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| THIS IS A MANGA ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS ANYTHING BEYOND THIS CHAPTER. ---------------------------------------- I find it deeply charming that Gai, a kid who appears to be a super powerful shonen protagonist, had to make the same realization about pride. Despite Abe telling him so, it was too hard to embrace his idea of power. He thought not sucking up to people was manly, that not backing down from stronger people was manly, but by throwing these tantrums and nearly dying due to them he was forced to face the fact that Abe was absolutely right. That this kind of action is an aversion to winning, it’s running away. A meaningless form of petty and pitiful struggle. I found a line Gai said absolutely amazing: “Petty pride is bound to destroy me. Throw it away, discard that pride. And rather allow myself to be swallowed by the enemy! To win…!” This is seriously phenomenal stuff. It lacks the emotional drive that Kurosawa’s similar scene gave me, as that scene was relatable and realistic in a tangible sense, it was built up to slowly and it was horrifying. It's one of the hardest chapters I have ever read, in fact you can read my reaction to it on that chapter thread if you really want. But regardless, as my first sentence implies this was awesome. It's serious development from the Gai who tried to blind 5 police in the beginning of the series. It plays off of the themes that Abe started about what power really means. It was led into with one of the coolest action moments while being a commentary on it, no matter how cool and manly it was, it was regretful, pitiful, and petty. It didn’t get him closer to a future he wanted, it got him closer to being killed. And most importantly, seeing Gai go through such regret, get introspective and realize a serious character flaw of his, swallowing his pride with furious tears trailing down his face had to be the most humanizing moment of his career. I also freaking love the “I raise my hand to live page”. I think this marks a new Gai. There were times I questioned why Gai acted in ways that seemed bad for him and this has explained it was, at times, purely a form of retaliation and rebellion. P.S. I keep wanting to mention something and fail to find time to, what I love about Ishihara is that he serves as a counter to a common Kaiji criticism I hear. People sometimes don't like that Kaiji is relatively the only stand-up guy in his first series(there are exceptions but not as quick as there is here). Here Ishihara, a stranger, stands out as somebody who is strong, principled, and interesting. This is not a story about Gai and Gai alone as he deals with a bunch of nincompoops and assholes. It almost is, but it isn't and I think that's rad!!! |
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