|other self|
I have already talked quite a long while about Hakkai. Now I want to dedicate a few words to his past incarnation: Tenpou Gensui. Tenpou was, after all, one of the original reasons I became interested in Minekura's art style. I've always had a soft spot for characters in white lab coats and glasses. All Minekura had to do was have guards bring him kneeling down to the floor at lance point, and I was quite shamelessly hooked, as shallow and embarrassing as admitting that sounds now. 

As a parallel character, Tenpou is a good contrast to Hakkai. I've found that he doesn't guard his more dangerous side as closely as Hakkai, and this makes him very alluring. In chapter 7 of Saiyuki Gaiden, for example, Tenpou pays a visit to Ritouten, a very powerful member of the Seihougun (Western Army). During his conversation with both Ritouten and other members of the army he says very polite things such as oyamenasai [a rather polite way of phrasing "stop that," which the other characters say as yamete or yamero] and shitsurei [excuse me]. The expressions in his face as he says them, though, is very telling: he wears a half-smile that betrays self-confidence and even a bit of arrogance. Another striking difference between Tenpou and Hakkai is that there is a much more overt sensuality in Tenpou. Unlike Hakkai, who seems blissfully unaware of how handsome he is, Tenpou seems comfortably aware that he is not bad looking at all [go back and re-read the lance point comment for this sentence's supporting evidence]. He also smokes, quite often, and seems to have no qualms about punching his superior for slandering him. Because Tenpou looks just like Hakkai these differences are brought to the forefront of the reader's mind and made very sharp. Some might even be put off by these personality changes. But I think that for the most part Hakkai fans are glad to have Tenpou and his sensual, dangerous, yet still polite and endearing stance.

Chapter 7 of Gaiden brings up an interesting point, though. When describing both Tenpou and Hakkai Minekura uses the same term: kirei. This word translates to beautiful. I find this very interesting, especially since most of the characters in the Saiyuki universe seem to agree on using this term when describing Hakkai or Tenpou. They're not handsome or cute or merely good looking, they're beautiful. In volume 4 of Gensomaden Saiyuki Kanan, Hakkai's sister, remarks that it seems strange to call a man beautiful [p. 7]. As far as the traditional use of English language goes, she's quite right. Few men are ever called beautiful, and those who do are usually either homosexual or being observed and described by homosexuals. A few young boys can be called beautiful, but the term rarely applies to them after they reach full physical maturity at eighteen. Beautiful is a term that connotes, in English at least, femininity. Because of Kanan's words, I can assume that this holds true in Japanese as well. Are Hakkai and Tenpou meant to be perceived as effeminate, then? Both Hakkai and Tenpou are, after all, the gentler members of their respective teams, happily willing to take care of Goku, comfortably polite, and often at hand to wash or shop. Although these are feminine traits that have been unduly stereotyped , it cannot be denied that many women do act this way. It certainly makes you wonder. Not that I mind in the least. I'm quite enamoured of androgyny. I feel that it stands for that moment when both the feminine and the masculine co-exist, complementing each other and producing a fuller, wholly satisfied being.
 

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