Subconscious battles for sanity
During
our discussion of Murakami’s works in class, I had a sudden realization that
Frog from Super Frog Saves Tokyo
could be a part of Katagiri’s unconscious beliefs or emotions, and the movie of
similar topic that instantly popped into my head was Fight Club, with the split
personality twist and everything (especially the part where Frog helps him with
the one really difficult case at work). I was soon to find that, alas, the most
recent post on this blog had already eloquently compared Fight Club to Sula. So I had to find another work with
a kind of similar theme. I picked Tekkon Kinkreet,
a manga-turned-anime that was used as an example of supernatural elements and
psychological distress caused by a “catastrophe” in another class I took
recently (JPN 109).
Tekkon
Kinkreet is a story about two orphaned kids, a violent teenage punk named Kuro
(Black), who thinks he “owns” a part of Treasure Town (his hometown and where
he lives), and his friend Shiro (White), an absentminded and innocent little
kid. The two of them live on the streets and fight off other gangs, Yakuza, and
even aliens as they try to protect the block they think they own from being
taken over and torn down for the construction of a new amusement park paid for by
some foreign investor (who’s depicted as very extraterrestrial-ish). Kuro
slowly slips deeper and deeper into the darkness that is his own mind due to
his violence, but the innocent Shiro is always there to pull him back to reality.
Eventually, Shiro gets injured by someone looking for revenge on Kuro, and Kuro
decides it would be safer for Shiro if he was left in the care of the police
while Kuro protected the block himself. Without Shiro around, though, Kuro’s
decent into insanity soon leads to Kuro meeting The Minotaur, a violent being
much like Kuro himself. The Minotaur turns out to be Kuro’s own dark side, created
because Kuro was struggling with his conflicting desires to fight and to run, and
the movie culminates with Kuro fighting his own darkness, in the form of the
Minotaur, to try and keep his sanity. The internal struggle between reality and
emotion is similar to the fight between Frog and the Worm in Super Frog Saves Tokyo.
In Super Frog Saves Tokyo, I think Frog and
Worm are a manifestation of Katagiri’s own frustration in the belief that he’s
doing a thankless job and no one will ever appreciate him for it. He gets no
respect because he’s just the one that cleans up everyone else’s messes. The
tragedy of the Kobe quake has the topic of earthquakes on his mind, and also
has him thinking about what his life means. If he were to die in a freak
accident like an earthquake, would anyone miss his existence? Would he be
satisfied with his life? Frog and his quest to save Tokyo from the massive
earthquake worm is about to start is a metaphor for Katagiri’s own fight with
his conscious over whether or not his life has any worth. Worm is the insanity, the beast
within him that is frustrated with how little he gets recognized for the efficiency
and efficacy with which he does his job. Worm, who doesn't have any senses except feeling and doesn't have any emotions except rage is a good metaphor for that frustration in Katagiri's subconscious. It’s been slowly building up, much
like Worm’s rage slowly building up from the small vibrations all over Tokyo. Frog
is the good, sane part of Katagiri, who accepts that the job is thankless, but he has
the capacity to do it, and for the sake of the rest of the people of Tokyo, it
must be done. Even though no one realizes his worth, he does it because someone
needs him to do it, and there isn’t anyone else that can take his place. Depending on who wins the battle, one side of
Katagiri’s emotions or the other will take over. Katagiri doesn’t actually
fight the battle, but both sides of the confrontation are manifestations of his
subconscious.
In both Tekkon Kinkreet and Super Frog Saves Tokyo, the main
character goes through a mental battle with their own emotions. The attempted
hostile takeover of Kuro’s homeland and the Kobe earthquake are the two events
that start the characters down the path which will eventually culminate in a
mental battle of emotions and beliefs.
It's so funny that you wanted to write about Fight Club and "Super Frog Saves Tokyo" because that's was the first thing that came to mind when I was thinking about what to write. But like you said, Fight Club has already been discussed! So I just chose "Honey Pie" even though we didn't do much discussing.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike.
