Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple_R
Honestly, I think that Archon_Wing has a point - I think that Gen likes unsung heroes. I think that at some level (perhaps even a subconscious one) Gen wants to write well-intentioned protagonists that meet a grizzly fate, but while still capturing a vague sense that maybe it was all worth it anyway.
In some ways, that's a more powerful message than showing a person who eventually triumphs over hardship and accomplishes all of his/her goals, because that clearly shows it was worth it. But if you look at what happened to the historical figure that Fate/Zero's Rider is based on (and how Rider copes with that), and if you look at what happened to Sayaka in Madoka Magica (and how Sayaka reflects on that in her actual final scene), I think that the narrative is actually saying "Maybe it'll all be worth it even if you don't fully succeed".
It's ironically a bit inspirational for a supposedly very dark writer.  |
Or just because it won't fully succeed, doesn't mean it's not worth doing.
It's really easy to have a results-oriented outlook on things. It's very hard not to. After all, history is frequently just a summary. It's easy to say, "they won, therefore they were the ones that succeeded". But behind every success are those that fell and they contributed just as much as the big names did. Sometimes even more. The greatest stories of heroism are probably the ones that were never told. It would be safe to say that we are alive and well today, thanks to the acts of someone we will never know of.
Sorta like any game of chance that involves skill, such as poker. Nothing is definite in those things, but there are definitely the better choices one can pick. It doesn't mean if you lose, you picked the wrong choice, after all.
But on the other hand, most things in life aren't definite, and picking the best choice is the greatest challenge. But we hope those choices are ours, and that people fought to make us even have the chance to make said choice even if life offers you the short end a bit too much.
If you realize that there is someone out there that you don't know that somehow helped you, and that there is someone looking out for you out there no matter where you are even if you can never return the favor, then perhaps this dying universe doesn't feel as cold and cynical for a while more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arabesque
To torture them?  |
Is part of it. Better to take your feelings out on fiction, as Tomino would attest.