gorgeousshutin wrote:

But supposing Akio really is that childlike in mind, then couldn't it be argued that Akio is a victim of (repeated) sexual advantage-taking from both Kanae and Mrs. Ohtori?  These women both do blatantly coerce him for sex while putting themselves in a position of power over him (Kanae stressing her family spending huge sums on him, while her mom flat out states that he's nothing without the Ohtori Clan) . . .

You could certainly argue that if you take the Akio as a child approach to things.

Truly, the degree to which I took it in my last post was kind of a thought experiment. I don't actually think Akio is mentally a child. Psychologically? Yes, but, that's considering I also think a significant number of adults I meet day to day are similarly arrested in this way. Akio is a child in the sense that he still has a completely egocentric view of the world, and though experience and intuition have taught him how to read people, he's incapable of truly assuming another point of view. Again, plenty of completely functional adults day to day are the same way. I think that's one of the fascinating things about this character--that a lot of the characteristics that put in such stark relief are so unsettling are things that are fairly common personality traits and behavioral patterns in adults everywhere. His mentality and his approach to life? Nothing special. It's not the product of centuries (other things are), it's not a demigod's unique outlook on the universe. Akio is a child that never grew up in the same sense of many adults who, in their adulthood, haven't gained a scrap of real maturity, but live and die in the same way the rest of the populace does.

What Utena does is not, to my mind, something everyone has to do to get to adulthood. She grows up. And she's one of a smaller number of people who break this shell. The story doesn't say that each of us has to overcome this awesome hurdle to advance to where we can drive, have sex, and acquire power. It says that you have to overcome that hurdle to grow up. And that growing up is its own reward. Utena is the alternative to the easier option, and both exist in fully functioning adults. It's really a question of how cynical you are which of them represents a larger portion of the population at large, but both are there, plentiful, and not always obvious on first glance.

That's what I mean when I say Akio's a child. I'm certainly not suggesting that if you dumped him in the middle of New York City he would fall apart because he doesn't know how to survive among adults. If anything, he'd be just as effective if not more so in the real world, because there's no shortage of people who are attracted to such large personalities even when they can't deliver. (Or maybe he can ride on the front of a taxi?)

There's plenty about Akio that's unique to his rather odd circumstances. The whole demigod thing and master of his own little universe thing does skew stuff a bit, but I think at the end of the day, Akio's an exaggerated example of a very real personality type. He's selfish, completely absorbed in what he wants, and thinks the world should make way for him. The thing is, like in real life, that often works out for him, because he has the skill to force his will on others. The power he has to force that will is unique, but so are his expectations.

Ash, these days I think you're less alone than you realize. Akio doesn't lack for detractors. Although I'm not sure how many supporters he has, because Tumblr sure the hell exploded out of nowhere today.

Also god dammit Saionji and Wakaba probably the only time in my life I've ever shipped anything, but they belong together.

I like the Peter Pan thing.

I was rereading Peter and Wendy last spring and he's so dangerous. He kills any Lost Boy that gets too old or, more importantly, too mature to toe the line. When Tink dies, he forgets about her completely, because well, she's not there any more. And he's so locked into the whole Indians fight Lost Boys fight Pirates fight Indians dynamic that when the Lost Boys join the Indian tribe in that Never Land (it is Peter's, it's his special island and everyone has one if they know how to get to it - Wendy's has no people on it, just wolves and her alone and comfortable),some of the Indians have to be persuaded to be the new Lost Boys just so the fighting can continue.

Then again you could take a radically different turn and de-personalize Akio completely. (If anyone has it coming he does). In a sense he is a symbol for The World As It Is. The World As It Is is an awful place for anyone who is idealistic or innocent or weak or naive but is not free from its own delusions and follies.