The Villains
meganbmoore and I have been having a discussion about anime villains and how they're so much more interesting than their western counterparts. Anime has a tendency to not trivialize its villains. Sure, there are plenty of cackling evil crazies and villians who are bad just for the sake of it, but there are also plenty of villians who were driven to do what they do and also "bad" guys who are more noble than the heroes. Even when the villian isn't given much of an excuse, there's still the likelihood that the villian will have his own appealing qualities. This discounts borderline characters who don't really pick a side or switch back and forth. Here are some examples:
Enishi from Rurouni Kenshin
Crimes: Nearly destroys Kenshin by making him think he murdered Kaoru. Tries to kill Kenshin.
Defense: Enishi blames Kenshin for his sister's death (a claim that has some validity to it) and in the wake of it had to do some really unpleasant stuff to get by, such as eating corpses.
Impression: I like Enishi. I even have an Enishi model sitting next to by computer. I think the manga shows that yes, he's very wrong headed, but that this is the horror conflict leaves behind. Enishi is a little boy lost, trapped in his own trauma from a civil war that had no real meaning.
Kougaiji from Saiyuki
Crimes: Repeatedly tries to steal the Maten Scriptures from Sanzo to give to his step mother.
Defense: He's doing it to save his own mother and possibily his half sister.
Impression: Kou is the nicest and noblest character in the entire series. Under any other circumstances he'd probably be helping Sanzo, but Kou knows that if he's to protect his own, he has to do what mommy dearest tells him, which includes trying to kill Sanzo.
Vicious from Cowboy Bebop
Crimes: Murder, theft, military coups, what hasn't this guy done?
Defense: Maybe premature grey hair?
Impression: I still love him and even people who don't like villians in any form admit he's one heck of an impressive character. He's the only character I've yet seen who is badass enough to bring a sword to a gunfight and come out the winner. Also, while he's a killing machine, it's only people who get in his way. He's not into wanton destruction, just his own personal goals. If an anime character can have charisma, this guy does.
Sesshomaru from Inuyasha
Crimes: Tries to kill Inuyasha, tries to kill Kagome, randomly murders people who get in his way.
Defense: Perhaps he was unloved as a child?
Impression: I almost didn't include Sessh, as he's more borderline in the series now, but for a while he was the big bad. He has his own set standard code of honor though and protects his own. He has dignity and a cold power to him that all the heroes lack.
Zechs from Gundam Wing
Crimes: Lots of attempted killing. Helping with world domination. Not making Heero change out of those awful bicycle shorts.
Defense: He thinks he's doing the right thing. Everything he does is for the right reason, just the wrong thing. Later he does everything to protect his sister.
Impression: You understand why all of Zech's men are willing to die for him. He's a much more moral and noble person than main character Heero and much more likable than his obnoxious sister.
These are just a few examples. I'm not even mentioning heroes who are less than desirable or borderline characters who seem to be bad yet turn out good (I'm looking at you, Aoshi and Byakuya). I'm talking about the characters that the anime would have us believe we're to be rooting against. Anime tends to turn character types on their heads by having heroes that have some really undesirable qualities and some villians who are really quite noble and more likable than the heroes. Even then they're not, most of the time we at least understand how they turned out the way they did (Nakago from Fushigi Yuugi was molested as a child, Darcia from Wolf's Rain has some serious dead girlfriend issues). In western media there tends to be a more definative need for black and white. Bad character sort of appealing in some way? Time to beat you over the head with the fact that he's BAD, BAD, BAD. (Guy of Gisborne is a prime example of this, as the actor has his own appeal that makes you willing to forgive the character some things, but the writers keep enforcing the belief that he's pure EVIL by having him try to kill his own kid, stab innocent peasants, torture detainees, etc.). Western media draws the line that "this is good and this is bad and never the twain shall meet". Anime doesn't make that distinction.
meganbmoore put it this way, "The idea of having an entire series where one of the protagonists was working for the bad guys, and HONESTLY working for them, not being brainwashed or working under cover, is something most western writers could never come up with or understand."
I put a lot of it over to western writers being expected to write white bread characters. Audiences need to have someone to root for without being confused about side affiliations. We don't get the concept of honor; that someone can be on the wrong side and still be an honorable person. If the person IS good and still on the wrong side, that person is written as weak and mousey, bumbling around until they finally decide to change sides or are killed. Anime doesn't cop out that easily. It writes strong bad characters who are still moral and conflicted, not cackling madmen with money on their mind.
