July 2017 - Page 2 of 3 - deus ex magical girl

The Latest from My Editor

Featured image done got stoled from Kawaii Warrior Princess.

In another forum, my editor L. Jagi Lamplighter had this to say:

And do you know what else is hilarious? Your book! I was reading sections to John last night … when I could read over the tears of laughter … and we were both so amused!

The John here is Lamplighter’s husband John C. Wright, the prolific, Hugo-nominated and Dragon-winning author of such works as The Golden Age, Orphans of Chaos, Iron Chamber of Memory, and my favorite, Somewhither.

However Jake and the Dynamo fares when it goes to market, I know it has at least brought mirth to two people, and for that I am humbled and gratified. Producing tears of laughter is its only intended purpose.

Girl Got Game II: The ‘Revolutionary Girl Utena’ Rewatch, Part 8.5, Addendum

Yesterday’s post on the 1998 Revolutionary Girl Utena visual novel for the Sega Genesis is quite popular for some reason, so let me add a few more links of interest.

I have located exactly one walkthrough for the game, presented by Rouroni Kaji on GameFAQS. It’s a text file that briefly outlines the different game paths and lists what you need to accomplish each of the game’s nine possible endings. It’s a brief outline, with no images or description, that’s meant to be used in conjunction with the game, so it’s more-or-less unintelligible by itself.

There is also a playthrough of the English fansub by Geek Sentai on YouTube. It’s divided into parts; I post only the first here.

It’s not exactly exciting to watch; visual novels are sort of like adventure games minus everything that makes them even slightly interesting.

Girl Got Game: The ‘Revolutionary Girl Utena’ Rewatch, Part 8.5

End of line!

—Master Control Program

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In 1998, there was a Revolutionary Girl Utena video game. Semi-canonical, it was set chronologically immediately after episode 8, the one I just reviewed. It was created for the Sega Saturn. Sega Nerds reports.

The game was a visual novel, a type of video game that to this day has never found more than a niche market overseas, so it is no surprise that the game, subtitled Story of the Someday Revolution, never saw a release outside Japan.

Continue reading “Girl Got Game: The ‘Revolutionary Girl Utena’ Rewatch, Part 8.5”

The Spicy Episode: The ‘Revolutionary Girl Utena’ Rewatch, Part 8

The bird is fighting its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wishes to be born must destroy a world. The bird is flying to God. The god is named Abraxas.

—Herman Hesse, Demian

Revolutionary Girl Utena, episode 8: “Curried High Trip.” Directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. Character designs by Chiho Saito. Be-Papas, 1997 (Nozomi Entertainment, 2011). Approx. 24 minutes. Rated “16+.”

Watch for free here.

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Seriously, anime? We just had one of the best episodes in the series, but with episode 8, “Curried High Trip,” we’re right back to … that’s right, another filler episode starring Nanami. That means two out of the last three episodes have been Nanami-focused filler.

Even worse, “Curried High Trip” is based on the Freaky Friday premise, which was already more than played out by the time this episode aired. Fortunately, the next episode will be a major plot-mover.

Revolutionary Girl Utena is famous for being dense, convoluted, and kinky. I knew all that before going in, but I was unaware before I sat down to watch it that it is also extremely goofy. This is one of the goofy episodes. The story of “Curried High Trip” appears entirely gratuitous, though it does at least highlight one possible angle of interpretation, and it also emphasizes an important plot detail.

Continue reading “The Spicy Episode: The ‘Revolutionary Girl Utena’ Rewatch, Part 8”

Check Out the Pulp Archivist

Deus ex magical girl recently got a mention Nathan Housley’s blog, The Pulp Archivist. Glancing at his blogroll, it appears that he runs in the same circles I do. Check him out.

He has this to say:

D. G. D. Davidson has been discussing Revolutionary Girl Utena, a shoujo series aimed at teenaged girls, bringing a more balanced and thoughtful analysis of the anime and themes than the gloss of surface-level feminism that normally passes for shoujo criticism.

