Editorial
Tokyo Tower is Not Overrated, You Are
I remember the time when the term ‘overrated’ first got to my nerves, and it was back when the Skip Beat anime was airing. I thought of how elitist this is, as you show the world that something a LOT of people are enjoying doesn’t really deserve the attention it’s getting, or that your opinion deviates from a lot of people, I vs the mainstream fags. News flash: You’re being a wet blanket to those who pour out their love and attention to it when you do that.
At times I find myself using this very term, and to be honest, it saddens me when that happens, because it seems like I’ve outgrown part of my childhood and can’t join in the fun of a certain bandwagon, like, say, Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh, and even, gawd, Vampire Knight. Growing up and being reasonable about your taste isn’t exactly worth rejoicing, especially if you end up hating what you used to like, and that’s how I feel about Vampire Knight now — disenchantment, is what I’d call it.
And once again, I see the term used, this time to describe Tokyo Tower, in a comment by X10A_Freedom in ghostlightning’s Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 post, and it makes me a really sad bunny. When you no longer see Tokyo Tower (or any other thing around you) as something beautiful, I hate to say this, but you become more like the jaded apathetic Mirai. How this person sees Tokyo Tower now is actually the way I see the sights in my country, particularly in my hometown Bicol and in Manila.
Seeing my college classmates have that sense of awe as they marvel at the sight of the Cagsawa ruins or other churches we visited crushes my heart, because it makes me realize how apathetic I have become (Imagine Mirai going, “betsu ni~ (nothing great)” or “futsuu~” (too normal / nothing special)). The sights might not really be wow-worthy, but if you retain that sense of wonder for it, I’m happy for you.
As for Tokyo Tower, well let’s just say I gained much more appreciation for it after watching the AWSUM movie ALWAYS ~Sunset on Third Street~, as I witnessed how this landmark became the pillar of hope back in the 1950s where people are starting out a new life after the war. It was a sign of a new era in Japan — an era of hopes and dreams, an era of a bright future (a bright ‘mirai’). They built Tokyo Tower with the ambition of making it the TALLEST tower in the world, and other towers might have ‘outgrown’ it now, but you can’t take away the fact that it was successful back in its time. Having known its significance made me all the more realize that TOKYO TOWER IS BEAUTIFUL.
Have you, dear sir X10A_Freedom, went to see Tokyo Tower at night and seen how pretty it is? Or even this isn’t pretty for you? But I digress.
I haven’t watched Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 episode 4, but if Tokyo Tower — THE pillar of Tokyo, pillar of communication and observation, pillar of hope — collapsed in that episode, then indeed, it serves nothing else but a statement that “Tokyo has died”, “Tokyo is broken”. And those who know well the significance this landmark bears will all the more mourn for its loss — unfair as it is that the more you become happy for something, the more you’ll be saddened by its loss, but hey that’s what makes us human! We get zealous over the simplest of things, just the sight of this one ordinary-looking Tokyo Tower is enough of a reason for us to rejoice and marvel at its sight, we mourn and grieve over it — a clear proof that WE ARE ALIVE.
In the end I just want to say that, something, or rather anything, can be beautiful not because IT IS * an irrefutable fact * or BECAUSE I SAID SO, but because I see in it something worth loving, something to be awed about. I want to live my life gaining a sense of wonder and appreciation for what that I see and experience as each days go by, retaining that child-like sense of wonder that Yuuki has, to gain appreciation even for the littlest of things, to be optimistic and live life to the fullest. For a bright ‘mirai’.
Yuuki wo dashite, ippo fumidaseba, Mirai ga kaerareru! (Take _courage_! Changing the _future_ starts with one little step!) 
Just a random little quote that popped into my mind as I thought of the significance of Yuuki and Mirai’s name.
On a totally unrelated note, there’s a very interesting debate (more interesting than my post OBV) going on around the other side of the ’sphere, and while I’m pretty apathetic about it atm, I’d say go check it out, just because ^_^ Or for something even more fun, go check out CCY-senpai wa 17-sai, the brainchild visual novel of lolikit, featuring the infamous faces in the aniblogging community. If you still aren’t into the aniblogging community this might as well be your “gateway” 
Credits to torigoe takumi and reachizu, and danbooru for the images.
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18 comments for “Tokyo Tower is Not Overrated, You Are”
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Apparently people cannot understand or appreciate the depth of meaning in serious anime series nowadays, because all they tend to see is just what they like as a show and nothing beyond that. But can we truly blame them for not seeing past what is being shown? I mean, the world nowadays, and society itself, runs on a bunch of facades and forces everyone to live by them, essentially making everything a farce.
Then again, it may be difficult for people who have never realized the power of a symbol to also appreciate what the downing of the Tokyo Tower means to the Japanese viewers for whom the show was originally intended for. -_-
I am an American, and I watched the World Trade Center fall. It wasn’t a pair of buildings that was particularly interesting, or fascinating, and it really only symbolized… well, world trade.
But no matter how unimpressed you were by it, you couldn’t see it go down without being affected. And if someone thinks that Tokyo Tower (a symbol of hope, as you say) wouldn’t have the same effect, well it sounds like they’re trying too hard to be cynical.
As a side note, if it’s good enough for Krauser-san to rape, it’s good enough for me!
