meganbmoore (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
meganbmoore) wrote2007-04-14 03:36 pm
meganbmoore) wrote2007-04-14 03:36 pm
Entry tags:
anime: Wolf's Rain + Those Who Hunt Elves
Watched the first episode of Those Who Hunt Elves, which is about several humans from modern Japan who, through a process that we don't learn in the episode, have ended up on a fantasy world and are looking for 5 elves who ended up with pieces of a spell somewhere on their body after a spell gone awry. As elves tend to wear clothes, they have to strip every wlf they come across so they can see if they have the spell piece. In this episode, at least, they don't play up the nudity angle and mostly portray it as the characters being extremely embarassed by what they're doing. I have no idea if this show is actually GOOD, but the episode was quite fun, and I think the last cracky anime I watched was Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu! a couple months ago, so I'm due for one.
Also, on the subject of Wolf's Rain, one of the things that makes it stand out to me is that it has very, very flawed-and often really not that nice-characters, and it doesn't apologize for it. They are what they are, good or bad. And the thing of it is, the only the only character that isn't, at the least, good at their core is Jagara, and even that's debatable.
*is still eyeing ep 12 like it'll bit her because it's the first uber-angst ep and it's hard to watch Darcia like that*
Also, on the subject of Wolf's Rain, one of the things that makes it stand out to me is that it has very, very flawed-and often really not that nice-characters, and it doesn't apologize for it. They are what they are, good or bad. And the thing of it is, the only the only character that isn't, at the least, good at their core is Jagara, and even that's debatable.
When we first meet Kiba(aside from the snow) he slaughters two of Tsume's men and is perfectly willing to keep going at it when Tsume intervenes. It's his instinctive reaction to what seems to be a threat, but it drives homethe fact that, at his core, he is an animal, and not a tame one. We also learn later that he's something of a hypocrite, talking about how wolves who live among and with humans, especially as humans, areweak and have no pride. But Kiba himself was raised by humans after his pack was slaughtered, and seems to still view those humans with fondness, despite claiming to hate all humans, and all his convictions and beliefs come from the human who raised him and told him about paradise. He also attempts to avoid the responsibility of leadership, one of our early hints that for all his talk about a wolf's pride and pack, he doesn't quite understand wolf social structure and his responsibilities until Tsume forces him to.
When we meet Tsume, he's a gang leader...he rules because he could kick all their butts(and, therefore, is also good at keeping them alive) and is a natural leader, as opposed to liking or respect, and it eventually comes back to bite him in the butt as it's a very transient loyalty...as soon as he's no longer the safest bet, the most he gets from them is a warning to hoof it before the authorities get him. He's also flat out mean to Toboe at times, and never quite reaches thepoint to where he's nice to the kid, but it's rather like Kyo/Yuya in Samurai Deeper Kyo where if you don't know him, you don't get that he cares(though in a different way from Kyo, obviously) but Toboe knows and so do the people who know them, and that's all that really matters. He's with the others more because he has nowhere else to be and can't stay in the city than anything else. We also learn later on that he has a good reason for avoiding other wolves and mingling with humans, and really, he probably is more comfortable with humans because he sees them as being as cowardly and disloyal as he(and other wolves from his old pack) see him, which is why his gang turning on him is so important, because they're effectively doing to him what he did to his pack.
Hige and Toboe are nice and lovable and woobie on the surface, but they're also with Tsume and Kiba more because the two alphas are good at fighting and thus, good bets at protection...they aren't mooches, but as far as survival goes, they're the ones who are benefitting. Also, when we meet Toboe, he kills a little girl's pet bird. Sure, it was an accident, but it was rather unthinking of him. And Hige, even if it's not exactly willingly and he does his best to make amends is a traitor.
Cher and hubb are basically nice, but Cher's a workaholic who ended up sacrificing her marriage for her career, and until it became an issue of Cher's safety, Hubb was perfectly willing to work the system and avoid trouble, no matter what it was that was going on.
Quent and Blue may have been hunting wolves to get revenge for wolves(so Quent believed) killing Quent's wife and son, but they WERE hunting wolves and Quent has essentially become a pathetic drunk who can't see much beyond his quest for vengeance. And even though Blue accepts what she is pretty easily, she never really regrets that she used to hunt her own kind (before she knew she was part wolf) including her new pack, because she had her reasons. Not that she doesn't care, but she doesn't waste her time angsting and indulging in self-flagellation because it's in the past at dwelling too much on it is a waste.
Despite all their flaws though (and they all have more than listed) they're all essentially good "people" who are doing their (flawed) best in a dying world.
Then there's the villains.
For the bulk of the series, Darcia is a villain more because his goals, though the same as the wolves, conflict with theirs. He's centered his life around curing Hamona, and every faction, from the wolves to the nobles, opposes him. He hasno choice but to be cold and ruthless, yet at times, we see see the kind man he was before his life started turning into a personal hell. Even after Jagara murders Hamona, he's still walking the line where he hasn't flat-out become a bad guy(and how much does it suck to have "love for you" touted as a reason for your wife's murder?) but he simply wants vengeance. It's not until Jagara poisons him and finally drives him mad that he REALLY becomes bad, and at that point, it's arguably not even him anymore.
