A Fete Worse than Death

[ewein2412]

Last week while Tim was in CA I had to drag the kids thru the "Summer Fayre" at Sara's school. It was very earnest but SO disorganized. They'd been planning to have it on the playground, but it was pouring, of course, so they were forced to cram themselves into the corridors and classrooms and 2 small gym halls. They had a bouncy castle in one hall and a magician and refreshments (along with 3 different raffles, a plant stall, paint-your-own flowerpots, bake sale items--yes, you can sell baked goods if parents are coming along to supervise their nut-allergic kids in buying). One of the disappointments was that the visiting fire engine had to leave to put out a fire ten minutes after it got there. Mark and I got to watch the firemen putting on their suits and then speeding across the playground with siren wailing--and ten kids running after them, JUST LIKE in all the classic pictures of fire engines. Sara came out of the school building about thirty seconds later and said, "Where's the fire engine?" and we told her, "It had to leave to put out a fire."
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In other news:

Mark (5 years old): Why is your eye so small but it can see big huge things? My eyes are very small but I can see the whole of you, and you're big.

Tim (45 years old, pompously): "The eye is the window of the soul."

He wasn't trying to be helpful when he said it, but I took that ball and ran with it. "Look, the window of our house isn't very big, but you can see all of Perth and Kinoull Hill out there! Your eye is like a window!"
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I just adore Fullmetal Alchemist. It is so gorgeous and sweet and melodramatic and irreverent. Sara likes it too.

Incidentally, is there some special significance to the enormous array of manga characters who are blind (or nearly blind) in their right eye? I have got a character in an unpublished novel who is blind in his right eye (Dark Secrets of E Wein)

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Sometimes they're blind in their left eye. No, seriously, I have no clue, but there are sure a lot of them.

[shati.livejournal.com]

I've been assuming the eyepatches make them look dashing. Or something like that.

(Er, hello! You don't know me, I just love your books.)

[ewein2412]

Hello! I recognize you from my friends list! I was thinking more of the ones who just happen to be blind, and you don't know it until they make some mistake or lose their monocle. The secret flaw! I love it.

I wondered if there was some cultural deeper significance or symbolism to partial blindness that I'm unaware of. However, given the number of missing limbs in general that turn up, I reckon you're right; it's all about cool prosthetics. (I'm pretty new to manga.)

[shati.livejournal.com]

Ohh -- I don't think I've come across those characters so much. (I'm not new to manga, but I haven't read much overall.) I can think of one, Tzaphkiel from Angel Sanctuary, and that scene helpfully shows how he is tricksy like a fox. Beyond that, I can't really comment; not enough examples. Too bad -- there are probably a lot of interesting reasons for why the prosthetic limbs are cool.

[ewein2412]

The ones I had in mind were Hakkai in Saiyuki, and Syaoran in Tsubasa; but then there's Manji, who doesn't bother with an eyepatch or nuthin.

Lack of depth perception....

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

There's also two characters in Tokyo Babylon/X/1999,, a character in Fushigi Yuugi, and two characters in Fullmetal Alchemist. Also, they are all male. What's up with that?

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

Plus one in Fruits Basket. Oh, and one in Wish, who turns out to have plucked out his eye to give to his lover as an earring, which seems to be what either demons or CLAMP characters do in lieu of an engagement ring.

Who's blind in his left eye? I think it's right all around.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

It does seem to be what the X characters I referenced did in lieu of an engagement ring.

You know, I'm not sure if anyone's blind on the left side. I might have been confused by flipped manga.

[ewein2412]

I thought of that, but the three that started me off were definitely right-eyers, or else it's a verbal translation problem and not a visual one--it's mentioned in the text.

Did you see amphibiouswords's comment below? I think that's a really cool observation.

[ewein2412]

and incidentally, you are the eye-con queen

ahahahahahaha [is led laughing hysterically away to be flogged]

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

is led laughing hysterically away to be flogged

Indeed - and richly deserved!

You may have weaseled out of you punishment on "fete worse than..." (below) by claiming All the Other Kids are Doing it - but this one's yours; it's got your fingerprints all over it.

30 lashes with a wet noodle.

[ewein2412]

sorry, boss.

[ewein2412]

Yeah, they *are* all male. huh.

I have no answers.

[marith.livejournal.com]

Mmm. You don't see many scarred women in anime/manga, either. Perhaps facial injuries are supposed to make a man more attractive, but a woman less so?

(Which of course makes me want to design a lovely, hard-bitten heroine with a missing eye and scar. Hm.)

[ewein2412]

I know JUST what you mean. Hmmmmm....

Back when I used to read a lot of Batman-oriented comics, about 10 years ago, there was a very sympathetic (and beautiful) bad girl called Lynx who became one of Robin's nemeses, and she had an eyepatch--in fact she had her eye put out by her boss as a direct result of Robin outwitting her. I can't remember any plot details or which eye it was. She was supposed to be of Chinese origin, I believe (she was in a gang), and I'm pretty sure she originated in a Chuck Dixon storyline.

not that this throws light on anything; you've really got me thinking about scarred heroines, now.

