Objectively I'd agree with you there & that is very logical. Subjectively though the ideal method doesn't always work, especially not in the immediate aftermath, with different people dealing with tragedy in different ways. I wouldn't say Yuri's coping mechanism was wrong but then I wouldn't say he was right either. It's probably the only way he was able to cope. Sometimes, time is the best healer, especially in the context of an event you can never fully recover from, just eventually make your peace with and move on.
This is quite interesting and for me the anime changes seem to be an improvement, in terms of Yuri especially what with placing his backstory much later helping the viewer really feel the distance he maintains with his colleagues over the previous episodes, and the meaning behind the different flower being a much better fit in relation to his enduring love for his wife (as opposed to thinking of what flower would best describe him, seeing as he hardly comes across as a narcissist).
If you've clicked this you've spoilt it for yourself! I wouldn't say there romance was an less complex in the manga, but this diversion in the anime is original because the friends don't exist in the manga.I've certainly never experienced anything in my life anywhere close to what Yuri's experienced in this story, and I hope I never have to, but I've got to say that I heavily identify with his way of dealing with painful situations in a broader sense, so he makes a lot of sense to me as a character now. Sometimes something is too big to really ever be able to get out of your system, and it just gets trapped in a kind of bottleneck. I wouldn't want to put words into Yuri's mouth, but perhaps there's also the factor of: being aware of how much space this thing takes up inside, you would have to worry about what would even be left if you could remove it.
Again, fascinating to me. I could do the latter in a heartbeat, but you couldn't drag me towards the former using the proverbial herd of wild horses.
There's something about Yuri's character, his place in the story, and the story's setting itself that reminds me of the character Heintz in "Magnetic Rose", the first segment of the short-film anthology Memories. And in fact, I discovered while trawling its old simulwatch thread right after typing that previous sentence that @Professor Irony drew that connection already:
(I've added a spoiler blur to that quote just in case. I don't know whether it is or isn't, though.)
www.nihongomaster.com
I really wish I had the show on hand so I could better refer back to it (it may have to be my first 10% discount at the AL store) but what youāre describing here Neil is why I think Planetes is great from a character perspective. I donāt have to like characters in order to enjoy them, I donāt have to relate to them, I just have to believe them. And from what I can remember, all of Planetesā characters were believable human beings.
Even the manager and his deputy?
Hence the caveat āfrom what I can rememberā and in their case I honestly canāt (itās been like, 10 years again since I saw the show) so I donāt imagine they were all that important in the grand scheme of things, but I could be wrong.Even the manager and his deputy?
Its interesting to me that we live in a world where seeking help from a doctor for a physical malady is so normal. Even going to the dentist just for check ups is fine yet seeking help for mental health issues is still so taboo on a societal level. I honestly think it would be better to have a system where therapy check ups are a normal thing.
Lol. I mean snivelling middle management types do exist. They're definitely caricatured here though. David Brent was a caricature everyone found believable/relatable but I'd much rather work with these 2 here!Even the manager and his deputy?
Exactly.
Yeah, yeah. This is why I was loathe to get involved without having the show to handExactly.
It IS interesting because I think people tend to hold different views of therapy depending on whether or not they have ever needed or experienced it. As someone who has, I think it definitely has its place as a way of challenging your own (often unhelpful or unfounded) beliefs and assumptions about yourself and others. Itās not unlike healthy debate in that sense, but more with yourself, and thatās probably why I got along with it okay. What I donāt think therapy is able to do, but what I think a lot of people fear it does and hence avoid it, is alter your personality. I donāt think thereās anything to fear from therapy, but at the same time I can understand that apprehension, because thatās exactly the way I feel about mood-altering medications. I even feel apprehensive about admitting that out loud, because I know a lot of people see that as stigmatising people with mental health issues as well. We all have our own ways of dealing with things though and far be it for anyone to tell other people how to live or not, I think it all comes from a positive place of concern at not wanting to see people suffering.
Absolutely not. I totally agree with that. In fact, some part of me, locked away somewhere, probably quietly envies people who are capable of reaching out like that for the help they need. Props to them, genuinely.
This is maybe an awful thing for me to say, so I hope that I can be given a bit of leeway here as I speak as someone who has felt low enough for long enough to have previously thought like this in real life, but... would that have been such a bad outcome for Yuri, in his own mind?
Possibly not, but it was probably the only thing he felt he had left to resolve, to learn what his wife had inscribed inside inside it but was so reluctant to share with him.
Now, this all ties in nicely because certainly one thing I DO remember is that one of the recurring themes in Planetes is that even if and when you donāt care about yourself, other people still care about you. And thatās probably not something I would ever really have believed without therapy, so there
And I'm pleased you did, because it's an interesting topic and I dare say something that the writers would've been quite happy to provoke discussion of, exploring as they did the idea of coping mechanisms.
Yeah, I think it's...
Oh, that's very much real, ayase. I'm glad you were able reach the belief that that's true.even if and when you donāt care about yourself, other people still care about you. And thatās probably not something I would ever really have believed without therapy, so there
On my god, I literally cannot suffer R***y G*****s. So much so that I've just discovered that I don't even want to type the man's name.
I think thatās why I was surprised by a lot of peopleās initial dislike of Ai here, because while she is clearly quite naive she also has a lot of belief in positive, hopeful ideals. I do tend, for whatever reason, to still like characters like that even if I myself am nothing like that as a person (again, she seemed perfectly believable to me as a person who could exist). I think perhaps it is a bit of a childlike mentality but as I see it, in a fairly positive way, like someone hasnāt allowed life to grind them down like it does so many people.Oh, that's very much real, ayase. I'm glad you were able reach the belief that that's true.
Personally, I think therapists or counsellors not being people you know is one of the big draws. With anyone I know, there would be things I wouldnāt want to say or reveal which could either hurt them or my relationship with them, and so would simply keep inside. And with no outlet, no ability to explain how Iām feeling or why, certain things would just eat away at me.
Indeed. And at the end if the day these simulwatches are more interesting when the heavier themes get discussed.
Itās one of the great benefits of the internet and anonymity/pseudonymity as far as Iām concerned. People on AUKN probably know me better than my real life friends and family at this point, because Iām willing to reveal sides of myself I wouldnāt with them (though not all of them, some require other identities or complete anonymity, long live the chans). But thatās enough off topic rambling for me for one day, get back to the show.