More Mirage of Blaze rantage
Dec. 26th, 2004 10:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petroniaBecause I really should order my complaints, I mean my thoughts on the series, properly instead of posting ominous adumbrations. For that matter, I really should make more use of these here lj cuts.
Volume 8 and Kuwabara's back to her old self, fangirling over new Shinkansen lines (!?), wh0ring after tsutsuga plushies and exhorting her readers to behave when they attend historical reenactments (one can imagine the scene, can't one). Also not to develop alcohol poisoning as is silly way to die. Ha! If you really want to help, lady, try writing books that don't drive your fans to drink. I would be losing patience with her characters but instead I'm lowering my expectations of decent behaviour from fictitious humanity at large.
One of the problems (as opposed to the problem, it's nowhere as easily reducible as that) with Naoe and Takaya is that at this point in the story they're essentially recriminating at cross-purposes: Takaya is fighting a battle but Naoe is fighting a war. Insofar as Takaya is concerned... he's seventeen, from a broken home, emotionally volatile and defensive, untrusting, and possessed of a certain adolescent disdain for adult forms of misbehaviour including the sexual. It's fairly obvious to me that he's in love with Naoe, actually, but Takaya himself doesn't have so much as a basis of comparison against which to identify his own feelings. All he knows is that he's more torn up about the possibility of losing Naoe than he's been about anyone since his mother walked out on him, which may possibly have something to do with the fact that Naoe's the first adult he's fully trusted since said maternal abandonment. >_< As for Naoe, he's perfectly aware of all of the above and takes advantage. Much as Takaya's accusations ("you're just using me as a substitute for Kagetora") and jealousy of his former self make me roll my eyes - not least because he naturally accepts Kagetora's memories as his own as they come back to him piecemeal, even at their most painful - he's certainly right about one thing: Naoe uses him as an outlet for centuries' worth of acrimony, because he can say things in front of Takaya that he never had the sheer guts to say in front of Kagetora. It's not that his seduction techniques need work. It's that he's intentionally not employing them. When he... suggests... Takaya go to bed with him it's worded and meant as an affront. He knows he's going to get a "no" - although to be precise what he gets is wide-eyed underage virgin trauma instead of the slap in the face he roundly deserves - because he gives Takaya no self-respecting way to say "yes". Upon which the "no" gets added to the ever-expanding two-way rap sheet between him and Kagetora: fine, if you withhold from me, I'll withhold from you. You want comfort, understanding, emotional support, physical presence, you're not going to get it. It works because both Naoe and Kagetora are acutely aware of what they mean to each other, what they need from each other, what they're capable of giving but don't. It's cutting off one's nose to spite one's face. The behaviour's (il)logical endpoint is committing suicide to make the other person feel one's loss.
That being said it's not a question of Naoe needing to learn to see Takaya "for himself", because Takaya and Kagetora really are the same person. Takaya is Kagetora with 400 years of life experience taken off; Kagetora is Takaya with far greater self-control. In the series you get Kagetora as viewed through the eyes of others, both past and present, and you get Kagetora from his own POV as Takaya recovers his memories. From the outside the difference between the two is startling; from the inside the difference is... nonexistent. ^^; The-person-we-come-to-know-as-Takaya is the vulnerability at Kagetora's core, and no, it's not that Naoe doesn't know it. He's just getting his kicks in ahead of time, though as with any other arms race it's debatable whether Takaya would've kicked him back as hard otherwise, once he gained conscious control on his emotional arsenal vis a vis Naoe. Other than calling it bad faith I have to call it shooting oneself in the foot, because while there may be a certain fleeting satisfaction to making one's boss cry, that sort of thing doesn't do one any favours come Christmas bonus time (whereas if he'd just kept going on that bloomin' motorboat while Takaya was feeling grateful ARRRGH don't get me started). And just how difficult a concept is that, anyway?
(He does. Make Takaya cry, that is, and then ask him "are you crying because you pity yourself or because you're condescending to pity me?" Most of this stuff is cut from the anime. I'm rather glad for it, even if it does distort the picture in Naoe's favour, because I'd feel sorry for Hayami-san otherwise. ^^; I really should give up feeling sorry for seiyuu but sometimes...)
I know it sounds like I'm heaping abuse on Naoe's head (sounds like???) but when push comes to shove I must like him, because it's impossible to get this far into the series without liking Naoe on some level. =_= Saiai no anata e was, essentially, the call for casual fans of the series to get off the bus in an orderly fashion. For that matter, if you're not into m/m, get off the bus. If you're just interested in the history geekage, get off the bus. If you thought this was going to be a cute gakuenmono Touya/Yukito-like thing between Takaya and Yuzuru (oh, you laugh like that's not one out of two people who start the series sans foreknowledge IME), get off the bus. If you plain can't stomach the angst, get off the bus. Remain only... the Asaoka Maikos of the world, basically. Ganbatte, Maiko! Preach it! You're such a pinpoint-effective readerly insertion it's hard not to cheer you on!
