#laidbackcamp — Public Fediverse posts

https://www.alojapan.com/1482900/freebie-yuru-camp-laid-back-camp-spoon-nissin-curry-meshi-campaign-shorts/ Freebie Yuru Camp Laid-Back Camp Spoon Nissin Curry Meshi Campaign #shorts #asmr #Campaign #CurryMeshi #eating #freebie #Japan #JapaneseStuffChannel #JapaneseStuffChannel #jsc #LaidBackCamp #nerd #nissin #oddlysatisfying #Weird #YuruCamp #おまけ #カレーメシ #キャンペーン #スプーン #ゆるキャン #店頭おまけ Freebie Yuru Camp Laid-Back Camp Spoon Nissin Curry Meshi Campaign #shorts Yuru Camp Laid-Back Camp spoon. It’s Cup Noodles Company Nissin collaborate with Yuru Camp ca

https://www.alojapan.com/1482900/freebie-yuru-camp-laid-back-camp-spoon-nissin-curry-meshi-campaign-shorts/ Freebie Yuru Camp Laid-Back Camp Spoon Nissin Curry Meshi Campaign #shorts #asmr #Campaign #CurryMeshi #eating #freebie #Japan #JapaneseStuffChannel #JapaneseStuffChannel #jsc #LaidBackCamp #nerd #nissin #oddlysatisfying #Weird #YuruCamp #おまけ #カレーメシ #キャンペーン #スプーン #ゆるキャン #店頭おまけ Freebie Yuru Camp Laid-Back Camp Spoon Nissin Curry Meshi Campaign #shorts Yuru Camp Laid-Back Camp spoon. It’s Cup Noodles Company Nissin collaborate with Yuru Camp ca

Part 4
Some other visitors came by for pictures and seashells.

Even the public toilet is fitted for the surroundings :)

#hamamatsu #tori #ocean #lakehamana #bentenjima #anime #yurucamp #laidbackcamp

Part 3
Soooo relaxing!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laid-Back_Camp

#hamamatsu #tori #ocean #lakehamana #bentenjima #anime #yurucamp #laidbackcamp

Part 2
It is also the hometown of a girl in a very well known anime!
Who knows which one?!

High tide coming in!

#hamamatsu #tori #ocean #lakehamana #bentenjima #anime #yurucamp #laidbackcamp

Kakegawa is famous for its Kakegawa Castle.
After a short walk from the train station, you'll be greeted by the girls from Laid-Back Camp / ゆるキャン△ / Yuru Camp!

#japan #kakegawa #castle #anime #laidbackcamp #yurucamp

PV Yuru Camp Temporada 4
Se estrenará en 2027

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNDkVOlaGBQ

#anime #manga #otaku #yurucamp #animacion #japon #tvanime #animetv #noticiasanime #LaidBackCamp

Anyone got any recommendations for lightweight tarp poles for #CycleCamping? This is for adding an annexe to a tent, not for just a tarp shelter, so I'm not interested in, "Compared to a tent, this is light." I also have a tent. I want to be able to sit outside and read a book, #LaidBackCamp style, even if it's raining, and this is #Scotland.

Was looking at the Durston Z-Flick, but they are quite spendy, and I'm slightly worried Mr Bait won't fit underneath, even sitting down.

I've been trying to work out if it's (a) sad; (b) impressive; or (c) just a neurospicy thing that I'm able to work out which brands are being "adjusted" for copyright reasons in #LaidBackCamp.

The "Solo" stove they use, for instance, is a Soto Windmaster.

Leaving for work in a couple minutes. Can't help but think of how much I'd rather stay home and watch #yurucamp.

#anime #laidbackcamp

Bad Girl's source manga is serialized in Manga Time Kirara Carat, which is under the same company as Yuru Camp's Manga Time Kirara Forward, a publishing company called Houbunsha.

So this is peak cross-advertising synergy.

#BadGirl #YuruCamp #LaidBackCamp #anime

I guess I’m a weeb now.
#YuruCamp #LaidBackCamp #Anime

Modol

#meme #memes #humor #yurucamp #laidbackcamp #anime #BocchiTheRock

#TimeTravelAuthors 5/23 Pink
#TimeTravelingGhost Part 3

“So what’s are all those PINK ones? I like PINK,” Time Traveling Ghost asked.

“Anya, from #SpyXFamily,” Author said.

“Them all? You must love that anime.”

“No, on the left is Nabeshiko from #YuruCamp. And yes, I like SpyXFamily. I’ll read the manga next.”

“Hay, Miss white ghosty stuff, did you travel to the past to ask stupid questions about PINK #plushies?” Heckle called down.

“Right,” said Ghost. “I want you to write gnarly bad stuff happening to Poe and TM.”

“Okay,” Author replied.

“Idiot. She’s a writer, and it’s a story. Bad things happen!” Jeckle said.

“Duh,” Heckly said.

#MicroFiction #NMPrompts #Drabble #NMTTA
#LaidBackCamp #ゆるキャン
#HeckleAndJeckle #Plushies #Crow
@ShadowPlay @plush_bot

Today's #AniAnimal are Chikuwa and these other dogs from "Laid-Back Camp The Movie".

今日の #アニアニマル は『映画 ゆるキャン△』のちくわと他の犬たちです。

More info and other AniAnimals at: https://www.anianimals.moe/scene/yy~zhYSfwYQZSZVVGXX3jh/

#Anime #AnimeDog #LaidBackCamp #YuruCamp #アニメ #アニメ犬 #ゆるキャン

Not my submission but reminded today that Laid Back Camp has an April Fools mention. https://anicast.es/post/753836971751849984/its-april-1st (referring to https://anicast.es/post/753727111284637696/he-had-legs-like-a-kern-competitor ) #YuruCamp #LaidBackCamp

Jokowi Camp
Credit to Alvinn Kzma

#BTRxYuruCamp
#meme #memes #humor #yurucamp #laidbackcamp #jokowi #jokowidodo #anime #BocchiTheRock

☕ #anime #LaidBackCamp #YuruCamp

And 2018 we were just starting the original season of Laid Back Camp. :blobcat: #anime #YuruCamp #LaidBackCamp

Forgot the hashtags:

#anime #film #godzilla #dandadan #laidbackcamp #bocchitherock #pixar #wildrobot

#MangaMonday 39 “mono” by Afro

On the surface this is a fun four-panel #manga about a trio of high school girls in a photography club. A manga artist they know provides the impetus for some of their photo safaris and gives some meta-commentary. The photography angle allows for interesting compositions with lens distortions baked into the drawings.

Just barely beneath that surface, this is—at least in the first volume—an adjunct to Afro’s “Laid-Back Camp.” You don’t need to be a fan of the latter to enjoy it, but certain things will make a bit more sense. Or possibly less. The #mono girls take photos of places that featured in the #LaidBackCamp anime, and one of the main characters makes an cameo. Which I guess means that in the “Camp” world there’s an anime about the camping girls? Don’t think too hard about it, it’s not that kind of story.

Ongoing with one of four volumes available in English (Yen Press.) An anime is due in 2025.

Out of money? How about the younger sister Akari asking for money in Laid Back Camp. 😆 @apc #AniMangaFoundIt #anime #LaidBackCamp #YuruCamp

Tonight is some self care in the form of a hot, relaxing bath, a Manhattan cocktail, and reading the Laid-Back Camp manga

#SelfCare #Bath #Cocktail #Manhattan #LaidBackCamp #Manga

Yes, I overpaid for them. No, I do not have regrets.

#yurucamp #laidbackcamp #figures #animefigures #anime

Today's #AniAnimal is this white dog from "Laid-Back Camp The Movie".

