Non Non Biyori

Leave your city!

 Hotaru departs from Tokyo, entering into a true way of life once closed off from her. Tokyo is only shown once, and not in regards to Hotaru. This is important, as Hotaru is giving up her past, her urbanite origins and recognizing them for being anti-origins, the origins of having no place. This is the first step on the journey she leads the audience into, as the show explores the interlocking strands of life. Renge makes a cat's cradle called "outer space" which brings to mind the quote from the end of Pound's life "interlocking strands and tensions" w/r/t the foundation of Confucian philosophy. The series is preoccupied with these strands and tensions, flows of the seasons, time, histories, the living motion of the world of the countryside. The series ends with these lessons coming full force in emphasizing the important character, Renge. Amidst a field of Renge, she becomes crowned, one with the world around her. This theme is a repetition, with her perfect mimesis in drawing ability and her ability to speak to animals. Renge guides the show in this way, the center of its text that opens the back of the piano to speak, showing us a peaceful and healing look at the interweaving flows (strands and tensions) of nature and its life.

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