From: cg108fai@icogsci1.ucsd.edu (Steerpike)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: Re: A moment of thought... (Nausicaa, Valley of the Wind)
Date: 5 Apr 92 11:15:18 GMT
Organization: University of California, San Diego

In article <31357@sdcc12.ucsd.edu> cg108fai@icogsci1.ucsd.edu (Steerpike) writes:
> In article <foo> wai@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Benjamin Wai) writes:
> 
> >Protraits of the characters in the story are different from the 
> >manga, that's for sure. I like Korosawa (sp?) in the manga for
> >his coolness and cunningness of survival in the political conflicts.
> >But in the show, I can just view him as basically a power-hunger 
> >person with a rather dark personality. 
> 
> Hmm. I don't know about the manga, but I never found the anime
> Kurotowa to be really power-hungry. His attitude always seemed to
> develop in three stages
> (1): "Maybe I could be in charge", when he views the god soldier.
> (2): "Hmm. I AM in charge" (when he learns of the princess's death)
> (3): "Oh well. Guess I'm not in charge" (when she shows up again)
> 
> He wasn't particularly eager to gain power, of hesitant to give it
> up. He dislikes the god-soldier, he is basically loyal to Kushana
> (as I interpret his actions) and he does a good job of being second-
> in-command.

I think that Kurotowa's primary characteristic in both the manga and the
anime is his cynicism.

In the anime, this shows up in his comment after he's heard that
Kushana's been killed, "Is it luck that's finally come around to an
unlucky commoner, or is it a snare of destruction?", and when she
returns, as he says with a wry smile, "She was alive...  It was but a
brief dream..." and then snaps to attention and says "Your Highness!"
He always comes off as the disinterested observer, even when he's in
charge and reacting to the villager's revolt, "Don't you hate it?  A
forest or two, and they go blood-thirsty.  It's a repetition of Pejite."

The impression I get from the manga is that Kurotowa had a strong moral
upbringing, but that his observation of the corrupt Torumekian system,
as well as his struggles against it as an extremely competent commoner
who has been continually snubbed and passed over by less able people
with connections, has caused him to deride ethical motivations and has
left ambition as his only goal.  Yet, he is also intelligent enough, and
maybe has enough of a moral tinge left, to view this motivation with
cynicism as well.  He is not really power hungry because he can't really
believe that it's worth the effort.  He plots and schemes, but he never
seems to really have his heart in it.

While there is no mention in the manga of Kurotowa's upbringing, moral
or not, I infer it from the depth of his cynicism, which must be
directed against something that once was important to him, and from the
vestiges that seem to remain, like his susceptibility to Nausicaa's
power, which works on the empathy of others, his covert admiration of
Kushana's loyalty to her troops, and his own remaining ability to earn
the loyalty of others.  While he's willing to exploit or betray them
without a thought, his interaction with them does not seem to be based
completely on what he thinks he can get out of them. 

Jefery Roberts		Locus Computing Corporation		jrr@locus.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime