the Five Star Studies #1 -- prelude, an explanation

There is a manga called the Five Star 物語/Stories (it varies) (try tFSS maybe as a shortcut)

--digression #1: kengo hanaza the author of among other things the manga "I am a Hero" wrote on twitter a top 10 list of manga, and wrote FFS instead, then corrected himself. It is somehow easy to write FFS when you mean to write FSS) (or everyone is just very very drunk)

I'm not good with facts but am gonna attempt some.

To help me in my understanding of FSS -- mainly timelines; this means several things, timeline concering reading the damned thing, timelines concerning for example Mortar Headds "life-span", the same for fatima &c

Hopefully by my compiliing these informations you too will be informed and your understanding will grow. If you know more than I, please let me know and berate be even, like a sad old dog I am, and I will amend accordingly.

Who will care about this? Maybe less than 20 people.

That's generally the case anyway.

tFSS started serialaisation in NewType magazine around 1986... basic wiki info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Star_Stories

A ten year hiatus occurred between volumes 12 and 13. In between, a 6 year or so in the year making anime film (it was 66 mins long according to wiki) was released GothicMade. Many times the creator insisted there was no relation to film and manga. Yet once you saw it, there it was. You would see, post-credit scene, Christine V, Fatima Machi, Fatima EST, and what at first I assumed to be the young dude who would be next Black Knight HeadLiner, but is in fact: "Dai・Gu・Fillamore5" -- (how are we spelling Fillamore? is there any standardized-form. could be Philamore?)

For me this was very moving. In fact I am sure the whole cinema audience collectively quietly gasped.

Also the whole film was simple in narrative, yet beautiful. And I think certain aspects of manga vol 12 were hinted at, if you were paying attention. I am not sure it is released as a rental DVD yet here in Japan. Will check this weekend. Anyway, we saw an early era of tFFS, beautifully animated, (the rain effects, are said to have come about through a pain-staking process of trial and error, unique to this film) (also Boeing jet manufacturer were used to supply the GTH/MortarHeadd sound effects)( maybe cause of delay of home release) (but the ドンドンドン in the manga is evoked so vividly, and makes you sort of reverberate in your cinema seat)

There was once a blog analysing the first volume or so of FSS manga. If I can I will find it and link to here.

I won't be doing an in-depth anayalsis. To start with I will do this:

The Black Knight.

First time seen.

Last time mentioned, or once-existence inferred, &c

Already things will show they are being woven. Then I will leave space in between. Appearance as seen by reader (not necessarily chronological) Appearance as shown in manga timeline. Naturally which iteration of Black Knight pilot.

Then I will go through each volume and attempt to sketch out the basic timeline. I predict this shouldn't be too hard for vol 1-4. 5 is when things get odd and thousands of years go off then reconnect back. There is also that odd "storyline map" that looks like a very complicated subway map.

And I am going to attempt my own translation of the "monarch sacred" (is it a poem, of sorts?)

Also my wife knows a lot, and will berate me when I get something wrong. As I said, don't be afraid to berate me also.

Checking "fatima", I found the etymology of "fate"/destiny in english is derived from that, also they are sometimes known as witches.

Therefore, the Five Star Studies, hereon, dedicated to destiny witches everywhere.



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I am doing this for a few reasons, 1/ to understand tFSS better, 2/ to hopefully help others understand better, and 3/ because I write SF-stuff and if I were interviewed (at this rate I don't think I ever will be) but if I was: I would like to mention tFSS as being among the top 5 of SF works. And it has inspired me. And I don't want it to be called the work of a hack (I have heard this is the case, now and then) -- it is a Life-Work. I am interested in them also.

Other examples of Life-Works: (finished)(quite rare for a life-work to be actually finished, death usually intervenes) Zukofsky's "A", also "80 Flowers"(though that is more a "decade-work) // Rachel Blau DuPlessis "Drafts" // Dante's the Divine Comedy I suppose // Jay DeFeo's "the Rose", a painting. . . unknown, maybe "The Fortress" the 10,000pg prose plus diagrams work by Marianne Fritzz . . . . . . // unfinished (much more of these) The Cantos, E Pound, Maximus poems, C Olson, probably quite a mega-list could be found.

Specifically in manga: Tezaku Osamu's Buddha, and Hi no Tori(Phoenix), but he was so prolific, and when I think of a life-work it is more something you would dedicate yourself to solely. No "side-projects" -- Asano Inio I think said dedede&c (not typing it all out, here's wiki: ) may be his life-work. He is very prolific too though. I think Kengo Hanazawa, now that "I am a Hero" is done, may embark on a life-work.

tFSS is a life-work already. I only hope he doesn't try to complete it quickly, but let it lead him where it needs to. Probably will remain unfinished, but who knows.

What are the virtues of a life-work? Perhaps first an anchoring to something to commit to. A sort of self-intoxication but outside you (schizophrenia has been described as self-intoxication, but with nothing produced, so a displacement of this into producing a life-work seems sensible) secondly? I don't know. You are already in the production of life-work. Carry on.