Rapunzel, Koori no Mamono no Monogatari
Title: It's always the quiet ones
Series: Koori no Mamono no Monogatari (The Ice-Cold Demon's Tale)
Character: Rapunzel
Author: sara_tanaquil
Spoiler warning: Rampant spoilers for Books 8 and 9 (the Wild-Rapunzel backstory) and especially for Book 11, because it’s really impossible to discuss Rapunzel’s character without dealing with the revelations in that book. Since most people won’t have read Koori, I try to include as much of the story as you need to understand the essay. If you want to read the whole story, I recommend checking out the detailed book-by-book summaries done by Amparo Bertram - that’s the closest thing in English to a translation of the whole series.
Notes/comments: Sorry this is so LONG! (It is within the set limit though...) But I just couldn't figure out how to cut it without making the story unintelligible. Many thanks to perseid for the kind beta.
It's Always the Quiet Ones
If you could start all over from the beginning, would you not do it again?... Next time, if you didn’t come to kidnap me, I would come to kidnap you. (Rapunzel, vol 11)
Background
Koori no Mamono no Monogatari (The Ice Cold Demon’s Tale) is a 24 volume manga series that might just be the best manga you’ve never heard of.
If you haven’t already, take a look at perseid’s essay on Blood for a proper introduction to the main plot of Koori (Blood being the Ice Cold Demon in question). My essay contains extensive spoilers for the subplot concerning the side characters Wild and Rapunzel, but not much about the main plot.
Since it hasn’t been published in English or even fully fan-translated, it’s not easy to get acquainted with Koori, but it’s oh so worth it. I’ll include some links to resources at the end of my essay.
Translations are mostly my own, based on my limited Japanese, but with plentiful help from those who have gone before -- in some places I am quoting almost directly from a scanlation or a summary.
FYI: In spite of the name, Rapunzel is male, as is Wild, so this is a shounen-ai love story.
More than meets the eye
I first encountered Koori through Amparo's summaries. At first I wasn't sure if I would get hooked -- it was hard to get a sense of the story through summaries alone -- but once I saw scanlations of the first three volumes and the Rapunzel backstory, I was in love. Blood and Ishuca are the leading characters, but much as I loved them, I was lured in more by the relationship of Wild and Rapunzel.
Wild and Rapunzel (as in the case of Blood and Ishuca, it is difficult to separate one from the other) are introduced as supporting characters early in the series, providing a parallel and a foil to Blood and Ishuca’s developing relationship. Throughout most of the story, they remain in the background, with the exception of the one major arc (Koumori no Asa I & II, volumes 7-13) in which their relationship becomes the primary focus, but it is impossible to imagine the story of the Ice-Cold Demon without them. It is the interplay of the two couples that gives the series its rich texture; the challenges faced by one pair mirror those faced by the other, and developments in one relationship become the catalyst for changes in the other that never could have occurred otherwise.
Although all four characters are very important, Rapunzel, initially the least distinctive and least fully developed character of the group, gradually became my favorite as the story progressed. Seemingly quiet, polite, passive, and so feminine that it is sometimes difficult to remember that he’s supposed to be male, Rapunzel proves to be much stronger and far more complex than he appears. Indeed, it gradually becomes apparent that Wild, with only the best of intentions, vastly underestimates his partner even after living with him for more than the span of a human lifetime.
Nevertheless, when we take our leave of the characters at the end of volume 24, we feel confident that Wild and Rapunzel’s relationship has grown stronger and that Rapunzel in particular is coming into his own. One of the nice things about Koori is that it is easy to imagine all four characters continuing to live and grow long after the curtain falls on the part of their story that we are allowed to see.
Just us girls
We first meet Rapunzel when Blood comes to Wild’s house in volume 1, seeking to resume an old commercial partnership (and slightly prickly friendship). Wild, a human-turned-demon sorcerer, tells Blood where to find jewels containing power; Blood uses his demon abilities to acquire the stones and suck the power from them, and he then passes the now powerless jewels along to Wild, who sells them for a profit - an advantageous deal for all. (After all, both Blood and Wild like to claim that demons don’t form real friendships, only contracts.) While the “men” retreat to the study to talk business, the beautiful, elegant, golden-haired Rapunzel serves tea and makes exceedingly polite conversation with Ishuca.
