Laptop and creepy Hakkai

[louiselux]

Bumholes! The precious new laptop needs mending already. Nothing ever works, as M tells me, solemnly. A person is coming to take it away it on Wednesday and they have a 5-10 day turnaround. That means I won't have it for displaying my lovely barcharts at the meeting of doom on Monday. It means I can do less work on the train too, which is very shit.

In other news, Hakkai and Gojyo apparently have the most appallingly creepy conversation in the latest chapter, via radiofreebanri. wildelamassu has a review in far greater detail and depth here

Aarrrgh. Hakkai is clearly more on the edge than I previously thought, with his crazed babble about wanting an undead wife and kids, and then his collapse into a depairing pose afterwards. Hakkai's ideal woman is a zombie! That puts him safely out of the marriage market. Although this is Saiyuki, so you never know. I'm still wondering if Kanan is going to show up again at some point, reanimated-- or never dead? Nii seems to know in detail about all of them, so he'd certainly know what could push Hakkai over the edge, or make him abandon the journey. Zombie!Kanan. Please, no.

He also jokes that if he had a daughter he'd be worried about Uncle Gojyo molesting her, and Uncle Gojyo just leers. There is a bonus flashback showing Kanan's childbearing hips, but of course that was Not To Be. I think this is Hakkai's way of saying; Gojyo, I'm nuts, the only person who could ever tolerate me is you so PLEASE let's just drop the happy subject of who I'd like to bring back from the dead, you know, if I could, before I have to kill you.

But, yes, he's a youkai on the edge. Gojyo doesn't seem massively bothered by the end, although appears disturbed by the undead wife talk. Unsurprisingly. Maybe Hakkai's like that all the time when they're alone - quite open about displaying how fucked up he is. They do have those odd, quite sweet conversations when they're alone. Hakkai says something needy, like 'why did you rescue me', or, 'I'm as bad as Hazel.' And Gojyo usually says the right thing.

Comments

[myroughdraft.livejournal.com]

Hakkai is the single most insane person in that manga. Seriously.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Yes. By a country mile.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. I think Hazel's winning for second place, though.

[wildelamassu.livejournal.com]

I posted a ginormous analysis (http://www.livejournal.com/users/wildelamassu/38165.html) of that same creepy scene something like two minutes ago. XD

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I just read it - it's wonderful!

[nekonexus.livejournal.com]

Two speculations (one of which I have written >.< )

1 - Chin Iisou + Kanan + mahjongg tile = shikigami, ne?

2 - who burnt down Hayakugan Maoh's castle? there's a certain fire demon summoning youkai we all know and love who would certainly be capable, and usually has attendant apothecary in tow. Timing is the issue.

And yes. Seriously Fucked Up Hakkai. ~_~ poor boy. Makes my heart ache for him.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

So with 1 you're saying that Kanan may have part of the shikigami made by Chin Iisou? That's interesting, especially as in that arc Hakkai seemed to say goodbye to Kanan - by ending Iisou he put an end to her haunting him. Although it's clear he's still by no means 'fixed'.

2 - yes. Put like that it's more than likely. The burning down of the castle has always screamed MASSIVE PLOT POINT to me. Unless it's just a red herring.

[nekonexus.livejournal.com]

hmm... not exactly. (unless we're just saying it in different ways. ^_^;; )

But if Iisou saved himself by turning himself into a shikigami, then who's to say he couldn't have done the same thing to Kanan before she died? The problem with that theory is of course, that -- if he did have her as an ace in the hole, why didn't he play it when he finally confronted Hakkai? surely that would have been the perfect way to break him (again). Also, if she was tied to him like that (by a vector thing?) then when Iisou died, she would have "died" also, I would think. Unless you go with the further cracked theory that that wasn't really Iisou that Hakkai killed, it was only yet another shikigami he'd made and the real Iisou is still lurking somewhere.

But all of that is a major deviation from canon, I think. ^_^; Just some rather crack-tastic tangents that my brain has wandered in the process of rewriting that scene so that Iisou does win. >.< Yes, I'm evil that way.

