Battles Without Honor and Humanity - Image Shiritori Started (#203)

(#202) Game Master → "Jin" → Battles Without Honor and Humanity --- (8,172 characters)

Today is the day, I will catch that detestable arch-nemesis of mine
the stray cat that snatched my fish

Although I cannot confirm it in this bust-up shot,
she is likely not barefoot.

She doesn't seem particularly cheerful,
and she certainly doesn't look happy.

Much less,

Rururururu~

...she doesn't seem to have that kind of atmosphere either.

However,

It's a nice day today as well (probably). (・_・)

...I wouldn't want to run into a Sazae-san like this... (-_-;)

But then again,
chasing a cat that ran off with a fish barefoot,
or going out to town to shop and forgetting your wallet,
when it comes to such a cheerful (is that really cheerful?) Sazae-san, if she were to seriously confront a battle-hardened stray cat desperate to survive, the outcome seems clearer than day.

Furthermore, if Sazae-san's side enters this 'Battles Without Honor and Humanity' mode, the stray cat's side won't just stay silent either.
It would only be natural for it to be carrying a weapon or two.

Like this—

Hmm, I really did see fire (・__).

Therefore, this match

● Sazae Fuguta vs. The stray cat that snatched the fish ○

The cat that successfully advanced, who is its next opponent...

Speaking of stories with a conflict between a cat and something else—
The classic choice would surely be Tom and Jerry, wouldn't it?

To briefly summarize the profiles of both parties in this conflict,

The mouse is a living creature
The cat is also a living creature

It's simple (Hey!).
They fight as friends (I said, hey!).

Now, what is the result of this showdown where |Tom| (cat) and |Jerry| (mouse) fight as friends?

There are people in this world who cannot help but explore the truth behind even the most trivial things,
and there is someone who has compiled statistics on this Tom and Jerry showdown across all 141 episodes recorded on DVD.

According to the statistics of that idle... I mean, that person with rare inquisitive spirit, Kaguya☆(zenichi) san, the wins and losses are as follows. (Also, for the original source,
Kaguya☆(zenichi) san's blog, go to the link in the footnotes, gentlemen!)

🐱Tom's victory……………… 5.6% ( 8/141)
🐀Jerry's victory………48.2% (68/141)
・Draw…………………… 4.9% ( 7/141)
・Victory through cooperation… 2.1% ( 3/141)
・Both happy✨… 9.2% (13/141)
・Other(*1) ……………… 29.7% (42/141)

Hmm, I had a rough idea from my gut feeling, but it really is |Jerry| (mouse)'s overwhelming victory...

However, among the results above, it must be considered that Jerry's victories include 28 out of 68 episodes won with the help of a powerful assistant like Spike the dog.
Although, in the world of competition, the skill of obtaining an assistant can also be said to be part of one's true ability.
And, when limited to pure Jerry victories without Spike's help, the win rate is 28.3% (40/141), which is a gap of over five times Tom's win rate.

Therefore, this match is—

● |Tom| (cat) vs |Jerry| (mouse) ○

……Even so, Tom's victory episodes are about once every 20 times……
As a cat person, I'm teary-eyed Cat's Eye💦💦(ФωФ)💦💦

It wasn't even close, but the cat didn't make it through(ФωФ)💦💦

Next, speaking of stories where a mouse conflicts with something, hmm... what could it be—

"Gamba no Bouken" or something.

……No, isn't that old?(・_・)?

It's a somewhat old anime—it aired in 1975, so it's a work from nearly half a century ago—so to briefly summarize its content,

A hot-blooded mouse named Gamba, along with six companions, crosses over to the island that is the hometown of a mouse named Chuta, and sets sail on an adventure to defeat Noroi, a giant white weasel that rules the island with violence and fear—that is the story.

Huh? If I explain it in a digest like this, is there even any point in discussing who won or lost?

○ Gamba and his merry friends mice vs Noroi weasel ●

...No, that's way too simple (・_・)

However!

This time, while trying to jog my memory, I looked up "Gamba no Bouken" (Gamba's Adventures), and to my surprise, this "Gamba no Bouken" was remade as a 3DCG animated film in 2015 called "
GAMBA: Gamba and His Friends"! (￣o￣)!

I, I didn't know... (・_・)💦

Is this an oversight because I'm consistently indifferent to the goings-on of the world? (*´Д｀)

No, wait. According to information, this film, which was 15 years in the making and cost a massive 2 billion yen to produce, debuted at 7th place in the national box office rankings for its opening weekend (according to Kogyo Tsushinsha), with 58,740 admissions across 596 screens nationwide. If you simply divide that up, it comes to a little under 100 people per screen over two days, or a little under 50 people per day. ...I dare say that's underwhelming (・_・)💦

To put the final nail in the coffin, according to "Kinema Junpo," the film's final box office revenue was 300 million yen, ending up at just one-seventh of its total production cost.

