Nightmare

[ryouko]

I *finally* finished Nightmare's love route. With as much work as I put into it, he still reigns as my most favorite. Overall I liked his route a lot. It was deeply psychological, but unfortunately there's a lot that gets lost in translation. I can understand a modest amount of Japanese by ear; at least enough to understand what the horribly rough

Comments

[harroe]

No, I wasn't referring to Nightmare's reference to Gray. But the tapir event has a great significance. In Japan the tapir is called 'baku'. It shares this name with a certain mythological creature, along with many similar characteristics. Tapirs are often used as the image of the mythological baku. Here's some info that I stole from another site to explain why the baku is so symbolic in Nightmare's route.

"The baku is most famous for its ability to devour dreams, and can be called upon by people
in the midst of ominous nightmares, whereupon the creature will consume both the vision and the bad
fortune it contains. But in addition to that it is also said to prey on the spirits of disease and
plagues. The image of the baku is often kept by the bedside as a talisman against bad dreams
and evil spirits, and supposedly if you make your bed from the skin of a baku (if you can
find such a thing) it will keep illness at bay."

This made a lot of sense to me. I've always thought Nightmare was more like a baku than an incubus. As far as I know, he doesn't act like an incubus at all. Ever since I first saw him I've constantly compared him with the baku, so the tapir event just made me squeal in delight.

I like how Nightmare does whatever he wants after Alice decides to stay with him. I can't remember which event it was, but I remember Alice asking Nightmare to keep her asleep. At that point he refused, but as soon as she stays for him, he is constantly forcing her to stay in her dreams. And I like how Alice notices that Nightmare takes a bunch of liberties with her dreams after she stays. Suddenly the surroundings look very un-Alice-like. I don't know why Quinrose didn't give Nightmare some knight armor for that scene. I could completely see him wearing it in that fantasy of his. He's such a kid sometimes. XD
It was also gratifying to see that Nightmare was making plans to bring Alice to Clover Tower instead of forever keeping their relationship in the dream world.

[ryouko]

That totally makes sense. I looked up Baku and you're spot on. Maybe that's why he's so much more lovable than what you would consider an Incubus... though my mind goes elsewhere at the word anyway.

I think it was close to the end when he started 'taking over'. I like how in his pure love ending she doesn't really fight him. Although it doesn't give them a clear lead in to Clover, I felt pretty satisfied. I can feel that the writer(s) put a lot of care and consideration into the role. That, and Tomokazu Sugita really is a fantastic seiyuu.

[harroe]

Yeah, Nightmare is so much more like a baku. But I know what you mean about the incubus image. A fan girl has a hard time not indulging themselves in that kind of fantasy. XD

Alice only seemed to fight back out of a sense of responsibility. She didn't look like she really wanted to leave the dream though. It's hard to have a love ending lead straight into Clover since Clover is based on Alice deciding to stay while only being friends with everyone. I like the Nightmare Bad End for that though. It makes a perfect lead into Clover. I'm glad it was added in there. Heart didn't have an ending like that, so it wasn't as natural of a transition into Clover.