The Inside: 1.1-1.13 (complete)

pics 's lengthy-ish pimp post.

In between finishing The Inside and my writing about it, prozacparkhad me watch P2 a movie featuring Rachel Nichols (also the star of The Inside) running around in a lowcut white dress (after being put in the dress by what may have been her rapist) through a parking garage in a neverending state of eroticized terror. I’m told Rachel Nichols actually made them tone that down. Needless to say, between that and the supergruesome deaths and gratuitous bloodsplatters, I was reminded of what I don’t often watch thrillers or horror movies.

Anyway, the movie made me realize that, for all the blonde heroine of The Inside has a tendency to be terrorized and/or abducted, it’s never sexualized. In fact, you could say it’s desexualized. Which is oddly refreshing.

Anyway, The Inside is not my typical kind of show. The series is about the FBI’s special Crimes unit, headed up by a man named Web. Web is most kindly described and diabolical. He believes that the best people to solve crimes are people with severe issues themselves. His crowning achievement, therefore, is personally stamping the approval papers of Rebecca Locke. When she was 10, Rebecca was kidnapped and held captive for 18 months, until she returned home by herself, with no memories of the time she was gone. Needless to say, that leaves you with Issues, and Rebecca has grown up with not only a severe detachment from the world, but also with a detachment from any sense of self or identity.

At first glance, Rebecca is rather bland and foolish, almost a stereotype of the female lead who can’t stay out of trouble. After a few episodes, however, it becomes clear that that isn’t what’s going on. In fact, she seems to throw herself into the role of victim, not because she wants to be a victim, but because she can bring the victimizer down from that perspective, as she did once before. Early in the series, she says that the person truly in control of a situation is the apparent victim, and for her, at least, that’s true. That, however, is only the tip of the iceberg of crazy that is Rebecca Locke, and the 13 episodes really only begin to delve into her issues.

To be honest, I hated most of the episodic plots, no matter how well done they were. The focus, however, was not on the Killer of the Week, but on what dealing with the Killer of the Week does to a person. And now, a roll call in pictures.

( pictures )

manhwa: Saver Vol 1-4

Lena is the androgynous captain of her school’s kumdo (think kendo, only adjusted for Korean swordsmanship and martial arts) team, and is often mistaken for a boy. Since childhood, she’s bitterly resented a half-brother she’s never met, knowing that her father neglects her and her mother and favors him and his purely because of their genders. Hyun-min is a transfer student from America who initially mistakes Lena for a boy, but they quickly fall for each other. Naturally, Hyun-min is actually the despised brother she’s never met. When his mother finds out about them, she orders both Lena and her mother killed, and Hyun-min is hurt protecting Lena and falls into a coma. Lena vows revenge, but before she can get it, she’s injured and falls off a pier, waking up in another world.
Lena and Hyun-min’s story is tragic, but as they do not appear to be reincarnated lovers or enemies and neither is a reincarnated angel or had their soul sold to the devil before they were even born, I can apparently sympathize with their story, but not really be interested in it. The main story, however, is Lena’s adventures in the other world. There, she has to actively pretend to be a boy due to women with dark hair being slaves due to a prophecy, instead of just being mistaken for one while not caring. So far, her main goal is to save a young woman who fell for her (thinking she was a man) and was taken away to be a slave, but it will clearly eventually become “crossdressing heroine gathers army and overthrows evil ruler,” especially since she’s already gathering friends and a sidekick inclined to do just that.

I like Lena because she’s cold and stoic and detached and angry and very much not like your normal shoujo heroine. Actually, she’s probably one of the more successful cases I’ve read of a text giving a heroine more masculine qualities without seeming to try to make her masculine. Many of her poses and “heroic” moments are those traditionally associated with male heroes, yet he rarely comes across as male or female in them, just as a troubled person. While many of her problems come from her father’s devaluing her because of her gender, she doesn’t really seem to identify herself as male or female. Also, I may be a bit giddy about how obsessed she is with her sword, especially when she talks about how she’ll use the sword used to kill her mother to get her vengeance.

The rest of the cast has the standards-evil villains, prophet, cute sidekick with hidden depths, nobleman out to reclaim kingdom’s honor, son wanting vengeance for his fathers death, mysterious cadre of warriors, possibly untrustworthy handsome swordsman, etc. Actually, for only four volumes, this already has a fairly large cast. So far, most seem to be interesting.

Unfortunately, while I think a few more volumes were published, this seems to be one of the series Tokyopop has cancelled.