rant – Together With Japan

Densetsu No Yuusha no Densetsu: A Rant

J Sensei — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:11:24 +0000

There Be Opinions Here

So, let’s leave the one-time, original purpose of this blog behind. Let’s not focus on language or education. Instead, let’s look at, not culture in abstract, but some very specific things about culture.

Namely, the anime “Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu” (yes, it sounds redundant), “Legend of the Legendary Heroes.”

The basic idea is simple: the Relics of the Legendary Heroes are this sword & sorcery world’s version of WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction), which the cursed main character, Ryner Lute, seeks for his peace loving, world reform aspirer Sion Astari, himself known as “the Hero King” but in truth, under siege by his own nobles after his rise to “power” in events that very much involved Ryner and his special curse: demon-possessed eyes that can instantly analyze/ copy/ acquire magic spells cast within their line of sight, an effect known and feared as “Alpha Stigma.”

The beautiful, hardcore swordswoman Feris Eris becomes Ryner’s partner in adventure as the two search for relics while… well, a lot of stuff is going on around them and back home. Seemingly almost emotionless from her lack of facial expression, Feris is a very mischievous girl at heart under a very stern exterior, with her own demons to fight well in the past and an older brother whose name of Lucille does nothing to diminish how this “guardian of the King” is… well, a monster. A flat-out monster of immense power. He’s not the only one in this show, either.

Good People, Bad World

This is not the only anime that does this, but it and the novels that spawned it are very… far out in this regard:

These are wonderful characters. Wonderful characters.

Yet the world they live in is plagued by inhuman humans, and not the “cursed” ones, no, it’s everyone else. They’re not subtle about it, either

It’s just incredible. It’s flat out cruel to see the world and specific people in it making these souls suffer, making the world, which is fundamentally populated by ordinary people, a dark and forbidding place under a thin veneer of respectability.

Put simply, the real problem is that a Ghandi cannot reform a world like this without taking up the mantle of a Genghis Khan. Therein lies the problem.

Sion has a very dark – in appearance and in heart – retainer who is, unlike the rest of his staff, pushing him to be the king that he “needs” to be, a king to make the kingdom the greatest in the world. This requires eliminating domestic opposition and creating war to then stop war and look like an even bigger hero. This is work too dirty for Sion to do by his lonesome, and it’d take the shine off him, so Milan Froward is quite happy to do the dirty work – and the dirty scheming – on Sion’s behalf. So, while his best friend Ryner is away hunting artifacts, the kingdom faces various crises and so forth.

World’s Greatest Slacker

Ryner is fundamentally likable for one simple reason: he is a triple-A class slacker, someone who hates to be bothered by things. He hates to be bothered by death and killing and war. He hates to be bothered by the whole business of saving the world. Yet he has a heart of gold under that ボケ (“boke,” glazed look) exterior. He seems like a dolt, but he really is a magical genius who is not nearly the woman-craving beast that Feris makes him out to be (for her own extensive amusement).

World’s Greatest Dango Addict

Speaking of Feris, she is not only a swordswoman of great skill in a nice light purple themed armor (and an alluring blonde, though a dangerously violent one). She is also a complete dango addict, someone who will literally partner with a triple-A class slacker and parade around the known world hunting for artifacts just because her king threatens to eliminate her favorite dango shop.

No, really, that’s why she agreed to this. As soon as she realized he was quite serious, she dragged Ryner off. Again, literally.

Very amusing scene.

Her defining character is really quite simple. She is the one who tells Ryner, at the moment that it really matters, “You are not a monster.” She really believes it, and without a doubt, this saves him from giving in to the possession that usually destroys the minds of Alpha Stigma bearers completely.

Though, Ryner is different/ special. If he wasn’t, it wouldn’t be much of a show.

World’s Most Bleeding Heart Royal

Sion is a sympathetic figure. It’s not that he asked to be king; he was at a royal magical academy because it was a great place to get rid of him when war with a nearby nation broke out. A classmate of his and Ryner’s betrayed the class to the enemy, though she wasn’t a bad person, either, and just wanted to escape from everything. Let’s not focus on her right now. The point is, Ryner’s powers went berserk and he nearly killed Sion and the girl also but found the strength of will to close the cursed eyes even after they had awakened.

So all of a sudden, Sion was a hero who’d defeated (?) the feared (for good reason) Magic Knights of the enemy nation and, due to a… vacancy that developed, he became king, and got Ryner sprung out of death row.

As of the middle of the anime, he stands atop a shaky throne. He has extremely good and loyal subordinates, people who really want to help him in his self-appointed mission to create a kingdom, and a world, where people can enjoy peace and happiness.

This is not going to end well.

The Real Problem

The real problem is… look, I love these characters. Most of the secondary leading characters are also great in various ways. Wonderful character designs. Even Milan, well, I can excuse the fact he exists because without darkness, there would be no plot. That’s not really the point, though.

The real problem is that it’s not a matter of orcs, or Sith, or ancient demons.

