A Section FromPersephone The Wanderer By Louise Glck, And The Winter Phosphophyllite Lost Antarcticite

A section from “Persephone the Wanderer” by Louise Glück, and the winter Phosphophyllite lost Antarcticite

you think that his mom was apart of his masculinity and romantic relationships? his mom can take the blame for a lot but putting everything on her is absolving taichi of everything which is something a lot of people do with male characters. there is no proof that the way she raised him had anything to do with how Taichi handled his feelings for Chihaya with how he forcibly kissed her, told her that she shouldn’t date a guy that has never seen her play karuta and lied about being her boyfriend. That is standard shoujo male lead behavior

I'm not saying Taichi is completely absolved of any wrongdoing. He's obviously his own person and his decisions are still his to make regardless of whatever influence of his mother's there's in them, but I think a lot of people miss what Suetsugu tries to do in providing a concrete basis for that toxic masculinity, especially since it reflects on how toxic masculinity is shaped in young boys in the real world. It's not something that simply exists in a vacuum for the sake of its prevalence as a trope in a genre. That mindset of needing to be a "man" and succeed in every aspect of life and be the one to take charge and not show weakness is very common and very real. His mother isn't responsible for every single action he makes thereafter in the name of those ideals, and obviously cultural environments help shape this kind of mindset, too, but she's certainly the catalyst for him to grow into this kind of person, as are plenty of mothers because of how they simultaneously coddle and place immense pressure on their sons. A huge portion of the way Suetsugu contends with the narrative of the series in general is based on her exploration into gender roles and how the attitudes around them are formed, for better or for worse. I feel like it's a bit shortsighted to assume she's just playing out the standard expectations people have of a trope when a lot of her aims with this story come down to trying to highlight and examine them.

@yonaga-kins requested: some Mari (Omori) icons

Excuse me if you’ve talked about this before, but I was wondering how you felt about the development of Taichi’s mother? I appreciate how Suetsugu is really intent on giving all of her characters such depth, especially when mothers in media either tend to be perfect or evil… but I also feel conflicted (and not just with Taichi’s mother, but other characters as well) about it. I think the pressure (and especially what his mother said about only doing things you’re good at) inflicted on Taichi by his mom had a really negative impact, same with Shinobu’s stilted relationship with her mother, so it’s honestly felt kind of out of left field to see them become more understanding, maybe, of their children (those characters in particular). So I was just wondering what you thought! I’ve always loved your thoughtfulness towards Chihayafuru and your meta is always really interesting, so :)

I've talked about their relationship casually from time to time, but this is a good place to consolidate all of my thoughts on it! Taichi's relationship with his mother is perhaps one of the most interesting to me in the entire manga, namely because it captures so well that complex entanglement of pressure and love and distance that is so overwhelmingly present in the relationships between so many Asian parents and their children. It's really fascinating to see the ways in which her upbringing impacts his behaviors, because it doesn't just extend to how he perceives competition—her ideology also influences his approach to masculinity, to friendships and romantic relationships, and to his own personal convictions. His mother is more or less entrenched in his entire being, and even now, he's still in the process of unlearning so much of what she vested him with since he was a child. He's been raised this way for nearly eighteen years, and recovering and growing from the extents of that kind of mindset takes an enormous amount of time and effort. It's why I've never really been surprised by the fact that he still continues to face mental setbacks. For such a long time, his mother dominated the mechanics of nearly every decision he made, so naturally, he's going to experience more doubt and hesitation after he starts to separate himself from her, as significant a development as it is on its own for him to claim personal agency.

All of this is to say—Taichi's arc, to me, is a very distinctly open-ended one that focuses heavily on the ability to be able to move forward rather than necessarily on the conclusion to a process of healing. Even after this story is over, he won't be entirely home free. It will be a process of many days, months, and years for him to slowly evolve from the kind of person he used to be, and the same ultimately holds for his mother, as well. I don't think her support of Taichi at the Qualifiers or her conversation with Suou during it is supposed to be some marker of closure on the trauma that she's inadvertently inflicted on her son, but I do think it's a nod to the fact that, as a parent, the cards are always in your hands. If you want to, you can change for the sake of your child, because you love them, and you want what's best for them. There's no guarantee, obviously, of her entirely changing her ways, but the fact that she's been made cognizant of her ability to be better for the sake of her children is really what sticks out to me as emblematic of Suetsugu's overall message about personhood. It's not so much about being able to see that you will achieve the end goal as it is about being able to see that you can make efforts to reach it at all. To take that first step, and the second, and every step thereafter—that's what's most important, and what's what makes Taichi's arc overall so compelling for me. He has no guarantee of success, no guarantee of getting the girl, no guarantee of being able to feel happier, but he stills makes the effort to try once he realizes that the chance to do so is always there, and that he may end up more at peace with himself for the fact of it.