...Of course, that doesn't mean it's natural not to have seen it or not to have known about it.

In the midst of all this, I found a tab on the film's official website titled "~Legend of the White Devil Chapter~."
As someone who watched the 1975 anime "Gamba no Bouken," it is crystal clear that the "White Devil" refers to the arch-enemy Noroi.
I played it with excitement—

Ohhhhh! ( ﾟДﾟ)!

Noroi, you're cool! (≧▽≦)! ← Wait, that's what I'm focusing on?
The giant mastermind of evil, who looks a bit thinner than the vague memory I had from seeing him nearly half a century ago—or to put it nicely, he's become slim💥
That overwhelming presence💥
Nomura Mansai's somewhat effeminate, "Finish him off!"💥

...It actually looks pretty interesting (・_・)

It was released in 2015, so...
I'm sure you could definitely watch it on streaming services strong in anime like "d Anime Store" or "U-NEXT"...
I'll try searching on the video subscription services I'm subscribed to, just in case—
hulu... no hits (*´Д｀)
Amazon Prime VideoAmapura... Hit! ＼(^o^)／🎉

Well done, Amapura (o^-')b♪

—So, I watched "GAMBA: Gamba and His Friends".

The result is...

○ Gamba and his merry friends mice vs Noroi weasel ●

……Well, I suppose that's true (・_・)💦
I'll refrain from going into details because it would be a spoiler and ruin the fun, but personally, I thought it was just fine... why did this movie flop?
(￣∀￣)♪

In particular, it was quite moving that Masako Nozawa, a legend in the voice acting world who voiced Gumba in the previous anime, voiced Tsuburi, who is also a key person in the story (*´▽｀*)

Now, in this kind of story flow, it's usually the pattern that the side that won will lose next... but there you have it, this is the Matsudaira style of just winging it and scribbling things down as they come ← I've come to terms with it.

An unexpected mouse winning streak✨
To put it in the style of the nostalgic "Owarai Star Tan," that's two weeks of winning.

The next showdown is...
When I thought of a showdown between a mouse and something else, what immediately came to mind was
the anime " Dirty Pair" episode 12, "Small Dictator! Don't Touch the Secrets, or You'll Be Cursed."

" Dirty Pair" is originally a series of sci-fi novels written by Haruka Takachiho. It was a hugely popular space opera at the time, published in "S-F Magazine" and released by Hayakawa Publishing in a total of 9 volumes as both hardcovers and paperbacks.

It was adapted into an anime in 1985, and subsequently, it could be said that the series gained moderate popularity in other media as well, with one movie and 6 OVAs (Original Video Animations).

The protagonists are a duo of beauties, Kei and Yuri, who are a bit scantily clad lol.

They are skilled trouble consultants belonging to a space agency called the WWWA (World Welfare Works Association), and their official codename is "Lovely Angels."
However, the story setting is that they came to be called the " Dirty Pair" because every time they solve a case, they cause massive and devastating damage to the place where it took place—or rather, on a planetary scale.

In fact, in all the cases in the novel version, the ending always involves something catastrophic happening on a planetary scale (lol), which is, so to speak, the standard punchline (￣∀￣)

Now, the battle that serves as the stage for this "Battles Without Honor and Humanity"
" Small Dictator! Don't Touch the Secrets, or You'll Be Cursed" is, as mentioned earlier, an original story from the anime version (Episode 12).

The story goes roughly like this—

One day, an incident occurs where the security system of the WWWA headquarters, where Yuri & Kei belong, is stolen, and the mission to solve it is assigned to the Dirty... I mean, the Lovely Angels.

As the two investigate, it is revealed that the culprit—or rather, the stolen security system—is a genius mouse with an IQ of 153 whose brain was abnormally activated by a special flea called Rice No. 1.

These genius mice are Algernon and Chicchi.

The WWWA intended to use these accidentally created genius mice to build the universe's strongest security system—not only protecting secrets by organizing mice found on any planet and giving them aggression, but also being able to utilize them as an army—and the Dirty... Lovely Angels lol were, so to speak, "sacrificial lambs" sent in with the facts hidden from them to test Algernon's command ability (￣∀￣).

As the WWWA Development Division had calculated, Algernon's command ability successfully evaded the pursuit of the universe's strongest and worst duo (lol) and succeeded in self-defense.

However, an unexpected situation occurs here.

Algernon, having become far too intelligent, refused to settle for being under humans who were dumber than himself(*2), took over the WWWA headquarters, and declared independence, telling the humans to get out!!

At this point, the Da... Lovely Angels (lol) are once again issued the mission: "Eliminate Algernon and liberate the WWWA headquarters."

