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What is Wrong With Kuon Based Off 17 Episodes and My Delusions : A Brief Essay

I started writing this as a joke and it got out of hand, so if the tone of the first half is kind of weird that's why. Anyways, here's my unfiltered unedited rant.

First thing that one needs to establish is the difference between Hisamitsu and Kuon; usually ‘Hisamitsu is dead’ could be understood as a metaphor instead of being taken literally. However, in Gozyuger, someone being ‘dead’ is a very important thing and also has the vital importance to Tegajune and her experiments, so in my opinion it is a comment that should not be ignored. We have established in the show so far that one, Hisamitsu is the one that entered the No. 1 World with Hoeru; Two, Hoeru is very much similar to Hisamitsu; And three, Hisamitsu is dead, and Kuon likes it to stay that way. 

To understand the importance of the comment, perhaps we can start with the name. ‘Tono Hisamitsu’ means ‘Far Field Lasting Light’. Kuon is a play on that name, and while written in Katakana, in the context of the Kanji it represents it means ‘Far Lasting’’. There’s a distinct sense of Hisamitsu being contorted and abandoning the ‘light’, which is quite fitting. However, despite the insistence that Hisamitsu is dead, Kuon still seems to be obsessive over Hisamistu’s brother, and he still addresses Hisamitsu as himself, despite saying that everything about Hisamitsu irritates him. There’s several possibilities about why he made this name change. Popular theories includes that he’s an AI like the rest of the Bridans(So his name and feelings are distorted because an AI cannot understand Hisamitsu’s complicated emotions), that he is ‘half dead’(like the experiments the queen is conducting), and also just his experience in the No One World screwed him up enough to make him feel disgust or anger over the type of person Hisamitsu was(very likely!).

Hisamitsu has not been shown a lot on screen, but we know that he was vastly different from Kuon. Coming from Kuon’s mouth about how Hoeru reminds him of Hisamitsu, it seems that Hisamitsu was genuinely a very kind-hearted person, much unlike Kuon. Hoeru stated that Hisamitsu would never berate him like Kuon had done, and grabbed Hoeru’s shoulder and shielded him when they were running from No Ones. Even just the fact that Hisamistu cared enough about Hoeru to be playing with him in the forest despite an 8 years age gap speaks a lot to how tight the brothers’ were. We know even though Hoeru’s kind of naive in some situations, he’s a good judge of character. Despite being affected by Kuon’s words in ep8, he didn’t join him in ep9, as he realised that Kuon is no longer the caring Hisamitsu. I think it’s also interesting that Hoeru thought Hisamitsu was dead because of something he had done. I feel like that incident, whatever it is, is probably the most deciding factor for Kuon’s obsession with Hoeru. 

There’s something fundamentally different about Kuon and Hisamitsu that the No One World distorted in a way it had not done to Hoeru. Personally, I think it might be that despite his speech in ep8 about no need for a dream, he clearly still wants something. From his obsession over Hoeru to whatever he’s plotting with saving Hoeru’s ring, he is perhaps the single character in the show who has shown the most ‘want’, just that the audience isn’t sure of what he wants. By contrast, Hoeru is someone who is truly dreamless. He survives and maybe experiences what he had lost in his childhood, but there’s nothing pushing him to truly live and ‘want’ like the others. So he survived the No One world with his sanity intact. On the other hand, Hisamitsu could not truly abandon his wish for whatever reason, so the No One World changed him. 