今日の #アニアニマル は『映画 ゆるキャン△』のこの白い犬です。

More info and other AniAnimals at: https://www.anianimals.moe/scene/W~sDBpRCFZZ8Gn4GmGNJZcC/

#Anime #AnimeDog #LaidBackCamp #YuruCamp #アニメ #アニメ犬 #ゆるキャン

Love, learning, and all the rest: Fictional libraries in “Fruits Basket” and beyond

Before watching Fruits Basket, an anime which mixes the romantic comedy, slice-of-life, and supernatural genres, I knew there was a librarian character (voiced by Sayumi Watabe). I was not aware, however, that libraries would have an important role in the series, at least in a few episodes. In this post, I’ll examine the scenes in Fruits Basket, and connect it to other posts on this blog.

In the third episode of Fruits Basket, a schoolgirl confesses to Yuki Soma (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) in the library and he pushes her off. She is disappointed, saying he is closed off to most people and asks why he can’t let her in. The truth is that if women hug him, then he turns into an animal, a rat to be specific. The schoolgirl, understandably runs off, sad and likely crying, leaving him standing in the library. As it turns out, Tohru Honda (voiced by Manaka Iwami ), who is living at his house, tells him later that she is happy that he let her in, making him happy. The impact of this library scene is a strong one, even though the scene is pretty short.

In some ways, I can relate this to a few issues of the romantic slice-of-life webcomic, Literary Link. The protagonist, Faye, gets a community service job at the local public library’s literary club, due to a fighter in school, and meets a girl named Atlas. As would be expected, Faye falls in love with Atlas, after she teases her a bit, and agrees to keep volunteering at the literary club. Although Atlas isn’t sure if Faye will return, she does, making her happy, especially when she brings cupcakes, and Atlas bandages Faye up from an earlier fight. [1]

Literary Link and Fruits Basket are relatively different from other depictions of romance within libraries that I’ve noted on this blog. In The Truman Show (1998) and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), which I wrote about in the early days of this blog, the libraries play a big role in the stories of each film. In the first film, it is pivotal moment for Truman Burbank, as he meets the woman he loves, Sylvia, and runs out from the library with her to a secluded beach. In the second film, Harold remembers how he met his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, in the library. Both of them, in line with the fact the film is a stoner comedy, smoke pot in the library, even though it isn’t allowed.

There are many other examples of love, and romance, within libraries, whether Luz’s crush on Amity (which is later canonized) in The Owl House, Sophia beginning to confess her love to Catarina in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, an almost-kiss between Shizuma and Nagisa in the Strawberry Panic! episode “Etoile”, and Fumi and Sugimoto kissing in an episode of Whispered Words (“Adolescence is Beautiful”). There are other instances of love being expressed inside of library walls, including a bun-wearing librarian shushing male students who are expressing their romance in the library.

The second time that libraries appear in the series is a short scene at the end of the fourth episode, when Tohru checks out books from the library about vegetable gardens and martial arts, so she can learn about what Yuki and Kyo like and dislike. She hopes to find “hidden sides” of them. Not long after, she ends up dropping these books, dramatically, when she learns that her Grandpa’s place is now ready for her to move back in. As it turns out, she doesn’t want to go back, but she decides she has to, although she is later saved by Yuki and Kyo in the following episode. This library scene has the first librarian character in the series, the aforementioned librarian voiced by Sayumi Watabe. This librarian is a student library worker. She checks out the books for Tohru.

Such librarians are not unique in anime. I mentioned many of them in my post back in April, including one protagonist, Haruki, in the striking and moving anime film, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. He ends up helping another protagonist, Sakura Yamauchi, who’s disabled and uses a wheelchair. He becomes her good friend and later her love interest. She works in the library alongside him. This example differs from school-age student librarians, library workers to be precise, who are almost exclusively female, shown in various series. [2]

Some of the more prominent and recurring student librarians include Hisami Hishishii in multiple episodes of R.O.D. the TV, protagonist Hanamaru Kunikida in Love Live! Sunshine!!, Yamada and Kosuda in B Gata H Kei, Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words, Fumi Manjōme in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers, Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta, Himeko Agari in Komi Can’t Communicate, Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!, Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, and Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends. Of these characters, they are often said to be quiet, shy, hardworking, diligent, lonely, sweet, socially awkward, or introverted. There are exceptions like the lustful and flirtatious Yamada, or Pansy who has strong charisma and observation skills. Many also have yuri subtext integral to their characters either directly or indirectly. [3]

A unique character is Rin Shima in Laid Back-Camp. She fits with the overall theme of iyashikei, a genre of anime which is “healing,” shying away from romance or action in favor of “meaningful connections with family and friends, and finding joy in the minutiae of life,” as Marley Crusch of Polygon put it. Shima is further described by Crusch as a girl who enjoys camping, quiet, reserved personality, and an introvert, although she becomes better at talking with others by the time of the 2nd season. [4]

This differs from more professional, yet unvoiced, ones in episodes of Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, Kin-iro Mosaic, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Maria Watches Over Us, Is the Order a Rabbit, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, and The Dangers in My Heart. Kanina Shizuka in Maria Watches Over Us, is another example, but she is a supporting character. This connects to what I wrote in August, noting that within workplaces, there are unspoken/spoken “common standards of professional appearance” which penalize those with “tattoos and piercings, connecting with societally-sanctioned standards of appearance, which can be harsher on women.

In anime, all the characters, with stated or presumed professional credentials, in this post would be called librarians and assistant librarians, according to the landmark Library Act in Japan. In any case, one must continually be critical of what Fobazi Ettarh has defined as vocational awe, a set of values, ideas, and assumptions that “librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries…are inherently good…sacred, and…beyond critique.” With that, my post comes to a close. Until next week, where my post will examine the profound lack of libraries in Tom Gauld’s Revenge of the Librarians and stronger fictional depictions.

© 2023-2024 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] “Literary Club” [Issue 1]; Literary Link, May 6, 2023; “What’s her name?” [Issue 2], Literary Link, May 12, 2023; “Ethically Questionable” [Issue 3], Literary Link, May 27, 2023; “Careful with your face” [Issue 4], Literary Link, Jun. 10, 2023; “Overthinking” [Issue 5], Literary Link, Jun. 24, 2023.

[2] I’m referring to, in part, Nagisa Yasaka in My Roommate is a Cat, Nagisa Yasaka (episode: “Ones Who Can’t Be Controlled” and “What Connects Us”), Aoi Uribe in Myself ; Yourself (episode “The Important Melody”), Hasegawa Sumika in Bernard-jou Iwaku a.k.a. Miss Bernard said, Kamiya in Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie (episode: “Cultural Festival I”), Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends,  and Female Student B (librarian) in Azumanga Daioh (episode 19 segment “Springtime of Life”).

