Since so much about Nakago and his life was not covered at all in the series there are lots of questions floating around, and there are also a lot of ponderings and theories floating around. This page will contain the answers I've heard that I thought really covered everything well and any especially interesting ponderings I happen across. ^-^ You are free to disagree with the posted answers here, and if you have a different answer that is equally well thought out I would be more than happy to include your perspective here as well. We'll probably end up making more questions than we answer, but it will be interesting anyhow, ne? ^-^ Drop your questions and answers to questions right here in this box ^.~
QUESTION: (As asked on the FYML) Does it seem to anyone else that Nakago had all the Seiryuu seishi
together from the begining? Wouldn't it have been easier to just tell Yui she wasn't raped and be done with it? Or am I just insane?
ANSWERS: (from Priya) Nakkie-poo gathered the seishi *for* Yui, unlike Miaka, who had to gather the seishi by herself.
The reason why Nakkie didn't tell Yui she wasn't raped was because he couldn't FORCE Yui to be Seiryuu No Miko> Remember, in episode 11 or so, when Miaka came to Kutou to find Yui, and Yui was going to go back with her, and told Nakago she wouldn't be Seiryuu No Miko?
If she continued to think that she had been raped and her best friend didn't CARE, she would become Seiryuu No Miko and reward him for "being there for her." You know?
That's why he never told her she hadn't been raped. It gave him power over her, and gave her a reason to be Seiryuu No Miko - to get back at the friend who had "abandoned her when she needed her."
ANSWERS: (from Rence)
I don't think Nakago's lies to Yui about being raped had anything to do with the gathering of her seishi. If she had not been lied to about being raped, she would never have had the motivation to summon Seiryuu or to even become Seiryuu no Miko. Nakago did a very good job of manipulating Yui by
using her anger and humiliation at the *thought* of being raped. In addition, Yui was *so* angry that she had a need to make someone else suffer as well. Yui chose Miaka as the person who should suffer and in order to do that, Yui would have to summon Seiryuu to 1) prevent Miaka's wishes from coming true and 2) inflicting pain on Miaka by separating her from Tamahome. These two motives were what kept Yui going, or she would have shriveled up and died like she almost did with her attempted suicide. She thrived on anger and revenge in her state at the time and Nakago knew this.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
QUESTION: (As asked on the NMLS) Does anyone remember the scene where Nakago had a yellow bird in his
room?
PONDERINGS/ANSWERS: (from confuzcius) Remember how he *ugh* squished it in his palm after saying that they should put all the birds, healthy and injured, out of their misery? I was just thinking. Couldn't that bird have been a symbol of him?
*falls over screaming 'symbolism! get outta my head!'*
But it really could have been. It had yellow feathers/fluff and blue eyes didn't it? Maybe, just maybe, he wanted to put himself outta his misery and took it out on the bird...
PONDERINGS/ANSWERS: (from Bishonen no Miko) I think I brought that point up before too, either on the FYML or to someone via personal e-mail. To me, the symbolism is definately there. When Nak was young, like that bird, he was very delicate and as he grew up in the palace, it was like being in a gilded cage. Yes, it seems nice and is pretty to look at, but all does is take away his freemdom. And the only release for a bird like that who has been captive his entire life is death. He didn't take it out on the bird, I think he felt sorry for it. If you rewatch the scene, he seems... sad. He feels bad for it, I think.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
QUESTION: (As asked on the NMLS) Are those of us who love Nakago just a teensy bit afraid to admit that - yes, he DID do some EVIL stuff, and - YES, we still LOVE HIM?!?!?
PONDERINGS/ANSWERS: (from angela johnson) okay, i dealt with this tangentially when i did a directed study in the gothic novel last semester. i kept calling on nak as the primeexample of a well realized gothic villain. what qualifies nak? a) he is evil. yuu watase is brilliant. she builds, builds, builds nak as this heinous villain who manipulates everyone close to him, including the one woman he loves. we are given scenes of nak whipping ashitare and orchestrating the brutal murder
of tamahome's entire family, seducing yui and sacrificing soi's love LONG before we're given any indication of nakago's "good side." yeah, he doesn't rape miaka, and i, like tomo, doubt it was miaka's innate suzaku no miko power that kept him from it.
