Text | Turing
"Natsume's Friend's Account: The Empty Cicada of the Edge" was released in mainland theaters. Admittedly, this is a film that makes it difficult for me to write about it. It's not just a subtle touch of "wanting to discern what has been forgotten", but also afraid that my usual writing style will tear down this beautiful and pure film into tasteless "beauty and flesh". Yes, the suspense of "The Empty Cicada" is mediocre, the plot is simple, and the narrative rhythm is loose - but it is really a very beautiful and pure film, and it is intriguing: about fate, about growth, about the bondage between people.
From this point of view, Natsume's Friend's Account: The Empty Cicada is good enough even as an independent film (rather than an animated theatrical version); not to mention, it also has the loneliness and gentleness characteristic of "Natsume's Friend's Account".
The data comes from Douban. This work "Natsume's Friend's Account: The Empty Cicada of the Edge" received 8.2 points of praise on Douban
The "Natsume Friends' Account" series tells the life of a child who can see a monster, Natsume Takashi. Natsume Takashi's parents died at an early age, and because he could see the youkai, he lived in his own fear and the confusion of others, and this situation ended until he was adopted by his distant relatives Fujiwara and his wife.
One day, Natsume Takashi accidentally becomes acquainted with a sealed youkai, Ban (Cat Teacher), and discovers the relics of his grandmother, Natsume Reiko, who can also see yokai, a friend account (i.e., a contact book) that can drive yokai. Since then, Natsume, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Fujiwara and Hermit Teacher, has lived on the fringes of the two worlds of demons, slowly following in the footsteps of her grandmother Reiko, returning the names and freedoms of the yokai in her friends' accounts, and obtaining her own growth and bondage.
Yuki sensei Midorikawa, the author of the "Natsume Friends' Account" series of manga, and the highly acclaimed similar work "Firefly Forest" is also the handiwork of Midorikawa Sensei
This game, Natsume's Friends' Account: The Empty Cicada of Fate, tells the story of Natsume Takashi's accidental (daily) involvement in the bondage between humans and monsters. In the process of returning his name, Natsume Takashi stumbled upon a memory of his grandmother, and coincidentally met Ms. Tsumura, who was married and had a child today, and once again embarked on an unforgettable adventure. In the world of Natsume's Friends, the relationship between people and youkai is often not escaped with the sentence "Do not get together, but increase loneliness." (Ordinary humans can't see monsters.)
In this work, it goes a step further: the bird demon "Shadow of the Spike" is a big yokai carrying the mission of the messenger of the mountain god, and can enter human society as any person people know, but when he leaves, the memories related to him will also dissipate. The shadow of the spike wandered in such bonds and oblivion for a long time, and finally closed itself. However, behind the shrine of the "difficult god" (this god has long been migrated) that Ms. Rong Lizhi has been worshipping since childhood, it happens to be the residence where Hotaru Seals herself. In listening to Ms. Rong Lizhi's prayers day after day, Hotaru became acquainted with Ms. Rong Lizhi again, and accompanied Ms. Rong Lizhi as a starling for eight years after the accidental death of Ms. Rong Lizhi's son, Starling.
Even if "Natsume Friends' Account" S05E05 "Can't Get Together" has such a classic scene, "Natsume Friend's Account" S06E03 "Two-Body Adult" and S06E08 "The Day That Will Come" still give us enough dog food.... Also: "Can't Get Together" is really a must-see episode!
In fact, the production team probably didn't care about the so-called "spoilers" - the film's name "Edge Knot Empty Cicada" (translated as "Empty Cicada Chapter" in the original Japanese) gave enough metaphor.
The so-called "empty cicada" is from the "Tale of Genji Monogatari", which is known as "Toei's Dream of the Red Chamber". The empty cicada, literally referring to the faded shell of the cicada, is the "empty cicada hime" of a woman who has always escaped Genji's love in the Tale of Genji. Although she also loved Genji when Genji passionately pursued her, for various reasons, she quickly escaped when Genji secretly visited her, leaving only her coat for Genji, so the world called her "Empty Cicada Hime", which means "cicada out of the shell" (to be honest, it has the charm of Greek mythology).
In later Japanese literature, the intention of "empty cicada" often refers to the meaning of "human flesh" or "impermanent life" - and this is precisely the philosophical meaning expressed by the "God Punishing Demon" and "Shadow of the Spike" that passively affects the memory of "as it is" and "forgotten", and the life of "Shadow of the Spike" - body shape, memory or experience, which constitutes the bond between people.
In the original work", the great monster "Hotaru Shadow", as the messenger of the mountain god, is given the ability to be called "Divine Punishment": he cannot leave traces in the memories of others, only Hotaru himself will remember his past experiences - and this is what is particularly cruel to him. On the one hand, he hates himself for "cheating" and "stealing" the precious memories of others, and on the other hand, he must bear the pain of cutting off the shackles. In some schools of philosophy, the so-called "man" is the sum of all social relations—in other words, man is human because of the bond between people. With this "divinity", Hotaru shadow is doomed to leave no bond with others; and for hot shadow himself, any bond that may or has ever existed will end in nothingness, which is also the root of his self-closure - and this, how can it not be natsume Takashi's life?
