UPDATE: Reading through this commentary, one may be wondering what the hell I'm talking
about with my theory on Megil's bounty offense, seeing as how it was explained at the
end of Ashen Victory. This is due to the fact that I wrote this commentary before the
series had finished. Imagine my joy upon reading the end of the series and finding out
that I was right. Anyways, although the argument I made about Megil is no longer relevant,
I think that the rest of the commentary may still be worth reading. So, enjoy.
--Mike Isenberg, 9/7/00
The Life and Times of Megil the Pharmacist.
Recently when Ashen Victor #1 was released, all that everyone could talk about was the
art or the story, and I was stuck on a single unimportant line of dialogue. The
Motorballer "Dolagunov" enter's a room and is questioned by Ben about how the new
drug he's using is working out. Mr. Holmegolud asks about it and Ben replies "'Accel'--
Megil Corp's latest and greatest. Not exactly on the market yet".
In my opinion, this single line clarifies much about Scrapyard and Motorball life. Not
only does it clue us in to the life of Megil before he meets his demise at the hands of
Alita (and Hugo, kind of) at the beginning of "Tears of an Angel", but it also hints as to
the legality of drugs in Motorball and Factory law.
One of the questions I've had for a while is what the Motorball rules and Factory law
would say about drugs. In Gunnm there are really only 3 times drugs are mentioned.
The first is when Alita hunts down Megil and accuses him of "dope slinging", the second
is Esdoc's terminal frost, which was brought on by "expensive drug injections" to keep up
with Jashugan, and the third is when Zapan buys drugs in the fifth Graphic Novel.
In Gunnm, I would say that there is enough information about Factory law to prove that
they wouldn't care about drugs too much. We know that Factory law is only in place to
keep the Factories running. I quote from the netman in Tears of an Angel, "The public
security system is nothing more than a debugging routine to ensure the smooth operation
of the Factories. The Factories operate entirely for the sake of Tiphares and are not
concerned with the daily lives of the residents of the Scrapyard." Given this fact, I find it
unlikely that the Factory would care about what narcotics the average citizen is ingesting.
As for the rules of Motorball, however, I don't think we knew enough about it in Gunnm
to really say whether or not drugs were allowed. The only person we knew who used
them is Esdoc, and we didn't know anything about where the drugs he was taking came
from. Esdoc could surely have been breaking Motorball rules by taking speed drugs.
However, in Ashen Victor, we know that there is at least one corporation developing
drugs for the express use of Motorball. While it might be possible that Megil sunk to
dealing drugs that were, while maybe not "illegal" at least less legitimate, later on, we
know that at this point he has a corporation behind him whose reputation would be
seriously hampered were it to illegally tilt the tables in the most loved sport in the
Scrapyard. Of course there is also the fact that the players can enhance their speed and
reaction time via cybernetics as well. If the rules allow any one player to be faster than
another based on the body parts he can afford, then why not allow one player to be faster
than another based on the drugs he can afford? Especially considering that this is a sport
where "your net worth [is] determined by the viewership in the monitor seats", it would
seem that the Motorball circuits would make more money by allowing their players to get
as fast and dangerous as possible.
So then the question arises, "If narcotics aren't illegal in the Scrapyard, then why does
Megil end up on the bounty list in GN2?" Well, I've got a theory on that. First let's look
at the scene in which Alita apprehends Megil.
Alita: Megil the pharmacist! Cornered you at last. Your dope slinging has done so much
damage... I think it's time you got your share.
Henchman: B-Boss...
Megil: Hmph... Any experiment requires guinea pigs. Here-- let me show you the result
of my research.
Henchman: B-boss, that medicine isn't--- !?
[Transformation]
Henchman: Oh-- Oh, no! He took the lycanthropazine!
Alita: W-Werewolf!?
I don't think Megil was on the list for drug dealing at all. Upon being accused by Alita,
Megil only defends himself by saying that his experiment required guinea pigs. If he
were on the bounty list for dealing drugs, wouldn't he have defending _that_? And why
even mention to Alita the guinea pigs he used? Wouldn't he be digging himself a deeper
hole? My theory is that Megil was on the list for experimenting on unknowing citizens
via his legitimate drugs. I may be reaching a little, but to me it makes more sense than
an uncaring Factory caring about drugs. Of course if there were psychotic were-wolves
terrorizing the Scrapyard, it might hinder the progress of the Factories, but I doubt they
knew about the lycanthropazine. Look at how completely surprised Alita seems once
Megil transforms. You'd think that if he were on the list for the lycanthropazine they'd
put "Warning: Target may transform into a blood-thirsty were-wolf" on the dossier. As
for Alita's accusing Megil of dope-slinging, I think that'd be more of a personal
objection. She's seen the junkies whose lives have been ruined by Megil's drugs, and
would be frustrated that the Factory doesn't care enough to stop him. By saying "Your
dope slinging has done so much damage... I think it's time you got your share" she's
really saying "It's about time you ended up on the list for something".
I'd like to close by saying that this is all just theory and speculation. This is what
Otaku-dom is all about. It's like "Who would win in a fight, Batman or Spiderman?",
except more in depth. If anyone has a counter-argument, I'm dying to hear it!