Thoughts on the last Ayashi No Ceres eps
Feb. 24th, 2006 11:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieOK, here is my thoughts on the final batch of Ayashi No Ceres episodes. It’s a pity about the ending because up until the last two minutes or so I was all excited and thinking “grim but good, definitely rewatch.”
So, Toya is definitely not human. He’s created by the robe to protect/return it to its owner (Ceres). He is actually kinda like a sexy violent Jesus, down to the immaculate conception. Aya and Toya’s child is going to be genetically really interesting. And his weird name makes sense now too, since he grew up in 10 days. And he was found by that fisherman and lived in isolation seeing no other people until he saw Aya when she was a child, 10 years ago, and she gave him a seashell and he wanted to leave the island to find her (because he was lonely) and did so after the old man died, even though he was warned about the human world. And it’s his dropping the shell and bending to pick it up on the highway (yup, definitely an otherworldly being) that resulted in his accident/amnesia. And it would explain why the only two things he remembered were “Toya” and “Mikage.” And he tells her that and she runs into his arms and I melt. Or I would if it wasn’t for the ending. Which I HATE.
I do love that when he left, earlier, he left her his knife to protect her and she wears it under her clothes (how does she sit down) and it protects her from evil Progenitor’s attempted rape. He is a useful boyfriend (a random comment, but I love the realistic progression of Toya’s wounds: bandages don’t disappear overnight, but get progressively smaller and last a long time). Others give their girls jewelry, he gives her a glowy magic knife (Also, Progenitor, shut up. I know you “want your woman.” Now shut about it for two seconds). And I love Toya hijacking the helicopter that was sent after him and crashing the facility and getting Aya out and taking her to this little fishing hut (I guess he is hot and deadly but not possessed of great amounts of cash) and just holding her in his arms all night, willing for her to wake up, and angsting. And I love it when she does, when the sun rises. I think they are so earnest and desperate in their love and hope for each other, because neither of them has anyone or anything else. Outside of each other, it’s desolation. By the way, have I mentioned the ending? Because HATE.
And I love when they decide to live together. Of course, I am rather amused about there not being a sex scene: they start kissing horizontally on the bed and the camera cuts away to a very Bollywoodish montage of ocean and falling snow. I am fine with it, but they had a sex scene in the freaking credits, so the sudden reticence seems kinda bizarre.
I do love it when they have their months of happiness: little things like their toothbrushes in the same cup, or the fact that she comes home and cooks. And then she worries he is depressed (because he remembered something) and worries, worries (and I want to ask: “he’s depressed? How can you tell?” :P) and then she faints (I guess early pregnancy signs?) and he is so worried that he made her worry and he asks her “how can I make you happy? I’ll do anything” and she replies (paraphrase) “Call out a greeting when you come home. Eat my cooking and tell me it’s good. Let me see your sleeping face next to me when I wake up. Or if you wake up first, call my name and I will wake up too. Or even be like now, when I can see my reflection in your eyes. It’s everyday moments that I love” and then she adds that no matter who he is or what he remembers, she will always love him. I melt and he holds her tightly. Oh, and you know that ending I keep talking about? Yup, still HATE.
And then of course we get to Yuuhi and Toya teaming up to rescue Chinari and her little brother. And Chinari dies taking the bullet meant for Yuuhi and it’s so freaking depressing as he carries her as she is dying and then he just howls. And Toya (who went after the little brother) sees Progenitor hold a gun to the kid’s head so he tells him to let the kid go and he’ll turn himself in. And basically the Progenitor (whose hatred for Toya is irrational) gets a gun and just starts shooting at him, not to kill, but to maim and cause pain: bullets in the shoulders, arms, legs. And Toya keeps asking him, even as he is being shot, to return the robe to Ceres or Ceres (and Aya) will die and finally the Progenitor is so freaked out by it, he goes “I was going to keep you as bait for Aya but if you are so eager to die” and shoots him right between the eyes. And Aki inside is horrified, even though he is so far gone, that the Aki’s body is crying because Toya was a friend. And I bawl. I love that Aya (when evil cousin gives her Toya’s cross choker) keeps wearing it constantly from then on, even though she becomes non-resistant and rather catatonic. I love the shots of their life together that she sees in the apartment afterwards. It’s so bleak at that point in the show. It’s interesting how Toya, as he regains his memory and finds love, gradually reverts to his former, unworldly, very nice self. This is really depressing. But not as bad as the ending. Which I HATE.
