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Avarice_WP wrote:

Was he a merc? I think so. But I don't think it was money, bloodlust, loyalty, or religion that motivated him. I think it was simply perfection of his craft. He's not a true villain in the movie- very few were, and this dual nature of the characters makes them a little more believeable.

Thanks again for all the information nobinobita. Smile

The pleasure is all mine. This is the most fun conversation I've had on the net in a while.

I think it's great that a movie primarily about bad ass swordsman kicking ass can also inspire conversation about our perceptions of race and nationality.

I agree with everything you said about the antagonist Luo Lang. He wasn't necessarily evil and he certainly wasn't motivated by race, religion, nationality or anything else, he just wanted a good fight. He's a weird foil to No Name who wants to live in peace, but can't seem to avoid fights and who seems to always be in conflict with people precisely because of religion, race and nationality.

Also, I can't say if Luo Long was born in China, or if he was nationalized, but it's clear to me that no one among the Ming soldiers had any problem with the way he looked, and he's only ever refered to by a Chinese name so he's more or less as Chinese as anyone else in the movie. He may not be ethnically Chinese, but he was a Ming national, and was treated as an equal by his comrades. This is one of the few movies I've seen where they present the idea that Chinese is more of a culture and nationality, rather than an ethnicity (there are many many different ethnic groups in China, all of whom are legally Chinese). I think this was also meant as a contrast and a criticism to the concept of being Japanese, which is still very much an ethnicity to this day in a legal sense.

Charred Knight wrote:

You rated Aquarion way to highly

I mean has their been a more obnoxious female lead than the one from Aquarion.

Jackass? Check
Never shuts up? Check
Egotistical? Check
Wants to have sex with her own brother? Check

Add the utter pretentiousness of the series. Yes I saw Evangelion too, but the whole ripping off Abrahamic Religion got old. The least they could do is switch up the damn thing and not just rip off the same thing.

lovely o.O

But yeah, I love to see different religions culled for story ideas in different ways. Something fresh and interesting, yeah?

Pictures from thissweek's shelf suggest a person of pretty good taste, I think.