I wish we (usagijen and I among other Filipinos) had a physical construct we can identify with as a people the same way the Japanese seem to identify with the Tokyo Tower, the Americans with the Statue of Liberty (among other impressive structures), and the French with the Eiffel Tower.
It’s meaningless in on itself, but it would be an interesting blank page to write meaning on.
@Panther: Not knowing the significance of something, I can let pass; but being desensitized and jaded about it is another thing. When that happens it’s not simply a matter of “seeing past what is being shown”, but having a distorted view of it.
The objective fact here, for example, is that “Tokyo Tower is a famous attraction in Japan, the tallest tower in Japan”, “It’s a transmitter tower widely used by broadcasting stations in Japan”, “Tokyo Tower has observation decks which allows people to see Tokyo’s City View, provided that they pay the entrance fee and the additional payment for the main observatory”. The moment you start thinking, “Why the heck is Tokyo Tower so famous anyway? It’s not even pretty or tall”, that’d be you putting a whole new meaning to what you see — you choose to see it in that SAD light.
What matters most in the end is not “knowing and/or not knowing its significance”, but having the willingness to acknowledge that there is/might be something significant about it, retain that sense of wonder and “mystery”, instead of jumping to your own distorted conclusion that “this is meh”.
@otou-san: The fall of World Trade Center shook the world, and countries across the globe was affected by it — who wouldn’t! I know there are probably people who don’t care about what happened, but oh well, I feel sad for them instead.
and lol Krauser RAEP.
@ghostlightning: we’d have to love our country first, no? I’m guilty of being apathetic to our country
Perhaps if a nationwide calamity or a war strikes us, we’ll be united as people… and build something that would remind us of it. Hm, made me think of how times of distress and calamity is what brings people closer together, like Japan back in the 1950s. Now that it’s all progressive and there isn’t a nationwide problem that would require them to JOIN HANDS to solve, they become distant and apathetic.
@usagijen
Great read, really inspired a lot of fun thoughts and memories on my end.
It really it somewhat sad when a person loses the ability to simply enjoy things for what they are. Clearly what humanity needs is another good dose of Aria’s “dekkai shiawase” philosophy.
BTW, one of your links is broken in the sentence “Or even this isn’t pretty for you?”
@ghostlightning
Don’t forget Mt. Fuji, another quintessentially “Japanese” landmark, and one that the Japanese people probably identify with much more strongly than Tokyo Tower.
Interesting that probably the most distinctive and beloved “physical construct” in Japan is actually part of the natural landscape.
@ Orion
Good point. We actually have such a volcano, Mt. Mayon in usagijen’s part of the country (where she was born). I do mean what I said about an artificial edifice, because it makes a difference as it is wrought by people’s hands, and is a part of and a contribution to the culture.
With the sheer number of tourists that climb Mt. Fuji every day, after all these centuries you could probably say that it is wrought by people’s feet.
Good point, though, that a man-made construct has a bit more relevance as it’s something that is more directly a part of and product of the associated culture.
destroying national landmarks go through so many government offices before they’re approved. people think it’s cliche to destroy the eiffel tower, the statue of liberty, big ben, the sphinx, etc. but destroying it is instrumental to making the impact that this place and everything it stands for is gone literally and proverbially. i think that guy thinks that it’s just bones doing the cliche anime thing.
Never thought I’d be mentioned in a post about the Tokyo Tower. I’ve never even been there, and neither has CCY-senpai.
@0rion: gah, thank you for pointing out the broken link… stupid copy paste booboo
and thank you for the kind words. More people ought to be into Aria, including myself, as I still haven’t atoned for my sin of sleeping through it LOL.
“With the sheer number of tourists that climb Mt. Fuji every day, after all these centuries you could probably say that it is wrought by people’s feet. ” –> And not only their feet, but the their Blood, Sweat and Tears they shed in the process. Now if Tokyo Tower is moe, as ghostlightning said in your post, then Mt.Fuji might as well be its GAR counterpart
@ghostlightning: would something built out of nature, like the Banawe Rice Terraces, count?
But yeah, interesting point you brought up about the cultural significance of man-made edifices, construct(s) built with the people in mind, out of love, something that would allow us to Remember Love too. I can only wonder if I’ll ever get to see one of that in our country in my lifetime… would be great indeed
@lk: lol, well that was totally random, and just figured why not give a heads up about it. Until I finally get to play it and then dedicate a post for it
@jen
I really thought about the terraces. Have you seen them in person? I haven’t. It’s very inaccessible to many of us because it’s so out of the way to get to those mountains.
Pardon my capital-centric thinking, but given the concentration of culture and thought in Metro Manila, I’d hope that such a symbolic work can be reached by not to far a drive from the city.
Person A: “Oooooo, pretty lights.”
Person B: “Yes, I see pretty lights too.”
Person A: “It is so beautiful. It reminds me that this world has so much wonder and beauty in it.”
Person B: “Ummm… right.”
Person A: “What? Doesn’t it remind you of all the wonderful things out there?”
Person B: “Um, no. I see pretty lights.”
Person A: “You’re jaded!”
Person B: “And you’re insulting.”
In other words different people see different things when they look at the same thing.
Where would they abduct people to Cephiro from, if not Tokyo Tower?
@moritheil: there will always be Mt.Fuji! but err, that’s not really suited to depict the modern day Japan lol