In this, Rapunzel plays the part of the ideal Japanese business-wife, the perfect hostess who has no ambitions or opinions of her own. Indeed, it is immediately made clear that Rapunzel and Wild are (to all appearances) a rather staid and conventional “married” couple. The author often gently satirizes social roles and expectations. Ishuca and Rapunzel, the “wives” in this scenario, immediately form a sisterly bond (much to the comic dismay of their partners, who are quick to be jealous of the affection Ishuca and Rapunzel shower on each other). As one reviewer of the series has commented, they giggle, hug, squeal, invite each other to slumber parties, braid each other’s hair, and generally act like teenage girls whenever they get together - and yet both essentially have their boyfriends wrapped around their little finger, and get their way in everything that really matters to them. (Calling the 1950’s stereotype police!)
Even their Japanese speech patterns seem to bear out the gender roles that are being set up here. Blood and Wild, the demons, use very masculine, rough speech, with a lot of contractions and slang and characteristically masculine (not to say rude) particles. While Ishuca and Rapunzel (thankfully) don’t actually use feminine speech patterns, their speech is much more polite, marking them as more feminine than their partners. Rapunzel, markedly the more feminine in appearance, is also more feminine in speech. Ishuca’s speech is casual and friendly (though not nearly as rough as Blood’s), but Rapunzel’s speech ranges from moderately formal when he’s at ease, to excruciatingly stilted when he’s embarrassed or uncomfortable.
Rapunzel’s speech is an important clue to his character, suggesting that he has consciously adopted an artificial role, one which presents a serene and happy face to the world and conceals the speaker’s real thoughts and feelings from everyone, even those closest to him.
Happily ever after?
At first, it appears that Wild and Rapunzel are to play the part of the happy, stable couple who gently (more or less) nurture their their friends’ developing relationship by advice and example. At a time when Blood is still unsure why on earth he would save the life of a human and let him tag along, it is Wild who first challenges him; he asks if Blood loves Ishuca, and when a shocked Blood indignantly denies it, he chides Blood for dragging around a useless human who will only slow him down. But when they shortly afterwards realize that Ishuca has gone off to a dangerous demon-infested cave to try and make himself useful to Blood (unintentionally helped along by Rapunzel), Blood dashes off to save him, and both Blood and Wild realize that he does in fact love Ishuca.
Wild, with his arm about Rapunzel’s shoulders, ruefully watching all of this through a magic mirror: “Idiot, if he liked him that much, why didn’t he just say so in the first place? Now I look like the idiot for giving a lot of unnecessary advice… Maa… if he’s your jewel, then keep him safe.”
However, we soon begin to get hints that the appearance of contented, settled domestic bliss is deceiving. Wild is preoccupied with the idea that a demon and a human can’t be happy together (leading the reader to wonder just what is going on in the relationship of the demon Wild and the human Rapunzel), and he increasingly seems to be trying to break Blood and Ishuca up. He is clearly not telling Rapunzel everything, and we finally learn that he is secretly plotting to turn Ishuca over to the priests, sadly reflecting that it’s for their own good. Meanwhile, Rapunzel too seems to be hiding something; at one point he realizes that Wild is keeping something from him, but thinks “I doubt it’s as big as my own lie.”
Since it takes a long time for the real story behind these unsettling hints to be revealed, the reader is left (at least, I was!) to wonder anxiously if the author really means to suggest that there’s no such thing as a happy ending, even in a story which is so self-consciously modeled along fairy tale lines. (I’m getting to the Rapunzel connection…) It was a lot like hearing that the friends you had thought of as the perfect couple are having problems or breaking up - if *they* can’t make it, then how can there be hope for any of us?
Is it true, as Wild claims, that a demon like Blood and a human like Ishuca can’t be happy together in the long run?
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair
It is in exactly this context that we get the almost two-volume-long backstory (taking up most of vols 8-9), explaining how Wild and Rapunzel got together in the first place. Their story is in fact, as Rapunzel’s name suggests, a variant on the Rapunzel fairy tale.
