- 积分
- 7351
- 注册时间
- 2005-4-26
- 最后登录
- 1970-1-1
|
Here ends this typical yet remarkable tale of star-crossed lovers. Let us take another look at the three leads of this story. What were their actual roles in this show? There were so many twists and turns that the characters’ true natures were hard to decipher. My last commentary is on the universal question of what makes a hero. Who was the real hero in this story? All three leading characters? Or were none of them heroes?
Did the eventual saving of the world and the bittersweet ending make Chikane heroic? Of course not, while her intentions might be noble, her reprehensible actions made her the sympathetic villain, who was redeemed by forgiveness (from both Himeko and herself). What about the valiant and gallant Souma, he was definitely heroic no? No, Souma was the knight in shining armour, the devoted protector, the champion. The true hero of this piece, unbelievable as it might sound, was Himeko.
Souma was the first one to be confronted with his destiny, which was to help the Orochi destroy the world. But he rebelled against his destiny and even against his blood brother who had sacrificed everything for him. He denied his destiny by the strength of his convinction that destroying the world, and Himeko along with it, was the wrong thing to do. Instead he opposed the Orochi and fought to protect the world. He went against his destiny through sheer will-power and bull-headedness.
However, even he admitted that the reason he fought his destiny was because he always thought that Himeko was someone who needed to be protected. For the longest time, he viewed Himeko as weak and fragile, someone to be kept safe from harm, someone who would break under pressure. He was going to continue using his Orochi power to protect Himeko as long as he was able to.
But what would happen to the world and everyone he cared for (Himeko, Kazuki, Yukihito and even Tsubasa) if he was defeated by the Orochi, either in a battle against one of the other acolytes or when the dark scales finally consumed all of him? He never thought that far, he was just so focused on protecting the seemingly helpless Himeko that at the rate he was going, all he would accomplish was delay the inevitable Orochi domination over the world.
Maybe he was hoping that the Sword God would be revived before his defeat, but we saw that Souma had this protective streak in him way before the Orochi appeared. And even in the rebuilt world without the Orochi, when he asked Himeko to be his girlfriend, he reinforced his request with a promise to protect her. This was why in this story he was a warrior rather than the hero, the knight who would always protect the defenceless.
This knightly trait was brought to the fore when Souma was completely covered in scales and Tsubasa asked if he regretted ending up doomed to be conscious but motionless for all eternity. And Souma tranquilly said that he was fine with his fate as long as Himeko was alive and well. This was classic self-sacrifice for the sake of another. With an attitude that allowed the destruction of one’s own self for the well-being of another, Souma could never be the true hero of the story, but could only be the champion who fought on behalf of someone else with a worthy cause.
A true hero would fight for one’s own right to live the way one would want to live, to live and die by one’s own choices, not dependent on someone else’s choices. Of course one could say that Souma lived the life he wanted by protecting Himeko til the bitter end, he made his own choice to protect her no matter what, so since it was his own choice, how could he not be the hero when he managed to do what he had set out to do?
He could not be the hero because his actions were dependent on Himeko’s decisions, what would happen if Himeko decided to kill instead of just talk to Chikane? Souma would help Himeko try to kill Chikane. What if Himeko was the one who had turned to the dark side and joined the Orochi? Odds were Souma might very well have succumbed to the Orochi darkness in him because he had insufficient reason to save the world. Souma was just lucky the person he decided to protect and help was a good and decent human being.
Souma, as loyal as he was, would never be the master of his own fate as long as he allowed someone else’s decisions to dictate his own actions. Souma would forever be reacting to new developments and this was too passive a stance for a true hero to take. Souma was following too much in his brother's footsteps, allowing another person's well-being dictate his actions and the life he would end up living.
While Tsubasa's self-sacrifice nearly destroyed the world and Souma's self-sacrifice saved it, the protective impulse that motivated their self-sacrificing acts was the same. The frightening and destructive Tsubasa was an excellent example of how good intentions could easily result in terrible consequences if the actions taken could not be reconciled with the nobility of the initial intentions. Souma was already noble to begin with and everything that happened to him just reinforced the natural nobility in his thoughts, words and deeds.
However, being noble does not equal being right. Souma was too influenced by his childhood trauma of abuse, his helplessness to defend himself or his beloved brother when he was a kid, made him into the person he became, a young man driven to protect the defenceless. His actions seemed to imply that despite his bravery and aggressiveness, he was never able to truly overcome the fear of being helpless. So the true hero’s journey of self-discovery was left to someone else, because Souma never changed his protective stance in the entire show.
