[Zolda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

Continuing this topic, I was reminded of Lenin?s quote: ?In a personal sense, it is very important whether a person harms you from evil motives or from good ones. But in practical terms, there is not much difference.? Transferring this from reality to the show, we can conclude that the prefix ?anti-? is the prerogative of important and/or interesting characters for the plot/viewers. That is, no one would call an anti-villain a kaijin for an episode of the Showa era, even if there are reasons for this in his motivation. Therefore, different viewers may have different views on some characters. That is, it is obvious that Takatora was a villain at the beginning of Gaim and became a hero at the end, but his intermediate stages may not have been noticed by everyone.

I agree, especially with the quote. In real life, it's often very hard to discern between good and bad intentions, especially when a screwup happens. When something is screwed up, people usually do their best to save their faces and transfer responsibility and accountability to anyone they can sweep under the bus. It's every man for himself. Not a fan of Lenin though. Haha.

Takatora is what I call an apparent/faux villain. His villainy didn't result from malice, but from a situation he was in that was completely beyond his control. His faux villainy was gradually deconstructed, layer by layer, as the story progressed and revealed new informations about the nature of Helheim and Yggdrasill's plans as necessary responses. I don't think that he became a hero. He was already a hero, in the sense that he made the right choice out of a common ethical dilemma, and carried all the ethical burdens by himself. He made the right decision in a situation rife with limited (and hidden) informations, and more importantly, under uncertainty. His decision was rational. And of course, like any rational humans would do, he changed his view of Helheim once he gained new informations from Kouta.

This kind of ethical dilemma is actually quite common in real life. What Takatora did was basically what a decent, rational human would do in real life if he's forced by situation to make a decision under uncertainty. Takatora's trope was basically a personification of the idea that the average people's heroism often means making the best decision in a bad situation, and accepting the burden of responsibility of any bad outcomes that may result from it. Noblesse oblige, as he said.