And then there's Jagara who, to me, is the real villain of the series. While love isn't her sole motivator like with Darcia, it is a central motivator to her. Hamona was her sister and even though they loved the same man, she still loved her despite being passed over for Hamona. To Jagara, her sister has been dead for years, and by keeping Hamona alive, Darcia is just making Hamona and himself both suffer and clinging to a false hope. By killing Hamona, she sees herself as freeing both Hamona and Darcia. That said, unlike Darcia, who became what he had to but avoided evil as much as he could, she was evil and cruel of her own free will and her poisoning of Darcia is as much because he's a rival as it is because he rejects her(really, I don't think "I killed your beloved wife who you've centered your entire life around because I love you both" is going to win a guy over, no matter how angstridden and messed up he is) so unlike Darcia, I don't see her as good at her core, but it does keep her from just being a scenery chewing villain.
When we meet Tsume, he's a gang leader...he rules because he could kick all their butts(and, therefore, is also good at keeping them alive) and is a natural leader, as opposed to liking or respect, and it eventually comes back to bite him in the butt as it's a very transient loyalty...as soon as he's no longer the safest bet, the most he gets from them is a warning to hoof it before the authorities get him. He's also flat out mean to Toboe at times, and never quite reaches thepoint to where he's nice to the kid, but it's rather like Kyo/Yuya in Samurai Deeper Kyo where if you don't know him, you don't get that he cares(though in a different way from Kyo, obviously) but Toboe knows and so do the people who know them, and that's all that really matters. He's with the others more because he has nowhere else to be and can't stay in the city than anything else. We also learn later on that he has a good reason for avoiding other wolves and mingling with humans, and really, he probably is more comfortable with humans because he sees them as being as cowardly and disloyal as he(and other wolves from his old pack) see him, which is why his gang turning on him is so important, because they're effectively doing to him what he did to his pack.
Hige and Toboe are nice and lovable and woobie on the surface, but they're also with Tsume and Kiba more because the two alphas are good at fighting and thus, good bets at protection...they aren't mooches, but as far as survival goes, they're the ones who are benefitting. Also, when we meet Toboe, he kills a little girl's pet bird. Sure, it was an accident, but it was rather unthinking of him. And Hige, even if it's not exactly willingly and he does his best to make amends is a traitor.
Cher and hubb are basically nice, but Cher's a workaholic who ended up sacrificing her marriage for her career, and until it became an issue of Cher's safety, Hubb was perfectly willing to work the system and avoid trouble, no matter what it was that was going on.
Quent and Blue may have been hunting wolves to get revenge for wolves(so Quent believed) killing Quent's wife and son, but they WERE hunting wolves and Quent has essentially become a pathetic drunk who can't see much beyond his quest for vengeance. And even though Blue accepts what she is pretty easily, she never really regrets that she used to hunt her own kind (before she knew she was part wolf) including her new pack, because she had her reasons. Not that she doesn't care, but she doesn't waste her time angsting and indulging in self-flagellation because it's in the past at dwelling too much on it is a waste.
Despite all their flaws though (and they all have more than listed) they're all essentially good "people" who are doing their (flawed) best in a dying world.
Then there's the villains.
For the bulk of the series, Darcia is a villain more because his goals, though the same as the wolves, conflict with theirs. He's centered his life around curing Hamona, and every faction, from the wolves to the nobles, opposes him. He hasno choice but to be cold and ruthless, yet at times, we see see the kind man he was before his life started turning into a personal hell. Even after Jagara murders Hamona, he's still walking the line where he hasn't flat-out become a bad guy(and how much does it suck to have "love for you" touted as a reason for your wife's murder?) but he simply wants vengeance. It's not until Jagara poisons him and finally drives him mad that he REALLY becomes bad, and at that point, it's arguably not even him anymore.
And then there's Jagara who, to me, is the real villain of the series. While love isn't her sole motivator like with Darcia, it is a central motivator to her. Hamona was her sister and even though they loved the same man, she still loved her despite being passed over for Hamona. To Jagara, her sister has been dead for years, and by keeping Hamona alive, Darcia is just making Hamona and himself both suffer and clinging to a false hope. By killing Hamona, she sees herself as freeing both Hamona and Darcia. That said, unlike Darcia, who became what he had to but avoided evil as much as he could, she was evil and cruel of her own free will and her poisoning of Darcia is as much because he's a rival as it is because he rejects her(really, I don't think "I killed your beloved wife who you've centered your entire life around because I love you both" is going to win a guy over, no matter how angstridden and messed up he is) so unlike Darcia, I don't see her as good at her core, but it does keep her from just being a scenery chewing villain.
*is still eyeing ep 12 like it'll bit her because it's the first uber-angst ep and it's hard to watch Darcia like that*