I understand that it isn't supposed to be accurate, given that it's based on a fictional country 'P' and based on a fictional church 'C', but the parallels are obvious to Polish/Catholic regime.
As someone living in a country where blasphemy lynching are still a part of life, and professors are made to renounce scientific beliefs[1], it feels disturbingly familiar to me.
By fictionalized, I mean to say that certain aspects of the anime are inconsistent with historical record. I don't just mean the thinly-veiled references to Poland or the Catholic Church. For instance, one glaring anachronism is the Pear of Anguish. While the inquisitor in the show refers to his as a "prototype", no such device in any form existed until some two to three centuries later. The Pear in the show is a literary device that gruesomely establishes the stakes faced by the characters. It also operates as a visual metaphor for the Church's desire to silence dissent. But in no way or shape was it an instrument of torture in the 16th century.
Another point is that none of the characters in the show have existed in any capacity. They are not analogues of or stand-ins for the historical contributors to the heliocentric model. The characters' personalities and backgrounds, while consistent with the setting, are the inventions of the mangaka.
Now with all that said, the show excellently conveys the difficulty and threats faced by thinkers across the ages in the course of the Scientific Revolution. The historical circumstances were no less dire than what was depicted in the anime. But as a show, it still has more in common with romanticized depictions of men looking up at the night sky, such as in the Sarah Williams poem, the Old Astronomer, than it does with a thoroughly scrutinized biography of the astronomers of the era.
> As someone living in a country where blasphemy lynching are still a part of life, and professors are made to renounce scientific beliefs[1], it feels disturbingly familiar to me.
It pains me to know the spirit of the Inquisition is still present in the 21st century.
> By fictionalized, I mean to say that certain aspects of the anime are inconsistent with historical record. I don't just mean the thinly-veiled references to Poland or the Catholic Church. For instance, one glaring anachronism is the Pear of Anguish. While the inquisitor in the show refers to his as a "prototype", no such device in any form existed until some two to three centuries later. The Pear in the show is a literary device that gruesomely establishes the stakes faced by the characters. It also operates as a visual metaphor for the Church's desire to silence dissent. But in no way or shape was it an instrument of torture in the 16th century.
I can somewhat empathize with this—the torture that did exist at the time (crushing someone to death, breaking their bones on the wheel, Schwedentrunk, flaying people alive, and far too many other practices I'd like to avoid mentioning at all) I would be more than happy to never see visualized. The historical record is important, but sometimes inaccuracies are useful in conveying symbolic power and threats. Some translation and interpretation is always necessary if you want to produce a coherent narrative.
Realistically, with history-as-entertainment, if you can capture some things well you're doing far better than many even try to. I love Ridley Scott but his depictions of history are far more of a discussion about how the west views itself today rather than even trying to translate something from the time to today. Which is fine! It's entertainment. And many do far better than he does.
> The historical record is important, but sometimes inaccuracies are useful in conveying symbolic power and threats. Some translation and interpretation is always necessary if you want to produce a coherent narrative.
Translation and interpretation is something I have no problem with, as these are not flaws of the work. However, I'm of the view that valuing a work of art requires being able to scrutinize it, while still being able enjoy it. It doesn't do one any favors to accept false facts. There are several works that establish "truths" compelling enough to be credible for someone without the background knowledge. To those who fail to question if something is true, art becomes artifice and fiction becomes indistinguishable from reality.
> Realistically, with history-as-entertainment, if you can capture some things well you're doing far better than many even try to.
> I love Ridley Scott but his depictions of history are far more of a discussion about how the west views itself today rather than even trying to translate something from the time to today.
That you're able to appreciate the ideas being conveyed and the motives behind doing so is precisely the reason a sense of scrutiny is necessary. Kingdom of Heaven is definitely an example of a movie that provides a retrospective/revisionist examination of the Crusades rather than an historical one. Such an insight can't obtained from mindlessly watching it as a "realistic Lord of the Rings".
While these things might be discussed in interviews, behind-the-scenes featurettes, or in the audio commentary, public exposition of these aspects of storytelling is rarely afforded to anime or manga.
Apologies, didn't mean to criticise you, I just wanted to gush over the show.
Acc to reddit, the show's characters are proxies for famous scientists of the era, like Kepler, Copernicus etc. Not their lives, but they seemed to be mapping their theories to characters in that way.
There's no need to apologize. I didn't take your statements as criticism I simply assumed you were confused as to what I meant. "Fictionalized" often has a negative connotation, and I only wanted to clarify my usage of the term was in the strictest and most technical meaning.
Nevertheless, It's certainly a show worth gushing over. It's a well-done work of art.
> Acc to reddit, the show's characters are proxies for famous scientists of the era, like Kepler, Copernicus etc. Not their lives, but they seemed to be mapping their theories to characters in that way.
The relationships between some of the characters are reminiscent of the real-life relationship between Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler as noted in a biography called The Nobleman and the Housedog by Kitty Ferguson. You might find it interesting.
If you like this anime, you might enjoy Spice and Wolf. Although, since you're on Reddit, you might have already seen either adaptation.
Haven't seen the anime, but at the time of Copernicus Poland wasn't THAT Catholic. I mean it was Catholic, but it wasn't extermist about that compared to Western Europe.
Polish Kingdom had a long-standing conflict against Teutonic Knights over Prussia (which is where Copernicus lived). Prussian Confederation joined Poland to be defended against Teutonic Knights and Copernicus even participated in defence of Olsztyn castle against them.
Czech hussites (protestants before Luter) participated in wars against Teutonic Knights on the Polish side, and Polish king supported them to some degree against Catholic crusades.
Few decades before Copernicus Poland even sent a delegation to Council of Constance defending the right of pagans no to be invaded in crusades and supporting Lithuanians against Teutonic Knights. The guy making this argument was Paweł Włodkowic who taught in Kraków Academy before Copernicus studied there.
Also - Polish nobility was starting to embrace reformation in 16th century and even forced Polish kings to give them guarantees of religious freedom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Confederation
TL;DR: Poland was pretty tolerant for the time. It became hardcore Catholic after counterreformation.
I made a mistake in the timeline of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. It begins in an unspecified year of the early 15th century, not the 16th, and thus several decades before Copernicus and his subsequent discoveries. It does, however, stretch across multiple periods of time.
All the same, thank you for the information as it provides significant context for the setting and for what could be a future plot point should the show decide to exploit it.
As I've mentioned in another thread in this comment section, there are a number of fictionalizations in the show that might, for lack of better phrasing, "stand out" to those who are more familiar with the history of the setting and era. But in spite of all that, it has an excellent story and the characters roles are very well performed. It's a real gem from studio Madhouse and I have no reservations in recommending it.
As someone living in a country where blasphemy lynching are still a part of life, and professors are made to renounce scientific beliefs[1], it feels disturbingly familiar to me.
[1]: https://www.dw.com/en/pakistani-clerics-cancel-theory-of-evo...