FrankJr no Uta

(In this post, I'll just refer to Frankenstein's creature as FrankJr)

Frankenstein, Saya no Uta (Song of Saya), FrankJr no Uta. If you are familiar with the story of Saya no Uta, then you can see the similarities here between the creatures called Saya and FrankJr.

Well who is Saya and what kind of creature is she? First of all, Saya no Uta is an extremely grotesque and messed-up visual novel (basically a choose your own adventure story), but with good reason - it is a crucial component of one of the most interesting stories that I have ever read. Second, the story doesn't show what she actually looks like, only the main character's twisted view of her. Fuminori (the main protagonist of the story) has a brain disorder that resulted from an new untested kind of neurosurgical operation that was performed on him to save his life after he was involved in an accident. As a result, he senses everything (and I mean everything - the sky, the road, people, chairs, tables, etc.) in a twisted way and a normal bed would look, feel, and smell to him like this:

http://archive.foolz.us/a/thread/85012683/

Similarly, normal food tastes repulsive to him, and everybody's voice sounds like the sounds of some warped flesh monster. He finds it extremely hard to talk to or even be around other people because he basically sees, smells, and hears this thing:

http://saibateku.net/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=141

As a result, Fuminori begins secluding himself and becoming extremely choleric, even suicidal, until one day in the hospital in the middle of the night, he meets Saya. She is the first thing that he sees, hears, feels, and smells as human since his operation, and he immediately befriends and talks with her.

http://inside.anime-expo.org/games/2011-03/jast-usa-tweets-about-possible-nitro-%E2%80%9Csaya-no-uta%E2%80%9D-license/

Now if think about it, you should immediately be suspicious of Saya and suspect her of being something other than what she appears as. You would be correct.
The story never reveals her true form, but it strongly hints what she looks like by the fact that she looks so horrifying to normal people, they lose their sanity as soon as they set their eyes on her. It is implied that she is some sort of fleshy creature that can somewhat change the shape of her body, like a blob, and has multiple appendages protruding from it. She is shown to be more intelligent than humans and have much higher regeneration abilities as well as the ability to modify other living organisms. However, like FrankJr, she is alone. Being the only member of her species (whatever that may be) on Earth, she lived a secluded and depressed life until she met Fuminori. He could converse with her normally due to his abnormality and you quickly discover that although her true form is unpleasant, her personality and her mind is not too different from a child. She is not bad or evil in nature, and doesn't view eating humans as wrong (although she later becomes more reserved due to concern for Fuminori) because she views them how we view cows and chicken, as a lower form of life that she must consume in order to survive. It is hard to find fault with her for that, and the main character eventually eats human meat too, as his warped senses make it seem like the only appealing food to him (I did say that this visual novel was slightly messed-up.)
Saya and Fuminori saved each other from the dark recesses of loneliness, because basically, no matter how bad the rest of the world seems like to them, they will always have at least one other person to rely on, one person who understands and cares for them.

The Good Ending from the V.N. http://sayanouta.tumblr.com/page/12

For FrankJr however, this was sadly not the case. FrankJr was a creature who was not NEARLY as warped or grotesque as Saya, but he ended up in a much worse situation than her. The answer to "why?" is clear: It was because he had absolutely nobody else to rely on, nobody else who bothered to understand him. Even his maker, Frankenstein, hates and repulses him, so FrankJr was driven in a state similar to Saya's before she met Fuminori.
Due to reading/watching Saya no Uta, I feel sympathy for Frankenstein and I understand his situation. Victor Frankenstein was too irresponsible, and could not face the repercussions of his actions. As a result, FrankJr had to go through complete rejection and general disgust without understanding why he was so different from all the shorter humans.
Even though Saya understood that she was different, she was sad because she didn't have any interactions with other people, because they would all be repulsed by her and freeze with terror on sight. She could only have dreamed of such things as she lived alone reading human literature.

So remember kids, bullying is bad.

