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tammaiyaAlright, I will just say, if you value your sanity... you're probably not on my flist! XD But if you value even the remaining tattered shreds of what sanity you have (or dignity) you may not want to read this. Aside from anything else it's long and mostly in AIM conversation form. Basically stuff about the books I didn't summarise on the first time through, but DID spam ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
corialis about-- because for me to summarise the later books, you have to know what happens in the earlier books. I don't actually HAVE the books before 21 in Japan, however, so this is all on the basis of memory and copy-pastes from things I said in emails and conversations at the time I was reading.
By the way, I've properly tagged all my mirage of blaze entries now, since there were a bunch from the second half of last year that were untagged. I don't seem to have anything considerable on books 1 and 2 lying around anywhere; they're mostly covered fairly accurately by the anime (unlike everything else) except that from the anime you'd never know that Takaya has an ENORMOUS GIRLY CRUSH practically right off the bat.
Also, sometimes it's easy to forget how good Naoe is at pretending to be normal for the first volume!
~
"Would you like a lift home?"
"Ah, that'd be great. Then..." Takaya says, and glances at Yuzuru beside him. Yuzuru is looking at him strangely.
"---------"
Staring for a moment, Takaya turned back to Naoe.
"Actually... I'll go with Yuzuru. It's not that far..."
"Is that so? How admirable of you."
~
The bit with Yuzuru looking at him funny just makes me cack. In a "whoops, too eager there, Takaya, people will get suspicious!" way. *snigger*
In book 2 it's mainly just Takaya's thought process about Naoe protecting him from the glass shards when they all fall into Ranmaru's trap. It comes up again in book 3 when Takaya is being all OMG NAOE <3 at Ayako, and then again in book 6 when he's angsting over Naoe leaving. BUT MOVING ON-- let's start with books 3-4.
I don't actually have any useful summaries from this, just an amusing excerpt from the end of book 3 that I'll c&p in a moment. Basically all you need to know is that something suspicious is going down in Sendai, so Ayako and Takaya travel up by train to investigate. Takaya is kind of D: about not getting to go with Naoe. Ayako is kind of like "um, honey, BAD IDEA" and tries to head him off by telling him that Naoe is just doing his job by protecting Kagetora and tells him about the thing with Minako. Takaya continues to have an enormous girly crush, but he's a little sad that maybe it's not really HIM Naoe's protecting, it's "Kagetora". He's still not entirely convinced that he even IS Kagetora, because he hasn't started getting any memories back yet, but that's not even really the point. Anyway, they go to this temple that is run by friends of Naoe's current family (Kokuryou) and Takaya recieves spiritual training, which explains how he learns wtf he's actually doing.
Meanwhile, the stuff going down in Sendai involves the Date clan, which is the main reason you have to know about these books. Date Masamune, known as the one-eye dragon, assisted by his cousin Shigezane and loyal retainer Katakura Kojyuurou, is trying to protect Sendai from all the weird goings on. The weird goings on come down to Masamune's mother, who in their original lifetime was plotting to assassinate Masamune and replace him with his younger brother, Kojirou. She's trying to do the same thing again now. Kojirou is being dragged along as a semi-unwilling participant-- again. He loves his mother, but he also loves his brother, despite that Masamune had no choice but to execute him when the plot was uncovered. Masamune also loves Kojirou and bears a lot of guilt over that.
On a different note, Takaya's mother who left when he was in about sixth grade to escape from her abusive alcoholic husband (not that I don't sympathise with her position and she does redeem herself a lot in the later volumes, but I still can't BELIEVE she just left Miya and Takaya in that man's care) is living with her new family in Sendai. Takaya goes to visit her, sees her with her new son and can't get up the courage to speak to her. Flagnote, he has a lot of abandonment issues, both as Takaya AND as Kagetora.
Chiaki is back in Matsumoto for book 3 keeping an eye on Yuzuru because of what Kousaka said about Yuzuru being a threat to the six worlds, but he and Yuzuru go off to Sendai to help at the end of book 3. Naoe is sneaking around gathering intel when he gets caught by Masamune's mother, but Kojirou ends up releasing him. For some reason I can't remember Kousaka is also sneaking around and he blows up the temple where Takaya is staying, killing a kindly elderly couple who I don't remember how they relate but obviously aren't the monk Kokuryou because he shows up later. I THINK that Kokuryou was teaching Takaya, and he was staying with the couple who get killed. Anyway, he hates Kousaka a whole lot after that.
In the end the mother gets exorcised, and Kojirou swears vengeance upon the Uesugi. But not his brother. He still loves his brother, although they don't get reunited yet. (or indeed, for a VERY LONG TIME.)
Anyway, hilarious moment from the end of book 3, taken as an excerpt from an email I sent:
Morino Saori is a FREAK. in the best way possible. No, seriously, you know how we keep joking about her being really thick not to notice that Yuzuru is flaming like a row of pink pixies in burning rainbow tents? She's still a spazz, but I think she's overly optimistic more than anything. Get a load of THIS bit-- (and the books seem to pander to our fondness for Chiaki/Yuzuru, btw):
Chiaki pulls up next to them in the Matsumoto shopping district, driving a kick ass expensive car, because he's just cool like that.
S: OMFG kickass car! You have a LICENSE?
C: I'm nineteen, didn't you know?
S: But that means you repeated! ... ooh, car, so shiny. Is it yours or your parents'?
C: No it doesn't. Anyway. *jerks thumb, smirks* Get in the car, Narita-kun.
Y: Geh?!
C: I've already packed your bag.
Y: ... Did you go to my house and pack that? O.o;
C: *smug* Yes. Now get in, we're going to Vegas. *pause* I mean, Sendai.
Y: .....................
Y: Why?
C: There's someone bitching about you not being there.
Y: Someone bitching... Oh! *gets in the car*
C: Sorry, I'm borrowing him.
S: What? NOOOOOOOOO! I wanna come too! ;____;
C: Too bad! *drives off*
S: ... *claps hands together and prays* DEAR GOD, PLEASE DO NOT LET NARITA-KUN GET AIDS.
Me: *DIES*
I was like, surely it just SOUNDS like AIDS. So I looked it up-- and in a fit of dyslexia got "Jesus" (me: ... please do not let Narita-kun be Jesus? wtf?) -- but NO IT REALLY IS AIDS.
And in conclusion, Saori is a freak who apparently thinks Chiaki has stolen Yuzuru away for a hot weekend/whatever in Sendai to have lots of gay sex? CLEARLY.
Chiaki is also a freak. <3
Further evidence to that last statement.
Y: We're not seriously going to Sendai, are we?
C: Of course we are.
Y: Oh my god you can't be serious.
C: If you're worried about your family, don't be. I hypnotised them. And the school.
Me: OH, AND THAT IS SO REASSURING. Is hypnosis your answer to EVERYTHING? XD
SO, that's all you need to know from books 3-4. Or it's all I remember, at any rate, so it's all you're getting. *g*
I also don't have any notes on book 5. I don't even REMEMBER what happened in book 5, in fact, so it... can't have been that important? Seriously, I'm drawing a complete and total blank. I thought maybe that was when the Ikkou sect were first introduced (warrior monk sect stemming from Joudo or "Pureland" Buddhism. Kagetora and co. follow Shingon Buddhism. Check it, dudes, I totally did Japanese religions last semester! AND wrote my paper on the Ikkou sect) but that was book 5.5.
[On that note, things you have to know about the Ikkou-shuu is basically that they were a major player in the civil war and a serious threat to the Uesugi. They were wiped out by Oda Nobunaga. Mostly in Mirage they're represented by the Shimozuma brothers.]
So I have NO IDEA what happened in book 5, and I don't have a copy of the book here, so I'm going to assume it was filler-- oh wait, I totally vaguely just remembered, it had something to do with a tsukumogami possessing a tea kettle that belonged to Toyotomi, or something. But I don't even remember what clans were involved in that. So MOVING ON.
I've already summarised 5.5 in reasonable depth here and here (the latter also has a translation of the last scene).
There then follows the long and very pivotal 3 book arc about the Tsutsuga mirror, which was the last arc in the anime series but preeeetty much made no sense due to butchering. Anyhow, summaries of book 6 are here, here and here, with a translation of the last chapter here.
Also, here are the results of my painstaking tsutsuga related research.
Oh, btw guys, I totally WENT to Nikkou and saw the shrines mentioned in the books! And the waterfalls, and the mountain with all the hairpin curves. It was the most awesomely geektastic experience ever, especially since I could sort of recognise places from the anime. *beams* Except I didn't get to see the Tsutsuga on the roof of the Toshouguu shrine because I misremembered and thought it was on the Futarasan-jinja. But I'm going back with my brother, so I'm making DOUBLY SURE to look for it next time.
So, back to the point, book 7 picks up directly where book 6 left off, at which point I resume c&p-ing from AIM conversations/emails.
Kattaiya (10:13:22 PM): I'm up to book 7 which is the middle of the mirror arc
piracy tango (10:10:01 PM): that is always a fun one
Kattaiya (10:14:01 PM): Where Takaya's brother is being a creep and his other brother is even worse and Naoe is like, yay, I get to sit here and watch him die, angst angst.
Kattaiya (10:14:24 PM): There was like, the ani-ue SMACKDOWN scene
Kattaiya (10:14:39 PM): which was kind of awesome because Naoe totally deserves big brothers coming and beating him up
Kattaiya (10:15:02 PM): but on the other hand is totally hypocritical, because DUDE, you sealed your younger brother's soul in a MIRROR. how is that making him happy?
piracy tango (10:11:22 PM): they are so foolish, all of them
Kattaiya (10:15:23 PM): I know. What really frightens me
Kattaiya (10:15:45 PM): is that in the following conversation that they have after Naoe sees Takaya's body
Kattaiya (10:15:48 PM): NAOE IS THE SANE ONE.
Kattaiya (10:16:49 PM): which is ultimate proof of how much Ujiteru is fucking creepy and crazy in the head, because NO ONE should make Naoe look sane when it comes to Kagetora.
piracy tango (10:13:22 PM): oh man
piracy tango (10:13:25 PM): if naoe is saner than you
piracy tango (10:13:31 PM): you are pretty fucked in the head
Kattaiya (10:17:34 PM): yeah, just hand in your badge for humanity.
Kattaiya (10:17:36 PM): seriously.
piracy tango (10:15:00 PM): as you pretty much fail at normal thought
Kattaiya (10:19:21 PM): Totally. I like, gave a quick run down of the conversation for someone else earlier today, to PROVE MY POINT about relative sanity:
Kattaiya (10:19:54 PM): Naoe of course goes >E at Ujiteru and yells at him to put Takaya back the way he was. Ujiteru is like, sorry, no, you need both the male and female mirrors for that and we don't have the male mirror here. Naoe is all still like, RAGE! and Ujiteru informs him that he's here essentially for Takaya's wake. You can't leave, so you have no choice but to watch him die, because the male mirror isn't here. Naoe is like "how can you DO THIS? you're his brother!" and Ujiteru is like, no, I'm the brother of Saburou Kagetora. I'm not the brother of this body. When this body dies, he will be given a new body as one of the Houjyou and it will be beautiful and perfect. Naoe rails futilely about how this body is important to Kagetora and how 17 years might not seem like much but it's his lifetime and it's just as precious as 400 years of Kagetora, and as a brother you should understand that. He is very aggressive, and Ujiteru is like, you know, as his vassal you should be more respectful to his older brother. Naoe, however, says he doesn't CARE whether you're his brother or not if you're going to do something like this to him! Too bad, says Ujiteru, you're stuck here and you can't use your power so nyer.
piracy tango (10:16:58 PM): these people. so special.
piracy tango (10:17:01 PM): how do they FUNCTION
Kattaiya (10:20:57 PM): which makes me wonder why Naoe didn't do the smart thing and tell anyone where he was going before he went there, but I suppose he was freaking out over Takaya, so I'll forgive him.
Kattaiya (10:20:59 PM): I DON'T KNOW
Kattaiya (10:21:03 PM): THEY'RE IMPAIRED
piracy tango (10:17:12 PM): do they not come off as BATHSIT CRAZY to, oh, EVERYONE ELSE
Kattaiya (10:21:26 PM): I suppose when they're not talking about Kagetora they do seem mostly normal.
Kattaiya (10:21:27 PM): er.
Kattaiya (10:21:41 PM): I mean, Naoe is pretty good at faking normal.
Kattaiya (10:22:10 PM): He's faking normal all through book 6 and only slips a few times. Or when you're in his POV and you're like, PLEASE, GET A COUNSELLOR.
Kattaiya (10:27:06 PM): with Ujiteru, though
Kattaiya (10:27:19 PM): something you don't find out in the anime that creeps me out even MORE
Kattaiya (10:28:11 PM): is that Fuuma ninja reported to him that Kagetora was spotted in the water park in Tokyo during that thing with Yuhiko where he had the fight with Chiaki and Ujiteru specifically went there for the purpose of picking him up.
