The Makanai: cooking for the Maiko house, a review of the Netflix live action show by AJ Hartley
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- čas přidán 29. 11. 2023
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Important to remember that there are no "geisha" in Kyoto. They are invariably referred to as "geiko" in Kyoto. There are differences between the geiko of Kyoto and the geisha of, say, Tokyo in customs and terminology. They certainly don't "abandon their connection to modernity", though they do immerse themselves in an old world. I haven't watched this particular show, but there's been no shortage of dramas and documentaries in Japan that examine this world. I've been in Kyoto teahouses where the geiko/maiko of the best okiya work (by introduction, of course).
One of the more interesting conversations I've ever had with a stranger was with a geiko returning to Kyoto from Tokyo on the Shinkansen, next to whom I happpened to sit. She was thoroughly a creature of the modern world, though she had a 貫禄 ("kanroku", no exact translation, but something like "gravitas" or "dignified presence") that was impressive.
Yeah, I'm talking expressly about the show which explicitly separates the trainees from the modern world.
@@AndrewHartley Btw, in the vdo title, "Makai house" should be "Maiko house". You'll attract more viewers with the correction, including maybe Band-Maid fans because of that band's "Band-Maiko" vdos. 魔界 "makai", as you and Hideki well know, refers to the demon world.
@@otobokegaijin6218 Ugh! Missed that. Thanks. And good call re. Band Maid.
The shots of Kiyo preparing food, focussed as a laser and with silent joy on her face, were absolutely beautiful.
All this reminded me of "Tampopo", a japanese movie from the 80s, centered around the preparation and consumption of food. At the time, I thought that this was an over the top parody of traditional arts like the Tea Ceremony, flower arrangement etc by applying their underlying principles to something completely different in an exaggerated way. Later I learned about Sushi masters and their dedication to their craft/art. Seeing this now seems to indicate that at least some people in Japan aproach day-to-day cooking in much the same way and that Tampopo, while obviously exaggerated in order to create a comedy, was on to something real.
Thank you, professor, for pointing this show out here. As I do not have a Netflix access, I wouldn't have known it existed.
Love Tampopo. Beautiful, restrainedly sensual film. I hope you get to see the show.
@@AndrewHartleySigned up for Netflix and just watched the first three episodes in one go. Mesmerizing!! Again, thanks a lot for pointing this out to me.
I saw the anime version first and after that found this one. Loved both versions, they are funny, and of course in my world there's food.
Always good :)
I really liked your review. ☺️👍
Thank you! 😀
I am so happy to hear your thoughts on the show.
I lived in a small town as a child, and the consequences of behaviour could not be escaped- there was no anonymity, like in a city. The massacre of the local indigenous people happened only just out of living memory, so it was a rough place in many ways. Lots of dysfuctionality in the community.
The tiny community portrayed here has cooperation and elegance at the heart of it, so it makes sense to me that conditions are carefully controlled to promote civility. I can believe the girls would choose to forego much to follow their dream- just look at what ballet dancers go through just to be viewed at a distance. For geiko, social graces are a major skill, so it makes sense their training environment prioritises gentility and the girls are protected from rough influence.
At first, i found the returning geiko a jarring character, brash, a bit messed up, kind of neurotic. But i came to appreciate seeing how her 'big personailty' was accommodated by the rest of the characters- she made them uncomfortable, but they coped.
I would love to see more stories that show 'good behaviour' and happy, functional soviety. We sure do need the role models to emulate.
Fred Rogers recognised we are feeding children useless, harmful stories and made it his mission to do better. I wish we had an advocate for nourishing, positive adult/all ages content to do the same. Our addiction to conflict and unrealistic stories is not helping us cope or cooperate in the face of our existential threats.
I felt the same about the returning geiko, who immediately annoyed me, and seemed irritatingly narcissistic compared to the selflessness of the core characters. I have no problem with fantasy personally, and think it can also offer excellent role models, but I will drink to teh great Fred Rogers. Thanks for the comment.
Thank you
My pleasure!
(Review suggestion) I'm Japanese, and I've heard that Toho's "Godzilla -1.0" and Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Heron" are ranking high in the movie ranking in the U.S. I'm not qualified to suggest movies for you to review, because I'm not a patreon, but I'd be happy to hear your thoughts about these movies, if you have a chance to see them in the theater. BTW, I only saw "The Boy and the Heron", but I could not make any sense of it (haha).
