/a/ notes on barnaby.
i've made it a habit to check out the t&b thread in /a/, and sometimes anons have amazing shit to contribute in terms of headcanon and character introspection. i'm compiling them to help me develop my own characterisation of barnaby...
a life, you say? there's no such thing.
>I like to refer to him as "an adult that acts like a child who acts like an adult".
>To me, he hasn't completely matured yet, his reactions are too spontaneous and sincere in situations where the other 'adults' would put a mask on. The way he shows his weaknesses is sometimes frightening. I bet Maverick appreciated that aspect of him. Must have been easy to read his every moves.
When I think about it, Kotetsu is his exact contrary. He won't easily show what he really feels.
>Personally, I think his reactions are spontaneous and honest because he's so self-aware, unlike most people. The reason why people can mask and veil their reactions and intentions so well is that they actually unaware of the exact details and motivations of their own behavior most of the time. In other words, they obfuscate because they unconsciously lie even to themselves (see Kotetsu).
Barnaby on the other hand is generally aware of pretty much everything that goes inside his head, so this honesty is rather inevitable, because the fog of excuses and self-delusion is not there.
It is a very rare psychological profile, but there's nothing "immature" about it, in my opinion. Self-awareness is something that usually takes very long to gain (most people don't have much of it even in old age), so in a way, this is the exact opposite of being "immature". He actually needed humanizing, as Nishida said, because his thinking was too structured and robotic.
>Both the storyboards and his profile in ep23 state that he spent his childhood in orphanage (that's where Samantha was visiting him with her cake). The boarding school thing doesn't contradict anything, because orphanages which are also boarding schools at the same time actually exist in the world (in Russian for example, they are called "internats"). Also, Maverick did not adopt him, he only became his "patron" (according to official info). To Barnaby, who was left with absolutely nothing and, even that meant a lot.
>There is certainly truth in your analysis because effectively, being alone leaves a lot of time to think about yourself. But Bunny might be 'self- aware', perfectly knowing how it works in his head, the fact is that he is helpless. He doesn't have the maturity that could help him with his reactions. I'm not saying that he acts like a child, I mean that as an adult, he lacks the self control a normal experience of the 'adult' society should have given him. That's natural, he's been alone too long.
Now I've got another thesis, from my experience of Alzheimer patients. Damage to the brain can deprive people from their capacity to self-control. The result is that you will say or do things the society originally taught you not to say/do. I relate that to the numerous attacks to his brain he received from Maverick. It is even official, if I'm not mistaken.
It's just that I prefer to believe more in the maturity problem. I mean, he's had enough.
Finally, I'd just like to say that I didn't give to the word 'mature' the pejorative synonym of 'childish. Just to say.
I got curious about the Pash interviews with Agnes and Kaede's voice actors (since they don't have so many appearances as the main characters' VAs) and the impressions were interesting. Poor Beeson, he really has no chance with Agnes..
>Interviewer: Who do you think can associate with Agnes among the Heroes:
>Kaida: Definitely not Rock Bison.
>Hidaka: And yet he likes her... (laugh).
About Kotetsu and Kaede:
>Hidaka: I believe they can now build a good parent-child relationship based on the mutual trust and support. I'm sure Kaede will want to support her father from now on.
>Kaida: Kaede is a good kid. Though I'm sure she will turn into somebody like Agnes in the future (laugh).
>Hidaka: Why, thank you!
Talking about T&B's relationship:
>Hidaka: Barnaby may often look like he's looking down on Kotetsu ("ojisan" and whatnot), but you can feel staggeringly much love coming from him.
>Kaida: No kidding! Just makes one smile, doesn't it?
>Hidaka: Definitely. I'm snickering even now!
>Interviewer: Which scenes amused you so much?
>Kaida: Too many of them! In particular, when Maverick started getting involved with those two, I couldn't help but snicker. I mean, just look at that dangerous love triangle.
