Ranting on Godchild
I apologize if this isn't allowed, but I think this needs to come to the attention of Godchild fans, even if they've noticed it already.
All right, I've gotta say that I've had just about enough of people in this world SCREWING up the Count Cain/Godchild fandom. I have sat by long enough and it's been bottled up inside me. Now I just need to rant it. Cause dammit, I AM PISSED. I love the fandom to death and don't know how many times I've seen people do small things to completely screw it up! Major spoilers if you haven't read past book two.
Issue #1: Jezebel’s Name
This goes to VIZ. We all know that according to Kaori Yuki, Jezebel’s name is spelled J-E-Z-E-B-E-L. But VIZ spells this wonderful character’s name J-I-Z-A-B-E-L. Why is this? Well, there are two possibilities.
Possibility One: VIZ sucks and screws up practically everything we know and love
Possibility Two: VIZ took the whole “Cain and Abel” story seriously and wanted to spell Jezebel’s name that way so it would have “Abel” in it in hopes of giving it more meaning.
To be honest, I would think the latter is more likely, because since VIZ spells it “Jizabel”, it would thus have “Abel” in it and have some attachment to the Cain and Abel story. However, this would mean we would pronounce Jezebel’s name “Jiz-ay-bull”. Does that sound remotely good to you? Someone help me out here!
Issue #2: Usage of Japanese.
Erm.. HELLO! The characters are in ENGLAND and know about as much Japanese as a newborn klabberwackquack! SERIOUSLY. I don't know HOW many fics I've come across where Merryweather refers to Cain as "nii-sama" or "nii-san" and Riff refers to Cain as “Cain-sama”. How do ANY of the characters, especially Merryweather, know Japanese? I don’t recall them every becoming educated in Japanese, does anyone else? True, Merryweather may have grown up in the slums before Cain came along, but seriously! HOW would Merryweather (of all people, too) know Japanese? That's just it. She doesn't! Same goes for Cain, Riff, and just about every character in the series! Some characters, like Ida for example, might be able to speak another language, but how likely is it Japanese? As far as I'm concerned, she knows Arabic or Turkish! Those seems more likely, don't they? I understand the series comes from Japan, but the story itself takes place n England!
Issue #3: Translation
Ok, again, this goes to VIZ, who translated the series. It concerns book four. I don’t know if many of you noticed, but do you remember book four with the “Bloody Maria” case? I’ve noticed VIZ took out half a page of Kaori Yuki’s art and covered up the portrait with the woman strangling the child. I can understand how that would be ideologically sensitive material, but then WHY did they slap a big old “Parental Advisory: EXPLICIT CONENT” sticker right on the cover of the book? CHOOSE ONE OR THE OTHER, VIZ! IT’S COMPLETELY UNFAIR TO US READERS HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. And in case you all have no clue what I’m talking about, take a look:
Original Japanese:
If you can't see them, you can find them here:
One: http://pics.livejournal.com/saphira112/pic/0003rdd5/
Two: http://pics.livejournal.com/saphira112/pic/0003s6ra/
Three: http://pics.livejournal.com/saphira112/pic/0003w4cq
Edited American (sorry the quality sucks; I took it with my camera and didn't wanna bend my books):
If you can't see them, the pics are here:
One: http://pics.livejournal.com/saphira112/pic/0003qs8k/
Two: http://pics.livejournal.com/saphira112/pic/0003pwpw/
Three: http://pics.livejournal.com/saphira112/pic/0003t2wd/
I’m going to be honest here. With the woman strangling the child painting, when I first read Godchild, I had NO IDEA why the painting was “so horrible” in Cain’s eyes and I got REALLY confused. I had to research and look up the original Japanese just to find out! How sad is that? And not only that, I didn’t notice that a picture with Holy Mary and Jesus was missing in the English version because I’d never seen the original Japanese. The fact that I had to go look it up to understand is really kind of sad.
Thanks to Dee ( evrything_burns ) who also caught the Jezebel + thorns vs. Jezebel + no thorns. I know it's a reference to religion and it may be sensitive, but COME ON. VIZ, you're taking away the lovely drama that we all love! It doesn't seem right to take out some of the artwork because then we don't understand the manga to its full extent!
So thanks a lot, VIZ. You’ve made me an unhappy fangirl with your senseless editing. You either edit it out or you slap a mature content label. YOU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. It’s completely unfair! Has anyone else noticed this!? Please say I’m not alone... Personally, I think VIZ is worried about making a few Christians angry, no offense to Christians of course...
Issue #4: Female Bashing
Ok, this is where I really get pissed cause this is one issue I’m totally sick of. People are saying that the story would've been better if there had been no female characters. WRONG! This story needs female characters, at least one, don't you think? Without Ida, for example, Cain may have never figured out the secret behind the fake Tarot card in time and may have lost either his uncle and, not that we care much, but could've lost Alexis as well and therefore cut the story short. That’s only one example. Here’s where it gets heavy.
