Gakkou Gurashi’s Disparate Strengths
Originally published September 2015
Commentary
As my Stray Notes mention, this was the last video before I went and did a second round as a Buddhist monk. I mainly did the three-part setup primarily because I wasn’t entirely sure how to approach it. It was one of those videos where I had a lot of things on my mind, but ultimately nothing cohesive that I can point at. In short, I had a rough series of ideas, but no thesis.
In hindsight, I think it would have made more sense to approach this in the context of a nichijoukei (日常系), given that it seems to be a distinct inversion of that. Given the manga’s publication in Manga Time Kirara, which is known for both the “cute girl” and “everydayness” imagery, it would have made more sense for it to act as a sort of play on that. After all, the entirety of the show is focused around everydayness and the therein collapse of it all.
On an unrelated note, I realised that amusing quirkiness of my early Stray Notes are somewhat insufferable.
Stray Notes
This is my last short form video until I come back from my monkhood
Sorry about the change in audio - Audacity recorded me differently somehow, I hope I sound well enough
I have not read the manga, because I am formalist scum
I didn't want to talk about the Stephen King comparisons, since I think it's use is primarily referential, not a dialogue. Y'all will likely prove me wrong, though
No numbers because I have trouble quantifying something I think is kinda hard to quantify
Texts
Monsters of the Market by David McNally
Modernism and Revolution: Russian Literature in Transition by Victor Erlich
Video
School-Live! - Sarajevo - A Street Under Siege (thank you based George Weidman)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, aka German Expressionism, the film
Audio
Huge thanks to MusicinNYC1 for his cover of Bruce Springsteen's Jungleland, of which you can find the cover here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyRUG73RcCA