It’s the humans who are the vilest, evilest, darkest beings as far as the eye can see.

It’s more than this. It’s the common acceptance of the rightness of evil, of how it is natural, unquestionably practical, and how even casual, smiling cruelty is like having a drink of water. It makes actually trying to good seem like a crazy, foolish, exceptional thing.

I mean, yes, that’s the point I suppose, but when the darkness infects the good characters too, it’s particularly hard to watch. You want to see these things be overcome, but you know that it’s not going to be that simple.

A Love-Hate Relationship

So I love the characters, and I deeply appreciate what they’re trying to do, but it’s just really hard to get past the truly dismal version of humanity that we are shown. Every act of goodness seems drowned out by a thousand evils.

Culture Point: Militarists Are Evil

In terms of Japanese culture, the overall point is that people who warmonger must be really evil because the consequences are so bad for people.

Yet you cannot defeat evil people by pacifism.

This paradox is thought to turn good people bad. Or more to the point:

When faced with impossible choices, we make impossible choices, not necessarily because we ourselves are evil, but because we want to do good.

Yet that is the path to darkness, is it not?

Theme: Friendship

Friendship is something that can get very, very tested, but true friendship rises to overcome well, the sheer awfulness of the world, among other things.

It is this that this series – and the existing line of novels – explores, ultimately.

Conclusion: It’s Not “Average”

I’ve heard people say, “Well this looks like a Slayers ripoff.” I think that’s two things.

A) Art style. Specifically, outfit design style. There is a point here.

B) Feris is basically a Gourry who is female, smarter than a jellyfish, and who has her own very large set of quirks, but well, she’s likable, and she’s pretty good.

The rest is as you see above. The content is a lot different – especially because in Slayers, the worst enemies are, well, demons and stuff.

Here, it’s people, which is compelling – very compelling – but a hell of a lot darker, plot-wise.

In the end, compelling is good.

Shiki, Ep. 10: Or, The Reason To Watch This Show

J Sensei — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 01:34:19 +0000

It Took Ten Eps For A Masterpiece.

Not that I’m going to spoil except in the spoiler space, but this is a show that has been accused of starting slowly. This is not wholly without merit. Although we, the viewers, know better, the villagers either suspect nothing, or believe that there is some sort of epidemic that must be kept quiet to prevent panic, and so forth. Only our main character, Natsuno, is tipped off early on that something different is at work here.

Anyway, the bottom line is that the climax that takes place in episode 10 is simply not something that a normal story could have produced. In one blow, every bit of foreshadowing, building things up, creating tension with characters who know that there is no magic solution that will save everyone, and so forth, is justified in spades.

But, I shall say no more outside of spoilers.

What Happened: show

Since the beginning of the series, the first victim of the “mysterious illness” that Natsuno (usually called “Yuuki-kun”) knows personally, Megumi Shimizu, has been after him since “rising” from the grave and becoming a vampire, albeit we should not depend on “the rules” of vampires to apply perfectly. Having dug up her grave, and encountered a different vampire, Natsuno knows the truth, and so do a couple of other young villagers, for all the good it does them.

Having knocked out a vampire attacker out cold (but not “dead,” as it turns out), Natsuno half-buried the body. In daytime, he returned to find the grave neatly set exactly as it was before they had dug up Megumi’s grave. Certain that both sides were now aware of each other, and having no way to take on the number of vampires on the other side, Natsuno essentially adopts a Castle Mode, determined to protect himself and his family as long as possible. He tells Akira and Kaori to not tell anyone that they have permission to enter their house, hoping that this protects them in the meantime.

A child vampire manipulating a Geisha doll had arranged access at Natsuno’s own house with Natsuno’s far too trusting father. (In this show, the “shiki” require permission to enter a dwelling.) His brother is outraged when the room where the child had been given shelter, and then disappeared from, is covered with religious symbols. Indeed, later on when Natsuno gets a literal tap on his window, remaining silent while holding a wrench, he listens as the figure at the window – he knows it’s not Megumi (“Shimizu” to him) by the silhouette – goes to the front and tests the front door, finding it unlocked. See, when Natsuno’s family had moved to this village, his father was very impressed with the fact that this was a place where people didn’t have to lock their doors.

Nice, unless a vampire is coming to kill you.

Now, the immediate background to this is that Tatsumi Kanemasa, a “daywalker” who functions as the field commander for the vampires, summoned the newly turned and declared that Natsuno must die. Of course, Megumi is very cross about this. Furthermore, Tatsumi prevents her from being the one to go after him. She wants Natsuno bad, and it’s not just because she had a crush on him in life. It’s simple, really; only a low percentage of those killed actually rose from the dead. If Natsuno was drained, there would be no guarantee at all that he would rise, though Tatsumi seemed to think that the odds were higher than normal.

So, she operated on this logic:

If “Yuuki-kun” wasn’t going to make it into everlasting undeath, then at the very least, SHE would be the one to get her fangs into him.

It’s funny. The metaphor writes itself.

