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Aug. 25th, 2005 12:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timepiececlockThe Twelve Kingdoms
Well, that was an interesting ending, though oddly weak in comparison to the previous arc. It felt more like the end of a season than the end of a series.
That's one quirky thing about 12K. I felt like it could go on forever-- gradually explore more and more of this world and I would never get tired of it. Ultimately my favorite parts were the storylines surrounding Yoko, but the others I enjoyed as well, especially the Rokuta/En side stories. I like the king of En and the Enki, so those were cool. They just... didn't feel like they had enough "oomph" to be a series-ender.
The only major complaint I have with 12K is the way that the Taiki subplot was so suddenly and randomly dropped. There was all that development... and then nothing. But even that feeds into the overall feeling I just mentioned-- that it feels unfinished. If there are new episodes made after more books come out, that'd be great, and I'd certainly be happy to see them. As it is, the ending of the series reminded me of the ending of Fruits Basket-- the current subplot resolved, but the overall story left unresolved.
Also, did I mention that I could watch this show forever? Really, I could. It's like a good epic fantasy series. I could be happy with one book, but I'd be even happier with ten.
Regarding Rakushuun/Yoko:
I liked the hints at the end there, that he would join her court and be a trusted helping hand as she rules, especially with the King En's comments. That nicely fit with their relationship development over the course of the series. I guess you could see them as simply good friends (some of what I've seen on ff.net seems to lean that way), but I got a strong impression we were supposed to see an underlying romantic connection. I got this from a few things:
1) the way all the other characters react while observing the pair. The knowing smiles and "aww, that's so sweet" remarks.
2) the way Rakushuun makes many friends, but is shown to worry and think about Yoko more than the others, and looks like he hangs on the words of that communication bird the way people in a long distance relationship stare longingly at the telephone.
3) OMG NAKED SCENE. Seriously, that was sexy and tasteful and sexy. I love how Rakushuun seems to put a lot of emphasis on propriety and manners, but is confident in certain moments like that. Also, NAKED. Standing behind her, with his hands on her shoulders, telling her he thinks she's a queen.
I've checked out ff.net, and there's very little fanfic there. I'm surprised to see that some of it is Yoko/Keiki. I guess I can see how that might be given that Keiki is supposed to be the monarch's "other half" when it comes to ruling, and that eventually there's complete trust between them. Also, he's pretty. But... there's like ZERO romantic tension or UST there. Keiki displays no sex drive whatsoever, and Yoko's feelings or frustrations around him are all focused on her role as queen and what she thinks are Keiki's expectations in comparison to her predecessor. It's like she doesn't even see him as male after a while, and her reaction to learning that the previous queen fell in love with Keiki was pity for the woman and for Keiki.
Regarding Asano:
Wow, that boy is CRAY-ZAY. I remember saying he was useless in the beginning, and he proved after a few months in that world to not only be useless, but to be destructive too. In the scene where Yoko confronts him then walks out of the room and tells her men to guard it, that there's "one of Shoukou's men inside," I thought Ouch, that's cold. But in a way it was a perfect example of how much Yoko's changed. She isn't blinded by childhood affections and she knows that while he was her friend and while it's her fault he's in this world, he IS her enemy now, to some degree at least. She calmly and clearly accepts that as a necessary loss in war.
This show is really one of the most feminist shows I've seen in a while-- since Princess Tutu, probably, or Millenium Actress. The women come in three forms:
a) strong from the outset, wise
b) strong but corrupted
c) weak at the outset, made strong through experience
There are just as many noble and strong men in the series as women, but because the main character is female, and because the secondary characters Suzu and Shoukei are female... this show really comes off as a feminist series. Bring on the girl-power! Women fill every role that a man does, sometimes better and sometimes worse. I also found it interesting that by the end Yoko appears to define several stereotypical "masculine" characteristics... but I never thought of her as masculine while I was watching. She's just...queenly. A warrior queen, actually, which I would never have guessed her to be at the start of the series. This show could have gone the sexist route and made her a queen of love and peace and hearts and flowers... instead she ends up being fairly bloody. Sure, love and peace are her eventual goal... but she fights several battles to get there.
Give her a few more years and I think she'd get along real well with Elizabeth I of England.
Another aspect of the feminist themes in this series that I appreciated is that for the most part the female empowerment didn't come at the expense of the male characters, either. The king of En and various other male characters are strong and true just as Yoko is. The whole thing felt very balanced. Asano is certainly the weakest male character in the series-- he can't cope emotionally with his situation and has what looks like multiple breakdowns, convincing himself it's all an illusion or a game. Yuka had done the same thing--again with the balance-- but she was eventually able to overcome it. And with her ambitious/opportunistic nature she always had a bit of an advantage over Asano anyway. Less wallowing.
One thing I really, REALLY loved about Yoko's development as a hero was watching as one by one her pretenses of being a "good little Japanese woman" fell away and her inner strength went into full swing. The conformity, the reliance on the male figures around her, and the servile eagerness to please others... eventually she sheds all of these affectations. By the end she is a queen, folks, and she has ever right to ride that unicorn. She could never go back to being that other girl. That weak, whiny child that would never have dreamed there was a world where women weren't seen as merely vessels for pumping out babies, and where she can grow into a righteous, world-changing hero of Beowulf and Alexander proportions.
Anyway, if you like well-developed characters, ongoing interesting storylines, a beautifully developed world for characters to play in, and women (and men!) that kick real fucking ass, The Twelve Kingdoms is a good bet.
