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Kyou Kara Maou: first twenty episodes, character review!
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angrybabble's post is from like last year at this point, I'm just going to write my own thing. This should also allow the like two or three other KKM followers I know exist on my flist to remind me of their identities.
I didn't think I'd like KKM because I don't, generally, like Yaoi Series. You can tell the ones I'm talking about because all the males are gay, with the manga artstyle is generally defined by seme-types being eight feet tall with long oval faces and huge gashes for mouths, and uke-types being four feet tall and being composed entirely from fluff instead of flesh and blood, and the rare female-type being Hawt and Boobtastic and, often, a slash fangirl herself, so she doesn't try to steal any of the men. KKM manga is all of those things. (Although the MAIN females don't appear to be slash fangirls, only corollary ones.)
But the anime is pretty, and what's more, it's funny. It really is sincerely funny. And it doesn't hesitate to both make fun of its stereotypes when necessary, but then also take those same characters seriously when it wants to. I respect that.
Since the series is essentially about Yuuri and the three brothers...
Yuuri: I really like him. You'd think he'd be trying to learn swordplay or magic, but I guess he doesn't NEED to, since whenever anything goes wrong even slightly he flips out and goes Uber. He's hopeless but not stupid; he's actually pretty clever. (I can think of three or so incidences off the top of my head where he impressed me.) He just doesn't... seem to... think ahead, and he has those silly ideals that plague gentle hero-types. Those are less cool.
(It's pretty funny that he has what is technically probably the best fighting force in the established world, and none of them kill anyone, ever. Why don't they just throw away all those swords and pick up sturdy sticks? I'm talking to you, Gunter, since you keep making such a show of being awesome while fundamentally misusing your weapon.)
But he's not as horribly uke-type as most main characters in Yaoi Series! OMG. HE HAS A SPINE. And he does give orders and take action sometimes, and I respect that.
Wolfram: Everyone wants to strangle him except me. I think he's great. (Except for the nightgown. The nightgown is NOT GREAT.) But his relentless bitchiness is so terribly amusing, and often so terribly misguided. "You were dancing with an eight year old girl while I was unconscious?? YOU CHEATING BASTARD." "Why are you smiling at my brother here at night all alone?? I HATE YOU BOTH. Oh yeah, and I guess something really important happened."
His relationships with his brothers I think are quite nifty. His total disdain for Conrad in particular matched only by his secret adoration (and Conrad's total smiling amusement with either)... Nifty! It's relatively unusual that he's so up-front about his feelings and Yuuri doesn't usually freak out about hearing them. (He just wants his bed back.) (...or so he thinks?)
Conrad: Awesome. ...end. He's so perfectly loyal but not subservient; he's independent enough to still be strong, but if Yuuri commands him, he won't blink but obey. He has a lot of faith in Yuuri too. More than I do. *snork* I have to admit that I'm often with Wolf and Gwendel on Yuuri's weirder antics. He and Yozak make nifty friends, and by that I partly mean should have sex.
I have to say I wasn't terribly interested with what I saw of Julia (she's blind, and I bet a vaunted saint, cuz she's all beloved and martyred-y) but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for now.
Gwendel: I'm usually not fond of the dour-faced hate-the-world type, but Gwendel just kills me. Possibly because he hangs out with some of the most dramatic trouble-makers in the cast and has a good deal of reason to be long-suffering for it. You can't tell me that after a century of being friends with Gunter and being the favorite victim of Anissina, you wouldn't hate the world also. (I guess Yozak also works for him, but I've never seen them interact.)
He's also very responsible and intelligent, which I appreciate in leader figures. ...and he may or may not have a weird plushie/furry kink.
Gunter: Doesn't get to have sex with anyone. Ever.maladaptive likes slashing him with Gwendel, but I can't do that, partly because, as I pointed out to her, Gunter would inevitably cry "Heikaaaaa" in a moment of passion and then Gwendel would be even more agitated than usual.
That aside, I stopped watching after episode two the first time I saw the series, almost entirely because Gunter seemed like such an unappealing stereotype... (Mother-hen gay, lusting after underage boys, and I'm so tired of long silver-haired bishies.) But watching more I rather like him and his melodrama that nobody pays any attention to. I am also convinced that Gunter's official job title is "fanboy", because that appears to be what he does around Blood Pledge Castle: fanboy everything, from the history of the Maou, to the treasures of the Maou, to the... Maou, I guess.
