No, I'm not talking about the Comic Book, "The Uncanny X-Men" (which I used to collect when I was way younger), but the seemingly coinciding random events that involves Middleway (one of the songs in our self-titled album), the Anime my bandmate and guitarist extraordinare AJ used as a backdrop for the music video he made (he thought the story appropriate for the song, and I agree), and somewhat, if I am now guilty of giving it (a well-deserved) overexposure, the Chimera.
AJ made the music video July of last year and told me about it after posting it on YouTube. I didn't give it much thought back then (though I did ask what the Anime was about), mainly because I had been pre-occupied with a lot of things up until now.
I probably missed the sci-fi relevance of the anime AJ used back then because I totally spaced-out on the title. "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is, obviously about a girl leaping through time. As Japanese animes have it, it's the reason WHY she did the Quantum dance that made the anime interesting. According to AJ, she leaps back through time to avoid the advances of the boy who likes her (well, that, aside from the obvious do-overs of any mistakes she have made, especially her grades). Later on, Chiaki, the boy was revealed to be more than meets the eye. The scenes AJ used to sequence with Middleway were head on, especially at the part where the boy and the girl were walking amidst a crowd of people frozen in time, and the guy walking away, leaving the girl confused looking for him. It even has a Live Action version of the same title released just last year, and Riisa Naka, who voiced the main character in the anime is the same one who played the main character in the movie (as I read the synopsis and the character list, the story is a bit different.
So, where does the Chimera come in all these Jazz?
If you allow me to segue bit further (I have a penchant for long and detailed intros to my stories at times, mainly because I want to be as clear as I can), a couple of MAC members at Facebook recently tagged me twice when they posted about the Middleway music video, and the song generated a mild increase in plays, both at Facebook and our website, as well as Youtube (a lot of people sent me messages earlier on when we first released it that they like the song). It was only then that I started looking up the anime, to finally be able to watch it. It was then that I got chills when I found images relating to it, specifically, this one:
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| Source: http://anonymousxwrites.blogspot.com |
It wouldn't really haven't been too significant if not for this:
The similarities are uncanny. I shot this quite recently, after my month-long hiatus from anything Gunpla (which wasn't really a hiatus, since I've been tinkering with plastic during that time, albeit in relative blogless silence).
At my age, I no longer believe too much in coincidences, but this one, insofar as coincidences in my life are concerned, is pretty much too close for comfort. The girl who is the object of the story of Middleway, in some aspects, also looks like an anime character.
Even the source I got the picture of the leaping girl is much of a coincidence to my pseudonym. I call myself X, which stands for the mathematical "unknown."
Oh, did I mention that the Pilot of the Chimera is a girl?
10 comments:
Toki wo kakeru Shoujo is actually a good pile of movies and adaptations! I actually have a few posts which revolves around those epic stories...
That's what I like about Japanese animation films, actually. They can make relatively good stories about things most people find trivial.
The similarity of the 2 images are truly uncanny! Sharp of you to spot it!
ahh another example of funny ways of life ;)
There is no such thing as coincidence :D
I like that you take the time to explain in your posts, and do a subject justice. But do you mean you no longer believe in coincidences because you know they're only coincidences or because you know they're not? You can read it both ways, and neither is a given.
@ Aulon: It's more complicated than that, as I will explain in my response to Porky.
@ Porky: Read it both ways. I don't believe in coincidences, because somewhat there's a part of me who knows some things are bound to happen, whatever fork in the road we choose. We have a total of 10 song. What made AJ choose that particular anime for Middleway when there are plenty of others with just about the same theme? What made me choose that backdrop and that pose for the Chimera? Is it all coincidence, owing to the fact that the two hardly have any relevance to each other except for me, or is there something else at work here?
I don't believe in coincidences in most cases that random events or things "coincide" with myself smack in the middle especially if I've had a hand on those things. The phrase "things are coming together" come into mind when one does one thing that ultimately lead to another. Hence, that explanation.
I've mentioned it's too close for comfort because I've been seeing that image of the Chimera ever since I started working on it. Though AJ worked on sequencing the anime with the song, I never really bothered watching the full version (until now), nor look it up for reasons stated above. The image of the girl leaping was more a promo still for one of the covers, and didn't appear exactly as it is.
Coincidence or no, I'm probably just amazed at the similarities. It's also worthwhile to note, that though unrelated, The Chimera and Middleway are popular in their respective fields.
Another good and full explanation!
Maybe it's something universal, in all of us, whether linked to the structure of our bodies, images in nature or tropes in the media. I like the poetry in that idea. But it could just be that you noticed the first image only because you focused so much on the second - if you'd wanted and used a different pose, you might then have seen a different pose in the film. The same with the other uncanny similarities. Either way, it's good to have the mystery, and good to ponder, to stretch the mind.
A good mystery is always a page turner. If the mysteries of the universe would all be one day revealed, what else is there to look forward to?
We all might as well be . Two people from opposite sides of the getting the exact (if not similar) idea may just be tapping in same well of ideas at one point in the past, but, it's still a wonder if they both came up with it at the exact moment, or at different moments but the same time of realization.
creepy coincidence
ah, that was a good film... the girl who leapt through time. really enjoyable.
and as for the coincidence, just remember, the universe may be trying to tell you something
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