An Apollo Geist post... because I can XD
Yanno... there was this post on tumblr the other day, and somehow... it vexed me a lot like the way normal mundane stuff vexes Asakura. Because the post tried to reason--no, generalize how people interpret or defend their character, yet using the completely wrong comparison.
Said post was...
"If tumblr had existed back during the time 555 had aired, would people have defended Kusaka Masato the way people now defended Micchi?"
Such generalization... made me laugh.
Well, I don't speak for the other people who liked and defended Micchi til now, but I'll state my own opinions here. Because yes, I love Micchi and despite the things he'd done till now and the wrong choices he took, I want him to get a chance to redeem himself. And seriously, to compare Micchi and Kusaka is really off. Yes, both of them had similar modus operandi; in terms about their love interest (Mari/Mai) and the whole back-stabbing thing. But so far, that is as far as similarities went.
Anyway, answering the scenario above... NO. I will NOT be defensive of Kusaka the way I do Micchi. Regardless of the fact that I like Murakami Kouhei as an actor. Because, from the very beginning... Kusaka had always been a villain (or very questionable character if you have to argue the point); despite his relation with the Ryusei school or how he always hangs out with the good guys. Or how he had been showing off fighting the Clovers, or how he did the classic secondary riders entrances. Kusaka was never introduced AS a 'nice and decent' character... so I never viewed him as such. Or feel endeared to him. So no, I will not be as defensive of him as compared to I do Micchi. Though, I have to admit... had Kusaka been introduced early on as one of Mari's precious classmates, and shown his 'sad sob back story' much earlier... opinions might be swayed. Or maybe not... if Yuji's side of the story remained unchanged and Kusaka still acting so asshole.
To be honest, I feel the better comparison would be... had Micchi been the main character in Gaim instead of Kouta, would those dissenters still believe that Micchi no longer deserve the chance to redeem himself and turn back to the good side? In other words, if Kouta was the one receiving Micchi's route... would those people treat him the way fandom treated Micchi right now? I doubt it. Because that would defy the whole 'Main Character's special privileges.
Cos yes, if Kouta had gone Micchi's route... you'll see people defending him and saying that there will be a moment when Kouta will redeem himself (and NO ONE will be judged harshly for holding that opinion). All will be fine. Since Main Characters are supposed to be good guys, right? To be honest, THAT trope is one of the things I'd like to be broken into pieces. It's one of the things I disliked nowadays when there were new movies made based on the villains, and somehow... the movie made the villain turned out to be actually nice but misunderstood. That reminds me... I need to watch Maleficent movie. (I'm glad for the existence of Kiba Gaiden since that's a good villain special.)
Got derailed a bit. But yeah.
Or... if we want to use the same argument to prove the point, the better character to compare with Micchi was.... not Kusaka, but Kiba Yuji. Because YES, if tumblr had existed back then and had I been watching the series as it aired... YES! I WILL defend Yuji as fiercely as I had defended Micchi.
Why Yuji though? Because like Micchi, Yuji had been introduced into the show as the good guy. And while his stint as a villain was short, he did became a villain for a moment. And while Yuji haven't been a backstabbing jerk as Kusaka; at that moment when he decided to turn against Takumi and the others, he HAD his own crazy moments when he wanted to protect the Orphenoch King so hard for his own survival. That moment when he decided to stop being a nice pushover guy and be a selfish person. (Since at some point also he felt responsible for not being able to protect Yuka,)
Also, reason why I used Yuji... is because I know that despite Yuji started as a good guy/character; due to his becoming a villain at that point, not a lot of people liked him for some reason. Well this is just a conjecture, but I used to receive comments asking me why I emphasize on Yuji so much in my fics because they don't like Yuji. Well, Yuji didn't get as much hate on compared to Micchi... but all the same, their circumstances are similar.
And as to possible end to Micchi, no... if it's possible I do not want him to die. Especially if he did end up redeeming himself. I had a lot of heartache already with regards to Yuji.
[Edit] And then there's that interview with Mahhi. Well, his opinions I could respect... about not wanting Micchi to be redeemed. I'd feel the same too especially if those kinds of things aren't written well. But if it's possible. I'd want it still. For Takatora. XD. Micchi can forever be Kouta's enemy for all I care... but not to Takatora. (That said, I don't want Takatora to die in Micchi's hand or vice versa.)
Then again, most of my concerns about Micchi are directly related to Takatora....
On that note as well, I hadn't want Sid to die either. But it's already amazing that Urobutcher hadn't killed a lot of the named characters already so I reluctantly accepted him sacrificing Sid. It's been a while anyway since Hase was killed (Yuuya too) so I'll give Urobutcher a break. Death of uncountable Yggdrasill employees do not count in this statistics since they weren't named.
As to satistying deaths... between Sid and Kusaka, I find Kusaka's death more satisfying. Because he did a lot of shit to people so he deserved to have such dishonorable end. But Sid... I find his death more sad. Because as much as he did a lot of shit to Kouta et al, I liked him being himself. And those last words he said in defiance to Roshuo... well, Sid may be so stupid to still want to fight Roshuo despite the odds against him; but that was brave of him to still stick with his own beliefs (however undeserving that may be) to not back off.