Well, that was an interesting ending, though oddly weak in comparison to the previous arc. It felt more like the end of a season than the end of a series.
That's one quirky thing about 12K. I felt like it could go on forever-- gradually explore more and more of this world and I would never get tired of it. Ultimately my favorite parts were the storylines surrounding Yoko, but the others I enjoyed as well, especially the Rokuta/En side stories. I like the king of En and the Enki, so those were cool. They just... didn't feel like they had enough "oomph" to be a series-ender.
The only major complaint I have with 12K is the way that the Taiki subplot was so suddenly and randomly dropped. There was all that development... and then nothing. But even that feeds into the overall feeling I just mentioned-- that it feels unfinished. If there are new episodes made after more books come out, that'd be great, and I'd certainly be happy to see them. As it is, the ending of the series reminded me of the ending of Fruits Basket-- the current subplot resolved, but the overall story left unresolved.
Also, did I mention that I could watch this show forever? Really, I could. It's like a good epic fantasy series. I could be happy with one book, but I'd be even happier with ten.
Regarding Rakushuun/Yoko:
I liked the hints at the end there, that he would join her court and be a trusted helping hand as she rules, especially with the King En's comments. That nicely fit with their relationship development over the course of the series. I guess you could see them as simply good friends (some of what I've seen on ff.net seems to lean that way), but I got a strong impression we were supposed to see an underlying romantic connection. I got this from a few things:
1) the way all the other characters react while observing the pair. The knowing smiles and "aww, that's so sweet" remarks.
2) the way Rakushuun makes many friends, but is shown to worry and think about Yoko more than the others, and looks like he hangs on the words of that communication bird the way people in a long distance relationship stare longingly at the telephone.
3) OMG NAKED SCENE. Seriously, that was sexy and tasteful and sexy. I love how Rakushuun seems to put a lot of emphasis on propriety and manners, but is confident in certain moments like that. Also, NAKED. Standing behind her, with his hands on her shoulders, telling her he thinks she's a queen.
I've checked out ff.net, and there's very little fanfic there. I'm surprised to see that some of it is Yoko/Keiki. I guess I can see how that might be given that Keiki is supposed to be the monarch's "other half" when it comes to ruling, and that eventually there's complete trust between them. Also, he's pretty. But... there's like ZERO romantic tension or UST there. Keiki displays no sex drive whatsoever, and Yoko's feelings or frustrations around him are all focused on her role as queen and what she thinks are Keiki's expectations in comparison to her predecessor. It's like she doesn't even see him as male after a while, and her reaction to learning that the previous queen fell in love with Keiki was pity for the woman and for Keiki.
Regarding Asano:
Wow, that boy is CRAY-ZAY. I remember saying he was useless in the beginning, and he proved after a few months in that world to not only be useless, but to be destructive too. In the scene where Yoko confronts him then walks out of the room and tells her men to guard it, that there's "one of Shoukou's men inside," I thought Ouch, that's cold. But in a way it was a perfect example of how much Yoko's changed. She isn't blinded by childhood affections and she knows that while he was her friend and while it's her fault he's in this world, he IS her enemy now, to some degree at least. She calmly and clearly accepts that as a necessary loss in war.
This show is really one of the most feminist shows I've seen in a while-- since Princess Tutu, probably, or Millenium Actress. The women come in three forms:
a) strong from the outset, wise
b) strong but corrupted
c) weak at the outset, made strong through experience
There are just as many noble and strong men in the series as women, but because the main character is female, and because the secondary characters Suzu and Shoukei are female... this show really comes off as a feminist series. Bring on the girl-power! Women fill every role that a man does, sometimes better and sometimes worse. I also found it interesting that by the end Yoko appears to define several stereotypical "masculine" characteristics... but I never thought of her as masculine while I was watching. She's just...queenly. A warrior queen, actually, which I would never have guessed her to be at the start of the series. This show could have gone the sexist route and made her a queen of love and peace and hearts and flowers... instead she ends up being fairly bloody. Sure, love and peace are her eventual goal... but she fights several battles to get there.
Give her a few more years and I think she'd get along real well with Elizabeth I of England.
Another aspect of the feminist themes in this series that I appreciated is that for the most part the female empowerment didn't come at the expense of the male characters, either. The king of En and various other male characters are strong and true just as Yoko is. The whole thing felt very balanced. Asano is certainly the weakest male character in the series-- he can't cope emotionally with his situation and has what looks like multiple breakdowns, convincing himself it's all an illusion or a game. Yuka had done the same thing--again with the balance-- but she was eventually able to overcome it. And with her ambitious/opportunistic nature she always had a bit of an advantage over Asano anyway. Less wallowing.
One thing I really, REALLY loved about Yoko's development as a hero was watching as one by one her pretenses of being a "good little Japanese woman" fell away and her inner strength went into full swing. The conformity, the reliance on the male figures around her, and the servile eagerness to please others... eventually she sheds all of these affectations. By the end she is a queen, folks, and she has ever right to ride that unicorn. She could never go back to being that other girl. That weak, whiny child that would never have dreamed there was a world where women weren't seen as merely vessels for pumping out babies, and where she can grow into a righteous, world-changing hero of Beowulf and Alexander proportions.
Anyway, if you like well-developed characters, ongoing interesting storylines, a beautifully developed world for characters to play in, and women (and men!) that kick real fucking ass, The Twelve Kingdoms is a good bet.