So, Natsuno wanted to capture the vampire after him and expose them to all of the villagers. Anyway, not that the viewers had seen this part before, and so it comes as something of a surprise, but the part that catches Natsuno completely flatfooted, and blows his mind away, is that the soft, intimate voice beyond the window is from his deceased best friend, Tohru.

The wrench slips from his grasp.

Tohru is the one person who Natsuno cannot raise a hand against, even in undeath. Knowing it may mean his own demise, Natsuno opens the window all the same, and Tohru makes a grab at his right arm. The two stare at each other, and Tohru breaks off and runs away, ashamed of himself.

It is then that Megumi, who is knowingly defying orders, comes across the crying Tohru, having anticipated he would be the one to receive the order. She’s quite fine with letting him be and going to take Natsuno herself. Punishment or not, this is the depth of the emotion she has, even though she knows how truly frightening Tatsumi is, how he would think nothing of murdering his “own” kind in broad daylight, given a reason to.

Natsuno chases after Tohru to a place that both know well, what appears to be a tiny shrine. Here, Tatsumi arrives, introducing himself properly, as they had not properly met before. Really, it was nothing personal, but Natsuno was a threat to Tatsumi’s kind, to their existence. Just like the doctor, Toshio, Natsuno had realized their existence. Unlike the doctor, Natsuno was causing them so much grief that he be eliminated here and now. Stating he had no obligation to just let himself be killed, Natsuno pledged to run with all his might, which Tatsumi thought was just fine, but there stood Megumi in his path of retreat. Actually, Tatsumi wasn’t all that broken up about it because he knew Megumi would disregard his orders anyway. Megumi was very pleased at having the opportunity to take the kill.

Yet that was not to be.

Suddenly, a hand moved around Natsuno’s mouth from behind, pulling him back with supernatural strength. Tohru had captured him, and it was Tohru’s fangs that struck home.

In this moment:

The pure diabolical delight of Tatsumi.
The pure agony on Megumi’s face.
The pure despair of Natsuno.

Ten episodes. One scene. One resounding climax.

Rating: 10/10. I won’t say that for what preceded this, which I found interesting, but which many would have found slow-developing even as it got interesting, but this is nothing less than a horror masterpiece.

Largely, I don’t really care what happens after this, I will still consider this a show well worth watching. Next week should include info about the background so that we might have some clue as to the why of what’s taking place, which I certainly want to know, since there is a backstory to it that we don’t know yet. (Those who have not read the novel, anyway. I have not.)

But, I write these words for people like one friend of mine who watched two episodes and quit because it wasn’t moving fast enough. Also, for people who will never watch the show, or who genuinely don’t care about being spoiled.

Really, it’s not what happened that impressed me, it’s not even why, it’s how, and making the moment count. I respect that as a writer.

Anyway, those are my thoughts about it. Sorry that they are a little late, I have been a bit ill with a cold, but I hoped this would be interesting as an issue of culture, and not just entertainment.

Japan Culture Sites Shouldn’t Hate Japan

J Sensei — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:49:54 +0000

This is a relatively young blog. I wanted to go around the Internet finding sites to link to, but there’s a little problem with that.

I keep finding sites that cover Japanese culture that, without naming names, because that would be impolite:

Lecture Japanese people on what they shouldn’t say to non-Japanese.
Lecture Japanese on how they are prejudiced and narrow minded.
Lecture Westerners about how Japanese culture isn’t that great.
Lecture Westerners about how Japanese swords are nothing special.
Lecture everyone in general about how Japan stomped over Asia in WWII.

With all due respect, I really can’t link to you in good conscience.

First of all, a lot of cultural misconceptions are a result of how the Westerner chooses to hear something said by Japanese people. Moreover, quite a lot of what is said that is found to be offensive is meant innocently and without a trace of maliciousness; I cannot say that about most “prejudice” in the world I encounter.

Finally, making yourself appear to be an expert in Japanese culture by trashing it, showing people your coolness credentials and making it seem like all of your critiques are founded on vast knowledge the reader possesses, is really arrogant business that has no place in learning. Well, not just learning; dealing with other cultures in general.

I’m not ashamed of liking Japanese culture. I don’t go believing wild things that have no basis in fact because I truly enjoy discovering the truth. I spent so many years learning the Japanese language because I wanted to have greater access to truth, and frankly, even to Japan’s national myths.

What, you don’t think France doesn’t have a lot of national myths? The U.S.? Even meek Canada? Let’s be real here: every country has its areas that it is not well versed in. Some are not the result of a lack of education in some area; they are the result of myth creation to hold nations together. It’s normal, frankly. To single out Japan for it is pretty lame.

So please, if you have a culture site or a site about Japan that doesn’t have a chip on its shoulder about Japan, let me know. I want to find you and link to you. I just don’t think you need to flaunt putting down other cultures to be considered an expert. Mere objective neutrality would do, but I guess that’s not as cool to some?

Either way, I’m going to try and stay positive and focused here.