[3] “Hisami Hishiishii,” Read or Die Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Hanamaru Kunikida,” Love Live Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Yamada,” B Gata H Kei Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Fumio Murakumi,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Agari Himeko,” Komi-San Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Chiyo Tsukudate,” Strawberry Panic! Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Sumireko Sanshokunin,” Oresuki Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Grea,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Anne (Rage of Bagamut),” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

[4] “Rin Shima,” Yuru Camp Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

#AkebiSSailorUniform #AmityBlight #AoiHana #AzumangaDaioh #beautyStandards #ChiyoTsukudate #disabledPatrons #FobaziEttarh #FruitsBasket #groomingStandards #HanamaruKunikida #HaroldAndKumar #HisamiHishishii #IWantToEatYourPancreas #IsTheOrderARabbit #JapaneseLibrarians #JapanesePatrons #JapaneseWomen #KinIroMosaic #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LaidBackCamp #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #libraryPatrons #libraryWorkers #LiteraryLink #LoveLiveSunshine #MariaWatchesOverUs #MissBernardSaid #MyNextLifeAsAVillainess #MyRoommateIsACat #MyselfYourself #professionals #RevengeOfTheLibrarians #RevolutionaryGirlUtena #ShikimoriSNotJustACutie #StrawberryPanic #students #SweetBlueFlowers #TheDangersInMyHeart #TheOwlHouse #TheTrumanShow #vocationalAwe #WhisperedWords

Love, learning, and all the rest: Fictional libraries in “Fruits Basket” and beyond

Before watching Fruits Basket, an anime which mixes the romantic comedy, slice-of-life, and supernatural genres, I knew there was a librarian character (voiced by Sayumi Watabe). I was not aware, however, that libraries would have an important role in the series, at least in a few episodes. In this post, I’ll examine the scenes in Fruits Basket, and connect it to other posts on this blog.

In the third episode of Fruits Basket, a schoolgirl confesses to Yuki Soma (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) in the library and he pushes her off. She is disappointed, saying he is closed off to most people and asks why he can’t let her in. The truth is that if women hug him, then he turns into an animal, a rat to be specific. The schoolgirl, understandably runs off, sad and likely crying, leaving him standing in the library. As it turns out, Tohru Honda (voiced by Manaka Iwami ), who is living at his house, tells him later that she is happy that he let her in, making him happy. The impact of this library scene is a strong one, even though the scene is pretty short.

In some ways, I can relate this to a few issues of the romantic slice-of-life webcomic, Literary Link. The protagonist, Faye, gets a community service job at the local public library’s literary club, due to a fighter in school, and meets a girl named Atlas. As would be expected, Faye falls in love with Atlas, after she teases her a bit, and agrees to keep volunteering at the literary club. Although Atlas isn’t sure if Faye will return, she does, making her happy, especially when she brings cupcakes, and Atlas bandages Faye up from an earlier fight. [1]

Literary Link and Fruits Basket are relatively different from other depictions of romance within libraries that I’ve noted on this blog. In The Truman Show (1998) and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), which I wrote about in the early days of this blog, the libraries play a big role in the stories of each film. In the first film, it is pivotal moment for Truman Burbank, as he meets the woman he loves, Sylvia, and runs out from the library with her to a secluded beach. In the second film, Harold remembers how he met his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, in the library. Both of them, in line with the fact the film is a stoner comedy, smoke pot in the library, even though it isn’t allowed.

There are many other examples of love, and romance, within libraries, whether Luz’s crush on Amity (which is later canonized) in The Owl House, Sophia beginning to confess her love to Catarina in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, an almost-kiss between Shizuma and Nagisa in the Strawberry Panic! episode “Etoile”, and Fumi and Sugimoto kissing in an episode of Whispered Words (“Adolescence is Beautiful”). There are other instances of love being expressed inside of library walls, including a bun-wearing librarian shushing male students who are expressing their romance in the library.

The second time that libraries appear in the series is a short scene at the end of the fourth episode, when Tohru checks out books from the library about vegetable gardens and martial arts, so she can learn about what Yuki and Kyo like and dislike. She hopes to find “hidden sides” of them. Not long after, she ends up dropping these books, dramatically, when she learns that her Grandpa’s place is now ready for her to move back in. As it turns out, she doesn’t want to go back, but she decides she has to, although she is later saved by Yuki and Kyo in the following episode. This library scene has the first librarian character in the series, the aforementioned librarian voiced by Sayumi Watabe. This librarian is a student library worker. She checks out the books for Tohru.

Such librarians are not unique in anime. I mentioned many of them in my post back in April, including one protagonist, Haruki, in the striking and moving anime film, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. He ends up helping another protagonist, Sakura Yamauchi, who’s disabled and uses a wheelchair. He becomes her good friend and later her love interest. She works in the library alongside him. This example differs from school-age student librarians, library workers to be precise, who are almost exclusively female, shown in various series. [2]

Some of the more prominent and recurring student librarians include Hisami Hishishii in multiple episodes of R.O.D. the TV, protagonist Hanamaru Kunikida in Love Live! Sunshine!!, Yamada and Kosuda in B Gata H Kei, Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words, Fumi Manjōme in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers, Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta, Himeko Agari in Komi Can’t Communicate, Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!, Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, and Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends. Of these characters, they are often said to be quiet, shy, hardworking, diligent, lonely, sweet, socially awkward, or introverted. There are exceptions like the lustful and flirtatious Yamada, or Pansy who has strong charisma and observation skills. Many also have yuri subtext integral to their characters either directly or indirectly. [3]

A unique character is Rin Shima in Laid Back-Camp. She fits with the overall theme of iyashikei, a genre of anime which is “healing,” shying away from romance or action in favor of “meaningful connections with family and friends, and finding joy in the minutiae of life,” as Marley Crusch of Polygon put it. Shima is further described by Crusch as a girl who enjoys camping, quiet, reserved personality, and an introvert, although she becomes better at talking with others by the time of the 2nd season. [4]

This differs from more professional, yet unvoiced, ones in episodes of Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, Kin-iro Mosaic, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Maria Watches Over Us, Is the Order a Rabbit, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, and The Dangers in My Heart. Kanina Shizuka in Maria Watches Over Us, is another example, but she is a supporting character. This connects to what I wrote in August, noting that within workplaces, there are unspoken/spoken “common standards of professional appearance” which penalize those with “tattoos and piercings, connecting with societally-sanctioned standards of appearance, which can be harsher on women.

In anime, all the characters, with stated or presumed professional credentials, in this post would be called librarians and assistant librarians, according to the landmark Library Act in Japan. In any case, one must continually be critical of what Fobazi Ettarh has defined as vocational awe, a set of values, ideas, and assumptions that “librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries…are inherently good…sacred, and…beyond critique.” With that, my post comes to a close. Until next week, where my post will examine the profound lack of libraries in Tom Gauld’s Revenge of the Librarians and stronger fictional depictions.

© 2023-2024 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] “Literary Club” [Issue 1]; Literary Link, May 6, 2023; “What’s her name?” [Issue 2], Literary Link, May 12, 2023; “Ethically Questionable” [Issue 3], Literary Link, May 27, 2023; “Careful with your face” [Issue 4], Literary Link, Jun. 10, 2023; “Overthinking” [Issue 5], Literary Link, Jun. 24, 2023.

[2] I’m referring to, in part, Nagisa Yasaka in My Roommate is a Cat, Nagisa Yasaka (episode: “Ones Who Can’t Be Controlled” and “What Connects Us”), Aoi Uribe in Myself ; Yourself (episode “The Important Melody”), Hasegawa Sumika in Bernard-jou Iwaku a.k.a. Miss Bernard said, Kamiya in Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie (episode: “Cultural Festival I”), Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends,  and Female Student B (librarian) in Azumanga Daioh (episode 19 segment “Springtime of Life”).