Tehanu!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Dunnobout manga, but there's always Odin. Though the Japanese Secret Flaw sounds very cool - I wonder if it's particular to those islands? I'll ask around.

More Dark Secrets, please? That character sounds tantalizing. . . .

Quant a moi, it gives me such a headache trying to remember which eye Lord Ferris has the patch over - and since he has come to feature rather prominently in the new novel, I have to get it right!

[ewein2412]

the character I referred to as a Dark Secret does, in fact, represent Odin in some sense.

But I had to look it up in the ms. to see which eye it was.

"a fete wose than death"

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

You should be flogged for that.

Re: "a fete wose than death"

[ewein2412]

we say this ALL THE TIME, any time we have to go to a school fair.

[awelkin.livejournal.com]

The only thing I can thing of that might be a cultural reference is that a very revered warrior in Japanese culture, Yagyuu Jubei, is blind in one eye. It might be a stretch to call that a tribute to him. That's the only thing I can think of off hand.

Catherine

[ewein2412]

I like this idea. It might make sense in some cases.

[seajules]

I haven't read much manga, but I know Fullmetal Alchemist, Yami no Matsuei, Saiyuki, and Weiss Kreuz, all of which feature at least one character who is blind in one eye. In the case of FMA, Yami, and Weiss, said characters are untrustworthy and often villainous. In the case of Saiyuki, the character is arguably a good guy, but he's done horrendous things in the past.

All of the characters lead double lives/are not quite human/should have died/went through some form of death at some point in the past. Two of them wear eyepatches. One of them has a prosthetic eye and wears glasses (which glint, which is a sign of a character not to be trusted in anime, at least, if not manga), and one of them wears a monocle over an eye that looks normal, but also might be prosthetic (it's never made clear).

I have no particular insight into Japanese culture, so it's possible I'm making connections where there are none, but blindness in one eye does often seem tied to a secret nature of some kind.

[seajules]

Yikes. Apologies for the rampant italics. I thought I'd closed that tag.

[ewein2412]

This, too, makes a lot of sense, and is also true of Manji in Blade of the Immortal and Syaoran in Tsubasa. WOW--what a cool thing to have noticed! Best answer yet; many, many thanks. (apologies accepted about the rampant italics).

[seajules]

It was something that struck me when I first started reading Saiyuki after already being a fan of Yami no Matsuei. Your question reminded me of it, and of the fact that FMA and Weiss Kreuz also had characters who fit the theory.

[ewein2412]

which character is it in Yami no Matsuei? (Either I've missed this, or I haven't got to it yet)

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

In YnM, it's Muraki. I have never actually been sure which eye is artificial, since neither one looks human, although I'm going to go with right, since that seems to be the general rule.

Hmm. I'm not sure it holds true for Fruits Basket (where the character does have a double-nature, but so do others, and of the same kind) or Tokyo Babylon/X (where the blindings take place during the series and after the revelation of a dual nature, which again isn't limited to that particular character).

[ewein2412]

In most of the other stuff (certainly all the stuff I've encountered, which isn't a lot in manga terms but yields an astonishing amount of half-blind characters) the blindings definitely happen concurrently with, or in the events leading up to, the new life/change of nature/identity/mortality.

Muraki, okay. I'LL KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THAT

sorry sorry sorry

[seajules]

Both the unflipped manga and the anime show his right as the artificial eye, though I agree neither of them look exactly human.

There's also the flashback to Tsuzuki in the hospital with a bandage covering his left eye. The few other anime characters I can think of whose left eyes are covered/blinded are all "good guys" for whom the injury was not self-inflicted (which I just remembered is the case with the characters in Weiss Kreuz and Saiyuki, and would not surprise me is the case with Muraki and Tsuzuki) and for whom the injury often seems to represent prior blindness to some form of evil which led to the literal blinding.

[ewein2412]

I will watch out for the left-blind characters as well, now. Thanks for all the insight (Oh, heck, I'm punning again. But I didn't do it on purpose this time)--this is *exactly* the discussion I was hoping to generate! Much appreciated.

[seajules]

As an incurable punster myself, I must admit part of the fun of the discussion has been watching the wordplay. *G*

[ewein2412]

when I was trying to think how to thank you all I could come up with was "enlightening" and "an eye-opener" and it just kept spiraling downward from there. I'm surprised I managed to articulate anything at all.

[seajules]

Subconsciously, you knew such phrasing would bring a light to my eye. *G*

[ewein2412]

actually, I was a little worried you'd want to punch my lights out.

[seajules]

Even if we didn't see eye to eye on the topic, I am rarely so violent.

[ewein2412]

or that you'd be blind to the humor in it!

[seajules]

Well, I'm no comic visionary, but I like to think I can see my way around a good jest.

Really, feel free to stop me at any time.

[ewein2412]

time we turned a blind eye to this discussion...

[seajules]

I see your point.

[ewein2412]

[blink] ok, you win already.

[seajules]

Thank you for indulging me. *G*

[ewein2412]

it was mutual!