THEIR CHAINS ARE SO EXCRUCIATINGLY LONG AND SO DEVESTATINGLY HEAVY...
I haven’t done this in quite some time. But I’ve been raring to write this blog. And the title, while a bit pretentious I must admit, I was inspired by Classroom of the Elite to try.
But the journey of this blog doesn’t begin there. It begins on episode 47 of Attack on Titan. From words uttered after defeat, from a slumped and dying Kenny the Ripper, the big bad of that season’s first half. “We all are a slave to something…” this profound quote rattled me as me as much as it confused Levi. Kenny’s ragged final words upon death, a realization why an insurmountable god-like being like Uri Reiss and Reiss lived in pacifism. And the quote echoes throughout Attack on Titan. And it’s a group of words that are often a driving force to our actions.
SO THEN my GEARS STARTED Whirling...
I never thought much of them myself until the 11th episode of season 2, Classroom of the Elite. Another splendid anime that stirs much thought. At the beginning of each episode, they show a profound philosophical quote that usually has some major presence in the episode. For the 11th episode: “If a man can not command himself, he will always be a slave”. Seeing this quote spurred my mental gears to move and keen introspection.
the fallen profound antagonist drunk on something...
I’m currently in a very self reflective period of my life and anime as usual, helps me through it with its stories. Back on subject, the quote sounded familiar to Kenny’s final words and intensely grabbed me and indirectly inspired me to reexamine AoT (Attack on Titan) with another lens. I thought deeply about what it possibly meant. And then it struck me. Attack on Titan’s main cast have various motivations were drunk on that compelled them to join their respective factions and fight against overwhelming, bloodthirsty beasts or becoming savage herculean monsters themselves. Driven to be a hero, driven by wealth, driven by power, driven by nationalism, driven by fear, driven by pure freedom, or driven by control. You rarely had noble reasons that drove them, which is extremely similar to real life war. Soldiers of world armies are fed propaganda of religion, nationalism, fear, promise of financial security, or national security to often fight for the elites’ wealth, resources, and control.
Season 3 unearthed possibly the greatest plot twist in the last decade of anime. Absolutely revelatory. And Season 4 explored the “other”, showing the motivations that drove the would-be villains of AoT. This element excited me quite a bit, because the concept was relatively new to me in entertainment. I had only experienced it in The Last of Us 2, another awesome story that had characters “drunk on something” themselves to drive them on this perilous and emotionally damaging journey. Both had characters absolutely despised for killing a beloved character. Both showed how the other side lived to the audience. To show they essentially were no different. Both sides suffered immense consequences. The audience discovered from the perspective of the “enemy”, what drove either side. In the end, they were drunk on something that motivated go embark on their respective endeavor.
so the we come t0 the musing's muse that's classroom's season 2 antagonist
In the other anime that inspired this very blog, was episode 11 of Classroom of the Elite S2, a character named Ryuuen became obsessed with hunting down this “mastermind” in S2 that consistently thwarted his plans and manipulated various characters, including Ryuuen. It damaged his ego, his pride that his plans were being foiled by an individual from a class beneath him. Classroom of Elite takes place at a government funded academy labeled,Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing. This school is shaped by absolute meritocracy, so your aptitude and grades dictate the Class you’re placed in. Think Baka to Test but more drama and less comedy. If you haven’t seen it, this old sage recommends it.In the other anime that inspired this very blog, was episode 11 of Classroom of the Elite S2, a character named Ryuuen became obsessed with hunting down this “mastermind” in S2 that consistently thwarted his plans and manipulated various characters, including Ryuuen. It damaged his ego, his pride that his plans were being foiled by an individual from a class beneath him. Classroom of Elite takes place at a government funded academy labeled,Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing. This school is shaped by absolute meritocracy, so your aptitude and grades dictate the Class you’re placed in. Think Baka to Test but more drama and less comedy. If you haven’t seen it, this old sage recommends it.
Ryuuen, the violent and persistent slave
Back to Elite, this circumstance of course would irritate Ryuuen to no end. The manipulator could not stand being manipulated, and even more so by a student beneath him. But it was hard to deny the excitement of the difficulty that trapping his prey presented. He became increasingly violent and increasingly unhinged, even going as far as to threaten members of Class D, Class A, and even his own. A beast drunk so much on thrill of the hunt, that he became a mindless slave to it and tyrant to his peers. But after threatening classmates and other classes, and through a strong process of elimination aka just threatening everyone that seemed suspicious in his opinion. Then his gears started to move…
The gears began to grind...