[3] “Hisami Hishiishii,” Read or Die Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Hanamaru Kunikida,” Love Live Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Yamada,” B Gata H Kei Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Fumio Murakumi,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Agari Himeko,” Komi-San Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Chiyo Tsukudate,” Strawberry Panic! Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Sumireko Sanshokunin,” Oresuki Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Grea,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Anne (Rage of Bagamut),” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

[4] “Rin Shima,” Yuru Camp Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

#AkebiSSailorUniform #AmityBlight #AoiHana #AzumangaDaioh #beautyStandards #ChiyoTsukudate #disabledPatrons #FobaziEttarh #FruitsBasket #groomingStandards #HanamaruKunikida #HaroldAndKumar #HisamiHishishii #IWantToEatYourPancreas #IsTheOrderARabbit #JapaneseLibrarians #JapanesePatrons #JapaneseWomen #KinIroMosaic #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LaidBackCamp #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #libraryPatrons #libraryWorkers #LiteraryLink #LoveLiveSunshine #MariaWatchesOverUs #MissBernardSaid #MyNextLifeAsAVillainess #MyRoommateIsACat #MyselfYourself #professionals #RevengeOfTheLibrarians #RevolutionaryGirlUtena #ShikimoriSNotJustACutie #StrawberryPanic #students #SweetBlueFlowers #TheDangersInMyHeart #TheOwlHouse #TheTrumanShow #vocationalAwe #WhisperedWords

Love, learning, and all the rest: Fictional libraries in “Fruits Basket” and beyond

Before watching Fruits Basket, an anime which mixes the romantic comedy, slice-of-life, and supernatural genres, I knew there was a librarian character (voiced by Sayumi Watabe). I was not aware, however, that libraries would have an important role in the series, at least in a few episodes. In this post, I’ll examine the scenes in Fruits Basket, and connect it to other posts on this blog.

In the third episode of Fruits Basket, a schoolgirl confesses to Yuki Soma (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) in the library and he pushes her off. She is disappointed, saying he is closed off to most people and asks why he can’t let her in. The truth is that if women hug him, then he turns into an animal, a rat to be specific. The schoolgirl, understandably runs off, sad and likely crying, leaving him standing in the library. As it turns out, Tohru Honda (voiced by Manaka Iwami ), who is living at his house, tells him later that she is happy that he let her in, making him happy. The impact of this library scene is a strong one, even though the scene is pretty short.

In some ways, I can relate this to a few issues of the romantic slice-of-life webcomic, Literary Link. The protagonist, Faye, gets a community service job at the local public library’s literary club, due to a fighter in school, and meets a girl named Atlas. As would be expected, Faye falls in love with Atlas, after she teases her a bit, and agrees to keep volunteering at the literary club. Although Atlas isn’t sure if Faye will return, she does, making her happy, especially when she brings cupcakes, and Atlas bandages Faye up from an earlier fight. [1]

Literary Link and Fruits Basket are relatively different from other depictions of romance within libraries that I’ve noted on this blog. In The Truman Show (1998) and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), which I wrote about in the early days of this blog, the libraries play a big role in the stories of each film. In the first film, it is pivotal moment for Truman Burbank, as he meets the woman he loves, Sylvia, and runs out from the library with her to a secluded beach. In the second film, Harold remembers how he met his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, in the library. Both of them, in line with the fact the film is a stoner comedy, smoke pot in the library, even though it isn’t allowed.

There are many other examples of love, and romance, within libraries, whether Luz’s crush on Amity (which is later canonized) in The Owl House, Sophia beginning to confess her love to Catarina in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, an almost-kiss between Shizuma and Nagisa in the Strawberry Panic! episode “Etoile”, and Fumi and Sugimoto kissing in an episode of Whispered Words (“Adolescence is Beautiful”). There are other instances of love being expressed inside of library walls, including a bun-wearing librarian shushing male students who are expressing their romance in the library.

The second time that libraries appear in the series is a short scene at the end of the fourth episode, when Tohru checks out books from the library about vegetable gardens and martial arts, so she can learn about what Yuki and Kyo like and dislike. She hopes to find “hidden sides” of them. Not long after, she ends up dropping these books, dramatically, when she learns that her Grandpa’s place is now ready for her to move back in. As it turns out, she doesn’t want to go back, but she decides she has to, although she is later saved by Yuki and Kyo in the following episode. This library scene has the first librarian character in the series, the aforementioned librarian voiced by Sayumi Watabe. This librarian is a student library worker. She checks out the books for Tohru.

Such librarians are not unique in anime. I mentioned many of them in my post back in April, including one protagonist, Haruki, in the striking and moving anime film, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. He ends up helping another protagonist, Sakura Yamauchi, who’s disabled and uses a wheelchair. He becomes her good friend and later her love interest. She works in the library alongside him. This example differs from school-age student librarians, library workers to be precise, who are almost exclusively female, shown in various series. [2]

Some of the more prominent and recurring student librarians include Hisami Hishishii in multiple episodes of R.O.D. the TV, protagonist Hanamaru Kunikida in Love Live! Sunshine!!, Yamada and Kosuda in B Gata H Kei, Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words, Fumi Manjōme in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers, Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta, Himeko Agari in Komi Can’t Communicate, Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!, Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, and Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends. Of these characters, they are often said to be quiet, shy, hardworking, diligent, lonely, sweet, socially awkward, or introverted. There are exceptions like the lustful and flirtatious Yamada, or Pansy who has strong charisma and observation skills. Many also have yuri subtext integral to their characters either directly or indirectly. [3]

A unique character is Rin Shima in Laid Back-Camp. She fits with the overall theme of iyashikei, a genre of anime which is “healing,” shying away from romance or action in favor of “meaningful connections with family and friends, and finding joy in the minutiae of life,” as Marley Crusch of Polygon put it. Shima is further described by Crusch as a girl who enjoys camping, quiet, reserved personality, and an introvert, although she becomes better at talking with others by the time of the 2nd season. [4]

This differs from more professional, yet unvoiced, ones in episodes of Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, Kin-iro Mosaic, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Maria Watches Over Us, Is the Order a Rabbit, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, and The Dangers in My Heart. Kanina Shizuka in Maria Watches Over Us, is another example, but she is a supporting character. This connects to what I wrote in August, noting that within workplaces, there are unspoken/spoken “common standards of professional appearance” which penalize those with “tattoos and piercings, connecting with societally-sanctioned standards of appearance, which can be harsher on women.

In anime, all the characters, with stated or presumed professional credentials, in this post would be called librarians and assistant librarians, according to the landmark Library Act in Japan. In any case, one must continually be critical of what Fobazi Ettarh has defined as vocational awe, a set of values, ideas, and assumptions that “librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries…are inherently good…sacred, and…beyond critique.” With that, my post comes to a close. Until next week, where my post will examine the profound lack of libraries in Tom Gauld’s Revenge of the Librarians and stronger fictional depictions.

© 2023-2024 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] “Literary Club” [Issue 1]; Literary Link, May 6, 2023; “What’s her name?” [Issue 2], Literary Link, May 12, 2023; “Ethically Questionable” [Issue 3], Literary Link, May 27, 2023; “Careful with your face” [Issue 4], Literary Link, Jun. 10, 2023; “Overthinking” [Issue 5], Literary Link, Jun. 24, 2023.

[2] I’m referring to, in part, Nagisa Yasaka in My Roommate is a Cat, Nagisa Yasaka (episode: “Ones Who Can’t Be Controlled” and “What Connects Us”), Aoi Uribe in Myself ; Yourself (episode “The Important Melody”), Hasegawa Sumika in Bernard-jou Iwaku a.k.a. Miss Bernard said, Kamiya in Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie (episode: “Cultural Festival I”), Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends,  and Female Student B (librarian) in Azumanga Daioh (episode 19 segment “Springtime of Life”).

