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OTAKU_DUSK


                                                     May  9, 2012

  Via crunchyroll.com,
  I started watching a few       I wonder about the title "Dusk
  episodes of "Dusk Maiden       Maiden"... Might the original
  of Amnesia", and was           Japanese be more like "Autumn"
  initially disappointed at      (the opening visuals show the
  it being such an obvious       ghost dancing in a classroom
  rip-off of "The Melancoly      carpeted with autumnal leaves).
  of Haruhi Suzimiya".           You might feel that "Autumn" or
                                 "Autumnal" sounded awkward-- and
                                 "Fall Maiden" has some funny
                                 double meanings ("fallen maiden"?).

   MELANCOLY

  The bossy, magical girl (in this case,        SPOLILERS
  she's a ghost), who forms a school club
  (a paranormal investigation society) and
  cajoles the reluctant (for no apparent      The ghost does some heavy
  reason) male main character into going      flirtation that he's very
  along with her...                           disconcerted by (again for no
                                              apparent reason, except maybe
  The third player is a bumbling              hey, she's dead).
  young girl who, though she can't
  see the ghost at all, takes the
  investigations seriously. She
  also seems enamored of the male
  main character...

     None of this looks very
     promising at this stage: a
     ghost that can't remember
     how she died and is becoming
     interested in finding out, a
     romantic triangle with
     little to keep it stable          I can't possibly be the only
     throughout the series.            one who finds it a strange
                                       convention: the shy young
                                       teenage boy that runs away
                                       from sexual situations.

                                              It doesn't take a lot of
                                              this before the entire
                                              audience starts holding
                                              up "JFH" signs.



         Despite the similarites to "Haruhi",
         I held off on judging "Dusk Maiden"
         too harshly:

         In this realm there's always an
         original that's been imitated, to
         the point where it's hard to say
         what was original, anywhere, ever.

         And really, it wasn't *so* badly done:
         the artwork was decent, the timing
         of jokes was tight enough, the j-pop
         theme listenable.

              And then in the third episode,
              they nail it, they introduce a
              fourth character, and raise an
              entirely new issue: the ghost's     Myself, I wonder about the
              appearance changes radically,       mental age of the ghost: she
              reflecting the fears of the         looks like a young girl,
              observer... so what is her true     but she's had half-a-century
              nature?                             to watch human interaction,
                                                  to eavesdrop on classes, etc.

    It's possible that the old stories going          Did she really spend
    around the school about a ghost that tries        half-a-century
    to lure you into the underworld are correct       without speaking to
    on some level, and her heavy-handed               anyone?  How did she
    flirtation is the attack-mode of a                stay sane?
    succubus. (Dangerbaby likes that theory.)
                                                          Or is "being dead"
    Or it could be that the ghost's behavior              all about stasis,
    is entirely as she represents it: it's been           in which case how
    decades since she met anyone who could                can she remember
    see and touch her, why wouldn't she be                what was said the
    enthusiastic about meeting a boy who can?             day before?
    Then the theme is the way an individual's
    perception can be poisoned by someone
    else's opinion.  (I like this theory.)


              I wouldn't be surprised if this
              element of ambiguity has been used
              before in other ghost stories, but
              it's a new addition in this
              setting, a deviation from the
              (watered-down) Haruhi Suzimiya
              formula they'd been following.


              Now this, to me, Just Worked,
              and from the middle of that episode    Though it could be if
              I could see how it would work:         I knew my way around
                                                     j-ghosts better it
              The main character                     would all just seem
              conquers his fears, and                like more cliches to me.
              learns to see the ghost
              as a beautiful young
              woman again; the hostile
              young relative with the
              dark suspicions is
              recruited into the club;

                And yes: both shoes
                drop by the end of                Myself, I would have
                the third episode.                them explain to the
                                                  young investigator
                                                  that there's really a
              Now that the ghost has a            ghost on the scene,
              scary aspect, they can play         but I suspect, as per
              that up periodically to             the Haruhi formula,
              rationalize why the male main       they won't be able
              character tries to keep his         to resist keeping that
              distance.                           no-brainer generator
                                                  of dumb jokes.
                And they're all set
                for the traditional                    Not that they need
                "harem" scenario,                      any help coming up
                a grouping where all                   with dumb jokes,
                the women are focused                  not with gigundo
                on the one male.                       ghost tits to play
                                                       with.



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