Gemini of the Meteor - Part V
**This is the same rant critique that I originally posted on Blogger; since I never use Blogger, it made no sense to leave it there.**
Plot 3: MIAC and the Izanami/Izanagi prophecy
This was the true main plot of S2, but there are so, so many problems with this plot, I’m not even sure how to organize them. I’ve read the wikis: I know what happens in each episode, but knowing what is not the same as knowing why or how. I apologize in advance for the jumbled mess that this section is - but I blame the writers of S2 for that.
1. The prophecy
This failed. Every fantasy (wait, I thought this was sci-fi?) fan knows that if you’re going to have a prophecy be central to your plot, you need to introduce it early. We need to know what is at stake for the characters and the world if this prophecy comes true, because that’s what creates conflict and tension. S2 introduced the prophecy way too late, and it was way too vague. Heaven and earth would be torn asunder? How? Why? Who are Izanami and Izanagi, and how do we know? What does it mean that they will “meet”? Are they just going to walk up and say hello and that’s enough, or do they have to actually act? If they have to act, is there a reason they might decide not to? None of these vital questions have answers, because S2 failed to ask them in the first place.
Furthermore, what reason do we have to believe that there is any truth to this prophecy, and that it’s not just some random poetry? The inclusion of Amber was an attempt to give the prophecy legitimacy, but it didn’t work, mainly because Amber has never acted in this way before. Her ability allows her to see the future, maybe even visit it. If her foreknowledge was a driving force in the plot, she should have been a real character in it, instead of just a recorded ghost voice that doesn’t actually contribute anything. Did she actually author the prophecy, or did she just find it, and realize that it was going to come true? How did MIAC come to possess the Mitaka documents? Was that Amber’s plan all along? Why?
The revelation that the prophecy needed to come about wasn’t much of a revelation, because we had no investment in the outcome either way. In S1, wiping out the contractors had a personal effect on our protagonists. What was the effect of the prophecy on the S2 protagonists? How was it motivating their actions? We don’t really know, because, well, it wasn’t motivating them. It just gave the writers a few plot points through which they could move the characters.
Yes, I know about the Japanese creation myth that this Izanami/Izanagi story was supposedly based on. And to this I say to Bones: If the understanding of your plot depends upon previous knowledge of an obscure mythology, You Are Doing it Wrong. It isn't one of those situations where you go back and realize that the author was referencing something all along, and that realization makes it so much cooler. It's a situation where the plot makes zero sense; you realize that the author was influenced by a story you've never heard of, and wouldn't have heard of it if you hadn't been frantically googling trying to figure it out, and it still doesn't actually make sense.
2. MIAC
Ok, let’s accept that the prophecy is real, and true, and that disaster will come to the world if it comes to pass. On that premise, MIAC was formed as a secret Japanese organization whose goal is to prevent the prophecy from coming true.
First question: how did they know about the prophecy to begin with? Presumably, they learned of it from the Mitaka documents, the same as Misaki, who they recruited into their organization…and then didn’t tell about the documents, or the purpose of their organization. Madam O sent Misaki after the documents, but Madam O already had an entire plan structured around this prophecy.
So second question: what did Madam O gain by having Misaki learn of the prophecy? As far as I understand it - nothing. So why send Misaki after the documents, instead of just telling her the info? I have no idea. Why did Misaki need to know of the prophecy at all? From the point of the story, there was no reason, because she did nothing with this information. From the point of the plot, Misaki was there as an audience stand-in, to reveal the prophecy to us. This is terrible, amateur writing.
Third question: why was Izanami in MIAC’s possession, and why did they move her to Tokyo? The only reason for this would be to make the prophecy come true; so if they wanted it to happen, why were they acting like they didn’t? I think I missed something important here, but after watching it twice I still have no idea, and I don’t think a third time would help.
Fourth question: what was the purpose of the anti-contractor weapon? It did not play a role in the plot regarding the prophecy. It did not present any obstacles for Hei; he didn’t need his power at any point in the plot. He was not necessary for the prophecy, either to bring it about or to prevent it. So why?