>Hidaka: That's right! It really seemed like another guy inserting himself between the two lovers. Just what do you call this sort of relationship?
a life, you say? there's no such thing.
>I like to refer to him as "an adult that acts like a child who acts like an adult".
>To me, he hasn't completely matured yet, his reactions are too spontaneous and sincere in situations where the other 'adults' would put a mask on. The way he shows his weaknesses is sometimes frightening. I bet Maverick appreciated that aspect of him. Must have been easy to read his every moves.
When I think about it, Kotetsu is his exact contrary. He won't easily show what he really feels.
>Personally, I think his reactions are spontaneous and honest because he's so self-aware, unlike most people. The reason why people can mask and veil their reactions and intentions so well is that they actually unaware of the exact details and motivations of their own behavior most of the time. In other words, they obfuscate because they unconsciously lie even to themselves (see Kotetsu).
Barnaby on the other hand is generally aware of pretty much everything that goes inside his head, so this honesty is rather inevitable, because the fog of excuses and self-delusion is not there.
It is a very rare psychological profile, but there's nothing "immature" about it, in my opinion. Self-awareness is something that usually takes very long to gain (most people don't have much of it even in old age), so in a way, this is the exact opposite of being "immature". He actually needed humanizing, as Nishida said, because his thinking was too structured and robotic.
>Both the storyboards and his profile in ep23 state that he spent his childhood in orphanage (that's where Samantha was visiting him with her cake). The boarding school thing doesn't contradict anything, because orphanages which are also boarding schools at the same time actually exist in the world (in Russian for example, they are called "internats"). Also, Maverick did not adopt him, he only became his "patron" (according to official info). To Barnaby, who was left with absolutely nothing and, even that meant a lot.
>There is certainly truth in your analysis because effectively, being alone leaves a lot of time to think about yourself. But Bunny might be 'self- aware', perfectly knowing how it works in his head, the fact is that he is helpless. He doesn't have the maturity that could help him with his reactions. I'm not saying that he acts like a child, I mean that as an adult, he lacks the self control a normal experience of the 'adult' society should have given him. That's natural, he's been alone too long.
Now I've got another thesis, from my experience of Alzheimer patients. Damage to the brain can deprive people from their capacity to self-control. The result is that you will say or do things the society originally taught you not to say/do. I relate that to the numerous attacks to his brain he received from Maverick. It is even official, if I'm not mistaken.
It's just that I prefer to believe more in the maturity problem. I mean, he's had enough.
Finally, I'd just like to say that I didn't give to the word 'mature' the pejorative synonym of 'childish. Just to say.
I got curious about the Pash interviews with Agnes and Kaede's voice actors (since they don't have so many appearances as the main characters' VAs) and the impressions were interesting. Poor Beeson, he really has no chance with Agnes..
>Interviewer: Who do you think can associate with Agnes among the Heroes:
>Kaida: Definitely not Rock Bison.
>Hidaka: And yet he likes her... (laugh).
About Kotetsu and Kaede:
>Hidaka: I believe they can now build a good parent-child relationship based on the mutual trust and support. I'm sure Kaede will want to support her father from now on.
>Kaida: Kaede is a good kid. Though I'm sure she will turn into somebody like Agnes in the future (laugh).
>Hidaka: Why, thank you!
Talking about T&B's relationship:
>Hidaka: Barnaby may often look like he's looking down on Kotetsu ("ojisan" and whatnot), but you can feel staggeringly much love coming from him.
>Kaida: No kidding! Just makes one smile, doesn't it?
>Hidaka: Definitely. I'm snickering even now!
>Interviewer: Which scenes amused you so much?
>Kaida: Too many of them! In particular, when Maverick started getting involved with those two, I couldn't help but snicker. I mean, just look at that dangerous love triangle.
>Hidaka: That's right! It really seemed like another guy inserting himself between the two lovers. Just what do you call this sort of relationship?