And I love when he comes back, wings and all, because he is created by the robe and is regenerated. And looks HOT. And he finds Aya and they are in a Church with a big cross (subtle symbolism? What’s that?) and she tells him about being pregnant with his child and he is so ecstatic because he always wanted a family, to belong. And he tells her about finding out his true purpose: to return the robe. And she is flipping because if he returns it he will die and he says he wants to save her and he wants to be a normal human. And then the Progenitor interrupts and there is a mother of all fights. Btw, Progenitor, I know you are evil and can take care of yourself, but just a hint: don’t tell a guy you are fighting and who is already really good, that you are going to kill the love of his life and his unborn child. That will make him fight harder. Not too encumbered by brains, are you?
And of course, Progenitor is defeated by Ceres and Aki coming out. Yay. And the Kool-Aid girls (aka Ceres wannabes) all die. I would be all chirpy, except the ENDING pissed me OFF.
Oh, evil Mikage cousin was abused as a child? I so don’t care. Hate, hate, hate him.
The one thing that I loved and didn’t make me spit nails even after the ending was the Ceres-Mikagi story, because it was so much more complex than the initial ‘stole her robe, raped her, she killed him’ thing we were presented with initially. He saw her bathing and gave her the robe she left and she, even though she was basically looking for sperm donor (they never explain who or what these celestial beings are, do they?) fell in love with him for his kindness and gentleness and they lived happily for years. And then his village was attacked and family killed and she saved him by using her power. And he felt so ashamed he couldn’t protect her so she gave him some of her power (which wasn’t natural and zen blah blah) and he changed from then on and became aggressive and cruel and more and more obsessed with anyone coming between them and he took her robe and threw it in the ocean because he thought it would take her away (even though she needs it to live) and he hit their child and he marital raped her and she killed him. Bt the whole thing is, there was so much love there at first, and all the horribleness happened as a result of this love being twisted, because even at the end it was dysfunctional and wrong and evil but the underpinning was love, however frelled up. I love the last shot of them, both dead/dying, and his asking if she loved him and she says yes and her asking him if he ever loved her and he tells her that he loved her so much, all the stuff he did arose out of initial desire to protect her and being afraid of losing her. And she just goes “now we’ll go to sleep” and it’s tender and sad and finally, at peace.
But the ending? With Toya and Aya? Hate HATE HATE. But already ranted about that. In MY world, they live happily ever after. Forever.
So, Toya is definitely not human. He’s created by the robe to protect/return it to its owner (Ceres). He is actually kinda like a sexy violent Jesus, down to the immaculate conception. Aya and Toya’s child is going to be genetically really interesting. And his weird name makes sense now too, since he grew up in 10 days. And he was found by that fisherman and lived in isolation seeing no other people until he saw Aya when she was a child, 10 years ago, and she gave him a seashell and he wanted to leave the island to find her (because he was lonely) and did so after the old man died, even though he was warned about the human world. And it’s his dropping the shell and bending to pick it up on the highway (yup, definitely an otherworldly being) that resulted in his accident/amnesia. And it would explain why the only two things he remembered were “Toya” and “Mikage.” And he tells her that and she runs into his arms and I melt. Or I would if it wasn’t for the ending. Which I HATE.
I do love that when he left, earlier, he left her his knife to protect her and she wears it under her clothes (how does she sit down) and it protects her from evil Progenitor’s attempted rape. He is a useful boyfriend (a random comment, but I love the realistic progression of Toya’s wounds: bandages don’t disappear overnight, but get progressively smaller and last a long time). Others give their girls jewelry, he gives her a glowy magic knife (Also, Progenitor, shut up. I know you “want your woman.” Now shut about it for two seconds). And I love Toya hijacking the helicopter that was sent after him and crashing the facility and getting Aya out and taking her to this little fishing hut (I guess he is hot and deadly but not possessed of great amounts of cash) and just holding her in his arms all night, willing for her to wake up, and angsting. And I love it when she does, when the sun rises. I think they are so earnest and desperate in their love and hope for each other, because neither of them has anyone or anything else. Outside of each other, it’s desolation. By the way, have I mentioned the ending? Because HATE.
And I love when they decide to live together. Of course, I am rather amused about there not being a sex scene: they start kissing horizontally on the bed and the camera cuts away to a very Bollywoodish montage of ocean and falling snow. I am fine with it, but they had a sex scene in the freaking credits, so the sudden reticence seems kinda bizarre.