Once upon a time, a humble farmer’s pregnant wife craved the delicious-looking Rapunzel lettuce she saw growing in the neighboring witch’s garden, and to please her, her husband stole some lettuce for her to eat, not once but twice. The second time, he got caught, and escaped by swearing to give up his child when it was born. When the baby was born, however, the couple tried to go back on the deal, and hid their child from the witch. Eventually the witch came and took the child, which she had named “Rapunzel,” because it was just a replacement for the stolen produce. She locked the child in a high tower, and cast a spell on Rapunzel’s golden braid, so that only she could enter by climbing the girl’s hair. But one day, a prince came…
As it turns out, the people who told the story got it wrong. Rapunzel was not a girl, but a boy, kidnapped at the age of seven; and the witch was a powerful sorcerer, the Bringer of Darkness, the Demon Leader of the East (i.e. Wild). Wild had once been human, but chose to become a demon in order to survive; now he makes his living as a merchant and mercenary, willing to do just about any job if the price is right.
He steals the little boy to teach the parents a lesson, and initially intends to sell him off, since the last thing he needs is a crying brat underfoot. He is bewildered when small Rapunzel embraces him as a savior who rescued him from the demons in the wood, and calls him by the title Sorcerer-sama (“That name is too beautiful for someone like me!”). Like Blood, he decides to keep the human around without really understanding why. He only knows that he doesn’t want Rapunzel to get away from him, so he casts a spell on Rapunzel’s golden hair to lock him in the tower, and Rapunzel grows up regarding Sorcerer-sama as his only family.
As a child and as an adult, Rapunzel is well-mannered, obedient, affectionate, and desperately eager to please. He never questions the routine; Sorcerer-sama goes out in the daytime and “works,” while he stays home, studies, and takes care of the house. He’s perfectly content. Wild hardly understands why he feels an increasing heaviness on his heart; he is a demon, and is sure he has no need for family or conscience - but he is terrified that one day Rapunzel will find out the truth and leave him. He broods and withdraws, and Rapunzel worries and wonders if he’s done something wrong, but doesn’t dare ask. (This is, of course, exactly what they’re both doing back in the present. Someone get these two a marriage counselor.)
When the prince comes, Rapunzel does learn the truth, and is distraught when Wild confirms it, thinking that everything he’s ever known has been a lie. Wild is equally miserable, thinking that everything is over; he shouts at Rapunzel to go with the prince when he returns, and pushes him away. Rapunzel reluctantly leaves with the prince, but comes back when he finally realizes that all of the evidence of Wild’s behavior showed that Sorcerer-sama really loved him. Back at the tower, an utterly despondent Wild contemplates suicide, but he thinks it’s for the best: if Rapunzel had stayed, he would have cast an immortality spell on him to keep him alive, and eventually the magic would have stained him with darkness. He doesn’t want Rapunzel to take the wrong road as he did.
But Rapunzel does come back to him, and the two are reunited - to live happily ever after?
Telling the truth
Back in the present, the crisis comes to a head when Blood discovers Wild’s treachery and challenges him to a duel. Meanwhile, Ishuca (rescued in the nick of time from the priests who were acting on Wild’s information and coming to get him) discovers Rapunzel locked in a room, crying, with a veil over his head. Wild tries to provoke Blood into killing him, but Blood finally can’t do it. Wild is about to commit suicide when Ishuca runs up, dragging Rapunzel, and forces a confrontation between the two.
At last we learn the full story, as both Wild and Rapunzel are forced to confess the secrets they’ve been keeping. At the time when Blood was sealed in the ice sixty years before, long after the prince who tried to take Rapunzel died (he shows up as a ghost to warn them), the priests came for Wild. At that time, Wild locked Rapunzel in the tower to protect him, and willingly submitted to a contract binding him to be a servant of the temple; Rapunzel could only watch in terror. As long as he’s bound by the contract, he’s a prisoner, and he’s been blaming himself for the fact that Rapunzel has become a prisoner along with him. He’s sensed that Rapunzel is unhappy, and concluded that Rapunzel is unhappy being trapped with him; he thinks only his death will free Rapunzel to lead a proper human life, in the light, unstained by darkness. Just as before, he was trying to set Rapunzel free.
