GENERATION GAP.: 2006/12/13 23:29
Generation Gap.
2006/12/13 23:29
So, here we go.
At Y-ko’s place.
A conversation held while we were pulling an all-nighter, doing work.
| Y-KO: | … How do you read this, Sebas? |
She pointed out a particular kanji to me.
| ME: | Y-ko, I think you ought to be able to read this one… |
| Y-KO: | Shut up, relaxed generation! |
| ME: | Actually, I think I was just a few years before the relaxed generation… |
Plus, even if I was a member of that generation, wouldn’t that mean your own vocabulary is even smaller?
Or wait, this isn’t even about vocabulary, is it? It’s more like… literacy?
… Maybe my own vocabulary is in trouble.
| Y-KO: | If you didn’t have to go to school on Saturdays, you’re in the relaxed generation! |
| ME: | … Wouldn’t that mean you’re in that generation, too…? |
| Y-KO: | …… |
| ME: | …… |
| Y-KO: | … Well, being in the relaxed generation is kind of stylish, wouldn’t you say? |
| ME: | That was a startling about-face. |
See how fast she turns around?
You’re like the tsundere heroine of NisiOisin’s Bakemonogatari.
The one who makes fun of the protagonist’s mountain bike.
| Y-KO: | So stylish, it’s almost like… relaxed-ish. |
| ME: | Relaxed-ish!? |
| That was not clever enough to warrant the smug look on your face right now! | |
| Y-KO: | Silence, Sebas-ish. |
| ME: | Stop combining them! |
Not only did that sound terrible, but it sounds hard to pronounce!
Is she angry at me?!
Plus, wouldn’t that mean her own death is imminent?!
And wasn’t it a Rubens painting, not van Gogh?!
… Hang on, this joke’s probably a bit too old for you folks, isn’t it?
* Rubens painting: In the last episode of A Dog of Flanders, Nero and his dog Patrasche froze to death underneath a painting by Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens.
| Y-KO: | Anyways, Sebsh. |
| ME: | … You’re completely tongue-tied by now. |
| Y-KO: | Well, it’s quite a tongue twister. |
| ME: | Not particularly… but you’re certainly making it into one. |
| Y-KO: | No, it really is a tongue tistwer— |
| ME: | You just did it again! |
There’s that Bakemonogatari again! This time you’re like the little kid ghost who can’t pronounce anything right! And sadly, you’re more than twice her age!
gahara?I’m not as tough as the protagonist in that book.
I just can’t survive that withering storm of brutal insults.
| Y-KO: | Oh, fine. Should we just go with the usual BL talk? |
| ME: | What do you mean, the usual?! |
| That makes it sound like I willingly discuss BL with you all the time! | |
| Y-KO: | Oh, don’t worry. The night is long! |
| ME: | Sorry, it’s nearly sunrise! |
| And I haven’t gotten anywhere with this! | |
| Y-KO: | Sunrise… Speaking of that, how about Azure Before the Sunrise? |
| We can talk about that! | |
| ME: | Azure Before the…? Wh-what is that? |
| Y-KO: | You don’t know about Azure Before the Sunrise? Well, it’s… |
| ME: | … It’s? |
| Y-KO: | An adult computer game. |
| ME: | What exactly do you expect from me?! |
On what basis does she assume that I would know about that?
And assuming I was familiar with it, why would you want me to have played it before, Y-ko?!
| Y-KO: | You haven’t heard of it? But it’s common knowledge! |
| ME: | Says who?! Your standards of “common knowledge” are way out of whack! |
| Y-KO: | You should know everything that’s been turned into an anime! |
| ME: | That’s crazy! You have some really unreasonable expectations of me! |
And this thing was animated?
There sure are a lot of anime based on eroge…
Even Y-ko’s favorite, Fate/stay night, was animated.
| Y-KO: | Of course, it’d be years before a total novice like you could hold a decent conversation about this way of life with a master like myself. |
| ME: | Are you proud of that fact? |
And to what “way of life” are you referring? Erotic computer games?
… And you’re a master at them?
I learn something new every day…
| Y-KO: | And now you must master your own way of life. |
| ME: | What’s that? |
| Y-KO: | The ways of carnality. |
| ME: | Pardon? |
| Y-KO: | I’m talking about sodomy. |
Sodomy…
The real-life version of BL!!
| ME: | I have absolutely zero intention of setting foot on that path, much less mastering it! |
| Y-KO: | Blaze down the path, Sebas! |
| ME: | Are you speeding this up? |
| Y-KO: | Yes, acceleration… There’s an acceleration device on the inside of your wisdom tooth. |
| ME: | … Acceleration device? |
What is she talking about?
Damn, I don’t recognize whatever it is she’s referencing…
Hmmm… What story is likely to have an acceleration device in it…?
| ME: | What am I supposed to be… Hyuuma… Hoshi? |
… It was a weak, doubtful comeback.
| Y-KO: | Why would there be an acceleration device in Star of the Giants?! |
She came back on my comeback!
I should have known I would fail that one!
| ME: | Doesn’t he, like… try to steal a ton of bases…? |
| Y-KO: | Star of the Giants is about how Hyuuma Hoshi’s father tries to turn him into a perfect baseball player, not a perfect baseball cyborg!! |
| The wisdom tooth acceleration device is from Cyborg 009 ! | |
| Get it together!! |
But I don’t know anything about Cyborg 009…
Damn! My lack of knowledge was pitifully exposed on that one…
Maybe she was right about me being a total novice!
| Y-KO: | Heh… If you have to curse anything, curse your own ignorance. |
| I think you should start with the basics. Astro Boy should be a good launching pad. | |
| Oh, and bonus points if you memorize the years involved. | |
| ME: | … The years…? |
This conversation has turned into a history lesson…
… And give me a break.
Cyborg 009.
Manga serialized in 1964.
Manga serialized in 1966.
… Is there any wonder someone my age wouldn’t know about these things?
—So how are you so familiar with them, Y-ko…?
What I’m feeling now isn’t my lack of knowledge, but the generation gap between us.
… But I still know all about A Dog of Flanders (aired in 1975)…
I guess it’s just something that varies from person to person.
