Otoyomegatari – 85

Ah, the innocent days at the dawn of the camera, before cats told each other not to stand still for photos…

I suppose on some level Mori Kaoru represents a sort of Platonic ideal of slice of life, arguably the most overused term in manga and anime.  She’s no pretender – when she goes full bore into slice of life mode, she commits 100%.  For a monthly manga like Otoyomegatari that can be a little frustrating, as I’ve noted before – chapters like this one do tend to make one wish something more had happened.  But on the other hand, no other series is quite so good at them and no other artist presents them quite so beautifully.

Although the focus (pun intended) on it has perhaps gone on a bit too long, the camera is a very interesting piece of technological development.  It’s impossible for moderns like us to imagine what a revelation seeing yourself on film for the first time would be.  Or seeing your children, or your lover, or your cat.  Of course for Henry, the camera is an invaluable tool in his life’s work – documenting the daily lives of the people he meets in Turkey.  Their unfamiliarity with it can present challenges – as can the local social mores, which prevent him from taking photos of the women at their ease.

Fortunately Talas is a women of considerable mettle and a keen observer, and she happily volunteers to snap the pics herself – which the husband allows provided the wives themselves aren’t in them (an edict the three women promptly ignore once the euphoria of the moment is upon them).  Talas has already more or less figured out how the camera works, and once the sister-wives see the product of her labors they become quite enthusiastic about getting maximum use out of the camera.  The kids won’t sit still, but the cat does (and so do the flowers and trees), and both Mr. Smith and his hosts have treasured documentation of their time together.

Where do we go from here?  Well, I’ve already made clear my opinion that we’re headed for a sort of reunion tour, where Henry and Talas revisit all his old friends, concluding of course with the ones most dear to him, Karluk and Amira, before sailing back to England.  I would be remiss in not mentioning that it continues to be possible to follow this journey (whatever course it takes) in English thanks to the efforts of those who are taking the time to translate it.  My gratitude to them, both past and present, for giving us timely access to Mori-sensei the writer, as there can be no better complement to Mori-sensei the artist.

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7 comments

  1. e

    Yeah, the thankfulness is real. And at least on my end it hasn’t affected my commitment to buy each volume as it come out one bit, unlike what some some esteemed manga scholars like to lament…
    Mori lingering on the camera fascination: while I don’t mind the lingering and actually quite enjoy it here I agree with your analysis on her reasons for doing so. Furthermore as visual artists we’re living cameras so to speak… or rather the wish to use them was born from the same root…

  2. M

    Considering our understanding of technology and the concept of sci-fi as a whole, I doubt there will ever be another time in human history when we will be as awestruck by an invention as we were back then. The industrial revolution truly is a quantum leap in technology.

  3. Maybe if “the singularity” comes to pass, that could be on the same level. But yes, that was a pretty unique time in human history, for better and worse.

  4. M

    I know this is out of topic but I figured a manga post would be the most appropriate place to ask.

    Have you ever thought about blogging a manga past where it’s anime adaptation left off? I’m sure I wouldn’t be the only one interested in your thoughts on series like “Kingdom”, which have a lot of story left to tell after their anime run ended but are unlikely to get another anime devoted to them.

  5. I’ve actually done that with Chihayafuru and Hunter X Hunter, though neither is ongoing for me (for different reasons). I’m certainly open to doing it with other series and have considered it, though I haven’t read any of the Kingdom manga so that wouldn’t be where I’d start (and as Yukie noted, we have another season confirmed).

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