In my deep dive, I found this video: Your Name Timeline Explained | Kimi No Na Wa | 君の名は。- The Kumihimo Theory [SPOILERS] - YouTube. I can’t say I agree with it 100%, but I like the idea that Mituha was saved on the condition that Taki must forget her. It’s reminiscent of one of my favorite stories, that of Orpheus as he leads his wife Eurydice back from death under the rule that he can’t look back at her until she’s completely left Hades. Fortunately, this version has a better ending
Aside from anything else, his constant misuse of some of the terminology. He constantly refers to “Musubi” like it’s the name of the god they enshrine (personally, I’ve always thought it’s the fragment of the comet that landed 2400 years ago - pretty sure the crater it’s standing in is an impact crater rather than a volcanic crater, while “musubi” is just the connection that exists between all living things - and specifically between Mitsuha and Taki, via the cord she gives him), and also describes katawaredoki as a special place that exists within the crater that can only be accessed when the sun and moon are in opposition, when the movie pretty explicitly explains that it’s just an archaic word for “twilight”. And I’ve still only gotten as far as the movie synopsis.
The comet is named after Tiamat, the Babylonian goddess of the sea, and mother to the other gods, and later the symbol of chaos and creation. She eventually ends up declaring war on her children, and is slain by her descendant Marduck who uses her remnants to form the earth and the heavens–Marduk, the god of order and destiny.
So we have these gods, or in real life, aliens whose power and abilities exceed our own (trying real hard to say this with a straight face). We have a god of chaos and creation, and Tiamat, which according to some evidence in the movie is an artificial satellite. It’s possible that Tiamat is only a weapon or tool sent by the creation god. Indeed, 1200 years ago it created a crater, lake, and a rich iron site from which Itomori prospered. And there is also an alien/god from which the Miyamizus descended, who exhibit some kind of power of order and destiny. It’s possible that these two entities are at war and that the the creation alien specifically sent a fragment of Tiamat to take out the Miymizus.
I’m struggling a bit to understand this sentence on pg. 201 when 三葉 asks 瀧 how he likes her hair:
勝手に来て勝手にショックを受けやがって。
Is he referring to himself or 三葉? What sort of shock is he talking about? I’m struggling to break it down. 勝手に来て勝手に。。。 sounds almost idiomatic but I can’t find anything online. Here it is with surrounding sentences for context:
He’s referring to Mitsuha. He’s basically saying she came to see him in Tokyo of her own accord, without any advance warning, so it’s her fault she got such a shock.
Ahhh ok. I don’t think I ever really fully understood the timeline even watching the movie in English. I didn’t fully consider the implications of 瀧’s failure to recognize her. And I think that belief exists to some degree in the US as well, though perhaps not as strongly, so I kind of dismissed Tessie’s teasing. I can’t believe that after having seen the movie 3+ times I’m still putting pieces together. Thanks!
Started reading this about a week ago, up to around page 230 now. Wish I knew about the book club earlier but meh. Anyway, I’ve enjoyed it a ton. On the home stretch now, can feel the tears welling up so I’ll take a break for a bit 笑。