Let The Begin

Let the 🎂🎂🎂 begin 🥳🥳🥳

it's the first day of near's birthday party! today's prompts are:

toy | strategy | the star

please tag your gifts with #nearsbday or mention @nearsbday in your post! if you are posting to archiveofourown, you can add your gift to the collection.

as a reminder, there are a few rules for party guests which can be found right here. for more information on how to participate, you can visit this page or read through the submission guide.

alt text: graphic in shades of blue. a banner at the top reads "august 17: day 1." there are three boxes on the left side of the image, which read in order: toy, strategy, the star. at the bottom lefthand corner, there is a piece of text that reads: tag gifts with #nearsbday or mention @/nearsbday in your post! on the righthand side of the image is a blue-toned manga cap of near from death note. he is laying on his stomach and playing with an action figure.

My dream job is where I can just gorogoro around like this

The floor is his whore

Christ, he's so listless. I want Ryuk to phase his entire arm through the floor and up his arse, it's like the only way to get him off of it at this point, he's bound to it like a lover

I love this so much 😭 the chronology really expresses Near's complex emotions throughout this whole experience

@nearsbday : DAY 2 - "MEMORY"

Near through the years 🧩

[Eroica Musical Rant] I should not be sleepy or bored watching Eroica

(Series masterlist)

I would say the second half of the show, adapted from the chapter Dramatic Spring, is every flaw of the first half magnified by 11.

I remember upon my first reading of this in the manga, it felt so thrilling. Like it felt like there’s a knot in my chest that was increasingly tightened panel-by-panel, plot-by-plot, and at one point it was so tight that it looks like it was gonna snap but then it's undone in the most satisfying way. And until now it’s still one of the most suspenseful arcs from the original run.

When I watched Dramatic Spring in musical form, I almost fell asleep.

Let's talk about the manga first.

Up until this point, a lot of their adventures have centered around theft or extracting information, so the ultimate plots have been relatively lighthearted. But the core plot of this centers around stopping a Neo-Nazi terrorist plot at a peace conference between the USA and the USSR. This isn’t some sticking your hand under Achilles’ chiton shit, PEOPLE COULD DIE, detrimentally bulldozing over any political progress, resulting in more armed conflicts and more people dying.

And the characters treat it with as much severity as the situation calls for. From the moment the mission was briefed, everyone is immediately plunged into a somber mood. Even Iron Klaus appears visibly disturbed, upset and horrified when shown the catastrophes that have preceded and may very well happen if they don’t successfully foil the plot.

Right off the bat, Klaus is heavily weighed by this possible outcome. The next time he is shown, he is already hard at work, smoking bowls of cigarettes while trying to crack open a lead. Even with Dorian’s tip, he is increasingly agitated, impatient and visibly exhausted as he continuously goes after leads after leads. It shows in his sleep-deprivation, his neglect to eat, the way he was absolutely willing to shoot a bitch dead if he doesn’t spill. His rising anxiety heightens the tension in the story. Here is a very human person trying his best to prevent a disastrous outcome, unintentionally letting his emotions and human conditions bleed more through the cracked mask of stoicism. And it feels real, it feels intense.

Musical Klaus is so dull in this arc it’s kind of embarrassing, coming off of such a strong tank scene. He doesn’t lead the arc, he isn’t shown to process information (no internal monologue? what is this Death Note pt2 anime?), direct his team, nor personally chase after leads quite as much. Rather, he just appears and does his blocking then is pulled into another scene, where he says his lines and done. Overall, much less dynamic. Granted, it's probably due to staging and directing rather than performance but we’ll talk about that later.

However, because of this blocky, disjointed and distant depiction of Klaus, the progression of his emotions are also not shown at all. Which completely deflates the tension. Some character will verbally remark that this is a terrible situation but without Klaus' increasingly agitated behavior, there's nothing to testify to its weight. It doesn’t feel like there’s any danger, and might I remind you that PEOPLE COULD DIE, DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY, BECAUSE OF THIS.

And the most disappointing part yet of this second half has got to be the ending scene.

But first, we have to talk a little bit about Aoike Yasuko’s art style.

Unlike her contemporaries who favored the panel-less atmospheric style, for Eroica, Aoike went CINEMATIC. You see this being brought up a lot when scholars talk about the styles of mangaka such as Tezuka Osamu. It is when each manga panel depicts a physical moment, and put together, they create a cohesive progression of actions, much like frames and scenes in films. Now, while the atmospheric style is very dramatic and expressive, what the cinematic style can do really well – at least in the case of Eroica – is TENSION. Let’s take a closer look at this sequence of panel in which Klaus snipes a bomb off a bridge from a moving train.

There is real-time involved in this sequence with each second countdown directly linked to a specific panel showing a very small, very short moment in this continuity of events. That emphasizes the intensity of the situation at hand and forces the readers to count along as they watch the event go on, and on, and on, in very specific snippets, preparing themselves for what’s to come.

