Nobuta wo Produce: The Piglets’ Love Story
I am watching Nobuta wo Produce* for the first time (
solo____ is showing it to me, and we are only up to ep 4, so no spoilers, please!). It's a great series, I think, funny and interesting with engaging characters.
Nobuta also features an… interesting animation for the opening and closing credits: the dramatic love story of two pastel piglets. At first glance, this is surprising, seeing as piglets - pastel or otherwise - play absolutely no part in Nobuta itself, and the piglet plot seems unconnected to anything in the Nobuta plot. But once you think about it for a while, the Piglets' Deeper Meaning™ becomes clear!
Warning: This post may surpass your recommended daily dose of silliness and talk about animated piglets. If in doubt, please consult your physician. Also: pastel piglet picspam behind the cut!
The Piglets' Tale**
** not a pun.
First, I present my step-by-step interpretation of the complex Piggy Tale Arc, which makes it very clear it has a happy ending. Some critics - I'm looking at you, solo____ ! - have doubted this and have even opined that the Green Piggy dies at the end, but it is clear they are Wrong.
The Preview
We start out with a glimpse of the most dramatic scene: our two heroes riding on a motorbike, Pink Piglet looking grimly determined, Green Piglet looking beaten half to death. The viewer, of course, is full of questions, such as: Oh no, who beat up Green Piglet? Who gave Pink Piglet a driver's license? What could have happened here?!
The Exposition
We jump back in time a bit to the sun rising on Piggy Tower, where Pink Piggy is happily waiting for Green Piggy to come home.
But tragedy is about to strike!
Introduction of Tragic Conflict
Meaning, in this case, the tragic conflict between Green Piggy and the trotters of the Pig Yakuza.
Knowing Green Piggy, this was the result of Green Piggy heroically but unwisely attempting to take them to task for their Piggish Ways. Oh Green Piggy, very heroic - but how could you do this to Pink Piggy?
Obligatory Car Motorcycle Chase
Pink Piggy vrooms off on his motorcycle to bring the badly injured Green Piggy to the hospital, breaking all manner of traffic regulations in his worry and fear.
The Turning Point! (Well. Almost.)
Unfortunately, one of the traffic regulations PP neglects is the helmet law - and he also forgets that Green Piggy isn't quite his usual clingy self!
Nooooo! Can this truly be the end?
Touching Flashback: First Love
Ah, for those halcyon days of yore, when our heroes were young innocent schoolpiglets...
...happy - though occasionally squabbling over the top question and other such things - and in love!
Youth, summer, the first stirrings of a piglet's, err, heart... graduating from school and setting up your first household together with the pastel piggy that you love…
Watching the sun rise on your new home, your beloved piglet by your side…
The Flashback to Just Before the Flashback
The Resolution
But never fear, all is well in the end! The next scene switches to nighttime at the piglets' home. This is a clear time reference: The natural temporal progression from sunrise to night indicates that this is set after the earlier tragic events, and so is the entire tale's resolution.
Green Piggy is his usual bouncy and healthy self once again - clearly, he has been released from the hospital and the entire ugly episode is but a fond memory (fond, I surmise, because it has only strengthened their love, and because the Yakuza Pigs were no doubt brought to justice in the meantime).
Yes! The piggy lovers are together again!
Pink Piggy has, of course, been relieved of his driver's license for being a hazard on the road, but what does that matter. He has Green Piggy, and a toy he is inordinately proud of to take the place of his impounded motorcycle.
Ah, piggy love! All's well that ends well.
The Deeper Meaning of The Piglets' Tale
The Piggy Slash is quite obviously an allegory of the relationship between Akira and Shuji, with the Green Piggy - obviously - standing for Akira and the Pink Piggy for Shuji. This is clear from both the drunken head-wagging and staggering of Green Piggy in the school flashback, and Green Piggy's demonstrated tendency to stand up for what is right and just. Pink Piggy, on the other hand, likes cool things like motorbikes, and has a tendency to show off and put himself into the spotlight. What could be clearer?
