Jakuzure Nonon (蛇崩乃音)

Name: General Neon Flash Rosethorn // Jakuzure Nonon
Age: Appears very young, is actually 18.
Team: Jasper

Height/Build: 4' 5.5" [136 cm] w/o hat. With hat, 5' 9" [175 cm] (including feather). Petite (well, by klk standards anyway)
Hair Color/Eye Color: Pink/Pink
Notable Traits: She is small! But she is not a child, she's just short. She also has rather long hair, but it's normally shoved under her hat. Really, if you notice one thing about Nonon, you should notice her ridiculously tall hat.

Other: No unusual pings!

Outfit: Viewable here.

+ 13.5" Tall black with gold and white-trim marching band shako with Jasper-colored feather.
+ Black marching band jacket with jasper colored belt, sleeves, and wing on the left shoulder. The inside opens to one pocket. Its collar stands up high and is strechy-tight for insulation.
+ Two gray sashes with jasper-trim, preventing the coat from billowing or letting in air.
+ Black cape with the inner lining all Jasper colored. The outer fastener/seam at the top is also Jasper-colored. The cape has one inner pocket in one side.
+ Jasper colored heavy pants with grey-white trim. Inside is lined with extra fabric for more warmth.
+ Long white socks that can be pinned to the inside of the pants.
+ Jasper-red shoes with a thick sole, well insulated. On the back are little Jasper-yellow music notes. (They can be removed if one was inclined.)
+ 32" marching baton with Jasper-colored grip.
+ Long white leather winter gloves that go up the sleeve to the forearm. The inside is soft fabric. They look a little like gauntlets.

SPECIAL FEATURE: The hat is a +2 hat of temperature comfort. It will make the wearer feel warmer if it's cold and cooler if it's hot. Slightly.

Die Wacht am Rhein

This song originated as a poem in the early-mid 19th century. Its content relates to the Rhine river and how Germany (which at the time was a loose confederation of states) would not accept the French attempting to encroach on German territory there. In 1840, the French Prime Minister suggested the French-German border should follow along the Rhine as a natural division between the countries and that all territory up to the left bank should belong to France. This is true in the south portion of the river, where (predominantly) French communities are on the west bank of the river and German communities are on the east bank across from it, but as the Rhine leads further north it curves more and more into Germany where there are no French communities and both sides are German. Since France had taken control of this territory under King Louis XIV and Napoleon I, Germany was outraged at the idea they would attempt to do so again. This poem-turned-song was then written as a symbol of protest. The title translates to "The Watch on the Rhine."

Youtube link to listen here.

The song itself has a very regimented, steady beat and sounds very militaristic, fitting the imagery of the lyrics and rhyming scheme of the poem. It enjoyed great popularity in Germany until the end of WWII. With the end of the war, and the borders of France and Germany permanently established with a treaty and the end of French-German animosity, the actual content of the song no longer has any meaning in German society. It is relevant only for its historical significance and rarely played outside of that context.

In the English-speaking world, this song is probably best known as: "The song the Germans sing in Casablanca before they are drowned out by everyone else singing La Marseillaise." (Viewable here.)

Given this icon is from a scene in which Nonon is losing a fight and about to be drowned out by Ryuuko's power, I was reminded of that scene and named the icon after it.

The lyrics can be read on wikipedia and are rather straightforward so do not require explanation.

O du mein Österreich

A march composed by Ferdinand Preis in 1852, based (with permission) on a piece by Franz von Suppé ("Das ist mein Österreich,") which wasn't a march. This arrangement is much more popular and widely-known than the original composition of von Suppé's. The title translates to: "Oh, you, my Austria." Another march from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, at a time it was still the Austrian Empire. It's still played in modern Austria to this day, and in fact this march was used as a temporary stand-in for a national anthem in 1946. At a soccer match between Austria and France, because no official national anthem for Austria had yet been chosen after WWII ended, this march was played to represent Austria.

Available to listen to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SD0qMKTLfk

This is not a soft, nuanced piece. It is loud, unsubtle, and you can definitely hear the title being 'said' through the notes. Very easily!

