An Extreme showcase of nerdiness -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 18:37:28 04/27/08 Sun
Author: JD
Subject: An Extreme showcase of nerdiness

My last nerdy post was on Star Wars, well I think I have it beat with what this post is about: anime.

Last week in class we read and talked about the newfound concern with the victim and how it has fostered a persecutive attitude towards those that would persecute.
There is an anime called Trigun, in which (although it might be kind of a stretch) I see a sort of meditation on a devotion to the victim and peace in general in a world of violence.

The anime is about the most wanted outlaw in the world: Vash the Stampede. They call him the Stampede because wherever he goes, chaos ensues. However, you find out that he is 1. not human and 2.utterly opposed to violence and taking life. It seems problematic as you do not know how he came to be as notorious as he is. His brother, Knives, is bent on the destruction of humans and tries to hunt down his brother as well. Throughout the series you see Vash pushed to the brink of death many times because he is so concerned with protecting people from harm. His enemies take advantage of his devotion, yet he never gives up trying to protect anyone regardless of the cost. One of the enemies sent after him promises that he will torture him endlessly. You think that he means physically but in one of the most wrenching parts of the series, the enemy uses telekinetic power to make Vash kill him, and Vash cannot handle the torment that he feels. There is much more to the series but this is it in a nutshell.

Although this isnt a very intellectual treatment of the matter, I think it illustrates a couple things that we have seen in this course. In being Vash the Stampede, Vash is that outsider who happens to bring disorder. He is the person committed to peace in a world of violence and so he is marked as different and ultimately the cause of problems. It seems to show the impossibility of such a devotion when it is surrounded by a violent mindset (i.e. the persecution of those who "turn the other cheek"). In showing these things it seems to recognize the reign of violence among humanity (the one who is barely able to escape it isnt even human) and yet the desolation and ennervation that results from that reign. It perhaps could also function like Hamlet, as Dr. Jackson pointed out that it is ironic that we criticize Hamlet for his conscience. In the same way, we cannot help but both admire and ridicule Vash in his dedication to non-violence.

The series is very good and I would highly recommend it, although the first couple episodes are somewhat difficult to get through

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