(The visual novel of Saya no Uta requires some online searching to find the English subbed version. You can just watch play-through videos here)

Welcome the the Accelerated World

Accel World features a full-dive video game which stage is the real world, only modified for battle purposes. This following section is going to be me capriciously describing the 2 main characters of Accel World with some background information. If interested, go read the light novels here and watch the anime here. The anime stops at the end of Volume 4 in the light novels.

http://www.wattpad.com/21877936-return-of-princess-snow-black-based-on-accel-world

Haruyuki Arita (Haru) - [Silver Crow]

Haru
http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=452777

Haru is the main protagonist of Accel World, initially having low self-esteem until he meets Kuroyukihime due to bullying by a few kids as well as his weight. His avatar in Accel World is "Silver Crow," and it turns out that he has the first and only avatar that can fly. He joins Kuroyukihime's reborn "Nega Nebulous" faction. Unlike Linton from Wuthering Heights, after a pretty girl appeared to try and help him, perhaps even loving him, he reached out and accepted her hand instead of treating her like crap and continuing to wallow in his own misery.

Silver Crow
http://www.3djuegos.com/comunidad-foros/tema/18382362/0/personaje-del-mes/

Kuroyukihime - [Black Lotus]

Kuroyukihime
http://accelworld.wikia.com/wiki/Kuroyukihime

Kuroyukihime is the main female protagonist of Accel World, befriending Haru after she realizes his potential in video games and making him one of the members of her reborn faction: "Nega Nebulous." She is one of the 7 kings of pure color, but was in exile at the beginning of the novel due to a complicated series of events leading up to her killing the old Red King after a treaty was formed. She is insanely powerful, being one of the only eight Level 9 Burst Linkers of all time (seven currently, as she killed the old Red King).

Black Lotus
http://accelworld.wikia.com/wiki/Death_By_Piercing

If you can get past the fact that the main character is significantly overweight, then you see that Accel World is a masterpiece of a creation, containing a vast and complex world with diverse characters that are on par with or exceed Sword Art Online (They were written by the same author.) Like Wuthering Heights, the characters of Accel World are complex with diverse personalities, and the story relies heavily on the characters' interactions with each other. However, very unlike Wuthering Heights, the story's world is extremely vast - especially inside the Accelerated World in Accel World. There are also more characters, although the story focuses on developing a select group of critical characters. This creates a pleasant effect of a sophisticated plot while making it easier to get into - because it seems like a real world. I could not get into Wuthering Heights nearly as easily as I got into Accel World because I could not relate to almost any part of the story. For Accel World however, I felt like I could really empathize with the characters, and I could even be put into the world without even affecting it too much, it being so vast. There's no way that I could say this for Wuthering Heights. Being in my top 3 stories of all time and my top 10 anime series of all time, Accel World is a great gateway to a temporary haven from the all the stress and work of the purgatory known as everyday life. :)

Opening Song 1

I don't particularly like it.  :l

Ending Song 1

Opening Song 2

Ending Song 2

Reading Quiz!

Test your reading skills with this unofficial AP English Literature quiz written by me.

The questions that follow are from the following fan-fiction passage written by me:

It was a clear moonless night in Kadesh, Egypt. I was on an errand for Ramses II, who was about to get his [butt] wiped across the Nile by the Hittite forces. So of course I, The Eternal Nightmare, decided to tip the scales a little.

I immediately located the one of the enemy Hittite encampments on the valley-side. The lights of their scattered campfires were tiny suns in the dead of the night. I pondered why ever since ancient times, humans have always been afraid of the dark. I could see just fine in the darkness, and the obnoxious light from the fires seemed downright unnatural to me. Then again, my eyes have seen things past and future, while humans can only dream of things to come.

The guards that were currently on duty were staring around lugubriously, jealous of their comrades respite in slumber. Ironically, the enemy’s fires probably made it much harder for them to see me, a swirling darkness, circling around their camp. As for the real reason why I had decided to give Ramses II a hand before the formidable Hittite army fell upon his precious city like a flood, well… It was compensation for all the souls that I had feasted on in his city. I had even eaten dreams from his favorite eunuch, a tall and well built specimen. After all, I didn't want him to send his high priests after me; I had a great disgust for all things holy, and the Egyptian high priests were quite adept in their art, being empowered by whatever gods they worshiped. Not that I couldn't take care of them if the time came.