As to why I'm making the comparison with Kouta, well... since I find that compared to Takatora, Kouta should be the one having the greater influence in shaping Micchi. Especially during whatever point in time when Takatora's relation with Micchi grew distant and Micchi starting to imprint his 'big brother' image onto Kouta. (Considering that Kouta and Takatora did have some similarity) And this point was also raised on others, in that... Micchi should be a version of Kouta, had he be more extreme in imposing his justice value. Cos yes, when you think about it... had Kouta decided to act as ruthless as Takatora had been in the past... he'd be even more dangerous compared to Takatora.
Cos unlike Takatora... Kouta don't usually hold any restraints when fighting his enemies using his more powerful power ups. Takatora do. While you'd argue it's cos he didn't want to damage the drivers, you have to admit that he still went easy to those beat rider brats he looked down on so much. He also comparatively went easy on his 'training' underlings, cos you don't see them get hurt too badly. Do you (during that Genesis driver testing)? Compare to the time when Kouta gone destroying the Scalar System. How many troopers he'd shot down that day? How many actually landed on top of the tower and not falling down to the ground below? I usually don't notice background troopers much but usually the troopers (that aren't from Shocker but from organizations that are supposed to be good guys like ZECTS, the troops from Kougami etc) were mostly killed by monsters. You don't usually see them killed by other riders just because of different views. And since Gaim is all about questioning various moralistic views, I can't just ignore this particular quirk from Kouta. Like he's all against taking people's lives AT ALL... but he surely don't have the same stand for people he didn't call friends (that want to kill him). Yea well, there's that difference between self-defence and manslaughter.
Thus the comparison. Which is actually very apt. Cos had Kouta took on Micchi's route, you'll see tables turning for sure.
Me? I'll enjoy it regardless. Since it'll satisfy my curiosity to see a Titular Kamen Rider go evil. XD. I did mentioned it before that I wished Kouta took the Nobunaga route instead of going Kachidoki-Ieyasu. Since I was biased to Nobunaga. (Not Basara Nobunaga though... but the many Nobunaga portrayals I used to watch in the past~) I like how anti-hero Oda Nobunaga had been in some Japanese media... while being villaineous in another. Since we're using the whole Sengoku era parallel too. And even during the actual Sengoku era too... all the killings on each side will have an effect on people. Thus the whole 'why do people fight' issue will come around.
Though, I don't have that much hope that Kouta will ever go Oda mode. /shrugs. Shame. But hey, Kiwami arms did have that Oda Nobunaga feel, so that should be enough.
. This entry was originally posted on Kaleidoscope World.
Said post was...
"If tumblr had existed back during the time 555 had aired, would people have defended Kusaka Masato the way people now defended Micchi?"
Such generalization... made me laugh.
Well, I don't speak for the other people who liked and defended Micchi til now, but I'll state my own opinions here. Because yes, I love Micchi and despite the things he'd done till now and the wrong choices he took, I want him to get a chance to redeem himself. And seriously, to compare Micchi and Kusaka is really off. Yes, both of them had similar modus operandi; in terms about their love interest (Mari/Mai) and the whole back-stabbing thing. But so far, that is as far as similarities went.
Anyway, answering the scenario above... NO. I will NOT be defensive of Kusaka the way I do Micchi. Regardless of the fact that I like Murakami Kouhei as an actor. Because, from the very beginning... Kusaka had always been a villain (or very questionable character if you have to argue the point); despite his relation with the Ryusei school or how he always hangs out with the good guys. Or how he had been showing off fighting the Clovers, or how he did the classic secondary riders entrances. Kusaka was never introduced AS a 'nice and decent' character... so I never viewed him as such. Or feel endeared to him. So no, I will not be as defensive of him as compared to I do Micchi. Though, I have to admit... had Kusaka been introduced early on as one of Mari's precious classmates, and shown his 'sad sob back story' much earlier... opinions might be swayed. Or maybe not... if Yuji's side of the story remained unchanged and Kusaka still acting so asshole.
To be honest, I feel the better comparison would be... had Micchi been the main character in Gaim instead of Kouta, would those dissenters still believe that Micchi no longer deserve the chance to redeem himself and turn back to the good side? In other words, if Kouta was the one receiving Micchi's route... would those people treat him the way fandom treated Micchi right now? I doubt it. Because that would defy the whole 'Main Character's special privileges.
Cos yes, if Kouta had gone Micchi's route... you'll see people defending him and saying that there will be a moment when Kouta will redeem himself (and NO ONE will be judged harshly for holding that opinion). All will be fine. Since Main Characters are supposed to be good guys, right? To be honest, THAT trope is one of the things I'd like to be broken into pieces. It's one of the things I disliked nowadays when there were new movies made based on the villains, and somehow... the movie made the villain turned out to be actually nice but misunderstood. That reminds me... I need to watch Maleficent movie. (I'm glad for the existence of Kiba Gaiden since that's a good villain special.)
Got derailed a bit. But yeah.
