Some minor (very minor) spoilers for later episodes of the series in this
commentary...
Oooh, yes... I forgot to mention that on the top. Really should know better,
after that whole Key incident...
>Sometimes, the old ways are better.
...or so those forced to resort to them so often proclaim.
Yes, well... ^_^;;
>Come onnn... damn, but these modem connections here at Ohtori can be so
>*slow* sometimes...
There was no money left to spend on DSL lines after blowing the entire
construction budget on the architecture. But, damn, does it look pretty.
:)
Hee-hee.
>Just got to thinking how Akio promises to name a comet after his fiancee,
but
>after the Black Rose, she seems to disappear.
Actually, Kanae reappears twice in the series: once in episode 30
(accompanied by her mother, who lectures Akio on not spending enough time
with her), and again in episode 32 (where she appears listless and hollow
as Akio feeds her slices of apple).
Whups. And I *do* remember both those scenes... just couldn't recall when
they took place.
>So I decided to let Akio keep his promise.
In my unreleased and lengthy post-series fic, "Jaquemart", I have him do
the same. Seems an obvious idea. However, there's a canonical fact that
rather gets in the way of it in the context of this story (which, I
presume, is meant to be plugged into the series)... from Episode 34
(dialogue snipped from the English scripts available at
http://www.duellists.tj):
Akio I just found a comet.
Akio A new star that no one knows about yet.
Akio But I won't tell anybody...
Akio ...or give it a name. Strange, isn't it?
Akio I feel like when I discover a new star I make it mine.
Akio But a star is a star. It belongs to nobody.
Akio It belongs to nobody.
Huh. Irony of ironies, I have all the episodes, but episode 34 is
unsubtitled, for whatever reason. Ouchie, huh?
Perhaps Akio waited until someone else found his comet, and then stuck
Kanae's name on it? :)
That *was* the idea, sugar. ^_^
>It's not a bad metaphor; a brilliant light from a distance, but
>nothing but ice and filth up close.
I do like this line very much; you might want to work it into the story
somehow.
Not this story... the anonymous freshman really does want to have a comet
named after him/her, too... granted, I have him/her do a bit of sour
graping...
Maybe in another one. Although hey, if you find a use for that turn of
phrase, be my guest (more on that - and The Graduate - later)
This is a nice little "behind the scenes" story, Ukyou, but I think you
might want to rewrite bits of it to deal with canonical facts, such as
Kanae's reappearance in 30 and 32, and Akio's decision not to name or
report the comet he finds in episode 34.
You know, I'm not sure where in the timeline this story even *is*... though
given their lovey-doveiness, yes, I suppose it's around episode 14, ne?
I think you told me on IRC a few weeks ago that you'd seen the entire
series... without getting into spoilers, this could be fairly easily
rewritten to take place after (or, if you prefer, shortly before) the
series ends. Kanae never does appear again after episode 32...
Let's talk about it sometime soon. This had to be written as it was, or I'd
lose it (a lot of my fics are like that - I don't know how you manage epics
like Jaquemart without losing your train of thought), and it does have kinks
that need hammering out.
Good work.
Coming from you, I consider that high praise. I've just read The
Graduates... sugar, you raise the bar awfully high (or do I mean awfully
deep?) for the rest of us to try and write Utena fanfiction. It's a good
series, it's charming, it's romantic, it's like peanuts at a bar - you can't
get enough of it once you've started. It's even open-ended, so you can write
your own continuations... for all intents and purposes, Utena is the next
Ranma.
But it's so damn deep... it's hard to figure out what's going on. I mean,
what's REALLY going on. So many mirages and dead ends, it's all terribly
confusing. And you seem to navigate yourself through it so effortlessly,
Alan. Damn, but you'll make the rest of us look bad. Thank you for writing,
both fics and commentary, and hope to hear more from you in the future -
you've got the rest of us intimidated into silence.
Itsu mo,
Ucchan ^_^;;