Saturday, August 14, 2010

They Don't Have a Home (Gang Arc)

Y'know, there are times when I feel it necessary to say everything, and spell it out for y'all. Not that you're stupid, but I think it's helpful to make things as clear as possible, so that way I don't look like a raving lunatic. There are times, however, that it feels redundant to say something that's so clearly spelled out in the anime that it makes my head hurt. The following video is evidence of such a time.


There ya go, kiddies. The entire point of this arc is summed up, in a nutshell. These kids are still trying to form family, even when the one that they had isn't working out. It's so ingrained into us as humans that we really have no choice about it, because who chooses not to have a family? Well, beyond the nutballs of society...  But the point is made. We need family.

So why don't the gangs work out too well, then? Because the people who form these families only have the brokeness of their former lives to reference to, and so they recreate it. Don't believe me? Well, you apparently don't know anything about gang wars (or this arc), because they definitely recreate the trouble in their homes. So running from it won't help, not matter what happens you'll bring your darkness with you. This is a point that escapes Tomoya who's in their very shoes. Instead of facing his father, he ran away to Nagisa's house. Does that make Tomoya like them? Yup. Tomoya's motives are almost identical, his anger is similar. The only difference is that the family he picked was stable and loving to begin with, which is a stroke of luck on his part. The gangs are a contrast to how lucky Tomoya is, showing that not everyone gets Tomoya's chance at pure happiness.

But for some people, it's not enough that the offending party (their parents) are out of the picture. They have to remove everyone that reminds them of the evil that was in their lives. Why wouldn't they want to remove evil, or things that remind them of evil? That makes sense, right? And so gang wars seem to come up. But there are people who don't have that baggage, who watch our fights and wonder what the hell is going on, and why good people are putting demons on other good people's faces. Who isn't living in the past. Yukine is one of those people in that unenviable position. Well, Yukine decides that enough's enough, and so...

I often wonder why the hell this works, until I saw this scene. Yukine represents something good in the present, and the fact that she was hit represents their present (and future) being threatened. You can only hold on to the past for so long, until it destroys your present and future. The gang members realize this and...


Settle their differences, once and for all. Because nothing is worth Yukine's pain. Sometimes, as painful as the past is, it's not worth destroying the present. Tomoya needs to learn this, and fast.

Unfortunately, it takes a little more than this heartwarming arc to do that for him, as we'll cover next week, in the Week of Tears. Expect a blog post Monday!

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