My biggest question regarding MIAC though, is: why did they have Misaki join them? She did nothing. She discovered the documents that everyone already knew about. She came up with the bait-and-switch plan to fool Hei (and just where the hell did she get a submarine?), but what was the purpose of this? Hei had no role in the prophecy; MIAC had no reason to want to prevent him from finding Yin - he didn’t even know they had her until Genma let it slip. She found Suou, but again, that had zero effect on the plot. Her reason for joining MIAC was to find BK-201 - who, again, had absolutely nothing to do with MIAC’s plan and was only there because Madam O manipulated him into being present.
Why did Madam O send Hei to destroy the package, if she wanted him to fail? She sent him after a decoy - why? I have so many questions about this plot point, I can’t even begin to discuss it in any meaningful way.
3. Madam Oreille and Shion
So S2 opens up with the FSB attacking Shion’s home in order to capture him, then they chase him all the way to Japan. Why? Do we ever find out?
The CIA has sent Hei after Shion. It’s revealed at the very end that the CIA knows of the prophecy (I’m assuming through Genma), and for some reason thinks that this will create a new source of energy. In which case, why are they interfering so early on? Why not just lie in wait at the Gate? Why were we given no reason to suspect that another organization would have a stake in this?
MI-6 is protecting Shion. From who? Why? We have no idea. Do they know about the prophecy too? If so, then, assuming that world destruction will come at the hands of Shion/Izanagi - why not just kill him?
Throughout S2, Madam Oreille is a mysterious character who has plot-relevant knowledge that she chooses to give to certain characters at certain times. This has to be the most annoying type of character in all of fiction. Why? Because she is manipulating our protagonists from behind the scenes and preventing them from being active characters. There is never any good reason for such a character to withhold their information, beyond that the writer doesn’t want the audience to know yet. There is no reason for her to recruit Hei, or to manipulate him into going to Tokyo. There is no reason for her to approach Misaki, or explain her amazing plan to her at the end. There is no reason for her give Suou the information about her mother. No reason, except that the writers attempted to make the plot look mysterious and complex, when in fact it was just convoluted and contrived.
4. Brave new world
It is revealed at the end that Madam O and Shion’s father have planned everything from the beginning. They want the prophecy to be fulfilled, because it means that Shion will create a brand new world. Ok, remember earlier, when I talked about characters, and motivations, and goals? Creating a new world: goal. The motivation driving the characters toward this goal: …I have no effing clue. This plot point was neither aided nor hindered by Hei, Misaki, or Suou - so why were they even in S2 at all?
From my understanding of the ending, Shion essentially gave his life, through his payment, to create this world. This plot point feels like S1, where Amber sacrifices herself for Hei and all the other contractors (again with the repetition), except I don’t know why Shion did it. Why was it so important to drive him to sacrifice himself? Was it so that Suou would have a place to live? He already brought her back to life, so to speak, so why take the extra step of making a new world?
Where, physically, is this world located? Did it take the place of the moon? How is that going to affect the orbit of the real Earth? How is this new world different from the original? Are there still the Gates, and contractors? If so, why create it? If not, how did he create it? If the new world was built from the memories of existing people, how did he change them so that there are no Gates?
The messianic overtones of this plot point are extremely aggravating and out of place in DtB. Throughout both S1 and S2, we see contractors pay a proportional price for their abilities. S2 is saying, in essence, that the sacrifice of one boy’s life is enough to create the lives of billions of people. It just doesn’t make sense. And because the ending had no personal impact on any of our protagonists, why should we care about it?
The worst, the very worst, thing about plot 3 is that it was internally inconsistent, nonsensical, and completely divorced from the lives of our characters. It did nothing but create questions that it didn’t even try to answer. This plot tried to connect with plots 1 and 2, but completely failed to do so.
In the very end, Misaki, Goro, and Madam O join forces, but we have no idea what exactly it is they are joining forces to do, because S2 didn’t ask that question. In fact, all the questions we have at the end are questions that should have been addressed within the story, but weren’t.
Conclusion
So in conclusion, the major problems with S2 are that 1) it has no unifying theme; 2) there is no believable motivation for any of the characters’ actions; and 3) the plot was convoluted and contrived.
If anyone out there actually understood plot 3, please, please tell me what you think it was about; I really want to know. Just don’t tell me “Oh it’s sci-fi/fantasy, it doesn’t have to make sense” - because that’s BS. Fiction, unlike reality, does have to make sense.
