Something Else is Going On: Romance and...a Coming Marriage

The fairy tales of the Goose Girl, Rapunzel, and Bristlelip bring home the possibility that not all historical fairy tales were romantic in nature--"romantic" in the intimacy sense as opposed to a tale about magic and courtly settings and acts of retribution. 

Unlike even with Cinderella, in which recognition pays a role, and Beauty & The Beast (of course) where the relationship itself is on the line, in the listed tales the relationship is the excuse for the action rather than the action feeding the relationship.

It's rather like chick lit. The relationship IS the container for shoe shopping, conversations with friends, family interventions, exiles and slogging travels. 

 

Likewise, the Goose Girl provides us with fights, stolen identities, dead animals, stalking (inappropriate) suitors, and spying before the couple ever gets together. The father in Davenport's film appears to do most of the work! 

 

Rapunzel gets the couple together rather early, but that's simply an excuse for blinding, babies being born in exile and other highly dramatic events. 

Bristlelip comes the closest to providing an actual relationship between husband and wife. As mentioned in the post on Votaries, the Davenport film does a fine job convincing the viewer that these two actually do rather like each other. 

 

However, I can't help but wonder: The "prince" pretends to a peddler and takes the "haughty princess" to live in a hovel, where she has to learn how to "make do." If she really does adjust to life in the hovel, might she just possibly wish herself back there? Once she makes the leap--Here's my new role. Hey, I can do this!--might she prefer to put her newfound skills to the test?

 

Nobody likes to be poor. But if the point is simply to make her suffer, rather than to grow, the tale comes across as somewhat sadistic. And if the point is for her to grow, why would she want to stop?

 

The husband just might wake up one morning and find that she went off with another peddler, took over his business, and set up in the next town.

 

After all, tales about weddings are often...about something else. 

Something Else is Going on...Actually, No, the Something IS the Thing That is Going On: Chihayafuru

In August, I will be posting about sports as therapy in anime and manga--as well as the all-consuming relationships within sports in anime and manga. 

The post here focuses specifically on the Taichi-Chihaya relationship in Chihayafuru. 

In many fairy tales, the character who undergoes the strongest internal arc is the female character. From Cinderella to Snow White, the prince is little more than a cipher, a stand-in for the heroine's triumph. 

Chihayafuru impressively switches these roles. Although the catalyst or action figure is Chihaya--the teenage girl who draws together her elementary school friends and motivates them to remaster the game of karuta--the character who undergoes the most change is Taichi, as he comes to grip with his own ambition and abilities. 

He also comes to grip with his romantic feelings--but those romantic feelings are not divided from the game. The game is not even the container for the romantic feelings. The two are inexorably woven together since Taichi's supposed rival, Arata, Chihaya's inspiration for the game, is also his rival at the game and his friend. The two young men maintain a relationship separate from that with Chihaya. 

At the same time, the three form a trio: their energy, vision, and insight galvanize other characters.

Since it is relatively obvious to an outside viewer that Chihaya has conflated nostalgia, personal ambition, and her passion for the game with Arata--a conflation that would end if Arata lived closer and became more than a memory-on-a-pedestal--the actual relationship between Chihaya and Taiki is allowed to thrive. 

In any case, the use of romance in the series is less about romance and more about the multiple threads of desire--that is, desire to win, to be part of a team, to understand the poetry, to beat one's personal record, to achieve a specific goal, to see one's friends again, to regain the past, to simply play, to learn more, to look cute...everything is woven together.

The same can occur in murder mysteries where romantic disillusionment can become hopelessly entangled with greed, others' goals, and physical needs.

Chihayafuru, of course, handles the entanglement far more positively.

Something Else is Going On: The High School Container, Assassination Classroom

Speaking of Hana-Kimi...

As mentioned in previous posts, romance nearly always has a "container," an underlying context that holds the meeting, dating, confession, consummation (hug, kiss, sex), as well as the long-term plans of a couple. 

High school is rather like the Titanic here--only less tragic. It supplies an automatic chronological container, replete with obstacles and authority figures and rules and an end date. A great deal of anime and manga and live action shojo/BL takes place in high school (far too many for me to attempt to list here--see narrowed list below).

