Questions are good things. They are there to get to know others and to find the common ground with each other, with the people we want to love. Well, I would think that the biggest thing I need to learn is to love myself. I think at least. I like lists, I make lists, mainly about anime and manga that I want to read and watch. And sometimes about American books too. My life does revolve around things that I consume. And I do not know if I am fine with that. I would like to fancy myself that I like philosophy, but in truth, I like the idea of philosophy. In the sense, philosophy means the love of knowledge, because we cannot know everything. So we need to start with things that we do not know, even though there are many famous figures in philosophy, I do not want to read from them. Because the biggest thing that I do not know if myself. And, as I am right now, I am more interested in filling the emptiness in me, if that makes sense. But I like questions. So, I went out and looked for que
Asakura Miu is a character from "Bungaku Shoujo" and this character analysis was mainly inspired after watching the movie adaptation. I hadn't read the original novel.
Her being the antagonist and the most interesting character in the entire movie deserves an analysis alone.
"I wanted to hurt you, make you suffer, and make sure that you'd never forget me."
Miu doesn't really care for Konoha, she only cares about his perception of him. When they were children, she would entertain him with stories that she had made up and he encouraged her to write. Miu felt appreciated by this, she liked the attention that she was getting from him. But as time goes by Miu loses the ability to tell stories and decides to plagiarize other people's works, twisting just enough that the other kid, who wasn't well-read wouldn't realize that it wasn't her story that she is retelling. This simple action talks a lot about her character. Anything goes until the people I care about are in my life and they have the correct perception of her.
This still continues on, after she had tried to commit suicide.
It is kind of implied that Konoha wanted to write too, inspired by her and that's why he had submitted a novel he had written, taking on her surname, to make her realize that it was him so he would impress her. Miu hadn't expected to win, she had submitted an entirely empty manuscript. However, Miu falls into a deep depression that he had outdone her while she was the one who was the better one between them when it comes to writing and decides to kill herself. After she had survived and they see each other in the hospital, she tries to fool him, that she doesn't remember what had happened between them before the incident.
Then, after her true intentions come to light, she ends up trying to convince Konoha to commit suicide with her.
Throughout the movie, we get some musing about Night on the Galactic Railroad, mainly about what the two main characters are going through and what the railroad means for both of them. Miu decides to herself that going on the railroad, to continue on the road means death. That just shows Miu's spiraling down. She wants to hurt Konoha because she needs to depend on him. It is never said in words but hinted on that there is an extreme dependence going on and if she can't have him, then no one else can have him.
"Bungaku Shoujo" works more on an emotional level, and it depends more on the antagonist's world view and self-centered attitude to bring forward and move the story. And this shows in how the narration is constructed - there are no authority figures anywhere in the movie, we're in the hospital and see no one, we are in the school and see no one and there are no family members anywhere - in other places, I would call that out, but here I think it is a strong point. It makes Miu's presence more of a point. She is the one who holds power over the other characters, mainly because Konoha believes in her and there is trust between them. A one-sided thrust. What is between them is not really love, more like possessiveness.
"In my family; Father, Mother, and Grandmother all hated each other. I was the trash can into which they dumped their hatred. That's why I only thought about beautiful and warm things, fun things. But after I met you, I understood. No matter how many beautiful stories I made, they were all lies. Because the person telling the stories, me, was an ugly and dirty creature." This confession comes late. But it is an explanation towards her opinion towards herself. She doesn't want to admit how she sees herself and thinks the lie that she is spinning for Konoha is more appealing.
Characterizing Asakura Miu as a psychopath would be interesting and certainly, it can be read that way. It is not that psychopaths do not have emotions, they have shallow emotions and like to get their way and to manipulate people. However, the answer could be simpler than that, her spiral out of control was in years in the making, one lie after another since she couldn't live up to the picture she had painted of herself in Konoha's mind. She is someone who had caught herself in a circle and way over her head because of her emotions.
If Miu is the main character, then the entire movie would work as a character study. For me, she had stolen the show.
Her being the antagonist and the most interesting character in the entire movie deserves an analysis alone.
"I wanted to hurt you, make you suffer, and make sure that you'd never forget me."
Miu doesn't really care for Konoha, she only cares about his perception of him. When they were children, she would entertain him with stories that she had made up and he encouraged her to write. Miu felt appreciated by this, she liked the attention that she was getting from him. But as time goes by Miu loses the ability to tell stories and decides to plagiarize other people's works, twisting just enough that the other kid, who wasn't well-read wouldn't realize that it wasn't her story that she is retelling. This simple action talks a lot about her character. Anything goes until the people I care about are in my life and they have the correct perception of her.
This still continues on, after she had tried to commit suicide.
It is kind of implied that Konoha wanted to write too, inspired by her and that's why he had submitted a novel he had written, taking on her surname, to make her realize that it was him so he would impress her. Miu hadn't expected to win, she had submitted an entirely empty manuscript. However, Miu falls into a deep depression that he had outdone her while she was the one who was the better one between them when it comes to writing and decides to kill herself. After she had survived and they see each other in the hospital, she tries to fool him, that she doesn't remember what had happened between them before the incident.
Then, after her true intentions come to light, she ends up trying to convince Konoha to commit suicide with her.
Throughout the movie, we get some musing about Night on the Galactic Railroad, mainly about what the two main characters are going through and what the railroad means for both of them. Miu decides to herself that going on the railroad, to continue on the road means death. That just shows Miu's spiraling down. She wants to hurt Konoha because she needs to depend on him. It is never said in words but hinted on that there is an extreme dependence going on and if she can't have him, then no one else can have him.
"Bungaku Shoujo" works more on an emotional level, and it depends more on the antagonist's world view and self-centered attitude to bring forward and move the story. And this shows in how the narration is constructed - there are no authority figures anywhere in the movie, we're in the hospital and see no one, we are in the school and see no one and there are no family members anywhere - in other places, I would call that out, but here I think it is a strong point. It makes Miu's presence more of a point. She is the one who holds power over the other characters, mainly because Konoha believes in her and there is trust between them. A one-sided thrust. What is between them is not really love, more like possessiveness.
"In my family; Father, Mother, and Grandmother all hated each other. I was the trash can into which they dumped their hatred. That's why I only thought about beautiful and warm things, fun things. But after I met you, I understood. No matter how many beautiful stories I made, they were all lies. Because the person telling the stories, me, was an ugly and dirty creature." This confession comes late. But it is an explanation towards her opinion towards herself. She doesn't want to admit how she sees herself and thinks the lie that she is spinning for Konoha is more appealing.
Characterizing Asakura Miu as a psychopath would be interesting and certainly, it can be read that way. It is not that psychopaths do not have emotions, they have shallow emotions and like to get their way and to manipulate people. However, the answer could be simpler than that, her spiral out of control was in years in the making, one lie after another since she couldn't live up to the picture she had painted of herself in Konoha's mind. She is someone who had caught herself in a circle and way over her head because of her emotions.
If Miu is the main character, then the entire movie would work as a character study. For me, she had stolen the show.
Comments
Post a Comment