"Yo quiero TAKO" - Cephs in anime, and worldwide

[Fujisawas Sake]

Hi,

First off, I just wanted to say that my screen name "Fujisawas Sake" makes reference to one of my favorite anime characters Mr. Fujisawa from the Japanese animated series "El-Hazard". He loves Sake, as I do, and is the ultimate teacher, party animal, and part-time superhero.

That being said, I am also a huge anime fan, and I find numerous references to cephalopods in Japanese animation. Sometimes they are the villains, sometimes props, and sometimes end up being the source of comic relief. In the series "Cardcaptor Sakura" two magical creatures have a hilarious fight over "tako yaki", or fried octopus. The series "Hand Maid May" has one of the characters with a pet squid that uses his eyes and siphon to convey his emotional state. Also, a friend of mine sent me a picture of an 18th century Japanese statue showing a maiden apparently romancing an octopus...

Closer to home, one of the Powerpuff Girls, Bubbles, has a stuffed octopus named "Octi", and "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" featured a giant ceph guarding the dwarf city of Moria. Even an early issue of the comic book "The Tick" had Tick fighting off an invasion of octos.

Yep, cephs will one day rule the planet, according to the Discovery Channel. That's right, Cthulu is calling collect, and we have to accept the charges. So let us welcome our molluscan overlords a few million years early! Shrimp cocktail, anyone?

So, has anyone else seen any signs of the oncoming cephalopod dominion?

Soon to be an Archi's Thanksgiving Turkey,

John

 

[nanoteuthis]

Re: "Yo quiero TAKO" - Cephs in anime, and worldwi

Konichiwa John!

Mmmmm, warm sake in one of those little Japanese cups.... (OK, so it's the wrong color -- I just click on the emoticons, I don't design 'em!)

I too am an anime fan, though not as well-informed as you. I received a Pokémon education for several years via my son (who still occasionally sneaks a peek at the cartoon, though he'd never admit it to his friends). I know there are at least two critters in the Poké-menagerie who qualify as cephs: Tentacool and Tentacruel (one of them evolves from the other, though I'm not sure which is which).

HAND MAID MAY sounds cute -- where does one see that, on cable or rental video or what? Off-topic for a bit, I have enjoyed other (non-ceph) anime films such as MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, PRINCESS MONONOKE, and KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE. Also, several years ago, I used to watch subtitled cartoons on the Japanese UHF channel that were quite imaginative -- IKKYU-SAN, CAPTAIN HARLOCK, and GALAXY EXPRESS (I'm not sure of that last title, but it was something about a train that traveled from planet to planet).

I posted an earlier message on the old board regarding the plethora of netsukes depicting mermaids and/or women in flagrante delicto with cephs. I never got any replies -- I suppose no one wanted to touch the topic with a ten-foot hectocotylus Anyway, I assume that in Japanese culture the imagery represents fertility or phallic symbolism. Either that, or the Japanese are just plain kinky....

A while ago I myself purchased a neat little ceph netsuke for cheap on eBay. It is G-rated, though -- a beautiful Archi, about 2.5" long, with intricately entangled legs, hand-carved from a single piece of wood. I put a black silk cord through its openings so I can wear it as a pendant.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about the "oncoming cephalopod dominion." Cthulhu is coming, and boy, is he steamed! Now is the time to jump on the bandwagon -- familiarize yourself with your candidate's platform, spread the word, and if you're lucky, you will be eaten last!

http://www.cthulhu.org/cthulhu/positions.html

Not even the cherubic Pikachu will be immune to his ghastly influence:

http://www.gamespy.com/comics/kovalic/pokethulhu/

Remember, forewarned is forearmed -- or, in this case, ten-armed.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

Tani the Terrible

 

[Sedusa]

Good to see other anime fans! Personally my favorite is Serial Experiments Lain, altho I don't think there are any ceph references in it. My passion for all things ceph related doesn't extend to tentacular hentai, however. I think I mentioned this in a thread a long time ago, but anyone who is a fan of cyberpunk will be happy with the hyper-cuttlefish near the end of Rudy Rucker's second to last book Spaceland. (as anime fans and scifi fans tend to crosspollinate a bit)

Cthulhu Fhtagn!