Kattaiya (10:28:48 PM): that is so much creepier than plain coincidence of being like, omg, it is my long lost brother drunk and angsting in the street! let me take care of him!
piracy tango (10:25:12 PM): so much special
Kattaiya (10:29:21 PM): yesssssssss.
Kattaiya (10:34:32 PM): okay, done! which puts me about 2/3 of the way through summarising book 6. Takaya's POV goes from there until the last few scenes where Yuzuru yells at Chiaki and gets abducted, Haruie has hysterics at Naoe, and Naoe freaks when he sees Takaya in the mirror.
I have to say, the end of that book was AWESOMETOWN.
Kattaiya (10:35:06 PM): http://tammaiya.livejournal.com/320176.html
piracy tango (10:32:44 PM): naoe is only 28? weird.
Kattaiya (10:36:52 PM): well
Kattaiya (10:36:57 PM): the Minako thing was thirty years ago
Kattaiya (10:37:08 PM): logically he couldn't be very much older
Kattaiya (10:37:48 PM): I misread it as 38 the first time and was like "... WHAT?"
piracy tango (10:35:02 PM): hm.
piracy tango (10:35:11 PM): *sigh* naoe. you so dumb.
Kattaiya (10:42:08 PM): he is certainly his own brand of speshul, that's for sure.
piracy tango (10:39:02 PM): oh yes
Kattaiya (10:48:35 PM): these people need a keeper.
Kattaiya (10:49:04 PM): they're all just as crazy as-- okay, no, they're not.
Kattaiya (10:49:10 PM): but they're all pretty damn crazy.
Kattaiya (10:52:07 PM): Nagahide is sulky because Kagetora is supposed to be his rival and Takaya is weak and Nagahide's entire concept of himself and purpose of being is apparently bound up in this rivalry, Haruie has hysterics because she projects too much about her own lover she's never been able to see again and freaks out over the fact that Naoe got to be reunited with the one he loved but then LEFT and now Kagetora is MISSING, Kousaka is just... Kousaka, and I don't even have WORDS for Naoe or Kagetora.
Kattaiya (10:52:56 PM): that is how fucked up they are. I AM SPEECHLESS.
~~
* OH, FUUMA NINJA. Seriously. There was a scene or so from his POV and I briefly thought he would be the ray of sanity, but no, he's crazy in the way only a ninja can be. Basically he's all like, "I do not understand you people and your crazy moon logic!" at Naoe and Ujiteru, which is ENTIRELY JUSTIFIED. He then ruins it by being like, "what is the purpose of these feeble human emotions that seemingly motivate you? How nonsensical and unnecessary."
* Is it sad that the first thing I think when we're back to Naoe crazy time is "oh good, the natural balance of the universe has been restored"? I can never say this too many times: Naoe needs serious therapy. He's practically schizo, the way he flips between longing and love for Takaya and resentment and inferiority complex for Kagetora. He wants to be free, but he doesn't want anyone else to have Kagetora, and pretty much his mind is a mess. He was steering in a sort of healthy Takaya = yay! direction for a while, but then he decided that same as the seeds of madness are lying in him and just waiting to spring back to life, the seeds of Kagetora's cruelness are lying within Takaya, even if TAKAYA doesn't know it. His new TOTALLY HEALTHY SOLUTION is to seal them both in the mirror together forever. It's almost romantic, in that completely creepy mental kind of way.
* Okay, so it turns out Naoe is not driven by horror movie non-logic, and did actually ring Ayako to tell her what was going on and where he was going before he went. He also told Kojyuurou. (The sane guy who is the vassal of Date Masamune and ran into them at the holy tree place.)
* Which is why Ayako goes to Maiko's inn to meet Kojyuurou and discuss wtf they're going to do about the whole mirror/tsutsuga/kagetora situation. Also the Yuzuru situation, since he's been kidnapped by Date Masamune's vengeful younger brother, who is probably working with Mori Ranmaru. (ow, my brain. why do japanese feudal-type alliances gotta be so complex?) When she gets there, Maiko thinks she's Naoe's mysterious girlfriend (Maiko has a crush on Naoe and figured out he's got someone he loves but doesn't know who) and is jealous, and Kousaka is inexplicably both there and fully up on all the goss. I begin to think it's Kousaka's secret ability. To be the ULTIMATE GOSSIP MONGER.
* Kousaka and Ayako hiss and spit at each other like pissy cats, it's hilarious. Kousaka is apparently just not happy unless he's insulting the intelligence/abilities/etc of Kagetora and his little rag-tag army.
* This guy called Tooyama Yasuhide goes as a messenger from Ujimasa (the eldest) to see Ujiteru and tell him that Saburou is to be used as a sacrifice for the central tree. Tooyama lies, on Ujimasa's orders, and tells Ujiteru when he refuses that it's their father Ujiyasu's order. Ujiyasu is MIA. For some reason Tooyama is scared of Kagetora-- who he and his father were sent to protect as reinforcements during the war with Kagekatsu-- and refuses to go see him.
Addendum to this: there are apparently two other brothers who must be younger than Kagetora, because his name means "third son", and their names start with Uji- too. WAY TO MAKE ONE KID FEEL UNWANTED. Also, Ujimasa is a bastard, and he's just as crazy as Ujiteru. They are a family of freaks. Who are unhealthily obsessed with their father. (And in Ujiteru's case, with their younger brother.)
* Apparently this arc is the arc where everyone has to confront the dichotomy of Kagetora and Takaya and come to grips with it. Ayako sits in her room and yells at a mirror for a while, hoping that Kagetora will come and tell her what to do like he always has before because he SHOULD be capable of doing so. Eventually she concludes that for some reason he won't appear to anyone but Naoe (ARGH) and that Takaya is not Kagetora, so she can't rely on him this time; she has to do it herself. She's just about to head off and do this when Kagetora calls out her name and appears in the mirror, in Takaya's body but with Kagetora's expression, bearing, etc. Kagetora is such a drama queen; has to leave it until the most dramatic moment. Anyway, he tells her that a man from the Houjyou will come to talk to her and she has to listen to what he says. On a side note, there was an issue earlier about saving Takaya versus saving Shinya-- to save Shinya the mirrors need to be broken, but to save Takaya that can't be done until he's been released from the mirrors. Ayako is honestly afraid, without knowing why, that Naoe will choose not to save Kagetora, even though previously she would always have said Kagetora is the one he'd do anything to save. She wishes she'd argued harder and gone with him. At some point she asks Kagetora about Naoe and what he's intending to do about Kagetora and Kagetora just smiles faintly.
Ayako: ... *bemused*
Me : O.o; Dude, you are JUST AS FUCKED UP AS HE IS! And I never thought I'd say that. [Editorial note: from the perspective of having read the 20 or so books following, I have to laugh at the irony of this, because if anything Kagetora is MORE fucked up than Naoe. Especially around the region of book 11.]
* Meanwhile, more of Ujimasa being a freaking mental bastard. :D! Tooyama comes to report. There's another forest they still need sacrifices for to complete their plans. Meanwhile, Kojirou (Masamune's crazy vengeful younger brother wot kidnapped Yuzuru) shows up, Yuzuru in tow. He's been working with Ujimasa, but it seems he's biding his time to backstab (ow, my head), because he shows up with WHO ELSE but Mori Ranmaru and lies about who he is. And the Oda are not in cahoots with the Houjyou, either. Ujimasa, that bastard, tells Yuzuru (who actually knows who he is, because he actually researched Kagetora, unlike SOME PEOPLE. O, Takaya.) that if he wants to be a good friend to Takaya he has to help the Houjyou. Yuzuru wants to know what THAT is meant to mean, and Ujimasa claims that Saburou has returned to his birth clan and is working alongside them so Yuzuru should too. He insinuates this whole plot with Yuzuru being kidnapped was Kagetora's idea. Yuzuru attempts to call his bullshit; Ujimasa, whose primary talent seems to be knowing exactly where to hit (like with Ujiteru's weakpoint being their father), tells him that Kagetora has fully reawakened and "Takaya" has been obliterated. Yuzuru asks to see Takaya, and Ujimasa walks out. Yuzuru is left with enough gnawing doubt to worry that maybe Kagetora would do this to him, even though Takaya never would. (more on the Takaya vs Kagetora theme!)
* Kagetora goes and haunts Tooyama through his mirrors and scares the bejeezus out of him, basically traumatising and guilt-tripping him into doing whatever Kagetora said. Apparently after his father died for Kagetora and his last words were to tell Tooyama to protect Kagetora until the very end, Tooyama chickened out and betrayed Kagetora to save his own skin and pretty much lead directly to Kagekatsu's army finding his hiding place and thus to his defeat. Kagetora throws all this in his face and then, when Tooyama is total putty and would do anything for forgiveness, orders him to steal the male mirror.
So essentially--
Kagetora: FUCK YOU GUYS, I'M SAVING MYSELF.
Me: XDDDDD
But at least that made a lot more sense this time. Even having watched it twice I still didn't have a fucking clue who Tooyama was or wtf he was doing in the anime.
~~
Kattaiya (6:45:00 PM): I subsequently finished book 7 (BUT I STILL DON'T HAVE BOOK 8 NOOOO). The crazy is going pretty strong.
piracy tango (6:41:31 PM): well, you know. mirage.
piracy tango (6:41:35 PM): there is just crazy everywhere there.
Kattaiya (6:45:56 PM): Yuzuru had angst. it was kind of like kicking a puppy.
piracy tango (6:42:14 PM): *pets him*
piracy tango (6:42:15 PM): baby
piracy tango (6:42:22 PM): him and his car fetish.
Kattaiya (6:46:22 PM): *snigger fit*
piracy tango (6:42:47 PM): i almost forgot about that
Kattaiya (6:46:57 PM): but seriously? Kagetora's oldest brother = SUCH a bastard. his second oldest brother is like, fucked in the head and creepily obsessed with him, but at least he MEANS well.
Kattaiya (6:47:02 PM): heeeeeeeee
Kattaiya (6:47:13 PM): Yuzuru and his car fetish = <3
Kattaiya (6:49:33 PM): oh, one good thing
Kattaiya (6:49:36 PM): the plot now makes sense
Kattaiya (6:49:52 PM): having watched the anime twice and STILL not getting wtf was going on half the time this is quite relieving
piracy tango (6:46:05 PM): oh good
piracy tango (6:46:10 PM): at least someone understand
piracy tango (6:46:13 PM): *understands
Kattaiya (6:50:26 PM): well basically the anime butchered it so it made no sense
Kattaiya (6:51:11 PM): It cut out at least 2 highly relevant characters... possibly three, was Mori Ranmaru in those episodes?
piracy tango (6:48:07 PM): vaguely. he cackled with the fuuma ninja, i think?
Kattaiya (6:52:33 PM): HEE. I think you may be right, actually.
and it didn't explain what was going on in Naoe's head. Knowing what's going on in Naoe's head is kiiiiiiind of vital to understanding what's happening.
piracy tango (6:50:10 PM): i never understand naoe's crazy head
Kattaiya (6:55:09 PM): Basically he goes kind of schizo and on the one hand is like, "Kagetora-sama, I shall bring an end to this. It shall be the most perfect end we could ever have hoped for and 400 years of suffering will finally be over and we can be in this perfect world with no bodies and no lust and no people interfering for ever and ever and ever in the mirror at the bottom of the lake!"
Me: ... that is... simultaneously creepy and kind of sweet. In a weird way.
piracy tango (6:51:58 PM): oh, naoe
Kattaiya (6:56:45 PM): and on the OTHER hand, he's like, "ILU Takaya-san! I don't want you to die! I miss the way you smile and the way you say my name! ;______;"
Kattaiya (6:57:15 PM): And he knows these two things are conflicting and is kind of in turmoil about it
piracy tango (6:53:45 PM): awww he is so ADORABLE and deluded
Kattaiya (6:57:42 PM): but then the Houjyou are like, we are going to seal his soul to the holy tree! which will obliterate it
Kattaiya (6:57:50 PM): and Naoe is like "... DO NOT WANT!"
Kattaiya (6:59:10 PM): so he pretends to be like, you know, I've decided to ally with you guys. Fuuma ninja demands that to prove this he kills his master's now obsolete body. Ujiteru, being about as crazy as Naoe is, is half, yes, prove it! and half, YOU BASTARD, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO SABUROU WHO LOVES YOU. >O
piracy tango (6:55:54 PM): this is like a bad soap opera
piracy tango (6:55:55 PM): only gayer
piracy tango (6:55:58 PM): and with more magic
Kattaiya (7:00:52 PM): but anyway, Ujiteru adds to Naoe's Takaya-related angst by telling him some of what Takaya said about thinking he was a substitute and all that
Kattaiya (7:01:49 PM): so Naoe, when it's time to kill Takaya's body, is still conflicted
Kattaiya (7:02:37 PM): he takes this string of buddhist prayer beads that his father gave him when he tried to commit suicide at age 7 and that have kept him going on multiple occasions since then
Kattaiya (7:03:00 PM): his father told him that buddha was always with him and his essence was in those pearls
piracy tango (7:00:46 PM): the naoe-parents are so awesome
Kattaiya (7:06:58 PM): so Naoe, not even understanding himself because his own desires are so self-contradictory, snaps the string, takes the main pearl and puts it in his pocket. When he goes to kill Takaya's body-- which is only being preserved by lieu of this Buddhist purity prayer-- he does it by touching, which he feels is a fitting and ironic way to do it, but part of him still doesn't want Takaya to die, so he puts the pearl in his mouth and kisses Takaya so the pearl slips into HIS mouth, silently praying that Buddha will protect Takaya.
