In the middle of a discussion about what makes for “chuunibyou,” I thought about Nasu’s… Nasuverse. In that world, mages are people who take magecraft like a trade: you have teachers, craftsmen, unions and guilds, rivals, people who do it for fun, people who do it for profit, and people who do it for the hell of it. You have artists and salarymen, parents, children, and heroic spirits. Swords and sorcery? People who are dead because they are killed? People who are the bones of their swords? It’s, in a word, chuunibyou to a tee.
But in that silly world-creation exercise, Nasu laid down some foundations that I particularly like in this kind of setting. It’s a bit like Fuyumi Ono’s Twelve Kingdoms, where the laws of the world are absolute; Gods and emperors speak with not so much authority but with reality-bending, “let there be light” powers. I like that sort of thing.
The cool thing about Nasu’s magecraft is in its adherence and pursuit of the akasha, or the origin. In a way, the attempt to understand Nasuverse’s notion of origin is just like a mage’s pursuit of understanding of origin of humans and the world, existence in general. [Cynical: both are fraught with irregularities and illogical examples!]  The cute thing (and adding to its middle-schooler-illness) is that the notion is not original. I just think it’s a beautiful parallel to the act of introspection: when we examine deep within ourselves, conflict invariably will emerge. When mages fight each other in Nasu’s universe, it is a clash of different origins, cloaked by the personalities, motives and external reasons (eg., fate) behind these conflicts. These conflicts are external manifestation of internal turmoil. These conflicts are thematic.
Because, after all, the darkness inside of ourselves is the one that brings about the most enduring and endearing conflicts. Tsundere, I’m looking at you.
The other neat thing is that this is a central concept that perpetrates consistently across all of Nasuverse. In a way it feels like those Tolkein-style students of arcane magic, living inside their towers, honing their art. It just has taken a 21st century turn of events. And of course, these Nasu-mages are hardly anything akin to a D&D mage in practice. It’s the thin veneer that keeps his works at least somewhat credible, sure, but I appreciate at least the consistency.
The way I model these things in my mind is kind of how I look at, say, how one could reconcile religion with anime. For example, Mike’s the real deal. And I find it an uplifting testimony to read. It’s more about us than the anime that we watch. It may be reasonable to say that Nasu’s writing is horrible (I don’t know, I can’t tell anyways), but it resounds with others, with a purpose, so it is fine. I see it specifically in pursuit of science. It, too, revolves around the notion that we are students of the world; we are learners, not teachers. Because we know we don’t know, it is why we do these things. It is why GlaDOS gets away with the things she does. It is why Academy City exists. It is why we pursuit the study of the world. Scientists are eternal newbies: that’s where the action is, that’s where the new revelation is, that is where the new science happens. It is driven by the same budding curiosity and imaginative power that makes Steins;Gate an amusing watch on principle. In other words, it is the same force which powers chuunibyou bubble. Scientists, too, are just human beings with all the contradictions humans have, seeking the origin of all things.
Times like this I wonder if THIS CHAIR is just a reference to AI development.
June 20th, 2011 at 4:41 pm
Very interesting, but what IS chuunibyou? “Middle school sickness,” meaning… media that appeals to that age demographic, or indicates some kind of man-childishness in its creators or fans? I want to understand, but I’m asking for first principles. ;)
June 20th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
It depends on who you ask. I’m probably not the best at it, as I’m partly trying to figure it out. Some examples of chuunibyou works considered by the Japanese include Code Geass, Death Note, and Index.
http://anime.biglobe.ne.jp/userranking/title/5803/
It’s a term that is trending up. See also:
http://www.kyotoanimation.co.jp/books/chuunibyo/
In that context, we’re talking about a type of character. Like Okarin and Mayuri.
June 21st, 2011 at 9:39 pm
I believe someone stole this post.. http://acg.vlexofree.com/?p=780
June 21st, 2011 at 10:46 pm
I appreciate the note. It happens pretty often actually.
June 22nd, 2011 at 3:17 am
Ah, Nasu. I think the comparison to Tolkien is actually quite fitting. Their talent seems not to be for “writing” as much as it is for “world-building.” Nasu’s world is quite developed and almost ridiculously complex. Like Tolkien’s. But what I find interesting about Nasu’s creation is how he finds creative methods to put together modern and classical concepts into some delicious recombinant turkey. He takes the myth of Arthur’s glowing sword and makes it into a lightsaber. He takes the concept of magic and makes it into an extension of the nervous system. He even takes the idea of Universal Grammar (it’s real) and makes a psychic badass from it.
June 22nd, 2011 at 4:33 am
[…] (on his new blogspace) turned me on to the concept of chuunibyou in context of Type-Moon and the […]
June 22nd, 2011 at 5:44 am
He even made King Authur into a cute girl! I guess this is “oh Japan” in a way. Perhaps in the best sort of way, perhaps in the worst sort of ways, but it’s surely something nobody out here would do.
June 23rd, 2011 at 9:38 pm
It was the best of ways, it was the worst of ways, it was the CG dragon, it was the F**king CG dragon
June 23rd, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Well, I’m not sure if that was Nasu’s fault.