Mermaid

 1. Main idea of the anime

    I think the main idea of the anime is imagination and fantasy. It’s trying to tell us how wonderful our power of imagination is.

2. What’s going on in the anime?

    It denounces the tragedy how the imagination that is inherent in human nature is stolen from us by management education. We can see this from the anime, where the boy gets arrested and his ability to fantasize is forcibly taken away by the government. Around the time this work was produced, "examination wars" became an issue in Japan. At this time, the education scraped away children's individuality and averaging them out was becoming prevalent.

3. What do you think happened in the end?

    When he finally got released, the boy no longer remembered the mermaid. Grieving, the boy went into the sea. Though, surprisingly, he reunites with the mermaid. In the end, the boy and the mermaid disappear into the sea.

When we grow up, we all forget what happened to us as children and think that it was a dream. But I believe the boy refused to forget his childhood fantasies and disappeared into the horizon where no one could reach him.

Mermaid Reaction

What (I think) is happening in the video

The story begins with a boy sitting at a beach. He sees a fish washed up on the beach, then saves it by dropping it into a sea puddle. Then the fish he saved magically morphs into a mermaid. As a tribute for saving her life, the mermaid gives him an ocean tour. Soon and later, the boy decides to take the mermaid home with him by putting her into a tank filled with water(or sea water). He then goes to show the mermaid to his family. However, she, whom he saw as a mermaid, was just a fish to the others. The place he lived in forbids their people from having imaginative thoughts. So when he called the fish a mermaid, it triggered what seems to be scientists and the policemen to go furious. Resulting in the execution of torture(tickling?) to get rid of his imagination. The torment did not seem to work on him. The boy then manages to escape the facility with a ton of people chasing after him. Eventually, he reaches the beach he was at in the beginning of this story. Nowhere else to run, he decides to dive into the ocean. He then turns into a merman, living happily ever after with the mermaid he saved.

Mermaid (1964)

1. Main idea

    The main idea of this animation is imagination. It contains a message about being unique, and loneliness and hardships that come with it. This short film is a protest against the exam wars and the mass production of "normal" citizens with no indivisualism or uniqueness.

2. My interpretation

    In one scene, the boy shows his parents the mermaid, but they only see a fish. Then they sent him to some sort of facility to get him "fixed". This shows that the boy and his parents might not have had good relationships. It may be the reason why he was looking lonely and depressed at the very beginning of this video. Maybe he wanted someone he could talk to. Loneliness could be the reason why he started to see something in the fish others did not see.

3. About the end

    With his power of imagination fading away, he escapes the facility and rushes to his home to see the mermaid, but he could not see what he was able to see before. He then goes to the beach where they first met to release the fish, though surprisingly, the fish once again turns into a mermaid. Afterwards, he turns into a merman and they swim far away from land, leaving everybody else behind.

    I think this is a metaphor for if you remember the spirit that you started with, even if your imagination or your dreams begin to fade, there could still be a chance. Moreover, it tells us to do whatever makes us happy and to do that with the right person/people.

Yamato's self introduction

 Hi everyone.I'm yamato.

I'm going to write about my background stories and my hobby.

I was born in Fukuoka and I moved to Yokohama when I was 2 years old. My relatives live in Fukuoka. I went to there during summer vacation every year, so I can speak Fukuoka prefecture's dialect. （Kitakyuuben and Hakataben）Do you know the meaning of this famous dialect sentence 「おっとっととっとってっていっとったのになんでとっとってくれんかったとっていっと～と」？

I speak Kitakyuuben when I talk with my family.　I'm a native speaker of Kitakyuben,so I can tell you about it!

Next I will write about my hobby.

I like watching baseball games. My favorite team is Seibu Lions which is based on Saitama. I went watching a game yesterday with my highschool friend. Chihiro Sumida, the starting pitcher of the game got second win in his carrer. The game was very exciting!  

I'm looking for someone go to stadium with me. If you are interested in watching  baseball games, please talk to me!

Hello

Hi I’m Akane:)

 Hi everyone! I’m Akane Taro.

This is my first time posting here, so I’m going to talk about myself.

My hometown is Okayama. Do you know Okayama? There’s nothing interesting, so I assume some of you guys don’t know about Okayama at all haha. Here’s one thing about my hometown. Braille blocks were first placed on the road in Okayama.

This is my second chance to study at university. Actually, I was in a university in Fukuoka last year, but I got really bored there. So I left there and came to AGU. I left my apartment and came back my home in Okayama last summer. After that I started a part-time job at Starbucks and worked for 6-9hours for 3-5days in a week. I had to quit the job as I came to Tokyo, but working experience there really helped me in many ways. If you want to know super tasty drinks, talk to me! I know how to customize a good coffee or tea:)))

I love talking to people, but I’m scared to do it here in our IE class because I’m not confident enough to talk with someone in English and you guys use English super naturally. I want to talk with you badly, maybe I’ll try next time. Or I’m waiting for you talking to me ;)

See you in our class room!

Seiya's background story or something.

I'm not sure if this is where I write the stuff but anyways,

hi, I guess.

I am currently writing this blog at 1 am. How am I awake. Am I an Insomniac. (Maybe I should check out the insomnia quiz.)

My name is Seiya, and I am a mix of Japanese and white. I was born in U.S Oklahoma and stayed there until I was three or four years old. Then I moved to Aomori prefecture in Japan. 

I then stayed there for about three years and then moved to Shibuya. I went to the elementary school right next to our campus (Not the elementary school built in the Aoyama campus). I saw a Dango shop I used to go to as a kid last week, which made me feel nostalgic. Y'all should definitely try the Amazake-Manju they have there, it's really good. The steamed bun has a nice amazake whiff with anko/red bean paste inside that has a nice creamy texture. 👀 It's only 180 yen. (Sorry, I'll stop talking about food now, this blog was supposed to be about myself. Not some Manju.)

Ok, Then I moved to Germany. I stayed there for about three years, I think. I can't speak any word in German since I went to an all-English school on an American Military base. The only word I know is dunkeshiun and I think it means thank you in German. (I don't even know if I spelled it right)

(I'll just skip the next few years because I feel like it's going to be too long and all.)

The reason for why I'm moving a lot is because of my dad's job. He works in the military, in Airforce. he flies a jet called F-16 or something, don't really remember. My mom works at a hospital.

I don't know what else to write about so,

I guess that's all for now. byeee :P

I hope I can survive through this class. Will I even be alive at the end of this semester .😭