I also say that he clearly has a wish because of one of the most informationally dense lines from ep9 - “You will not escape this fight, Hoeru. I(ore) will destroy you, and then you will destroy me(boku)” (俺がお前を壊してやる！そしてお前が僕を壊す....) It is basically a confirmation that Kuon does ‘want’ something, even if that something seems to be mutual destruction of some sorts. But is it really mutual destruction? Despite the weight that line holds, the most interesting part is also the one most easily lost in translation. Kuon swapped his pronoun in this sentence, from ore to boku. Japanese pronouns are something that is quite complicated to get into, and a person often uses different pronouns in different situations. But stripping it of the social complexities, basically boku is something that is considered to be quite youthful and soft, while ore is the most most often used by adults and teens around friends and families. While it could be an adrenalin thing(and Kuon is said to lose control when he does get high on adrenaline), it should be noted that his emotions got more intense towards the end of the sentence, where he reverts to boku, even going so far as laughing maniacally. I feel like the line is written purposefully enough to be considered a plot hint. It should be noted that Kuon usually uses ‘boku’, and only ‘ore’ in some situations. 

Now we need to go back to Hisamitsu again. I feel like the key to this sentence is ‘what pronoun Hisamitsu uses’, and figure out what each pronoun represents in Kuon’s psyche. I could not track all the situations where he used ‘ore’, so I might have missed some that overturned my hypothesis completely. When it comes to the brothers’ line ‘You are my prey’, Hoeru uses ‘ore’ and Kuon uses ‘boku’, with one exception - when Hoeru was checking Kuon’s identity in ep8. Kuon, stating their childhood catchphrase, used ‘ore’. As the context clue implies that this line was actually Hisamitsu’s invention, it seems more likely than not that ‘ore’ is actually what Hisamitsu had used around Hoeru instead of ‘boku’, as Kuon now does. His other case of ‘ore’ that I can be sure of is ‘You have never beaten me in anything, Hoeru’, which seems to support that ‘ore’ is used when referring to his time as Hisamitsu. However, that assumption does make everything much more complicated. Why would Hisamitsu want to destroy Hoeru? Why would Kuon want Hoeru to destroy him? To be fully honest I do not have a good answer or even a guess to this question, and all I can offer on this topic is a surface level analysis of what he had said. It has been noted in an interview it was stated Kuon, and perhaps Hisamitsu, is someone who holds hatred for a lot of things, despite the appearance of love. So it is perfectly possible that Hisamitsu could have disliked Hoeru in his heart, but just never showed it. The truth of the pronoun switch could just be Hisamitsu/Kuon’s struggle between hate and love. His devotion to what seems to be numerous murder attempts against Hoeru and the strange action of protecting his ring Tegasword could serve as evidence to this theory. 

Speaking of love. In my opinion, the defining trait of Kuon’s character is the complete imbalance of love and control. I think it’s interesting how he is written as an extremely abusive, manipulative, and almost comically evil egomaniac, so much so that even his fellow generals call him out on multiple occasions, but his love for Hoeru feels just as real as his insanity. I think there’s no doubt that Kuon loves Hoeru, the true question here is how much of that is out of the wish for control. One of the most creepy things about Kuon is his seeming inability to realise that Hoeru is his own person. To some extent, he idolises Hoeru. “An angel that descended from heaven, my hope, my love, my doll’, is, in every way, an extremely strange comment to make about a grown 20 years old man. I think Kuon holds a view of Hoeru so detached from reality that he cannot see that his brother had grown up and into his own person. He sees Hoeru only as his baby brother that he had lost once. He sees young Hoeru, and even Hisamitsu, but he cannot see the current Hoeru in front of him. Because it doesn’t fit into his idea of Hoeru, so it is not real. Love, to Kuon, is control, and control is love. He loves Hoeru, and he wants to control every aspect of Hoeru, so that Hoeru is still the idol that he loves. Hoeru cannot have bad friends, so I will kill them to make sure he is not influenced by the wrong people. Hoeru should listen to me, because I know what’s best for him. 

