Prince of Tennis: Niou & Yagyuu
Oct. 9th, 2005 02:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
branchandrootI should, perhaps, note to start with that I ignore the existence of the anime Rikkai arc. Golf? What golf? There is no golf.
So, when meeting Niou and Yagyuu we have, to begin with, a snippet of their interaction and their 'titles' to work with. When Ryouma collapses after playing Kirihara we see Yagyuu as casual but not unsympathetic, being the one to suggest getting Echizen to a hospital. Niou appears as the more observant one who notices that Ryouma is asleep not knocked out. This matches up reasonably with their nicknames, Trickster and Gentleman.
Our next encounter with them, however, complicates even those simple conclusions. Watching them through the course of their Regionals match, it becomes more and more difficult to distinguish between them, despite the great surface differences. Or, possibly, because of them. For one thing, the fact that they can effectively switch the way they do suggests interesting things to me about their dichotomy. Yagyuu, for example, seems to combine lovely manners with intense aggression. He is potentially hostile and explosive, but apparently held in most of the time. Niou is the one with the tactical mind, the elusive one who watches in order to analyze, despite his fuck-you day to day attitude. It is Niou who sees that it's Fuji who's attacking right from the start, and who articulates what Kirihara does when he reaches no-self. For all the attitude, he's the one who watches silently. The fact that they are mirror images that way, and that they're both aware enough of it to switch poles, as it were, makes it hard to assign any function to only one of them.
I note that it's Yagyuu who immediately understands the stubborn pride that makes Jackal go head-to-head with Kaidou (200.7). Yet, they may already be switched at this point, so is that Niou's own aggression speaking, or is it his grasp of his partner's way of looking at the world? For "Niou" to use Kikumaru's tag-line after he's hit is downright vicious--but is it Niou's viciousness or Yagyuu's own? "Yagyuu's" words "good that nothing happened" could be either good manners or imply that it'll be fun to toy with the Golden Pair longer; "Niou's" taunting about it getting worse turns the words to imply the latter. They function seamlessly together, no matter how they're presenting, and what they present together is not a kind thing.
The volley that nails Kikumaru in the head seems to be largely the doing of "Yagyuu"--if Yanagi was keeping track of Seigaku's moves, they had to know about Kikumaru's doubling act, which means "Niou" was bait. It's excellent strategy; whether the ball went opposite the real Eiji or nailed him, either way it would work. And, as Kikumaru observes, even a non-crippling strike would have the bonus of getting someone as protective as Oishi wound up and not thinking. So Niou appears to have the largest part of the execution, while Yagyuu cooperates. The second try, however, "Niou" more clearly sets up (and seems to know exactly where the ball is coming from, behind him, which argues for extremely high awareness of each other within the pair); third likewise. Is Yagyuu acting out his partner's agression or his own? Whichever it is, he seem to have no qualms about making repeated attempts that could result in more serious injury. At that point, though, Kikumaru has wised up and "Yagyuu" calls for that strategy to be abandoned--Yagyuu's words, or Niou's? Niou is, in any case, being the gamemaker, whichever persona it's coming out of. It's his thoughts we see, dissecting what Oishi was doing to let Eiji take the measure of the speed balls.
What interests me most about these two is the middle phase of the game. After it becomes clear that Kikumaru won't fall for the look-over-here trick any more, "Yagyuu" says that "Niou" is playing around too much, and pulls out the copy-Laser shot. "Niou" looks rather surprised by that, and "Yagyuu" says, again, that he wants "Niou" to play seriously, that playtime is over. Now, it is likely quite in character for Yagyuu to be the one who restrains Niou's mischief. Yagyuu might be in the habit of admonishing Niou to quit playing around, and Niou could be teasing him by reflecting that back; which might explain Yagyuu's somewhat snippy "that's quite enough" when they switch back.