[3] “Hisami Hishiishii,” Read or Die Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Hanamaru Kunikida,” Love Live Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Yamada,” B Gata H Kei Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Fumio Murakumi,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Agari Himeko,” Komi-San Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Chiyo Tsukudate,” Strawberry Panic! Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Sumireko Sanshokunin,” Oresuki Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Grea,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Anne (Rage of Bagamut),” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

[4] “Rin Shima,” Yuru Camp Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

#AkebiSSailorUniform #AmityBlight #AoiHana #AzumangaDaioh #beautyStandards #ChiyoTsukudate #disabledPatrons #FobaziEttarh #FruitsBasket #groomingStandards #HanamaruKunikida #HaroldAndKumar #HisamiHishishii #IWantToEatYourPancreas #IsTheOrderARabbit #JapaneseLibrarians #JapanesePatrons #JapaneseWomen #KinIroMosaic #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LaidBackCamp #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #libraryPatrons #libraryWorkers #LiteraryLink #LoveLiveSunshine #MariaWatchesOverUs #MissBernardSaid #MyNextLifeAsAVillainess #MyRoommateIsACat #MyselfYourself #professionals #RevengeOfTheLibrarians #RevolutionaryGirlUtena #ShikimoriSNotJustACutie #StrawberryPanic #students #SweetBlueFlowers #TheDangersInMyHeart #TheOwlHouse #TheTrumanShow #vocationalAwe #WhisperedWords

Love, learning, and all the rest: Fictional libraries in “Fruits Basket” and beyond

Before watching Fruits Basket, an anime which mixes the romantic comedy, slice-of-life, and supernatural genres, I knew there was a librarian character (voiced by Sayumi Watabe). I was not aware, however, that libraries would have an important role in the series, at least in a few episodes. In this post, I’ll examine the scenes in Fruits Basket, and connect it to other posts on this blog.

In the third episode of Fruits Basket, a schoolgirl confesses to Yuki Soma (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) in the library and he pushes her off. She is disappointed, saying he is closed off to most people and asks why he can’t let her in. The truth is that if women hug him, then he turns into an animal, a rat to be specific. The schoolgirl, understandably runs off, sad and likely crying, leaving him standing in the library. As it turns out, Tohru Honda (voiced by Manaka Iwami ), who is living at his house, tells him later that she is happy that he let her in, making him happy. The impact of this library scene is a strong one, even though the scene is pretty short.

In some ways, I can relate this to a few issues of the romantic slice-of-life webcomic, Literary Link. The protagonist, Faye, gets a community service job at the local public library’s literary club, due to a fighter in school, and meets a girl named Atlas. As would be expected, Faye falls in love with Atlas, after she teases her a bit, and agrees to keep volunteering at the literary club. Although Atlas isn’t sure if Faye will return, she does, making her happy, especially when she brings cupcakes, and Atlas bandages Faye up from an earlier fight. [1]

Literary Link and Fruits Basket are relatively different from other depictions of romance within libraries that I’ve noted on this blog. In The Truman Show (1998) and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), which I wrote about in the early days of this blog, the libraries play a big role in the stories of each film. In the first film, it is pivotal moment for Truman Burbank, as he meets the woman he loves, Sylvia, and runs out from the library with her to a secluded beach. In the second film, Harold remembers how he met his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, in the library. Both of them, in line with the fact the film is a stoner comedy, smoke pot in the library, even though it isn’t allowed.

There are many other examples of love, and romance, within libraries, whether Luz’s crush on Amity (which is later canonized) in The Owl House, Sophia beginning to confess her love to Catarina in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, an almost-kiss between Shizuma and Nagisa in the Strawberry Panic! episode “Etoile”, and Fumi and Sugimoto kissing in an episode of Whispered Words (“Adolescence is Beautiful”). There are other instances of love being expressed inside of library walls, including a bun-wearing librarian shushing male students who are expressing their romance in the library.

The second time that libraries appear in the series is a short scene at the end of the fourth episode, when Tohru checks out books from the library about vegetable gardens and martial arts, so she can learn about what Yuki and Kyo like and dislike. She hopes to find “hidden sides” of them. Not long after, she ends up dropping these books, dramatically, when she learns that her Grandpa’s place is now ready for her to move back in. As it turns out, she doesn’t want to go back, but she decides she has to, although she is later saved by Yuki and Kyo in the following episode. This library scene has the first librarian character in the series, the aforementioned librarian voiced by Sayumi Watabe. This librarian is a student library worker. She checks out the books for Tohru.

Such librarians are not unique in anime. I mentioned many of them in my post back in April, including one protagonist, Haruki, in the striking and moving anime film, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. He ends up helping another protagonist, Sakura Yamauchi, who’s disabled and uses a wheelchair. He becomes her good friend and later her love interest. She works in the library alongside him. This example differs from school-age student librarians, library workers to be precise, who are almost exclusively female, shown in various series. [2]

Some of the more prominent and recurring student librarians include Hisami Hishishii in multiple episodes of R.O.D. the TV, protagonist Hanamaru Kunikida in Love Live! Sunshine!!, Yamada and Kosuda in B Gata H Kei, Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words, Fumi Manjōme in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers, Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta, Himeko Agari in Komi Can’t Communicate, Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!, Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, and Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends. Of these characters, they are often said to be quiet, shy, hardworking, diligent, lonely, sweet, socially awkward, or introverted. There are exceptions like the lustful and flirtatious Yamada, or Pansy who has strong charisma and observation skills. Many also have yuri subtext integral to their characters either directly or indirectly. [3]

A unique character is Rin Shima in Laid Back-Camp. She fits with the overall theme of iyashikei, a genre of anime which is “healing,” shying away from romance or action in favor of “meaningful connections with family and friends, and finding joy in the minutiae of life,” as Marley Crusch of Polygon put it. Shima is further described by Crusch as a girl who enjoys camping, quiet, reserved personality, and an introvert, although she becomes better at talking with others by the time of the 2nd season. [4]

This differs from more professional, yet unvoiced, ones in episodes of Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, Kin-iro Mosaic, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Maria Watches Over Us, Is the Order a Rabbit, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, and The Dangers in My Heart. Kanina Shizuka in Maria Watches Over Us, is another example, but she is a supporting character. This connects to what I wrote in August, noting that within workplaces, there are unspoken/spoken “common standards of professional appearance” which penalize those with “tattoos and piercings, connecting with societally-sanctioned standards of appearance, which can be harsher on women.

In anime, all the characters, with stated or presumed professional credentials, in this post would be called librarians and assistant librarians, according to the landmark Library Act in Japan. In any case, one must continually be critical of what Fobazi Ettarh has defined as vocational awe, a set of values, ideas, and assumptions that “librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries…are inherently good…sacred, and…beyond critique.” With that, my post comes to a close. Until next week, where my post will examine the profound lack of libraries in Tom Gauld’s Revenge of the Librarians and stronger fictional depictions.

© 2023-2024 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] “Literary Club” [Issue 1]; Literary Link, May 6, 2023; “What’s her name?” [Issue 2], Literary Link, May 12, 2023; “Ethically Questionable” [Issue 3], Literary Link, May 27, 2023; “Careful with your face” [Issue 4], Literary Link, Jun. 10, 2023; “Overthinking” [Issue 5], Literary Link, Jun. 24, 2023.

[2] I’m referring to, in part, Nagisa Yasaka in My Roommate is a Cat, Nagisa Yasaka (episode: “Ones Who Can’t Be Controlled” and “What Connects Us”), Aoi Uribe in Myself ; Yourself (episode “The Important Melody”), Hasegawa Sumika in Bernard-jou Iwaku a.k.a. Miss Bernard said, Kamiya in Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie (episode: “Cultural Festival I”), Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends,  and Female Student B (librarian) in Azumanga Daioh (episode 19 segment “Springtime of Life”).

