MBTI&PoT Poll/Fuji's Unfinishedness/Oz
Poll PoT & MBTI
If you're not sure about details: ESFP; ESTP; ENTJ; ENTP.
(This is exactly like sorting them into Hogwarts houses, except that it's easier to agree on what ISFJ means than on what Hufflepuff means.)
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I apologise for how much this rambles. I'm not sure how much sense it makes at all. :D If you want to read over the matches and come to your own conclusions, Fuji/Kirihara is in chapters 215-223; Fuji/Tachibana starts at 243.
So, I was talking with naanima a few weeks ago about Tachibana & Fuji, and about how Tachibana seems to have attained a higher level of tennis--that devotion/strength/mentoring/righteousness mix that we see in most of the captains, which I referred to as his "messianic cult leader" attributes--but that Fuji is still "mada mada da ne". When Fuji goes to play against Tachibana [in chapter 243], he's only beginning to care about tennis in the way that allows the non-genius players to be great. He's only starting to learn what the best players seem always to have known about What Tennis Is--that is, honour and victory and playing all-out, the best one can.
(This is why I actually like the match between Tezuka and Atobe despite my dismay at what Tezuka is doing to himself during it: over the course of that one match, Tezuka plants or develops those seeds of What Tennis Is in Ryoma, Atobe, and Fuji. If I think of Tezuka as a boy with a future, the match disturbs me; if I think of him as a teacher imparting wisdom, I admire what he does.)
Actually, I think it's that unfinishedness of Fuji's that I'm drawn to most of all in his personality. I believe his sister when she says [in the anime] that he's very sweet and normally wouldn't try to hurt anyone in a match; that idea forms the base of my understanding of Fuji (which is probably pretty important to know up-front). I believe it because it underlines something Fuji himself says [I think right after he has his match in the rain against Ryoma]--that he doesn't normally try to win a match, but uses his skill in tennis to draw another player out. It also shows off the differences and the similarities between Fuji's match with Ryoma (where he kept lobbing the ball to Ryoma, partly to see whether or when Ryoma would break his counter) and his match against Kirihara (where he hits the ball in such a way that Kirihara thinks Fuji's trying to hurt him the way he hurt Tachibana & Ryoma); in both cases, Fuji is almost letting Ryoma and Kirihara play against themselves. Against their own limitations, anyhow.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I do believe that Fuji is a sweet kid, but the way that edges over into his tennis is ultimately kind of sad, not to mention childish & disrespectful towards the tennis of his opponent (Is there anything that would piss off a shounen sports character more than knowing that his opponent is not playing seriously against him?). He plays this way because he has no taste for victory; he also plays this way because it's entirely possible that he would have no rival if he were to play seriously all the time. He's Singles Two without trying, and he can beat a nationally-ranked player blind. Maybe that's why he set limits on his own abilities.
The other side to Fuji, of course, is his kind of amoral detached curiosity and that awful self-righteous Voice of Justice thing he has going on. I'm amazed that more of his teammates aren't bothered by the way he punishes transgressions against people he cares about through tennis (particularly Tezuka), but it's possible that they just see what he's doing as Serious Tennis, and are glad to see that from him for once. It's also possible that they think it's justified because it only comes out under provokation. Whether any of them worry about it, I do; I'm seriously bothered by how important he makes revenge, because I'm not convinced that he has a mature, stable morality to stick behind it. We all saw that bit in the anime where little Fuji physically attacked the kids who were bullying Yuuta, right? :D I can imagine Yagami Light looking like this as a 14-year-old, if he was a little less focused.
When it all comes together, Fuji seems so much less mature than the great majority of his peers, and few of them are shining beacons of maturity in a world of middle school boys. (Although, thank goodness, he seems to be following along with Ryoma's maturity gains, half a step ahead.)
