Kurosagi, ep 2
I am a bit on the obsessed side about Kurosagi right now, and I am afraid ep 2 is responsible for it. I loved ep 1, but after all, it could have been a fluke or people going all out for the pilot, or similar.
But nope. Ep 2 is even better. Twistier, more complicated and (yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus), angstier.
It's interesting to me how Tsurara is beginning to acquire shades of grey. This ep, another person close to her gets swindled. Her friend is dating a guy who is a marriage swindler: he's been taking tons of $$$ from her supposedly for his sick mother. And her reaction is still indignation with Kurosagi when he gets her to help him get back at the guy, but there is no calling the cops and there is asking her elder at the school whether it's true the law sometimes doesn't work, bkah blah.
Any relationship she and Kurosagi will have in the future (and I don't mean a romanic relationship, though I'd be all for it. I mean any lengthy interaction of any nature) is really benefitial for both of them. For him more than for her: he desperately needs someone to care about and to be human with, even though he doesn't want to. And she needs to be less idealistic, step out of her perfect bubble.
The thing is, he is just as much of an absolutist and an idealist and a dreamer as she is. Because what he is doing is of course ultimately futile? And there are shades in grey even in swindling (heck, he embodies that). And this activity is costing him his life or anything that resembles one.
The swindle this time is not against some unknown evil woman like in the pilot. This time it's his high school friend. I love the brief little flashback to high school and Kurosaki lying there behind that fence (woo-hoo symbolism) and his friend coming over to join him. It's nice to see him all relaxed and at peace.
I am really interested in the Old Man (whatever his name, the one who feeds Kurosagi info). I really get the feeling that he knew that Kurosaki and this guy were friends and gave this info to him to see how he'd react. To him, Kurosaki is theater, entertainment, and a bit of a puppet. Pull his strings this way, and he'll jump like this. Push this button here, and he'll do that. And I think he enjoys seeing results of that. OM freaks me out. The bit after Kurosaki destroyed his friend and he comes to pay the info fee and OM asks him, how does it taste? Whoa. And double whoa on the look on Kurosaki's face. Each time he does a job, a bit of his soul goes missing, and with this job, it wasn't just a little bit.
The thing is, everything he's ever cared about is slowly being torn away from him. No wonder he has trouble letting people in. I love the scene where he first meets the friend again. There is a bit of a panic there and sheer unuse of how to interact with a person normally, not through a mask or a wall of ice. But then of course he learns about the swindling and yup. Another reason to feel horrible and to put up walls. He is trying so hard not to care about anything because his life is like a daily demonstration why he shouldn't. It's as if he taints everything.
And then we get the heartbreaking scene near the end where his friend gets arrested and Kurosaki is there to watch. And part of the reason he is there? To punish himself. And because he thinks it will teach him a lesson about friendship. Aka not to have any. Because he is human, and he wants to give in and relax too. And the thing is, whatever the swindling of the women, his friend was HIS friend. He was on the level with him, he cared about him. And the friend asks him why and Kurosaki is saying because I hated for you to become a swindler. And then we get the heartbreaking scene where the cop tells him he can save his friend if he comes over to the other side of the fence (a parallel to the high school days where his friend used to do that). And the look on Kurosaki's face. OMG. He looks tormented SO BADLY. But he can't because he still needs to pursue his revenge so after an enternity of hesitation he walks away. With still that same, sick, self-loathing look on his face. The boy is SUCH a mess. He really must hate himself and this ep just drove the knife a ways further.
His issues drive out his humanity step by step, actually. Which is why it's good Tsurara is there. She doesn't strike me as someone who is repelled easily. He is deathly afraid to care even a bit, precisely because he wants to (when he met his friend in the beginning, he was frozen, but with a glimmer of hope, and see what happened). That's why he cares for the cat. It's an animal, it's uncomplicated (This reference will make sense to almost no one on my flist, but it's shades of Lymond in Russia. When he was totally frozen as a result of what happened to him but he couldn't deny his capacity ofr caring after all so he really loved that Slata Baba hunting eagle of his. Being Lymond, of course he lost the eagle. I am deathly afraid that here the cat will get run over :P).
But Tsurara probes. I love that bit near the end where she asks him what happened to his family. And he walks a little away from her so she can't see him and he cant help it, he is crying. He breaks down. In part because he's had such an awful day, in part because the issue is so raw for him, what drives him. But in part because she manages to get under his skin and behind his walls somehow. And he tells her...that she has to move out (he is her landlord, long story). It's not as if he told her what happened to them or anything. But he is so walled off, the mere fact that she asked, that she cared, and that she was able to evoke emotion from him means he must automatically cut her out of his life. And the closer she gets, the more he freaks out. At first, he tells her no hurry, but she needs to find a place and move out. And when she repeats the question and asks him what's wrong, he loses it a bit more and tells her she needs to move out immediately.
He is protecting his thick walls so hard, because inside, he is utterly defenseless. And hurting. And a mess. And he doesn't want to let anyone else close ever, because he is so afraid of losing them. And he thinks he is unworthy of care. And he doesn't want to open himself to more pain (which of course, he already is in plenty of pain. But with caring, there is also joy, if he'd only ever let himself know it).