To use the Robin Hood analogy again, strip away all the superfulous trappings of the story and how Guy was written and you're left with what could have been, a man who dislikes his employer and does what he's ordered but is still not comfortable with it, yet it's a job and a job within the law at that. Robin is the character that breaks all of the rules. He's technically on the "bad" side if we want to get down to it. How much more interesting would it have been to have two good but flawed men fighting each other? Western audiences aren't ready for that though, I suppose.
Enishi from Rurouni Kenshin
Crimes: Nearly destroys Kenshin by making him think he murdered Kaoru. Tries to kill Kenshin.
Defense: Enishi blames Kenshin for his sister's death (a claim that has some validity to it) and in the wake of it had to do some really unpleasant stuff to get by, such as eating corpses.
Impression: I like Enishi. I even have an Enishi model sitting next to by computer. I think the manga shows that yes, he's very wrong headed, but that this is the horror conflict leaves behind. Enishi is a little boy lost, trapped in his own trauma from a civil war that had no real meaning.
Kougaiji from Saiyuki
Crimes: Repeatedly tries to steal the Maten Scriptures from Sanzo to give to his step mother.
Defense: He's doing it to save his own mother and possibily his half sister.
Impression: Kou is the nicest and noblest character in the entire series. Under any other circumstances he'd probably be helping Sanzo, but Kou knows that if he's to protect his own, he has to do what mommy dearest tells him, which includes trying to kill Sanzo.
Vicious from Cowboy Bebop
Crimes: Murder, theft, military coups, what hasn't this guy done?
Defense: Maybe premature grey hair?
Impression: I still love him and even people who don't like villians in any form admit he's one heck of an impressive character. He's the only character I've yet seen who is badass enough to bring a sword to a gunfight and come out the winner. Also, while he's a killing machine, it's only people who get in his way. He's not into wanton destruction, just his own personal goals. If an anime character can have charisma, this guy does.
Sesshomaru from Inuyasha
Crimes: Tries to kill Inuyasha, tries to kill Kagome, randomly murders people who get in his way.
Defense: Perhaps he was unloved as a child?
Impression: I almost didn't include Sessh, as he's more borderline in the series now, but for a while he was the big bad. He has his own set standard code of honor though and protects his own. He has dignity and a cold power to him that all the heroes lack.
Zechs from Gundam Wing
Crimes: Lots of attempted killing. Helping with world domination. Not making Heero change out of those awful bicycle shorts.
Defense: He thinks he's doing the right thing. Everything he does is for the right reason, just the wrong thing. Later he does everything to protect his sister.
Impression: You understand why all of Zech's men are willing to die for him. He's a much more moral and noble person than main character Heero and much more likable than his obnoxious sister.
These are just a few examples. I'm not even mentioning heroes who are less than desirable or borderline characters who seem to be bad yet turn out good (I'm looking at you, Aoshi and Byakuya). I'm talking about the characters that the anime would have us believe we're to be rooting against. Anime tends to turn character types on their heads by having heroes that have some really undesirable qualities and some villians who are really quite noble and more likable than the heroes. Even then they're not, most of the time we at least understand how they turned out the way they did (Nakago from Fushigi Yuugi was molested as a child, Darcia from Wolf's Rain has some serious dead girlfriend issues). In western media there tends to be a more definative need for black and white. Bad character sort of appealing in some way? Time to beat you over the head with the fact that he's BAD, BAD, BAD. (Guy of Gisborne is a prime example of this, as the actor has his own appeal that makes you willing to forgive the character some things, but the writers keep enforcing the belief that he's pure EVIL by having him try to kill his own kid, stab innocent peasants, torture detainees, etc.). Western media draws the line that "this is good and this is bad and never the twain shall meet". Anime doesn't make that distinction.
meganbmoore put it this way, "The idea of having an entire series where one of the protagonists was working for the bad guys, and HONESTLY working for them, not being brainwashed or working under cover, is something most western writers could never come up with or understand."
I put a lot of it over to western writers being expected to write white bread characters. Audiences need to have someone to root for without being confused about side affiliations. We don't get the concept of honor; that someone can be on the wrong side and still be an honorable person. If the person IS good and still on the wrong side, that person is written as weak and mousey, bumbling around until they finally decide to change sides or are killed. Anime doesn't cop out that easily. It writes strong bad characters who are still moral and conflicted, not cackling madmen with money on their mind.
To use the Robin Hood analogy again, strip away all the superfulous trappings of the story and how Guy was written and you're left with what could have been, a man who dislikes his employer and does what he's ordered but is still not comfortable with it, yet it's a job and a job within the law at that. Robin is the character that breaks all of the rules. He's technically on the "bad" side if we want to get down to it. How much more interesting would it have been to have two good but flawed men fighting each other? Western audiences aren't ready for that though, I suppose.