Sexaroid: Volume I

Sexaroid is the name of Leiji Matsumoto’s first sci-fi manga series (1974).  The series is composed of three very clearly defined arcs: the Kamiyo Plan, the Yayoi Plan, and the Third Plan.  I’m reading the Fusosha edition (1996) which comes in four volumes.  The first volume covers two-thirds of the Kamiyo arc.  The second covers the last third of Kamiyo and the first third of Yayoi.  Volume 3 covers the rest of Yayoi, and the fourth covers the Third Plan and a couple of sidestories.  This post will deal with volume one.

Halfway through the Black Rose Arc of Revolutionary Girl Utena (19)

Halfway through episode 19 Arisugawa mocks Nanami and Miki for their inability to change the objects of their passion.  Having said this, she thinks a bit more, and then includes herself in the same group.  Nanami’s retort, that she has always loved the same man and precisely this is why her love is eternal, is very interesting in a Platonic sort of way.  But I’m not going to deal with that here.

Oftentimes knowing the answer is not enough to solve the problem.

Certainly, Juri has always been obsessed with her best friend.  Nanami loves her big brother.  Miki, on the other hand, has made a sweeping switch from Kozue to Anthy.  One way to look at this is to say that for him, Kozue = Anthy, and so it’s really the same person, or better, the same ideal, that he has always yearned for.  Another possible perspective is to reason that deep down Miki still loves Kozue, and Anthy is a replacement that will never truly work for him.  Or maybe he’s simply switched, end of story

ψ · Alice gets her ticket to Wonderland

The proliferation of twisted retellings of Alice in Wonderland most likely conceals, rather than expose as one would expect, the dark side of that tale.  There is a gloom to Alice, a pervading sense of discomfort with one’s own skin that leads to anger and temper tantrums.  At the end of the story Alice finally realizes her awesome power and sets out to destroy the whole pack of cards opposing her.  But then she wakes up.

We have an Alice in the world of FSS, and she goes by the name of Jabo Beat.

During the Second Battle of Atork, when Vralgo Kentauri decided to effect his revenge on King Colus III, Jabo Beat was orbiting the embattled planet of Jüno with the A-Toll MHs from her nation of Hathuha.  Had Vralgo succeeded, Jabo would have been sent to wipe out the remaining Colus forces and press on to the capital of Jarth.  Vralgo’s failure meant that she had to go back home.

Jewel Pet 33: Oniisama!!!

It was about time!  I mean, we’ve got what, less than 20 episodes left…but let’s celebrate and focus on the positive:

Oniisama is here!  And he’s voiced by Jun Fukuyama!!  That means Mamoru Miyano, Aya Hirano and Jun on the same show.  Wow.  And he’s ready to kick some Jewel Pet butt.  And…

nyaaaaaahhh

OK, well, he was trapped in an ice pillar for who knows how many years so a trip to the kotatsu makes total sense.  Let him recover first.  His name is Dian, BTW, pronounced DEE-ahn.  Oh, look!  He’s warmed up now, and he’s ready to rock!

χ · A Window into Fillmore

One of the casualties of the Clotho/Jünchoon rage combo was Boowray cum Kneue Syltiss knight Bruno Canzian.  His Fatima Parasha saved him at the last minute, and later on Sharie Randers spared them, allowing them to be retrieved by the Hathuha forces orbiting Jüno.

Bruno’s name has been changed to Blreno in the English edition.  The change obliterates an allusion to the Italian singer of the same name, and so I’ll keep to Nagano’s original choice here.  “Bruno” is much more melodious anyway!

Parasha and her Master

Parasha was on the verge of following her twin sister’s fate when the A’p knights stopped Canzian’s beating.  That she remains alive after both have reached Kallamity shows us that Canzian is quite different from Syucha’s  master Sir Gellow.

First Impressions from the Black Rose Arc of Revolutionary Girl Utena (14-16)

At the end of the (first) Student Council Arc, Anthy sums up the seven duels fought by Utena so far with these seven words:

1.  friendship  2. choice  3. reason  4. love  5. adoration  6. belief  7. self

While these notions are all over the map, they are all positive, constructive feelings.  The duelists themselves are driven by an ambition to have these notions come to fruition in their lives.  And the key to this ambition is the Rose Bride, Anthy.

The Black Rose breaks with this scheme.  What was the key becomes an obstacle to be eliminated.  And the overarching drive for the duelists is not ambition but hatred.  We’re still fighting duels, but these changes are enough to entertain us and complicate matters further.  Is Thanatos stronger than Eros?  Is Kozue stronger than Saionji?  This is the question of the arc.

φ · Upandla vs Label

Volume 8 is a strange, strange beast.  It begins with a large picture of a devastating Mirage force with the caption reading Jüno 3960.  Then we have a 20 page mini-arc set in Addler in the year 4071, followed by a 25-page section set in Both, 2989.  Finally, the sleeve notes contain a detailed appendix on, of all things, dragons!

Colus VI and Daijina Meistner, in a future we have yet to see...

Trapeze 06: Woodpecker

The resolution of this episode is probably the easiest yet, because it flows from the natural process of growing up.  A kid can be a loser and grow up to be the the man; once you’re in your twenties, though, it’s probably too late.

υ · Sealing

The Trio de Colus triumphs and Hagooda surrenders.  But it’s not the Empire of Hagooda that gives up: it’s the Republic of Hagooda.  As the citizens storm the palace, the Queen comes face to face with F.U. Rognar and accuses him of fomenting revolution in her country.  He doesn’t deny it, and we realize that Emperor Amaterasu’s plans for Hagooda were successful to the wildest degree: not only did Rognar and Dippa spy out Hagooda’s connections with Fillmore and Hathuha, but they actually managed to destabilized the enemy of Colus and hand it over to them on a platter.

Revolution in Hagooda

Jewel Pet 31: Rabbitwalk

You might think that the Jewel Pet anime is just a vehicle for promoting the sale of various outrageously impossible characters.  It isn’t.  It’s a vehicle for the Pets to promote their own outrageous antics.

And it begins...

For example, on the surface this episode was concerned with evil Diana’s new ability to impress two pawprints on her victims, rather than her usual single one.  I’m sure this is what was on the script, and nothing more.  But Ruby Rabbit went off and hijacked it and wrote in her own private fashion show during the school festival!