I really like zashiki-warashi. For one, I have an interest in yokai in general but I’m also a coward so a cute little Yokai that will play a few pranks then bring me good luck is going to rank really high in my book. I have also noticed that I tend to really like all the zashiki-warashi characters I have come across in anime.
And hearing about one in Pretty Boy Detective Club got me wondering if there was a European or American equivalent. The closest I could think of was Leprechauns. Both are small, solitary creatures that enjoy pranks and are associated with fortune. For some reason, I got really thrilled by the thought of zashiki-warashi being leprechauns and vice versa. Also, fairies are the European yokai. None of this has anything to do with episode 8 of Pretty Boy detective Club. You just know how I love my folklore!
This week we got a particularly odd episode of Pretty Boy Detective Club. At least to me. It felt like the most out there. It sort of subverted the inner dynamic of the show and I’m not against it.
And it all starts at the hagoita. They kept referring to the large sculpture they found in the club room as a hagoita and I for one had no clue what that was. I made a point to look it up after the episode and…it a paddle. You know, like for ping pong only it’s used with shuttles so it’s for a game more like badminton. The girl made a gigantic paddle. Maybe it’s just me but..oh my!
You can see it a lot better towards the end of the episode when they lay it down on the table. The shape because more recognizable. I should say, I thought it was really pretty. The club kept calling it cursed but I would buy that to decorate my home. Way to go lolli dude, your fiancé has talent!
I have absolutely no idea where they are going with this arc. I don’t mind having no idea. It doesn’t make for the most fascinating post though. Instead, let me tell you the random things I noticed that aren’t directly related to the boys.
For one, I was sad to see that the constellation they painted last week is now gone. I wanted to get a better look at the club room in deep blue with twinkling stars all around. I suppose that hagoita wouldn’t have stood out as much. I think it would have been worth the sacrifice.
Also, I think I saw a glimpse of Dojima’s wings. When she was talking about the choir we saw an organ for a brief instant and both the colour and shape were a pretty good match. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a screencap. Now, just to be clear, I always knew that Dojima’s wings were not actual, literal wings. It was visual symbolism as is common in cinematic language. But the fact that the imagery was brought back, even if it rendered it more mundane, should mean something, right? Maybe?
From what I can tell, these arcs are all adapted from individual novels. So the continuity might not be quite as fluid as in most series. I also reiterate my thought that trying to engage with Pretty Boy Detective Club in a straightforward way is likely to be frustrating at best and headache-inducing at worst. Still, there may not be any point in me looking for that constellation or trying to figure out if the wings are the same. That universe is already gone, let’s get ready for the next one.
Sorry I’m late. I’ve been too busy partying this past week, after my football team was crowned Champion of Europe. (Whoo!) Anyway, let me share my favorite moment of this episode.
At some point, they showed a shuttlecock with six feathers, with every feather color-coded for each of the Club’s members. It’s a funny way to display how the characters feel Kodaki views them — as a mere shuttlecock, destined to be repeatedly swatted by her & her paddle. Hilarious! Over the last couple arcs, I’ve found little engaging about this show’s mysteries, or its whimsical musings. But man, does its banter consistently amuse me, whether verbal or visual.
Some of the best visuals I have seen in a long time
I, too, looked up what a haoita is. The German Wikipedia page tells me it’s a traditional New Year’s gift for families who just received a baby girl. I wonder if the Zasshiki Warashi was rejected on account of being a girl, and she now sees them accepting Dojima, and the hagoita serves as a message? Or maybe the Wikipedia page isn’t all that accurate, and I’m reading too much into it.
This was the first episode in which my photosensitivity acted up (only for around 3 seconds, and with no lasting effects; but it did make me blink slower). I can’t remember what was on screen, but it was fairly early on.
I liked the episode a lot.
Does this mean Dojima is truly an angel? I’m so smitten with her, it could be.