Ooo, for some reason I’m reminded of this RadioLab I heard last year. Time. If it is the one I remember, there is a segment on people whose time varies greatly in their perspective.

We now have to deal with time’s fickle nature. Time has been discussed and dissected by many philosophers; each and everyone of them has different takes on its nature. From Heidegger to Ricoeur, no one of them has the same insights and analysis. I have, however, tried to relate the absolute relativity of time to Marcel’s thoughts regarding it. If I remember correctly (philosophy is such a variegated subject populated by so many intellectuals with so many thoughts that it is hard to refer correctly to the right person), Marcel tangentially discusses time (with what I have read of him) in that it is a mystery: one cannot disjoint the self from it; it is not merely a problem because it is a problem that transcends itself. How can we disjoint ourselves or place time as an object in front of us when we ourselves are immersed in it? The answer is, we cannot - and therefore it becomes a mystery.

It’s like playing around and having fun compared to being in a boring class. 30 minutes will probably differ so much in the qualitative conclusion, but remains the same quantitatively. I like action movies, but I also like languorous films (of course, with as much depth and content as Lust, Caution).

The flow of time solely depends on the story, if that’s what you’re pondering. I mean, it would be very exhausting to watch a supposed ‘action’ film with only one action scene, right? I guess it simply depends (and this is not a cop out, it just does).

On one of the smallest scales, electrons have a non-zero probability of being “anywhere”, as we go up in mass and components of base particles that probability decreases greatly. That moment of “one point” can be considered more infinite than another point further along in the transcendence of increasing mass (living=growing). Before we realize, we cannot, physically, be everywhere all at one, though we did come from this natural state, or were closer to.

That being the case, I feel notions of “slow time” within a delivery can be very soothing and almost implicitly comprehended (it’s only natural for time to feel infinite-or the compliment). The raw, we get more raw emotions of flow. If I could relate this, I would have to bring up the idea of surfing… complete stream of thoughtlessness into action (when done properly).

In the medium of storytelling, that infinite time attempts to stream a form of thoughtlessness from one to another, the story to the one experiencing. Of course this also happens very quickly, but in a slower form there is more “painful” influx of the stream. How could I relate this to anime?

Well, say a character dies, one route could run so quickly that it seems insignificant (Dragonaut), while another can be intense enough for tears (Terra e..). It isn’t necessarily time from A to B, but time propagated by the story. When the time is slower, it can be more careful at laying out key building blocks to emotion ahead. I don’t know where to go from here.

I like the pondering.

Thanks, haha. Goth is an awesome manga, and it still remains to be among the best with what I’ve read.

With regards to ‘good taste,’ its just a matter of your willingness to try new stuff out there.

I’m sorry I haven’t been able to visit your blog more often. I have had school, and the like. I’m actually posting simply to remind people that I’m still here.

Your post reminds me of Zeno’s Paradox, if I remember correctly. Isn’t a fired arrow merely an object in an infinite series of presents (eternity of moments standing still?). Subtlety drives away quite a few people - a lot want to be entertained, but most of those do not want to think.

Thanks for still keeping up with me. I hope to form a post that will be even better, and more in touch with anime.

But… it’s so Zen. I recall the scene in American Beauty, where Ricky is showing Lester “the most beautiful thing” he had filmed.

There is an eternity where moments stand still. That is my feeling. It is not a simple gesture to express (anything) within that eternity, and thus a media loses members of the audience, but may gain lovers.

Michael, enjoyable read

I will be looking forward to this film, and reminded of the untouched copy of Thousand Cranes that has been sitting on my computer desk for over a month. Slowly, I am toward putting True Tears on a watch-list of some sort, possibly 2008 marathon. I have not decided, so yes, who knows.

I wasn’t talking about True Tears. As I have not seen it, I cannot say much about the series. I have, however, wagered that the movie will still contain more nuance even after the anime series has completed. It’s not that I’m against anime, lol. It’s just that the movie was, quite frankly, more affecting than any anime I have seen in the past year and a half.

You know, I loved that majestic self-sacrifice. The movie was like liquor swilling in my mouth: at first there’s simply a numbness; it is only later one realizes one is getting drunk. I kept on thinking about the film, and the post may seem cryptic: this is because I do not want to spoil anything about the film. Anyway, meaning dawned on me piecemeal. However, when I discovered it, it was quite an epiphany. (I ran out of my room and discussed it with my dormmates who watched the film with me, only to be disappointed they were not able to obtain meaning from the nuances of the film.)

Take for example the pill with Wang Jiazhi at the very end of the movie. It was not only self-sacrifice for the one she loved; it was also a sacrifice to be there even when she was used merely as an instrument and disregarded as a person. She did not back down: she did not run away. I really wanted to cry during those scenes. I haven’t felt reverberations of watching series after Honey and Clover; it has only been recently where even after three days of watching the movie I still keep on thinking about it, trying to figure out more about the characters in the tragic farce they acted in.

@korosora

I would say that. I wonder why some people still like Naruto, but that is not within my powers to tell. Hey, I like Ichigo 100% and DearS, but those are merely exceptions to the rule. :3

I guess my taste sucks when it comes to manga. I think, however, that I have better taste when it comes to anime, film, and literature. But that’s for others to tell, not me.

@Ronin

It is not the sex scenes or the ‘pornography’ that is the core of the movie, although it is among the foremost scenes in giving meaning to the actions of the characters. The sex scenes pave the way to the actions of the characters, and such is its sad construction that tragedy ultimately lurks at the end. Relationship development, when perfected, pervade most classic works of literature and film.

I highly would agree: relationships don’t form and break in a single instant. They take time, and they aren’t obvious most of the time. Even just a suggestive smile, or the glance, from the girl (or boy) one likes can be enough to power one to act upon that. It’s not steeped in violent or coruscating action: on the contrary, it lies in subtlety.

Thanks for the compliments.