The alternate explanation for the presence of The Piggy Slash would be that once filming had wrapped, the production team went on a three-day-bender, in the middle of which they were called by the poor underling who was the only one holding the fort back in the studio. "We need a decision on the sequence for the opening and closing credits NOW!" this poor soul shouted into the phone. "Director? Director, can you hear me? Director!! What should I tell the animation department?"
…
And the rest is history.
ETA: Additional Evidence of the Happy Ending
Certain Parties have questioned the obvious happy ending, attempting to bring forth counter-arguments. These so-called arguments, however, immediately fall apart under scrutiny. I append the pertinent discussion to the evidence.
How do you prove that the final scene is really the last one in the timeline?
The plot proceeds logically through one symbolic day - beginning in the morning, ending at night. What could be more convincing?
But, for the sake of argument: The only other point during the timeline where the last scene could conceivably fit would be in between the piglets' school days and the Pig Yakuza run-in, just before Pink Piggy bought his motorcycle. That could conceivably be an alternate point in time at which Pink Piggy might show off a model motorcycle to his beloved Green Piggy.
The purchase of the motorcycle, however, is an event that has no significance whatsoever for the plot. There is no reason for it to be raised to such importance by being given the last piglet scene of all. In fact, giving the final scene to a random flashback of no importance would completely shatter the integrity of the story arc.
So, the very narrative structure of the tale itself argues that the final scene is also the last one in the timeline.
And would they leave out an entire subplot about someone being rushed to the hospital and recovering spectacularly from Yakuza + road?
I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision to make, but when broadcasting time is limited, you have to make tough choices about what to cut and what to leave in... and it would have been hard for even the most touching of ambulance and/or hospital scenes to top the despair of Pink Piggy on the road.
Now I want piggy slash. :-) Anyone who writes me a Green Piggy/Pink Piggy slash story (hurt/comfort or angst would both be fine!) will receive a drabble of their choice, in the fandoms and pairings of my known preferences.
* For those of you who have no idea what this may be, it is a Japanese TV series about two mismatched and unlikely high-school heroes taking on the project of making a girl who is the single most unlikely candidate for popularity popular. Like many plots of dubious inherent interest, it rises and falls with the execution - which, in this case, is very good.
solo____ is showing it to me, and we are only up to ep 4, so no spoilers, please!). It's a great series, I think, funny and interesting with engaging characters.
Nobuta also features an… interesting animation for the opening and closing credits: the dramatic love story of two pastel piglets. At first glance, this is surprising, seeing as piglets - pastel or otherwise - play absolutely no part in Nobuta itself, and the piglet plot seems unconnected to anything in the Nobuta plot. But once you think about it for a while, the Piglets' Deeper Meaning™ becomes clear!
Warning: This post may surpass your recommended daily dose of silliness and talk about animated piglets. If in doubt, please consult your physician. Also: pastel piglet picspam behind the cut!
The Piglets' Tale**
** not a pun.
First, I present my step-by-step interpretation of the complex Piggy Tale Arc, which makes it very clear it has a happy ending. Some critics - I'm looking at you, solo____ ! - have doubted this and have even opined that the Green Piggy dies at the end, but it is clear they are Wrong.
The Preview
We start out with a glimpse of the most dramatic scene: our two heroes riding on a motorbike, Pink Piglet looking grimly determined, Green Piglet looking beaten half to death. The viewer, of course, is full of questions, such as: Oh no, who beat up Green Piglet? Who gave Pink Piglet a driver's license? What could have happened here?!
The Exposition
We jump back in time a bit to the sun rising on Piggy Tower, where Pink Piggy is happily waiting for Green Piggy to come home.
But tragedy is about to strike!
Introduction of Tragic Conflict
Meaning, in this case, the tragic conflict between Green Piggy and the trotters of the Pig Yakuza.
Knowing Green Piggy, this was the result of Green Piggy heroically but unwisely attempting to take them to task for their Piggish Ways. Oh Green Piggy, very heroic - but how could you do this to Pink Piggy?
Obligatory Car Motorcycle Chase
Pink Piggy vrooms off on his motorcycle to bring the badly injured Green Piggy to the hospital, breaking all manner of traffic regulations in his worry and fear.
