(no subject)
This is a sort of joint essay on several things--my history and experience with Kagura, anime vs. manga, and Kagura on Kyou, because those things all sort of blend together in my mind.
Okay, I started watching the Furuba anime years and years ago, back when it was first released in the US legally. And Kagura was always my favorite in the anime! At the same time, I read the manga, and noticed that Kagura...didn't get much. At that point I was buying the manga as it came out, but at some point I stopped having money and forgot to keep up. Kagura was also one of the first characters I ever considered apping for CFUD, before I decided on Buffy, but she went off my radar for a while as our Fruits Basket cast got more and more manga-oriented, because I was too lazy to download it and catch up |Dd But Ayame did a pimping post with links, and I was like "hey I could app Kagura now!"
I wrote my app watching the anime, which I think has, mm. A much cleaner and nicer arc for Kagura. In the anime, I'd consider Kagura, if not one of the main characters, at least one of the more important ones. I think she gets one of the nicest resolutions in the anime, and her scene in episode 25 telling Yuki why she won't run after Kyou is my favorite in the entire show. In a lot of ways, I think the development she gets there is as good as, if not better, as all the development she gets in the manga, and rings truer.
I do think that in the manga, despite what she says, Kagura genuinely loves Kyou. Her explanation to him, that she pitied him, and that her crush grew out of her inability to accept his true form, seems as if it was meant to make the audience discredit her feelings, and she herself uses it to discredit her feelings, but at the same time, I think all her actions--both before, after, and during that confession--show that, however it began, her feelings now are real. Kagura admits that she "gave up," and admits that she was "mean" and "selfish," and I think that letting go of Kyou in that confession scene is Kagura's attempt to grow up and leave behind selfish things. But from the later scene where she hits Tohru for not treating Kyou right (in her eyes), I think it's fairly obvious that no matter what Kagura thinks she should have done, she hasn't really dismissed her feelings for Kyou.
Does that make them genuine or her just stubborn? That's left to the reader, I guess. Kagura gets fairly shafted in the manga; she doesn't get any real character development beyond her date and confession with Kyou, which is around chapter 70, a little more than halfway through the series. She's one of the characters who doesn't get tied off in a random heterosexual relationship at the end, and I think the later appearances of hers we do see have her trying (and not entirely succeeding) at getting over Kyou.
In terms of how I plan on playing her, based on our limited canon knowledge of how she is after her talk with Kyou (or with Yuki in the anime), well. One of the things that always appealed to me about Kagura was that she was aware that Kyou would never love her, and continued to act in this outrageous fashion despite that. I think for Kagura, to be serious around Kyou is too painful, because if she is serious she knows that it will go just like the date--Kyou will reject her. If she's over the top and never gives him the chance, then she can keep being selfish.
I also think Kagura can both be aware that her feelings are selfish, arose for selfish reasons, and still keep doing it, even after her confession, because I think the alternative is too painful. I know this is a lot of my own interpretation, but, well. I don't have a lot of canon for it. I think in the manga, it's possible that Kagura showed up less because she was trying to distance herself from him; I think if she isn't selfish and all over him, she can't really be around him. Partly because it hurts and partly because, you know, she's insane and he brings out the violent insanity in her.
So Kagura will continue to tilde at Kyou and beat Kyou up and drape on him because, in my intepretation, it is her selfish way of protecting her own heart. Kagura has a huge potential for being mature--she is older than he is, and in the manga, the voice actress does a really good job emphasizing her different moods through her voice. Her internal monologues and her lines in episode 25 to Yuki are very different from the voice she uses towards Kyou, which is very childish and often quite nagging. Similarly, she speaks differently when she first shows up, and of course her whole crazy voice. And then she even has a slightly different polite voice when she first appears, and when she's talking to Tohru. Kagura has a pretty good understanding of a lot of things, which she usually just...ignores. That's a lot of the selfishness she talks about, as far as I'm concerned. She knows what she's doing is to avoid her own pain, and she continues to do it.