But Rapunzel reveals the real reason for his unhappiness: long before Wild ever submitted to the priests’ contract, his golden hair and blue eyes had been stained black by the spell Wild used on him. He knew Wild hated the color black and loved the color of light; he didn’t want Wild to be made unhappy, and even worse, he was afraid that Wild would hate him. So he cast a spell to disguise the change, acting on pure desperation, and has been keeping the secret (and feeling guilty about it) ever since. Recently, the spell had begun to break down, and now it’s failed completely; Rapunzel appears with entirely black hair and eyes.
Having confessed the truth, Rapunzel now reads Wild the (well deserved) riot act. (A) Wild had no business locking him in the tower when the priests came - Rapunzel had a right to face the danger at his side. He doesn’t need to be protected. (B) He’s not a pure white creature; he chose to stay with Wild and to be stained black of his own free will. (C) Why does Wild always have to take the blame for everything on himself? (D) He knows that Wild betrayed Ishuca to the priests, and he doesn’t care - if only Wild had told him the truth, he would have helped him. (E) Everything he’s done is only because he wants to stay with Wild.
Wild is still afraid that he’ll never be able to make Rapunzel happy. When Rapunzel asks sadly if he’s happy, he says of course he is, but Rapunzel… More riot act follows. (A) Of course Rapunzel is happy staying with Wild, he doesn’t want to be anywhere else. (B) Enough with the kidnapping guilt trip already; if they could do it all over again, Rapunzel would still choose to be kidnapped so they could be together. (C) Just to make it 100% clear, since Wild insists on underestimating him, he loves Wild, would do anything to stay with Wild, and doesn’t care if they have to repeat the same stupid cycle a hundred times over - he would still keep coming back to him. (D) And just for the record, he has always thought that Wild’s black hair and eyes were beautiful.
Wild admits that he thinks Rapunzel is beautiful too, and the two are finally reconciled. Wild finally seems to be realizing that there is beauty in the darkness as well as the light, and that there’s nothing wrong with being a demon, or in a demon loving a human.
Rapunzel’s strengths
Although Rapunzel has been depicted throughout as the more feminine and passive partner, contrasted with Wild’s masterful, sardonic persona, Rapunzel emerges in this dialogue as the stronger of the two; Wild is the one who is really crippled by self doubt and self hatred (I’ll deal with Wild in my next essay).
Rapunzel can sometimes be as naïve as Ishuca (case in point: the young Rapunzel didn’t really understand what a goodnight kiss is; he remembers his mother giving him one, and initiates the custom with Wild; for the next ten years, he refers to it as “the spell of happiness” and doesn’t realize until he’s left with the prince that a kiss is a token of love…). In spite of this, he is very clear about his feelings for Wild, and has a lot of confidence in their relationship. Although long fearing that Wild would reject the darkness in him, it never occurs to him to think that Wild might simply *tire* of him, as Wild fears about him. Once relieved of the fear that Wild might reject him, he spells out his feelings loud and clear. Even when Wild physically kicks him out with the prince, he comes right back again, not hesitating to agonize about whether Wild really wants him back. This is a refreshing change from the usual “what if he doesn’t love me?” weepy-uke motif.
Unlike Wild, he doesn’t fear eternity. Wild, in his ruminations, remarks that “This life is nothing but repetition,” and is haunted by the fear that he will continue to repeat past mistakes. Rapunzel’s response to the idea that they are repeating the same cycle over again, by contrast, is essentially ‘Bring it on!’ “If the world keeps repeating forever, I’ll repeat my words, too. I’ll keep calling your name.”
Curiously, the rough-speaking, self-proclaimed demon Wild actually seems to have the more sensitive conscience of the two. Rapunzel has absolutely no compunction about being stained with darkness if it means he can stay with Wild forever. He doesn’t fear or hate darkness, as Wild does; in fact, the first thing he thought as a small child upon seeing Wild was “What a pretty night-person.” He sees beauty in the night, and was drawn to Wild’s dark hair and eyes from the beginning. His only regret about being stained with darkness is that Wild might be hurt or reject him because of it.