But Souma travelled his own warrior’s journey. He went from a youngster with a bright future, to a follower of an evil cult, to a defender of Earth, to a fighter who relied on borrowed strength from Tsubasa and Himeko, to an abandoned soldier about to die an early lonely death, to the protector of the world and finally back to a promising lad who handled his first rejection with graciousness and aplomb. Souma’s true strength laid in his unquestionable integrity and his utter devotion to a cause he deemed worthy.
Chikane on the other hand was the master strategist, the chess player moving the pawns in order to bring about the desired result. She manipulated everyone into doing what she wanted them to do and the only person who did not fall for it was Tsubasa. He divined her true intentions during their duel because it was so similar to his own youthful sacrifice, taking on the visage of a villian to protect a loved one, even though it meant hurting the people they wanted to protect in the process.
Tsubasa hurt Souma by leaving him to cope alone with the guilt and horror of witnessing his father’s death at the hands of his protective brother, whereas Chikane hurt Himeko by betraying her, assaulting her and leaving her to carry the burden of saving the world alone. Tsubasa also recognised the regret and rage in Chikane at the injustice of having to kill Himeko in their past lives, the same reproach and anger he felt upon being forced to kill his own father, though they both had good reasons to kill (Tsubasa to protect Souma and Chikane to save the world) both cannot accept any nobility or moral right in their murderous actions.
However, Himeko taught Chikane a very valuable lesson when she said that Chikane was only human, with human emotions and foibles. That it was alright to rely on others once in a while, that strength and comfort could be derived from others’ love and support. That she did not have to act so strong and independent nor restrain herself in front of others all the time. Himeko’s pleas to let her feelings out and allow Himeko to comfort her were rewarded. And Chikane fnally learnt that she could let herself break down and cry in the arms of her loved one when the going got too tough.
Chikane, despite all her suffering and noble intentions, was too much of a mastermind to be a true hero, she planned everything from start to finish, including the consequences of all their actions and reactions. Chikane did not fight against her destiny, when she learnt she was the Lunar Priestess, she accepted her duty and was pleased to be able to fight hand in hand with Himeko. When she found out about the last step of the ritual, the ceremonial killing of a priestess by the other, she did not question that it had to be done. All she did was reverse the roles of the priestesses.
Chikane really should have known better than to embark on her terrible course of action, an unasked for act of selflessness might end up placing an overwhelming burden of unpayable debt and excruciating sorrow on the beneficiary of the selfless act. Chikane experienced this burden first hand when Himeko's act of self-sacrifice in their previous lifetime left her with unbearable guilt and pain. To protect Himeko's life, Chikane was willing to sacrifice not only her own life but also risk Himeko suffering the same suppressed self-recrimination that Chikane herself had experienced, despite the memory wipe and a new life cycle.
It was only at the very last moment before she was about to be taken away and sealed in the Lunar Shrine, when faced with Himeko’s distress and agony at their parting that Chikane drew strength from Himeko and finally regained her fighting spirit and resolved to find a way back to Himeko, so that they could be together despite their ill-fated destiny. Hers was the journey of a saint who became a martyr and ended up a human, frail but courageous and resolute.
Chikane's life started with her having true and pure values, the right beliefs and principles, but she strayed from her bright shining path when faced with the obstacles of her overwhelming guilt from a past life and the damning knowledge of her destiny, and ended up walking a dark lonely road. But she was led back to her true path by the light of Himeko's love and strength. Hers was a journey of redemption and the regaining of lost values, ending with her attainment of absolution and peace, as well as the restoration of her will to live and love to the fullest. She lost her way but managed to return to her rightful path, she had come full circle.
But it was the shy and unassertive Himeko who emerged as the true hero of this story. The loss of her loving parents at a very young age, followed by the abuse from her foster parents, made Himeko timid and diffident. She lacked self-esteem and always deemed herself unworthy of love and affection. But she slowly built up her confidence by the making of three key friends, firstly Souma, at a time where she was all alone in the world and too small to defend herself against the cruelty of the world or fully understand it. Souma was her first comforter and protector, her shelter from the hurt.
Secondly, Makoto, her roommate when she entered the school dormitory, who was everything Himeko was not. Makoto was full of live and energy, always cheerful and confident, pushing herself constantly to excel in her chosen sport. But despite their different personalities, Makoto took Himeko under her wing and became her close friend, looking out for her and sharing her experiences with Himeko.