Yuri, who has an IQ of 156, which is 3 points higher than Algernon (lol), devised a plan to
"use Rice No. 1 to make Algernon stupid"
. It was a plan where it's hard to tell if they are smart or stupid, but it was carried out, and due to the difference in IQ... or rather, simply through the tricks of mutual deception, the two managed to pin down and capture Algernon (o^-')b♪

Now, just as they were about to use Rice No. 1 on Algernon—Chicchi, who adored Algernon, shielded him and was stabbed by Rice No. 1 instead! ( ﾟДﾟ)!

Before long, Chicchi returned to being stupid... or rather, a normal mouse, and ran around innocently.

And Algernon, sensing that his partner had returned to being a normal mouse, looked up at the heavens in despair and sorrow, then broke through the window glass and dove into the sky, taking his own life.

Thus, the mission reached a very bitter conclusion, but it was a success nonetheless.

Kei: "Suicide, huh."
Yuri: "They say mice are tough, but when they are too smart, they are fleeting."
Kei: "Is being too smart also not good?"

And Yuri gently removes the cape worn by Chicchi, the partner of the "little dictator," and lets it flutter out the window as if to have it follow Algernon, whispering:

"Chicchi is happy to have returned to being a normal mouse, isn't she?"

Now, regarding this 12th episode of "Dirty Pair." I'm sure many people will recognize the name
Algernon and this story development.

Yes, it is Daniel Keyes's novel, "
Flowers for Algernon" (novelette version 1959, novel version 1966).

It was adapted into a film in 1968 titled Charly , and in Japan, it has been adapted into a drama twice, in 2002 and 2015, under the title 'Flowers for Algernon,' so many people might know it from that version.

To summarize the story briefly,
the protagonist, Charlie, who has an intellectual disability, undergoes a clinical trial for a newly developed brain surgery and becomes a genius with an IQ of 185. However, his simple, honest, and kind personality changes completely, turning him into an arrogant and cold-hearted person who looks down on those less intelligent than himself.
Later, it is discovered that the effects of the brain surgery are actually temporary. Charlie gradually returns to his original state with an intellectual disability, losing his genius intellect but regaining the kindness he originally possessed—
that is the gist of the story.

Since the story is told entirely from the first-person perspective of the protagonist, Charlie, the writing style evolves intellectually as his intelligence increases, starting from the beginning where his vocabulary is poor and his grammar is a mess.
The fact that this process is exquisitely expressed not just through the story, but through the writing style itself, is what makes this novel so brilliant.

In the second half, as the story turns, the high-level writing style gradually returns to a mediocre one, and then back to the original, broken, and messy style—

The second half is more heartbreaking to read.
The terror of being able to realize for yourself that your intellectual level is dropping, and the terror of having to project your own future onto Algernon, the mouse who underwent the surgery first, returned to being a normal mouse, and then died.

It's not quite like Kei from 'Dirty Pair,' but it really is a case of
“Is being too smart not a good thing after all?”

For better or worse, that fear disappears once it drops to a certain intellectual level, but for the reader looking down from a bird's-eye view, this is painful and heartbreaking (T＿T)

And the final line, spoken by Charlie after he has returned to his original self—the Charlie with an intellectual disability, but a very kind heart—makes my tear ducts burst open no matter how many times I read it (T＿T)💦

P.S.

　Please, if you have a chance, leave some flowers at Algernon's grave in the backyard.

—Somehow, I feel like reading it all over again from the beginning... (*´꒳`*)

Also, this novel was naturally written in English, but I must mention the excellent translation by Fusa Obi.

She used a technique where she started with a clumsy writing style centered on Japanese hiragana to reflect the disorder in the original English style and spelling, and gradually added kanji and difficult vocabulary; of course, the reverse happens in the second half.
In a sense, this exquisite technique might be said to bring out the 'stylistic effect' of this work even better than the English version.

So, if you have the time, this is a work that I would like you to read while comparing it to the original English version.

Well, honestly, the beginning and the end are frustratingly difficult to read (￣∀￣)💦💦
To be frank, there are many times when you have no idea what is written unless you check it against the Japanese translation.

Charlie, you idiot,
write it so I can understand it better! 💢

...is the kind of unreasonable demand I end up wanting to make (^^ゞ💦

—So, when I looked into various things again this time,
it turns out there is something called 'Flowers for Algernon' Ruby-annotated version ✨

In this ruby-annotated version, it seems that the perfect translation for each word is provided in advance as ruby.
Oh, this means no dictionary is needed (￣∀￣)♪
In a sense, you could say you don't need a 'Charlie-speak' dictionary either (o^-')b♪
This is convenient (*´▽｀*)♪—probably lol

...So such a convenient version was published, huh (￣o￣)♪
...If only such a convenient version had existed when I was a student... 💦

Yeah, I find myself starting to want one^m^

――Oops, I've gone off on a tangent again💦💦
This time, the "Battles Without Honor and Humanity" is――

● Algernon and the Rat Army
vs
Dirty PairHuman ○

Well, the humans have finally appeared, have they――
That said, the Dirty Pair arethe strongest in the universeafter all(￣∀￣)♪
It's hard to find an opponent who can stand up to them...