Taichi and his mother are mirrors to each other, in a sense, and I think seeing the ways in which he's changing for the better will ultimately reflect on her for the better as well, even if we won't necessarily see the effects of that at length. There's a lot about her behavior as a parent that's still been maintained, like her overbearing nagging or her overall disconnect with karuta, but those behaviors were also compounded prior by the fact that she refused to give Taichi the space to think or breathe at all. The distance between them now is still a very painful thing—at all times I am thinking about him saying she's too noisy, and the sort of confused, stricken look on her face in response to the comment—but it's also a helpful distance that I think will allow her over time to better control her impulses and work to understand him in whatever small capacity. A relationship not necessarily entirely mended or free of the red in its ledger, but one steadily, silently working on its way to being so. I really enjoy the poignancy of that.

do you have some anime recs that have well written female characters? i really would like to know!! thank you :)

omg yeah sure! probably will just touch on why i like the female casts in these series rather than summarize them 

chihayafuru by suetsugu yuki (manga/anime) → if you’re tired of constantly having to see sports anime be dominated by series about boys then i think you’ll be very pleased with this it’s probably the most prominent sports anime centered on girls (and boys bc the sport is co-ed) and it’s a huge range of girls too like high school students, mothers, teachers, sisters, etc. 

kono oto tomare by amyuu (manga/anime) → i was only recently recced this but oh my goddd i binged it in like three days. satowa is one of the best female characters i’ve ever read about like the depth of her trauma and loneliness is so heartbreaking to read about but so worth it bc she tries constantly to overcome it. my babie my angel (also hiro is fantastic i’d die for her) 

legend of basara & 7 seeds by yumi tamura (manga) → her ensemble casts are phenomenal and what i esp like about her female characters is they’re allowed to be simultaneously strong and feminine and over emotional without being condemned for it. sarasa’s like a crybaby with a sword i think yona fans would love her (she might even have inspired her now that i’m thinking about it) 

magic knight rayearth by clamp (manga) → remember when isekai stories used to actually be good and girls had agency and wielded swords rather than be thrust into the role of male mc’s objectification target. thankfully clamp has got you on this (as they do with most of their series’ female casts tbh) 

precure (anime) → i realize this is a tall order bc there are a bajillion precure installments, but that’s exactly the fun of it because you can choose. . . anything. you can never go wrong by watching the original (nagisa and honoka are so gay it hurts), and then heartcatch is probably the most famous installment in recent years and with very good reason!

hanasaku iroha (anime) → for the girls who love generational trauma between the various women in a family. . . omg the angst and personal strife of this series is so good. so so good. idek how to describe it but the grandmother-mother-daughter dynamics explored are phenomenal 

nagi no asukara (anime) → what i love about the girls here is they’re not just distinct in terms of personality and aspirations but also romantic outlook. the perception of love and how we deal when it is or isn’t reciprocated is so well explored through their characters and it’s a love polygon anime that does really good justice to the narrative tool 

shirobako (anime) → notice how this is the third pa works anime i’m recommending. they’re just rly good at developing interesting female casts also the girls here work in the animation industry so it’s nice to get a taste of working girls if you’re tired of narratives about high school ones 

hibike! euphonium (anime) → admittedly i haven’t watched this yet but i trust my friends who have and like every other gif of it you’ll ever see is just so gay. is this a guarantee of well written female characters? idk but i would take homoeroticism between band girls any day over whatever tf shounen has going on 

sugar sugar rune by anno moyoco (manga) → anno moyoco’s amaaaazing at crafting independent female characters and while the story here is pretty short and sweet, chocolat and vanilla (and their mothers) are nonetheless timeless as protagonists and i think anno subverts their initially presented character archetypes very cleverly 

the twelve kingdoms by fuyumi ono (novels/anime) → another rec that i haven’t watched personally but it’s been lauded over and over again by friends i trust as one of the best examples of a series with an incredibly compelling female protagonist. and i mean, when can you go wrong with girls given swords and thrust into kingdom politics! 

wolf’s rain (anime) → the female cast here is limited but still impeccable imo. there’s tragedy upon tragedy wrested into each of their fates and it’s so heartbreaking to watch but the kindness, perseverance, and humanity displayed by each of these women in different capacities is incredible. also there’s jaguara who is an absolute bitch but she’s sexy so it’s okay

i feel like i recced close to no shounen here so i will try to come back with more shounen recs if i can but at the same time i feel like shoujosei is just a better bet when it comes to well written female (and male) characters in general so. djkfsjaglfbhdslnfd

The thing I love about Lili’s design is

that she’s dressed like a girly girl, but she acts so tomboyish, I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s a badass combination. She kills in looks, there’s no denying that, she tidies herself and has long hair and hairpins, wears a frilly, elaborate dress, but then she’s so outspoken and rash and dominates every scene she’s in, making her damn point known, and when she’s casual or shouting she’s just so darn funny. 

When she’s freaking out about her crush on Geun-tae or acting all shy, she’s STILL making an outlandish scene.

When her hair’s flowing around, she’s calling soldiers cowards, and telling just how angry she is. Come on, she can’t help herself. Lili is no liar. 

Her personality’s just balanced all around. It’s just there to show that you can be a girly girl while at the same time be wild and rambunctious. They’re not… exclusive terms.