As for where I'm taking Kagura from, well. In a lot of ways, I don't think it matters that much, because in my interpretation, from the beginning of both the anime and the manga, Kagura has given up on Kyou. In both of them she verbally acknowledges this, but I think that before that, she already knew, and was selfishly holding on a little longer. And I think that in camp, she'll continue to selfishly hold on, until she learns another way to not get hurt. As far as I'm concerned she is also Kyou/Tohru shipper, because she knows Tohru can help him in a way that she can't, and because she's given up.
Okay, I know that was both long and incoherent, but. I knew I didn't have a lot of canon for Kagura when I apped her, but I feel like between voiceovers, the different faces she presents in canon, and looking at both the manga and the anime, we actually get a surprisingly strong and layered character, given how much screentime she has.
So, I leave you with that Kagura scene from episode 25, because as I said, it's my favorite. And it shaped a lot of how I see Kagura, and how I see her relationship with Kyou, and it's kind of...how I strive to be, as a Kagura. Other than violent and hyperactive, I mean. And, well. Feel free to argue with me! I feel bad because I'm very much not an expert on Furuba. I just love Kagura a lot.
Kagura: Yun-chan, why aren't you running after him? Have you ended up hating Kyou-kun?
Yuki: I always hated him. It's more than just me being the mouse and him being the cat. It's always been like this, and it always will be.
Kagura: Who decided that, I wonder?
Yuki: Eh?
Kagura: It's sad, isn't it?
Yuki: What about you, Kagura? Is it okay for you to not run after Kyou?
Kagura: I'm not running after him. I decided that. You know, me? I can accept Kyou-kun no matter what he looks like. Because there's no one who loves him more than I do. That's why I figured it out, you know! If it's me, it won't work. The Kyou-kun right now...only Tohru can help him.
Yuki: Kagura...
Kagura: If another Juunishi accepts him, it won't help Kyou-kun very much. Me and Kyou-kun...we're too close, you know? That's why there's nothing to do but leave it to Tohru-kun! [Kagura is looking through her thread] Aaah, that's strange. Ah, no, not that one...sigh. [Yuki runs out] Ah, found it! [Kagura begins to cry] Kyou-kun's color...
Okay, I started watching the Furuba anime years and years ago, back when it was first released in the US legally. And Kagura was always my favorite in the anime! At the same time, I read the manga, and noticed that Kagura...didn't get much. At that point I was buying the manga as it came out, but at some point I stopped having money and forgot to keep up. Kagura was also one of the first characters I ever considered apping for CFUD, before I decided on Buffy, but she went off my radar for a while as our Fruits Basket cast got more and more manga-oriented, because I was too lazy to download it and catch up |Dd But Ayame did a pimping post with links, and I was like "hey I could app Kagura now!"
I wrote my app watching the anime, which I think has, mm. A much cleaner and nicer arc for Kagura. In the anime, I'd consider Kagura, if not one of the main characters, at least one of the more important ones. I think she gets one of the nicest resolutions in the anime, and her scene in episode 25 telling Yuki why she won't run after Kyou is my favorite in the entire show. In a lot of ways, I think the development she gets there is as good as, if not better, as all the development she gets in the manga, and rings truer.
I do think that in the manga, despite what she says, Kagura genuinely loves Kyou. Her explanation to him, that she pitied him, and that her crush grew out of her inability to accept his true form, seems as if it was meant to make the audience discredit her feelings, and she herself uses it to discredit her feelings, but at the same time, I think all her actions--both before, after, and during that confession--show that, however it began, her feelings now are real. Kagura admits that she "gave up," and admits that she was "mean" and "selfish," and I think that letting go of Kyou in that confession scene is Kagura's attempt to grow up and leave behind selfish things. But from the later scene where she hits Tohru for not treating Kyou right (in her eyes), I think it's fairly obvious that no matter what Kagura thinks she should have done, she hasn't really dismissed her feelings for Kyou.
Does that make them genuine or her just stubborn? That's left to the reader, I guess. Kagura gets fairly shafted in the manga; she doesn't get any real character development beyond her date and confession with Kyou, which is around chapter 70, a little more than halfway through the series. She's one of the characters who doesn't get tied off in a random heterosexual relationship at the end, and I think the later appearances of hers we do see have her trying (and not entirely succeeding) at getting over Kyou.
