[Oneshot] Departure: Samurai(Author's Note)
Author's Note:
Okay, someone once asked me why I needed to write an author's note about this. I mean, after all, it is a mere oneshot. I would like to agree yes, but at the same time, I feel compelled to say no. Although I have planned the story plot properly to give it flow and consistency--as I do with my other works, the characterization for this was really unplanned. The opening scene sprung out as a concept for a picture of mine with a figure representing a practice of the past--a flash bulb photographer, a geisha, a jazz musician, then against the illuminated lights of the city. The city lights represented the present as to how it was changing by the second so with that said, I might have to do a long exposure to portray that. The individual, can look at them as if they have frozen in time--unable to move and adapt to it.
And with that, those figures often fade away as they take on different practices.
As the world steps into the future, you see traces of globalization. People continuously become westernized--or easternized and they often forget about their old practices. They take on different interests, syncretizing with their own culture and eventually you see it as a norm. Despite of the idea that change is the only permanent thing in the world, I believe that sometimes there are things we must mourn for as they dimminish into the past. I would like to take this time to now discuss the character analysis for this story.
She timetraveled into the future and it is for reasons unknown. Things were replaced by "better things" as she experienced the train, that sped up travelling; clothes, that were easier to wear; a stove, that saved a tremendous amount of time in cooking; and the movie, that gave her better entertainment than the old plays she used to watch. These things already, had proven my point in writing the story. Old practices were now replaced by new ones, but it differed to what I wanted to show, as it was used to portray mere convenience.
The concept I really wanted to touch on was her nostalgia in the different parts of the story. Going to the festival was meaningful to her as it allowed her to reminisce of the things she was used to, but we can tell that internally she was hurting. She had gone to a place completely alien to her and finding a glimpse of what she was familiar to, gave a thirst for the past once again.
At that point, I was torn between two endings for her. It was either that she opened a dojo to preserve her culture and share it to other people, or she was going to bitterly adapt to her surroundings, abandoning her life as a samurai and work as a storekeeper. I merely chose reality because it shows that the story itself was meant to teach a lesson. We take up things to adapt to our changing world, and with that we succeed. In the same way, she abandoned the practices and she faced the present.
It is not to say that I am for the change of a more mono-cultural world but rather, I wanted to draw attention that we are heading into that direction. It would be nice if she opened the dojo, if she was able to somehow utilize her skills but it was impossible then. Her life was already dying, the moment she stepped in the present world.
During the time as to when she went to the festival, she was reminded of what she had left behind, and with that she attempted to go back. Retracing her steps back to how she got to the present, she stood to where she first found herself. And being unable to find a way, she wanted to perform the pinnacle of her practice--to perform an honorable death. Unfortunately, what she had grew fond of in the present had stopped her, leaving her sad but accepting of her defeat. She even finds it unfair as she states that she was meant to die with her sword but yet, she had been given the opportunity to stray away from it entirely. Then it becomes a reason for her crying: as she was given a second chance to break off any ties she may have with the past--but they are not tears of joy as this is the only thing she knew about.
Yuri's role in her life, was a cushion or support to her reality. Unlike everyone else, her coming in the future was abnormal and Yuri was there to equalize that, as she learned of her circumstances. At the time that reality had struck her, Yuri's acted as a catalyst as to what she should decide, if she was going to stay or not.
The ending showed that she stayed and accepted the fading of her identity. She overslept, forgot to exercise, she started learning how to cook western food, and she accepted the loss of her past. Completely abandoning her old practices, she was now hopeful of adapting to what the present offered her. And in finishing, we realize the sole underlying theme that Social Darwinism, is indeed king.
Note: Again, this was supposed to be a mere picture explaining diminishing and adaptation but it had turned to a better argument with the story.