Assassination Classroom is a great example of how a singularly ridiculous premise can be contained by the high school context. Not only does the high school contain the student assassins, assassin mentors, an evil (but effective) principal, bullying students, and the target...it supplies instant theme. 

Love & hate are bound up in high school. I have a crystal clear memory of standing in a school corridor staring through the window-paned outside door and thinking, "I could just go. I could just run. I could escape." 

And I was a "good" kid! 

Need the boundaries. Hate the institution. Loathe the authority figures. Admire and like them at the same time. 

Assassination Classroom bypasses the subtlety: hate the teacher, love the teacher. Defend the teacher, try to kill the teacher. 

In the meantime...figure out the real enemies.

Assassination Classroom underscores a truth revealed by numerous studies: kids who complete high school, no matter how reluctantly, do better in the long run than kids who drop out. The latter group can still succeed but it is difficult. There is something about "hanging in there" till the end of the slog and making it work that equips students for the rest of life. Assassination Classroom brings the reality home. Forget pass/fail. Do or die! 

Regarding romance and high school (where the high school is used for its plausible setting and chronological order), check out Hana-Kimi, My School President, Mars, His Favorite, Seven Days, Otomen, Just Around the Corner, Kare First Love, and Only the Ring Finger Knows.  

See also Interview with the Translator posts about high school and high school rules and school trips.

Something Else is Going On But Not Really: Romance and...Approval

Some romances will focus primarily on the romance. The ones that do and fail almost always fail because they focus exclusively on the main characters achieving approval. 

The approval plot rests on the idea that one of the lovers is not acceptable in some way due to--oh, name an issue. However, the other lover stays true...

And, honestly, it isn't a completely horrible storyline since loyalty is very attractive.

The problem with the approval plot is that ultimately there is nothing else there. The Thai drama, Secret Crush on You, is a case in point. Three "misfits" date three handsome, popular young men. Rivals show up, amazed that the popular young men don't know better. The college campus expresses its dissatisfaction through social media (it doesn't seem to occur to any of the characters to simply throw their phones away--yes, one can survive without a phone!). In the meantime, the misfits sit around and console each other. Every now and again, they adopt a stiff, upper lip as they deliver sermons to each other and the camera about the horribleness of the world and the need to believe in oneself.

It's rather like watching a fictional version of a self-help cult. And from a writing perspective, since the characters' stiff upper lips rarely translate into anything that resembles a distinct life choice, there's nothing there. 

In comparison...

Pride & Prejudice concludes with rich, handsome Darcy demonstrating loyalty to Elizabeth and repairing his mistakes through a series of deliberate actions. In the meantime, Elizabeth takes responsibility for her misreading of Darcy. She also stands up for herself with Darcy's aunt even though she believes that the relationship with Darcy has ended.

The final point is an important one. Lydia's behavior could have sabotaged her sisters' chances at good marriages. Yes, it is marvelous that Bingley and Darcy rise above it all--but Lydia's behavior was truly thoughtless and damaging, having actual impact on real life outcomes. Judging the family by Lydia's actions isn't--for the time period--a "bad" or "toxic" (a useless meaningless label--will writers stop using it?!) mindset that "shouldn't" impact "correct-thinking" people. It's a real plot problem from which Elizabeth isn't rescued (the reasoning behind a rescue seems to be that the scandal is sooo unfair, the fallout "shouldn't" be happening). Rather, she manages the problem and maintains her integrity.

Cherry Magic! The Movie demonstrates an Austen-like focus on self-responsibility while taking the real world into account. In the movie, when Adachi is hurt on the job several hundred miles away, both he and Kurosawa are upset that the nature of their relationship means that neither work nor family members contacted Kurosawa. So they determine to tell both families about their relationship. No blame is parceled out regarding anybody's close-mindedness. No lectures are delivered. No labels are applied. No assumptions about "well, you are cisgendered and heterosexual so you won't understand how much harder it is for us" are utilized. 

