Asano's role and development: thoughts and discussion.

DimensionW · Post by **DimensionW** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 12:33 am

They dropped a bridge on him. It phased me quite a bit at the time, but after finding out he wasn't in the novels, I realized that he was probably doomed for the start. Besides, he would have just gotten in the way of all the RakushuunxYouko shippers.

It was a really unconvincing death overall, made more insulting by just how pointless they made his role in death. It's like they were lamp shading the fact that he was a tag-along fake character the whole time.

Having him go batshit crazy didn't make sense at all. Well, unless you watched it in English. Then you happen to know he's that guy which pretty much meant he was destined to get broken somewhere along the line. Hell, he even broke himself in real life and quit voice acting to become a hypnotist.

DimensionW · Post by **DimensionW** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:00 pm

His insanity didn't make sense because he was the most calm and collected character. He pulled a complete 180 from being the voice of reason to being the "murder everything!" guy. It was just cheesy. Adding to that how batshit crazy companion character Sugimoto was at first and how her transition went the exact opposite direction and it just seemed like a really bad cliche.

It also doesn't make sense how Asano keeps himself so well kempt for their first few weeks in the place, but then turns into a scraggly looking guy who appears never to comb his hair. I suppose he could have dropped it, but I have a feeling the traveling performers would have provided one for him eagerly.

DimensionW · Post by **DimensionW** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:27 am

Just a few of the tropes that apply to Asano:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... eShaggyDog
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... ssMakeover
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... balLecture
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... entHorizon

DimensionW · Post by **DimensionW** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 11:34 pm

Juuni wrote:
DimensionW wrote:His insanity didn't make sense because he was the most calm and collected character.
It also doesn't make sense how Asano keeps himself so well kempt for their first few weeks in the place, but then turns into a scraggly looking guy who appears never to comb his hair.
It makes a lot of sense.

At first he was calm, cool and collected because he was in his element. He left the world he knew and entered a new one, whose rules he did not knew and whose language he did not understand. Yet, he was still able to maintain a sort of coolness, because he had his friends with him. When they were lost too, he was forced to live on his own in an environment which he considered to be hostile, because he did not understand it. Thus, he lost all touch with reality and subsequently his peaceful nature. Half way through his insanity, he meets Youko again. Quite roughly, she temporarily sets him back on the right track. When he finally understands this new reality that he has lived in, his peaceful, righteous nature kicks back in and he decides to do what is right. The fact that he dies while doing it, adds value to the lesson we are to learn from Asano.

It'd be one thing for him to go a little crazy, but he outright becomes Woobie Destroyer of Worlds. In his own mind of course. It isn't like he was in the worst position at the time either. He was embedded in a familiar element, traveling with Shusei and what not... which Yoko had certainly explained to him during the initial ark. It isn't too likely that they were treating him like an outcast either.

Compounding that, the Shusei would have known about En and its programs. It isn't likely that they would avoid a place like that for an extended period of time what with it being the single most prosperous nation on the mainland continent... the whole thing just requires way too much suspension of disbelief. If anything, his tension away from Yoko should have been less than his tension around Yoko. He had a sizable traveling party that didn't attract demons, he didn't have people constantly trying to sell him into slavery or outright kill him for potential rewards, and he didn't have to deal with his batshit crazy girlfriend anymore.

As for the usefulness of tropes wiki, if you have a cliché and you want to tack it on to someone, it helps to have a name for that cliché.

DimensionW · Post by **DimensionW** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:44 am

Objection. Sugimoto's insanity was obvious from the moment she set foot in the story. Even in the book you could immediately tell she had issues... just in the book they don't get resolved.

We can dance around the issues all day, but from the way I see it, Asano just flipping out the moment the pressure is off is a copout and a quick means of plot-damage control.

DimensionW · Post by **DimensionW** » Sun May 03, 2009 3:35 am

Except Yoko's sword relays Sugimoto's somewhat sociopathic thoughts to Yoko in the book... which is more than just mild ecentricity. It's one thing for a character to be a loner and bullied, it's another for her to be pleased with the disappearance and likely death of one of the people who didn't bully her.

Granted, said visions aren't necessarily reliable... in this case it's taken as a probable truth.

DimensionW · Post by **DimensionW** » Sun May 24, 2009 2:16 am

Wouldn't work in the context of the books since they explicitly state that people die pretty much directly as a result of every shoku created by Kirin... not that that part of the continuity has any bearing on the animated version what with them not thinking twice about teleporting Yuka home (in the book people who get transported to the 12k are pretty much SOL simply because their being forced to adapt to a new way of life isn't worth the sacrifice of a multitude of lives).

On the other hand, if they ever do continue the anime for whatever reason, it's fairly obvious they were wanting to develop on Yuka's character, so why not.