FMmatron said:Uff, this short movie hit me harder than expected. Heavy themes and really good presentation. - I felt almost exactly the same!
The way that Akanemaru looses himself to his ego and to his desire of leaving his name in eternity is painfully real when it comes to human nature. I felt so guilty at the thought that I myself, struggle so often with similar ambitions. It's awful how such an ambition can make you so inhuman and cold with another.
And he acted cowardly too. If he had lost to Gaou, he should have fought to become better, not discredited his rival. I would have liked to judge Akanemaru, but it was clear to me that he was also a victim somehow, a victim of his own desire. I was scandalized and pained at the same time.
I was also shocked about Gaou killing Hayame. He was a really suspicious and impulsive man. What should have I expected from a criminal? But somehow, I had hoped that his life together with Hayame would have, eventually, soften his heart and temper. I was obviously wrong, or not?! I also felt that Gaou was not only a criminal, but a victim too, a victim of his own fears...
This movie depicts so well the changing nature of the human heart, and also how easy the heart can be corrupted or influenced. You get easily enraged by the injustice and cruelty, but then again, if you look closer you can see that each character can turn from a victim into an aggressor and vice versa. This really complicates things, because you finally come to the conclusion that there are no good people and bad people and that everything depends on the context and on the weaknesses of everyone. This is how real life is and it makes you think that you should be more careful in your judgement and also in controlling your deepest desires. No desire worth harming another or yourself. The damage is irreversible as we can see with Gaou. His life changed dramatically, his heart became warm, humble and compassionate, but the pain of his loss and the regret remained.
The story of Gaou and Hayame also reminds me of an old japanese fairy tail that my japanese teacher showed us at the course.
The fairy tale was about a young boy that saved a beautiful bird during a cold winter day. Some days later a young woman comes to live with him and after a while they get married. As they were really poor, from time to time she was weaving secretly, out of everyone's sight (even her husband was forbidden from seeing). He was selling the cloth to the market. One day he is convinced by one client to take a look at his wife while weaving. When he does, he discovers that his wife was the bird he had saved long ago on a winter day. Because he had discovered her she is bound to leave him, although she would have preferred to remain by his side.
I found a very close resemblance between this fairy tail and the story of Gaou saving a lady bug, that afterwards becomes a beautiful woman, lives with him and loves him. He gets convinced by a comrade that she is an enemy and he kills her. Gaou and Hayame's story is more dramatic and violent but we have pretty much the same pattern. |