First: Thank you so much for posting this! I've been dying to read it ever since I first heard of its existence!
Second: I'm apologizing in advance for length ^ __ ^;;;;
Probably the thing I found the most interesting was the implication that at Death-T while Yami might have removed the darkness from Kaiba's heart, he left the craziness intact!
I've always thought the first shadow duel was pivotal (along with Gozaburo's suicide) in pushing Kaiba over the proverbial edge -- but I always attributed that to the shock of being rejected by his dragons. I thought that was really cool -- how his experiences really cemented that losing = death equation in his mind -- something that persists even at Alcatraz, when he tells Yami that if he loses he wants to die.
I was intrigued by the idea that Kaiba feels remorse for Gozaburo's death -- and could definitely see him as so focused on their ongoing game he didn't stop for a second to consider the implications.
I think though, I was somewhat disturbed by the idea that I possibly like Seto Kaiba better and have a higher estimate of his potential to change than his creator -- which seems like the ultimate definition of get a life!
One thing that has always struck me about Kaiba is the way he struggles for a 'true future' as he terms it. That he uses the duels not just to test himself personally against an opponent -- although that's certainly a big part of his make-up -- but also as a way of testing essential beliefs and philosophies. It's striking the way he will frame every duel he either participates in or even watches in terms of philosophical imperatives. I'm possibly over-influenced by the only previous quaote (thank you again for translating this) I had read where Mr. Takahashi said that Kaiba was a warrior, and that meeting Yugi freed him to be one. But it struck me that he took a very 'trial by combat' approach to life, where combat was used to test the validity of beliefs.
I've always though of the ending of Alcatraz as hopeful, though. At the beginning Yami tells him that after a loss, one should feel sad, but then the road to the future continues. At the end when he talks about letting his bitterness sink into the sea, and finding his heart under the rubble of Alcatraz, and then saying as he flew off that the future road of battle was open, I always took that to mean that for the first time in a long time, he was questioning the whole losing = dying thing, and was ready to try and find a better way.
I guess I always saw Kaiba a bit like Aoshi in that way -- where first he needs Kenshin as an opponent, but then weans himself from this to find other goals. I guess I had thought that in the Alcatraz arc, he was finally starting to get a handle on doing that, so I thought it was interesting, if a bit disturbing that Mr. Takahashi did not seem to see that kind of growth or development in his character... which makes me wonder how much I've been seeing things that aren't there.
Anyway, thank you for translating and posting this!
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 09:50 pm (UTC)Second: I'm apologizing in advance for length ^ __ ^;;;;
Probably the thing I found the most interesting was the implication that at Death-T while Yami might have removed the darkness from Kaiba's heart, he left the craziness intact!
I've always thought the first shadow duel was pivotal (along with Gozaburo's suicide) in pushing Kaiba over the proverbial edge -- but I always attributed that to the shock of being rejected by his dragons. I thought that was really cool -- how his experiences really cemented that losing = death equation in his mind -- something that persists even at Alcatraz, when he tells Yami that if he loses he wants to die.
I was intrigued by the idea that Kaiba feels remorse for Gozaburo's death -- and could definitely see him as so focused on their ongoing game he didn't stop for a second to consider the implications.
I think though, I was somewhat disturbed by the idea that I possibly like Seto Kaiba better and have a higher estimate of his potential to change than his creator -- which seems like the ultimate definition of get a life!
One thing that has always struck me about Kaiba is the way he struggles for a 'true future' as he terms it. That he uses the duels not just to test himself personally against an opponent -- although that's certainly a big part of his make-up -- but also as a way of testing essential beliefs and philosophies. It's striking the way he will frame every duel he either participates in or even watches in terms of philosophical imperatives. I'm possibly over-influenced by the only previous quaote (thank you again for translating this) I had read where Mr. Takahashi said that Kaiba was a warrior, and that meeting Yugi freed him to be one. But it struck me that he took a very 'trial by combat' approach to life, where combat was used to test the validity of beliefs.
I've always though of the ending of Alcatraz as hopeful, though. At the beginning Yami tells him that after a loss, one should feel sad, but then the road to the future continues. At the end when he talks about letting his bitterness sink into the sea, and finding his heart under the rubble of Alcatraz, and then saying as he flew off that the future road of battle was open, I always took that to mean that for the first time in a long time, he was questioning the whole losing = dying thing, and was ready to try and find a better way.
I guess I always saw Kaiba a bit like Aoshi in that way -- where first he needs Kenshin as an opponent, but then weans himself from this to find other goals. I guess I had thought that in the Alcatraz arc, he was finally starting to get a handle on doing that, so I thought it was interesting, if a bit disturbing that Mr. Takahashi did not seem to see that kind of growth or development in his character... which makes me wonder how much I've been seeing things that aren't there.
Anyway, thank you for translating and posting this!