Instead of "here is how people ought to behave," the two men start from the realistic position of "here and now is what it is--and what we desire might take time." They also treat each family as a group of individuals with their individual perspectives and needs and issues. Everybody has a personal life--here is ours. We hope you can meet us half-way. They brave the unknown and take concrete action rather than waiting around for what they are supposedly owed by society or the universe or...I have no idea. Each man accompanies the other to his family's home. Each man speaks his intent and his future commitment while demonstrating respect for his lover's family.    

The result is more romantic than all the self-help speeches in the world. And healthier.

Likewise, Dew in 609 Bedtime Story doesn't blame his parents or fiancée or society at the end; the terrible events in the alternate universe lie, ultimately, at his door. He takes responsibility.

For a character worth investing in, what-is proves more fascinating in the long-run than what-ought-to-be.

Something Else is Going On: Romance and...Families, Chance to Love

In a previous post, I address the "container" (the plot that holds the romance) in Until We Meet Again. 

The "container" for Chance to Love, the sequel to Love by Chance is family dysfunction. 

Hints of the family dysfunction occur in the first season. The second season starts the Can-Tin romance over, softening some of their confrontations but seriously ramping up the family problem. 

And it is very smart writing, very nearly meriting all thirteen episodes. 

The first smart issue is that the two brothers are messed up without being evil. 

Tul and Tin were not physically abused, but they were pitted against each other by the grandmother and the second mother. That is, both young men have emotional and psychological hang-ups; neither is particularly trusting of, well, anyone. 

Both brothers, however, are intelligent, reflective, and objective enough to know that their upbringing stank. They both make efforts to treat the son/nephew better than they were treated--to even advise him, "You shouldn't be like either the younger or older brother."

But they have no blueprint for how to behave instead (so the son/nephew is somewhat spoiled--until Can comes along). The psychology is quite intelligent here: children from dysfunctional households may know "Well, that didn't work" but without outside families or role models to provide a counter, they lack the answering "Well, here's what to do instead."

In fact, when Tin begins to court ("hit on" in his parlance) Can, he states outright, "I don't know how to [court] you." Years earlier, Tul married the woman he got pregnant--and lost the love of his life. Tin's relationships tend to end before they get started. So neither brother is exactly aces when it comes to dating and relationships.

Hence, the amusing and insightful sequence in Season 1 where Tin meets Can's mother and sister--with whom Can has a good relationship. A bright guy, Tin immediately begins to adopt the mother and sister's behavior patterns. His attitude towards Can alters at this point as he realizes that it is possible to challenge Can--without being adversarial--and Can will respond positively, even reassess his positions (Can is very much a live-in-the-present kind of guy). 

In Season 2, without this initial meeting, Tin takes longer to mirror Can's blueprint of behaviors. And he falters, such as the first time Can receives misinformation about Tin from Tul. When Can asks him about the misinformation, Tin throws up his hands in a move that reminded me of Chandler's reaction to Chandler and Monica's first fight on Friends: "We had a disagreement. Okay, the relationship is over!" Can chases him down and yells at him. He wants an explanation. He believes Tin. Once he gets the explanation, he will continue to believe Tin.

The second smart psychology writing move is the father's misreading of his sons. 

Because he lost the first wife, whom he loved, and had to marry again for family reasons, the father assumes that he is doing Tin, the second son by the second wife, a favor by leaving him to his own devices. He understands his sons to a point but not substantively. So he believes that family-oriented Tul benefits from his position in the company and maverick Tin benefits from being pushed away to do his own thing. 

He has miscalculated and his speech at the end, partly to Can and mostly to Tin, is heart-breaking. He has produced two incredibly unhappy sons. He wants to set things right. He doesn't know how--

So he trusts Can's analysis of the family dynamics and puts the matter into Tin's hands, relying on Tin's fundamentally moral nature to clear away all the brush. And Tin does--in his own way and after piecing together multiple memories, some buried in Tin's childhood. 

The psychology here is also quite insightful. Tin and Tul are at odds, mostly due to Tul's actions (though not entirely). Tin has little reason to trust him. However, Tul's flailing about (which takes the form of lashing out in calculatingly cruel ways) is entirely based in his longing for the lover who will keep him balanced. Hey, Tin can relate! The brothers have, at least, one thing in common. 