Me: ... Hooray! that FINALLY MAKES SENSE.
Me: Also, Ujiteru, you are standing around watching this man (who just revealed to you in conversation how TOTALLY FUCKED IN THE HEAD he is when it comes to Kagetora) molest your little brother. WHAT.
Yes! Naoe-brothers are awesome also. His family loves him so much.
piracy tango (7:04:24 PM): dysfunctional kagetora family ftl. naoe fam ftw.
Kattaiya (7:11:33 PM): PRETTY MUCH.
Anyway, Takaya's body dies when the spell wears off, but at the end of book 7 when Fuuma ninja and Ujiyasu dragon offer Naoe the male mirror and the choice to either release Kagetora's soul or seal them both and sink the mirror like he'd intended, Naoe thinks that in a best case scenario, the pearl and his prayer to Buddha would make it possible for Kagetora's soul to return to Takaya's body.
Which is where the book ends. Naoe being offered the choice of the perfect end for he and Kagetora, or to gamble on the chance that Takaya could live. I mean I KNOW what he chooses, but it's still frustrating to be stuck there. D:
piracy tango (7:08:29 PM): now that it finally makes sense and all.
Kattaiya (7:12:53 PM): YESSSS. and with the temptation of seeing what the hell was going through their heads at the ending with the fucking pier! SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR.
piracy tango (7:09:31 PM): ...strangely, even just thinking of that still sends me into fits of capslock spazrage
Kattaiya (7:14:07 PM): It. just. FJSDKLFJSDKLFJDS I KNOW.
Kattaiya (7:14:54 PM): Even now with the OVAs and the promise of books and thus actual resolution, I am twitching even at the thought. Reading it will either be therapeutic or rage-inducing.
piracy tango (7:11:08 PM): probably the latter.
Kattaiya (7:15:43 PM): I'm leaning towards the former because in general the books make more sense and it's not intended to be a stopping point. It would probably be rage-inducing if I was coming at the books for the first time and wasn't seeing it coming, but by comparison to the anime, it almost CAN'T be that bad.
Kattaiya (7:16:21 PM): also, I own book 9. XD
Kattaiya (7:16:38 PM): so it will be like, RAGE! ... *reaches for next book*
piracy tango (7:12:49 PM): true.
piracy tango (7:12:52 PM): as opposed to the anime.
piracy tango (7:13:02 PM): which was like "RAGE! ...... *writes porn*"
Kattaiya (7:17:02 PM): which is like, RAGE! *tries to find out what happens in the book and fails*
Kattaiya (7:17:05 PM): ... hee, and that.
Kattaiya (7:26:06 PM): oh, also
Kattaiya (7:26:22 PM): remember how I said all that stuff about Kojirou? who kidnapped Yuzuru?
piracy tango (7:23:42 PM): vaguely
Kattaiya (7:27:54 PM): he is so totally gay for his older brother. I SWEAR. I don't know if he's INTENDED to be, but seriously.
piracy tango (7:25:44 PM): hahaha
Kattaiya (7:30:01 PM): Kojyuurou, the sane guy who was working alongside Kousaka and Naoe and who is the right hand man of Date Masamune (Kojirou's brother) finds him when he's on a Yuzuru rescue mission and is like, "Kojirou-dono! come with us! your brother just wants you back more than anything!"
and Kojirou is like, Kojyuurou? Is that REALLY YOU? Does Ani-ue really love me? ;________;
Kattaiya (7:30:21 PM): and I'm like, jesus, the three of you should just go back to Sendai and get a room.
piracy tango (7:26:59 PM): mirage is really full of weird brother issues
Kattaiya (7:31:07 PM): I KNOW. I noticed that. I'm like, if you've got a brother, you've got a brother complex. QED.
Kattaiya (7:31:28 PM): but then Yuzuru and Ranmaru ruin their beautiful reunion.
Kattaiya (7:32:16 PM): Cause Ranmaru finishes his chant to release Yuzuru's power that Kagetora sealed and Yuzuru goes crazy in a super powerful HAHA I CRUSH MERE MORTALS kind of way. Only more silent than that.
Kattaiya (7:32:57 PM): ... ANOTHER REASON I NEED BOOK 8. I suspect it explains who Yuzuru really is. :O
piracy tango (7:29:53 PM): haha. or it leaves you hanging forever.
Kattaiya (7:34:21 PM): but... a LOT of Mirage could be explained by saying, there are brother complexes! there are master-servant complexes in varying degrees! and finally, there a split-personality complexes!
piracy tango (7:31:24 PM): and there is gay.
Kattaiya (7:35:37 PM): yes, there is gay. often connected to the various complexes.
Kattaiya (7:36:03 PM): and there is obscure history!
Kattaiya (7:36:19 PM): and even more obscure mythology.
Kattaiya (7:36:37 PM): so obscure you can't even type the kanji for "tsutsuga".
piracy tango (7:35:35 PM): damn
piracy tango (7:39:45 PM): that is quite obscure
After which there is of course book 8, the last book in the arc. Time for more c&p!
Kattaiya (2:55:29 PM): JESUS CHRIST, KAGETORA'S OLDER BROTHER JUST CALLED HIM A WHORE TO HIS FACE. *shock*
... sorry, uh, I needed to share that. *cough*
piracy tango signed on at 3:31:39 PM
Kattaiya (4:33:40 PM): *POUNCE*
Kattaiya (4:34:02 PM): hey!
piracy tango (4:30:11 PM): hee. hello.
Kattaiya (4:34:26 PM): I need to share with you how FUCKED UP kagetora's family is. :O
Kattaiya (4:35:28 PM): because I was being so totally literal when I said Ujimasa called Kagetora a whore.
piracy tango (4:31:44 PM): no way
Kattaiya (4:35:50 PM): YES way.
Kattaiya (4:36:31 PM): he accused Kagetora flat out, not insinuating, of sleeping with Kenshin.
Kattaiya (4:36:52 PM): and asked him how many men he let fuck him when he was in Echigo.
Kattaiya (4:45:09 PM): Me: Jesus CHRIST your family has issues.
piracy tango (4:42:40 PM): so many issues
Kattaiya (4:47:50 PM): but I mean
Kattaiya (4:48:08 PM): obviously it is not only Ujiteru who is unhealthily obsessed with Saburou
Kattaiya (4:48:29 PM): here, must be read to be believed:
Kattaiya (4:54:59 PM): "Saburou, it seems you were loved very much indeed by Kenshin, weren't you!"
"What?"
"Even if one calls you his foster son, I'm saying who knows what kind!"
".........!"
Raising his eyes in anger, Takaya flung a ball of energy at him. Ujimasa stopped it with a "goshinha" and in response unleashed another wave of butterflies. (... er, don't ask.)
"You, who were called the most beautiful child in all of Kantou. You probably crept into the beds of the men of Uesugi every night. While you were seducing Kenshin, why didn't you take the Echigo province for us!"
"Shut up!"
piracy tango (4:55:44 PM): *sigh*
Kattaiya (5:12:41 PM): Earth and sand from beneath Ujimasa's feet swirled up, billowing over the surface of the lake. Ujimasa, blown abruptly back to hover over the lake, stood on its surface and once more released an energy attack. Takaya stopped it with a "wall", and:
"Lord Kenshin isn't that kind of person! He's guilt-free and a person with integrity. If you insult Lord Kenshin, I'll shut your mouth!"
"I'm asking, Saburou. For the story of how many men have lost their lives intending to fleep with you. Answer me, Saburou. How many men were you held down by in Echigo? Were the men of Echigo stronger than the men of Sagami? And how many did you accept?"
".....!"
Instead of answering, Takaya throws another ball of energy. Without being hit, Ujimasa was shot back over the surface of the lake. Shaking with anger, Takaya's opens his eyes ferociously.
"Don't talk crap... that kind of thing..."
Kattaiya (5:15:05 PM): "Amongst us brothers, you are the most dangerous being. Without realising, you drive men to lust after you. Even when your body changes, those tiger's eyes never do. You possess a devilishness that drives men mad."
Kattaiya (5:15:22 PM): anyway, after that there is more fighting. but, dude, that is RAPIST LOGIC, UJIMASA.
piracy tango (5:11:35 PM): *sigh*
piracy tango (5:11:41 PM): the kagetora family is special
Kattaiya (5:15:58 PM): "special" here meaning "retarded in the head and probably wants to fuck their younger brother".
piracy tango (5:12:55 PM): yes.
Kattaiya (5:17:14 PM): although, to be fair, Ujiteru is probably happy to covet and adore his brother creepily. Ujimasa is the dangerous one.
piracy tango (5:13:51 PM): what with the "IT IS HIS FAULT, HE'S SO PRETTY"
Kattaiya (5:18:59 PM): uh, yeaaaaaaah. You know, I seriously would not be surprised if he was involved with Kagetora getting raped. *just remembered that actually did happen*
piracy tango (5:16:03 PM): oh right. that incident.
Kattaiya (5:20:30 PM): now that we don't have the sanitised anime version of eldest ani, I'm beginning to see this as a strong possibility. <<
piracy tango (5:16:53 PM): yeah
piracy tango (5:16:54 PM): i bet
Kattaiya (5:27:11 PM): ... aaaaaw, Ujiteru is redeeming himself. *wasn't sure if that was something the anime made up, since most of the 8th book didn't actually HAPPEN in the anime*
~~
After that point I mostly focussed on the ending from the Naoe/Takaya perspective rather than what happened in the plot-- partially because that was (in part) covered by the anime, but also, I just have my priorities. XD I don't have the book here, it's been about a year or so since I read this, but the salient points are:
* Yuzuru is used as the sacrifice for the main tree. (or is going to be, I don't remember.) He gets put in a trance start and does a whole lot of smiting-- it turns out that, as well as his soul having been Kagekatsu in its previous life before purification, he is the Miroku Buddhivista reborn. I've only just started to understand this (it's finally resurfaced as a plot point in the 30s arc); basically, Miroku is a buddhivista that will become a buddha in the distant future once reborn into the world. It's this identity Kousaka was referring to when he said Yuzuru's true identity was a threat to the universe, not Kagekatsu-- of course he was Miroku as Kagekatsu too, but Miroku never woke up during that lifetime.
* Date Masamune's younger brother Kojirou is, as you recall, secretly in league with Mori Ranmaru and the Oda clan while supposedly working with Houjyou Ujimasa. Ranmaru plants the "demon's seed" in Yuzuru's forehead during the rite to prepare him to be a tree sacrifice, which allows Oda to take control of Yuzuru's body like a puppet. Obviously this is going to turn out to be important.
* He also plants one on Kojirou. So Kojirou runs into Katakura Kojyuurou, Masamune's loyal retainer, and he wants to go back to Masamune's side, but he realises that he can't, because the demon's seed makes him too much of a liability. He has to go back to the Oda clan. This is the last we see of any of the Date for a while-- in fact until the 20s-- but again, it's one of those things you have to keep in mind for later.
* I... forget a lot of it. Other than that the most important stuff is PROBABLY in the anime or in the following conversation. But basically, after Takaya is revived, Takaya, Naoe and Ayako run around exorcising things. Takaya can now mind control the Tsutsuga after his stint in the mirrors. Between them and Yuzuru, plus the Date and Takeda in different areas (you never actually see the other two Houjyou brothers because they get dealt with completely off-screen), the Houjyou's plans lie in ruins and Takaya exorcises Ujiteru and Ujimasa. (Kotarou the ninja and Ujiyasu, Saburou/Kagetora's father, remain unscathed.) Everyone is released from the trees, Shinya is fine, etc. Yuzuru and Takaya use tremendous amounts of power to deliver some righteous smiting-- and Takaya is sort of in a half-trance state for most of that, due to both having risen from the dead and the extreme amount of power he used, hence not really remembering what happened. There was also some kind of poison involved there, apparently, but that rings no bells to me and I don't have the books, so anyway. Yuzuru, obviously, doesn't remember anything at all.
[Edit: I've remembered where the poison comes from. One of Ujimasa's attacks involves sending clouds of poison butterflies at Takaya, which makes Takaya delirious but he doesn't have time to do anything about it until everything's all over. Ujiteru, who has by this time lost his host body-- I don't remember why, I think it was in a fight with Naoe when he was on his way to get the female mirror at the end of book 7-- shows up in spirit form to restrain Ujimasa and tells Takaya to exorcise both of them, which he does even though he doesn't want to exorcise Ujiteru.]