Given that, I thought it'd be good for an icon where Nonon looks like she's definitely sort of interrogating the speaker.

This is far from the only icon named after a piece by von Suppé, but it's one of his briefer, more obscure works. I will save further notes about him for a future writeup.

La Marche de la Garde Impériale à Waterloo

English title: "The March of the Imperial Guard at Waterloo."

Given the French title and "Waterloo," everyone probably recognizes this as a march related to Napoleon Bonaparte. For reference: Napoleon was a French fellow who ran around conquering most all of Europe in the late 18th, early 19th century. Waterloo was the site of his final military defeat in 1815, after which he was exiled and died in 1821.

The Imperial Guard were the soldiers under the direct command of Napoleon. They were the most competent soldiers he had, and truly deserved the title of "elite." Since they were so valuable, Napoleon didn't usually commit them to battle, but held them in reserve to guard himself.

The Imperial Guard, at Waterloo, was committed to hard fighting in which they were outnumbered and at a point they were much weaker than they had once been. Waterloo was the only battle at which the Imperial Guard broke and retreated without orders to do so. Those that didn't were annihilated. You did not want to be a member of the Imperial Guard at Waterloo.

Given this, that's why the icon is of Nonon looking like she's facing a bad situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ_SFLzt-n4

Note these will all contain spoilers for Kill La Kill.
( Read more... )

One of the most interesting things about Nonon's character is her speech pattern. It's very hard to pin down.

On the one hand, she talks cutesy, but not 100% cutesy. (Look at Nui for an example of that.) She alternates between cutesy, polite, and scathing. Especially when the scathing dial is turned up, she has a speech pattern that's best described as "strict domineering housewife/mother." Her forms of address are all over the place. Even when she speaks with the polite grammar forms, she's not really saying it in a polite tone, or saying it with the appropriate verb endings. (Like she uses 'itadaku' instead of 'itadakimasu'.) And when she's being impolite, her grammar gets very nasty, sometimes even more than her actual word choice. (An exception being when Ryuuko beats her and she starts screaming 'kuso BICCHI!') Nonon wields Japanese grammar and tone-inflection like a fucking weapon.

Even then, there's times when Nonon is actually trying to be polite (when she's speaking with Ragyou) that she gets the word choice and grammar forms perfect. In other words, she's not a character who doesn't know how to be polite... she just never bothers because 99% of the time, she views herself as superior to the other person. Even with her speech toward Satsuki, it's technically polite, but not functionally polite. Her tone and verb endings suggest she really regards Satsuki as an equal even if she calls her "-sama."

She is very consciously moderating her cute/polite/scathing dials for her speech with every word that comes out of her mouth, and it takes a lot to shock her out of it and say something without thinking.

Fantaisie-Impromptu

Another piece by Frédéric Chopin, this might be one of his most popular. The beginning whirlwind of notes are the most recognizable. Ironically, this was published posthumously and against the wishes of Chopin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvm2ZsRv3C8

Similar to Minute Waltz, I imagined the quick tide of notes as like sharp insults or criticism one might say to another. The way the piece then slows down also implies a more relaxed posture, which fit the icon as in this scene she's both relaxing/reclining, and making scathing remarks.

Preußens Gloria

This is one of Germany's most well-known marches. It was written in 1871 to celebrate the victory of the North German Confederation over France in the Franco-Prussian War. The conclusion of this war lead to the unification of Germany under Prussian rule. It's still used by many military bands. A good version can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vcK443rRDE or here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO1Vo9o-AkE

It very much has a feeling of "all is well," and isn't quite as dramatic as some marches. For that reason I thought it would be good to use with an icon that shows Nonon sort of surveying her surroundings with a proud/attentive stance.

Entry of the Gladiators

This is another song that's instantly recognizable. You will recognize this after the first 15 seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B0CyOAO8y0

That's right. Everyone universally recognizes it as "the Clown Song," or maybe "the Circus Song." The song that plays as clowns rush in to perform.