Finally, Chikane entered her life and she felt an instant connection to the beautiful, intelligent and accomplished girl, who complimented her efforts at photography and other activities. Chikane showed her the many varied and wondrous things the world had to offer. She widened Himeko’s horizons and shared her joy of life and the world with Himeko. Under her patient encouragement, Himeko took an active interest in life and began to understand the importance of diligence and spirited pursuit of a goal, as well as the exhilaration of taking charge of one’s own life.
So Himeko had a protector (Souma), a friend (Makoto) and a mentor (Chikane). The appearance of all three people in her life allowed her to slowly rebuild her self-esteem. Then along came Kazuki, burdening her with the tremendous responsibility of saving the world, but she was able to cope because of Chikane’s and Souma’s support. However, she lost Makoto’s friendship and that was a huge blow. Souma and Chikane were both so prominent that Makoto often got short shift, however, Makoto was crucial to the growth of Himeko’s self-respect. This was because Makoto was Himeko’s peer.
Souma and Chikane were both such outstanding and accomplished individuals that Himeko always suffered from a slight inferiority complex in their presence. She was always slightly intimidated by how talented and gifted they were, she never felt able to match up to them and might never have even tried to if it was not for Makoto, an ordinary girl just like her, whom she witnessed working hard day and night to excel and managing to attain her goal.
Makoto was a virtual stranger who shared no past life experiences or tragic youthful circumstances with Himeko and had no reason at all to want to be close to her. They were put together as roommates and could have stayed as nothing more than acquaintances but Makoto happily extended a hand in friendship and that gesture meant a great deal to Himeko. So the loss of that friendship hurt her more deeply than she revealed.
But Souma and Chikane stepped up to partially fill the void. Souma became her companion by taking her on shopping and other excursions, while Chikane took her into her home and became her guardian and confidant. They both became her comrade-in-arms against the Orochi. Then Chikane turned against her and Himeko lost her pillar of support and strength, as well as both her fellow warriors, since Souma was deprived of his mech.
She also lost all her budding spirit and self-assurance, but Kazuki forced her to face reality and fight. The confidence Kazuki had in her abilities began to shake her from her despair. Then Makoto returned and made up with her, gave her much needed comfort and support, showing Himeko that she also had confidence in Himeko’s abilities to fight and win. So Himeko gained a new mentor in Kazuki and regained a friend in Makoto.
This was followed by Otoha’s letter, which emphasised that Chikane was strong and dauntless but nevertheless was neither emotionless nor invulnerable. Otoha, the person who understood Chikane the most, expressed certainty that Himeko was the only one Chikane would allow herself to depend on. Otoha’s faith in Chikane and in Himeko’s ability to breach Chikane’s armour of solitude, made Himeko decide to discover Chikane’s true intention.
With the support from Kazuki, Makoto and Otoha, Himeko slowly regained her confidence in her own intuition, because despite everything Chikane did, Himeko still believed in her. So drawing strength from the people around her, she decided to revive the Sword God, not to oppose Chikane but as a means to get close to her and ascertain the reasons behind her inexplicable actions. Lastly, Souma made the decision to co-pilot the revived Sword mech and Himeko gained back a comrade-in-arms. She was more assured about facing down Chikane.
This sequence of events really brought to the forefront Himeko’s journey of self-discovery. In the depths of her misery, she not only responded to help and support from others, she accepted their advice and emerged from the lowest point in her life with a miraculous decision, a decision to trust. Trust the people she cared for and believed in, trust that the confidence and faith they had in her abilities were not misplaced, and more importantly, trust her own judgement, trust her own conviction that despite all evidence to the contrary, Chikane was not evil.
And she held on tightly to that trust and conviction, even though Chikane went back to the mansion and messed with her mind, even during the first part of their sword fight where Chikane barraged her with words of lust and jealousy, right up until Chikane dashed her hopes by endangering the world. Himeko was overwhelmed by the rage and despair at the realisation that Chikane was serious about destroying the world and the crushing disappointment of Chikane betraying Himeko's trust in her yet again. Himeko then started fighting back but the fatal blow she dealt deflated all her anger and only left her with the sorrow of killing her beloved Chikane.
