Forum - View topic

EP. REVIEW: Talentless Nana

Agent355 wrote:

. She is a minor. We generally don’t hold children accountable for crimes to the same extent as adults, including child soldiers and terrorists who were brainwashed to kill innocents. I know that in the US, convicts under 18 are never considered for the death penalty or even life in prison (a more recent change), even when charged with violent crimes or murder and tried as adults..

You are generally right, but when it comes to crimes like this, we do hold them accountable. You can bet if the Columbine shooters were caught alive, they would be serving life sentences too. Child soldiers is not a U.S. problem, and I think if a teenage terrorist had a multiple body count, they would be in prison for life too.

Few countries allow for a minor to be given a lifetime sentence with no provision for eventual release; these include Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina (only over the age of 16),[4]Australia, Belize, Brunei, Cuba, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and the United States. According to a University of San Francisco School of Law study, only the U.S. had minors serving such sentences in 2008.[5]In 2009, Human Rights Watch estimated that there were 2,589 youth offenders serving life sentences without the possibility for parole in the U.S.[6][7] The United States leads in life sentences (both adults and minors), at a rate of 50 people per 100,000 (1 out of 2,000) residents imprisoned for life.[8]

I have no problems with stories that feature a villain and their life story. There is no problem even with sympathizing with them. Even in real life, a lot of bad people, had bad lives growing up, and had to make hard choices. But in real life, forgiveness comes from the victim's or their families, not the courts. When it comes to serial killings or serial assassinations, however you want to frame it, there is no room for sympathizing on judgement day. There are too many family and friends that want their pound of flesh for the killing of their loved ones.

This is not real life, but if they are framing it as a redemptive story, (no problem with that at all), it is a personal redemption, not a redemption from society. The proper course of such a story, is for the killer or former evil one, to save their victims and/or destroy the organization that turned them to evil. Usually with them dying in the process. This comes with a proper denouncement and a dying redemption. But in cases where the former evil one survives, they spend the rest of their life, hunting the remnants of the evil organization till they die. They are not supposed to have a happy end, nor be part of society.

I am curious on what the writers have planned, you may get what you want, but personally, I would view it as a failure. When villains get happy ends, I view it as a betrayal of their victims.

I think she also would have helped Nana absolve herself of her guilt and crimes.

The anime chickened out on the ending, basically leaving it open ended.

@TarsTarkas I wonder, when a king orders an execution, does one have to attack the executioner guy? Nana's job is like an executioner of the government service, she is not to blame because it is her job, those boys were already sentenced to death by superior orders

Its really odd to compare Nana to an executioner. An executioner has the law and public support on their side, which lets them do their executions in the public eye. An Assassin is someone who operates as killer based on a code of ethics, whether personal, from business or from culture groups but in the shadows of society. That suits Nana's character far more.

Though she had the conviction of a zealot in the beginning, refusing to consider herself unjust no matter what she saw in the school. So you could argue that she was a fanatical murderer instead of assassin. But I think she has had training in killing. Assassin is far better. Neither her government nor society recognises her doing a job.

To give it another media's point of view, Jame Bond was a Government Assasin not executioner. While he was employed by the government and trained to kill for them. He received no public recognition and no support should he fall afoul of the public.