As much as I love S1, I hope they don’t make a third season - not unless they scrap everything that happened in S2, hire new writers, and attempt to tell an actual story.
Plot 3: MIAC and the Izanami/Izanagi prophecy
This was the true main plot of S2, but there are so, so many problems with this plot, I’m not even sure how to organize them. I’ve read the wikis: I know what happens in each episode, but knowing what is not the same as knowing why or how. I apologize in advance for the jumbled mess that this section is - but I blame the writers of S2 for that.
1. The prophecy
This failed. Every fantasy (wait, I thought this was sci-fi?) fan knows that if you’re going to have a prophecy be central to your plot, you need to introduce it early. We need to know what is at stake for the characters and the world if this prophecy comes true, because that’s what creates conflict and tension. S2 introduced the prophecy way too late, and it was way too vague. Heaven and earth would be torn asunder? How? Why? Who are Izanami and Izanagi, and how do we know? What does it mean that they will “meet”? Are they just going to walk up and say hello and that’s enough, or do they have to actually act? If they have to act, is there a reason they might decide not to? None of these vital questions have answers, because S2 failed to ask them in the first place.
Furthermore, what reason do we have to believe that there is any truth to this prophecy, and that it’s not just some random poetry? The inclusion of Amber was an attempt to give the prophecy legitimacy, but it didn’t work, mainly because Amber has never acted in this way before. Her ability allows her to see the future, maybe even visit it. If her foreknowledge was a driving force in the plot, she should have been a real character in it, instead of just a recorded ghost voice that doesn’t actually contribute anything. Did she actually author the prophecy, or did she just find it, and realize that it was going to come true? How did MIAC come to possess the Mitaka documents? Was that Amber’s plan all along? Why?
The revelation that the prophecy needed to come about wasn’t much of a revelation, because we had no investment in the outcome either way. In S1, wiping out the contractors had a personal effect on our protagonists. What was the effect of the prophecy on the S2 protagonists? How was it motivating their actions? We don’t really know, because, well, it wasn’t motivating them. It just gave the writers a few plot points through which they could move the characters.
Yes, I know about the Japanese creation myth that this Izanami/Izanagi story was supposedly based on. And to this I say to Bones: If the understanding of your plot depends upon previous knowledge of an obscure mythology, You Are Doing it Wrong. It isn't one of those situations where you go back and realize that the author was referencing something all along, and that realization makes it so much cooler. It's a situation where the plot makes zero sense; you realize that the author was influenced by a story you've never heard of, and wouldn't have heard of it if you hadn't been frantically googling trying to figure it out, and it still doesn't actually make sense.
2. MIAC
Ok, let’s accept that the prophecy is real, and true, and that disaster will come to the world if it comes to pass. On that premise, MIAC was formed as a secret Japanese organization whose goal is to prevent the prophecy from coming true.
First question: how did they know about the prophecy to begin with? Presumably, they learned of it from the Mitaka documents, the same as Misaki, who they recruited into their organization…and then didn’t tell about the documents, or the purpose of their organization. Madam O sent Misaki after the documents, but Madam O already had an entire plan structured around this prophecy.
So second question: what did Madam O gain by having Misaki learn of the prophecy? As far as I understand it - nothing. So why send Misaki after the documents, instead of just telling her the info? I have no idea. Why did Misaki need to know of the prophecy at all? From the point of the story, there was no reason, because she did nothing with this information. From the point of the plot, Misaki was there as an audience stand-in, to reveal the prophecy to us. This is terrible, amateur writing.
Third question: why was Izanami in MIAC’s possession, and why did they move her to Tokyo? The only reason for this would be to make the prophecy come true; so if they wanted it to happen, why were they acting like they didn’t? I think I missed something important here, but after watching it twice I still have no idea, and I don’t think a third time would help.
Fourth question: what was the purpose of the anti-contractor weapon? It did not play a role in the plot regarding the prophecy. It did not present any obstacles for Hei; he didn’t need his power at any point in the plot. He was not necessary for the prophecy, either to bring it about or to prevent it. So why?
My biggest question regarding MIAC though, is: why did they have Misaki join them? She did nothing. She discovered the documents that everyone already knew about. She came up with the bait-and-switch plan to fool Hei (and just where the hell did she get a submarine?), but what was the purpose of this? Hei had no role in the prophecy; MIAC had no reason to want to prevent him from finding Yin - he didn’t even know they had her until Genma let it slip. She found Suou, but again, that had zero effect on the plot. Her reason for joining MIAC was to find BK-201 - who, again, had absolutely nothing to do with MIAC’s plan and was only there because Madam O manipulated him into being present.
