrator first realized his power in the 1st grade, where he wanted to have the best morning glory flower in class. He whispered for his classmate, Yuichi,'s flower to wilt and die, and it did. - Useful = narrator gets what he wants - justice -; always compared to his brother - Escalating - mother confuses cats and cacti - father's fingers are chopped offComparison to Godzilla? - "God"zilla and Words of "God" - Both characters have a power unwillingly thrust upon them - destructive and uncontrollable - Attraction to adolescence

Biography: - 1760-1849 - Japan's leading expert of Chinese painting - best-known as author of the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji - coined the term "manga"(whimsical sketches)

Biography: - Manga God - Was a medical school student when making his first comics, thus giving him a backup plan if he doesn't succeed in manga. - Most famous Manga is called Astro Boy. - Astro Boy in Japan is known as tetsuwan atomu. - First person who succeeded making a cartoon with cheap budget by using a technique: instead of making the character moves, he made its background moves. - televised animations