[3] “Hisami Hishiishii,” Read or Die Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Hanamaru Kunikida,” Love Live Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Yamada,” B Gata H Kei Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Fumio Murakumi,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Agari Himeko,” Komi-San Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Chiyo Tsukudate,” Strawberry Panic! Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Sumireko Sanshokunin,” Oresuki Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Grea,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Anne (Rage of Bagamut),” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

[4] “Rin Shima,” Yuru Camp Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

#AkebiSSailorUniform #AmityBlight #AoiHana #AzumangaDaioh #beautyStandards #ChiyoTsukudate #disabledPatrons #FobaziEttarh #FruitsBasket #groomingStandards #HanamaruKunikida #HaroldAndKumar #HisamiHishishii #IWantToEatYourPancreas #IsTheOrderARabbit #JapaneseLibrarians #JapanesePatrons #JapaneseWomen #KinIroMosaic #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LaidBackCamp #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #libraryPatrons #libraryWorkers #LiteraryLink #LoveLiveSunshine #MariaWatchesOverUs #MissBernardSaid #MyNextLifeAsAVillainess #MyRoommateIsACat #MyselfYourself #professionals #RevengeOfTheLibrarians #RevolutionaryGirlUtena #ShikimoriSNotJustACutie #StrawberryPanic #students #SweetBlueFlowers #TheDangersInMyHeart #TheOwlHouse #TheTrumanShow #vocationalAwe #WhisperedWords

Love, learning, and all the rest: Fictional libraries in “Fruits Basket” and beyond

Before watching Fruits Basket, an anime which mixes the romantic comedy, slice-of-life, and supernatural genres, I knew there was a librarian character (voiced by Sayumi Watabe). I was not aware, however, that libraries would have an important role in the series, at least in a few episodes. In this post, I’ll examine the scenes in Fruits Basket, and connect it to other posts on this blog.

In the third episode of Fruits Basket, a schoolgirl confesses to Yuki Soma (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) in the library and he pushes her off. She is disappointed, saying he is closed off to most people and asks why he can’t let her in. The truth is that if women hug him, then he turns into an animal, a rat to be specific. The schoolgirl, understandably runs off, sad and likely crying, leaving him standing in the library. As it turns out, Tohru Honda (voiced by Manaka Iwami ), who is living at his house, tells him later that she is happy that he let her in, making him happy. The impact of this library scene is a strong one, even though the scene is pretty short.

In some ways, I can relate this to a few issues of the romantic slice-of-life webcomic, Literary Link. The protagonist, Faye, gets a community service job at the local public library’s literary club, due to a fighter in school, and meets a girl named Atlas. As would be expected, Faye falls in love with Atlas, after she teases her a bit, and agrees to keep volunteering at the literary club. Although Atlas isn’t sure if Faye will return, she does, making her happy, especially when she brings cupcakes, and Atlas bandages Faye up from an earlier fight. [1]

Literary Link and Fruits Basket are relatively different from other depictions of romance within libraries that I’ve noted on this blog. In The Truman Show (1998) and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), which I wrote about in the early days of this blog, the libraries play a big role in the stories of each film. In the first film, it is pivotal moment for Truman Burbank, as he meets the woman he loves, Sylvia, and runs out from the library with her to a secluded beach. In the second film, Harold remembers how he met his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, in the library. Both of them, in line with the fact the film is a stoner comedy, smoke pot in the library, even though it isn’t allowed.

There are many other examples of love, and romance, within libraries, whether Luz’s crush on Amity (which is later canonized) in The Owl House, Sophia beginning to confess her love to Catarina in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, an almost-kiss between Shizuma and Nagisa in the Strawberry Panic! episode “Etoile”, and Fumi and Sugimoto kissing in an episode of Whispered Words (“Adolescence is Beautiful”). There are other instances of love being expressed inside of library walls, including a bun-wearing librarian shushing male students who are expressing their romance in the library.

The second time that libraries appear in the series is a short scene at the end of the fourth episode, when Tohru checks out books from the library about vegetable gardens and martial arts, so she can learn about what Yuki and Kyo like and dislike. She hopes to find “hidden sides” of them. Not long after, she ends up dropping these books, dramatically, when she learns that her Grandpa’s place is now ready for her to move back in. As it turns out, she doesn’t want to go back, but she decides she has to, although she is later saved by Yuki and Kyo in the following episode. This library scene has the first librarian character in the series, the aforementioned librarian voiced by Sayumi Watabe. This librarian is a student library worker. She checks out the books for Tohru.

Such librarians are not unique in anime. I mentioned many of them in my post back in April, including one protagonist, Haruki, in the striking and moving anime film, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. He ends up helping another protagonist, Sakura Yamauchi, who’s disabled and uses a wheelchair. He becomes her good friend and later her love interest. She works in the library alongside him. This example differs from school-age student librarians, library workers to be precise, who are almost exclusively female, shown in various series. [2]

Some of the more prominent and recurring student librarians include Hisami Hishishii in multiple episodes of R.O.D. the TV, protagonist Hanamaru Kunikida in Love Live! Sunshine!!, Yamada and Kosuda in B Gata H Kei, Azusa Aoi in Whispered Words, Fumi Manjōme in Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers, Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta, Himeko Agari in Komi Can’t Communicate, Chiyo Tsukudate in Strawberry Panic!, Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, and Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends. Of these characters, they are often said to be quiet, shy, hardworking, diligent, lonely, sweet, socially awkward, or introverted. There are exceptions like the lustful and flirtatious Yamada, or Pansy who has strong charisma and observation skills. Many also have yuri subtext integral to their characters either directly or indirectly. [3]

A unique character is Rin Shima in Laid Back-Camp. She fits with the overall theme of iyashikei, a genre of anime which is “healing,” shying away from romance or action in favor of “meaningful connections with family and friends, and finding joy in the minutiae of life,” as Marley Crusch of Polygon put it. Shima is further described by Crusch as a girl who enjoys camping, quiet, reserved personality, and an introvert, although she becomes better at talking with others by the time of the 2nd season. [4]

This differs from more professional, yet unvoiced, ones in episodes of Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, Kin-iro Mosaic, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Maria Watches Over Us, Is the Order a Rabbit, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, and The Dangers in My Heart. Kanina Shizuka in Maria Watches Over Us, is another example, but she is a supporting character. This connects to what I wrote in August, noting that within workplaces, there are unspoken/spoken “common standards of professional appearance” which penalize those with “tattoos and piercings, connecting with societally-sanctioned standards of appearance, which can be harsher on women.

In anime, all the characters, with stated or presumed professional credentials, in this post would be called librarians and assistant librarians, according to the landmark Library Act in Japan. In any case, one must continually be critical of what Fobazi Ettarh has defined as vocational awe, a set of values, ideas, and assumptions that “librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries…are inherently good…sacred, and…beyond critique.” With that, my post comes to a close. Until next week, where my post will examine the profound lack of libraries in Tom Gauld’s Revenge of the Librarians and stronger fictional depictions.

© 2023-2024 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] “Literary Club” [Issue 1]; Literary Link, May 6, 2023; “What’s her name?” [Issue 2], Literary Link, May 12, 2023; “Ethically Questionable” [Issue 3], Literary Link, May 27, 2023; “Careful with your face” [Issue 4], Literary Link, Jun. 10, 2023; “Overthinking” [Issue 5], Literary Link, Jun. 24, 2023.

[2] I’m referring to, in part, Nagisa Yasaka in My Roommate is a Cat, Nagisa Yasaka (episode: “Ones Who Can’t Be Controlled” and “What Connects Us”), Aoi Uribe in Myself ; Yourself (episode “The Important Melody”), Hasegawa Sumika in Bernard-jou Iwaku a.k.a. Miss Bernard said, Kamiya in Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie (episode: “Cultural Festival I”), Sumireko Sanshokunin a.k.a. “Pansy” in Oresuki, Anne and Grea in Manaria Friends,  and Female Student B (librarian) in Azumanga Daioh (episode 19 segment “Springtime of Life”).