Why did Madam O send Hei to destroy the package, if she wanted him to fail? She sent him after a decoy - why? I have so many questions about this plot point, I can’t even begin to discuss it in any meaningful way.
3. Madam Oreille and Shion
So S2 opens up with the FSB attacking Shion’s home in order to capture him, then they chase him all the way to Japan. Why? Do we ever find out?
The CIA has sent Hei after Shion. It’s revealed at the very end that the CIA knows of the prophecy (I’m assuming through Genma), and for some reason thinks that this will create a new source of energy. In which case, why are they interfering so early on? Why not just lie in wait at the Gate? Why were we given no reason to suspect that another organization would have a stake in this?
MI-6 is protecting Shion. From who? Why? We have no idea. Do they know about the prophecy too? If so, then, assuming that world destruction will come at the hands of Shion/Izanagi - why not just kill him?
Throughout S2, Madam Oreille is a mysterious character who has plot-relevant knowledge that she chooses to give to certain characters at certain times. This has to be the most annoying type of character in all of fiction. Why? Because she is manipulating our protagonists from behind the scenes and preventing them from being active characters. There is never any good reason for such a character to withhold their information, beyond that the writer doesn’t want the audience to know yet. There is no reason for her to recruit Hei, or to manipulate him into going to Tokyo. There is no reason for her to approach Misaki, or explain her amazing plan to her at the end. There is no reason for her give Suou the information about her mother. No reason, except that the writers attempted to make the plot look mysterious and complex, when in fact it was just convoluted and contrived.
4. Brave new world
It is revealed at the end that Madam O and Shion’s father have planned everything from the beginning. They want the prophecy to be fulfilled, because it means that Shion will create a brand new world. Ok, remember earlier, when I talked about characters, and motivations, and goals? Creating a new world: goal. The motivation driving the characters toward this goal: …I have no effing clue. This plot point was neither aided nor hindered by Hei, Misaki, or Suou - so why were they even in S2 at all?
From my understanding of the ending, Shion essentially gave his life, through his payment, to create this world. This plot point feels like S1, where Amber sacrifices herself for Hei and all the other contractors (again with the repetition), except I don’t know why Shion did it. Why was it so important to drive him to sacrifice himself? Was it so that Suou would have a place to live? He already brought her back to life, so to speak, so why take the extra step of making a new world?
Where, physically, is this world located? Did it take the place of the moon? How is that going to affect the orbit of the real Earth? How is this new world different from the original? Are there still the Gates, and contractors? If so, why create it? If not, how did he create it? If the new world was built from the memories of existing people, how did he change them so that there are no Gates?
The messianic overtones of this plot point are extremely aggravating and out of place in DtB. Throughout both S1 and S2, we see contractors pay a proportional price for their abilities. S2 is saying, in essence, that the sacrifice of one boy’s life is enough to create the lives of billions of people. It just doesn’t make sense. And because the ending had no personal impact on any of our protagonists, why should we care about it?
The worst, the very worst, thing about plot 3 is that it was internally inconsistent, nonsensical, and completely divorced from the lives of our characters. It did nothing but create questions that it didn’t even try to answer. This plot tried to connect with plots 1 and 2, but completely failed to do so.
In the very end, Misaki, Goro, and Madam O join forces, but we have no idea what exactly it is they are joining forces to do, because S2 didn’t ask that question. In fact, all the questions we have at the end are questions that should have been addressed within the story, but weren’t.
Conclusion
So in conclusion, the major problems with S2 are that 1) it has no unifying theme; 2) there is no believable motivation for any of the characters’ actions; and 3) the plot was convoluted and contrived.
If anyone out there actually understood plot 3, please, please tell me what you think it was about; I really want to know. Just don’t tell me “Oh it’s sci-fi/fantasy, it doesn’t have to make sense” - because that’s BS. Fiction, unlike reality, does have to make sense.
As much as I love S1, I hope they don’t make a third season - not unless they scrap everything that happened in S2, hire new writers, and attempt to tell an actual story.