Julius Fučík was a Czech composer with an interest in Roman history, which is where the title "Entry of the Gladiators," comes from. Given that it is now associated with something very un-gladiator like, I thought it was appropriate for an icon where Nonon is shocked/unnerved by whatever she's seeing. The expression you might make when you see the gladiators you were expecting turn out to be a bunch of clowns.

(Still, the full version is very nice.)

All of the icon names for this journal are names of classical music pieces, marches, military songs, folk songs, or otherwise songs so iconic that they evoke a particular emotion when you hear them because they're so ingrained in the public consciousness.

But just looking at the titles, you probably won't know what song is what. So since I have some spare time I thought I'd write up a little bit about various songs. Not all at once, but just a little bit at a time.

( Here's a short disclaimer, that I feel must be said. )

MacDermott's War Song

You likely have never heard this song. Here's a performance of it on youtube:

The context of this song is from 1877 to 1878, the Russian Empire was in a war against the Ottoman Empire in what is today called the Russo-Turkish War. The war was fought because the Ottoman Empire held a large amount of territory in the Balkans, present day Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc. A Bulgarian uprising was put down harshly by the Ottoman forces, leading to the deaths of about 30,000 - 100,000 people. This lead to a declaration of war on the Ottomans from Serbia and Montenegro, and eventually Russia. On paper the Russian and Ottoman armies were about evenly-matched, but the Ottoman's passive tactics gave way to large Russian victories, to the point Russia looked poised to seize Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

Initial opinion was very anti-Ottoman because of the news of Turkish atrocities. This was at conflict with the interests of the British Government. The British of the Victorian Era had a vested interest in keeping the Ottoman Empire intact. They had many investments there, and as long as it remained strong, their trade routes to India, which they desperately needed to maintain, would be safe. It was therefore not entirely in Britain's national interests for the Ottomans to lose the war, at least not severely.

However, it was very much in Russian interests to seize Constantinople. Having Constantinople would give Russia unrestricted access to the Bosporus Straight that connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. This would have been a great boon to Russian trade and naval power. Furthermore, it would have absolutely crippled the Ottoman Empire for the same reasons. As such, when the Russians appeared to be winning the war to the extent they could seize Constantinople, the British Empire was determined not to allow it.

By coincidence, British performer G.H. MacDermott purchased this song and had popularized it by performing in music halls. It became immensely popular: it's a very catchy song! It's also very anti-Russian, pro-Turkish, and supported British militarism and British intervention in the war. It so closely followed British national interests that it was legitimized when MacDermott was asked to perform it for the Prince of Wales. (The future King Edward VII.)

The chorus is as follows:

We don't want to fight,
but, by Jingo, if we do.
We've got the ships,
we've got the men,
we've got the money too.
We've fought the Bear before,
and while we're Britons true,
the Russians shall not have Constantinople.

The song is remembered today for introducing the term "Jingoism," a term which arose in reference to this song. "Jingoism," is used to describe extreme, blind nationalism to the point the common person supports their country's militaristic goals even without comprehending why they have those goals. Did it matter to the common British citizen that Russia not have Constantinople? Probably not, but the song doesn't really inspire you to question that.

In the end, the Russians in fact did not march on Constantinople. The British sent a fleet of battleships to patrol the coast of the Black Sea where the Russians were present, an indirect threat that there would be war if the Russian offensive continued. The Russians got the point, and backed down. A treaty that ended the war would soon follow.

Given the song is a reference to blind, violent loyalty, I thought it appropriate to use for an icon where Nonon is not yet fighting, but is clearly looking threatening and wants to do so.

Here's a more in-depth analysis of the lyrics for those interested. Also note that if you look up other performances of this song on youtube, you're likely to find old phonograph recordings of an updated version made for World War I. This one removes the anti-Russian imagery and substitutes anti-German imagery, as well as changes part of the chorus from: "We don't want to fight, but by Jingo if we do," to "We didn't want to fight, but by Jingo, now we do!"
( The full lyrics and analysis of the MacDermott War Song )