In terms of how I plan on playing her, based on our limited canon knowledge of how she is after her talk with Kyou (or with Yuki in the anime), well. One of the things that always appealed to me about Kagura was that she was aware that Kyou would never love her, and continued to act in this outrageous fashion despite that. I think for Kagura, to be serious around Kyou is too painful, because if she is serious she knows that it will go just like the date--Kyou will reject her. If she's over the top and never gives him the chance, then she can keep being selfish.
I also think Kagura can both be aware that her feelings are selfish, arose for selfish reasons, and still keep doing it, even after her confession, because I think the alternative is too painful. I know this is a lot of my own interpretation, but, well. I don't have a lot of canon for it. I think in the manga, it's possible that Kagura showed up less because she was trying to distance herself from him; I think if she isn't selfish and all over him, she can't really be around him. Partly because it hurts and partly because, you know, she's insane and he brings out the violent insanity in her.
So Kagura will continue to tilde at Kyou and beat Kyou up and drape on him because, in my intepretation, it is her selfish way of protecting her own heart. Kagura has a huge potential for being mature--she is older than he is, and in the manga, the voice actress does a really good job emphasizing her different moods through her voice. Her internal monologues and her lines in episode 25 to Yuki are very different from the voice she uses towards Kyou, which is very childish and often quite nagging. Similarly, she speaks differently when she first shows up, and of course her whole crazy voice. And then she even has a slightly different polite voice when she first appears, and when she's talking to Tohru. Kagura has a pretty good understanding of a lot of things, which she usually just...ignores. That's a lot of the selfishness she talks about, as far as I'm concerned. She knows what she's doing is to avoid her own pain, and she continues to do it.
As for where I'm taking Kagura from, well. In a lot of ways, I don't think it matters that much, because in my interpretation, from the beginning of both the anime and the manga, Kagura has given up on Kyou. In both of them she verbally acknowledges this, but I think that before that, she already knew, and was selfishly holding on a little longer. And I think that in camp, she'll continue to selfishly hold on, until she learns another way to not get hurt. As far as I'm concerned she is also Kyou/Tohru shipper, because she knows Tohru can help him in a way that she can't, and because she's given up.
Okay, I know that was both long and incoherent, but. I knew I didn't have a lot of canon for Kagura when I apped her, but I feel like between voiceovers, the different faces she presents in canon, and looking at both the manga and the anime, we actually get a surprisingly strong and layered character, given how much screentime she has.
So, I leave you with that Kagura scene from episode 25, because as I said, it's my favorite. And it shaped a lot of how I see Kagura, and how I see her relationship with Kyou, and it's kind of...how I strive to be, as a Kagura. Other than violent and hyperactive, I mean. And, well. Feel free to argue with me! I feel bad because I'm very much not an expert on Furuba. I just love Kagura a lot.
Kagura: Yun-chan, why aren't you running after him? Have you ended up hating Kyou-kun?
Yuki: I always hated him. It's more than just me being the mouse and him being the cat. It's always been like this, and it always will be.
Kagura: Who decided that, I wonder?
Yuki: Eh?
Kagura: It's sad, isn't it?
Yuki: What about you, Kagura? Is it okay for you to not run after Kyou?
Kagura: I'm not running after him. I decided that. You know, me? I can accept Kyou-kun no matter what he looks like. Because there's no one who loves him more than I do. That's why I figured it out, you know! If it's me, it won't work. The Kyou-kun right now...only Tohru can help him.
Yuki: Kagura...
Kagura: If another Juunishi accepts him, it won't help Kyou-kun very much. Me and Kyou-kun...we're too close, you know? That's why there's nothing to do but leave it to Tohru-kun! [Kagura is looking through her thread] Aaah, that's strange. Ah, no, not that one...sigh. [Yuki runs out] Ah, found it! [Kagura begins to cry] Kyou-kun's color...