Comments | dangermousie: More Saiyuki: We got angst by the bucketload. And not all of it Hakkai's

dangermousie

More Saiyuki: We got angst by the bucketload. And not all of it Hakkai's

Apr 24, 2006 13:07

Got back from a lovely weekend in NYC (pictures forthcoming). Friend who I was visiting and I went to the amazing Egyptian exhibit at the Met (Hatshepsut related).

Also watched more Saiyuki which continues to be excellent. The multi-parter where Goku reverted to his crazy, berserker self to save Sanzo was really good. But what really struck me was ( Read more... )

saiyuki, anime2

Comments 8

crumpeteer April 24 2006, 17:19:03 UTC

I think Sanzo's issues with weakness stems from the fact that he's had several people die protecting him, therefore that to him means he's weak and people die because not only can he not protect them, bu the can't protect himself. That is partially why he doesn't want anyone to care about him. He doesn't think he can protect them. Sanzo is the opposite of Gojyo, who tries to protect everyone because he thinks he should ( ... )

dangermousie April 24 2006, 19:45:43 UTC

I need a Sanzo icon. (I have one saved, but am still deciding which one of my current ones to kick out :P)

That is partially why he doesn't want anyone to care about him. He doesn't think he can protect them.

That is his trigger, actually, just as Hakkai's is Kanan (and interestingly, Goku's trigger is Sanzo, though arguably, his trigger is always on and only the diadem is keeping it suppressed). That is why he goes so psycho on the demon chick: it's because she tells him he is a weak human, and because it's in the context of her killing a Sanzo. In a way, just as Hakkai is doomed to relive Kanan's death and his failure to save her, over and over, Sanzo is forced to relive the night when his father figure died at the hands of a demon and he couldn't save him. He is haunted by failure.

Sanzo is the opposite of Gojyo, who tries to protect everyone because he thinks he should. That is a really great observation! I think the difference stems from their childhoods: Gojyo had a nasty one with an abusive mother and he probably wanted ( ... )

crumpeteer April 24 2006, 20:03:57 UTC

In a way, just as Hakkai is doomed to relive Kanan's death and his failure to save her, over and over, Sanzo is forced to relive the night when his father figure died at the hands of a demon and he couldn't save him.

I think that's part of why Hakkai and Sanzo get along. Their issues run similar. With Gojyo and Goku, their issues are not being loved. Hakkai and Sanzo's are loving and losing. No love has made Goku and Gojyo immature while losing has made Hakkai and Sanzo far more mature and world weary than they have to be (they're only 22 and 23 after all).

I think the difference stems from their childhoods

They both know the opposite ends of things. Gojyo knows about the pain of not being loved and Sanzo knows about the pain of someone loving you enough to die for you. There isn't a happy medium for the two of them. That's why Gojyo is still desperately searching for love while Sanzo is trying to get as far away from it as possible.

I think Hakkai and Sanzo are better off reincarnating...
But the funny thing is that Sanzo ( ... )

dangermousie April 24 2006, 20:49:39 UTC

Gojyo knows about the pain of not being loved and Sanzo knows about the pain of someone loving you enough to die for you. There isn't a happy medium for the two of them. Saiyuki seems to disprove the old adage of 'better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.' Because Goku and Gojyo, who suffer from lack of love, are a lot more functional than Sanzo and Hakkai, who've had a great love and lost it. Because a lack of love can be remedied by finding love (which is why Goku sticks so desperately to Sanzo), but Sanzo and Hakkai aren't really healable ( ... )

Thread 6

Hi! elarielf April 24 2006, 18:12:14 UTC

I'm here via a friend's friend.

I've never nodded at as many things as in your post. I've just started Saiyuki, and I love your read on Hakkai reading Sanzo (and Goku).

Everytime Kanan is brought up I get sad. Sad and uncomfortable...

So anyways... I kinda friended you... is that okay?

Re: Hi! dangermousie April 24 2006, 19:34:29 UTC

Oh, of course it's OK. I love people friending me (ego boost and all that). I'll friend you back. Always need more anime friends.

Sad and uncomfortable...

Oh yes. Because her reaction was understandable (re: suicide) but it screwed Hakkai up beyond any hope of normalcy. And that whole story is just beyond sad. I like angsty, but that isn't angsty, it's painful.

I've just started Saiyuki

I've just recently started it too (and been babbling away about :P). It's great, isn't it?