Oe-san And The Importance of Grace
Or: How Incredible, the Feminine
[A short, brown haired girl stands in a pink kimono with purple obi, her eyes closed with blooming white flowers against a blue background. Picture from http://randomc.net/]
So, Chihayafuru is on it’s way to being in my Top 5 anime. It’s gonna push out K-On!! and cause me to re-think how I order the list. It’s just that good. Chihaya forms much of the core of the series’ appeal, but my preference for secondary characters has me fascinated by Kana Oe and her charming mother.
Kana joined the Misusawa Karuta Club to indulge in her love of classical poetry (Karuta is a game that centers on 100 famous poems from Japanese history) and classical apparel. Her mother owns a kimono shop and the Oe ladies have conspired to make the formal dress into the uniform of the Karuta club.
The message really hits home in episode 18 when the show takes time to focus on Kana’s bearing and performance on the Tatami when in traditional garb. The sequence is fascinating. The normally reserved and defensive girl is aggressive, precise, and flawlessly graceful. And her mother opines:
Chihaya-chan is very beautiful, but she’s beautiful no matter what she wears. Kanade isn’t necessarily beautiful, but she knows how to use a kimono.
The change that comes over Kanade is immense. Her meek manor evaporates and she replaces it with a fire that makes her a formidable opponent on the tatami. This transformation struck a deep chord in me. One of the accusations levied against feminism from time to time (usually by people who’ve not taken time to understand it) is that they’re against the feminine. That we don’t want girls and women to wear pretty clothes and act demure. That’s patently false. I’d never take that from Kana, who shows her true self most in traditional clothing and sporting traditional mannerisms—all of which are heavily gendered. When she says “my obi supports me”, there’s a vein of defiance and pride that raises a shout from me instead of coos of appreciation.
For this young girl, the grace, poise, and poetry of these classical women forms a central inspiration. She wants to live a life full of passion and fire while exuding proud elegance. It doesn’t matter what her dream is, seeing Kanade pursue it should make us all happy.