Most striking of all, however, is the way Rapunzel rebukes Wild for underestimating him. Wild’s overprotectiveness - his insistence on taking the entire burden of the priests’ contract on himself, his determination to take all the guilt and blame for anything that goes wrong - seems like a mark of love (and it is), but it also denies Rapunzel a measure of respect. Rapunzel is, as he himself points out, more than capable of making decisions for himself and accepting the consequences. “I climbed the tower with my own two feet…I’m the ingrate that threw his parents away… I’m the one who *chose*!”
There is an element of paternalism in Wild’s behavior that Rapunzel identifies and challenges. Since Rapunzel had earlier been cast in a traditionally feminine, passive role, this reversal makes a kind of feminist statement. Rapunzel (at long last) insists on being treated as a partner, not a child. This is reiterated in a sweet followup scene; as Wild and Rapunzel are sitting over breakfast (Wild happily braiding Rapunzel’s jet-black hair), Rapunzel tells Wild that in future he wants Wild to share any troubles he has on his mind instead of stewing over them alone: “Whatever goes on in your head, please tell me about it… because I’m greedy, you see.”
The only objection that might be raised is that Rapunzel’s transformation seems too abrupt, but in fact, there are hints throughout that he always possessed an exceptionally strong will; up until now, he had simply been driven by his need for approval to hide or subordinate it.
As a small child, when Wild first brings him back to the tower, Rapunzel throws himself between Wild and the door; Wild thinks he’s trying to escape, but he’s actually trying to protect Wild from the demons Wild just told him are lurking in the stairwell. At the age of seven, he demands cookbooks (which Wild indulgently gives him, never imagining he’ll be able to read them), stays up all night reading them, and teaches himself to cook so that he can prepare meals while Wild is out “working.” As an adult, charging back to Wild’s tower, he confronts the demons in the stairwell - who he knows have been trained to kill anyone who approaches - and discovers entirely by accident that his own name was the password to unlock the door. When his hair is stained black, he uses sheer force of will to work the spell to conceal it, although both Blood and Wild say that that ought to be impossible for a human without special powers. Rapunzel has no shortage of will, but he’s much more likely to display it when there’s no one around to see. In the confrontation with Wild, he finally finds the courage to express the thoughts he’s had all along.
Rapunzel’s weaknesses
Rapunzel’s most obvious weakness is his fear of upsetting or disappointing those he wants to please, most importantly Wild. Following book 11, he clearly gains greater confidence and is more ready to say what he feels and wants, but he remains very deferential to others. However, he has a few less obvious weaknesses that are only hinted at.
Rapunzel comes across as a fundamentally kind, gentle, loving person, but in his single-minded devotion to Wild, a different side of him occasionally emerges. As noted above, he does not suffer from an over-sensitive conscience. Whatever he thinks needs to be done to protect those he loves, he does, without compunction or regret. Those outside the charmed circle of the nest he so fiercely defends are basically irrelevant, and possibly even expendable.
In the flashback, the prince takes Rapunzel to his original parents, assuming he’ll want to be reunited with them, but after one look (from a distance), Rapunzel abandons them without a second thought and goes running back to Wild. The parents seem like decent people, if sadly lacking in spine; they’re undoubtedly still mourning their lost child, and now have a little daughter, a sister Rapunzel never knew. For Rapunzel, it’s as if his original family simply doesn’t exist. He bears them no ill will, but Wild is the only person whose welfare he cares about.
When his hair is stained black, his first thought is “Wild will suffer… unless I lie.” And lie he does, without even considering any alternative. There is an interesting gray area in Rapunzel’s ethical system here. He says that his main motive was to protect Wild from knowledge that would hurt him, and in his mind it probably was, but it’s clear that an equally strong motive is to protect himself from the fear of rejection. That willingness to deceive his partner to avoid dealing with a potentially painful issue was a contributing cause to years of unhappiness for Wild and Rapunzel; we can only hope that it’s a mistake he won’t repeat.
