You Can't Take Your Mega Millions With You

Great Execution

Just got back from an opening at the Japan Society, featuring the woodblock prints of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, who died in 1861: 92 years before Alan Moore was born, 125 years before he could have teamed up with Moore to illustrate Watchmen, and 148 years before he could've told a reporter that he actually enjoyed the film very much, and that Zack Snyder was a very talented director, and that...ha ha, he'd rather not venture an opinion about that, but yes, Billy Crudup did do a fine job as Dr. Manhattan.

The print above is entitled Morozumi Masakiyo Kills Himself with a Landmine. What's extraordinary about it, besides its stunning modernity, is that not only is Morozumi Masakiyo killing himself with a landmine, he's simultaneously ramming his head down on his own sword. As the work itself describes it, "Never before had such a death been seen in battle" -- like he was competing in Olympic-level Ritualistic Suicide, and pulled off the equivalent of a quad and some other extremely difficult move (I only know "quad") at the same time. I guess even though he was expected to kill himself in defeat, he wanted to go out a winner.