Yozak: Okay, those of you who don't follow my original writing may not know this, but I have a character named Joe (or, technically, an archangel named Jophiel) who is Yozak, only 100% heterosexual. I have a weakness for cynical cross-dressing men who look nothing like women when cross-dressed. Big masculine Yozak with his jaded pragmatism and incessant tendency to dress up in drag when spying was predestined to be a hit with me.
So he can do whatever he wants.
Anissina: I really, really like her. I read on a scan from one of the artbooks that a note said that she and Gwendel might be canonically romantic, but right now the creator thinks she's having fun just abusing him for her experiments. Which, by the way, is awesome.
I can't think of anyone else I want to comment on, so I'll leave it there for now.
angrybabble's post is from like last year at this point, I'm just going to write my own thing. This should also allow the like two or three other KKM followers I know exist on my flist to remind me of their identities.I didn't think I'd like KKM because I don't, generally, like Yaoi Series. You can tell the ones I'm talking about because all the males are gay, with the manga artstyle is generally defined by seme-types being eight feet tall with long oval faces and huge gashes for mouths, and uke-types being four feet tall and being composed entirely from fluff instead of flesh and blood, and the rare female-type being Hawt and Boobtastic and, often, a slash fangirl herself, so she doesn't try to steal any of the men. KKM manga is all of those things. (Although the MAIN females don't appear to be slash fangirls, only corollary ones.)
But the anime is pretty, and what's more, it's funny. It really is sincerely funny. And it doesn't hesitate to both make fun of its stereotypes when necessary, but then also take those same characters seriously when it wants to. I respect that.
Since the series is essentially about Yuuri and the three brothers...
Yuuri: I really like him. You'd think he'd be trying to learn swordplay or magic, but I guess he doesn't NEED to, since whenever anything goes wrong even slightly he flips out and goes Uber. He's hopeless but not stupid; he's actually pretty clever. (I can think of three or so incidences off the top of my head where he impressed me.) He just doesn't... seem to... think ahead, and he has those silly ideals that plague gentle hero-types. Those are less cool.
(It's pretty funny that he has what is technically probably the best fighting force in the established world, and none of them kill anyone, ever. Why don't they just throw away all those swords and pick up sturdy sticks? I'm talking to you, Gunter, since you keep making such a show of being awesome while fundamentally misusing your weapon.)
But he's not as horribly uke-type as most main characters in Yaoi Series! OMG. HE HAS A SPINE. And he does give orders and take action sometimes, and I respect that.
Wolfram: Everyone wants to strangle him except me. I think he's great. (Except for the nightgown. The nightgown is NOT GREAT.) But his relentless bitchiness is so terribly amusing, and often so terribly misguided. "You were dancing with an eight year old girl while I was unconscious?? YOU CHEATING BASTARD." "Why are you smiling at my brother here at night all alone?? I HATE YOU BOTH. Oh yeah, and I guess something really important happened."
His relationships with his brothers I think are quite nifty. His total disdain for Conrad in particular matched only by his secret adoration (and Conrad's total smiling amusement with either)... Nifty! It's relatively unusual that he's so up-front about his feelings and Yuuri doesn't usually freak out about hearing them. (He just wants his bed back.) (...or so he thinks?)
Conrad: Awesome. ...end. He's so perfectly loyal but not subservient; he's independent enough to still be strong, but if Yuuri commands him, he won't blink but obey. He has a lot of faith in Yuuri too. More than I do. *snork* I have to admit that I'm often with Wolf and Gwendel on Yuuri's weirder antics. He and Yozak make nifty friends, and by that I partly mean should have sex.
I have to say I wasn't terribly interested with what I saw of Julia (she's blind, and I bet a vaunted saint, cuz she's all beloved and martyred-y) but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for now.
Gwendel: I'm usually not fond of the dour-faced hate-the-world type, but Gwendel just kills me. Possibly because he hangs out with some of the most dramatic trouble-makers in the cast and has a good deal of reason to be long-suffering for it. You can't tell me that after a century of being friends with Gunter and being the favorite victim of Anissina, you wouldn't hate the world also. (I guess Yozak also works for him, but I've never seen them interact.)
