Oh No, The Dreaded Curse is Mine

[dangermousie]

I have fallen hard for a secondary character. Who?

Shinomori Aoshi from Rurouni Kenshin. It's that aura of weary nobility and his uber-amazing fighting skills (he almost kills Kenshin) and his absolute loyalty to his retainers: he won't accept government work because they won't be able to adjust to normal life after their existence as fighters. It's a loyalty they return, they shield him with their bodies even as he watches, helpless (he's taken bullet wounds to protect them) and in agony at their deaths.

It's his strict notion of honor and bleak view of life and the fact that he just doesn't fit into this modern world any more. The fact that he left Megumi a knife to kill herself so she'd escape torture (though notably, he didn't help her escape).

I love Kenshin and adore Sanosuke (crumpeteer is right, he totally likes Megumi and can talk her out of her dramatics, yay) but neither compares for the mad crush I have on Aoshi. Woe. Especially since he asked Kenshin to kill him or he will come after him. And Kenshin didn't, so it means he will come after him. No! I don't want him to die and I have grave fears. On the plus side, I'll see him again as he is a recurring character. Ahhh, the pangs of falling for a non-lead.

Here is a webpage that gives the character history (I didn't read the summary and just looked at the stats as it has the dreaded SPOILERS).







In other news, I am fighting an urge to write a Fushigi Yuugi fanfic. I have no shame.

So far, looking at my anime crushes, I have Allen Shezar from Escaflowne, Vash from Trigun, Tamahome from Fushigi Yuugi and now Aoshi from Rurouni Kenshin (I adore Doumyouji frim Hana Yori Dango, but no crush because...just. I don't know, but I don't think it's a crush kind of adoration). They don't have much in common except for angst, superb fighting skills and awesome hair. Hmmmm.

RK itself continues to be an anime I enjoy a lot and find interesting, but that is so far (12-13 eps in) is luckily not causing life-disrupting obsession.

Comments

[antiqueskies.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the Secondary Character Whores Club. We'll treat ya well.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Heeee. It's a huge rarity for me to fall for a secondary character. 99% of the time I latch on to mains. I mean, if you look at my other anime crushes, Vash is the protagonist, Tamahome the main male character, and Allen is one of two main male characters, IMO. I almost never ever prefer secondary characters to leads. Weird :)

[antiqueskies.livejournal.com]

I have this obsession with secondary characters. They're always so mysterious because the show never spends the time fleshing them out. Very intriguing, as I like people puzzles. Hee.
Though I do occassionally fall for one of the main characters (e.g. House from House or Sydney from Alias), but it's pretty rare. /shrugs/

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am usually the other way around. I always fall for mains. Just more to watch/read about, more info. I have a short attention span. I can count secondaries I fell for on the fingers of one hand. But I guess, Aoshi is just that cool :)

[antiqueskies.livejournal.com]

I like not having all the info, because then there's always a ton of fic to read/a ton to write. If you don't have all the info, you can make shit up and no one can tell you it's wrong. That's always fun.

Good for Aoshi! Heh.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I like him, he looks very cool. Has got Jon Show's looks..

Secondary characters - **sighs**

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I really must read GRRM one of these days...

Btw, did you find Trigun?

[katranna.livejournal.com]

Be happy; he's gonna stick around. :-)

Aoshi is stock-type handsome and cool, which is not a bad thing. The creator of the Kenshin manga said that he usually drew stories with tall, dark, manly, handsome, brooding quiet heroes--ie, your type :-P --but he wanted to do something different with Kenshin. So he made him a short, cheerful (mostly), feminine type of guy. But then when he had to make secondary characters, he went back to his old mold, and his old mold happens to be hot.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Wooo, more Aoshi.

tall, dark, manly, handsome, brooding quiet heroes--ie, your type :-P

I guess I have a het radar? :P Now that I think about it, in FY Tamahome is the hettest of the bunch (not that it's a word, but when has that stopped me?) I mean, Hotohori is also pretty unequivocally straight, but I don't think Tamahome has ever been mistaken for a woman :)

And of course, clearly need angst, and present, functioning one (forbidden love will do too). Kenshin doesn't seem to angst too much daily (which is fine) but it makes me think of Vash in Trigun who I loved as a character but didn't fall for, crush-vise until I saw glimpses of severe angst. And I thought Aoshi had a cool character design but that was about it until he gave Megumi the knife.

And of course, in RL that would make all these people horrid dates. But hey, ut's fiction :)

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

Aoshi is actually my favorite from RK. Sano comes a close second. THere's another character later on that is introducsed that I also adore. I love Aoshi's double kodachi fighting style. It's the only time I've seen that style used in anime and it's all Legolas like and hot. Aoshi really has more of the old school samurai mentality compared to the other characters, which is why he struggles so much in the new era. You'd think one as young as he is would be able to adapt, but it seems harder for him than a lot of the older guys, probably because he was trained as a samurai leader all his life. And also, for as taciturn as he can be, he's a really good guy.

So you've basically picked up a crush an anime. That's always how it's worked for me. I latch on to a certian character and root for them throughout the series. And I'll say this about Aoshi's longevity. You don't really have to worry because he can take care of himself.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I love Aoshi's double kodachi fighting style. It's the only time I've seen that style used in anime and it's all Legolas like and hot.

Oh yes. *fangirls like mad* Hmmm, in RL it would be a bad thing to pick men to like basd on how good they are with weapons (not a useful skill unless you are a hunter in the wilds of Montana or similar) but in fiction...

it seems harder for him than a lot of the older guys, probably because he was trained as a samurai leader all his life.

I got the sense that he is a lot more of aderence to the code and the fact that he can't do what he is supposed to in this new modern world, can't have, not really, the role he's been trained to assume, is making him VERY unhappy. Of course, he also had those retainers he had to take care of. And I think this was the precise moment I fell for him, when they told Kenshin that they are loyal to Aoshi but he is loyal to them and that he refused work because they couldn't adjust (though I'd imagine it would be hard for him to adjust, by himself. Not impossible, of course). And Aoshi goes "I've trained you." It's just that sense of responsibility that is just...attractive. really really attractive.

I guess I like them (at least in RK) silent, loyal and angsty.

You don't really have to worry because he can take care of himself.

Yessssssssssss!

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

And you might like this album of Aoshi pretties.

http://www.animegalleries.net/album/196

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh! Oooooh! *hyperventilates, but happily*

[wasabi-girl1.livejournal.com]

Yay for secondary characters!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Heee. I am usually SUCH a main character girl, too :)