Many are saying Maryweather distracts from the story. I say that's bullshit. Maryweather is an important character in this series, not only the play as the role of Cain’s little sister, but also his Achilles Heel, as she refers herself to. She is one of Cain’s closest companions with family ties. Cain himself is afraid of loneliness and he needs someone by him or around him at all times. While that may be Riff most of the time, it is nice to break away and have a little sister around to care for, to protect from danger (while that danger might be Oscar *grins*) and have that one character that is just adorable, strong, and can rant to break away from the constant angst!
People are also saying that the Mortician’s Daughter, Marjorie, was a waste of art and a selfish brat. I gotta say, that made me throb a vein. Marjorie, in case no one has noticed, has a definite character personality and has a strong attachment to the Grifford (Coffin Maker; Ace of Swords). The whole story of Mortician’s Daughter on Marjorie’s part is her hope to give her father the right funeral he deserves, despite his suicide so he won’t be alone in the afterlife. While towards the end Marjorie is still fighting to save her father, not caring about herself, she also refuses to leave Grifford alone in the burning morgue. She says (I quote) “I’m staying with you! This place is our coffin... we’ll finally find eternity!” She may have sounded selfish, but it is clear she didn’t want the man to die alone and because he had attempted to grant her wishes, she cared about him, as she says “No matter who you are, Mr. Coffin Maker... You made me so happy when you said you’d grant my wish! That why I’d decided that when everything was finished, I’d die here...!” Again, while sounding selfish, she is still young. Though age really has nothing to do with intelligence, Marjorie still seems a little ignorant to the realities of the world. Grifford died for her and she decided after that to live out her days with her Aunt instead of suicide afterwards. Does that sound selfish to you? Not so much anymore, huh?
Finally, Justice. All right, I admit she grates on my nerves every now and then, but she is definitely important to the plot. While people say everything would’ve happened as it did eventually, I say they’re wrong. Why? Justice was the only one who could’ve unlocked and re-locked Riff’s personalities. SHE was the one who gave him the “fake personality” while he was in Cain’s service and locking away his true, cruel nature. Though the “fake” personality won over his true nature, as his care for Cain had grown over the years, I still stand by that it was Justice who had been pulling the strings under Alexis. Had she not existed, would Riff not gone into Cain’s service? Riff probably would’ve died the day he set fire to the house!
In conclusion? GIVE THE FEMALE CHARACTERS MORE CREDIT! PLEASE!
Issue #5: Cassian’s “Death”
Here’s where I just want to smash a hole in the wall. This takes place in book five; does everyone remember? Cassandra was running at Jezebel with a sword and Cassian jumped in to save Jezebel. I’ve heard people go around and say that death was for nothing and it was just to dramatize things. If ANONE says that right now, I WILL punch you. Cassian loves and cares so much for Jezebel’s life to the point of dying for him. You call that “nothing”?! Cassian was all prepared to die for Jezebel, not knowing the man was going to save him with surgery. And thanks to that, Cassandra (technically) went out of the picture and we didn’t have to see his cruelty anymore.
Based off a conversation I had with ellen_grieves (at least, I think it was with her), we figured out that when Jezebel just stood there waiting to be stabbed, it was more than likely an indirect suicide attempt. He wasn’t trying to get Cassian to protect him or anything. In case you can’t tell, he looks shocked beyond belief when Cassian takes the sword for him. But Cassian took the blow for him, it strikes something inside Jezebel. You see he shows emotion and finally admits that he doesn’t want to go away from his father, that he’s already too deeply tied in Delilah’s plans that he doesn’t want to escape. You see his true feelings out in the open for the first time! Cassian is the ONLY person Jezebel seems to show emotion to. That’s what makes these two so heartrending, especially for me, since I love the Cassian/Jezebel paring, and it almost broke my heart to see Cassian take all of Jezebel’s hits for him. You even see earlier that it’s only Cassian who can see Jezebel’s true feelings of loneliness and purity (go back and read books four and five, people!) and that he wants Jezebel to run from Delilah to save himself. Cassian cares so deeply for the doctor, it hurts ME just to watch him.
If anyone comes up to me and says Cassian “died” for nothing, I will sit you down and FORCE you to read the books. I’m not saying you have to like Cassian/Jezebel as a pairing, but FOR THE LOVE OF WHOEVER HAS POWER, give Cassian a little more credit, yeah? As ellen_grieves said, Cassian is probably the only person on the planet who gives a damn about Jezebel.
All right, so these five issues have been plaguing my mind for a while. As you can see, this has been locked up inside me for a long time. I haven’t thoroughly ranted out my frustration on these issues, but is there anyone else out there who can disagree with me with GOOD reason? Or help me understand something I’ve missed?