However, Chikane’s confession of her plan to save the world made Himeko realise that her instincts were right all along and she decided to follow her intuition all the way to its natural conclusion as she relentlessly questioned Chikane about her real feelings towards her. Himeko recognised the verity in Chikane’s earlier words and this time was not going to be denied the truth.
Himeko then managed to deduce something for the first time, that Chikane was human, Chikane whom she always regarded as an angel whose attention and affection towards her were as transcient and precious as a wonderful dream. She always felt that her claim on Chikane was tenuous and insubstantial, but now she realised that Chikane was behaving like any other sixteen year old with a crush, trying her best to spend time alone with the person she loved.
This was a momentous discovery because for Himeko to even come to that conclusion, for Himeko to actually analyse the situation that clearly in the space of a few minutes, meant she finally came into her own as she recognised and acknowledged that someone as splendid as Chikane could be attracted and charmed by her. She also realised that she felt the same intense love for Chikane, that it was this love fueling her conviction that Chikane did not turn evil.
Then she pleaded with Chikane to release her pain and sorrow because she wanted to share her burden, she wanted to comfort Chikane, the way Chikane always comforted her. Himeko was showing Chikane that she could be strong for her, strong enough to accept Chikane’s love and all it entailed. She told Chikane she would shout her love for Chikane without embarrassment or shame. Her joyous acceptance of her radical love for another girl broke the hold of her constant fear of disapproval. Himeko was always one to keep a low profile and not antagonise others, fearful of earning their displeasure, definitely a throwback from her days of abuse at the hands of her foster parents. But she was finally willing to brave any censure thrown her way because she would never ever deny her feelings for Chikane again.
What a marvelous declaration, Himeko had grown so much, grown from a meek fearful child to a courageous spirited woman. Himeko brought her new found strength together with her into the new Orochi-less world. She rejected Souma with a really crazy reason, but she was not afraid to say it, she did not stumble nor falter in her words because the lesson she learnt was still in her heart, unshakable and undeniable (recall the scene where she cried while looking at the pictures of her alone, Makoto reached out to comfort her but Himeko pulled herself together, without needing to rely on someone else).
Then just before they were torn apart, Himeko said the most awe-inspiring words yet, that she would fight against the memory eroding factor of time, against the inevitable destiny, against the merciless God. She would not lose to anyone or anything in her fight to tightly hold onto her feelings of intense love for Chikane. And the reason behind her fighting spirit was because the love she felt for Chikane was mutual, because Chikane felt the same way about her too. It was incredibly satisfying to hear Himeko make such a forceful and unbelievably astute statement.
Like the words spoken by a priest during the ceremony of marriage, paraphrased into “What God has put together, let no man tear apart”. Many people take this to mean that divorce is sacrilege, but what these passionate words can mean is that the institution of marriage is something not to be entered into lightly. One should be certain that one’s spouse is someone with whom one has an unbreakable and irreplaceable bond, a bond made up of mutual respect and love.
Such a bond can only come about by the mysterious workings of God, so when a couple experiences mutual love, intense enough to want to be together for the rest of their lives, then this is a match made in heaven. Such a match is infrequent and precious, something to be treasured and protected, something sacred. So when God brings two people together with such a bond, no human should ever try to sunder the pair, maybe because of greed, social incompatibility, personality differences, jealousy, religious concerns, ethics, pre-arranged marriages or any other earthly reasons.
So Himeko really just said the same thing, that mutual love was rare and divine, not to be thrown away or given up just because of overwhelming obstacles. Even if victory was impossible, to not fight to the last breath in an attempt to hold onto that precious gift of mutual love was unthinkable and unforgivable. Such a remarkable statement to make and such a remarkable person Himeko had become.
She had grown so strong, she grew from a girl afraid of her own shadow to a person willing to challenge the Gods, and this was why Himeko became the true hero of the show. She had gone through terrible times, as well as wonderful times, learnt many lessons along the way and was reborn a new enlightened person. She did not forget the lessons she learnt nor did she remake her old mistakes. She kept her marvelous discoveries of love and self confidence close to her heart, even in her new life. Himeko’s journey ended up as the true hero’s journey that invoked inspiration and renewal.
－－－－－－－－－－－－原文的分割线－－－－－－－－－－－－－
读起来像GRE作文......
话说译者也很强
那个站 第8话的简介 ll13
[ Last edited by kaas on 2005-8-31 at 03:49 ] |
|
发表于 2005-8-30 20:49
发表于 2005-8-31 03:14
发表于 2005-8-31 06:13
