Vampire Princess Miyu Episode 17 Discussion

Ok wtf.

It seems to me that the talk about destiny is stupid and totally abstracted from anything relevant... unless they're talking about the constrictions on an individual's life by society. The burden of a family, the longing of forbidden love, the responsibilities of a job. Because otherwise, what destiny are you talking about? It's just the author's hand forcing destiny if the author is not using destiny to talk about a real life issue.

Well, thinking back to the last time we were made to sympathize with a shinma, that shinma was a prostitute. This shinma is a girl who's in love with an older man. Perhaps they're also using shinma to represent the marginalized in society, who are doomed to suffer a bad destiny because of their status?

"You seem to have a lot of time. Human adults don't have that luxury."

It seems to me that along with that episode about the old filmmaker they're commenting on the responsibilities of a man and how it robs his chance at happiness. The expectation is the man provides all the support and it's frowned upon for the woman to be the breadwinner. With the old filmmaker his wife was bitter over having to work for her husband's dream while in this case this young woman is eager to work for her boyfriend's dream.

"I have nothing else for you" the man says to the dog who jumps back and forth at his feet as he leaves. Is the dog a representation of the shinma or his wife?

Once again dreams and reality are brought up. Once again, the dream is likened to something like a quiet, isolated place where they can do whatever they like.

"That shinma might be a daughter to that human". What? Is it saying that the shinma is a manifestation of his desire for someone like her to be his life long companion? Because by all accounts it seems she's everything he's ever wanted. After all, he says that she was always in his dream.

I'm having trouble deciphering the show's stance on sin. What was the man's sin? Because the death of his wife was an accident. Was it abandoning his family? Was it falling in love with a younger woman? Was it putting his dream ahead of his family?

On the matter of his family, what's up with the daughter being independent at 16 and moving out? Why does his wife say that she wasted her life for him and refuses to divorce him? Is this saying something about their conception of marriage/family as more of an obligation and a financial burden than anything? Hmm, judging by how his wife talked about him as working hard for his family before changing and living in filth, I'd guess that the family was emotionally fragmented because they were too busy working and that's why their daughter up and left so abruptly. I think a key point is that while the shinma works hard for her boyfriend, she also refuses to work full time because she dedicates a lot of time to taking care of him. Thus, even when the guy's dream is gone, he still has a her to hold onto. It wasn't the loss of the novel that broke him, but the loss of Mayumi. Perhaps the show is advocating for focusing on the emotional connections with your loved ones rather than viewing them as cash cows or someone you have to take care of. It's not taking any firm stance for or against dreams, because it's emphasizing that people are what matter most. Which of course, fits in with the episodes concerning loneliness. Marriage and family does not always solve loneliness, as it turns out.

Though the show's production values are nothing special, it does consistently create atmosphere and Kenji Kawai's music does the rest. They chose a landscape with snow falling gently like balls of cotton to punctuate the tragedy of the situation, very touching.

Now I think I understand the significance of that last scene. They thought the west would be a land of happiness and the westerners probably thought the same thing when they sent the woman east, only for the easterners to also judge the woman in the boat as having sinned in some sort of way. Society will always be judging you in some way.


So the mermaid episode referenced the obscure anime Mermaid Forest and now this episode has ties to another obscure show, Legend of Black Heaven, which is about a middle aged salaryman trying to make his musical dreams come true but still has to provide for his family.

What's ironic is that the creator of this show wrote the manga with his wife so I have to wonder what was going on in their heads with all this commentary about family. I mean, you two are living out your dreams as anime director and mangaka right? It doesn't seem like they're pushing a single agenda because they have two episodes showing contrasting scenarios concerning dreams and responsibility. Or maybe they're just saying that it sucks being an adult no matter which way you go LOL.