Kenshin: and now with pirates!
Mar. 12th, 2006 01:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieMy DVDs with good subtitles finally got here. Yay. Much as it was fun to see characters say 'fuck' in subtitles and to refer to rice as 'ice' it's nice to have good, legible subtitles, not to mention subtitles that translate everything, not just half the dialogue. OTOH, the fact that they have Kenshin finish each sentence with a weird "that is does" or 'this is is' or whatever took some getting used to. I know they are trying to convey his formal, old-fashioned way of speaking, but that just comes across as if he has word quota he needs to fill or a speech impediment.
I have also decided that Kenshin is both my favorite character and my primary crush on RK. Not that it means my Aoshi or Sano love has abated, it's just Kenshin gets cooler and cooler, the more you see of him. I loved him following Sano and fighting him when Sano almost went back to avenge the Sekhoutai (sp). Sano is still not free of his traumatic past (understandably so) but Kenshin stops him from being trapped in it forever. That fight is heart-breaking, because Kenshin and Sano really do love each other (though not in a Brokeback way) but it does result in Sano being 'saved.' I also loved Sano throwing a party before he left, as he thought forever. And drunk Kaoru, trying to express her feelings about Kenshin, is adorable.
But the real cool bit and what really made me fall hard for Kenshi is the ep where Kenshin, Sano and Yahiko all signing up as guards on a ship against pirates because they need money because otherwise Kaoru is the only one who works and they find out that Kaoru signed up as well because she wants money to feed them. So adorable. And then Kaoru comes out at night on deck to find Kenshin standing there, not sleeping and they have this conversation where he says he wishes he knew she was going to sign up because then he would have done anything to stop her and she tells him she is safe with him and won't get in the way and she knows how to fight and she is blushing. It's beyond cute.
And then the pirates attack and there is a huge fight and Kenshin wants Kaoru to go below but she stays by his side and they both fight side by side but the pirates are really good and so she ends up wounded and so she is standing behind his back and he is protecting her and she tells him she is sorry to get in the way and he is all intense and fierce and it's totally HOT (I don't care they are animated, I just don't). And he gets shot with a poison dart and he still manages to fight and beat the pirate leader (who is deeply annoying btw). So the pirates rob and leave but they manage to grab Kaoru with them so Kenshin, who is totally fainting-level wounded (eeeee, love people who fight and then as soon as they don't have to, collapse. Yay for adrenaline), jumps on board after them and begs the pirate leader chick to let Kaoru go and offers his life in exchange. And they take him on his offer and then later after he's kinda recovered, the pirate chickie wants him to fight her for real (because she can't bear to lose and she knows he didn't kill her on purpose) and he tells her he won't because she saved Kaoru's life so he gave his up to her in exchange. And she takes her sword and strikes out, millimiters from his face and he doesn't flinch. And why am I recounting everything in the freaking eps anyway?
I love that Kaoru isn't a damsel in distress though. She is freaking out about Kenshin (she won't eat because she is all 'I bet Kenshin doesn't have anything to eat either') but despite her worries, she and Sano and Yahiko mount an effective rescue party. Yay.
I do find Kenshin's utter openness and resignation (and it's not bitter but rather peaceful) to death both in character and very upsetting. He shouldn't be all "I find it a little disappointing that the last moon I see isn't a full moon." I know he's had to be like that, or he couldn't have lived the life he lived and it's something he's enforced strictly in himself on purpose, as he is very disciplined, but it's very very sad.
I have also decided that Kenshin is both my favorite character and my primary crush on RK. Not that it means my Aoshi or Sano love has abated, it's just Kenshin gets cooler and cooler, the more you see of him. I loved him following Sano and fighting him when Sano almost went back to avenge the Sekhoutai (sp). Sano is still not free of his traumatic past (understandably so) but Kenshin stops him from being trapped in it forever. That fight is heart-breaking, because Kenshin and Sano really do love each other (though not in a Brokeback way) but it does result in Sano being 'saved.' I also loved Sano throwing a party before he left, as he thought forever. And drunk Kaoru, trying to express her feelings about Kenshin, is adorable.
But the real cool bit and what really made me fall hard for Kenshi is the ep where Kenshin, Sano and Yahiko all signing up as guards on a ship against pirates because they need money because otherwise Kaoru is the only one who works and they find out that Kaoru signed up as well because she wants money to feed them. So adorable. And then Kaoru comes out at night on deck to find Kenshin standing there, not sleeping and they have this conversation where he says he wishes he knew she was going to sign up because then he would have done anything to stop her and she tells him she is safe with him and won't get in the way and she knows how to fight and she is blushing. It's beyond cute.