Two other things occurr to me, though. One is that "play seriously" may have been an arranged code saying that it's time to switch tactics and move down the strategy-branch that leads toward unmasking. This raises the question, for me, of whether Niou is always the game-maker of the pair, or whether he's playing out Yagyuu's decision making. Given that Yagyuu is a serve-and-volley player while Niou is an all-round player, it seems somewhat more likely that Niou is acting more as himself in being the voice of strategy. At the same time, it's also clear that Yagyuu exercises his own knack for observation to support his antics as "Niou". The second thing that occurred to me was that "play seriously" might be something approaching a safeword. That Niou is calling his partner back from the edge of indulged malice.
Because what Yagyuu's character seems to call on is the anime/manga trope that the polite ones are the ones who are the most dangerous. Anyone who's that polite in a fight-anime can be counted upon to be repressing a lot of anger. I would speculate that percieving this is what gave Niou the idea to switch in the first place, and what makes it possible for them to pull off. Niou, to become "Yagyuu", calls on the poker face of any good trickster. Yagyuu, to become "Niou", releases the aggression that he usually keeps locked up. There must, however, have been a reason to lock it up in the first place, so I presume that for one it will be very strong, and for another that Yagyuu really must trust his partner considerably--trust that Niou will call him back when it's neccessary. So his annoyance, as they resume their usual roles, could be that he's being teased. Or that such an upright person as himself was convinced to take part in something so baroque. Or it could be annoyance that he has to go back to being controlled and strightlaced. Or, best of all, it could be all of the above.
My personal take, I think, would be that the switch tactic is a recent one (or the rest of the club wouldn't have been so floored by it) but not a one-time thing. Kirihara certainly seems to twig to it well before the unmasking. So I take it as the latest in a series of efforts by Niou to unlock the shiny-sparkly anger in his partner. And, possibly, the latest example of Yagyuu allowing him to do so.
In many ways, I see Yagyuu and Niou along the same continuum as Ohtori and Shishido: intuitive to analytical. Going by the continuum of what they show on the surface and what they seem to hold underneath that, the following idea comes to me. They probably both like thunderstorms. But Niou likes to watch them from a bit of shelter, while Yagyuu likes to stand out in them.
Sneaking Sensation
So, when meeting Niou and Yagyuu we have, to begin with, a snippet of their interaction and their 'titles' to work with. When Ryouma collapses after playing Kirihara we see Yagyuu as casual but not unsympathetic, being the one to suggest getting Echizen to a hospital. Niou appears as the more observant one who notices that Ryouma is asleep not knocked out. This matches up reasonably with their nicknames, Trickster and Gentleman.
Our next encounter with them, however, complicates even those simple conclusions. Watching them through the course of their Regionals match, it becomes more and more difficult to distinguish between them, despite the great surface differences. Or, possibly, because of them. For one thing, the fact that they can effectively switch the way they do suggests interesting things to me about their dichotomy. Yagyuu, for example, seems to combine lovely manners with intense aggression. He is potentially hostile and explosive, but apparently held in most of the time. Niou is the one with the tactical mind, the elusive one who watches in order to analyze, despite his fuck-you day to day attitude. It is Niou who sees that it's Fuji who's attacking right from the start, and who articulates what Kirihara does when he reaches no-self. For all the attitude, he's the one who watches silently. The fact that they are mirror images that way, and that they're both aware enough of it to switch poles, as it were, makes it hard to assign any function to only one of them.
I note that it's Yagyuu who immediately understands the stubborn pride that makes Jackal go head-to-head with Kaidou (200.7). Yet, they may already be switched at this point, so is that Niou's own aggression speaking, or is it his grasp of his partner's way of looking at the world? For "Niou" to use Kikumaru's tag-line after he's hit is downright vicious--but is it Niou's viciousness or Yagyuu's own? "Yagyuu's" words "good that nothing happened" could be either good manners or imply that it'll be fun to toy with the Golden Pair longer; "Niou's" taunting about it getting worse turns the words to imply the latter. They function seamlessly together, no matter how they're presenting, and what they present together is not a kind thing.