I think ‘Let’s get married, Hoeru’ is a very intentionally written and good line because of this fact. It’s established in behind the scenes that this was a sentence said by Kuon when he was letting the rush of battle get to him, and something that Hoeru couldn’t hear. It isn’t a declaration of love said to anyone- but a deeply ingrained want for control mistaken as love. Tegajune and Kuon reflect each other in this battle. They both mistake control as love. There's a very distinct lack of love in the ‘wedding’ between Tegasword and Tegajune. Tegajune wants to marry Tegasword for her wish to remake the world, not because she truly loves him, and she mistakes that want for control as love. And while I believe that Kuon does love Hoeru to some extent, I feel that what this line truly wants to convey is the very opposite of what is said - that Kuon doesn’t understand what love is. It’s a twisted imitation of love. A wedding proposal should be romantic and loving - but the portrayal of that line is the exact opposite. His proposal was crazed, one-sided, and hurting Hoeru. Whether out of insanity or just a fundamentally twisted view on the world, to Kuon, love = control. I think in some ways, this is much more frightening than if Kuon just hates Hoeru or wants to hurt him, because he can’t even recognise that what he is doing is the worst for Hoeru.

I think that whatever is wrong with Kuon - it truly depends on what happened on ‘that day’ his promise to the Queen. There’s three clues as to what happened. One, the wound on his back. It clearly has something to do with Hoeru, as we were shown him taking off his shirt to check the state of that would while talking about Hoeru. It should be noted that this scar is clearly not from Hoeru’s attack, as he only landed once when there’s a x shaped cut, his clothing is not ripped, and that the scar is still growing and reaches the top of his shoulder by the end of the shot. There’s something corrupting him and actively causing him pain, and I theorise that this wound is in some ways, what caused the brothers to separate. Two, whatever happened on that day, the Queen saved him and gave him power, and in exchange he promised his life to the Queen. Which makes his comment about destroying each other even more confusing because that means he can’t let his life be taken by Hoeru out of his own will, which means that the ‘destroying’ probably means something other than killing, but that’s a mystery for another day. Three, Garyudo is something different from Gozyugers. He can use the Queen’s power to transform, but he is not Tegajune’s pilot in the way the Gozyugers are. Garyudo’s full title is Ring Hunter Garyudo - meaning that this is a form designed specifically to hunt rings instead of being Tegajune’s chosen one. In some sense he’s more like the universe warriors. The prerequisite for the wedding is all the rings and the Tegajune’s destined pilot - the best No One. Despite doing his job and defeating Tegasword, Kuon is not the pilot Tegajune is looking for. Which is curious because DarkWolfDecalibur50 is made for him and that Tegajune has a form called Bride Blade… But they could just not show her form in the show I guess. It’s an interesting dynamic, as Hoeru’s Tgeasword’s special little guy even out of the Gozyugers, but Kuon can’t even pilot Tgeajune… However, I feel like Tegajune does care about Kuon somewhat, saying that she knew he’d ask to be her pilot, and then even allowing him, despite knowing it could screw up the ceremony. Perhaps she also sees him as one of her children, despite being born human?

There’s also a few details that I wonder about, but couldn’t fit anywhere, so I will just throw them all into this paragraph. Having strangle coloured hair/eye colour is a clear indication that one is not human(see:The Bridans and Rikuo’s grey eye case). Kuon isn’t as extreme as his fellow generals, but there’s a clear streak of white in his hair. Maybe hinting at him being AI generated in some ways like the others? His eye also glows yellow when transforming while Gozyugers’ eyes stay the same but it’s probably a stylistic choice of some sort. The scar eroding his eye and showing up on Garyudo is creepy though. Likely also a stylistic choice but the implication that Garyudo is also a biological henshin inside the armour… 

Anyways, this rant of an essay is almost over. I am not quite sure what the takeaway is, but I have been having a lot of thoughts about this guy, and want to get it all out. I typed almost all of this in one sitting, so once again, while I tried to keep some notes, take everything I said with a grain of salt. Feel free to correct me on anything I got wrong and give your own opinion. I am very curious where Akiko is taking him. She is one of my favourite writers so I am quite intrigued. The Decade Novel she wrote was far from flawless, but still absolutely one of my favourite toku media. Thank you for reading, it was quite fun writing this.