[3] “Hisami Hishiishii,” Read or Die Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Hanamaru Kunikida,” Love Live Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Yamada,” B Gata H Kei Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Fumio Murakumi,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Agari Himeko,” Komi-San Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Chiyo Tsukudate,” Strawberry Panic! Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Sumireko Sanshokunin,” Oresuki Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Grea,” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023; “Anne (Rage of Bagamut),” Yuri Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

[4] “Rin Shima,” Yuru Camp Wiki, accessed Jul. 4, 2023.

#AkebiSSailorUniform #AmityBlight #AoiHana #AzumangaDaioh #beautyStandards #ChiyoTsukudate #disabledPatrons #FobaziEttarh #FruitsBasket #groomingStandards #HanamaruKunikida #HaroldAndKumar #HisamiHishishii #IWantToEatYourPancreas #IsTheOrderARabbit #JapaneseLibrarians #JapanesePatrons #JapaneseWomen #KinIroMosaic #KuboWonTLetMeBeInvisible #LaidBackCamp #LesbianLibrarians #LGBTQ #libraryPatrons #libraryWorkers #LiteraryLink #LoveLiveSunshine #MariaWatchesOverUs #MissBernardSaid #MyNextLifeAsAVillainess #MyRoommateIsACat #MyselfYourself #professionals #RevengeOfTheLibrarians #RevolutionaryGirlUtena #ShikimoriSNotJustACutie #StrawberryPanic #students #SweetBlueFlowers #TheDangersInMyHeart #TheOwlHouse #TheTrumanShow #vocationalAwe #WhisperedWords

Princess Syalis’ sleep quest, spells, and forbidden library knowledge in “Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle”

I’ve written about sleeping on this blog throughout this past year, whether in regards to Rin Shima in Laid Back-Camp, who sleeps at the information desk when she was in school, one of the few characters who is a librarian which I have seen doing this, while comfortably wearing a hair bun. Another example is the unnamed librarian in We Bare Bears, who lets patrons sleep overnight at the library, perhaps because she saw them working so steadily, so she let them stay there and rest in peace. Otherwise, there’s Shirusu Mochizuki who wakes up a sleeping patron in a weird first-person series, while claiming that naps disturb the other patrons and to not sleep in the library. Rin does the same in another episode, to her friend, Nadeshiko. Even more blatant is Dantalion in As Miss Beelzebub Likes, a part-rabbit librarian of the Pandemonium Library. He remains overly dedicated to his job that he reads but doesn’t eat at times, loving the smell of paper and ink. At the same time, he is very knowledgeable about what is in the library’s stacks, filled with millions of books, and is hundreds of years old, and works alongside over 10 possible library assistants. Others, such as Myne in Ascendance of a Bookworm, may fall asleep during their librarian duties as well, while Yomiko Readman almost sleeps on the huge pile of books she has in her apartment, in R.O.D. the TV.

All of these examples stand against rules in libraries banning sleeping, which can be used against homeless people if they unevenly/unfairly enforced. This all goes out the window when it comes to Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, an anime based on an ongoing manga written by Kagiji Kumanomata, which mixes the slice-of-life, fantasy comedy, and adventure genres, into one. In one episode, the protagonist, Princess Syalis (her full name is Aurora Sya Lis Goodereste) travels to the forbidden library in hopes that it will provide what she needs for a good night sleep, as she remains a hostage-in-name-only in the Demon Castle, where her antics make her the defacto castle ruler, in some ways. It differs from other series where the library is shown to be a place of studying, work, and even fun. [1] There will be some summaries of the show’s third episode.

In the episode, entitled “The Princess and Forbidden Knowledge,” of the aforementioned series, Syalis reads a Grimoire, a book which contains fruits of human wisdom, but can cause people to lose their sanity or gain magic knowledge. She believed that if she reads one of these sealed books, she might be able to fall asleep. As a result, she secretly travels to the Demon Castle Underground Library, hoping to find such a book, and makes her way past the guards (Bigwig Penguin and Jester Soldier). At first, her quest is not successful, as she reads many boring, dull Grimoires, which reduce her hit points/health to almost nothing. After this, something miraculous happens, she begins rolling down the stairs, going through a wild process which unlocks all the parts needed to unlock a forbidden magical book, sitting in its own secluded, secret library room. She finds herself in a pile of books and is able to easily to take off the chains around the aforementioned Grimoire, which releases Alazif, the spirit of the Grimoire.

Although Alazif attempts to convince Syalis to destroy all the demons, she refuses. She remains annoyed until she learns about a sleep spell. She wields the power and it so effective that it envelops the entire castle, with no one able to resist the magic, not even the demon king. This backfires as the spell doesn’t work on the spellcaster (her), causing her to be wide awake while everyone else is asleep. She falls asleep on a book in the library, with the book as a pillow of sorts. shocking Alazif. This library has no active librarians, so there’s no one, like the librarians Sanae Dekomori smears as slacking off for “not shelving books,” in  Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions, for Syalis to criticize. [2]

Later, Syalis gets a book from the library, thanks to Alazif, outlining pressure points that humans have. In the sequence that follows, she asks people around the castle to touch her in a specific place (which they interpret as sexual), but she is only asking them to touch her pressure points. She is able to pull the Demon King into her prison room, and he believes that what she wants is sexual, remembering what he once read in a book. Once it is clear that it was just a way to get her to sleep, he, and the rest of the demons, are embarrassed.

Apart from the fact that the underground library and secret annex do not have libraries, the books are unique in more ways than one. For one, the books have built-in restrictions, as reading them would cause you to die. This is almost like the books in the library collection of the University of Southern Denmark which contained “large concentrations of arsenic on their covers.” Other libraries had volumes, but those books have long been destroyed. Additional researchers uncovered rare book collections and libraries which “often carry volumes that feature poisons on their pages.” [3]

In terms of the restrictions on books, I can’t think of any other examples where they are books which have chains on them apart from those in What If…?, as Jennifer Snoek-Brown describes: “…a few books hang from chains along the ceiling,” calling it “visually intriguing but very impractical.” She also pointed to chained-up books from the restricted section as shown in the film Doctor Strange, part of the never-ending cash cow, Marvel Cinematic Universe, which began in 2008. The latter is a series of films which have been criticized as equivalent of theme park rides, corporation products, despicable, ruining the industry, and is said to mainly cater to White adults. [4]

In addition, I’ve previously written on this blog about the so-called “restricted library” in That Awkward Magic!!, although the latter is a magic archives rather than a magic library. Similarly, the librarian in Hilda, named Kaisa, is a witch, can enter magic passageways and go to the Committee of Three, deep within the library. In the same point I pointed to restricted books in Equestria Girls, and the books only accessible to priests in Ascendance of a Bookworm. Then, in Merlin’s Story, the librarian on staff said that the school’s historical documents were not open to the public. It is further implied that the information inside the PYRAMID Academy library’s Ancient Egypt Room (part of the special collections), as shown in Cleopatra in Space, is restricted, perhaps to only academy professors, not students. At the same time, only certain students, like Callie, who heads the Ancient Egypt club at this intergalactic high school, may have access.

Last but not least, there’s the closed stacks in Riddle Story of Devil, authorized books in Soylent Green, and implied restrictions on a book that Somali (and the Golem) wants to read, in an episode of Somali and the Forest Spirit, as it has information about humans. In that case of that series, the librarian, Praline, is aggressive in her questioning of the patrons, going against guidance about reference interviews. Later, they can’t even use the book to get through the library’s catacombs, as witches get called when the alarm goes off, since Somali and Golem are labeled as “intruders.” After their harrowing escape, they reach their destination, but the witches appear and soon surround them, telling them to surrender, declaring this is a “restricted area.” Such limits on the information being shared are not unique.

