When Villains Are Too Villainous

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.

Lost Cause

Before I started watching anime again and playing visual novels, I used to think I had no limit when it came to "dark" material. Thanks to shows like Blood + and Descendants of Darkness, and games like Kichiku Megane, I soon learned I was so very, very wrong.

I've learned my lesson, and figured from here on out I would be more careful with what I watch and/or play. Right?

...Right?

So when I see this opening theme for a visual novel, my exact first thought is, "Ooh. I wonder where I can buy it?"

Is this what they refer to as a "lost cause"?

But What About the Women?

After my post about finding a common thread among someone's favorite anime characters, a good friend brought up the suggestion that I should make a list of the female characters I admire as well, to get a more complete picture. In truth I hadn't even noticed there were no women featured in the list, but this also brings up an irritation I have with anime in general.

Too many shows I've watched just don't have a female character with a strong enough story to make them believable--at least, to me. My friend certainly has a point that many of them just aren't old enough to have such a history behind them, while male characters are generally a little older and/or have a deeper backstory. Looking back on my previous "favorites" list, I noticed only one of them was under 20...and Sasuke has enough backstory to practically drown in.

Women in anime, in my opinion, are too often shown as being largely reactive to their environment rather than acting from something within themselves. I get the feeling this has a lot to do with what I mentioned above: that they're just too young to have that kind of personal revelation. It might be due to the fact that the most popular animes seem to feature high school life that there aren't more women over 18.

Those characters that do act from an inner strength and personal resolve tend to be portrayed as masculine, greatly reducing the effectiveness of the reality that she's a woman--except for the shots we see of her only half-covered. (Stand Alone Complex's Motoko Kusanagi comes to mind immediately.)

When they do have an interesting history (Scrapped Princess' Raquel, anyone? .hack's BT?) it isn't always given as much time as it should to be explored. As a result, there aren't many female characters I can really call a "favorite" for the simple fact that they rarely live up to my expectations.

That said, after thinking back to the animes I can remember watching, three characters in particular stand out in my mind as having been able to stand apart from the others, finding something to fight for (instead of merely reacting to their environment). In no particular order:

1. Saya, Blood +
If you've watched the anime, it's impossible to forget her name...especially since that single word makes up 85% of Haji's vocabulary. Now, see, this is what I mean--she has a pretty fascinating backstory, but she's also over a century old. Anyone is bound to pick up some baggage along the way. While I had some issues with the violence level in Blood +, I admired the fact she wasn't afraid to cry just as much as she wasn't afraid to fight.


2. Tohru Honda, Fruits Basket
Yes, I know. Strange that I would choose a character from a comedy as a favorite, right? Truth is, Tohru is kind of special to me. Back when my mother was having heart surgery and my family wasn't sure if she would live, I started reading Fruits Basket as a distraction. The way Tohru was able to stay so focused on moving ahead with her life, even when her world literally crashed down on her, was nothing short of inspirational.


3. Sakura Haruno, Naruto
Yet another Naruto character. Although she's fairly young at the start of the series, she's far from a "reactionary" character. This may be due to the fact that the Naruto series is long enough to devote entire episodes to her development. By losing the person she loved most, she ended up finding her inner strength by choosing her own path to becoming a ninja.


----------------
Now playing: Evanescence - My Immortal
via FoxyTunes

One Man, Two Viewpoints

As I mentioned yesterday, here are the other two Fullmetal clips I saw. They were made by different people, yet always seem to end up next to each other on the "related" list. For good reason, too--they go together perfectly. They both focus on Roy Mustang, from completely different viewpoints.

The first clip was done from Ed Elric's view of him for the first two-thirds of the series. The second is Mustang's opinion of himself; this probably goes without saying, but I should warn that the second one can be a little depressing.

Ed's POV:


Mustang's POV:

----------------
Now playing: Seether - Fine Again
via FoxyTunes

Fullmetal Mix

I don't normally devote an entire post to a single YouTube clip these days, but in my internet travels today I came across a very interesting AMV. It's a well-edited music video using Fullmetal Alchemist clips, put to what has to be the most amazing and creative remix of "Crawling" I've ever heard. I found two other clips that I might showcase tommorrow, but I thought this particular clip deserved its own post.

----------------
Now playing: Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude (Cello Suite No.1)
via FoxyTunes

If Only I Could Actually Read Their Names....

A little while ago a friend sent me a fascinating, if confusing (and more than moderately traumatizing) Japanese visual novel called Kichiku Megane, after learning I was interested in the main plot's premise. I had also heard its opening theme ("Under the Darkness" by C.G. Mix) on YouTube and loved it, and to this day I maintain that it's the best theme song for any game I know.