Dramatic Spring has a similar climax, albeit, with more actions as Dorian tries to remove a bomb from the peace conference, pass it to Klaus, who throws it as far as possible to prevent the summit from ending in bloodshed.

Even without a timer involved, this entire sequence takes place within only 5 minutes, and it follows the step-by-step movements of its 2 main characters, constantly cutting back and forth between them. There is not a single moment of break, the action and reaction just keep going like snap, snap, snap. And that continuity creates a long, drawn-out, tensed, thrilling scene that eventually results in catharsis.

But, whoever staged the musical didn’t understand that because they CUT TO BLACK FOR SO LONG RIGHT AT THE MOST CLIMATIC SCENE BEFORE LIGHTING UP AGAIN.

I know, that the stage isn’t big. But when you cut the scene like that, the audience’s attention is temporarily suspended. Because a black-out signifies the end of a scene. In fact, many productions use black-outs very sparingly, even as a scene-change device because the moment the stage goes almost completely dark, the assumption would be “oh it’s intermission” or even “oh that’s the end.”

You probably don't want your audience to snooze or look for the bathroom when your characters are actively trying to neutralize a bomb threat.

If I were to offer a very amateurish suggestion, as I am no expert in the matter, I would let the actors take advantage of the fact that this is a stage show with live audience, hence they can run into the audience and around the theater. Just anything to keep the lights on, the action going, and the scene continuous. Because what this black-out did was splitting this long, tensed scene, into 2 short, normal scenes. And we never received that catharsis because the black-out robbed it from us.

Near okay boomered him to defeat

I love Near and Light's dynamic because like why does the most notorious serial killer in the world have beef with an iPad kid.

[Eroica Musical Rant] The Case of the Missing Caesar Gabriel and the Character Assassination of Tyrian Persimmon

(Series masterlist)

When the Eroica Stage Show Twitter began announcing their casting choices, there was one in particular that shook an entire fandom: Tyrian Persimmon.

Or rather, it wasn’t so much about who played him, and more about the fact that he is played. Although Tyrian is the protagonist of El Halcon and Nanatsu no Umi, Nanatsu no Sora, by the time of Eroica, Tyrian is long dead and almost entirely forgotten, save for a very flattering portrait.

And that’s all Tyrian ever is in Eroica: a gorgeous painting, a MacGuffin. He, as a character, plays no role at all in this story. So why, for the love of Aoike, is there an actor playing Tyrian? For about a month leading up to the performance, my Eroica discord was confused and concerned as to wth they would use Tyrian for. Like is he going to pop out of the painting and sing? Are they trying to ride off the success of the Takarazuka Revue’s El Halcon?

After having watched the full show and spent sleepless nights contemplating, turns out the answer has to do with a character we’ve all sorta forgotten about as a fandom: Caesar Gabriel.

Caesar Gabriel

If you remember reading Eroica for the first time, you might remember that the first chapters were told from the perspective of and in relation to Caesar Gabriel – super-genius university professor at age 18, Art History expert, who's extremely frail, innocent and naïve. It was through Caesar that we as the audience were introduced to the fascinating specimen that is Dorian Red Gloria AKA Eroica. Who takes an interest in him, and whisks him away in a dramatic – illegal – fashion before letting him go, already hopelessly in love.

In the second chapter, Iron Klaus, it was due to Dorian’s effort to bargain and rescue Caesar from Klaus that they end up with a tank on their tail. Thus, beginning Dorian and Klaus' enemies-and-lovers relationship. Afterwards, Caesar is never seen or mentioned again.

So, although Caesar Gabriel might have been written purely as a functional character, his role is important in those chapters.

Caesar fills the role of the proxy through which Dorian is introduced in all of his … Gloria? By using a second-person point-of-view, Dorian first comes off as mysterious, unpredictable, and almost other-worldly. Audiences get to see Dorian’s IMPACT first, and it draws them in to this wildly charismatic character before diving into him in later chapters and arcs.

By removing a functional character, the musical has to compensate the plot-holes that the character filled. And they did that, by reviving Tyrian Persimmon from the painting. But hey before any Tyrian stan gets too excited, they gave him the personality of Caesar Gabriel. Let me tell you why this is bad.

First of all, because Caesar is the POV for the 1st chapter of the manga, it’s almost impossible to reconcile his absence. So, they skipped it. Which … fine, whatever. The big issue, though, comes up in Dorian’s plan to get the 2-in-1 painting.

In the second chapter, Iron Klaus, Dorian and Klaus meet for the first time and decide that they despise each other. Klaus refuses to sell Dorian The Man in Purple. So Dorian, being Dorian, decides that if he can’t obtain it the legal way, he has no qualm with obtaining it the illegal way. Sensing that Dorian might try something, Klaus orders tight-knit security to protect his family’s cultural treasure. Which Dorian and his gang manage to by-pass by mingling into the security unit and filling every room with sleeping gas. Eroica’s first heist is resounding a success.