Besides,
this battle without honor and humanity, which began with the defeat of Sazae FugutaHuman, has looped back to the victory of the Dirty PairHuman,
I think this is a good place to call it a night, what do you think?
(Or rather, to be honest, I'm getting tired now^m^💦💦)

――That said,
just because the Dirty PairHuman ended up winning, it doesn't mean I'm symbolically saying that humans are the most important... not at all.

I still truly believe that themost foolish creatures on this Earthare none other than
us "humans".

Before the situation in Ukraine has even settled, now it's Israel, huh.
In this world, the only idiots who kill each other within the same species are

"humans".

And on top of that, we pointlessly pollute, destroy, and disregard the Mother Earth that lets us live here.

With what mouth can we call ourselves the "lords of creation"?
Aren't you ashamed, humans...

Maybe it would be better if everyone just became an idiot like Rice No. 1?(￣∀￣)

That would be better for the Earth than anything else.

......In the end, I couldn't help but let out some futile complaints...💦💦
I'm still so naive... (￣o￣)💦
(Reflection) m(__)m

Now, the final song for tonight isEmmiewith "GRAY SIDE ~Rain of Sand~"

The theme song for the OVAOriginal Video Animation "Project A-ko The VSVersus".
The keyword this time is "confrontation"(o^-')b♪

And, as is typical for a delinquent like me who listens to and sings anime songs quite a bit but rarely watches the actual anime, I've never seen this one either(^^ゞ💦💦
(I barely managed to see the first one, though w)

The soundtrack for this anime was released as two simultaneous discs, "GREY SIDE" and "BLUE SIDE," and since they were produced by Kenji Kawai and Kohei Tanaka, musicians I personally like, I bought them immediately――
Such a distant memory (￣∀￣)💦

〽If I had saved,
back on that day,
if this were a game world

If we could go back to around that time, do you think humans could have avoided inviting such tragedy...
--Wait? You didn't save? ( ﾟДﾟ)??

That's no good (￣∀￣)💦

Well,
with all that said,
tomorrow, too, I hope as many people as possible--at least I want to pray.🙏
That it becomes a world where even one more person can sleep peacefully without any worries.🙏

■ Bonus

This is the vehicle before the current image shiritori train (the 203rd car). If anyone felt intrigued by the title "Master of Games" and the joke image below, please feel free to take a peek when you have some time.
The many-limbed character in the header image might come to visit your house with a Twister mat (o^-')b♪←No, that would be annoying, honestly...

■ References/Sources

My sister told me, "Hey, there's something like this," and I thought, let's see...
So I tried this web-based intelligence test.
Well, taking it is free, and it's supposedly just a 10-minute time-killer, so I tried it out casually.

A few days later, an email arrived in the mailbox of my newly purchased computer with the results of the test I took the other day,
"Your test results are top-level🤓"
with such an enticing title.
It said, "Click below to get your IQ test results (IQ certificate and detailed performance report)."
Regardless of the results, I remembered there was a question among the 20 or so that I just couldn't figure out and was left feeling fuzzy about, so I clicked it wanting to know the answer--
It said that to know the results, a fee would be charged--
What the heck, in the end, it costs money?💢 Who needs that?💢
So, I just left it alone.

Then, two days later,
"Special Offer: Get your IQ test results for 50% off!"
an email arrived.
"Aren't you curious about your true intelligence level? You can get your IQ test results for 50% off now!"
That was the hook. Furthermore,
"Your IQ score is above average! Take the plunge and check your intelligence level!"
That's how they tickled my curiosity (≧▽≦)

No, are you desperate!! (lol)

...I've started to find it a bit endearing^m^
The initial price of about 2000 yen? I thought that was expensive ( ﾟДﾟ)!
But at 50% off, it's 995 yen. Well, for this price, I might be able to use it as material for a story--

So, I bought it.
The result is what you see above.

No, it's definitely true that it's above average (100),
but--

Calling 116 "top-level"
is definitely exaggerating, isn't it!^m^

...Somewhere in my heart,
<Maybe I have an IQ on par with Algernon... >
I felt my heart pounding with that kind of nasty expectation, and my own pettiness is just so embarrassing💦💦

...Well, maybe I should be grateful that I got a story out of this (￣∀￣)