I love this.
But nope. Ep 2 is even better. Twistier, more complicated and (yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus), angstier.
It's interesting to me how Tsurara is beginning to acquire shades of grey. This ep, another person close to her gets swindled. Her friend is dating a guy who is a marriage swindler: he's been taking tons of $$$ from her supposedly for his sick mother. And her reaction is still indignation with Kurosagi when he gets her to help him get back at the guy, but there is no calling the cops and there is asking her elder at the school whether it's true the law sometimes doesn't work, bkah blah.
Any relationship she and Kurosagi will have in the future (and I don't mean a romanic relationship, though I'd be all for it. I mean any lengthy interaction of any nature) is really benefitial for both of them. For him more than for her: he desperately needs someone to care about and to be human with, even though he doesn't want to. And she needs to be less idealistic, step out of her perfect bubble.
The thing is, he is just as much of an absolutist and an idealist and a dreamer as she is. Because what he is doing is of course ultimately futile? And there are shades in grey even in swindling (heck, he embodies that). And this activity is costing him his life or anything that resembles one.
The swindle this time is not against some unknown evil woman like in the pilot. This time it's his high school friend. I love the brief little flashback to high school and Kurosaki lying there behind that fence (woo-hoo symbolism) and his friend coming over to join him. It's nice to see him all relaxed and at peace.
I am really interested in the Old Man (whatever his name, the one who feeds Kurosagi info). I really get the feeling that he knew that Kurosaki and this guy were friends and gave this info to him to see how he'd react. To him, Kurosaki is theater, entertainment, and a bit of a puppet. Pull his strings this way, and he'll jump like this. Push this button here, and he'll do that. And I think he enjoys seeing results of that. OM freaks me out. The bit after Kurosaki destroyed his friend and he comes to pay the info fee and OM asks him, how does it taste? Whoa. And double whoa on the look on Kurosaki's face. Each time he does a job, a bit of his soul goes missing, and with this job, it wasn't just a little bit.
The thing is, everything he's ever cared about is slowly being torn away from him. No wonder he has trouble letting people in. I love the scene where he first meets the friend again. There is a bit of a panic there and sheer unuse of how to interact with a person normally, not through a mask or a wall of ice. But then of course he learns about the swindling and yup. Another reason to feel horrible and to put up walls. He is trying so hard not to care about anything because his life is like a daily demonstration why he shouldn't. It's as if he taints everything.
And then we get the heartbreaking scene near the end where his friend gets arrested and Kurosaki is there to watch. And part of the reason he is there? To punish himself. And because he thinks it will teach him a lesson about friendship. Aka not to have any. Because he is human, and he wants to give in and relax too. And the thing is, whatever the swindling of the women, his friend was HIS friend. He was on the level with him, he cared about him. And the friend asks him why and Kurosaki is saying because I hated for you to become a swindler. And then we get the heartbreaking scene where the cop tells him he can save his friend if he comes over to the other side of the fence (a parallel to the high school days where his friend used to do that). And the look on Kurosaki's face. OMG. He looks tormented SO BADLY. But he can't because he still needs to pursue his revenge so after an enternity of hesitation he walks away. With still that same, sick, self-loathing look on his face. The boy is SUCH a mess. He really must hate himself and this ep just drove the knife a ways further.
His issues drive out his humanity step by step, actually. Which is why it's good Tsurara is there. She doesn't strike me as someone who is repelled easily. He is deathly afraid to care even a bit, precisely because he wants to (when he met his friend in the beginning, he was frozen, but with a glimmer of hope, and see what happened). That's why he cares for the cat. It's an animal, it's uncomplicated (This reference will make sense to almost no one on my flist, but it's shades of Lymond in Russia. When he was totally frozen as a result of what happened to him but he couldn't deny his capacity ofr caring after all so he really loved that Slata Baba hunting eagle of his. Being Lymond, of course he lost the eagle. I am deathly afraid that here the cat will get run over :P).
But Tsurara probes. I love that bit near the end where she asks him what happened to his family. And he walks a little away from her so she can't see him and he cant help it, he is crying. He breaks down. In part because he's had such an awful day, in part because the issue is so raw for him, what drives him. But in part because she manages to get under his skin and behind his walls somehow. And he tells her...that she has to move out (he is her landlord, long story). It's not as if he told her what happened to them or anything. But he is so walled off, the mere fact that she asked, that she cared, and that she was able to evoke emotion from him means he must automatically cut her out of his life. And the closer she gets, the more he freaks out. At first, he tells her no hurry, but she needs to find a place and move out. And when she repeats the question and asks him what's wrong, he loses it a bit more and tells her she needs to move out immediately.
He is protecting his thick walls so hard, because inside, he is utterly defenseless. And hurting. And a mess. And he doesn't want to let anyone else close ever, because he is so afraid of losing them. And he thinks he is unworthy of care. And he doesn't want to open himself to more pain (which of course, he already is in plenty of pain. But with caring, there is also joy, if he'd only ever let himself know it).
I love this.