RE: [LoGH] An Analysis of Siegfried Kircheis [Some Spoilers for Valley of White Silver]
Rob Ketcherside (roba@anime.net)
Mon, 4 Sep 2000 22:29:26 -0700
> ** SPOILER WARNING **
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> I talk, in detail, about several scenes of the Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu Gaiden
> "Valley of White Silver" arc. If you have not seen it and you'd
> rather not be
> spoiled - skip this message now.
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> One comment that I'll make right off the bat is that I wish
> Tokuma hadn't been
> working so hard trying to make this accessible to new viewers.
> There are so
> many Sieg-Reinhard-Annerose "when we were younger" flashbacks
> that it gets old pretty fast.
I haven't seem much beyond season 1 of the regular series, but I assume the
flashbacks pretty much stop after the big events at the end of season 1.
We're getting the childhood flashbacks for the same reason in White Silver.
I would expect to only see flashbacks that are relevent to the plot in
future arcs for Gaiden, but that's just conjecture.
I was kind of confused by seeing different flashback scenes in Gaiden than
the regular series.. some scenes just never were shown before, and others
were worded a bit differently. I always assumed that in the flashbacks we
were seeing actual history. Maybe the regular series flashbacks were
Rheinhard's memories, while the Gaiden ones are those of Kircheis? Maybe it
was just different writers?!
> Also, as with most prequels, any threats to the characters we are already
> familiar with do not carry the same dramatic impact as an 'in the present'
> story would. Also the fact that this is a fairly cliched story
> with way too
> much exposition on the part of the ne'er-do-wells that what we
> have here is
> little more than a character study. (I think after I am finished with the
> fansub of the 4 episode arc I will reedit it as a movie with some
> of the more
> obvious stuff cut. Fear not, no footage from other anime series
> will appear
> ;))
Not a bad idea.. as far as the whole prequel thing, I think it's kind of
nice to see how the relationships and animosities were developed that are
taken for granted in the regular series.
> What is somewhat interesting is Siegfried Kircheis' internal
> dialogue during
> this -- in and out of flashback sequences puts a bit of a
> different spin on
> his character and his relationships with Reinhard and Annerose.
>
> 1) It's implied - rather bluntly and repeatedly - that Siegfried perhaps
> became good chums with Reinhard solely to pursue Annerose as a
> love interest.
> 2) It's also implied during an internal monologue that Siegfried
> will fight
> with Reinhard... "for now". As if to say, I'll be your ally
> until Annerose
> returns my love for her.
Yeah, we see some traits in Kircheis that aren't focused on in the regular
series. Friendly, forgiving, humanist Kircheis is firing on a person with a
tank rail cannon at short range just for calling Annerose a whore. Then he
gives Rheinhard the okay to shoot the guy between the eyes when that fails.
Seems quite unlike Kircheis.
> So is Siegfried just an opportunist? Or perhaps some of his
> friendship with
> Reinhard is genuine but much of his sacrificial nature is to
> prove himself to
> Annerose. Or perhaps the heavy handidness of the
> Siegfried-Reinhard-Annerose
> relationship is an effort by Tokuma to dispel the Yaoi fanfic/fan artwork?
Think about this possible explanation of the relationship:
1) Rheinhard only maintains his friendship with Kircheis because he needs
help freeing his sister, and because his sister tells him to.
2) Kircheis only is friends with Rheinhard because Annerose asks him to, and
because Rheinhard is the only one who can free her.
3) Annerose only deals with her brother because of his friend Kircheis.
None of them are really that manipulative of course. I think it does play
into their relationships at some level though.