In the Fuji/Tachibana match, it's obvious that Fuji is trying to test him out seriously, which he doesn't often get a chance to do. That part was pretty easy to catch. What I missed last time I read the match, or what I forgot, is that he seems to be using his Voice of Justice side, too. (The difference is that he's using it as a warning, not as a punishment, which I think is much healthier.) He's not only testing himself against a strong opponent--he's testing Tachibana against a strong opponent, too, to see if Tachibana's rehabilitation would hold out after his recovery from his match against Kirihara. Even An is worried about her brother's tennis, but Fuji is able to say at the end of their match that Tachibana will be fine (and the credibility to be pretty much trusted). Even his self-righteousness can be channeled into positive directions as he matures, I suppose; it's a lucky thing, because I doubt it's going to go away.
(For the record, I think that match against Kirihara functioned for Tachibana sort of the way Tezuka/Atobe functioned for Atobe and the way Tezuka/Ryoma functioned for Tezuka: it points out where they have historically gone wrong, and allows them to see where they are and are not treading the right path. Sort of like--they're already pretty much there, but a little encouragement or re-alignment is always a good thing.)
...and actually, I don't really have anything to conclude here, :D. Fuji still has a long way to go before he's Yukimura perfect, but it's interesting to watch the way he's moving towards it.
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Having just finished Oz, I have to express my dismay that Schillinger dies. Keller's death freaked me out, because I wasn't expecting it, and it was so in character--but I wasn't all that affected. I mean, I like Keller quite a lot, he's a great character; it's just that Schillinger was my very favourite from his first appearance. Adebisi is, like, everyone's id character, Augustus Hill and Sister Pete were plain awesome, and Said was the one character I always identified with, but Schillinger--I watched the show for Schillinger. I wouldn't have been anywhere near as involved if it weren't for him. I can't entirely understand the fixation people seem to have on Beecher & Keller's relationship, because the Oz I was watching was the story of Schillinger and Beecher, and even Keller realised it. He managed to wedge himself in there with them best of all when he played himself as a tool they could use in their game.
I'm glad that their Great Romance worked itself out by the end of the show--I don't feel short-changed--but I have to say, I wasn't rooting for Beecher to win it, even as hollowly as he did.
And also, where's the Sister Pete/Doctor Nathan slash, guys?
If you're not sure about details: ESFP; ESTP; ENTJ; ENTP.
(This is exactly like sorting them into Hogwarts houses, except that it's easier to agree on what ISFJ means than on what Hufflepuff means.)
---
I apologise for how much this rambles. I'm not sure how much sense it makes at all. :D If you want to read over the matches and come to your own conclusions, Fuji/Kirihara is in chapters 215-223; Fuji/Tachibana starts at 243.
So, I was talking with naanima a few weeks ago about Tachibana & Fuji, and about how Tachibana seems to have attained a higher level of tennis--that devotion/strength/mentoring/righteousness mix that we see in most of the captains, which I referred to as his "messianic cult leader" attributes--but that Fuji is still "mada mada da ne". When Fuji goes to play against Tachibana [in chapter 243], he's only beginning to care about tennis in the way that allows the non-genius players to be great. He's only starting to learn what the best players seem always to have known about What Tennis Is--that is, honour and victory and playing all-out, the best one can.
(This is why I actually like the match between Tezuka and Atobe despite my dismay at what Tezuka is doing to himself during it: over the course of that one match, Tezuka plants or develops those seeds of What Tennis Is in Ryoma, Atobe, and Fuji. If I think of Tezuka as a boy with a future, the match disturbs me; if I think of him as a teacher imparting wisdom, I admire what he does.)