This series is unlike any others I’ve seen, in part, because of the arrogance and privilege of Syalis. While this was clear from the subbed version, it came through even more through the dubbed version, with Kira Buckland voicing Syalis. She voiced Umi Sonoda in Love Live! School Idol Project, Beatrice (Hetaro Pearlbaton and Lucas) in Re:Zero, Luculia in Violet Evergarden, Sophia Ascart in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, and Makeru Yadano in Komi Can’t Communicate, to name a few. In terms of Syalis, her name probably is not a reference to the Cialis (also known as Tadalafil) medication.

However, the absurdity of this plot says a lot about libraries. For one, it says that this library is not very accessible. How can her information need (to find a book that makes her sleepy) be fulfilled if there are no librarians present? In some ways, Alazif helps her, but she does not appear to have knowledge of the library collections. A librarian would surely have been helpful. On the other hand, Syalis is capable by herself and can easily solve quests to ensure she gets a good night rest, with or without help. In the case of this episode, the librarian, more likely than not, would have been a demon and would have reported her.

In terms of libraries in real-life, some libraries in Wisconsin (Eau Claire) have taken measures against sleeping in libraries, while others have encouraged sleepy storytimes (Dickinson County, Michigan). Others have considered taking measures to stop sleeping outside libraries, or banned it when the library is closed. Additional libraries have installed sleep pods, like ones at McKeldin Library at University of Maryland, College Park, from what I remember. [5] The latter would definitely be something that Syalis would enjoy, for sure.

Although there are no fan fics for the manga, or anime adaptation, which use the “libraries” tag on AO3, there is one mentioning the aforementioned episode and the Demon Cleric. In this fic, the Demon Cleric thinks of sleeping in the library,which is said to have a quiet ambiance. It was further noted that “thousands of books were shelved on either side of the walls. Also, long tables and chairs were placed there for visitors to read books quietly with no noises disturbing them.” It was added that this library, like others, made it feel like the knowledge was seeping through you, and was vast. However, he wanted to avoid other people seeing him sleep there. Ultimately he and Syalis end up sleeping together and they kiss! It would have been interesting to see the anime, or manga, take this direction.

The manga, which is over 20 volumes, had various chapters set in the library. The first of these is the tenth chapter, which was adapted in the aforementioned “The Princess and Forbidden Knowledge” episode. In the chapter, Syalis, finds a forbidden grimoire, which includes “all the fruits of human wisdom,” after she reads books she deems boring. After she meets Alazif, in a secret room of the demon underground library and gets a sleeping spell, which doesn’t work on her. The second is in the 20th chapter, which Syalis goes to the aforementioned secret room, and asks Alazif for advice on sleeping better, and she gets a flower, known as Mangolasia, which induces a deep sleep. Then, in the 27th chapter, Syalis reads the forbidden grimoire, and learns about a mysterious device known as a kotatsu. Then there’s the 40th chapter, when Syalis learns about Valentine’s Day chocolates from Alazif, while she is in the demon underground library. She is told that people should give her chocolates because she is a girl.

That’s all for this post! Next week I’ll be writing about name changes and romance in the public library of Alter Ego. As a relevant reminder, I will be writing about sleeping in libraries in four other blogposts this year, often as secondary topics in posts about libraries as places of knowledge, refuge, studying, reading, and romance. [6]

Hope you all sleep soundly, as soundly as Princess Syalis!

© 2023-2024 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] I’m referring to the first two episodes of I’m Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness. In the first episode, “Naughty Encounter, the protagonist, Allen Crawford, helps Charlotte Evans (a disgraced noble lady framed for crimes), and tells her that she can do whatever she wants, even spending time reading in the library. He is shown doing his work in the library, which is crossing out huge passages in to-be-published academic literature, which he loves to do. In the second episode, “Naughty Way to Release Stress,” Allen, reviews his progress to make Charlotte do “naughty” things (eat cakes), and tries thinks of ways for her to experience what she hasn’t before. The next morning, Allen wakes up, after doing an all-nighter, and is excited by the list of “naughty” things he has come up with for her.

[2] In the 11th episode of that series, entitled “One-Winged Fallen Angel,” Sanae Dekomori complains that the librarians are slacking off and not shelving books, and says the teacher is being carefree. Yūta Togashi is distracted, as he is thinking about Rikka Takanashi. Later, in talking with Yuta, Sanae admits she was scouted by the drama club, and asks if he regrets what happened to Rikka.

[3] Holck, Jakob Povl and Kaare Lund Rasmussen. “How we discovered three poisonous books in our university library,” The Conversation, Jun. 27, 2018; Zawacki, Alexander J. “How a Library Handles a Rare and Deadly Book of Wallpaper Samples,” Atlas Obscura, Jan. 23, 2018; “These green books are poisonous—and one may be on a shelf near you,” Art Conservation, University of Delaware Art & Sciences, accessed Oct. 19, 2023.

[4] Shevenock, Sarah and Alyssa Meyers, “Is Gen Z Too Cool for Marvel? Just 9% of Marvel Fans Identify as Part of the Generation,” Morning Consult Pro, Dec. 6, 2021; Bell, BreAnna. “Martin Scorsese Compares Marvel Movies to Theme Parks: ‘That’s Not Cinema’,” Variety, Oct. 4, 2019; Scorsese, Marin. “I Said Marvel Movies Aren’t Cinema. Let Me Explain,” New York Times (opinion), Nov. 4, 2019; Dalton, Ben. “Martin Scorsese talks “theme park films”, Netflix trade-off, de-ageing concerns,” Screen Daily, Oct. 13, 2019; Lattanzio, Ryan. “Martin Scorsese Defends Marvel Comments in New York Times Op-Ed: These Films Have No Mystery or Risk,” IndieWire, Nov. 4, 2019; Fleming Jr., Mike. “Turns Out The Most Despicable Thing About Francis Coppola’s Superhero Movie Comments Was The Faulty Translation,” Deadline, Oct. 29, 2019; Lattanzio, Ryan. “Denis Villeneuve Says ‘Cut and Paste’ Marvel Movies Have ‘Turned Us Into Zombies’,” IndieWire, Sept. 16, 2021; Crow, David. “Roland Emmerich: Marvel and Star Wars Are ‘Ruining Our Industry’,” Den of Geek, Feb. 2, 2022; Faughnder, Ryan. “What’s up with the MCU? A new book chronicles Marvel Studios’ reign and stumbles,” LA Times, Oct. 10, 2023.

[5] Loroff, Alex. “Eau Claire library looks to hire full-time security monitor,” WLAX/WEUX, Oct. 19, 2023; “Sleepy Storytimes at the Dickinson County Library,” The Daily News, Oct. 16, 2023; “New Hanover Co. considering changes to stop people from sleeping outside of downtown library,” WCET, Jan. 19, 2023; Cohen, Nancy Eve. “Once a haven for people sleeping outside, after fire, Pittsfield library bans loitering,” New England Public Media, Nov. 28, 2022; Yeung, Lien. “BCIT installs new sleep pods in library,” CBC News, Aug. 2, 2016; O’Connell, Elizabeth. “Sleeping area could come to Main Library,” The Daily Wildcat, Dec. 6, 2016.

[6] They are: “Fictional libraries as places of refuge and knowledge” (May 28, 2024); “The fictional library and the value of studying redux” (Jul. 31, 2024); “The dangers in “my” library?: Box cutters, food consumption, books, and romance, oh my!” (Aug. 21, 2024); and “Are libraries just “for reading”?: Neptune’s declaration and the reality of libraries” (Oct. 29, 2024).

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