Which should be enough background for me to continue on with what happens to Naoe and Takaya in more detail--
~~
Kattaiya (1:39:23 PM): I KNOW WHO YUZURU IS
piracy tango (1:35:34 PM): oh?
Kattaiya (1:39:32 PM): Kagekatsu
piracy tango (1:35:51 PM): isn't that what everyone already surmised on the interweb?
piracy tango (1:35:55 PM): also...who is that? *dumb*
Kattaiya (1:40:16 PM): Uesugi Kagekatsu, Kenshin's other foster son and the one who drove Kagetora to suicide when he lost their succession war.
piracy tango (1:36:44 PM): ah yes. that was something along the lines of what i remembered.
piracy tango (1:36:50 PM): (which was "um...brothers or something?")
Kattaiya (1:40:59 PM): Takaya remembered this when he was, you know, delirious with poison. So he kind of forgot about it. XD
piracy tango (1:37:32 PM): hee.
Kattaiya (1:41:51 PM): T: *wakes up with Yuzuru at his bedside* You know, I have the strangest feeling I've forgotten something VERY IMPORTANT. Hm.
piracy tango (1:38:40 PM): haha, go figure.
piracy tango (1:38:45 PM): "whatever, i'm sure it was no big deal!"
Kattaiya (1:42:45 PM): also I finished book 8
Kattaiya (1:42:50 PM): and I got to the Infamous Scene
Kattaiya (1:42:58 PM): which as predicted makes a hell of a lot more sense now.
piracy tango (1:39:11 PM): figures.
Kattaiya (1:43:19 PM): The plot having not being sliced up and sanitised for tv.
piracy tango (1:39:29 PM): explain please. i need to feel justified.
Kattaiya (1:44:34 PM): Okay, so, first of all, you have to keep in mind that fight they had after Takaya woke up where Naoe was all like, "You can't make me feel better unless you let me fuck you" only in more detail than that.
piracy tango (1:41:10 PM): hahaha oh naoe, way to say the TOTALLY WRONG THING
Kattaiya (1:45:17 PM): Naoe actually already said "I love you" then-- he was being really frustrating about it because Takaya was like, "You love Kagetora!" "I love you." "Not me! KAGETORA."
Kattaiya (1:45:37 PM): and Naoe refused to give him anything solid or tell him that he actually chose "Takaya" over "Kagetora" with the mirror thing
piracy tango (1:42:29 PM): *sigh*
Kattaiya (1:49:47 PM): Then in this really detached way he talked about how Takaya couldn't do anything to help him, not unless he let Naoe fuck him, but he's got too much pride for that. Takaya is basically ENORMOUSLY fucked up by this in a number of ways, because he's bringing his own issues to this party, and, well.
a, Naoe's a man. Obvious, but not actually the one he dwelt upon.
b, It's Kagetora Naoe loves/wants to fuck, not TAKAYA, and he doesn't want to be a stand in to that extent.
c, Naoe's being so cold Takaya doesn't know if he actually cares at all or if "I love you" is just empty words.
d, Takaya has ISSUES, man. He's afraid of sex. And the fact it's someone he trusts apparently makes it worse, not better.
Kattaiya (1:50:17 PM): also, I will admit with some shame my immediate mental analogy was Mr Darcy's first proposal in P&P. <<
piracy tango (1:46:35 PM): hahahahha
Kattaiya (1:50:36 PM): "There's no way he could accept that with any dignity!"
Kattaiya (1:50:42 PM): "JUST LIKE DARCY'S FIRST PROPOSAL."
Kattaiya (1:50:45 PM): "Uh."
piracy tango (1:46:57 PM): heee
piracy tango (1:47:05 PM): takaya = elizabeth bennett?
Kattaiya (1:51:01 PM): CLEAR. LY.
Kattaiya (1:51:21 PM): someone who is not me should write that AU. XD
piracy tango (1:47:48 PM): world of no!
Kattaiya (1:51:48 PM): *cackle* it would be HILARIOUS
Kattaiya (1:51:52 PM): anyway, after that they still had their job to do
Kattaiya (1:52:58 PM): Takaya, having just come back from the dead, is obviously not too steady on his feet and at one point after they've met up back with Ayako he stumbles, but when Naoe goes to help he's all like "*PANICS AND WHACKS NAOE'S HAND AWAY* No don't touch me!"
Ayako: .... um?
Kattaiya (1:53:28 PM): Naoe: *bitter*
Kattaiya (1:53:38 PM): Me: ... er, well. you do KIND of deserve that, Naoe.
piracy tango (1:52:13 PM): oy
Kattaiya (1:56:23 PM): So this is still not that far into book 8. They all convene at Maiko's inn; Takaya snubs her off as well as Naoe (we don't get his POV but I can only assume he's jealous and doesn't know what he wants); she figures out that he's Naoe's mysterious "girlfriend". Not long after that everyone splits up to do their respective jobs, and Naoe and Takaya don't see each other again until the end of the book when it's basically all over and Takaya wakes up back at the inn.
Kattaiya (1:56:47 PM): Only not actually, because he wakes up with Yuzuru in his room and Ayako comes to see him, but Naoe is in another room sulking with Chiaki.
Kattaiya (1:57:08 PM): C: ... he's awake, aren't you going to go see him?
N: ... Later.
piracy tango (1:53:42 PM): oy
Kattaiya (2:03:57 PM): Maiko cries over Naoe and rails at the unfairness that someone who won't accept it gets his affection and calls Takaya horrible and various other things (N: Please don't say bad things about that person...) but accepts that the only one he'll ever love is Takaya, and tells him she can understand and it's not about gender. Just before that he'd spoken to Shinya (Maiko's younger brother) and told him to be happy and not to give up because there are people who love him (Shinya forsees people's deaths, it's why he got sucked into the Tsutsuga mirror) and she uses those words back at him and tells him not to leave Takaya's side, because even if Takaya hurts him he can't be happy without him. Naoe promises to stay with Takaya and to one day be happy with him.
Kattaiya (2:04:21 PM): Which is probably a good thing, what with how suicidal Naoe was in book 6 and 7.
piracy tango (2:00:46 PM): well maybe he's improving
Kattaiya (2:04:43 PM): .... maybe...
Kattaiya (2:05:22 PM): Chiaki and Ayako report to Takaya on everything that happened, but to get Naoe's report (which is probably unnecessary since Naoe thinks Ayako and Chiaki pretty much had it covered) he wants to go to Chuuzenji lakeside.
Kattaiya (2:06:32 PM): which is what they do. Hence the location of the last scene. Naoe reports while Takaya faces the lake with his back to Naoe and doesn't say anything. It's kind of totally awkward.
piracy tango (2:02:53 PM): probably just a bit
Kattaiya (2:07:07 PM): Naoe finishes, asks if Takaya has any questions, and when there's no response, he turns to leave.
Kattaiya (2:07:40 PM): And says that Chiaki will take Takaya back to Matsumoto, and Miya and his father are worried so please go back.
piracy tango (2:05:54 PM): my urge to bitchslap, i've discovered, just increases exponentially with time
Kattaiya (2:17:34 PM): T: *without turning around* Naoe.
T&N: ............................................................
N: I can guess at your feelings at having to fight the people who were your relatives. I respect you for performing your duty without getting caught up in your emotions. Please, be prepared for what will happen after this.
T: ........... *was not what he wanted to hear, feels that Naoe is doing it on purpose* *starts to shake*
N: Please do not rely on me.
T: *lifts head*
N: You only did what should have been natural. With that attitude you'll come to rely on being consoled.
Kattaiya (2:17:40 PM): god, I know. D:
piracy tango (2:14:20 PM): seriously, i just...gah.
Kattaiya (2:18:53 PM): T: Why are you....!
N: If you want to be consoled, I'll console you with my body.
Me: AUGH NO, NAOE, NOT THIS AGAIN! *fights urge to throw book across room* SHUT UP. SERIOUSLY.
Kattaiya (2:26:43 PM): T: *jerks with shock*
N: I'll give that pliant body so much pleasure that it's guilty, that it makes you forget everything. If you endure a little pain, I can give you the pleasure of being taken. Become my prisoner and you won't be able to release me. Like a toy to pleasure you...
Me: DSJFKLSDJFKL:AJKL:JKL MOUTH. SOAP. GAH.
T: ................
N: Are you angry?
piracy tango (2:23:17 PM): ...XD WORLD'S DUMBEST QUESTION
Kattaiya (2:32:23 PM): T: *turns around, but can't find an angry comeback*
N: *narrows eyes cruellly* ... In those words.
N: There's... no lie.
T: ........... *freezes with nerves*
N: *pretends not to notice* I love you.
T: ...........
Me: Takaya is very speechless, but really, I don't blame him.
N: Whether you're a man or a woman. To me, it makes no difference. I will always love you. I want to possess you. Body and soul, I want you to be mine no matter what. I want to monopolise you.
Me: ... er, at least we're getting somewhere? Sort of?
piracy tango (2:28:51 PM): um.
piracy tango (2:28:58 PM): for certain definitions of "somewhere"
piracy tango (2:29:03 PM): one step forward, two steps back.
Kattaiya (2:32:56 PM): at least he's talking about his feelings instead of sex XD
piracy tango (2:29:16 PM): now he's talking about feelings AND sex
Kattaiya (2:33:14 PM): well, okay. *g*
Kattaiya (2:33:16 PM): O NAOE
Kattaiya (2:40:22 PM): T: *stops breathing, fingers digging into his chest; can't tell, when Naoe says it so coldly, whether he actually means those lines or if they're just empty words.*
T: *gets irritated, can't tamp it down, turns his back on Naoe*
N: *distantly* ... I won't ask you what you think of me. If you don't want to see my face like this, do as you please. But, it's my job. I will continue to be your advisor after this. I will remain by your side as your subordinate, but that has nothing to do with our private lives.
N: *says stuff about Yuzuru that is related to work*
N: Take care... please, take care and go home. *leaves*
Kattaiya (2:41:33 PM): .... only that last he whispers into Takaya's ear as he's giving Takaya his jacket. Cause it's damn cold and Takaya's shirt is thin. THEN he leaves.
Kattaiya (2:42:03 PM): And then we get several pages of Takaya angst. Takaya is torn with indecision-- he wants to call out and stop Naoe leaving again, but he doesn't feel like he has the right.
Kattaiya (2:42:45 PM): There's some freaking out about being left behind and not wanting to lose Naoe
piracy tango (2:39:33 PM): a;lkjdsfalkjsdfl;kjfsd
Kattaiya (2:44:08 PM): Then there's some angst about, if he gave Naoe this body, would it really make him happy when what he really wants is Kagetora? and the decision that he doesn't want to let himself be used like that, not when it's not him. Then there's some belated, wtf, how can he feel that way even though we're both male.
Kattaiya (2:44:29 PM): Some wondering if what Naoe feels is really love at all
Kattaiya (2:45:18 PM): Some more freaking out about losing Naoe and wondering why it affects him so badly when he has other people who care about him-- Miya, Yuzuru-- and it shouldn't be a big deal but it totally is
piracy tango (2:41:59 PM): *sigh*
piracy tango (2:42:02 PM): just...*sigh*
Kattaiya (2:45:56 PM): Then he comes to the conclusion that Kagetora is clearly the key to this, and decides he wants to understand Kagetora's feelings for Naoe.
Kattaiya (2:46:53 PM): and then there are a few ending paragraphs.
piracy tango (2:44:20 PM): baaah
Kattaiya (2:48:57 PM): But at least I now feel I have reached understanding about how come Naoe walked away after saying something like that and how come Takaya didn't stop him. ^^;
piracy tango (2:51:47 PM): because they are both MADE OF DUMB
Kattaiya (3:00:12 PM): lord yes ~_~
Stay tuned for more on books 9, 10-12 (sadly I don't remember a lot of the plot stuff, but it was one of my favourite arcs) and 13-14, followed by 15-19 (oy, trying to remember what happened in that arc will be fun like a barrel of rabid monkeys, I suspect my summary will be very truncated and filled with holes) and 20. 21 onwards is from where I have the books with me and also where the Red Whales show up, which moves things into the next stage of the plot and means the next, like, 8 books all happen in Shikoku.
On that note I finish for now. God, I wish I was asleep. Insomnia has hit me hardcore; usually it only gives me trouble GETTING to sleep, but I was already sleep deprived when I went to sleep at midnight, having been up since 10.30am on very little sleep, and yet I woke up at 1am. It didn't even have anything to do with my blood sugar. And this happened to me last night, too, I only slept two hours before I woke up and couldn't sleep again until like 8am. I thought it was just that it hadn't been long enough since I'd gotten out of bed, although I was sleep deprived then, but I don't even know. *throws hands up in disgust* I'm-a get sick at this rate. NOT HAPPY, JAN.
corialis about-- because for me to summarise the later books, you have to know what happens in the earlier books. I don't actually HAVE the books before 21 in Japan, however, so this is all on the basis of memory and copy-pastes from things I said in emails and conversations at the time I was reading.By the way, I've properly tagged all my mirage of blaze entries now, since there were a bunch from the second half of last year that were untagged. I don't seem to have anything considerable on books 1 and 2 lying around anywhere; they're mostly covered fairly accurately by the anime (unlike everything else) except that from the anime you'd never know that Takaya has an ENORMOUS GIRLY CRUSH practically right off the bat.