The ED of the sixth season of "Natsume's Friend's Account", "Akane", sung by Aimer, is translated into Chinese as "Sunset No Kun". Its lyrics are not exaggerated as a summary and metaphor for this work
In this film, the supporting character Daisuke Yuki is the one who pushes the tragedy of Natsume Takashi's growth from behind the scenes: Natsume Takashi once thought that Daisuke Yuki, like him, was an unusual person who could see another world; but unexpectedly, it was just a temporary secondary two of Daisuke Yuki- Natsume Takashi, he finally realized that he had been, and perhaps could only be, a person from beginning to end....
But the next unfolding, which is the usual tenderness of the "Natsume Friends' Account" series, is that Natsume Takashi, who has powerful demonic powers, has not been drowned by sadness and loneliness, and he is no longer the fragile self he was then. With the help of humans and yokai friends, Natsume Takashi finally solves the incident, becomes a witness to Hotaru's experience during this time, and discovers that Ms. Rong Lizhi, who was "afraid" of her grandmother Reiko, is actually deeply looking forward to Reiko in her heart.
At the end of the film, in front of the tree where The Shadow of the Spike once accompanied Ms. Rong Lizhi to grow up, a bouquet of flowers that I don't know who put it appeared, which is a gentian flower. Gentian flower is the prefectural flower of Kumamoto Prefecture, the hometown of Yukishi Midorikawa, and the story stage of "Natsume's Friend's Account" is taken from Kumamoto Prefecture. In Japan, the flower language of gentian flowers is "snuggle up to your sorrows" and "lonely love", such an ending, intriguing.
Of course, another big attraction of this work is that it splits into three cute version of the cat teacher ~ although he is originally very cute - v- the picture is the limited edition cover of the theme song "remember" of this work, and the singer is Uru
As an animation work in the form of almost every independent unit drama, if you want to sum up the "Natsume Friends" series in one word, then there is no doubt that it is "gentle", and this work is no exception. Although it seems to be a Japanese-style quirk about "Hundred Ghosts Nocturnal", in fact, everything is only about the (once) lonely child and his friends (whether human or yokai), and his growth.
Natsume Takashi, like his grandmother, Natsume Reiko, was troubled by her ability to step into the world of yokai; but the difference was that Reiko, like so many other yokai or humans, protected herself by "breaking away" — and Natsume Takashi, the gentle Natsume Takashi, who was lonelier than anyone else, said "You thank you" to each of her sweet and sour lives—"Hello, thank you, goodbye." More fortunately, such Natsume Takashi also got to know some—even many—human and yokai friends who are still growing today, all because Natsume Takashi, who had been hurt by the world, actually had a gentle heart. What is even more touching is that Natsume Takashi, under the care of the Fujiwara couple (with the cat teacher), truly has a home.
Natsume's Friends' Account S05E10 Tatsuko and Shige is partly about Natsume's adoption, and this is my favorite episode of the series
In the afterglow of the setting sun, the breeze blows the field and the wind chimes ring softly. In Mr. Yoshimori Nobu's "Warm Home Road", the white-clad teenager embarks on the same way home as the big fat cat on his shoulder — and may also go to Nantsutsuya to buy a few bean sandbags for the big fat cat — which best sums up the temperament of "Natsume's Friend's Account".
In Japanese works, the expression of emotion is often restrained and restrained, but it is often possible to construct a special expression with strong tension between ordinary scenes and rich and delicate emotions. Japanese people come home every day and say "ただいま" (I'm back), and people who wait at home often respond with "おかえり" (Welcome home), which is the most precious thing for Takashi Natsume, who lives on the edge of the world of man and monster, and shines every day of his life.
What gives this unique temperament to the Natsume Friends Series is the famous curative manga artist Yukira Midorikawa, who is very good at combining traditional Japanese folklore with heart-warming daily life. But what is surprising is that this work "Fate Knot Empty Cicada" is not the work of Midorikawa Sensei, but a completely new creation - from the plot to the human setting, Midorikawa Sensei has not interfered too much in this regard; and the good news is that this work is quite consistent with the consistent temperament of the "Natsume Friends Account" series, and even it is not visible that it is an original work, and the general supervisor (that is, the general director) of the "Natsume Friends Account" series , Takahiro Omori, is indispensable. Omori supervised the first season of "Natsume's Friend's Account" to the entire series of works including the original work "The Empty Cicada of the Edge", and it can be said that he has a full grasp of the temperament of the series - it can even be said that Omori's personal style determines the temperament of the series.
In this game, the general supervisor of the series, Takahiro Omori, boldly used the newcomer Hideki Ito as the supervisor of the game; at the same time, the veteran of the series: screenwriter Sadayuki Murai was responsible for the script of the game; and the soundtrack and voice actors (voice actors) were naturally the original team members such as Nobu Yoshimori and Hiroshi Kamiya. Omori admits that he chose to make a brand new story instead of continuing to adapt the manga because "the manga [the story] is not necessarily suitable for a two-hour movie." Moreover, [we] also hope that the proponents of the work who buy tickets to enter the cinema will see new and different content. [This] is a reward to them. ”
Now it seems that "The Empty Cicada" has undoubtedly responded well to the expectations of Omori's supervisors and fans of the work, and the double high word of mouth and box office have explained everything. But most importantly, this work once again succeeds in touching and healing people with Japanese tenderness. "I want to be a gentle person because I have been treated like that by gentle people, and I deeply understand the feeling of being treated gently." Takashi Natsume in the play said so. As the original Yuki Midorikawa teacher and the series chief supervisor Mr. Takahiro Omori, he is probably also a gentle person in his heart.
It's already been released, but it's still my favorite poster. "Ten years of summer eyes, warm as ever." That's a good thing