After tireless digging and sleuthing, he finally… finally arrived at Karuizawa Kei, the potential saboteur. Or at least connected to the mastermind. And he setup a snare for Karuizawa and torture her for his name Even the loyal deceptive vixen, Mio Ibuki, was so repulsed by this “trial” that she promised a swift resignation after it was over. But Ryuuen didn’t fret or care or hesitate. He continued to essentially waterboard Kei, torture intended to trigger trauma she endured in middle school. All to get Karuizawa to break and reveal the Puppeteer of Class D’s identity. At this point he was begging for ass kicking from her promised savior, Ayanakouji . And damn was it glorious. You already were given a taste of his fighting skills when he briefly threw hands with the Student Council, but damn was this brutal and brilliant. Not only because of how handily Ayanokoji thrashed Ryuuen’s accomplices. And not because of how handily he beat Ryuuen. It was those last words he told to Ryuuen’s disfigured profile. “There you go Ryuuen. Now you know”.
Ryuuen was thrilled to persistently come after him again and again. He wanted to see the anger and rage paint Ayanokoji’s face. He kept bragging about how he didn’t feel fear. He wanted to leave an impression. But this hunger that enslaved him would be his undoing. Ayanokoji thought nothing of brutalizing him. It was a similar indifference of crushing an insect beneath his heel in passing that frightened him to the core. Because he was essentially nothing to him. Now he knew. And that finally drummed up the fear he thought he was incapable of.
david martinez... the slave to exceptionalism
And for the third and final anime, Edgerunners. An Netflix anime that conveyed a dystopian world ruled absolutely by capitalism, and all the inhabitants are driven by their desires so long as they can afford it. The protagonist of Edgerunners is David Martinez, Icarus of this dog eat dog world, desperately flies too close to the sun to prove himself greater than those that came before. The integral piece to the story that catapults David into a group called Edgerunners, is an overwhelming cybernetic implant called the Sandevistan. This military grade modification is smuggled by David’s mother, Gloria Martinez, as a job for Edgerunner’s leader, Maine, to pay David’s tuition for the prestigious Arisaka academy. This prestigious school guarantees its students access to the rungs of the Corpo ladder, and David was the top student on scholarship.
an event to change the course of his life forever
On the way to school circumstances of great misfortune transpired that would change David’s life forever. On the way to school, after a stern speech from Gloria, an event of chaos happened. Two corpo hitmen rode up to kill the mom, a job unbeknownst to David. With a crash, so ended Gloria’s long toil. Left behind? The Sandevistan, the item that intoxicated David with cockiness over the anime. The mod significantly bolsters the wielder’s speed, reflexes, and perception of time. However, it caused significant neural degeneration because of how much it strained the nervous system. But while it drove previous wielders mad into a delusional and violent state called cyberpsychosis only after very few uses, David’s tolerance was so high that he could use it ten times in one day.
It fed directly into his ego. David brashly thought he was special, exceptional, because his tolerance was far greater than his predecessors, and he wouldn’t falter. One implant led to another, and he continued to “chrome up”, tearing away more and more of his humanity; closing ever closer to cyberpsychosis. He wouldn’t crack though, because he was “built different”. He was special. The warnings he received from Lucy, Rebecca, the doctor who handled his enhancements, and from watching Maine. He wouldn’t be like that.
And this is not to come across as if I dislike David. It’s quite the contrary. The character actually has a relatability, in feeling he’s meant for more. It’s a feeling that I think is quite common. At least to me personally. And it influenced his stubbornness and made him so brash. Even very human tells such as a jumping foot presenting anxiousness and impatience were present and persistent with David. Seldom to see it in anime, but a subtly much appreciated. He’s actually more human given credit. He thought he was invincible and continued to make himself more inhuman, never heeding the risks of cyberpsychosis
It’s funny that Midori of “Call of the Night” said it best. Another great anime by the way. But she said all humans are sick in their own ways, compelled to do obscure, twisted, spectacular, or harrowing things driven by numerous and varied motivations. Thinking about it more, I can’t help but agree. People tend to the wildest things for either insignificant motivations or humungous ones. Interesting to think about. I guess we’re all a slave to something…
So what are your thoughts? It’s an interesting topic to discuss in my opinion and the core reason I love this medium. So many ideas and interpretations of the material. Any additional thoughts or things I didn’t consider? Did I over analyze? Am I going senile?
Chime down below