Also, sometimes it's easy to forget how good Naoe is at pretending to be normal for the first volume!
~
"Would you like a lift home?"
"Ah, that'd be great. Then..." Takaya says, and glances at Yuzuru beside him. Yuzuru is looking at him strangely.
"---------"
Staring for a moment, Takaya turned back to Naoe.
"Actually... I'll go with Yuzuru. It's not that far..."
"Is that so? How admirable of you."
~
The bit with Yuzuru looking at him funny just makes me cack. In a "whoops, too eager there, Takaya, people will get suspicious!" way. *snigger*
In book 2 it's mainly just Takaya's thought process about Naoe protecting him from the glass shards when they all fall into Ranmaru's trap. It comes up again in book 3 when Takaya is being all OMG NAOE <3 at Ayako, and then again in book 6 when he's angsting over Naoe leaving. BUT MOVING ON-- let's start with books 3-4.
I don't actually have any useful summaries from this, just an amusing excerpt from the end of book 3 that I'll c&p in a moment. Basically all you need to know is that something suspicious is going down in Sendai, so Ayako and Takaya travel up by train to investigate. Takaya is kind of D: about not getting to go with Naoe. Ayako is kind of like "um, honey, BAD IDEA" and tries to head him off by telling him that Naoe is just doing his job by protecting Kagetora and tells him about the thing with Minako. Takaya continues to have an enormous girly crush, but he's a little sad that maybe it's not really HIM Naoe's protecting, it's "Kagetora". He's still not entirely convinced that he even IS Kagetora, because he hasn't started getting any memories back yet, but that's not even really the point. Anyway, they go to this temple that is run by friends of Naoe's current family (Kokuryou) and Takaya recieves spiritual training, which explains how he learns wtf he's actually doing.
Meanwhile, the stuff going down in Sendai involves the Date clan, which is the main reason you have to know about these books. Date Masamune, known as the one-eye dragon, assisted by his cousin Shigezane and loyal retainer Katakura Kojyuurou, is trying to protect Sendai from all the weird goings on. The weird goings on come down to Masamune's mother, who in their original lifetime was plotting to assassinate Masamune and replace him with his younger brother, Kojirou. She's trying to do the same thing again now. Kojirou is being dragged along as a semi-unwilling participant-- again. He loves his mother, but he also loves his brother, despite that Masamune had no choice but to execute him when the plot was uncovered. Masamune also loves Kojirou and bears a lot of guilt over that.
On a different note, Takaya's mother who left when he was in about sixth grade to escape from her abusive alcoholic husband (not that I don't sympathise with her position and she does redeem herself a lot in the later volumes, but I still can't BELIEVE she just left Miya and Takaya in that man's care) is living with her new family in Sendai. Takaya goes to visit her, sees her with her new son and can't get up the courage to speak to her. Flagnote, he has a lot of abandonment issues, both as Takaya AND as Kagetora.
Chiaki is back in Matsumoto for book 3 keeping an eye on Yuzuru because of what Kousaka said about Yuzuru being a threat to the six worlds, but he and Yuzuru go off to Sendai to help at the end of book 3. Naoe is sneaking around gathering intel when he gets caught by Masamune's mother, but Kojirou ends up releasing him. For some reason I can't remember Kousaka is also sneaking around and he blows up the temple where Takaya is staying, killing a kindly elderly couple who I don't remember how they relate but obviously aren't the monk Kokuryou because he shows up later. I THINK that Kokuryou was teaching Takaya, and he was staying with the couple who get killed. Anyway, he hates Kousaka a whole lot after that.
In the end the mother gets exorcised, and Kojirou swears vengeance upon the Uesugi. But not his brother. He still loves his brother, although they don't get reunited yet. (or indeed, for a VERY LONG TIME.)
Anyway, hilarious moment from the end of book 3, taken as an excerpt from an email I sent:
Morino Saori is a FREAK. in the best way possible. No, seriously, you know how we keep joking about her being really thick not to notice that Yuzuru is flaming like a row of pink pixies in burning rainbow tents? She's still a spazz, but I think she's overly optimistic more than anything. Get a load of THIS bit-- (and the books seem to pander to our fondness for Chiaki/Yuzuru, btw):
Chiaki pulls up next to them in the Matsumoto shopping district, driving a kick ass expensive car, because he's just cool like that.
S: OMFG kickass car! You have a LICENSE?
C: I'm nineteen, didn't you know?
S: But that means you repeated! ... ooh, car, so shiny. Is it yours or your parents'?
C: No it doesn't. Anyway. *jerks thumb, smirks* Get in the car, Narita-kun.
Y: Geh?!
C: I've already packed your bag.
Y: ... Did you go to my house and pack that? O.o;
C: *smug* Yes. Now get in, we're going to Vegas. *pause* I mean, Sendai.
Y: .....................
Y: Why?
C: There's someone bitching about you not being there.
Y: Someone bitching... Oh! *gets in the car*
C: Sorry, I'm borrowing him.
S: What? NOOOOOOOOO! I wanna come too! ;____;
C: Too bad! *drives off*
S: ... *claps hands together and prays* DEAR GOD, PLEASE DO NOT LET NARITA-KUN GET AIDS.
Me: *DIES*
I was like, surely it just SOUNDS like AIDS. So I looked it up-- and in a fit of dyslexia got "Jesus" (me: ... please do not let Narita-kun be Jesus? wtf?) -- but NO IT REALLY IS AIDS.
And in conclusion, Saori is a freak who apparently thinks Chiaki has stolen Yuzuru away for a hot weekend/whatever in Sendai to have lots of gay sex? CLEARLY.
Chiaki is also a freak. <3
Further evidence to that last statement.
Y: We're not seriously going to Sendai, are we?
C: Of course we are.
Y: Oh my god you can't be serious.
C: If you're worried about your family, don't be. I hypnotised them. And the school.
Me: OH, AND THAT IS SO REASSURING. Is hypnosis your answer to EVERYTHING? XD
SO, that's all you need to know from books 3-4. Or it's all I remember, at any rate, so it's all you're getting. *g*
I also don't have any notes on book 5. I don't even REMEMBER what happened in book 5, in fact, so it... can't have been that important? Seriously, I'm drawing a complete and total blank. I thought maybe that was when the Ikkou sect were first introduced (warrior monk sect stemming from Joudo or "Pureland" Buddhism. Kagetora and co. follow Shingon Buddhism. Check it, dudes, I totally did Japanese religions last semester! AND wrote my paper on the Ikkou sect) but that was book 5.5.
[On that note, things you have to know about the Ikkou-shuu is basically that they were a major player in the civil war and a serious threat to the Uesugi. They were wiped out by Oda Nobunaga. Mostly in Mirage they're represented by the Shimozuma brothers.]
So I have NO IDEA what happened in book 5, and I don't have a copy of the book here, so I'm going to assume it was filler-- oh wait, I totally vaguely just remembered, it had something to do with a tsukumogami possessing a tea kettle that belonged to Toyotomi, or something. But I don't even remember what clans were involved in that. So MOVING ON.
I've already summarised 5.5 in reasonable depth here and here (the latter also has a translation of the last scene).
There then follows the long and very pivotal 3 book arc about the Tsutsuga mirror, which was the last arc in the anime series but preeeetty much made no sense due to butchering. Anyhow, summaries of book 6 are here, here and here, with a translation of the last chapter here.
Also, here are the results of my painstaking tsutsuga related research.
Oh, btw guys, I totally WENT to Nikkou and saw the shrines mentioned in the books! And the waterfalls, and the mountain with all the hairpin curves. It was the most awesomely geektastic experience ever, especially since I could sort of recognise places from the anime. *beams* Except I didn't get to see the Tsutsuga on the roof of the Toshouguu shrine because I misremembered and thought it was on the Futarasan-jinja. But I'm going back with my brother, so I'm making DOUBLY SURE to look for it next time.
So, back to the point, book 7 picks up directly where book 6 left off, at which point I resume c&p-ing from AIM conversations/emails.
Kattaiya (10:13:22 PM): I'm up to book 7 which is the middle of the mirror arc
piracy tango (10:10:01 PM): that is always a fun one
Kattaiya (10:14:01 PM): Where Takaya's brother is being a creep and his other brother is even worse and Naoe is like, yay, I get to sit here and watch him die, angst angst.
Kattaiya (10:14:24 PM): There was like, the ani-ue SMACKDOWN scene
Kattaiya (10:14:39 PM): which was kind of awesome because Naoe totally deserves big brothers coming and beating him up
Kattaiya (10:15:02 PM): but on the other hand is totally hypocritical, because DUDE, you sealed your younger brother's soul in a MIRROR. how is that making him happy?
piracy tango (10:11:22 PM): they are so foolish, all of them
Kattaiya (10:15:23 PM): I know. What really frightens me
Kattaiya (10:15:45 PM): is that in the following conversation that they have after Naoe sees Takaya's body
Kattaiya (10:15:48 PM): NAOE IS THE SANE ONE.
Kattaiya (10:16:49 PM): which is ultimate proof of how much Ujiteru is fucking creepy and crazy in the head, because NO ONE should make Naoe look sane when it comes to Kagetora.
piracy tango (10:13:22 PM): oh man
piracy tango (10:13:25 PM): if naoe is saner than you
piracy tango (10:13:31 PM): you are pretty fucked in the head
Kattaiya (10:17:34 PM): yeah, just hand in your badge for humanity.
Kattaiya (10:17:36 PM): seriously.
piracy tango (10:15:00 PM): as you pretty much fail at normal thought
Kattaiya (10:19:21 PM): Totally. I like, gave a quick run down of the conversation for someone else earlier today, to PROVE MY POINT about relative sanity:
Kattaiya (10:19:54 PM): Naoe of course goes >E at Ujiteru and yells at him to put Takaya back the way he was. Ujiteru is like, sorry, no, you need both the male and female mirrors for that and we don't have the male mirror here. Naoe is all still like, RAGE! and Ujiteru informs him that he's here essentially for Takaya's wake. You can't leave, so you have no choice but to watch him die, because the male mirror isn't here. Naoe is like "how can you DO THIS? you're his brother!" and Ujiteru is like, no, I'm the brother of Saburou Kagetora. I'm not the brother of this body. When this body dies, he will be given a new body as one of the Houjyou and it will be beautiful and perfect. Naoe rails futilely about how this body is important to Kagetora and how 17 years might not seem like much but it's his lifetime and it's just as precious as 400 years of Kagetora, and as a brother you should understand that. He is very aggressive, and Ujiteru is like, you know, as his vassal you should be more respectful to his older brother. Naoe, however, says he doesn't CARE whether you're his brother or not if you're going to do something like this to him! Too bad, says Ujiteru, you're stuck here and you can't use your power so nyer.
piracy tango (10:16:58 PM): these people. so special.
piracy tango (10:17:01 PM): how do they FUNCTION
Kattaiya (10:20:57 PM): which makes me wonder why Naoe didn't do the smart thing and tell anyone where he was going before he went there, but I suppose he was freaking out over Takaya, so I'll forgive him.
Kattaiya (10:20:59 PM): I DON'T KNOW
Kattaiya (10:21:03 PM): THEY'RE IMPAIRED
piracy tango (10:17:12 PM): do they not come off as BATHSIT CRAZY to, oh, EVERYONE ELSE
Kattaiya (10:21:26 PM): I suppose when they're not talking about Kagetora they do seem mostly normal.
Kattaiya (10:21:27 PM): er.
Kattaiya (10:21:41 PM): I mean, Naoe is pretty good at faking normal.
Kattaiya (10:22:10 PM): He's faking normal all through book 6 and only slips a few times. Or when you're in his POV and you're like, PLEASE, GET A COUNSELLOR.
Kattaiya (10:27:06 PM): with Ujiteru, though
Kattaiya (10:27:19 PM): something you don't find out in the anime that creeps me out even MORE
Kattaiya (10:28:11 PM): is that Fuuma ninja reported to him that Kagetora was spotted in the water park in Tokyo during that thing with Yuhiko where he had the fight with Chiaki and Ujiteru specifically went there for the purpose of picking him up.
Kattaiya (10:28:48 PM): that is so much creepier than plain coincidence of being like, omg, it is my long lost brother drunk and angsting in the street! let me take care of him!
piracy tango (10:25:12 PM): so much special
Kattaiya (10:29:21 PM): yesssssssss.
Kattaiya (10:34:32 PM): okay, done! which puts me about 2/3 of the way through summarising book 6. Takaya's POV goes from there until the last few scenes where Yuzuru yells at Chiaki and gets abducted, Haruie has hysterics at Naoe, and Naoe freaks when he sees Takaya in the mirror.
I have to say, the end of that book was AWESOMETOWN.
