timepiececlock (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timepiececlock) wrote2005-07-21 04:22 pm
timepiececlock) wrote2005-07-21 04:22 pm
Entry tags:
Gungrave 10 & 11
Forget about Harry and Maria and Millenion and all that crap. Let's just have Brandon and Bunji drive around the whole episode and get into hijinks and maybe kill some people then afterward go for burritos, and call it Brandon & Bunji's Excellent Adventure. Then there could be a sequel called Brandon & Bunji's Bogus Journey.
I reiterate my previous statement: Bunji and Brandon are like the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum of hitmen.
Actually, in thinking about it more after episode 11, I've decided they remind me a lot of the dynamic between Heero Yuy & Duo Maxwell on Gundam Wing. Duo is Bunji, of course. And Brandon's kinda like Heero-- only not nearly as touchy. Heero's cold indifference masked anger; I think Brandon's cold indifference usually just masks... more indifference. Gungrave's current paralell of an army of zombified hitmen compared to Brandon's general zombie-like personality isn't lost on me.
On a different subject: what's with the spontaneous angry shouting of your opponent's name when you're about to shoot them? Dude, this is mafia warfare, not pro wrestling!
...That's why I like Brandon. He just points and shoots and doesn't shout his enemy's name dramatically beforehand. As if his opponent wasn't already in front of him anyway and didn't already know his own name.
Speaking of names: Balladbird Lee. You gotta be secure in your self image not to change that by the time you get to Lee's age. The effeminite nature of that name isn't particularly helped by his hairstyle and penchant for turtlenecks.
I don't care for Brandon's look as much now as I did 8 episodes ago. I can grow to accept the longer hair... but I miss his streetpunk!clothing. Especially the tight black leather pants and the vest. Bring back the tight leather pants and the dirty brown rock-star vest.
I see Harry already doesn't hold to the family's code in his heart and mind, and proved tonight he doesn't hold to it in action, either. Harry always gave off a hint of sliminess with his ambition, though he still seems to value his friendships, especially friendships that he can utilize to a mutual advantage. It's a pity that the one thing Harry believes in is friendship, but doesn't realize that in betraying the organization's "family" he's betraying that principle. He still doens't regard Millenion as family or friends-- they're a means to power.
For people like Big Daddy and Bear and Brandon, Millenion=family=friends=something to protect. Harry still thinks Millenion and his circle of personal friends are two separate things, and he's loyal to the latter but not the former. He wants to have his cake and eat it too-- enjoy the power of the organization without devoting himself fully to it.
It's ironic that the opposite has occured for Brandon, who originally joined Millenion without caring about the organization itself at all. The organization is now his life-- to the point where he "can't hear the sound of Maria's voice anymore."
The development of characters and relationship dynamics for this series has been very well-done so far. That alone eclipses a lot of other problems I have with the show's plot and script.
I reiterate my previous statement: Bunji and Brandon are like the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum of hitmen.
Actually, in thinking about it more after episode 11, I've decided they remind me a lot of the dynamic between Heero Yuy & Duo Maxwell on Gundam Wing. Duo is Bunji, of course. And Brandon's kinda like Heero-- only not nearly as touchy. Heero's cold indifference masked anger; I think Brandon's cold indifference usually just masks... more indifference. Gungrave's current paralell of an army of zombified hitmen compared to Brandon's general zombie-like personality isn't lost on me.
On a different subject: what's with the spontaneous angry shouting of your opponent's name when you're about to shoot them? Dude, this is mafia warfare, not pro wrestling!
...That's why I like Brandon. He just points and shoots and doesn't shout his enemy's name dramatically beforehand. As if his opponent wasn't already in front of him anyway and didn't already know his own name.
Speaking of names: Balladbird Lee. You gotta be secure in your self image not to change that by the time you get to Lee's age. The effeminite nature of that name isn't particularly helped by his hairstyle and penchant for turtlenecks.
I don't care for Brandon's look as much now as I did 8 episodes ago. I can grow to accept the longer hair... but I miss his streetpunk!clothing. Especially the tight black leather pants and the vest. Bring back the tight leather pants and the dirty brown rock-star vest.
I see Harry already doesn't hold to the family's code in his heart and mind, and proved tonight he doesn't hold to it in action, either. Harry always gave off a hint of sliminess with his ambition, though he still seems to value his friendships, especially friendships that he can utilize to a mutual advantage. It's a pity that the one thing Harry believes in is friendship, but doesn't realize that in betraying the organization's "family" he's betraying that principle. He still doens't regard Millenion as family or friends-- they're a means to power.
For people like Big Daddy and Bear and Brandon, Millenion=family=friends=something to protect. Harry still thinks Millenion and his circle of personal friends are two separate things, and he's loyal to the latter but not the former. He wants to have his cake and eat it too-- enjoy the power of the organization without devoting himself fully to it.
It's ironic that the opposite has occured for Brandon, who originally joined Millenion without caring about the organization itself at all. The organization is now his life-- to the point where he "can't hear the sound of Maria's voice anymore."
The development of characters and relationship dynamics for this series has been very well-done so far. That alone eclipses a lot of other problems I have with the show's plot and script.