Now THAT is how you do *that*...
It was the most shocking anime plot twist I've seen in more than a decade, and for a time I wondered if the hand of Joss Whedon was at work.
Two weeks ago, GeGeGe no Kitaro - a children's show - killed off its most popular character, out of nowhere and at the hands of another popular character. Let's see if I can give you a summary without running on too long. Neko-musume (the name literally means "cat-daughter") is a yokai, a Japanese fairy-like creature who looks like a stylish teenage girl most of the time but turns into more of a feral cat-like creature in order to fight (or when she smells fish). She is the best friend of Inuyama Mana, a middle school girl who serves as the audience's link into the world of the yokai. As the episode two weeks ago unfolds, the Big Bad tricks Neko-musume into attacking Mana's mother, just as Mana walks in to find her mother lying on the floor bleeding out. Mana reacts the way you might expect - only the Big Bad has been using her as a receptacle for negative spiritual power over the course of the story arc, and in Mana's panic and fear, all that negative spiritual power suddenly goes KABOOM, right at Neko-musume.
I kid you not, there are "live reaction" videos on YouTube, with grown men reacting hysterically to this turn of events. Neko-musume is more popular than the title character, Kitaro. In Japan, she's one of the most popular characters among all the currently-broadcasting anime shows. Rest assured that my reaction wasn't that bad, but I was stunned. The last time I could think of an anime series pulling something that audacious was more than a decade ago - and that was a children's show too, proving the Madeleine L'Engle maxim that if a story is too hard for grownups, you write it for children.
I couldn't possibly imagine the Kitaro creative team allowing Neko-musume's death to be permanent. It's a children's show full of magic. Characters get killed off and brought back on a regular basis. Besides, I couldn't see the creative team being that stupid - killing off not just one golden goose, but two, since Mana could never remain a part of the cast with that kind of blood on her hands. I told that to myself, and I told it to people freaking out on the various boards I frequent. Except...
...except I knew it wasn't necessarily true. I'd been down this road before.
I suddenly found myself flashing back to 2002, and all those weeks we Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans spent trying to reassure each other that Tara wouldn't stay dead, that surely Joss Whedon would bring her back, because she was too important and her relationship with Willow was too important for them to trash it. You might remember how that worked out.
Last week's episode came and went, with no return of Neko-musume. That didn't surprise me, because there were bigger things going on that had to be dealt with. But this week was the end of the story arc, and the original planned ending of the series, before it was picked up recently for Year 2. This week's episode was crunch time. Now or never. Do or... well, or stay dead. I was still pretty confident... but not completely. I had more than a little anxiety as showtime approached.
Fortunately, Joss Whedon has not crossed the Pacific and started working in Japan.
Note that Neko-musume is not back to her old self. She has to grow up all over again, which I'm sure will create a number of interesting story opportunities. I actually predicted that outcome about a week and a half ago, remembering that Japan is a Shinto/Buddhist culture, with a belief in reincarnation. Go me.
Folks, this is how this kind of storyline is done. Neko-musume's death wasn't some ham-fisted random thing, the way Tara's was. Yes, it appeared to come out of nowhere, but if you look back, you can see the path leading to it, hidden in plain sight. Neko-musume's death mattered. It actually drove the plot, instead of just being an excuse to trigger something Joss could have done any other way. Mana facing her guilt and grief actually helped her defeat the Big Bad. It didn't make her collapse into a heap of despair, needing to be rescued, the way Willow did. And the storyline accomplished all that without killing the golden geese. It's good business, as well as good storytelling.
As a writer, every show I watch can tell me something - what to do, and what not to do. (It makes me someone you might not want to watch a movie or TV show with, but that's another story...) I may be working on biographies now, but I haven't left fiction behind. And when I do get back to it, I'll have some new lessons learned to add to my own toolbox.
Two weeks ago, GeGeGe no Kitaro - a children's show - killed off its most popular character, out of nowhere and at the hands of another popular character. Let's see if I can give you a summary without running on too long. Neko-musume (the name literally means "cat-daughter") is a yokai, a Japanese fairy-like creature who looks like a stylish teenage girl most of the time but turns into more of a feral cat-like creature in order to fight (or when she smells fish). She is the best friend of Inuyama Mana, a middle school girl who serves as the audience's link into the world of the yokai. As the episode two weeks ago unfolds, the Big Bad tricks Neko-musume into attacking Mana's mother, just as Mana walks in to find her mother lying on the floor bleeding out. Mana reacts the way you might expect - only the Big Bad has been using her as a receptacle for negative spiritual power over the course of the story arc, and in Mana's panic and fear, all that negative spiritual power suddenly goes KABOOM, right at Neko-musume.
I kid you not, there are "live reaction" videos on YouTube, with grown men reacting hysterically to this turn of events. Neko-musume is more popular than the title character, Kitaro. In Japan, she's one of the most popular characters among all the currently-broadcasting anime shows. Rest assured that my reaction wasn't that bad, but I was stunned. The last time I could think of an anime series pulling something that audacious was more than a decade ago - and that was a children's show too, proving the Madeleine L'Engle maxim that if a story is too hard for grownups, you write it for children.
I couldn't possibly imagine the Kitaro creative team allowing Neko-musume's death to be permanent. It's a children's show full of magic. Characters get killed off and brought back on a regular basis. Besides, I couldn't see the creative team being that stupid - killing off not just one golden goose, but two, since Mana could never remain a part of the cast with that kind of blood on her hands. I told that to myself, and I told it to people freaking out on the various boards I frequent. Except...
...except I knew it wasn't necessarily true. I'd been down this road before.
I suddenly found myself flashing back to 2002, and all those weeks we Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans spent trying to reassure each other that Tara wouldn't stay dead, that surely Joss Whedon would bring her back, because she was too important and her relationship with Willow was too important for them to trash it. You might remember how that worked out.
Last week's episode came and went, with no return of Neko-musume. That didn't surprise me, because there were bigger things going on that had to be dealt with. But this week was the end of the story arc, and the original planned ending of the series, before it was picked up recently for Year 2. This week's episode was crunch time. Now or never. Do or... well, or stay dead. I was still pretty confident... but not completely. I had more than a little anxiety as showtime approached.
Fortunately, Joss Whedon has not crossed the Pacific and started working in Japan.
Note that Neko-musume is not back to her old self. She has to grow up all over again, which I'm sure will create a number of interesting story opportunities. I actually predicted that outcome about a week and a half ago, remembering that Japan is a Shinto/Buddhist culture, with a belief in reincarnation. Go me.
Folks, this is how this kind of storyline is done. Neko-musume's death wasn't some ham-fisted random thing, the way Tara's was. Yes, it appeared to come out of nowhere, but if you look back, you can see the path leading to it, hidden in plain sight. Neko-musume's death mattered. It actually drove the plot, instead of just being an excuse to trigger something Joss could have done any other way. Mana facing her guilt and grief actually helped her defeat the Big Bad. It didn't make her collapse into a heap of despair, needing to be rescued, the way Willow did. And the storyline accomplished all that without killing the golden geese. It's good business, as well as good storytelling.
As a writer, every show I watch can tell me something - what to do, and what not to do. (It makes me someone you might not want to watch a movie or TV show with, but that's another story...) I may be working on biographies now, but I haven't left fiction behind. And when I do get back to it, I'll have some new lessons learned to add to my own toolbox.
Comments