However, Klaus still has “custody” of Caesar, and he calls Dorian to demand an exchange of “hostages,” to which Dorian gives his verbal agreement. On the day, though, tension is high, and Klaus begins suspecting the unknown guard stationed around the premise. Another guard rushes over and yells that the first one is Eroica, and in the commotion that ensues, the actual Eroica – revealed to have disguised as the second guard – grabs Caesar and speeds off in his red Lamborghini. Eroica’s second heist is a success – for now.

With the removal of Caesar, the plan becomes convoluted. In the musical, Dorian - using the strategy from the first heist - disguises himself as an art appraiser. With every agent out of sight, he fills the room with sleeping gas, which knocks Klaus out. Dorian, James and Bonham take the painting and drive away, feeling victorious.However, he quickly discovers that the painting is a fraud intended to trick him. Hence, Eroica’s first attempt is a failure.

He makes a U-turn - using the strategy from the second heist - disguises himself as a security guard, frames another as fake and steals the real painting right in front of Klaus and his agents. An extremely flimsy patchwork of the second heist, that also makes Klaus’s unit and instincts look slow and weak.

While in the manga, the structure of Iron Klaus is as follows:

Attack (1st heist) => bargain => attack (2nd heist) => to retaliation (tank)

In the musical, it goes like this:

Failed attack (1st attempt) => fix (2nd attempt) => lukewarm retaliation (tank)

There is no tension, no excitement, where it’s supposed to be a confrontation, where 2 characters are one-upping, mind-gaming, out-maneuvering each other. Now, it’s just a single over-complicated mess, because the 2 MacGuffins – Caesar and painting – have been reduced down to 1.

Towards the end of the manga chapter, Dorian willingly gives Klaus back the painting in exchange for Caesar’s well-being. But he steals the tank. The symbolic meaning of his actions can be read as Dorian being satisfied with Klaus’s self-expression. And to show his respect for one with a different viewpoint, he keeps the symbol of Klaus’s ideal beauty, while leaving Klaus his own.

Klaus certainly doesn’t view it as such, but like I said, different viewpoints. It’s a great note for 2 characters who have recently gotten tangled up into each other to part, promising much more to come. But in the musical, Dorian’s heist of the painting is, ultimately, a sadly failed plan, as Dorian is forced to give up on The Man in Purple. And although he does steal the tank, it seems less like a conscious action, and more like an attempt to provoke Klaus.

Tyrian Persimmon

So, in the Aoike Cinematic Universe, Tyrian Persimmon – or The Man in Purple – is Klaus’s ancestor who lived in the Elizabethan period. In Eroica though, he’s been loooooong dead, and it seems that not a lot is known about him. Although his painting is a MacGuffin, Tyrian himself doesn’t play any role, and if one only reads Eroica, it’s just a really nice painting, and that’s all it has to be. The interesting bit comes from a meta viewpoint.

If you have read El Halcon and Nanatsu no Umi Nanatsu no Sora, you would know, that Tyrian was a vile motherfucker. Murderer, rapist, traitor, and so ambitious he cares about nobody’s life but his own. Almost every character who crossed path with him died some kind of gruesome, unjust way. He’s irredeemably terrible even if entertaining. So, what’s the significance of this in the context of Eroica?

In Eroica, everyone fawns over Tyrian’s portrait like he was a god-sent beauty. It is even said that on first glance, Klaus might look like The Man in Purple but he lacks a certain “grace and charm,” attributes that could be considered heroic, or even angelic. The magnetic power of the portrait drew many of the conflicts in Eroica as characters seek to possess his image. But those who worship his beauty knows not the monster beneath the canvas. For an audience looking for meta-reading though, the fact that the portrait is still eliciting so much trouble is a reflection of Tyrian’s own life as the bane of existence. Even Klaus once wonders if they were being played like puppets in the sadistic theatre of The Man in Purple. This combined dramatic irony is severely damaged when the portrait is suddenly personified like a character.

And what’s worse is that, not only did they reanimate the portrait for the musical, they tried to give him a caricature Caesar Gabriel’s personality. This … vile, manipulative, murderous narcissist is now a bubbling, naïve and confused 18-year-old coddled child. It’s comical in the worst moments.

Like in the tense scene of the Autobahn chase, all my attention was directed to Tyrian trying to chase his hat which had flown off the vehicle, while trying to hold the portrait frame around his face. Or during, what I still maintain as the best scene in the entire musical, the cuddling in the tank scene, the budding bond between the two main characters are constantly distracted by Tyrian’s antics.

And to top it all off, they didn’t even give him his PUMPKIN PANTS!!