Tul gets his lover back (when his wife divorces him to marry someone else) and Tin gets to be his father's right-hand man. The series' ending is entirely believable: Tul brings his new family to join Tin and Can at the seaside while the final scene shows Tin and Can spending time alone after Tin's recent return from an overseas trip for the family business. The sons have obtained what they desired and what best fits their personalities. 

The best psychology, of course, is that repairing the family dysfunction dovetails with Can and Tin's successful relationship. Tin is drawn to Can immediately for Can's honesty. 

That honesty isn't mere truthfulness or even (merely) a belligerent pronouncement of opinions. Unworldly Pete is truthful and Tin was never truly interested in Pete, no matter what he said (however, the fact that Tin is friends with Pete indicates that he values certain traits). On the other side, Can's confrontational reactions only get him so far. More usefully, Can not only says what he thinks, he revises what he thinks while he is talking. 

Can values consistency, evidence, and moral action, and he tries hard to bring himself into alignment with those values--out loud. Tin consequently has absolute proof that Can has no other agenda.

I discuss the Can-Tin relationships more in Better in Fiction Than in Real Life: The Mean Lover. 

In sum, although Chance to Love is considerably lower key than many other Thai dramas (soap operas), the "container" for the romance is robust enough to carry the series. 

Okay, sure, I still think it could be cut. 

But not by much.

Something Else is Going On: Romance and...Reincarnation, Until We Meet Again

In most romances (with few exceptions) some type of ongoing problem becomes the container for the romance. 

What that problem is makes a great deal of difference to how the romance is handled and resolved.

Thai dramas nearly always have some type of underlying problem or context. In fact, the inability of the underlying problem to fill multiple episode goes a long way to explaining why so many Thai dramas could be considerably shorter. (They average 12-20 episodes per season). 

Until We Meet Again has a decent premise. It then meanders its way through what I call "shoe shopping" (characters go here; characters go there) before returning to its premise. 

*Spoilers*

The premise is decent, and the handling of the premise is interesting and insightful. Over twenty years earlier, Korn and Intouch became lovers. When their fathers objected, Korn shot himself after which Intouch, who witnessed the event, also shot himself. At the funeral for both boys, the devastated fathers link their sons together with a red thread.

They are reincarnated as Dean and Pharm into each other families. I knew the plot before I got into the show and initially didn't see the point of the family exchange, but the point is actually quite touching. The boys don't entirely remember what happened to them though Pharm has nightmares. After they meet, they begin to remember. And they get the chance to reunite with their sisters and nieces and nephews and eventually, the remaining father from that time period. Family members are consoled and forgiven.

In other words, the plot's object is not to re-enact the past or to stop a re-enactment of the past. Although the characters return to the scene of their deaths, the possibility of a repeat is never a true fear. The object is to forgive and reconcile with past family members--and for Intouch (Pharm) to forgive Korn (Dean) for giving up so many years earlier. 

Within this container, the romance (meeting, dating, consummation, proposal and future plans) takes place. 

The container has a few issues. One is that I never fully accepted the connection to the past since the characters have such fundamentally different personalities. Pharm's previous self, Intouch, is sweet, extroverted, and happy-go-lucky; Pharm is reserved, pleasant, and tougher than steel. Dean's previous self, Korn, is pessimistic, withdrawn, uncertain, and impulsive. Dean is reserved and sometimes impulsive but far more self-confident and ambitious. 

However, the premise--once accepted--is quite fascinating. 

Except--second issue--it simply isn't enough to fill 17 episodes. Consequently, the "container" carries the romance for about half the episodes; the college environment for the other half.

I have a similar reaction to most Thai dramas--so much so in the case of Love is in the Air, I began to wonder if all the studio's money got spent on the motorcycles, leaving the last few episodes, which have notably bad production values, to be carried entirely by the actors.

With Until We Meet Again, I wonder if the studio said, "Wow, what a great premise! It can be stretched--" only to find that no, it really, really couldn't. (Another supernatural/reunion series with the same actors--609 Bedtime Story, which I will address at a later date--does far better at 11 episodes.)

Of course, I tend to feel that most things could be cut. I maintain that with editing, Until We Meet Again would make a fantastic 8-episode series that would simply rollick along. 

Hey, maybe somebody will do it!