***
I've never really been able to dislike Ujimasa. Possibly because his cold-blooded espresso-drinking ways remind me a bit of Brad Crawford. Though the real key to the character is, as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sesame_seed put it, that he's a sort of Michael Corleone equivalent ("You break my heart, Saburou"). He's the head of the Family, and the Family is All. If you're born into the Family, you don't work against it. The strength of the Hojo is that they don't engage in the sort of murderous internecine suspicion that dogs noble clans in medieval Japan and elsewhere. They're all in this together. If that means any one of them may be sacrificed at any time for the good of the rest, then that one should be willing. Saburou did indeed go as a willing sacrifice to the Uesugi, although it's probably closer to the truth to say that he went charged with the mission of conquering Echigo from the inside; Ujimasa simply doesn't understand why Kagetora should feel any differently now, because by definition he has no grasp on the fact that 400 years have passed and ancient history can and should be buried. It doesn't mean he doesn't construe sticking his little brother in a tree and setting it on fire as a sacrifice. When he speaks of Kagetora it's with pride in his ability and spiritual power. He also tells their great-uncle that if Saburou needs someone to hate, better he take the brunt than anyone else.
Thus it's fitting that my guess turned out to be right, and the Hojo did indeed take over the local yakuza. XD They own a hotel chain as a front! ...Once I ran across a J-fic in which all the characters get tired of fighting and go back to their day jobs. I think Ikkoushuu ended up as a nihonjinron lecturer or something.
Of course, with Ujimasa, there's also that bit at the end where he as good as calls Kagetora a slut. ^^; I think the slur's mostly lost on him at that point, apart from the sideways impugning of Kenshin's honour... Oddly, given the circumstances leading up to that scene, what it makes me suspect is that Ujimasa was the one to "disappear" Saburou's rapists, rather than Ujiteru, say. Certainly it would mean he knew about it. Like Gohatto, it serves as a reminder that the original mythos of the "bishounen" was tragic: like the femme fatale, the bishounen destroys men and is destroyed in his turn. Which in itself is a reminder that most of the characters in Mirage of Blaze don't so much as blink at the ghei, not because it's convenient for the author, but because they really wouldn't have. What bothers them is the gekokujou aspect.
Volume 8 and Kuwabara's back to her old self, fangirling over new Shinkansen lines (!?), wh0ring after tsutsuga plushies and exhorting her readers to behave when they attend historical reenactments (one can imagine the scene, can't one). Also not to develop alcohol poisoning as is silly way to die. Ha! If you really want to help, lady, try writing books that don't drive your fans to drink. I would be losing patience with her characters but instead I'm lowering my expectations of decent behaviour from fictitious humanity at large.
One of the problems (as opposed to the problem, it's nowhere as easily reducible as that) with Naoe and Takaya is that at this point in the story they're essentially recriminating at cross-purposes: Takaya is fighting a battle but Naoe is fighting a war. Insofar as Takaya is concerned... he's seventeen, from a broken home, emotionally volatile and defensive, untrusting, and possessed of a certain adolescent disdain for adult forms of misbehaviour including the sexual. It's fairly obvious to me that he's in love with Naoe, actually, but Takaya himself doesn't have so much as a basis of comparison against which to identify his own feelings. All he knows is that he's more torn up about the possibility of losing Naoe than he's been about anyone since his mother walked out on him, which may possibly have something to do with the fact that Naoe's the first adult he's fully trusted since said maternal abandonment. >_< As for Naoe, he's perfectly aware of all of the above and takes advantage. Much as Takaya's accusations ("you're just using me as a substitute for Kagetora") and jealousy of his former self make me roll my eyes - not least because he naturally accepts Kagetora's memories as his own as they come back to him piecemeal, even at their most painful - he's certainly right about one thing: Naoe uses him as an outlet for centuries' worth of acrimony, because he can say things in front of Takaya that he never had the sheer guts to say in front of Kagetora. It's not that his seduction techniques need work. It's that he's intentionally not employing them. When he... suggests... Takaya go to bed with him it's worded and meant as an affront. He knows he's going to get a "no" - although to be precise what he gets is wide-eyed underage virgin trauma instead of the slap in the face he roundly deserves - because he gives Takaya no self-respecting way to say "yes". Upon which the "no" gets added to the ever-expanding two-way rap sheet between him and Kagetora: fine, if you withhold from me, I'll withhold from you. You want comfort, understanding, emotional support, physical presence, you're not going to get it. It works because both Naoe and Kagetora are acutely aware of what they mean to each other, what they need from each other, what they're capable of giving but don't. It's cutting off one's nose to spite one's face. The behaviour's (il)logical endpoint is committing suicide to make the other person feel one's loss.
