Karakuri Babble is a daily column by the editors of i360.com, usually on topics tangentially related to anime and cosplay.

In the past we have endorsed many things; in the future we shall support many others.

Everyone, sooner or later, creates a work about an unreachable tower. In some cases it is an allegory that extends infinitely above the clouds and below the earth. Sometimes it just appears ex nihilo, and the protagonist must discover its meaning. Sometimes it is beneficent, sometimes malevolent, most often indifferent. These things are symbols, and you can conclude whatever you like about what these towers say about their creators -- something different for everyone, is my position, and I am one who would know.

Beyond the Clouds has a tower. It'll even analyze it for you:

The Tower has become a part of the everyday scenery and it symbolizes any number of things. Nation. War. Race. Despair. Even admiration. How it's interpreted differs between generations . . . but the one constant is that everyone sees it as a symbol of something beyond their reach. Something that can't be changed.

Of course, like all such meta-commentary, that can't be trusted. But the mere existence of the line tells us that he means for us to think in that direction, and I really do admire him for it.

I just wanted to say that. I like the movie, and I think you should like it too.

words from chris, 2009-01-31 04:40:48, los angeles