#holy crap if i start talking about the layton and katrielle reunion

[probablygayattorneys]

Now that I've finished Kat's anime, I want to highlight these two specific moments from the final episode.

These are two beliefs that I hold very strongly, and I rarely see them expressed well, so I want to talk about them for a second.

The first one, being the idea that we do not stand where we are on our own. This is something that I think about a lot because of my sexual orientation and gender identity. There's certainly still a long way that we have to go, but I was able to come out at 16 because of the progress that was made by those who came before me. It is only because of those who were brave enough to stand up when it wasn't safe that there's a world where it's (more) safe. I live in a country where I can marry whoever I want and was enabled to ask for my pronouns on my nametag at work because of the bravery of those who came before. Of course, things aren't perfect. There is still so much to do. But that's for me to do. I owe it to the memories of those who came before me and to the dreams of those who will come after to continue the fight. The anime ended up being a beautiful example of that, and of the idea that we have to, one day, pass things onto the next generation.

Which brings me to my second thing. "The power of friendship" is, admittedly, a bit trite. This is ultimately a kid's show. But it would have been so easy for them to paint it as a mystery that Professor Layton was able to solve all on his own, that he didn't need anyone, because he's so smart. (You see that a lot in adaptions of Sherlock Holmes, but that's a rant for another time.) But they didn't. This puzzle, like most of them, were solved by working together. I made a post when I completed all of the puzzles in Kat's game that was kind of about this, but there's a quote from Newsies that I love that applies here: being boss doesn't mean you have all the answers, just the brains to recognize the right one when you hear it. It's not about being the smartest person in the room, it's about teamwork and delegating and everyone working together. I know I've posted multiple times before about how most episodes of the anime simply come down to love, and I stand by it. No man is an island, after all, and when we care about each other and the bonds that we form together, we succeed together. While maybe a little cliché, I found the anime to be a touching meditation on that.