There are several sites you can visit to learn more about the game, so I won't spend time discussing it here except to say I learned five valuable things from KM:

1. Pomegranates are evil.
2. Glasses are very evil.
3. Strawberry shortcake should never be eaten if you don't remember putting it in the fridge, because it is concentrated evil. On a plate. With whipped cream.
4. If something is physically impossible, turn it into a dream sequence with an omake.
5. Omakes are evil.

That being said, I have to say I was incredibly impressed with the voice acting. Between the language barrier and an often fragmented translation, I occasionally found myself relying on voice inflection and emotion alone to figure out what was being said. They matched the character personalities perfectly, catching even subtle complexities well.

I find it interesting that none of the seiyuus have the game listed in their resumes, yet none of them used a pseudonym for it, nor was their participation in the project a secret. Are eroge games just par for the course in the life of a Japanese VA--something done in between mainstream work, acknowledged but never emphasized?

/digression

Anyway, I ended up searching online to see what else the seiyuus had done, and was amazed at the sheer number of projects many of them have completed. For the sake of focus and brevity, I'm concentrating on the main four actors. To give you an idea of their distinctive voices, I'm including links to four episodes of mainstream anime that they've each worked in.

1. Daisuke Hirakawa
He probably had the most...uh..."interesting" role in the game as the protagonist, using a higher range for his Normal Katsuya voice and a much lower range as Megane Katsuya--or, as I called him before I knew his name, "Mr. Dead Sexy". I found him fascinating because he ended up doing a few scenes that required both voices (and this is where the phrase "physically impossible" would come in.) In Chocotto Sister you can hear his higher range, which he's apparently called on to use a lot--he was also the protagonist in the School Days anime, which I wouldn't recommend for those who like happy endings. In any case, Chocotto Sister's not really my kind of show, but if you can get past the two or three panty shots at the beginning, it's kind of cute.


2. Koji Yusa (sometimes spelled Kouji Yusa)
He played Mido, the 32-year-old director of Katsuya's parent company, who probably ended up being my favorite character in KM...and, sadly, the most abused. Yes, he was an egotistical jackass for half the game, but how could anyone actually like the way he was treated for the other half? There's payback, and then there's outright sadism. My grumblings aside, his voice is probably the easiest to catch immediately in nearly anything I've heard. Here in Amatsuki he plays supporting character Kon Shinonome, who shows up after 3 minutes or so (the one with a lollipop in his mouth.) Haven't seen too much of it yet, but all I can say is .hack//Sign apparently wasn't the first to come up with the idea.


3. Hiroki Yasumoto
Played Honda, Katsuya's college friend and co-worker. Another distinctive voice, particularly when the character is angry. He's been in several shows, ranging from comedy to some rather dark dramas. Here he plays a supporting role as the amateur manga-ka Justice (the tall character with light hair and glasses), in the firmly tongue-in-cheek comedy Doujin Work. The thirteen episodes are half the length of regular shows, clocking in at just under 14 minutes each. (NOTE: instead of episode 1, I used episode 4 since that's where he seems to show up the most.) Oddly enough he's playing another childhood friend, and Justice sounds exactly like Honda--especially when he's upset.


4.Makoto Yasumura
Played Katagiri, Katsuya's office supervisor and probably the gentlest character of them all (which was nice, although he could have grown a slightly firmer backbone.) Another VA with a stunning number of shows on his resume. Apparently I actually heard him in an anime first before hearing him in the game, but it didn't hit me for a while. That anime was REC, sent to me by a good friend. Upon viewing the series a second time, Matsumaru sounds a lot like Katagiri as well, just younger and possessing the aforementioned backbone.


----------------
Now playing: Dido - White Flag
via FoxyTunes

Another Year

It's June 25th again, and another birthday rolls around. Supposedly this is the space where I reflect on everything that's happened in the past year, and conjecture as to what's coming in the next year.

But, truthfully, for once I don't have the energy or desire to reflect on anything, and I sure as hell won't even try to figure out what's going to happen in my life for the next year. Avoidance? Maybe. Do I care? Not really.

Thankfully, I don't have to. At the beginning of 2008 it was decided by a few friends that, rather than making yet another long-winded post no one will read, we simply choose one song that most accurately describes our life at this point in time (so long as no one, NO ONE picked Aqua's "Barbie Girl", at the risk of being shot), and one song that reflects our view of what real love is like. I've given it considerable thought over the past few weeks, and came up with the following.

My life as it is right now:


What real love is like:


Nothing wrong with being realistic, right?

----------------
Now playing: Nightwish - Nemo
via FoxyTunes