I do love it when they have their months of happiness: little things like their toothbrushes in the same cup, or the fact that she comes home and cooks. And then she worries he is depressed (because he remembered something) and worries, worries (and I want to ask: “he’s depressed? How can you tell?” :P) and then she faints (I guess early pregnancy signs?) and he is so worried that he made her worry and he asks her “how can I make you happy? I’ll do anything” and she replies (paraphrase) “Call out a greeting when you come home. Eat my cooking and tell me it’s good. Let me see your sleeping face next to me when I wake up. Or if you wake up first, call my name and I will wake up too. Or even be like now, when I can see my reflection in your eyes. It’s everyday moments that I love” and then she adds that no matter who he is or what he remembers, she will always love him. I melt and he holds her tightly. Oh, and you know that ending I keep talking about? Yup, still HATE.
And then of course we get to Yuuhi and Toya teaming up to rescue Chinari and her little brother. And Chinari dies taking the bullet meant for Yuuhi and it’s so freaking depressing as he carries her as she is dying and then he just howls. And Toya (who went after the little brother) sees Progenitor hold a gun to the kid’s head so he tells him to let the kid go and he’ll turn himself in. And basically the Progenitor (whose hatred for Toya is irrational) gets a gun and just starts shooting at him, not to kill, but to maim and cause pain: bullets in the shoulders, arms, legs. And Toya keeps asking him, even as he is being shot, to return the robe to Ceres or Ceres (and Aya) will die and finally the Progenitor is so freaked out by it, he goes “I was going to keep you as bait for Aya but if you are so eager to die” and shoots him right between the eyes. And Aki inside is horrified, even though he is so far gone, that the Aki’s body is crying because Toya was a friend. And I bawl. I love that Aya (when evil cousin gives her Toya’s cross choker) keeps wearing it constantly from then on, even though she becomes non-resistant and rather catatonic. I love the shots of their life together that she sees in the apartment afterwards. It’s so bleak at that point in the show. It’s interesting how Toya, as he regains his memory and finds love, gradually reverts to his former, unworldly, very nice self. This is really depressing. But not as bad as the ending. Which I HATE.
And I love when he comes back, wings and all, because he is created by the robe and is regenerated. And looks HOT. And he finds Aya and they are in a Church with a big cross (subtle symbolism? What’s that?) and she tells him about being pregnant with his child and he is so ecstatic because he always wanted a family, to belong. And he tells her about finding out his true purpose: to return the robe. And she is flipping because if he returns it he will die and he says he wants to save her and he wants to be a normal human. And then the Progenitor interrupts and there is a mother of all fights. Btw, Progenitor, I know you are evil and can take care of yourself, but just a hint: don’t tell a guy you are fighting and who is already really good, that you are going to kill the love of his life and his unborn child. That will make him fight harder. Not too encumbered by brains, are you?
And of course, Progenitor is defeated by Ceres and Aki coming out. Yay. And the Kool-Aid girls (aka Ceres wannabes) all die. I would be all chirpy, except the ENDING pissed me OFF.
Oh, evil Mikage cousin was abused as a child? I so don’t care. Hate, hate, hate him.
The one thing that I loved and didn’t make me spit nails even after the ending was the Ceres-Mikagi story, because it was so much more complex than the initial ‘stole her robe, raped her, she killed him’ thing we were presented with initially. He saw her bathing and gave her the robe she left and she, even though she was basically looking for sperm donor (they never explain who or what these celestial beings are, do they?) fell in love with him for his kindness and gentleness and they lived happily for years. And then his village was attacked and family killed and she saved him by using her power. And he felt so ashamed he couldn’t protect her so she gave him some of her power (which wasn’t natural and zen blah blah) and he changed from then on and became aggressive and cruel and more and more obsessed with anyone coming between them and he took her robe and threw it in the ocean because he thought it would take her away (even though she needs it to live) and he hit their child and he marital raped her and she killed him. Bt the whole thing is, there was so much love there at first, and all the horribleness happened as a result of this love being twisted, because even at the end it was dysfunctional and wrong and evil but the underpinning was love, however frelled up. I love the last shot of them, both dead/dying, and his asking if she loved him and she says yes and her asking him if he ever loved her and he tells her that he loved her so much, all the stuff he did arose out of initial desire to protect her and being afraid of losing her. And she just goes “now we’ll go to sleep” and it’s tender and sad and finally, at peace.
But the ending? With Toya and Aya? Hate HATE HATE. But already ranted about that. In MY world, they live happily ever after. Forever.