.
The Match
The volley that nails Kikumaru in the head seems to be largely the doing of "Yagyuu"--if Yanagi was keeping track of Seigaku's moves, they had to know about Kikumaru's doubling act, which means "Niou" was bait. It's excellent strategy; whether the ball went opposite the real Eiji or nailed him, either way it would work. And, as Kikumaru observes, even a non-crippling strike would have the bonus of getting someone as protective as Oishi wound up and not thinking. So Niou appears to have the largest part of the execution, while Yagyuu cooperates. The second try, however, "Niou" more clearly sets up (and seems to know exactly where the ball is coming from, behind him, which argues for extremely high awareness of each other within the pair); third likewise. Is Yagyuu acting out his partner's agression or his own? Whichever it is, he seem to have no qualms about making repeated attempts that could result in more serious injury. At that point, though, Kikumaru has wised up and "Yagyuu" calls for that strategy to be abandoned--Yagyuu's words, or Niou's? Niou is, in any case, being the gamemaker, whichever persona it's coming out of. It's his thoughts we see, dissecting what Oishi was doing to let Eiji take the measure of the speed balls.
What interests me most about these two is the middle phase of the game. After it becomes clear that Kikumaru won't fall for the look-over-here trick any more, "Yagyuu" says that "Niou" is playing around too much, and pulls out the copy-Laser shot. "Niou" looks rather surprised by that, and "Yagyuu" says, again, that he wants "Niou" to play seriously, that playtime is over. Now, it is likely quite in character for Yagyuu to be the one who restrains Niou's mischief. Yagyuu might be in the habit of admonishing Niou to quit playing around, and Niou could be teasing him by reflecting that back; which might explain Yagyuu's somewhat snippy "that's quite enough" when they switch back.
Two other things occurr to me, though. One is that "play seriously" may have been an arranged code saying that it's time to switch tactics and move down the strategy-branch that leads toward unmasking. This raises the question, for me, of whether Niou is always the game-maker of the pair, or whether he's playing out Yagyuu's decision making. Given that Yagyuu is a serve-and-volley player while Niou is an all-round player, it seems somewhat more likely that Niou is acting more as himself in being the voice of strategy. At the same time, it's also clear that Yagyuu exercises his own knack for observation to support his antics as "Niou". The second thing that occurred to me was that "play seriously" might be something approaching a safeword. That Niou is calling his partner back from the edge of indulged malice.
Because what Yagyuu's character seems to call on is the anime/manga trope that the polite ones are the ones who are the most dangerous. Anyone who's that polite in a fight-anime can be counted upon to be repressing a lot of anger. I would speculate that percieving this is what gave Niou the idea to switch in the first place, and what makes it possible for them to pull off. Niou, to become "Yagyuu", calls on the poker face of any good trickster. Yagyuu, to become "Niou", releases the aggression that he usually keeps locked up. There must, however, have been a reason to lock it up in the first place, so I presume that for one it will be very strong, and for another that Yagyuu really must trust his partner considerably--trust that Niou will call him back when it's neccessary. So his annoyance, as they resume their usual roles, could be that he's being teased. Or that such an upright person as himself was convinced to take part in something so baroque. Or it could be annoyance that he has to go back to being controlled and strightlaced. Or, best of all, it could be all of the above.
My personal take, I think, would be that the switch tactic is a recent one (or the rest of the club wouldn't have been so floored by it) but not a one-time thing. Kirihara certainly seems to twig to it well before the unmasking. So I take it as the latest in a series of efforts by Niou to unlock the shiny-sparkly anger in his partner. And, possibly, the latest example of Yagyuu allowing him to do so.
In many ways, I see Yagyuu and Niou along the same continuum as Ohtori and Shishido: intuitive to analytical. Going by the continuum of what they show on the surface and what they seem to hold underneath that, the following idea comes to me. They probably both like thunderstorms. But Niou likes to watch them from a bit of shelter, while Yagyuu likes to stand out in them.