The wind blowing around the camp began to diminish, until all the campfires were perfectly still. In the rest of the valley, it still howling and blowing. The air was unnaturally still as the Hittites continued to sleep away. I counted how many guards they put on post - one… two… All right, 6 plus one necromancer. Not a problem for me, I’d have to go for the necromancer first, and hopefully the other 6 won’t struggle too much before I finish them off.

http://lol.gamepedia.com/Nocturne_-_The_Eternal_Nightmare

The cloud of darkness at the edge of the camp took shape, and I materialized as a shadowy figure with two nasty looking blades attached to my arms. The necromancer twisted his head like a cat's and stared in my direction with some uncertainty. [Darn], those magicians always have surprisingly sharp senses.

“Hey Sinop, do you feel that?”

“Huh?”

“Wasn't there a headwind blowing through here just a second ago? Kept taking off my hat. But the air seems unnaturally still now.”

“Who knows man, it’s [freakin'] Egypt. I hate this place, don’t even know why the King wants us to capture it. All I've seen of it’s ‘glorious wealth’ is sand, buildings made of sand, and more sand.”

I didn't want to hear their housewife-like chatter anymore. Suddenly the light of the fires and the stars were all snuffed out like candles; the air was as black as The Void. The necromancer cursed and began chanting some strange words. I shot from the edge of the camp with the speed of an arrow, and impaled the poor bloke through his left eye and out the back of his head. The unnamed abominations that were being summoned crumbled into nothingness like walls of old Mesopotamia.

The other 6 soldiers, all effectively blinded, were slow to act. I casually waved my hand and implanted dark dreams in each one of their minds. It was so much easier to deal with this common rabble. They all tried to raise the alarm - to no avail. Fear spread through their minds like a poisonous fog, incapacitating their brains’ ability to send signals to the rest of their bodies. As their eyes glazed over and they groggily moved about like some weird species of snails, I feasted on their fear and replenished my energy.

http://lol.gamepedia.com/Nocturne_-_The_Eternal_Nightmare

The six hollow shells soundlessly dropped to the ground. I flexed my arms and laughed as my nightmares spread through the camp like wildfire.

Suddenly though, I felt like invisible constraints seized my entire body. Not good. I tried to move, but was immobilized. Was it a group of elite Hittite magicians? Suddenly, a voice came from everywhere and nowhere: “Congratulations, you have been selected as one of the future champions for the League of Legends. We'll just have to put you in stasis for a while as we prepare the fields of justice that you will be fighting on.”

I had no idea what the words meant, so I struggled more and felt the spell that was binding me loosen. Whoever attacked me was going to regret it badly; my shroud of darkness has always made me temporarily immune to all magicians' magic, even the most powerful. I activated it and felt the bonds holding me nearly break.

A heard the voice again, it was laughing. The bonds became infinitely tighter. I struggled vainly and vaguely wondered who could achieve such a feat of binding me. Darkness descended again, this time upon myself.

Reading Questions (answers in comments):

1) Which of the following is NOT used before the first picture?

a. Simile

b. Asyndeton

c. Metaphor

d. Anastrophe

e. Personification

2) In the first sentence of the third paragraph, "lugubriously" can be most accurately substituted with:

a. Vainly

b. Brightly

c. Gloomily

d. Condescendingly

e. Licentiously

3) The narrator's tone in the third paragraph can most closely be describes as:

a. Apathetic.

b. Sanguineous.

c. Cynical.

d. Contemplative.

e. Irritated.

4) The narrator would probably agree with which of the following statements?
a. Humans are adaptable to many situations
b. It is a phenomena how any humans have survived for so long.
c. The defenses of the Hittite camp were unobjectionable.
d. Most humans rely so much on what they can see, they don't notice what they can't.
e. The necromancer was incompetent for being unable to stop the narrator.

5) The narrator most likely believes after the end of this passage that the one who imprisoned him was:
a. A Hittite magician.
b. An Egyptian magician.
c. A being like himself.
d. Some new sort of powerful human.
e. Some sort of otherworldly being.





How did you do?
5 / 5 : Perfect! You're either a dirty cheater or a good reader!
4 / 5 : Decent. Still could use improvement.
3 / 5 : Not bad, but could use improvement.
2 / 5 : Needs Improvement. Study more!
1 / 5 : Terrible. Spend all your time this month reading AP English level text.
0 / 5 : You can't read English.