[hiyokosha]

quaso

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Sachika doodle on aggie

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_____.

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^_^

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dynamics im excited to see more of

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Good choice on the casting directors part for the secondary this season. this boy is great at looking bewildered. gobsmacked, flabbergasted even

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Guys my friend found Hanto's phone case.

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I wonder what their interaction is going to be like… Rivals or family (I hope it’s the latter)

Also I think the main trio should all wear a bunch of ridiculous costumes this time Toei do you see my vision.

[hiyokosha]

Knowing tokusatsu and especially Komura’s love to name puns/lore (LuPat), and also Sachiko’s comment in episode 2, I decided to do some research and write the possible etymology to the main trio’s name.

Shouma’s fake(?) name, 井上 生真 (Inoue Shouma)

井上(Inoue) has the same pronunciation as above/on stomach 胃( I ) の (no)上 (ue) so it’s probably just a pun on that.

生 - It means to live, and also means raw. Maybe it represents how the Granutes need to eat the processed dark snack to feel happiness, while Shouma feels it himself just by eating regular snacks?

真 - It means the truth. So Shouma’s name basically means the truth of living. Would this show be about the joy of living? 

辛木田 絆斗 (Karakida Hanto)

辛 - It’s the character for ‘spicy’. It could also be representative of his passion and drive. At the same time, it also means pain, bitterness, and suffering, which is ironic since he’s the white chocolate rider, but also makes sense considering his past and the 18 years he spent looking for his mother’s killer/abductor. His ring also says ‘The Truth is Bitter’, so they are probably using both meaning here. 

木 - Maybe a reference to how cacao grows on trees

田 - I think this might be a reference to the shape of chocolate bars, but also it means a field so it makes sense with the tree.

絆 - It has the meaning of to shackle, but it probably means ‘bonds between people’ in this context. A major point of his character is probably going to be about the bonds he forms, and how he stops isolating himself and find more to life than getting revenge. 

斗 - It means a ladle but also it’s just a common character to add onto names.

甘根 幸果 (Amane Sachika)

甘 - It means sweet and pleasant, reflecting her character and the candy house aesthetic of Hapipare. 

根 - It means the root of a plant. 

幸 - As she said in the show, it means happiness. The kanji actually means a bit more than that, since it also means ‘good fortune’. Her wish is to bringing other happiness. I think this is interesting since her name basically means ‘sweet root, happy fruit’. She’s the root that can bring other people happiness. 

果 - The character for fruit, which connects to her family name, but also the Japanese for snack is お菓子, and 菓 is an alternative spelling of 果. So it also goes back into the snack theme of the show. 

Somethings I have noticed:

Hanto and Sachika’s names follows the same format of family name being flavour+plant, and given name being probably their character arc. Hanto’s name can mean ‘a field of spicy trees’, and Sachika’s means ‘sweet root’. Since Sachika’s given name is about her wish, Hanto’s name will probably also be about his character. Or they might be the two things that Shouma gains in the human world. By having Hanto and Sachika, he would have bonds and happiness. 

The character of 辛(bitterness) and 幸(happiness) is only one stroke a part. It will be cute if it’s Sachika and Shouma that gives him that one extra stroke and make him truly happy. 

[hiyokosha]

Imagine spending eighteen years wondering why your mother got eaten/abducted in front of you by a monster, with only a drawing you made at the time as reference, and turns out it's because she loved you and it made her happy, therefore she was the perfect ingredient for said monsters' evil snack production

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HELLOOOOOOO EVERYONEEEEEEE EE

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Somebody said Narukami Yu = なるかみ YOU (You who became God) and my brain exploded.

This is on top of all the 鳴る神 (The god who chased Izanagi out of Yomi) meaning too, Atlus was cooking with this.

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Ohhhmygod oh my god oh my god