Kattaiya (10:35:06 PM): http://tammaiya.livejournal.com/320176.html
piracy tango (10:32:44 PM): naoe is only 28? weird.
Kattaiya (10:36:52 PM): well
Kattaiya (10:36:57 PM): the Minako thing was thirty years ago
Kattaiya (10:37:08 PM): logically he couldn't be very much older
Kattaiya (10:37:48 PM): I misread it as 38 the first time and was like "... WHAT?"
piracy tango (10:35:02 PM): hm.
piracy tango (10:35:11 PM): *sigh* naoe. you so dumb.
Kattaiya (10:42:08 PM): he is certainly his own brand of speshul, that's for sure.
piracy tango (10:39:02 PM): oh yes
Kattaiya (10:48:35 PM): these people need a keeper.
Kattaiya (10:49:04 PM): they're all just as crazy as-- okay, no, they're not.
Kattaiya (10:49:10 PM): but they're all pretty damn crazy.
Kattaiya (10:52:07 PM): Nagahide is sulky because Kagetora is supposed to be his rival and Takaya is weak and Nagahide's entire concept of himself and purpose of being is apparently bound up in this rivalry, Haruie has hysterics because she projects too much about her own lover she's never been able to see again and freaks out over the fact that Naoe got to be reunited with the one he loved but then LEFT and now Kagetora is MISSING, Kousaka is just... Kousaka, and I don't even have WORDS for Naoe or Kagetora.
Kattaiya (10:52:56 PM): that is how fucked up they are. I AM SPEECHLESS.
~~
* OH, FUUMA NINJA. Seriously. There was a scene or so from his POV and I briefly thought he would be the ray of sanity, but no, he's crazy in the way only a ninja can be. Basically he's all like, "I do not understand you people and your crazy moon logic!" at Naoe and Ujiteru, which is ENTIRELY JUSTIFIED. He then ruins it by being like, "what is the purpose of these feeble human emotions that seemingly motivate you? How nonsensical and unnecessary."
* Is it sad that the first thing I think when we're back to Naoe crazy time is "oh good, the natural balance of the universe has been restored"? I can never say this too many times: Naoe needs serious therapy. He's practically schizo, the way he flips between longing and love for Takaya and resentment and inferiority complex for Kagetora. He wants to be free, but he doesn't want anyone else to have Kagetora, and pretty much his mind is a mess. He was steering in a sort of healthy Takaya = yay! direction for a while, but then he decided that same as the seeds of madness are lying in him and just waiting to spring back to life, the seeds of Kagetora's cruelness are lying within Takaya, even if TAKAYA doesn't know it. His new TOTALLY HEALTHY SOLUTION is to seal them both in the mirror together forever. It's almost romantic, in that completely creepy mental kind of way.
* Okay, so it turns out Naoe is not driven by horror movie non-logic, and did actually ring Ayako to tell her what was going on and where he was going before he went. He also told Kojyuurou. (The sane guy who is the vassal of Date Masamune and ran into them at the holy tree place.)
* Which is why Ayako goes to Maiko's inn to meet Kojyuurou and discuss wtf they're going to do about the whole mirror/tsutsuga/kagetora situation. Also the Yuzuru situation, since he's been kidnapped by Date Masamune's vengeful younger brother, who is probably working with Mori Ranmaru. (ow, my brain. why do japanese feudal-type alliances gotta be so complex?) When she gets there, Maiko thinks she's Naoe's mysterious girlfriend (Maiko has a crush on Naoe and figured out he's got someone he loves but doesn't know who) and is jealous, and Kousaka is inexplicably both there and fully up on all the goss. I begin to think it's Kousaka's secret ability. To be the ULTIMATE GOSSIP MONGER.
* Kousaka and Ayako hiss and spit at each other like pissy cats, it's hilarious. Kousaka is apparently just not happy unless he's insulting the intelligence/abilities/etc of Kagetora and his little rag-tag army.
* This guy called Tooyama Yasuhide goes as a messenger from Ujimasa (the eldest) to see Ujiteru and tell him that Saburou is to be used as a sacrifice for the central tree. Tooyama lies, on Ujimasa's orders, and tells Ujiteru when he refuses that it's their father Ujiyasu's order. Ujiyasu is MIA. For some reason Tooyama is scared of Kagetora-- who he and his father were sent to protect as reinforcements during the war with Kagekatsu-- and refuses to go see him.
Addendum to this: there are apparently two other brothers who must be younger than Kagetora, because his name means "third son", and their names start with Uji- too. WAY TO MAKE ONE KID FEEL UNWANTED. Also, Ujimasa is a bastard, and he's just as crazy as Ujiteru. They are a family of freaks. Who are unhealthily obsessed with their father. (And in Ujiteru's case, with their younger brother.)
* Apparently this arc is the arc where everyone has to confront the dichotomy of Kagetora and Takaya and come to grips with it. Ayako sits in her room and yells at a mirror for a while, hoping that Kagetora will come and tell her what to do like he always has before because he SHOULD be capable of doing so. Eventually she concludes that for some reason he won't appear to anyone but Naoe (ARGH) and that Takaya is not Kagetora, so she can't rely on him this time; she has to do it herself. She's just about to head off and do this when Kagetora calls out her name and appears in the mirror, in Takaya's body but with Kagetora's expression, bearing, etc. Kagetora is such a drama queen; has to leave it until the most dramatic moment. Anyway, he tells her that a man from the Houjyou will come to talk to her and she has to listen to what he says. On a side note, there was an issue earlier about saving Takaya versus saving Shinya-- to save Shinya the mirrors need to be broken, but to save Takaya that can't be done until he's been released from the mirrors. Ayako is honestly afraid, without knowing why, that Naoe will choose not to save Kagetora, even though previously she would always have said Kagetora is the one he'd do anything to save. She wishes she'd argued harder and gone with him. At some point she asks Kagetora about Naoe and what he's intending to do about Kagetora and Kagetora just smiles faintly.
Ayako: ... *bemused*
Me : O.o; Dude, you are JUST AS FUCKED UP AS HE IS! And I never thought I'd say that. [Editorial note: from the perspective of having read the 20 or so books following, I have to laugh at the irony of this, because if anything Kagetora is MORE fucked up than Naoe. Especially around the region of book 11.]
* Meanwhile, more of Ujimasa being a freaking mental bastard. :D! Tooyama comes to report. There's another forest they still need sacrifices for to complete their plans. Meanwhile, Kojirou (Masamune's crazy vengeful younger brother wot kidnapped Yuzuru) shows up, Yuzuru in tow. He's been working with Ujimasa, but it seems he's biding his time to backstab (ow, my head), because he shows up with WHO ELSE but Mori Ranmaru and lies about who he is. And the Oda are not in cahoots with the Houjyou, either. Ujimasa, that bastard, tells Yuzuru (who actually knows who he is, because he actually researched Kagetora, unlike SOME PEOPLE. O, Takaya.) that if he wants to be a good friend to Takaya he has to help the Houjyou. Yuzuru wants to know what THAT is meant to mean, and Ujimasa claims that Saburou has returned to his birth clan and is working alongside them so Yuzuru should too. He insinuates this whole plot with Yuzuru being kidnapped was Kagetora's idea. Yuzuru attempts to call his bullshit; Ujimasa, whose primary talent seems to be knowing exactly where to hit (like with Ujiteru's weakpoint being their father), tells him that Kagetora has fully reawakened and "Takaya" has been obliterated. Yuzuru asks to see Takaya, and Ujimasa walks out. Yuzuru is left with enough gnawing doubt to worry that maybe Kagetora would do this to him, even though Takaya never would. (more on the Takaya vs Kagetora theme!)
* Kagetora goes and haunts Tooyama through his mirrors and scares the bejeezus out of him, basically traumatising and guilt-tripping him into doing whatever Kagetora said. Apparently after his father died for Kagetora and his last words were to tell Tooyama to protect Kagetora until the very end, Tooyama chickened out and betrayed Kagetora to save his own skin and pretty much lead directly to Kagekatsu's army finding his hiding place and thus to his defeat. Kagetora throws all this in his face and then, when Tooyama is total putty and would do anything for forgiveness, orders him to steal the male mirror.
So essentially--
Kagetora: FUCK YOU GUYS, I'M SAVING MYSELF.
Me: XDDDDD
But at least that made a lot more sense this time. Even having watched it twice I still didn't have a fucking clue who Tooyama was or wtf he was doing in the anime.
~~
Kattaiya (6:45:00 PM): I subsequently finished book 7 (BUT I STILL DON'T HAVE BOOK 8 NOOOO). The crazy is going pretty strong.
piracy tango (6:41:31 PM): well, you know. mirage.
piracy tango (6:41:35 PM): there is just crazy everywhere there.
Kattaiya (6:45:56 PM): Yuzuru had angst. it was kind of like kicking a puppy.
piracy tango (6:42:14 PM): *pets him*
piracy tango (6:42:15 PM): baby
piracy tango (6:42:22 PM): him and his car fetish.
Kattaiya (6:46:22 PM): *snigger fit*
piracy tango (6:42:47 PM): i almost forgot about that
Kattaiya (6:46:57 PM): but seriously? Kagetora's oldest brother = SUCH a bastard. his second oldest brother is like, fucked in the head and creepily obsessed with him, but at least he MEANS well.
Kattaiya (6:47:02 PM): heeeeeeeee
Kattaiya (6:47:13 PM): Yuzuru and his car fetish = <3
Kattaiya (6:49:33 PM): oh, one good thing
Kattaiya (6:49:36 PM): the plot now makes sense
Kattaiya (6:49:52 PM): having watched the anime twice and STILL not getting wtf was going on half the time this is quite relieving
piracy tango (6:46:05 PM): oh good
piracy tango (6:46:10 PM): at least someone understand
piracy tango (6:46:13 PM): *understands
Kattaiya (6:50:26 PM): well basically the anime butchered it so it made no sense
Kattaiya (6:51:11 PM): It cut out at least 2 highly relevant characters... possibly three, was Mori Ranmaru in those episodes?
piracy tango (6:48:07 PM): vaguely. he cackled with the fuuma ninja, i think?
Kattaiya (6:52:33 PM): HEE. I think you may be right, actually.
and it didn't explain what was going on in Naoe's head. Knowing what's going on in Naoe's head is kiiiiiiind of vital to understanding what's happening.
piracy tango (6:50:10 PM): i never understand naoe's crazy head
Kattaiya (6:55:09 PM): Basically he goes kind of schizo and on the one hand is like, "Kagetora-sama, I shall bring an end to this. It shall be the most perfect end we could ever have hoped for and 400 years of suffering will finally be over and we can be in this perfect world with no bodies and no lust and no people interfering for ever and ever and ever in the mirror at the bottom of the lake!"
Me: ... that is... simultaneously creepy and kind of sweet. In a weird way.
piracy tango (6:51:58 PM): oh, naoe
Kattaiya (6:56:45 PM): and on the OTHER hand, he's like, "ILU Takaya-san! I don't want you to die! I miss the way you smile and the way you say my name! ;______;"
Kattaiya (6:57:15 PM): And he knows these two things are conflicting and is kind of in turmoil about it
piracy tango (6:53:45 PM): awww he is so ADORABLE and deluded
Kattaiya (6:57:42 PM): but then the Houjyou are like, we are going to seal his soul to the holy tree! which will obliterate it
Kattaiya (6:57:50 PM): and Naoe is like "... DO NOT WANT!"
Kattaiya (6:59:10 PM): so he pretends to be like, you know, I've decided to ally with you guys. Fuuma ninja demands that to prove this he kills his master's now obsolete body. Ujiteru, being about as crazy as Naoe is, is half, yes, prove it! and half, YOU BASTARD, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO SABUROU WHO LOVES YOU. >O
piracy tango (6:55:54 PM): this is like a bad soap opera
piracy tango (6:55:55 PM): only gayer
piracy tango (6:55:58 PM): and with more magic
Kattaiya (7:00:52 PM): but anyway, Ujiteru adds to Naoe's Takaya-related angst by telling him some of what Takaya said about thinking he was a substitute and all that
Kattaiya (7:01:49 PM): so Naoe, when it's time to kill Takaya's body, is still conflicted
Kattaiya (7:02:37 PM): he takes this string of buddhist prayer beads that his father gave him when he tried to commit suicide at age 7 and that have kept him going on multiple occasions since then
Kattaiya (7:03:00 PM): his father told him that buddha was always with him and his essence was in those pearls
piracy tango (7:00:46 PM): the naoe-parents are so awesome
Kattaiya (7:06:58 PM): so Naoe, not even understanding himself because his own desires are so self-contradictory, snaps the string, takes the main pearl and puts it in his pocket. When he goes to kill Takaya's body-- which is only being preserved by lieu of this Buddhist purity prayer-- he does it by touching, which he feels is a fitting and ironic way to do it, but part of him still doesn't want Takaya to die, so he puts the pearl in his mouth and kisses Takaya so the pearl slips into HIS mouth, silently praying that Buddha will protect Takaya.
