The Rise and the Fall: Yokohama in Hamatora Series
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| Hamatora the Animation |
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| Re: Hamatora |
Hamatora
the Animation, adapted by studio NAZ, and Re: Hamatora, adapted by
studio Lerche, contains many ideas that could be connected to the empire
and its ruins from the humanities lecture. The Hamatora series is set
in Japan and follows a detective agency, Hamatora, which is a “minimum
holder private investigator duo” consisting of Nice and Murasaki.
Minimums are small miracles that a limited amount of people, called
minimum holders, possess, which are special powers activated under
specific circumstances. The Hamatora series connects to ideas of empire
because the components for its plot correspond with the rise and fall of
empire and the information gained from ruins of empires.
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| Nice |
The Hamatora series has connections to the novel, Waiting for the Barbarians
by J. M. Coetzee, from the humanities course because of its connection
to the theory of empires. In the series, there are two distinct groups
of people: minimum holders and those that are not innate minimum
holders. Although both groups of people live within the same city of
Yokohama, the minimum holders are fairly new within their society, and
partly attributes to their discrimination from those that are not innate
minimum holders. This information allows a connection to Waiting for the Barbarians because of the barbarians in the novel are foreign to the Empire. The word “barbarian” originated from the greek word, βάρβαρος (bárbaros),
meaning anyone that was not greek. The word was adopted by the english
language in the 1600s and changed to mean a “rude, wild person,”
eventually meaning an uncivilized person and to be a step under the word
“savage” towards being civilized (“Etymology of ‘Barbarian,’” Maria
Khodorkovsky; “Barbarian,” etymonline). Taking the greek origin, the
minimums in the series that the holders have are “foreign” to the other
citizens and lead to discrimination of the minimum holders, just as the
barbarians were discriminated against for being foreign.
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| Art |
The
Hamatora series correlates with the rise and fall of empires when both
seasons of the anime are considered. With this in mind, the city of
Yokohama can then be thought of as an empire. The citizens, both the
minimum holders and those without minimums, then could be considered the
subjects of the empire to which the city controls. In the second
season, Art, friend of Nice and Murasaki, attacks the city in order to
fulfil his personal goal. His plans of utilizing the unsteady
relationships between the minimum holders and the other citizens of the
city lead to the downfall of the city, while also accomplishing his
goal, symbolizing the fall of an empire. Although Art completes his
goal, it is short-lived. From his hesitation, he makes an error in his
plan and his new world that he created from the previous empire’s ruins
immediately falls after its creation. After the fall of the new
“empire,” the city is then restored, although with damages, despite
Art’s efforts. This would symbolize the fragility of empires connecting
to the novel read in humanities, Waiting for the Barbarians,
by J. M. Coetzee. This particular series of events is similar to the
metaphor of the dream within the novel that the snow fort that the girl
created. The snow fort represents the empire in the novel because the
snow is easily removed, that itself also represents the fragility of
empires.
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| Murasaki |
During
a lecture, Professor Steintrager spoke about how ruins make people
think. After Art completes his goal and sees the mistake made from his
hesitation, he initially thinks and learns more about his own character.
If one considers the viewer, the sequence also makes the viewer think.
The first few episodes provide information that makes people wonder how
certain events could possibly happen. In the last plot event, the viewer
is given new information to think about how the past and present
intertwine in the series, tying up loose ends in the plot. Once Art’s
empire falls and the old empire is restored, Nice makes Art think about
his past choices in the last few years and making Art regret in his
hindsight. This regret could be seen after the end credits and the
original “empire” is restored.
The
Hamatora series has connections to the humanities course through the
series’ plot components. It correlates with the course of empire and its
ruins from the novel, Waiting for the Barbarians,
the rise and fall of empires, and how the ruins of empires makes one
think. From the course, people can continue to find theories of empire
in many different media types, such as anime.
Works cited
I haven't seen this anime before, but I think you gave a fairly descriptive enough description for me to comment. I agree that this show is a great depiction of empire's fragility, and how ruins make people think. Art's self-reflection functions to show the importance of focusing on the individual rather than the group. In relation to the enlightenment and Professor Steintrager's lectures, being a part of an empire has its benefits like power, but it doesn't allow the individual to grow and practice self-love. Because empires are fragile, it is important for people to return to self-love practices in the event that the inevitable occurs and the individual is left without knowledge of their own true personality separate from the identity associated with the empire.
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