 

[Tintenfisch]

Iä! Iä!

 

[Fujisawas Sake]

Tani,

Wow! Yeah, I have a pretty big anime collection myself, and I am a big fan of the work of Leji Matsumoto ("Galaxy Express 999", "Captain Harlock"), and of Hiyao Miyazaki ("Tonari no Totoro", "Kiki's Delivery Service", "Princess Mononoke")... Totoro is my favorite animated film.

Sedusa,

Nope, no tentacle hentai here! :P I have heard of it, but I'm not sure I want to see it.... I also have the "Lain" box set, and the series is always fun to discuss.

Tintenfisch,

huh?

 

[Tintenfisch]

Tintenfisch,

huh?

That's the way (uh huh uh huh) I like it...

I was just voicing Cthulhu enthusiasm, since I'm not really qualified to talk about Anime in any informed manner. Although I did like Princess Mononoke.

 

[nanoteuthis]

I was just voicing Cthulhu enthusiasm, since I'm not really qualified to talk about Anime in any informed manner. Although I did like Princess Mononoke.

Isn't that pronounced encthusiasm?

PRINCESS MONONOKE was beautiful, but I'm still not sure I understood the plot. I do remember that it featured a threatening beast resembling a rhino made completely of tentacles....

 

[Tintenfisch]

OMG, Tani, get out of my brain! I had that exact thought after typing 'Cthulhu enthusiasm' and thought... nah... but I'm glad you said it after all.

 

[termite]

ok, so where does one get ahold of some of these films? I have not seen any of them and now you have got me interested. Might I rent them at Blockbuster or some other video store or are they more obscure?

 

[Sedusa]

There's some good anime at most video stores (at least here in california), and with the advent of dvd thankfully there is the dual language option on almost every disc (one had to put up with bad dubbing in most video stores when vhs was the dominant medium, as most of the stores would only buy the dubbed version... subtitles are the true way!) But be advised that there is some crummy anime out there as well, as there is in all genres of entertainment. I would suggest:

Akira (classic, revolutionary near future anime. rather mature)
Ghost In The Shell (another visually revolutionary anime. mature as well)
Princess Mononoke (this one would be suitable for kids)
Serial Experiments Lain (yay! my favorite, but definitely for those who like things strange and trippy)
Perfect Blue (another trippy one)
Mobile Suit Gundam (the movies... the original series, not gundam wing, changed the giant robot genre)
Neon Genesis Evangelion (an interesting psuedo-occult take on the giant robot genre as a storytelling vehicle for a boy's struggle for acceptance and self worth)

These are just the beginning and just the ones that I personally would start someone off with (and I'm a mid-20's male, so bear that in mind re: my selections... not many fuzzy animals or cute stuff in my picks altho I can appreciate those as well)

 

[lithographette]

I know that the website www.jlist.com has a ton of anime available for sale, as well as other Japanese items - some of which are squid flavored snack foods! :P

 

[Sedusa]

A fellow otaku friend of mine convinced me to try dried Ika snacks one time and now I cringe every time I pass them in the grocery store....

 

[lithographette]

The actual dried squids are sort of gross, but I have found squid flavored cracker type things to be rather tasty, this may, however, be tied into my toungues desire for anything salty. Yum! :P

 

[Sedusa]

Well, I used to like calamari when I was a kid. I'm sure that it's gonna be tough to avoid eating cephs while I am in thailand, unless in my phrasebook I can piece together "there's no squid, octopus, or cuttlefish in this, is there?"

 

[Fujisawas Sake]

Heads up... Another interesting anime, though not directly ceph: The new Miyazaki film "Spirited Away" is out on Disc and VHS. Its definitely worth watching, and I could swear that some of the spirits who inhabit that world are cephs, cnidarians, or some other sea beastie...

Sushi and Sake,

John