Me: ... Hooray! that FINALLY MAKES SENSE.
Me: Also, Ujiteru, you are standing around watching this man (who just revealed to you in conversation how TOTALLY FUCKED IN THE HEAD he is when it comes to Kagetora) molest your little brother. WHAT.
Yes! Naoe-brothers are awesome also. His family loves him so much.
piracy tango (7:04:24 PM): dysfunctional kagetora family ftl. naoe fam ftw.
Kattaiya (7:11:33 PM): PRETTY MUCH.
Anyway, Takaya's body dies when the spell wears off, but at the end of book 7 when Fuuma ninja and Ujiyasu dragon offer Naoe the male mirror and the choice to either release Kagetora's soul or seal them both and sink the mirror like he'd intended, Naoe thinks that in a best case scenario, the pearl and his prayer to Buddha would make it possible for Kagetora's soul to return to Takaya's body.
Which is where the book ends. Naoe being offered the choice of the perfect end for he and Kagetora, or to gamble on the chance that Takaya could live. I mean I KNOW what he chooses, but it's still frustrating to be stuck there. D:
piracy tango (7:08:29 PM): now that it finally makes sense and all.
Kattaiya (7:12:53 PM): YESSSS. and with the temptation of seeing what the hell was going through their heads at the ending with the fucking pier! SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR.
piracy tango (7:09:31 PM): ...strangely, even just thinking of that still sends me into fits of capslock spazrage
Kattaiya (7:14:07 PM): It. just. FJSDKLFJSDKLFJDS I KNOW.
Kattaiya (7:14:54 PM): Even now with the OVAs and the promise of books and thus actual resolution, I am twitching even at the thought. Reading it will either be therapeutic or rage-inducing.
piracy tango (7:11:08 PM): probably the latter.
Kattaiya (7:15:43 PM): I'm leaning towards the former because in general the books make more sense and it's not intended to be a stopping point. It would probably be rage-inducing if I was coming at the books for the first time and wasn't seeing it coming, but by comparison to the anime, it almost CAN'T be that bad.
Kattaiya (7:16:21 PM): also, I own book 9. XD
Kattaiya (7:16:38 PM): so it will be like, RAGE! ... *reaches for next book*
piracy tango (7:12:49 PM): true.
piracy tango (7:12:52 PM): as opposed to the anime.
piracy tango (7:13:02 PM): which was like "RAGE! ...... *writes porn*"
Kattaiya (7:17:02 PM): which is like, RAGE! *tries to find out what happens in the book and fails*
Kattaiya (7:17:05 PM): ... hee, and that.
Kattaiya (7:26:06 PM): oh, also
Kattaiya (7:26:22 PM): remember how I said all that stuff about Kojirou? who kidnapped Yuzuru?
piracy tango (7:23:42 PM): vaguely
Kattaiya (7:27:54 PM): he is so totally gay for his older brother. I SWEAR. I don't know if he's INTENDED to be, but seriously.
piracy tango (7:25:44 PM): hahaha
Kattaiya (7:30:01 PM): Kojyuurou, the sane guy who was working alongside Kousaka and Naoe and who is the right hand man of Date Masamune (Kojirou's brother) finds him when he's on a Yuzuru rescue mission and is like, "Kojirou-dono! come with us! your brother just wants you back more than anything!"
and Kojirou is like, Kojyuurou? Is that REALLY YOU? Does Ani-ue really love me? ;________;
Kattaiya (7:30:21 PM): and I'm like, jesus, the three of you should just go back to Sendai and get a room.
piracy tango (7:26:59 PM): mirage is really full of weird brother issues
Kattaiya (7:31:07 PM): I KNOW. I noticed that. I'm like, if you've got a brother, you've got a brother complex. QED.
Kattaiya (7:31:28 PM): but then Yuzuru and Ranmaru ruin their beautiful reunion.
Kattaiya (7:32:16 PM): Cause Ranmaru finishes his chant to release Yuzuru's power that Kagetora sealed and Yuzuru goes crazy in a super powerful HAHA I CRUSH MERE MORTALS kind of way. Only more silent than that.
Kattaiya (7:32:57 PM): ... ANOTHER REASON I NEED BOOK 8. I suspect it explains who Yuzuru really is. :O
piracy tango (7:29:53 PM): haha. or it leaves you hanging forever.
Kattaiya (7:34:21 PM): but... a LOT of Mirage could be explained by saying, there are brother complexes! there are master-servant complexes in varying degrees! and finally, there a split-personality complexes!
piracy tango (7:31:24 PM): and there is gay.
Kattaiya (7:35:37 PM): yes, there is gay. often connected to the various complexes.
Kattaiya (7:36:03 PM): and there is obscure history!
Kattaiya (7:36:19 PM): and even more obscure mythology.
Kattaiya (7:36:37 PM): so obscure you can't even type the kanji for "tsutsuga".
piracy tango (7:35:35 PM): damn
piracy tango (7:39:45 PM): that is quite obscure
After which there is of course book 8, the last book in the arc. Time for more c&p!
Kattaiya (2:55:29 PM): JESUS CHRIST, KAGETORA'S OLDER BROTHER JUST CALLED HIM A WHORE TO HIS FACE. *shock*
... sorry, uh, I needed to share that. *cough*
piracy tango signed on at 3:31:39 PM
Kattaiya (4:33:40 PM): *POUNCE*
Kattaiya (4:34:02 PM): hey!
piracy tango (4:30:11 PM): hee. hello.
Kattaiya (4:34:26 PM): I need to share with you how FUCKED UP kagetora's family is. :O
Kattaiya (4:35:28 PM): because I was being so totally literal when I said Ujimasa called Kagetora a whore.
piracy tango (4:31:44 PM): no way
Kattaiya (4:35:50 PM): YES way.
Kattaiya (4:36:31 PM): he accused Kagetora flat out, not insinuating, of sleeping with Kenshin.
Kattaiya (4:36:52 PM): and asked him how many men he let fuck him when he was in Echigo.
Kattaiya (4:45:09 PM): Me: Jesus CHRIST your family has issues.
piracy tango (4:42:40 PM): so many issues
Kattaiya (4:47:50 PM): but I mean
Kattaiya (4:48:08 PM): obviously it is not only Ujiteru who is unhealthily obsessed with Saburou
Kattaiya (4:48:29 PM): here, must be read to be believed:
Kattaiya (4:54:59 PM): "Saburou, it seems you were loved very much indeed by Kenshin, weren't you!"
"What?"
"Even if one calls you his foster son, I'm saying who knows what kind!"
".........!"
Raising his eyes in anger, Takaya flung a ball of energy at him. Ujimasa stopped it with a "goshinha" and in response unleashed another wave of butterflies. (... er, don't ask.)
"You, who were called the most beautiful child in all of Kantou. You probably crept into the beds of the men of Uesugi every night. While you were seducing Kenshin, why didn't you take the Echigo province for us!"
"Shut up!"
piracy tango (4:55:44 PM): *sigh*
Kattaiya (5:12:41 PM): Earth and sand from beneath Ujimasa's feet swirled up, billowing over the surface of the lake. Ujimasa, blown abruptly back to hover over the lake, stood on its surface and once more released an energy attack. Takaya stopped it with a "wall", and:
"Lord Kenshin isn't that kind of person! He's guilt-free and a person with integrity. If you insult Lord Kenshin, I'll shut your mouth!"
"I'm asking, Saburou. For the story of how many men have lost their lives intending to fleep with you. Answer me, Saburou. How many men were you held down by in Echigo? Were the men of Echigo stronger than the men of Sagami? And how many did you accept?"
".....!"
Instead of answering, Takaya throws another ball of energy. Without being hit, Ujimasa was shot back over the surface of the lake. Shaking with anger, Takaya's opens his eyes ferociously.
"Don't talk crap... that kind of thing..."
Kattaiya (5:15:05 PM): "Amongst us brothers, you are the most dangerous being. Without realising, you drive men to lust after you. Even when your body changes, those tiger's eyes never do. You possess a devilishness that drives men mad."
Kattaiya (5:15:22 PM): anyway, after that there is more fighting. but, dude, that is RAPIST LOGIC, UJIMASA.
piracy tango (5:11:35 PM): *sigh*
piracy tango (5:11:41 PM): the kagetora family is special
Kattaiya (5:15:58 PM): "special" here meaning "retarded in the head and probably wants to fuck their younger brother".
piracy tango (5:12:55 PM): yes.
Kattaiya (5:17:14 PM): although, to be fair, Ujiteru is probably happy to covet and adore his brother creepily. Ujimasa is the dangerous one.
piracy tango (5:13:51 PM): what with the "IT IS HIS FAULT, HE'S SO PRETTY"
Kattaiya (5:18:59 PM): uh, yeaaaaaaah. You know, I seriously would not be surprised if he was involved with Kagetora getting raped. *just remembered that actually did happen*
piracy tango (5:16:03 PM): oh right. that incident.
Kattaiya (5:20:30 PM): now that we don't have the sanitised anime version of eldest ani, I'm beginning to see this as a strong possibility. <<
piracy tango (5:16:53 PM): yeah
piracy tango (5:16:54 PM): i bet
Kattaiya (5:27:11 PM): ... aaaaaw, Ujiteru is redeeming himself. *wasn't sure if that was something the anime made up, since most of the 8th book didn't actually HAPPEN in the anime*
~~
After that point I mostly focussed on the ending from the Naoe/Takaya perspective rather than what happened in the plot-- partially because that was (in part) covered by the anime, but also, I just have my priorities. XD I don't have the book here, it's been about a year or so since I read this, but the salient points are:
* Yuzuru is used as the sacrifice for the main tree. (or is going to be, I don't remember.) He gets put in a trance start and does a whole lot of smiting-- it turns out that, as well as his soul having been Kagekatsu in its previous life before purification, he is the Miroku Buddhivista reborn. I've only just started to understand this (it's finally resurfaced as a plot point in the 30s arc); basically, Miroku is a buddhivista that will become a buddha in the distant future once reborn into the world. It's this identity Kousaka was referring to when he said Yuzuru's true identity was a threat to the universe, not Kagekatsu-- of course he was Miroku as Kagekatsu too, but Miroku never woke up during that lifetime.
* Date Masamune's younger brother Kojirou is, as you recall, secretly in league with Mori Ranmaru and the Oda clan while supposedly working with Houjyou Ujimasa. Ranmaru plants the "demon's seed" in Yuzuru's forehead during the rite to prepare him to be a tree sacrifice, which allows Oda to take control of Yuzuru's body like a puppet. Obviously this is going to turn out to be important.
* He also plants one on Kojirou. So Kojirou runs into Katakura Kojyuurou, Masamune's loyal retainer, and he wants to go back to Masamune's side, but he realises that he can't, because the demon's seed makes him too much of a liability. He has to go back to the Oda clan. This is the last we see of any of the Date for a while-- in fact until the 20s-- but again, it's one of those things you have to keep in mind for later.
* I... forget a lot of it. Other than that the most important stuff is PROBABLY in the anime or in the following conversation. But basically, after Takaya is revived, Takaya, Naoe and Ayako run around exorcising things. Takaya can now mind control the Tsutsuga after his stint in the mirrors. Between them and Yuzuru, plus the Date and Takeda in different areas (you never actually see the other two Houjyou brothers because they get dealt with completely off-screen), the Houjyou's plans lie in ruins and Takaya exorcises Ujiteru and Ujimasa. (Kotarou the ninja and Ujiyasu, Saburou/Kagetora's father, remain unscathed.) Everyone is released from the trees, Shinya is fine, etc. Yuzuru and Takaya use tremendous amounts of power to deliver some righteous smiting-- and Takaya is sort of in a half-trance state for most of that, due to both having risen from the dead and the extreme amount of power he used, hence not really remembering what happened. There was also some kind of poison involved there, apparently, but that rings no bells to me and I don't have the books, so anyway. Yuzuru, obviously, doesn't remember anything at all.
[Edit: I've remembered where the poison comes from. One of Ujimasa's attacks involves sending clouds of poison butterflies at Takaya, which makes Takaya delirious but he doesn't have time to do anything about it until everything's all over. Ujiteru, who has by this time lost his host body-- I don't remember why, I think it was in a fight with Naoe when he was on his way to get the female mirror at the end of book 7-- shows up in spirit form to restrain Ujimasa and tells Takaya to exorcise both of them, which he does even though he doesn't want to exorcise Ujiteru.]
Which should be enough background for me to continue on with what happens to Naoe and Takaya in more detail--
~~
Kattaiya (1:39:23 PM): I KNOW WHO YUZURU IS
piracy tango (1:35:34 PM): oh?
Kattaiya (1:39:32 PM): Kagekatsu
piracy tango (1:35:51 PM): isn't that what everyone already surmised on the interweb?
piracy tango (1:35:55 PM): also...who is that? *dumb*
Kattaiya (1:40:16 PM): Uesugi Kagekatsu, Kenshin's other foster son and the one who drove Kagetora to suicide when he lost their succession war.
piracy tango (1:36:44 PM): ah yes. that was something along the lines of what i remembered.
piracy tango (1:36:50 PM): (which was "um...brothers or something?")