I totally agree with you on the idea that Worm and Frog are two manifestations of Mr. Katagiri. I really can't agree more with your words on how Katagiri's rage has been accumulating over time and its form is that of Worm. It made sense to think of this because Katagiri was never actually shot, instead he has been mentally fighting the battle that Frog asked him to. It's important to note that initially, Frog seemed quite real. His diction was superb and he was such a pleasant "guest" to find in your apartment. The dialogue that occurs between Katagiri and Frog seems so realistic that you believe it doesn't even matter whether Frog is real or not.
Thanks for the great insight!
I enjoyed reading your comparison between these two works - I especially liked that you focused on Worm as a manifestation of Katagiri's darker emotions, not just Frog, since we discussed the relationship between Frog and Katagiri during class in more detail. I think that your insights make the end of the story even more interesting to analyze - Frog won the battle but dies in an elaborate and gruesome fashion right before Katagiri's eyes; does the "good" part of him die despite the imaginary victory? Overall, your entry offered some great connections and insights on these two works and was an interesting read!
ReplyDeleteYour discussion of "Super Frog Saves Tokyo" was very insightful. To be honest, when I originally read the short story, I was quite confused with what the plot line meant. However, your thoughts on the battle between the Frog and the Worm as a manifestation of Katagiri's subconscious frustations and inner struggles was great. If we go along with what you discussed, it's interesting how Katagiri envisions his own conscious/ worth needing support from himself. This just shows how everyone needs a bit of self-confidence whether it is in their work, family, or themselves. I really enjoyed reading this.
ReplyDeleteThis was incredibly interesting. I agree with you on many of your points. Even though I have not seen Tekkon Kinkreet, the comparison is very good. Worm and Frog can be seen as the inner conflict within Katagiri. And this struggle needs to be addressed since Katagiri questions his own self-worth since he describes himself in a way that is self-demeaning. Through this experience he discovers that even though in the large picture he is not extraordinarily significant, everyone one plays some significant role even if they can't see it.
ReplyDeleteIt is so interesting to find the different comparisons that everyone comes up with to these stories that we are reading in class. I agree with one of the other comments made, initially I had no idea why we were reading this story. When I read it, I found it very comical in nature until we dug down into the thematics and core of it. I really liked how you talked about the struggle between Frog and Worm. Worm is never really mentioned in the discussion because everyone is so focused on the discussion of Frog and Katagiri. Yet, I do believe that Worm symbolized something greater in the story, like the rage that you applied to his character as a metaphor for Katagiri. Moreover, I enjoyed your insight because you utilized all the characters and made them symbols for the in-depth conflict that was occurring within Katagiri.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the comparison that you made between Super Frog Saves Tokyo and Tekkon Kinkreet. While I was reading Super Frog Saves Tokyo, I never imagined that the Frog and the Worm represented the two sides of Katagiri's subconscious. However, after reading your blog, the whole story makes a lot more sense because like you said, the Frog is the side of Katagiri who does the "right thing" without being appreciated, whereas, the worm simply acts upon his inner rage. As a reader, I was caught up and confused by whether the Frog actually existed and the significance of its sudden appearance in Katagiri's life. However, now that I think about it, it may have been that Katagiri was imagining the Frog to convince himself to continue doing the job that no one else wants to do, for the sake of society.
ReplyDeleteYour discussion of these two works is very unique and I enjoyed reading it! I myself would have never thought to compare them. I also really enjoyed how you talked about the conflicts between Frog and Worm and how it paralleled to Katagiri's own inter conflict. Overall your insight was really interesting to read!
ReplyDeleteI liked your comparison. It was really interesting that you said that both the frog and the worm were part of Katagiri's frustration. You also said that the Worn was angry because of the vibration that were caused by the people. I interpreted this as Katagiri slowly loosing his patience with the people he worked and the people he had to get the money from. I think he didn't think at first that this would get to him bu later he had to battle himself in order to sty sane and not loose his patience.
ReplyDelete