Sometimes I think there are things that Minekura herself wasn't sure about, and so she left the door wide open, just in case. I like to think it's probably not an intentional red herring.

[emungere.livejournal.com]

Oh, Hakkai. Sometimes you just don't know whether to pet him or run away screaming...

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I bet everyone he knows feels the same way. Poor man.

[hibem.livejournal.com]

OK, wait. I'm kind of confused as to where you guys are getting the zombie wife from. I read no japanese at all, so maybe it's a translation thing- but "the kind of wife who won't die, even if you kill her" Isn't that the thing is often said about the Kou-tatchi and the ikkou itself? That they're too stubborn, strong, and self-reliant to be killed, that they *can* take care of themselves but don't have to since they're together? _{So, me, I read that as if saying he'd like a woman who is like Gojyo, (clearly, my 58 bias is speaking at this point) and goes on to have a semi-hysterical moment of strain-induced, avoidant, pathetically failed humor. That one page, with Hakkai hanging his head, and Gojyo glancing down at him. Gojyo's measuring, yes, but he's also so wistful, like he's deciding who to hurt for, then dismissing it with typical Gojyo self-doubt. Gojyo can't stop pushing Hakkai, even though it stings both of them, and yet, because it's them, little break-downs and picking at scabs is safe, right. They're both toeing so painfully close to their own importance to each other, yet still aren't quite able to overcome their internal barriers and yes, I'll just be over here ranting to myself about 58 for a while.}

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

*strokes you soothingly*

Rant away, I like it-- but hey, my 58 bias is bigger than YOUR 58 bias. *g* To be honest, I don't think Hakkai was really talking about an undead wife, or at least not seriously-- I think maybe his 'joke' means both things, hence Gojyo's expression.

But until I read a full translation I'm holding back from any serious analysis, because my Japanese is practically nil. But, like wildelemassu showed, and your comments, you can tell a lot just from the body language. I think Gojyo's purposely picking at the Kanan scab, because he can see it's coming loose again anyway. Hakkai clearly feels safe enough with Gojyo to show how much his past is affecting him.

[hibem.livejournal.com]

I seriously need that translation to come out. I think I'm developing a Theory. (It's just like coming down with a cold. I can totally feel it in my sinuses.)

And yes, Gojyo does like to pick at scabs, doesn't he? He's always poking at people, testing their boundaries. And Hakkai is only ever that raw around him. Oh, 58.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Hee! Theories tend to collect somewhere between the brows and bung up the head. Do you want to share it with me (please!!), or are you going to let it percolate for a while?

[hibem.livejournal.com]

This one wants to be researched and presented with visual aids. But it has to do with how Gojyo and Hakkai's chats are always interrupted, until recently. I think the way the interupted talks contrast with this one is part of what makes it so disturbing/revealing. Whether the theory survives fact-checking is well, who knows, but at the end I'll probably have a survey of all the 58 conversation in the canon. :facepalm: Really, I should be putting this time into fic.

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Dear lord. That conversation is disturbing on So. Many. Levels. Sometimes I forget how incredibly fucking crazy Hakkai is. He's really very good as appearing perfectly sane. But yes, I echo imparfait's comments that Hakkai is the most psycho person in Saiyuki. And that's a pretty impressive feat.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

He's so worrying. You get the impression it's not going to take much to tip him over the edge. The guilt from his past is just bubbling away close to the surface.

*clutches Hakkai*

[toscas-kiss.livejournal.com]

Yep, he's always held my nomination for the Premier Psychotic Fruitcake of Saiyuki Award. And that's saying a lot, given all the psychotic fruitcakes there.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

They're all pretty weird, but you get the sense that they make special allowances for Hakkai - as mcuh as he looks after them, they look after him.

[kintail.livejournal.com]

Great points. I love the insight into Hakkai's and Gojyo's relationship, and even the ambiguity... is Hakkai really that creepy or is he deliberately playing it up to try to creep Gojyo out or is he trying to be funny or...? Probably all of the above. And Gojyo accepts him as he is. Of course. Minekura is brilliant.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

*grovels at Minekura's feet*