Title
The Japanese title is 戸棚の奥深くのソクラテス (todana no okufukaku no sokuratesu - literally: deep Socrates of the closet); this is the Japanese title of Lucy Eyre's young adult novel If Minds Had Toes, in which the protagonist visits Socrates and other philosophers through a portal in his towel closet.
First appeared in Shonen Magazine on February 17, 2010.
Page 1
Title Page
A parody of the 2009 3D blockbuster Avatar. Note that Abiru is controlling the flying penguin-creature using one of her braids, just like characters do in the film. The floating tree is the "Home Tree" from Avatar; in this context it's probably a reference to the 1986 Studio Ghibli film Laputa: Castle in the Sky where a tree floats up into space after the flying city it supported is destroyed.
Page 3
Movie Poster (Right Panel)
Piccadilly is a multiplex cinema in Shinjuku
Small Sign (Panel 2)
Reads "Avatar" (top) and "Ava-experience" (bottom). "Ava-Experience" (Jap. Ava-Taiken) is a pun on the 2006 PSP puzzle game Nou ni Kaikan Aha Taiken! (Full title: Sony Computer Science Kenkyuujo Mogi Kenichirou Hakase Kanshuu: Nou ni Kaikan Aha Taiken!)
Eyepatch (Panel 4)
3D movies work by sending a slightly different image to each eye; since Abiru's left eye is always covered, she will get no benefit from going to a 3D movie.
People often say that one-eyed people "have no depth perception", but this isn't quite right- depth perception can be thought of as a combination of the convergence between two eyes and the focus of each individual eye. A one-eyed person can still estimate distances from changes in focus and depth of field; otherwise, one-eyed people wouldn't be able to drive, play sports, etc. However, 3D films don't work for this method because cinematic 3D effects depend entirely on convergence; the viewer is always focusing on the screen, which remains at a constant distance whether the movie is in 2D or 3D.
There are a few factors that are used for estimating depth with one eye. like parallax shift from slight movements of one's head; this doesn't work for films because the position of the camera is not affected by the viewer's movements.
Page 4
Nashidayaki (Panel 5)
無田焼 (Nashidayaki) is a pun on 有田焼 (Aritayaki), a special kind of decorated porcelain.
Page 6
Utility pole sign
"Apparel Store - Sawako - Right There". Sawako is the name of the character Sanada Asami (Matoi's voice actress) voices on K-on.
Page 7
Accident (Panel 4)
Both cars look like Toyota Priuses, at least to me.
Page 8
This was no accident (Panel 1)
Refers to the highly-publicized 2009-2010 Toyota brake recalls which prompted rampant speculation and conspiracy theories in both the US and Japan. The general consensus (as of mid-2011) now holds that most accidents were due to driver error or improperly installed floormats.
Page 9
MSG (Panel 4)
Reads Ajino(moto), a well known manufacturer of MSG (monosodium glutamate). MSG is a flavor enhancer that is can be found in many kinds of foods.
Child (Po)rn
Refers to the fierce debate over potential criminalization of depictions of 非実在青少年 (hijitsuzai seishōnen, lit. "nonexistent youths"- that is, anime and manga characters who appear to be under the age of 18) in sexual situations. This debate predated, but was closely related to, the controvesy surrounding Tokyo's Bill 156; Bill 156 was submitted over 9 months after this episode was published. Bill 156 requires that such material be rated 18+, but it doesn't ban it outright.
Same story 8 times
Haruhi's "Endless Eight", a series of eight episodes that depicted the same series of events with minor changes. The Endless Eight are generally regarded as having squandered a great deal of fans' accumulated goodwill towards the series.
Kura•••• Kana
Kurashina Kana, actress and idol
Despair List
- Rent
- It's harder for landlords to find tenants for properties where murders, suicides, etc. have taken place.
- Rice with egg
- Tamago Kake Gohan, a traditional breakfast dish consisting of an egg mixed into rice, became explosively trendy between 2009 and 2010. The Japanese Wikipedia entry for the dish cites over 30 references; compare this with the entry encompassing all Japanese cuisine, which cites only 9 references.
- Plain Noodles
- TKG and plain noodle dishes presumably became popular for a the same reason- they are extremely cheap, and thus appropriate for a nation undergoing a painful recession.
- Calligraphy
- Specifically, the works of Mitsuo Aida.
- Painted Heads
- Blue Man group, who are also skewered in
- Shizuka
- Female character in Doraemon who is regularly interrupted by the protagonist Nobita while she's taking a bath. Presumably, having this happen often enough would lead her to prefer showers later in life.
- Anime you don't understand
- EVA may be a prominent example, although just about every anime with a GAINAX-type ending fits this.
- Nikkatsu
- Nikkatsu Corporation, the oldest studio in Japan, made conventional films from 1912 into 1970s, when it switched to almost exclusively making porn. Nikkatsu's so-called "Roman Porno" (romantic porn) films blended softcore sex with cinematic plots and high production values. Lately there has been a movement among some movie buffs to reevaluate these works as serious cinema rather than disposable smut.
- Midnight anime
- Anime series that air late at night are generally not intended for kids and often have more adult themes and and explicit sex/violence. All 3 series of the SZS anime originally aired after midnight in Japan.
Page 10
All the jokes on this page revolve around words incorporating the syllable "oku", which by itself means "depth".
Okutama/Tama
Okutama is a part of the Tamagawa river located at the western end of Tokyo. Tama refers the rest of the Tamagawa.
Narrow Road to Oku
From おくのほそ道 (Oku no Hosomichi), "The Narrow Road to the Deep North", a collection of poems about traveling by the famed 17th century haiku poet Matsuo Bashō.
Oku Hanako/Hanako
Oku Hanako (奥 華子) is a singer, widely known for singing the main theme of "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”. Hanako is considered a
"generic" name for girls in Japanese, similar to Jane (girls) and John (boys) in English.
Deep Men
- Tamori
- A prominent comedian who's an expert in surprisingly broad range of fields, ranging from cooking to Kabuki.
- Aramata-Sensei
- Hiroshi Aramata, an author, translator and frequent TV show guest known for his encyclopedic knowledge of various subjects.
- Sakana-kun
- Sakana-kun likes fish. Deeply.
Hatoyama gift (on mirror)
Another reference to the Yukio Hatoyama gift scandal.
Page 12
"He resides in the depths of the depth."
This is phrased in an extremely humble manner that's hard to convey in English.
Page 13
Erotic Picture (Panel 4)
Reads "Senritsu no Hikari", a pun on Hikari no Senritsu, the opening theme for Sora no Woto..
"Does a dot really count?" (Panel 9)
A 1-dimensional figure would be a line; a dot has zero dimensions.
