regarding Yang (1st series ending spoilers)
Califf, Jennifer (jcaliff@nsai-petro.com)
Tue, 8 Jul 1997 16:00:24 -0500
You know, I was thinking about the one of the reasons I like Yang so
much.
He lost his two best friends in a very short period of time - first Jean
Robert Lapp, then Jessica Edwards. You know he was upset, especially
when Jessica died. Not only was she his best friend, but it was obvious
that their relationship could've been much more. There was grieving,
but then he managed to work through the grief and move forward. To the
best of my knowledge, he never collapsed to the ground screaming out her
name, and as far as we know, he never vowed to begin an eternal quest
for vengeance against those who had caused her death. Maybe it gave him
a greater resolve to try to end the violence of the war, but not in a
way that made it obvious that he was doing things as part of a personal
vendetta. I think this is one of the things that makes Yang seem more
realistic and more human to me. Most people don't have a huge
personality reversal when their friends die, but instead they manage as
best they can and move on. I'm not referring to Reinhard specifically
here, rather I'm referring to anime in general -- Reinhard was closer to
Kircheis than most people ever are, even with their own families. His
situation is understandable. I wouldn't even call his a personality
reversal, but that the event brought forward a side of Reinhard that had
always existed but was usually not dominant. Obviously, Reinhard had
always been somewhat vicious even as a child, but it was largely a
result of Kircheis' personality that kept that part of him in check.
Just some thoughts.
Jennifer
Yang no Miko without a shrine (yet)