Or... if we want to use the same argument to prove the point, the better character to compare with Micchi was.... not Kusaka, but Kiba Yuji. Because YES, if tumblr had existed back then and had I been watching the series as it aired... YES! I WILL defend Yuji as fiercely as I had defended Micchi.
Why Yuji though? Because like Micchi, Yuji had been introduced into the show as the good guy. And while his stint as a villain was short, he did became a villain for a moment. And while Yuji haven't been a backstabbing jerk as Kusaka; at that moment when he decided to turn against Takumi and the others, he HAD his own crazy moments when he wanted to protect the Orphenoch King so hard for his own survival. That moment when he decided to stop being a nice pushover guy and be a selfish person. (Since at some point also he felt responsible for not being able to protect Yuka,)
Also, reason why I used Yuji... is because I know that despite Yuji started as a good guy/character; due to his becoming a villain at that point, not a lot of people liked him for some reason. Well this is just a conjecture, but I used to receive comments asking me why I emphasize on Yuji so much in my fics because they don't like Yuji. Well, Yuji didn't get as much hate on compared to Micchi... but all the same, their circumstances are similar.
And as to possible end to Micchi, no... if it's possible I do not want him to die. Especially if he did end up redeeming himself. I had a lot of heartache already with regards to Yuji.
[Edit] And then there's that interview with Mahhi. Well, his opinions I could respect... about not wanting Micchi to be redeemed. I'd feel the same too especially if those kinds of things aren't written well. But if it's possible. I'd want it still. For Takatora. XD. Micchi can forever be Kouta's enemy for all I care... but not to Takatora. (That said, I don't want Takatora to die in Micchi's hand or vice versa.)
Then again, most of my concerns about Micchi are directly related to Takatora....
On that note as well, I hadn't want Sid to die either. But it's already amazing that Urobutcher hadn't killed a lot of the named characters already so I reluctantly accepted him sacrificing Sid. It's been a while anyway since Hase was killed (Yuuya too) so I'll give Urobutcher a break. Death of uncountable Yggdrasill employees do not count in this statistics since they weren't named.
As to satistying deaths... between Sid and Kusaka, I find Kusaka's death more satisfying. Because he did a lot of shit to people so he deserved to have such dishonorable end. But Sid... I find his death more sad. Because as much as he did a lot of shit to Kouta et al, I liked him being himself. And those last words he said in defiance to Roshuo... well, Sid may be so stupid to still want to fight Roshuo despite the odds against him; but that was brave of him to still stick with his own beliefs (however undeserving that may be) to not back off.
As to why I'm making the comparison with Kouta, well... since I find that compared to Takatora, Kouta should be the one having the greater influence in shaping Micchi. Especially during whatever point in time when Takatora's relation with Micchi grew distant and Micchi starting to imprint his 'big brother' image onto Kouta. (Considering that Kouta and Takatora did have some similarity) And this point was also raised on others, in that... Micchi should be a version of Kouta, had he be more extreme in imposing his justice value. Cos yes, when you think about it... had Kouta decided to act as ruthless as Takatora had been in the past... he'd be even more dangerous compared to Takatora.
Cos unlike Takatora... Kouta don't usually hold any restraints when fighting his enemies using his more powerful power ups. Takatora do. While you'd argue it's cos he didn't want to damage the drivers, you have to admit that he still went easy to those beat rider brats he looked down on so much. He also comparatively went easy on his 'training' underlings, cos you don't see them get hurt too badly. Do you (during that Genesis driver testing)? Compare to the time when Kouta gone destroying the Scalar System. How many troopers he'd shot down that day? How many actually landed on top of the tower and not falling down to the ground below? I usually don't notice background troopers much but usually the troopers (that aren't from Shocker but from organizations that are supposed to be good guys like ZECTS, the troops from Kougami etc) were mostly killed by monsters. You don't usually see them killed by other riders just because of different views. And since Gaim is all about questioning various moralistic views, I can't just ignore this particular quirk from Kouta. Like he's all against taking people's lives AT ALL... but he surely don't have the same stand for people he didn't call friends (that want to kill him). Yea well, there's that difference between self-defence and manslaughter.
Thus the comparison. Which is actually very apt. Cos had Kouta took on Micchi's route, you'll see tables turning for sure.
Me? I'll enjoy it regardless. Since it'll satisfy my curiosity to see a Titular Kamen Rider go evil. XD. I did mentioned it before that I wished Kouta took the Nobunaga route instead of going Kachidoki-Ieyasu. Since I was biased to Nobunaga. (Not Basara Nobunaga though... but the many Nobunaga portrayals I used to watch in the past~) I like how anti-hero Oda Nobunaga had been in some Japanese media... while being villaineous in another. Since we're using the whole Sengoku era parallel too. And even during the actual Sengoku era too... all the killings on each side will have an effect on people. Thus the whole 'why do people fight' issue will come around.
Though, I don't have that much hope that Kouta will ever go Oda mode. /shrugs. Shame. But hey, Kiwami arms did have that Oda Nobunaga feel, so that should be enough.
. This entry was originally posted on Kaleidoscope World.