He's also very responsible and intelligent, which I appreciate in leader figures. ...and he may or may not have a weird plushie/furry kink.
Gunter: Doesn't get to have sex with anyone. Ever.
maladaptive likes slashing him with Gwendel, but I can't do that, partly because, as I pointed out to her, Gunter would inevitably cry "Heikaaaaa" in a moment of passion and then Gwendel would be even more agitated than usual.That aside, I stopped watching after episode two the first time I saw the series, almost entirely because Gunter seemed like such an unappealing stereotype... (Mother-hen gay, lusting after underage boys, and I'm so tired of long silver-haired bishies.) But watching more I rather like him and his melodrama that nobody pays any attention to. I am also convinced that Gunter's official job title is "fanboy", because that appears to be what he does around Blood Pledge Castle: fanboy everything, from the history of the Maou, to the treasures of the Maou, to the... Maou, I guess.
Yozak: Okay, those of you who don't follow my original writing may not know this, but I have a character named Joe (or, technically, an archangel named Jophiel) who is Yozak, only 100% heterosexual. I have a weakness for cynical cross-dressing men who look nothing like women when cross-dressed. Big masculine Yozak with his jaded pragmatism and incessant tendency to dress up in drag when spying was predestined to be a hit with me.
So he can do whatever he wants.
Anissina: I really, really like her. I read on a scan from one of the artbooks that a note said that she and Gwendel might be canonically romantic, but right now the creator thinks she's having fun just abusing him for her experiments. Which, by the way, is awesome.
I can't think of anyone else I want to comment on, so I'll leave it there for now.
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Oh, and I'm TOTALLY GLAD that you agree that Saint Gunter DOES NOT GET TO HUMP GWENDEL. I mean, I actually like Gunter! He's funny and he can kick ass when necessary. But! I mean. No. I think he and Gwendel must have a working relationship a hundred years old, and while they get along great as friends and co-workers IT SHOULD NOT GO BEYOND. I just don't get a healthy relationship (or romantic relationship at all) vibe from them. >_>;
I love all three brothers, although recently Conrad's relationship with Yuuri has gone from "very close but brotherly" to "very close and brotherly, but in a kind of incestuous way." I mean you see hints of that before, but after the hell box arc or whatever they're called, it's even MORE disturbing. XD
I think that of all the people who love each other in the show, Conrad and Yuuri probably love each other the most, and also, they will never get together, because it would really screw them both up badly. And they know it (subconsciously perhaps). So they both kind of pine and will get with other people that they ALSO love (well, you can love more than one person, after all!), but that weird closeness will always be there.
Since Yuuri's person is obviously going to be Wolfram, I feel very sorry for Wolfram... because he obviously cares about Yuuri a lot, but he will never have that "ideal" of being your partner's one and only love.
(As for Conrad, I think he should get with Yozak of course >D Yozak's such a smart, calm person and a good friend that I think he could totally deal with the fact that Conrad will always put the Maou first.)
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I do feel bad for Wolfram. His heart, at least, seems pretty set on Yuuri. ^^ And neither of them really flinch from the reality that it's not mutual, although that's not going to stop Wolfram from trying. I think being "second best" would dent him a lot, but I can honestly see how it might be going there with Conrad. (At the end of the, what, bearbee episode, with Anissina's love detector machine thing...)
Speaking of which, totally fangirling the Anissina/Gwendal. (Apparently they're named after a pair of Olympic ice skaters, totally at random? XD I can't imagine Gwendal and Anissina doing a couples skate.) Yes indeed. I'll wait on seeing the rest of the series, but if I did write anything, I would so happily write something for them. XD Gunter is... I really, really can't see it working romantically with Gwendal.
I just checked the only time I could specifically recall Yozak discussing his orders, episode 11 when he rescues Yuuri from Stoffel via Clever Drag Disguise, and he says -- at least in that incident -- that he was acting on Gwendel's orders to infiltrate Stoffel's castle and spy. I'm pretty sure he works for Gwendel and just happens to work with Conrad a lot... It might just be Yozak's attitude, but I also would assume that if Conrad were his ultimate superior, Yozak would be less buddy-buddy with him.
I would also happily write something for HIM. XD And you're totally right, I feel like Yozak would be absolutely okay with being "second-best".
*watches more*
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