And then the pirates attack and there is a huge fight and Kenshin wants Kaoru to go below but she stays by his side and they both fight side by side but the pirates are really good and so she ends up wounded and so she is standing behind his back and he is protecting her and she tells him she is sorry to get in the way and he is all intense and fierce and it's totally HOT (I don't care they are animated, I just don't). And he gets shot with a poison dart and he still manages to fight and beat the pirate leader (who is deeply annoying btw). So the pirates rob and leave but they manage to grab Kaoru with them so Kenshin, who is totally fainting-level wounded (eeeee, love people who fight and then as soon as they don't have to, collapse. Yay for adrenaline), jumps on board after them and begs the pirate leader chick to let Kaoru go and offers his life in exchange. And they take him on his offer and then later after he's kinda recovered, the pirate chickie wants him to fight her for real (because she can't bear to lose and she knows he didn't kill her on purpose) and he tells her he won't because she saved Kaoru's life so he gave his up to her in exchange. And she takes her sword and strikes out, millimiters from his face and he doesn't flinch. And why am I recounting everything in the freaking eps anyway?
I love that Kaoru isn't a damsel in distress though. She is freaking out about Kenshin (she won't eat because she is all 'I bet Kenshin doesn't have anything to eat either') but despite her worries, she and Sano and Yahiko mount an effective rescue party. Yay.
I do find Kenshin's utter openness and resignation (and it's not bitter but rather peaceful) to death both in character and very upsetting. He shouldn't be all "I find it a little disappointing that the last moon I see isn't a full moon." I know he's had to be like that, or he couldn't have lived the life he lived and it's something he's enforced strictly in himself on purpose, as he is very disciplined, but it's very very sad.
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-12 03:19 pm (UTC)And I love how even if the OTP is understated, anime generally has ones that are just lovely to watch. It's not like tv shows where you wonder why two characters would ever even like each other much less be in a relationship. Anime has a general understanding of relationships and how people work in them in general. Even relationships as odd as Aoshi/Misao and Sesshomaru/Rin conceivably work because of the specific characters involved and their specific circumstances.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-12 04:30 pm (UTC)And I love how even if the OTP is understated, anime generally has ones that are just lovely to watch
Oh yes, so true. I just love how anime approaches romance. It's not an endless (and tiring) tug of 'will they/won't they" that many shows love to engage in. It's clear Kenshin and Kaoru like each other, and we know they do and they know they do and there is no need for "mysterious" aka boring external obstacles (there is enough to deal with in their intrinsic natures) nor is there a need to spend every ep coyly dancing around the issue.
I thought one of the loveliest scenes in RK was when during their conversation before the pirate attack, when Kaoru was talking to Kenshin, she put her hand on his and it was rather a big deal, you could tell (I like the strong emotion/not much outward showing combos). And it wasn't made a big moment of or anything in the ep. Part of the story and important, but there isn't emotional manipulation so many shows love.
It's not like tv shows where you wonder why two characters would ever even like each other much less be in a relationship
Oh yes, with the exception of "Marmalade Boy" (yuck), every ship I'd seen, made sense. I might not share the attraction (e.g. Rui/Shizuka in HYD. Both are really not my thing) but I can see why they work for each other. Anime spends enough time on developing them and showing interactions that I buy the attraction.
He's unflinchingly noble and self sacrificing without being either an idealist or unmasculine. For sheer, sexy badass quality, he has all the other boys beat on the show.
It's funny because I started out liking Kenshin well enough, from the first ep, but I didn't love him and didn't find him super interesting either. Basically, he was a nice enough character to watch enjoyably. But the more the show went on, the more I fell for him and now he is by far my favorite and you can definitely see more and more how complex (and screwed up and noble and blah blah blah, I should stop fangirling) he is.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-12 07:40 pm (UTC)And if there is some of that, there's a reason behind it. Inuyasha and Kagome are in heavy denial that they have any feelings for each other, but that's understandable, especially on Inuyasha's end since Kagome looks exactly like the woman he was formerly in love with who he thinks betrayed him. Sano and Megumi have issues because they've been burned in relationships so many times. For the couples who do the dance of not getting together throughout a series, there's always a valid reason, generally having to do with the baggage someone has. It's not a bunch of "external issues lead to many misunderstandings while the couple adamantly deny they have any interest in each other".
I can see why they work for each other.
This is no truer than in Gundam Wing where Heero and Relena, a character I loathe with every sense of decency I have, actually sort of work because they're both sort of crazy off their butts.
more and more how complex (and screwed up and noble
Which is why I'd be more inclined to actually choose Sano or even Aoshi as a more suitable mate simply because even though they have serious baggage, it isn't so complex.