yeah, he did love soi and suffered horribly from her death. yeah, it's even possible he loved yui like a seishi should. and of course, in the last episode, we find out WHY. nak is not simply ambitious, sadistic, or elementally evil. but we never really know that until the last episode, or in any case, the last ten. yet, speaking only for myself, i loved nakago from his first appearance. i also genuinely like each of the suzaku seishi, so it wasn't a reaction against an ill drawn cast of heroes. one possible reason for this is, like the gothic villain, nakago represents power. power without outwardly imposed constraints. power that comes at tremendous price in human terms. we can envy him, be awed by him, hate him, love him, pity him in one
go. also, like the gothic villain, he's GOOD at this stuff. in a story like fy, in which the heroine is trying to find herself, become self actualized, nakago is the antithesis of the fumbling, disordered
actions of the hero. his power is a huge part of his charm. he may be evil, but he's ideal evil. i know it sounds silly, but nakago is like an idealised deviant, being "other" as a viable alternative. it's trait he shares with the best of villains from every genre. i don't mean to offend anyone. the reasons you love nak are your own. maybe you somehow knew his personal tragedy before you watched the show. the could make a considerable difference. or maybe you picked up on cues that i
didn't. the picture on the seiryuu counterattack cd depicts nak and soi in i think the most beautiful pic of nakago i've ever seen... (well, maybe the shot in white robes with blue
flowers. nice. ahem.) and he looks all hero. it's arguable, with the depth of characterization provided nak, amiboshi, suboshi, and soi, that there are no real villains in fy. i think the pacing of
the storytelling ultimately defies that in nak's case, or at best makes him a byronic hero, the slightly nicer cousin of the gothic villain. i don't think it's contradiction to love nak, in spite of
everything. i think it's healthier even than simple adoration for, say, hotohori. (of course, i'm guilty there too. :))
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
PONDERINGS: (from Julie Farel) I think the tragic character of Nakago somewhere, somehow touches ALL of us. We all have some hidden hurt, some deep deep pain, that writing this stuff about Nakago releases or at least allows us to bring to the surface for a peek.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
PONDERINGS: (from Seimei) this is a quote from a new book im reading. its by my favorite author (well one of them) - Chaim Potok. tell me if this passage doesnt describe someone we know???
------ quote:Pg 26-27 from The Gates of November-----
What goes into the making of a revolutionary, a man
or woman who breaks with the legal systems and
protocols of his or her world, renounces past ties of
friendship and blood, becomes contemptous of the
society in which he or she lives, showing it no mercy
and expecting no mercy from it in return, and sets
out to intensify the suffering of people by any means
available so as to accelerate the coming of
revolution? Surely one begins by being partial to
revolution, accepting of its consequences, perhaps
because of a deep initial disillusionment with the
codes of one's own people or class. Appalled by
social injustice. A growing awareness of the
illusory nature of genteel surface appearances;
certainty that beneath the civilized facade lay the
real world of power, money, and greed. Rage at the
insurmountable obstacles put in the path of on's
career and dreams by the entrenched laws of hte
powers-that-be. Years of recurrent anger and hate,
which finally begin to burn with a steady flame. One
becomes obsessed by a single goal: Redeem the
despicable past with blood; cleanse away its evils;
create the world anew. No more theorizing, no more
observing as a bystander. The weak talked, dreamed,
idealized. The strong accepted the bitter realities
of life, and acted.
my apologies for any mispellings. ironically, this book is the true story of a jewish family in russia during the revolution. its
fascinating. when i got to that one passage my eyes got REALLY big. 0.0 it sounds so... familiar. Chaim Potok unwittingly gives the clearest description of Nakago and what makes him tick i have yet to see. -.-;; and i bet hes never even heard of fy. *grin*
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
PONDERINGS: (from Angela Wiles) okay, my short list of why nak and zechs share a common soul:
(BTW, i haven't seen all of gundam wing yet, so i may be leaving things out, misinterpreting, etc. keep this in mind. also, though nak's *sniff* no longer on the active roster of his series, zechs is.)
1) in miaka's phrase, super handsome blondes in worlds in which that's VERY distinctive. (and evocative.) also super sexy deep voices.
2) initial motivation -- genocide, wholsesale extermination of family and way of life
3) central goal: revenge
4) method of exacting revenge: join the ranks of your enemy, rise in the ranks to garner enough power, and strike when the time is right, not before.
5) love subordinated to central goal
6) tremendous sense of personal honor contrasted with "machiavellian" acceptance of drastic measures.
7) formidable military leaders, heroes
8) central goal challenged by heroes, leads to change in central goal, temporary loss of identity, seek redefinition through power and ambition.
9) super handsome...wait. we covered that. the mind does stray.
10) both are virtually untouchable in combat. they are the best at what they do. (unless of course, something wrong with his mobile suit's arm or someone seals seiryuu. grrrr. hmmm...someone seals seiryuu by the seashore. i like it.)
11) zechs' men die for him, nak's seishi die for him. (well, the
circumstances may vary)
12) both are sworn/destined to protect a young girl who's in love with the hero, their major combatant.
13) nearly the oldest/ most experienced main characters, definately the oldest in terms of airtime and story
14) this is iffy on nak's side, but both have a kind of warrior
identity that they assume, and a name that denotes that identity.
nakago is a seishi name, and zechs is the name zechs adopts when he goes into oz, his own kind of seishi name. nak may or may not be elmo when he's at home, but the dynamic is the same regardless.
15) super handsome blondes!
that's all i can think of right now, but you get the idea. in
addition to superficial (but compelling) resemblences, they're very alike in spirit. zechs may not have neat chi blasts, but he can pilot tallgeese, which is just as brilliant and special. and if you think of noin as soi's reincarnation too, trust me, you can sleep better at night. ^_-
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
PONDERINGS: (from Annie-Lee Grayston)
Hey, 2 interesting things I found over the weekend:
1) A translation of MIKO as 'dancing shrine girl' (I kid you not!)
2) In the Edo period of Japan (16th century - around there. Think Samurai, Shoguns, Merchants and Ihara Saikaku) there was a "class which consisted of outcasts and criminals" which were called the "Hinin (literally not human)" Just food for thought...
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
|
