Prince of Tennis: In-group Violence

[branchandroot]

What got me thinking about this was the mention, in correspondence with a friend, of Yanagi's apparent masochistic streak, manga-continuity, when he invites Sanada to strike him for having lost his match. Thinking about that, of course, leads right into Kirihara's intervention on Yanagi's behalf and then his subsequent repetition of the invitation after his own loss. And from there to the recollection that this is, in fact, a more widely repeating pattern.

Because it's something I've seen in a number of places. A subordinate who has, in some fashion, failed or disobeyed his superior, and invites punishment. Sometimes, as with Ed and Izumi in FMA, it's less invitation than simple acceptance, declining to fight back, but the invitation seems to be a form all its own--a very particular form, at that. The phrase of invitation, "Yatte kure" ¹ in Yanagi's case, and a gesture to go with it such as a bow or turning the head to accept what's often a blow across the face.

I had not, previously, given it much thought beyond the basic "hey, kinky" flippancy, which helped stave off my basic discomfort. But, in trying to actually explain Yanagi's motives, not to mention Sanada's, this theme clicked in connection with another and I wonder if they're part of the same thing.

Because there's another theme the shows up a lot: a friend striking a friend to smack some sense into them. And, in that case, all the connotations of the scenes are that this should be a valued service rather than a cause for resentment. In fact, it seems to operate as a gesture of... bonding, of belonging, of communicating that the recipient is not isolated. Yamato and Taichi in Digimon 02, when Agumon is kidnapped. Rei and Usagi at several different points of Sailor Moon. Natsuki and Mai in Mai-HiME ep 20. It's a very consistent pattern.

The idea I'm getting from these two things put together is that disciplinary violence, in particular, is something firmly associated with one's in-group. The family, the house, the team. And, because it is limited in that way, the exercise of disciplinary violence becomes a sign that the target of it is valued and accepted by that group, despite whatever failing might have provoked it; because the true sign of anger/hostility would be rejection, instead.

Hence, the invitation of punishment seems to be a request to confirm the inviter's continued acceptance as a member of the in-group. Also, a sign that the inviter still acknowledges the rules/standards of the group as valid. This is supported by Yanagi's next sentence, in his particular example, "Hoka no buin ni shimeshigatsu kanai", which Athena translated for me as "It doesn't leave a good example for the other teammates [unless you hit me]."

So, not kinky. Also, not a sign of ungovernable temper or random brutality on the part of the one handing out the violence. Just a very different paradigm of expression than Western readers are used to. Sanada's particular version is harsher than many, but less harsh than most examples that come from a school of the martial arts--which is, after all, his background.

(1) For the benefit of those, like myself, who only know uselessly disconnected snippets of Japanese: After a little poking around, I found that "yatte" is a form of the verb "yareru" (to do). "Yaru" has a wide range of idiomatic meanings which depend entirely on context, but sex and violence do feature significantly in the list. "Kure" is described on my favorite grammar site as the command form of "please", and its infinitive "kureru" is often used when speaking of things given to oneself. So one 'literal' way to translate this is "Do it to me, please!", which, in another context, could indeed be kinky; but in this one it isn't.