Villains are necessary for any good story. If the hero has no one to oppose them and no obstacles in their path, the story gets boring quickly. I'm well aware of this, and fully respect the role of the villain and its place in storytelling. This generally holds true in the anime world as well. I can even admire the strength and determination of some villains (i.e. Sesshoumaru in Inuyasha), and find they add the necessary flavor to animes in order to create a good story.
Except for two.
To be honest, I'm still not entirely certain why I can't stand them. Other villains have done similar atrocities in various shows, and I don't seem to hate their very existence with every fiber in my soul like I do these two. It bothers me that it's difficult to figure out, since I'm usually good at understanding the reasons behind everything. And yet there it is...I even stopped watching one of the shows halfway through the series, which is absolutely unheard of for me, because I just couldn't stand the character anymore. Although I understand a little more about my reasons for it now, this is still a mystery.
(Note: the following contains spoilers, which you can read if you choose by highlighting them.)
The first comes from Descendants of Darkness. Dr. Muraki Kazutaka. The first image we see of him is inside a church, as he's kneeling. When he stands up to look at Tsuzuki, we see he's crying. With silver-blonde hair, reptilian eyes, and dressed in a white trench coat, our first glimpse of the character gives us the impression he's almost a sort of angel...and that may be why it's so creepy. Putting a reverse spin on the Dr. Jekyll tale, he masquerades as a humanitarian while killing without remorse (he's even shown to enjoy it) and relentlessly pursues Tsuzuki for a sinister purpose with truly sickening zeal. Yes, it's true he went insane long ago over something that wasn't his fault, but how many people become obsessive, mass-murdering doctors because of a tragic past? (And oddly enough...his blood type is A.)
The second is Light Yagami from the series that was never meant to be a hit, Death Note. I...don't even have any words for this one. Not much can be said about a college student with delusions of creating a new world by killing everyone who opposes him. The creators didn't even try to make him a sympathetic character, which I'm strangely grateful for. What grates on my nerves is the fact that, in Death Note, the villain wins. He puts on such a show of being the perfect student, and actually "assists" L in helping to find Kira, that no one ever suspects him until it's all over. I realize he gets his own come-uppance in the last episode, but by then it's far too late.
And because he's intelligent to an almost psychotic perfection, he always manages to turn things around in his favor. Hell, if he was a chess player, no one would remember the names of Bobby Fischer or Garry Kasparov because Light was always four, five or six steps ahead of the game. (And his blood type is A, too. Take that, anime universe.)
I won't look for a video for Light, because a) I can't be bothered and b) I really don't think he deserves a space on my blog. I only put up a video for Muraki because I collect Descendants of Darkness clips on YouTube like people collect baseball cards, and happened to have one handy. In fact, I believe the only reason I actually still like Descendants of Darkness is because Muraki doesn't win. I was fascinated by the cat-and-mouse game in Death Note, until the creators went too far.
And then I come across fans who seem to think that because Muraki is so sadistically evil he actually belongs with Tsuzuki. Further, there's an alarmingly large number of Death Note fans who believe Light and L should be together, so much so that there's fan-made manga and video games to showcase it.
...No.
.........
NO.
I do not, repeat, do not care what the "popular" belief among such fans is. These are the villains of the show, and for one good reason: THEY'RE SICK PEOPLE. Muraki terrified Tsuzuki constantly, mentally tortured him, drove him into a relapse of his self-destructive habits...and did even worse to Hisoka. And Light...well, he's just a self-righteous murdering bastard, who committed the ultimate sin in befriending--and betraying--L, all according to his twisted little plan.
And did anyone remind these fans that Muraki tried to kill Tsuzuki on more than one occasion? Not to mention Light actually succeeded in killing L. How in the hell do these fans automatically translate that into "relationship"?!
I have no hope for humanity anymore.
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