I’m glad to hear it. That is, in fact, one raison d’être for this blog, because I thought it was high time for an alternate interpretation of shoujo anime.

Pulp Archivist is part of a movement Housley calls “PulpRev,” which stands for “Pulp Revival” (or sometimes “Pulp Revolution”), an attempt to recapture some of the fun and grandeur of early sf and adventure stories. It’s certainly a movement I can support, even though I’ve moved from sf fandom to weeaboo in my personal interests. Housley has no great interest in magical girls, but he does from time to time discuss anime. Check him out.

We find a quick definition of the Pulp Revival from Misha Burnett, who summarizes it in “five pillars.” Although I may not be a formal part of this movement, I think I could argue that Jake and the Dynamo embraces all five of the pillars and could in that sense be called a pulp novel.

‘Jake and the Dynamo’ Update

Although I’m way behind where I’d like to be in producing volume 2, things are moving along in the process of formally publishing volume 1 of Jake and the Dynamo.

I recently got back in contact with Roffles Lowell, our illustrator, who’s busy producing the internal illustrations.

I also squared things away with my editor. I didn’t want to mention it in a post before things were definite, but I can now say that the editor is L. Jagi Lamplighter. She’s the author of the Prospero’s Children series and the YA Books of Unexpected Enlightenment. Her editing services come highly recommended by writers in the circles I run in, and she’s edited several respected books including Brian Niemeier’s bestselling and Dragon Award-winning Soul Cycle.

So far, she has this to say:

I finished all the previous projects and have started on yours. I cannot tell you how hard I laughed when I got to the dark queen questioning the lighting.

And the fifth grade thing is so horrible and funny!

A few chapters in but really enjoying it so far.

Although my original plan was simply to self-publish, there are some small-press efforts I wouldn’t mind being a part of, so exactly what I’m doing once the editing process is complete is still up in the air, but I’ll keep you informed.

‘Sailor Moon S’ Part 2 Released

I hope Uranus is ready for this, because Viz Media has released the second half of the uncensored sub of Sailor Moon S.

I’ve been looking forward to this for months and months. Now, in spite of my busy schedule, I’m planning to spend some quality time with Uranus. I will of course be talking about it here on the blog—because I want to make you feel the way Uranus makes me feel.

There are several ways to approach Uranus, but I’m planning to use iTunes.

I am prepared.

Did Not See That Coming: The ‘Revolutionary Girl Utena’ Rewatch, Part 7

The bird is fighting its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wishes to be born must destroy a world. The bird is flying to God. The god is named Abraxas.

—Herman Hesse, Demian

Revolutionary Girl Utena, episode 7: “Unfulfilled Jury.” Directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. Character designs by Chiho Saito. Be-Papas, 1997 (Nozomi Entertainment, 2011). Approx. 24 minutes. Rated “16+.”

Watch for free here.

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Actually, I’m kidding. I don’t think this show ever managed to do anything I didn’t see coming, but that’s mostly because I’d already watched a number of its successors by the time I saw it.

By the way, the image at the top of this post is official artwork. While I was searching for an eyecatch for this post, I happened to run into the blog Fairy Princess Witch, which features a group of girls who try to replicate the image. They don’t have the poses quite right, but it’s some dang fine cosplaying:

Juri, lean forward, and use your other hand. Shiori, grab her waist. Her waist, darn it.

Episode 7 is, hands down, one of the best episodes in Revolutionary Girl Utena. The first two episodes were very tight, but episode 3 was blah, and after that the show dinked around for a while. With episode 7, “Unfulfilled Jury,” it gets its game face back on. In addition to being one of the best paced and plotted episodes, it has one of the best sword duels. It also begins in earnest the use of bizarre and symbolic imagery that will become the show’s hallmark. Continue reading “Did Not See That Coming: The ‘Revolutionary Girl Utena’ Rewatch, Part 7”