Kattaiya (1:40:59 PM): Takaya remembered this when he was, you know, delirious with poison. So he kind of forgot about it. XD
piracy tango (1:37:32 PM): hee.
Kattaiya (1:41:51 PM): T: *wakes up with Yuzuru at his bedside* You know, I have the strangest feeling I've forgotten something VERY IMPORTANT. Hm.
piracy tango (1:38:40 PM): haha, go figure.
piracy tango (1:38:45 PM): "whatever, i'm sure it was no big deal!"
Kattaiya (1:42:45 PM): also I finished book 8
Kattaiya (1:42:50 PM): and I got to the Infamous Scene
Kattaiya (1:42:58 PM): which as predicted makes a hell of a lot more sense now.
piracy tango (1:39:11 PM): figures.
Kattaiya (1:43:19 PM): The plot having not being sliced up and sanitised for tv.
piracy tango (1:39:29 PM): explain please. i need to feel justified.
Kattaiya (1:44:34 PM): Okay, so, first of all, you have to keep in mind that fight they had after Takaya woke up where Naoe was all like, "You can't make me feel better unless you let me fuck you" only in more detail than that.
piracy tango (1:41:10 PM): hahaha oh naoe, way to say the TOTALLY WRONG THING
Kattaiya (1:45:17 PM): Naoe actually already said "I love you" then-- he was being really frustrating about it because Takaya was like, "You love Kagetora!" "I love you." "Not me! KAGETORA."
Kattaiya (1:45:37 PM): and Naoe refused to give him anything solid or tell him that he actually chose "Takaya" over "Kagetora" with the mirror thing
piracy tango (1:42:29 PM): *sigh*
Kattaiya (1:49:47 PM): Then in this really detached way he talked about how Takaya couldn't do anything to help him, not unless he let Naoe fuck him, but he's got too much pride for that. Takaya is basically ENORMOUSLY fucked up by this in a number of ways, because he's bringing his own issues to this party, and, well.
a, Naoe's a man. Obvious, but not actually the one he dwelt upon.
b, It's Kagetora Naoe loves/wants to fuck, not TAKAYA, and he doesn't want to be a stand in to that extent.
c, Naoe's being so cold Takaya doesn't know if he actually cares at all or if "I love you" is just empty words.
d, Takaya has ISSUES, man. He's afraid of sex. And the fact it's someone he trusts apparently makes it worse, not better.
Kattaiya (1:50:17 PM): also, I will admit with some shame my immediate mental analogy was Mr Darcy's first proposal in P&P. <<
piracy tango (1:46:35 PM): hahahahha
Kattaiya (1:50:36 PM): "There's no way he could accept that with any dignity!"
Kattaiya (1:50:42 PM): "JUST LIKE DARCY'S FIRST PROPOSAL."
Kattaiya (1:50:45 PM): "Uh."
piracy tango (1:46:57 PM): heee
piracy tango (1:47:05 PM): takaya = elizabeth bennett?
Kattaiya (1:51:01 PM): CLEAR. LY.
Kattaiya (1:51:21 PM): someone who is not me should write that AU. XD
piracy tango (1:47:48 PM): world of no!
Kattaiya (1:51:48 PM): *cackle* it would be HILARIOUS
Kattaiya (1:51:52 PM): anyway, after that they still had their job to do
Kattaiya (1:52:58 PM): Takaya, having just come back from the dead, is obviously not too steady on his feet and at one point after they've met up back with Ayako he stumbles, but when Naoe goes to help he's all like "*PANICS AND WHACKS NAOE'S HAND AWAY* No don't touch me!"
Ayako: .... um?
Kattaiya (1:53:28 PM): Naoe: *bitter*
Kattaiya (1:53:38 PM): Me: ... er, well. you do KIND of deserve that, Naoe.
piracy tango (1:52:13 PM): oy
Kattaiya (1:56:23 PM): So this is still not that far into book 8. They all convene at Maiko's inn; Takaya snubs her off as well as Naoe (we don't get his POV but I can only assume he's jealous and doesn't know what he wants); she figures out that he's Naoe's mysterious "girlfriend". Not long after that everyone splits up to do their respective jobs, and Naoe and Takaya don't see each other again until the end of the book when it's basically all over and Takaya wakes up back at the inn.
Kattaiya (1:56:47 PM): Only not actually, because he wakes up with Yuzuru in his room and Ayako comes to see him, but Naoe is in another room sulking with Chiaki.
Kattaiya (1:57:08 PM): C: ... he's awake, aren't you going to go see him?
N: ... Later.
piracy tango (1:53:42 PM): oy
Kattaiya (2:03:57 PM): Maiko cries over Naoe and rails at the unfairness that someone who won't accept it gets his affection and calls Takaya horrible and various other things (N: Please don't say bad things about that person...) but accepts that the only one he'll ever love is Takaya, and tells him she can understand and it's not about gender. Just before that he'd spoken to Shinya (Maiko's younger brother) and told him to be happy and not to give up because there are people who love him (Shinya forsees people's deaths, it's why he got sucked into the Tsutsuga mirror) and she uses those words back at him and tells him not to leave Takaya's side, because even if Takaya hurts him he can't be happy without him. Naoe promises to stay with Takaya and to one day be happy with him.
Kattaiya (2:04:21 PM): Which is probably a good thing, what with how suicidal Naoe was in book 6 and 7.
piracy tango (2:00:46 PM): well maybe he's improving
Kattaiya (2:04:43 PM): .... maybe...
Kattaiya (2:05:22 PM): Chiaki and Ayako report to Takaya on everything that happened, but to get Naoe's report (which is probably unnecessary since Naoe thinks Ayako and Chiaki pretty much had it covered) he wants to go to Chuuzenji lakeside.
Kattaiya (2:06:32 PM): which is what they do. Hence the location of the last scene. Naoe reports while Takaya faces the lake with his back to Naoe and doesn't say anything. It's kind of totally awkward.
piracy tango (2:02:53 PM): probably just a bit
Kattaiya (2:07:07 PM): Naoe finishes, asks if Takaya has any questions, and when there's no response, he turns to leave.
Kattaiya (2:07:40 PM): And says that Chiaki will take Takaya back to Matsumoto, and Miya and his father are worried so please go back.
piracy tango (2:05:54 PM): my urge to bitchslap, i've discovered, just increases exponentially with time
Kattaiya (2:17:34 PM): T: *without turning around* Naoe.
T&N: ............................................................
N: I can guess at your feelings at having to fight the people who were your relatives. I respect you for performing your duty without getting caught up in your emotions. Please, be prepared for what will happen after this.
T: ........... *was not what he wanted to hear, feels that Naoe is doing it on purpose* *starts to shake*
N: Please do not rely on me.
T: *lifts head*
N: You only did what should have been natural. With that attitude you'll come to rely on being consoled.
Kattaiya (2:17:40 PM): god, I know. D:
piracy tango (2:14:20 PM): seriously, i just...gah.
Kattaiya (2:18:53 PM): T: Why are you....!
N: If you want to be consoled, I'll console you with my body.
Me: AUGH NO, NAOE, NOT THIS AGAIN! *fights urge to throw book across room* SHUT UP. SERIOUSLY.
Kattaiya (2:26:43 PM): T: *jerks with shock*
N: I'll give that pliant body so much pleasure that it's guilty, that it makes you forget everything. If you endure a little pain, I can give you the pleasure of being taken. Become my prisoner and you won't be able to release me. Like a toy to pleasure you...
Me: DSJFKLSDJFKL:AJKL:JKL MOUTH. SOAP. GAH.
T: ................
N: Are you angry?
piracy tango (2:23:17 PM): ...XD WORLD'S DUMBEST QUESTION
Kattaiya (2:32:23 PM): T: *turns around, but can't find an angry comeback*
N: *narrows eyes cruellly* ... In those words.
N: There's... no lie.
T: ........... *freezes with nerves*
N: *pretends not to notice* I love you.
T: ...........
Me: Takaya is very speechless, but really, I don't blame him.
N: Whether you're a man or a woman. To me, it makes no difference. I will always love you. I want to possess you. Body and soul, I want you to be mine no matter what. I want to monopolise you.
Me: ... er, at least we're getting somewhere? Sort of?
piracy tango (2:28:51 PM): um.
piracy tango (2:28:58 PM): for certain definitions of "somewhere"
piracy tango (2:29:03 PM): one step forward, two steps back.
Kattaiya (2:32:56 PM): at least he's talking about his feelings instead of sex XD
piracy tango (2:29:16 PM): now he's talking about feelings AND sex
Kattaiya (2:33:14 PM): well, okay. *g*
Kattaiya (2:33:16 PM): O NAOE
Kattaiya (2:40:22 PM): T: *stops breathing, fingers digging into his chest; can't tell, when Naoe says it so coldly, whether he actually means those lines or if they're just empty words.*
T: *gets irritated, can't tamp it down, turns his back on Naoe*
N: *distantly* ... I won't ask you what you think of me. If you don't want to see my face like this, do as you please. But, it's my job. I will continue to be your advisor after this. I will remain by your side as your subordinate, but that has nothing to do with our private lives.
N: *says stuff about Yuzuru that is related to work*
N: Take care... please, take care and go home. *leaves*
Kattaiya (2:41:33 PM): .... only that last he whispers into Takaya's ear as he's giving Takaya his jacket. Cause it's damn cold and Takaya's shirt is thin. THEN he leaves.
Kattaiya (2:42:03 PM): And then we get several pages of Takaya angst. Takaya is torn with indecision-- he wants to call out and stop Naoe leaving again, but he doesn't feel like he has the right.
Kattaiya (2:42:45 PM): There's some freaking out about being left behind and not wanting to lose Naoe
piracy tango (2:39:33 PM): a;lkjdsfalkjsdfl;kjfsd
Kattaiya (2:44:08 PM): Then there's some angst about, if he gave Naoe this body, would it really make him happy when what he really wants is Kagetora? and the decision that he doesn't want to let himself be used like that, not when it's not him. Then there's some belated, wtf, how can he feel that way even though we're both male.
Kattaiya (2:44:29 PM): Some wondering if what Naoe feels is really love at all
Kattaiya (2:45:18 PM): Some more freaking out about losing Naoe and wondering why it affects him so badly when he has other people who care about him-- Miya, Yuzuru-- and it shouldn't be a big deal but it totally is
piracy tango (2:41:59 PM): *sigh*
piracy tango (2:42:02 PM): just...*sigh*
Kattaiya (2:45:56 PM): Then he comes to the conclusion that Kagetora is clearly the key to this, and decides he wants to understand Kagetora's feelings for Naoe.
Kattaiya (2:46:53 PM): and then there are a few ending paragraphs.
piracy tango (2:44:20 PM): baaah
Kattaiya (2:48:57 PM): But at least I now feel I have reached understanding about how come Naoe walked away after saying something like that and how come Takaya didn't stop him. ^^;
piracy tango (2:51:47 PM): because they are both MADE OF DUMB
Kattaiya (3:00:12 PM): lord yes ~_~
Stay tuned for more on books 9, 10-12 (sadly I don't remember a lot of the plot stuff, but it was one of my favourite arcs) and 13-14, followed by 15-19 (oy, trying to remember what happened in that arc will be fun like a barrel of rabid monkeys, I suspect my summary will be very truncated and filled with holes) and 20. 21 onwards is from where I have the books with me and also where the Red Whales show up, which moves things into the next stage of the plot and means the next, like, 8 books all happen in Shikoku.
On that note I finish for now. God, I wish I was asleep. Insomnia has hit me hardcore; usually it only gives me trouble GETTING to sleep, but I was already sleep deprived when I went to sleep at midnight, having been up since 10.30am on very little sleep, and yet I woke up at 1am. It didn't even have anything to do with my blood sugar. And this happened to me last night, too, I only slept two hours before I woke up and couldn't sleep again until like 8am. I thought it was just that it hadn't been long enough since I'd gotten out of bed, although I was sleep deprived then, but I don't even know. *throws hands up in disgust* I'm-a get sick at this rate. NOT HAPPY, JAN.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-09-26 04:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-26 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-27 12:49 am (UTC)Ujimasa is no more responsible for Kagetora's rape than Kagetora was responsible for Minako's. The full details of Kagetora's rape appear in a Hojo focused side novel called Gunjou. If you can't acces the book or don't want to bother getting it
http://petronia.livejournal.com/341584.html
http://petronia.livejournal.com/342970.html
http://petronia.livejournal.com/343773.html
http://petronia.livejournal.com/343851.html
no subject
Date: 2008-09-27 06:31 am (UTC)And yeah, sure, go ahead. These are here for sharing, otherwise I would have filtered them by now to spare the rest of my flist. XD; The summaries on 9-14 should be up soon too, since they're done to the end of 11, I... only um, vaguely remember book 12 and already have pretty complete summaries of 13 and 14 in my emails, so that shouldn't take too long.