I just saw Godzilla Minus One (and loved it). My review will go up tomorrow! :)
@@AndrewHartley Wow, I'm looking forward to it!
Great and informative review,wish there were more like it out there.
Thanks!
Thanks, this looks like an interesting show, character shows are almost always more interesting.
Hope you like it!
Thank you, prof. Hartley, for sharing your expertly crafted and thought-provoking review. Two points have especially caught my attention: the bitterness of adults in Japan, which is a recurring topic (as far as I have noticed) in Japanese content; and this... emptiness, Kioto shows in this setting. I wonder if it wants to reflect the huge debt crisis the city is facing, which some fear may end in the city being brought to ruin (like other important cities, such as Detroit have seen) and abandonment. And, in general, with the loss of the old traditions in a country which venerates its history and culture but is slowly losing its grip as their population ages.
Lastly, I am - maybe unlike yourself - mostly taken by the soundscore, which I am shocked to realize it has been composed by legendary Yoko Kanno.
Thanks for that. Yes, I think you are right. Didn't know about the sound score composer. I think the theme music is great and sets the show well. It's the incidental music I found intrusive and sometimes tonally odd. But your mileage may vary :)
Como toda obra que busca revitalizar formas antiguas de cultura, tiende a la idealización... lo que es razonable... por una parte, para uno que es extranjero, considero que es buena esa idealización porque sirven a modo de introducción a formas culturales completamente ajenas a nosotros... pero por otro lado el material puede parecerse a las formas de difusión de algún Ministerio de Turismo o de Cultura... tengo mis contradicciones con esto.
Muy buen video... se agradece nuevamente.
saludos desde Chile
PD: En Fisrt Take vi la actuación de Kishidan y quede completamente sorprendido.... me propuse a oir su música y resultó ser un punk melódico de los más gracioso y emotivo.... ¿los has escuchado?
Gracias por esto. Estoy de acuerdo en que la idealización tiene aspectos positivos y negativos. Curiosamente, un amigo chino hizo un comentario similar sobre la actitud de su propio país ante una versión idealizada de su pasado cultural, así que creo que tienes razón. Conozco un poco Kishidan, pero investigaré más cosas suyas. Muchas gracias.
博士、こんばんは。
推測ですけど期間こそ違いますけど“超一流”と呼ばれる芸者さんも舞子さんも避けては通れないのが賄いさんだと思います。それが芸事の道ですからね。
( •̀ω•́ )
ちょっと視点を変えると相撲部屋のちゃんこ鍋と同じ位置付けですね。ちゃんこ鍋は引退した力士達がレストランとして開業する選択肢として成立しますけど。
飲食業としては“裏メニュー”の側面もありますね。通い慣れた人が情報を聞くと食べたがります。
まさか博士の動画で木綿のハンカチーフを聞くとは驚きです。私はオリジナル版を聞いていましたからね。
まぁ、フルバージョンの歌詞の解説をするか否かは博士次第ですけどね。
(*´罒`*)
とても悲しい歌だ！芸者と相撲について教えてくれてありがとう。私は芸者の文化についてあまり知りません。
@@AndrewHartley
いわゆる“芸者や舞妓、花魁”の源流は平安時代まで遡りますから難しいですね。
まぁ私や博士が今回の映像で見てる人達は“芸者や舞妓”だと思います。江戸時代の庶民文化の“エンターティナー”の立ち位置だから歌とダンスと楽器演奏と接客マナーと魅力ある女性としての振る舞いを訓練してます。
花魁と遊女についてはご自身で調べて下さい。全部説明するとカオスになりますが根本的には“優秀な専業主婦になる資格はある”って感じですかね。
@@Yamamotokenjirou そうだね。歴史的に根ざした生き方として紹介されているものが、歴史ではよくあることだが、実際には特定の瞬間をモデルにした歴史のバージョンであり、現在のニーズや願望に合わせて形作られたものであることは興味深い。
@@lee-kikmong
是枝裕和監督の万引き家族は映画館で見ましたよ。
The translations /dubbing have been altered over time, and the most recent version has given opposite meanings in some scenes. See when Kotono arrives late back from holidays and compare Japanese audio-English subtitles to the new English dubbing.
I am massively disappointed, as the pro-sociality of this series is unique- not childish, not fantasy, not requiring sainthood. Just nice normal people behaving in kind and civilised ways.
I was conscious from time to time that the subtitles were a bit off, but some of the Japanese was just old-fashioned/dialect enough that I wasn't confident of gauging the precise sense myself. I didn't know they had been modified.