No, no, this was a good review. I am honestly surprised you liked it as much as you did, because I knew you were bone-tired that day, and I also know it’s not the kind of stage you enjoy most.
You did a great job covering the story. I hadn’t gotten much of an idea of what it was about, only that it was set in the 1960s and was a comedy.
I am possibly interested in the DVD. Do you have any details on it?
And fresh comment:
Thanks extra much for your comment about Seto's character. The Japanese who talked about him mostly said that they really liked his strange character, without any hint that they thought the character was developmentally delayed or neuro-divergent, so it was difficult understanding what it was they liked.
I also find it interesting that there was such a split between the younger and older audience members. I wonder if this is part of a complete change in humor or just reflects different experience.
I get the feeling Japanese people are not very well educated about mental health. If I had been a few years young I too would've just thought 'oh it's a dumb, stupid but funny character' but I just felt like I was getting Rinne vibes from him and there's one moment where someone tells him he's no stupid and he's completely shocked, almost like he'd been verbally abused all his life and therefore led to believe that he's stupid and that too could've created a mental problem. He also has a lack of understanding other peoples emotions and he definitely can't read the atmosphere hence why I felt like he might have autism.
I'll check that link after the final show. Maybe they will pop up the DVD then.
Yeah, Japan is horrible regarding mental health issues. I think it's worse for the US since there's no excuse to be so ignorant. It's a shame there aren't more people translating mental health research into Japanese, though. Unless a doctor is fluent in English and has the interest to keep reading, it's likely that whatever knowledge he finds in Japanese will be 20 years out of date, considering the slow rate of translation. I wonder if a large proportion of hikikomori aren't autistic and not diagnosed.
But maybe there are Japanese comedies that feature autistic-seeming people that don't get laughs at the expense of those characters? I should watch them if they exist.
Oh, here we go. You had asked me once about the Japanese playgoers reviews I had read on this. Here's one talking about Seto's character:
ピュアな弟の役がもう最高に似合っていました。 自由極まりないくらい自由な振る舞いも、みんなに愛される要素たっぷり で、いちばん笑わせてもらった。 x
And that's pretty much what others had said. I think that, perhaps because they aren't attune to autism, that the character is seen as having freely chosen to defy social niceties, and so they feel he's doing what they secretly wish to be doing, and they get a sense of, um, what's the word? catharsis? Whatever it is when you see enacted in fiction the actions that you wish you could take. (Dayum. I need to brush up my lit crit skills. )
Hmmm I definitely didn't get that vibe at all from Seto's character xD It was more like he doesn't have the social skills to understand what he should and shouldn't say in public and when he brother told him 'you shouldn't be saying that' Seto's character couldn't understand why. Which again shows his lack of understanding social norm and reading the atmosphere. A person who defies social niceties understands what those rules are in the first place but just chooses not to go with it and very obviously not go with it, but Seto's character didn't (more like 'couldn't') even understand what he said was wrong!
Comments 5
No, no, this was a good review. I am honestly surprised you liked it as much as you did, because I knew you were bone-tired that day, and I also know it’s not the kind of stage you enjoy most.
You did a great job covering the story. I hadn’t gotten much of an idea of what it was about, only that it was set in the 1960s and was a comedy.
I am possibly interested in the DVD. Do you have any details on it?
And fresh comment:
Thanks extra much for your comment about Seto's character. The Japanese who talked about him mostly said that they really liked his strange character, without any hint that they thought the character was developmentally delayed or neuro-divergent, so it was difficult understanding what it was they liked.
I also find it interesting that there was such a split between the younger and older audience members. I wonder if this is part of a complete change in humor or just reflects different experience.
Thanks again for your excellent review!
Reply
For the DVD I'd have to go and check out who the production company is *searches*
I assume it would pop up here eventually: http://www.e-fanclub.com/cube/webshop/search.asp?search_kwd=%83P%83%89%8E%F3%8F%DC%8A%D6%98A%8F%A4%95i
I get the feeling Japanese people are not very well educated about mental health. If I had been a few years young I too would've just thought 'oh it's a dumb, stupid but funny character' but I just felt like I was getting Rinne vibes from him and there's one moment where someone tells him he's no stupid and he's completely shocked, almost like he'd been verbally abused all his life and therefore led to believe that he's stupid and that too could've created a mental problem. He also has a lack of understanding other peoples emotions and he definitely can't read the atmosphere hence why I felt like he might have autism.
Reply
Yeah, Japan is horrible regarding mental health issues. I think it's worse for the US since there's no excuse to be so ignorant. It's a shame there aren't more people translating mental health research into Japanese, though. Unless a doctor is fluent in English and has the interest to keep reading, it's likely that whatever knowledge he finds in Japanese will be 20 years out of date, considering the slow rate of translation. I wonder if a large proportion of hikikomori aren't autistic and not diagnosed.
But maybe there are Japanese comedies that feature autistic-seeming people that don't get laughs at the expense of those characters? I should watch them if they exist.
Reply
ピュアな弟の役がもう最高に似合っていました。
自由極まりないくらい自由な振る舞いも、みんなに愛される要素たっぷり
で、いちばん笑わせてもらった。 x
And that's pretty much what others had said. I think that, perhaps because they aren't attune to autism, that the character is seen as having freely chosen to defy social niceties, and so they feel he's doing what they secretly wish to be doing, and they get a sense of, um, what's the word? catharsis? Whatever it is when you see enacted in fiction the actions that you wish you could take. (Dayum. I need to brush up my lit crit skills. )
Reply
A person who defies social niceties understands what those rules are in the first place but just chooses not to go with it and very obviously not go with it, but Seto's character didn't (more like 'couldn't') even understand what he said was wrong!
Reply
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