In case you are no longer acquainted with Okinawa’s put aside in Japanese culture, the US has a convenient analog: Hawaii. Like Hawaii, Okinawa changed into as soon as an independent nation that changed into as soon as annexed by a better and extra militarized empire. Its geographical distance from its colonizer allowed it to maintain its distinct culture; on the opposite hand, it struggles to live to reveal the tale under the specter of fetishization and commodification by mainlanders, and the language in particular is in danger of going extinct. Okitsura: Fell in Fancy with an Okinawan Lady, but I Correct Wish I Knew What She’s Saying is something like if a boy from Los Angeles moved to Hawaii and fell in worship with an indigenous girl who speaks Hawaiian pidgin.
In truth, it would now not find into the furry politics of colonialism and critically endangered languages that I alluded to moral now; it is a stunning slice-of-lifestyles romcom-cum-edutainment series about day-to-day lifestyles in Okinawa. The main persona, Teru, has fair currently moved to Okinawa from mainland Japan and has a crush on his classmate, Hina Kyan. Then again, Kyan largely speaks in Uchinaaguchi, the venerable language of the island, rather than Uchinaa Yamatu-guchi, which is closer to a dialect of Japanese with points borrowed from Uchinaaguchi. Fortunately, Kyan’s most effective friend Kana is totally on hand to translate, but Kana has her gain crush – on Teru!
The romcom aspects are no longer worthy to find fascinated with. Teru, Kyan, and Kana are good formative years and all, but no longer very interesting. All three’s personalities are off-the-rack without any modifications to find them feel distinct quite about a than their ambiance. Teru is an awfully good boy who’s interested to find to understand the girl he likes and find out about his fresh home’s culture in the process, Kyan is challenging, and Kana is extra reserved. They spend time hanging out, and every so veritably there is a comedic misunderstanding, most veritably resulting from cultural variations. No person ever makes a transfer, but every so veritably they find blushy and bashful.
No, the genuine superstar right here is Okinawa and its language. To Okitsura‘s credit, it avoids feeling like a promotional anime by focusing on cultural facets of on an ordinary foundation Okinawan lifestyles. Each episode is interrupted several instances for a like a flash dialogue of a itsy-bitsy of linguistic or quite about a minutiae, narrated by a stunning, cartoony itsy-bitsy shiisa (Okinawan mythological determine). This makes the episode’s trail outlandish, no longer regularly lingering in a moment sooner than rushing off to explain its context. Instead of, direct, going to Shuri Citadel or Churami Aquarium, Teru visits exciting local hotspots just like the pressure-in A&W, in the process learning that Okinawa is the finest prefecture in Japan that has no trains. Rathering than trying to drum up tourism, it feels just like the series comes from a sincere worship of the local language and culture. Or no longer it is all extremely charming must you are the kind of one who loves learning about this things, but no query a piece stupid must you are no longer.
Or no longer it is additionally a localizer’s nightmare. Kyan’s Uchinaaguchi dialogue came with Japanese subs, so thankfully whoever changed into as soon as in mark of the translation didn’t want to litter by means of an entirely foreign language on their very gain, though they did transliterate it. Crafting an factual, readable journey for English-speaking viewers required a gargantuan amount of cultural records and understanding of technical linguistic terminology. Exterior of the clunky title with the inconsistent irritating that I think changed into as soon as forced by means of by the Japanese licensor, they did an admirable job, even supposing it is simply no longer imaginable to totally replicate the journey of the Japanese target audience.
Basically the most important trio is voiced by one of the most seiyuu world’s brightest contemporary stars: Fairouz Ai as Kana, Akari Kitō as Kyan, and Takeo Ōtsuka as Teru. All three are very proficient actors and finish neatly by their characters; on the opposite hand, Ai is from Tokyo and Kito is from Nagoya. I confess, I fabricate no longer gain an ear for the Okinawan dialect the same means I finish for standard Japanese or the Kansai dialect, and Uchinaaguchi is entirely unknown to me, so I can’t discuss for the means convincing their accents are. Then again, considering Okinawa’s marginalized put aside in comparison to the main islands, it is frustrating that neither of the Okinawan protagonists are voiced by native speakers of the dialect, even supposing worthy of the secondary forged is. Miyuri Shimabukuro, direct, would possibly maybe maybe additionally no longer gain the superstar vitality of the actress who voiced Jolyne Cujoh, but she’s skilled and has confirmed herself to be extra than in a position to playing a lead persona while additionally hailing from Okinawa herself.
Okinawa is a stunning put aside, which makes all of it of the extra impressive how Okitsura resists the sprint to focal point on its eminent scenery and instead situation many of the motion in the suburbs. Finally, the items stocked in a division retailer clothing section and local products in the supermarket are far extra relevant to day-to-day lifestyles in the prefecture. There’s level-headed hundreds of class to be came across, but right here it is came across extra in the mundane, akin to the shiisaa statues that decorate the landscape. Basically the most exotic thing concerning the manufacturing is without bother the soundtrack; the background music and even the theme songs are dominated by sanshin, the three-stringed lute that’s integral to the sound of the islands.
Here is the put aside I admit that I gain a bachelor’s level in linguistics and Japanese, and veritably bring up linguistic minutiae I moral learned as a manufacture of little discuss; as such, a series like Okitsura within reason worthy made for me. While you fabricate no longer section my irregular intersection of interests, on the opposite hand, there would possibly be rarely worthy concerning the expose that’s appealing. The characters are flat and frequent, extra birth units for cultural minutiae than interesting in their very gain moral. The animation is luminous and colourful, but no longer regularly impressive and eschews scenery porn of its famously scenic setting. No, you would possibly want to to level-headed be the kind of nerd who finds digressions into the phonetics of a dialect fascinating to find anything out of this.
