#userkikyov

[murderthehypotenuse]

there is a lot of naraku in your blog, and I LOVE IT!!!

Thank you! He’s just, ugh, so great. I’m rewatching Inuyasha right now and Kikyou has always been my fave but now I’m not sure. 

And now for my lengthy fan history no one asked for:

It’s funny, when I first started watching Inuyasha, I HATED Naraku and thought he was ~so lame~ (I was 12, so I can’t be blamed for being so, so wrong) (I was basically just there for InuKik…and Kikyou in general…that last part is still true, I’m always there for Kikyou, not so much InuKik anymore, girl can do better than all of the crusty demons pining for her, idec that she’s clay, she can STILL do so much better). 

Rewatching as an adult, there was definitely this realization of “wait, how could I have been so wrong?“ He’s the perfect villain. Cunning, ruthless, always one step ahead, and he has that fatal flaw that gives a glimpse into how he got to be the way he is, and offers a path to connect in the most chilling way (because I think the optimal villain provides a somewhat contradictory mix–they’re monstrous and despicable in their actions, preferably unapologetically so, but there’s just enough humanity left that you can see yourself in them, in a “there I go but for the grace of god” sort of way, you catch a reflection of what could have been). Not to mention, there’s something very powerful, almost elemental about villains who can boast “everything, everything that lead to this story arising is because of me. My actions started this endless chain of misery.”And his fatal flaw is love! But it’s such a painful, horrific love. Love does not save him. Fuck, don’t get me started on NarKik…that lopsided, limping, one-sided ship is executed perfectly (I prefer manga canon overall, but if someone can just manga-fy the anime’s execution of the Musou arc, I could die happy). Villains in love with hero(ines) is one of those tropes that is, invariably, either amazing, or awful. It’s such a cliche because usually it’s done so one-dimensionally. There’s no complexity, no push and pull, no tension, no surprises. But with NarKik, they’re both such complicated characters that it doesn’t run like your typical villain-pursues-heroine script. And the power dynamic is pretty balanced throughout! It shifts back and forth, and they’re both playing cat and mouse games with each other, where each is, at times, the cat, and the mouse. Who the real “loser” is in this game gets super fucking muddy, too, and I’d argue even within the context of their own dynamic, disregarding every other character, Kikyou won in the end. Even though she died first! That is the low-key genius of Takahashi’s storytelling that creeps up on you.

Also, I’m always LOLing when the heroes get all mad that Naraku doesn’t get his hands dirty. Like, if I was a super evil villain and could just puppet master the fuck outta everyone, and instead of fighting me, where the emotional stakes are uncomplicated, I instead turn them against the people/things they love, because I’m that goddamn smart, why wouldn’t I? I feel like Naraku’s just constantly looking at the audience like he’s in The Office and asking, “Are you not entertained?”

I’m at the Band of Seven part of the series right now and I’m just twiddling my thumbs waiting for my one and only villain fave to return. Sigh.