Re: Manga No. 9 and spoilers
Isaac Kuo (kuo@oldbit.csc.lsu.edu)
Tue, 19 Oct 1999 11:18:19 -0500 (CDT)
Everyone remember to use spoiler warnings!
Spoilers for manga 9/1st anime series...
Sherlyn Lim wrote:
>>From: "Ryka G. T."
>>>I don't know about the manga but from the anime... I thought Reinhard
>>>wasn't like that, it was Oberstein who did the scheming and planning and
>>>Reinhard is still just human not an super human being who knows every
>>>plots, he thought he had time to think things over and I'm sure if he
>>>wasn't trick but that blasted Oberstein he wouldn't have allow that
>>>massacre to happen. He NEVER consented to it.>>
>Ah. Oops. I think we just stumbled onto one of the differences between the
>anime and the manga.
Well, in the anime it's not entirely clear. Reinhard did not
explicitely allow Westerland to be attacked, but he did decide
to delay his decision. Oberstein lied about the exact timing
of the attack to Reinhard. For whatever reasons, Reinhard
decided not to stay on top of the situation and retired to his
room until the last possible minute--which was too late because
Oberstein lied to him.
Reinhard was quite upset with Oberstein, but he never told
anyone--not even Kircheis--what happenned. Instead, when
Kircheis asked Reinhard about it, Reinhard simply replied
that the rumors (that he allowed Westerland to be attacked
for political reasons) were true.
Reinhard does think to himself that he didn't explicitely
allow it, but that he didn't act immediately either.
>>>Bits about Reinhard's good heart snipped>>
>>That's my personal opinion. Anybody else thinks differently????
>I'm not saying that he is some kind of superman (although some female fans
>might argue otherwise ;)) or even that he didn't feel some guilt over the
>event.
>I mean, whether or not he sanctioned the massacre(And I still think he did)
>the fact remains that he and his group of generals/commanders/
>what-have-yous would have to do some really nasty things to win. And they
>did.
I think he wasn't sure at the time, but that he justified it
to himself afterward.
>Take the Free Alliance invasion that ended with such ignomy for the
>warmongers of the Alliance. Reinhard basically lured the Alliance troops
>further into the Empire territory by pulling out of a whole bunch of planets
>- and taking the food sources with them.
>The Alliance troops - with the exception of Yang who saw through the trick -
>fell hook, line and sinker for it. They took over the planets, which caused
>a major drain on their own supplies.
They didn't just fall for it--they had no choice as to what to do,
given the culture of the Alliance and the ideals they were fighting
for.
Reinhard's strategy worked well because he calculated correctly
what the Alliance forces would have to do--and he also knew that
the risk to the Empire's people was small.
Interestingly, he often fails to understand the political
constraints Yang is under. For instance, he doesn't understand
why Yang accepts the war prisoners even knowing that spies
are among them.
>Reinhard did this to defeat the enemy, but he made use of the people to do
>this. This, as opposed to fighting with ships and troops (presumably, they
>knew what possible fates await them when they signed up), is what makes
>Reinhard not the "purest" person around.
He ordered the people to do this and they obeyed because of the
culture of the Empire. This strategy simply wouldn't be conceivable
the other way around.
Reinhard knew the people were in little real danger as a result of
his plan.
>Directly after this incident, Yang commented that it was a good strategy,
>but one he personally couldn't implement because of the suffering of the
>people. On a few other occasions, Yang was worried that Reinhard might turn
>out to be another tyrant like Rudolf.
Yang understands Reinhard far better than Reinhard understands Yang.
However, both of them make the mistake of assuming the other is
similar to them. Yang continues to admire Reinhard as being just
long after Westerland (which he knows little, if anything, about).
>So, Reinhard = good of heart? I guess it all depends on whether you believe
>if the ends justifies the means.
Basically, I don't think Oberstein truly corrupted Reinhard. I
think all he really did was amplify those Machievellian tendencies
he already had--and which up until that point were tempered by
Kircheis.
--
_____ Isaac Kuo kuo@bit.csc.lsu.edu http://www.csc.lsu.edu/~kuo
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/___________\ "Mari-san... Yokatta...
\=\)-----(/=/ ...Yokatta go-buji de..." - Karigari Hiroshi
