Author:
Mark (The Sumeragi Slut)
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Date Posted: 18:47:17 04/29/05 Fri
In reply to:
Soot
's message, "Re: On the subject of Sei-chan's final words (Good lord, not again?)" on 12:19:53 12/06/04 Mon
Here is my take on this situation:
Lip-reading is futile. Lip motions in anime are so generic, he could be saying anything that is so many syllables long. Same for manga . . . you can't see the lips moving.
What we can go on is SUBARU'S reaction to what Seishirou said. Not the AUDIENCE'S reaction to what we PERCEIVED Seishirou to have said, but SUBARU'S reaction to it. Everyone I know who has been arguing against Seishirou having said something that amounts to the English, "I love you" has boiled their evidence down to this point: after having been made an unintentional accomplice in Seishirou's suicide, Subaru says something to the English effect of, "Even after all this time, you never did say what I expected you to say." (I can't give you an EXACT quote as both my Japanese and English manga are on loan to a friend who needed to be educated in the ways of CLAMPness). The chain of logic that those who are arguing against Seishirou having said, "I love you" follow is this: EVERYONE and their mothers are expecting Seishirou to say, "I love you". If that is the EXPECTED response and Subaru remarks that Seishirou said something UNEXPECTED, then Seishirou COULD NOT HAVE SAID, "I love you".
HOWEVER, this logic is FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED as it has its foundation in the AUDIENCE'S PERSPECTIVE--NOT SUBARU'S. Do you honestly THINK that after all of the trauma Subaru went through with Seishirou, after years of thinking that Seishirou didn't even consider him significant enough to hate or be annoyed by, that Subaru was EXPECTING Seishirou to say to him, "I love you"? Even after the Bet, when Seishirou pointedly told Subaru that he did NOT love him? OF COURSE NOT. Subaru was NOT expecting Seishirou to say such a thing, even if we as an audience were--and that's what matters in regards to Subaru's surprise as it was SUBARU HIMSELF who was not expecting such a response from Seishirou.
Additionally, what amounts to circumstantial evidence of Setsuka telling Seishirou that he will die at the hand of the one he loves (which furthermore emphasizes, if anything, that Seishirou loves Subaru being as he CHOSE for Subaru to kill him in accordance with his mother's prediction) supports Seishirou having loved Subaru. Why not say it?
All semantic evidence aside, suppose Seishirou DID say, "I hate you" to Subaru as he was dying . . . Subaru MIGHT not expect him to say such a thing (as he believed himself unworthy even of Seishirou's ATTENTION, let alone such deep emotions as love and hate), although I think he would certainly moreover expect to hear sentiments of hatred from Seishirou than sentiments of love. I would not be at ALL surprised if Seishirou really didn't see much of a difference between loving someone and hating them--both of these feelings are DEEPLY PASSIONATE; you have to care enough about a person in order to hate them, otherwise you're simply indifferent to them (which is how Subaru suspected Seishirou felt towards him). Ultimately, then, it doesn't matter what words Seishirou specifically chose, the meaning he was COMMUNICATING was that he CARED for Subaru in a SPECIAL WAY--something which he had previously denied--such that he would only allow himself to die at Subaru's hand, whether Subaru was willing to help him or not.
As for CULPABILITY in Seishirou's death . . . Subaru cannot be blamed whatsoever. In terms of physical involvement (if not otherwise), he was completely a coincidental factor. Hokuto herself would hold a low level of culpability as she was the one who enabled Seishirou to force Subaru to kill him (as Seishirou himself said, he knew Subaru was too kind of a person to kill willingly), but the final decision fell upon Seishirou, and thus Seishirou is most culpable for his own death. He did not NEED to activate Hokuto's spell ever. He KNEW the consequences of activating this spell. True, without Hokuto's involvement, Subaru could never have killed Seishirou (unless it was in some other equally unwilling fashion), but the final decision to activate Hokuto's spell fell on Seishirou.
He chose to be killed by Subaru, but ultimately, this was his (I know how twisted this is going to sound, but this is CLAMP and this is Seishirou, and it doesn't get more twisted than that) highest expression of love for Subaru; Seishirou would not have allowed ANYONE ELSE to kill him, for he wished only to die at the hand of the one he loved.
But as I said, that's just my take on things.
-Mark
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