Actually, I think it's that unfinishedness of Fuji's that I'm drawn to most of all in his personality. I believe his sister when she says [in the anime] that he's very sweet and normally wouldn't try to hurt anyone in a match; that idea forms the base of my understanding of Fuji (which is probably pretty important to know up-front). I believe it because it underlines something Fuji himself says [I think right after he has his match in the rain against Ryoma]--that he doesn't normally try to win a match, but uses his skill in tennis to draw another player out. It also shows off the differences and the similarities between Fuji's match with Ryoma (where he kept lobbing the ball to Ryoma, partly to see whether or when Ryoma would break his counter) and his match against Kirihara (where he hits the ball in such a way that Kirihara thinks Fuji's trying to hurt him the way he hurt Tachibana & Ryoma); in both cases, Fuji is almost letting Ryoma and Kirihara play against themselves. Against their own limitations, anyhow.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I do believe that Fuji is a sweet kid, but the way that edges over into his tennis is ultimately kind of sad, not to mention childish & disrespectful towards the tennis of his opponent (Is there anything that would piss off a shounen sports character more than knowing that his opponent is not playing seriously against him?). He plays this way because he has no taste for victory; he also plays this way because it's entirely possible that he would have no rival if he were to play seriously all the time. He's Singles Two without trying, and he can beat a nationally-ranked player blind. Maybe that's why he set limits on his own abilities.
The other side to Fuji, of course, is his kind of amoral detached curiosity and that awful self-righteous Voice of Justice thing he has going on. I'm amazed that more of his teammates aren't bothered by the way he punishes transgressions against people he cares about through tennis (particularly Tezuka), but it's possible that they just see what he's doing as Serious Tennis, and are glad to see that from him for once. It's also possible that they think it's justified because it only comes out under provokation. Whether any of them worry about it, I do; I'm seriously bothered by how important he makes revenge, because I'm not convinced that he has a mature, stable morality to stick behind it. We all saw that bit in the anime where little Fuji physically attacked the kids who were bullying Yuuta, right? :D I can imagine Yagami Light looking like this as a 14-year-old, if he was a little less focused.
When it all comes together, Fuji seems so much less mature than the great majority of his peers, and few of them are shining beacons of maturity in a world of middle school boys. (Although, thank goodness, he seems to be following along with Ryoma's maturity gains, half a step ahead.)
In the Fuji/Tachibana match, it's obvious that Fuji is trying to test him out seriously, which he doesn't often get a chance to do. That part was pretty easy to catch. What I missed last time I read the match, or what I forgot, is that he seems to be using his Voice of Justice side, too. (The difference is that he's using it as a warning, not as a punishment, which I think is much healthier.) He's not only testing himself against a strong opponent--he's testing Tachibana against a strong opponent, too, to see if Tachibana's rehabilitation would hold out after his recovery from his match against Kirihara. Even An is worried about her brother's tennis, but Fuji is able to say at the end of their match that Tachibana will be fine (and the credibility to be pretty much trusted). Even his self-righteousness can be channeled into positive directions as he matures, I suppose; it's a lucky thing, because I doubt it's going to go away.
(For the record, I think that match against Kirihara functioned for Tachibana sort of the way Tezuka/Atobe functioned for Atobe and the way Tezuka/Ryoma functioned for Tezuka: it points out where they have historically gone wrong, and allows them to see where they are and are not treading the right path. Sort of like--they're already pretty much there, but a little encouragement or re-alignment is always a good thing.)
...and actually, I don't really have anything to conclude here, :D. Fuji still has a long way to go before he's Yukimura perfect, but it's interesting to watch the way he's moving towards it.
---
Having just finished Oz, I have to express my dismay that Schillinger dies. Keller's death freaked me out, because I wasn't expecting it, and it was so in character--but I wasn't all that affected. I mean, I like Keller quite a lot, he's a great character; it's just that Schillinger was my very favourite from his first appearance. Adebisi is, like, everyone's id character, Augustus Hill and Sister Pete were plain awesome, and Said was the one character I always identified with, but Schillinger--I watched the show for Schillinger. I wouldn't have been anywhere near as involved if it weren't for him. I can't entirely understand the fixation people seem to have on Beecher & Keller's relationship, because the Oz I was watching was the story of Schillinger and Beecher, and even Keller realised it. He managed to wedge himself in there with them best of all when he played himself as a tool they could use in their game.
I'm glad that their Great Romance worked itself out by the end of the show--I don't feel short-changed--but I have to say, I wasn't rooting for Beecher to win it, even as hollowly as he did.
And also, where's the Sister Pete/Doctor Nathan slash, guys?