Perhaps most startling is his blunt confession that if Wild had asked him, he would have willingly collaborated in handing over Ishuca to the priests. He apologizes to Blood and Ishuca, not because of what Wild did, but precisely because he’s not sorry. Wild was only trying to protect him, so he’ll take any blame; as far as he’s concerned, anything Wild does is all right. This lack of any moral compass separate from his devotion to Wild is a bit alarming; one wonders how far Rapunzel would actually go if Wild asked him. However, fortunately, for all his posturing, Wild is really a rather soft-hearted demon and doesn’t like to hurt people (as long as they are no threat to his Rapunzel), so this weakness seems likely to remain a potential rather than actual crack in Rapunzel’s kind, gentle persona.
“Is this life just repetition after all?”
In Koori, characters can be as complex as any real human being, and like real people they are capable of change. Although Rapunzel and Wild appear less often following the end of the Koumori no Asa arc (though remaining in the story to the end), there are hints that Rapunzel has genuinely been transformed by the confrontation in book 11, and emerges as a stronger, more confident character.
Even Rapunzel’s sexuality seems to change (though it must be said that Koori, to both the joy and chagrin of its fans, is decidedly not about sex). The nature of the relationship between Wild and Rapunzel is a long-standing item of friendly debate among fans. Blood and Ishuca regularly give each looks that could melt the paper they’re printed on (in spite of the fact that Ishuca apparently hasn’t got a clue what sex is). But of Wild and Rapunzel, one fan remarked that “the thought of those two getting it on is about the closest Koori comes to squicking me.” Another commented “The problem is, I can’t imagine Rapunzel having sex, and I can’t imagine Wild NOT having sex, so there you are.”
Golden-haired Rapunzel is certainly asexual to the point that some can only imagine them spending the night “playing parcheesi together” (another fan quote), but Black Rapunzel is another matter. At one point in the later books, Rapunzel assumes the disguise of a prostitute as an aid to the plot, and seems to be thoroughly enjoying the role (Wild is quite fascinated). At another point, he and Wild engage Ishuca in a long, mock-serious debate about how they can best transfer the Ishuca’s healing power from one person to another (without giving away too much, Ishuca has special healing powers, which, as it turns out, are best transmitted by kissing…). As Ishuca goes away happily oblivious and Blood goes away fuming, Rapunzel privately thinks “That was fun.” This Rapunzel has a streak of mischief, even flirtatiousness, which would have been unimaginable in the old Rapunzel.
At other times, Rapunzel seems as cheerfully oblivious as ever. In one too-brief scene, Rapunzel and Wild return to take temporary shelter in the tower where they had lived long before, and Wild apologizes for bringing Rapunzel to a small, cramped place again (shades of his old guilt complex). “I like small places,” says Rapunzel serenely. “It means I’m closer to you.” He then wanders off, already distracted by household tasks, as Wild more or less dissolves into a puddle of sentimental goo. Perhaps people really don’t change that much.
In the end, though, one of my very favorite scenes between the two occurs toward the end of the book, as all the characters are settling back into everyday life after some rather apocalyptic adventures. Rapunzel sits contentedly by an open window of the old tower in wintertime, gzing out at the snow-covered landscape, and Wild comes up with a wrap and scolds him for sitting where he might catch cold. Rapunzel gives Wild an odd look - quizzical, wistful, tender - and then smiles and says, “Feels like old times, doesn’t it, Sorcerer-sama?" Wild laughs and says “Ouch!” In that one small, affectionate exchange, the author suggests that Rapunzel has finally learned how to let Wild know when it’s time to back off… and Wild is learning to listen.
Perhaps, after all, characters - and relationships - can change.
Links
As noted above, the series has still not been fully translated (I started learning Japanese a year ago for that very reason). But it is accessible through detailed summaries and through scanlations of some parts.
My own web site was created mostly to bring together links to all of the current resources for Koori into one place, so I'll be lazy and just link to it here:
http://home.comcast.net/~stanaquil/rapunzel/
I don't mean to pimp my own site -- apart from a (fairly lame) draft translation of volume 11, there's not much there apart from links to the wonderful resources created by other fans!