The Turning Point! (Well. Almost.)
Unfortunately, one of the traffic regulations PP neglects is the helmet law - and he also forgets that Green Piggy isn't quite his usual clingy self!
Nooooo! Can this truly be the end?
Touching Flashback: First Love
Ah, for those halcyon days of yore, when our heroes were young innocent schoolpiglets...
...happy - though occasionally squabbling over the top question and other such things - and in love!
Youth, summer, the first stirrings of a piglet's, err, heart... graduating from school and setting up your first household together with the pastel piggy that you love…
Watching the sun rise on your new home, your beloved piglet by your side…
The Flashback to Just Before the Flashback
The Resolution
But never fear, all is well in the end! The next scene switches to nighttime at the piglets' home. This is a clear time reference: The natural temporal progression from sunrise to night indicates that this is set after the earlier tragic events, and so is the entire tale's resolution.
Green Piggy is his usual bouncy and healthy self once again - clearly, he has been released from the hospital and the entire ugly episode is but a fond memory (fond, I surmise, because it has only strengthened their love, and because the Yakuza Pigs were no doubt brought to justice in the meantime).
Yes! The piggy lovers are together again!
Pink Piggy has, of course, been relieved of his driver's license for being a hazard on the road, but what does that matter. He has Green Piggy, and a toy he is inordinately proud of to take the place of his impounded motorcycle.
Ah, piggy love! All's well that ends well.
The Deeper Meaning of The Piglets' Tale
The Piggy Slash is quite obviously an allegory of the relationship between Akira and Shuji, with the Green Piggy - obviously - standing for Akira and the Pink Piggy for Shuji. This is clear from both the drunken head-wagging and staggering of Green Piggy in the school flashback, and Green Piggy's demonstrated tendency to stand up for what is right and just. Pink Piggy, on the other hand, likes cool things like motorbikes, and has a tendency to show off and put himself into the spotlight. What could be clearer?
The alternate explanation for the presence of The Piggy Slash would be that once filming had wrapped, the production team went on a three-day-bender, in the middle of which they were called by the poor underling who was the only one holding the fort back in the studio. "We need a decision on the sequence for the opening and closing credits NOW!" this poor soul shouted into the phone. "Director? Director, can you hear me? Director!! What should I tell the animation department?"
…
And the rest is history.
ETA: Additional Evidence of the Happy Ending
Certain Parties have questioned the obvious happy ending, attempting to bring forth counter-arguments. These so-called arguments, however, immediately fall apart under scrutiny. I append the pertinent discussion to the evidence.
How do you prove that the final scene is really the last one in the timeline?
The plot proceeds logically through one symbolic day - beginning in the morning, ending at night. What could be more convincing?
But, for the sake of argument: The only other point during the timeline where the last scene could conceivably fit would be in between the piglets' school days and the Pig Yakuza run-in, just before Pink Piggy bought his motorcycle. That could conceivably be an alternate point in time at which Pink Piggy might show off a model motorcycle to his beloved Green Piggy.
The purchase of the motorcycle, however, is an event that has no significance whatsoever for the plot. There is no reason for it to be raised to such importance by being given the last piglet scene of all. In fact, giving the final scene to a random flashback of no importance would completely shatter the integrity of the story arc.
So, the very narrative structure of the tale itself argues that the final scene is also the last one in the timeline.
And would they leave out an entire subplot about someone being rushed to the hospital and recovering spectacularly from Yakuza + road?
I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision to make, but when broadcasting time is limited, you have to make tough choices about what to cut and what to leave in... and it would have been hard for even the most touching of ambulance and/or hospital scenes to top the despair of Pink Piggy on the road.
Now I want piggy slash. :-) Anyone who writes me a Green Piggy/Pink Piggy slash story (hurt/comfort or angst would both be fine!) will receive a drabble of their choice, in the fandoms and pairings of my known preferences.
* For those of you who have no idea what this may be, it is a Japanese TV series about two mismatched and unlikely high-school heroes taking on the project of making a girl who is the single most unlikely candidate for popularity popular. Like many plots of dubious inherent interest, it rises and falls with the execution - which, in this case, is very good.