That being said it's not a question of Naoe needing to learn to see Takaya "for himself", because Takaya and Kagetora really are the same person. Takaya is Kagetora with 400 years of life experience taken off; Kagetora is Takaya with far greater self-control. In the series you get Kagetora as viewed through the eyes of others, both past and present, and you get Kagetora from his own POV as Takaya recovers his memories. From the outside the difference between the two is startling; from the inside the difference is... nonexistent. ^^; The-person-we-come-to-know-as-Takaya is the vulnerability at Kagetora's core, and no, it's not that Naoe doesn't know it. He's just getting his kicks in ahead of time, though as with any other arms race it's debatable whether Takaya would've kicked him back as hard otherwise, once he gained conscious control on his emotional arsenal vis a vis Naoe. Other than calling it bad faith I have to call it shooting oneself in the foot, because while there may be a certain fleeting satisfaction to making one's boss cry, that sort of thing doesn't do one any favours come Christmas bonus time (whereas if he'd just kept going on that bloomin' motorboat while Takaya was feeling grateful ARRRGH don't get me started). And just how difficult a concept is that, anyway?
(He does. Make Takaya cry, that is, and then ask him "are you crying because you pity yourself or because you're condescending to pity me?" Most of this stuff is cut from the anime. I'm rather glad for it, even if it does distort the picture in Naoe's favour, because I'd feel sorry for Hayami-san otherwise. ^^; I really should give up feeling sorry for seiyuu but sometimes...)
I know it sounds like I'm heaping abuse on Naoe's head (sounds like???) but when push comes to shove I must like him, because it's impossible to get this far into the series without liking Naoe on some level. =_= Saiai no anata e was, essentially, the call for casual fans of the series to get off the bus in an orderly fashion. For that matter, if you're not into m/m, get off the bus. If you're just interested in the history geekage, get off the bus. If you thought this was going to be a cute gakuenmono Touya/Yukito-like thing between Takaya and Yuzuru (oh, you laugh like that's not one out of two people who start the series sans foreknowledge IME), get off the bus. If you plain can't stomach the angst, get off the bus. Remain only... the Asaoka Maikos of the world, basically. Ganbatte, Maiko! Preach it! You're such a pinpoint-effective readerly insertion it's hard not to cheer you on!
***
I've never really been able to dislike Ujimasa. Possibly because his cold-blooded espresso-drinking ways remind me a bit of Brad Crawford. Though the real key to the character is, as
sesame_seed put it, that he's a sort of Michael Corleone equivalent ("You break my heart, Saburou"). He's the head of the Family, and the Family is All. If you're born into the Family, you don't work against it. The strength of the Hojo is that they don't engage in the sort of murderous internecine suspicion that dogs noble clans in medieval Japan and elsewhere. They're all in this together. If that means any one of them may be sacrificed at any time for the good of the rest, then that one should be willing. Saburou did indeed go as a willing sacrifice to the Uesugi, although it's probably closer to the truth to say that he went charged with the mission of conquering Echigo from the inside; Ujimasa simply doesn't understand why Kagetora should feel any differently now, because by definition he has no grasp on the fact that 400 years have passed and ancient history can and should be buried. It doesn't mean he doesn't construe sticking his little brother in a tree and setting it on fire as a sacrifice. When he speaks of Kagetora it's with pride in his ability and spiritual power. He also tells their great-uncle that if Saburou needs someone to hate, better he take the brunt than anyone else.Thus it's fitting that my guess turned out to be right, and the Hojo did indeed take over the local yakuza. XD They own a hotel chain as a front! ...Once I ran across a J-fic in which all the characters get tired of fighting and go back to their day jobs. I think Ikkoushuu ended up as a nihonjinron lecturer or something.
Of course, with Ujimasa, there's also that bit at the end where he as good as calls Kagetora a slut. ^^; I think the slur's mostly lost on him at that point, apart from the sideways impugning of Kenshin's honour... Oddly, given the circumstances leading up to that scene, what it makes me suspect is that Ujimasa was the one to "disappear" Saburou's rapists, rather than Ujiteru, say. Certainly it would mean he knew about it. Like Gohatto, it serves as a reminder that the original mythos of the "bishounen" was tragic: like the femme fatale, the bishounen destroys men and is destroyed in his turn. Which in itself is a reminder that most of the characters in Mirage of Blaze don't so much as blink at the ghei, not because it's convenient for the author, but because they really wouldn't have. What bothers them is the gekokujou aspect.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-12-27 04:12 am (UTC)lol, Kagetora's still a jerk, but wow, poor Takaya. What do you say to that? (Actually, what did he say to that? XD;;)
no subject
Date: 2004-12-27 04:22 am (UTC)(Please explain to me why I'm still reading this thing. XD;;)
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Date: 2004-12-27 05:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-28 04:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-27 08:22 am (UTC)I couldn't hate Ujimasa either. He's not doing anything out of spite, after all.
In any case, thank for the fun analysis of those two. The two need a couple of slaps on the head, but of course what they get is GREAT TRAGEDY before they can come to their senses. ^_~
no subject
Date: 2004-12-28 04:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-28 08:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-27 03:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-28 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-27 11:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-28 03:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-27 06:16 pm (UTC)I am the impatient type. X.D
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Date: 2004-12-28 04:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-02 05:22 pm (UTC)I am amused.
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Date: 2005-03-06 03:31 am (UTC)