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Is Adachi subtle, or what


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Comadrin

Comadrin

    Fried Potato

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I have noticed from more than one of his manga that Adachi Sensei seems to have a worldview about our stewardship of the planet Earth very much akin to Miyazaki Hayao. He rather likes clean skies, clean rivers, natural flora and fauna, and that sort of thing. This manga seems to have a pretty clear, yet subtle, message about conservation. Japan, although having one of the most polluted and light polluted cities in the world (guess which one) also has a history of conservation of trees and mountains that should be the envy of the world. For more on that, read Jaret Diamond's book, "Collapse." The Japanese culture, as far as a gaijin like me understands, has a reverence for nature found much more rarely here in the US. Perhaps I am being reverse bigoted, as I am a land surveyor, and work for land "developers" a good part of my time, but I end up seeing a great deal of land destruction for short term profit (always with rhetoric claiming this is working for the betterment of everyone).

While reading manga, I have noticed, in several well-written series, a love of the countryside and natural surroundings. Under the Dapple Shade, Hoshi no Furu Machi, and Miyori's Forest come to mind immediately, as well as many of Miyazaki's works. Adachi Sensei, in his non-baseball oriented works, seems to fit in the same genre with these.

I became a Land Surveyor when I retired from the military because it would keep me out of doors. My favorite jobs are when I have to hike up hill and down dale, bust through the brush, and find old land boundary monuments that haven't been disturbed for years because no one wants to hike out that far. I love the silent, undisturbed, undeveloped countryside.

This manga kind of struck a chord in me when it talked about not spoiling the great natural world we have. Yes, I realize we have to have agriculture and what not to feed our population, but Adachi Sensei seems to be telling us that total exploitation of our natural resources definitely AIN'T the way to achieve that. Well, NO S@#T!! For me, he's preaching to the choir. Buuut, he does it in a definitely entertaining way. This is a great manga, a good adventure story, subdued romance (an Adachi specialty), and an understated message that we should cherish what we have and not allow corporate moguls to raze entire forested mountainsides so they can buy a new Gulfstream airliner that will rival Air Force One. Damnit, doesn't anyone read Tolstoy's short story about how much land does a man need? I live on my retirement, and what I earn from part time work as a surveyor. I eat regularly, I can read my beloved manga at Batoto, I can listen to my music, from Bach to Southern All Stars, WHAT THE HELL MORE DO I NEED? I love my 1992 Toyota pickup, and love my Canon EOS 5 camera, and my relatively cheap telescope to observe the stars. What in hell do I need a BMW for, or a $100,000.00 vacation for.

OK, now that I have thrown out a whole bunch of super annoying gambits out there and shown everyone how I feel: how about someone tell me how they feel about Adachi Mitsuru's take on conservation!!!!!

Edited by Comadrin, 08 August 2012 - 01:35 PM.