Spotlight Character: Sawa (Kite) MAL Character Information Page: Sawa MAL Favorites: 15 For the next week I would like to have everyone familiar with this character discuss what they think makes it an exceptional character. What attributes make it stand out in the ocean of interesting characters that exist in the realms of anime and manga. Unlike the other two subjects I will not force this conversation to fall into any set structure. Characters that are nominated typically get here because they are adept at breaking the existing character moulds and defying definition. Because of this freedom I encourage everyone to do their very best to stay on topic and keep any and all debate civil. Have fun and I look forward to seeing what everyone has to say about this character. RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL Sawa was NOT inducted into the club Character list: 5 Yes - 26.3% 14 No - 73.6% 33 Don't know this character - 60.0% of the total number polled 3 Abstained - 5.4% of the total number polled |
santetjanNov 9, 2011 11:01 AM
Current FAL Ranking + Previous best::  [ |
| My original reason for nominating Sawa was that for a while I really liked this ova/movie for it's more gutter approach to the The Le Femme Nikita plot design. It's no secret at this point that I admire Bessons' work, so when I discovered an anime that took many of Femme's plot premises and reworked them into an anime I had to see it. After my first viewing, I thought it was one of the best anime's I'd seen. Unfortunately after my last re-watch due to a discussion with Tjan and Ladyx, I unfortunately had to rethink my original opinion of the movie. Basically my re-watch experience made me realize that Kite did not age well at all. The plot points didn't seem to flow as well, the sex seemed gratuitous and over the top, and the entire works animation was distracting. The art and character designs were still good and Sawa's character still effectively told the story of a tormented existence, which didn't seem to mind it's own torture, rather her persona seemed to have accepted the evils that had been forced upon her. On the surface these evils thrived in her masochistic existence as if she herself might have really begun to enjoy what she was. It wasn't until the end that we realized that here character was in fact suffering and that her acceptance of her circumstances were really only instinctual and or trained behaviors learned to survive. It can't be seen yet from the end of this movie, but her introduction and character in the sequel to this movie Kite Liberator as a simple waitress seems to point that she in fact just wanted to live a more simple life. I think Sawa does effectively break her typical character mold. If this series were a standard hentai, Sawa's character would have never fought to change her circumstances, she would have continued to play toward pleasing the average hentai only looking for the perverse. I think this work is one of the few examples of a Hentai that also works as a mainstream adult movie. You can't really point to many cross over porn films that have become notorious for there action and great character developments. I'm about to watch this movie one more time to see if my opinion has changed. But as of right now, I still think that even if Kite might have aged very badly, Sawa's character still deserves some discussion and a place in our relations. She bends what I thought was possible with existing anime fan-service girls and almost single handedly changes a mediocre action hentai into a fascinating psychological example of how Battered child syndrome doesn't have to degrade into a persons complete dissociative breakdown. I suppose it could be possible that Sawa had undergone some sociological changes that did included early stages of schizophrenia but I tend to think that part of the genius of her character was that she was able to distinguish the actual differences between the person she had to be to survive and the person she actually was. The struggle to overcome her situation without losing sight of her true self was great to watch. She is Nikita's anime existence that goes even farther than Besson dared to go with the torment and evil that exist. I think that Sawa deserves to be inducted. |
Orion1Oct 28, 2011 3:20 PM
| Sawa is a very unusual character to see an anime. At first we have a somewhat pathological sociopath, hiding beneath the appearance of a young girl: We see Sawa kill without mercy or remorse. There is no satisfaction when she does, nor is there sympathy in her eyes for the dead. She watches the violence of her world with open eyes, taking it in for what it really is. It's part of her life. While her life is filled with violence, death, and all-around amorality, she doesn’t let herself be consumed. She enjoys the aspects of her life she can. When re-watching Kite, it’s apparent Sawa is a very good actress. She uses the advantages she can, some utterly immoral, and ruthless, while others are more what you would expect of a young teen/woman. This is very evident in the sex. She uses Akai’s sexual advances as a means to secure in his mind that she is loyal. She doesn’t protest the actions itself, and shows mild interest and enjoyment on the outside. She even does this while her potential romantic-interest watches her have sex with Akai. There is no regret, remorse, or guilt on her face while she does this. Later when she kills Akai, her choice of where to put a bullet in his body is all the viewer needs to understand how she felt about such actions. What really sets Sawa apart from the vast majority of similar characters, (Young, indoctrinated, assassins) is the human feel to her. She is not infallible; in fact she is every bit as fragile as everyone around her. She speaks of death, in that any day she could die, with a cool emotionless demeanor. However when faced with her own oncoming death, she is not above screaming in utter terror. When faced with innocent casualty she is not beneath feeling some semblance of sympathy. While desiring revenge, she doesn’t let such motives completely define her existence. Despite being a remorseless killer, she’s not truly indoctrinated. She lets herself feel joy when it presents itself: as well as curiosity in the first ever person that’s in a similar situation to herself. She pursues it, not in the hardened, cold, analytical mind of an assassin, but in a feminine, albeit slightly forward, way more reminiscent of a teenage girl feeling her first crush. In the end, I find her character to be so remarkably human. Not in what she does, but HOW she does it. So many characters in anime are superhuman; whether that be in special powers, ideology, personal growth, ect.. Instead here, it’s a story of a tween not above the human condition, and how she survives. |
shiikiOct 28, 2011 10:43 PM
 Will you kill the one you love because of love? |
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