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Sanada again
Mar. 25th, 2006 04:16 pmOkay, having finished re-reading up to the end of Regionals I find myself torn.
On the one hand, I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that Sanada does in fact have a good deal of self-control. We see him break reserve exactly three times, off the court. Once when Yukimura is being taken into the hospital right after his collapse. Once when Kirihara loses to Echizen (which, it appears later, Sanada only thinks could be possible if Kirihara was blowing the game off and screwing around). And once, maybe, as he calls to Kirihara-in-Muga to go for it, to win the match and take the tournament.
On the court... you know, having read it all through, I think that his consistent yelling at his opponent about how worthless they are and how they should just give up now is a part of his play style. A calculated psychological attack to drive down his opponent's fighting spirit. Because he's never just wild; he's thinking all the time he plays. He only shows a flash of wildness, on the court, when he uses Ka.
Sanada watches all the time, with scary intensity. Compared to his watchful expression, his smirks/grins are very rare, and at least half of them are confined to that alarming grin he has when he hits Ka.
Now. The reason I'm torn is that he clearly failed to watch Atobe closely enough, when Atobe came to challenge him.
On the other hand, there is the other side of his personality that I also observed this time around. He's not very quick to react to quick changes in circumstances. When Ooishi snaps and says Seigaku came to win, and then runs back to the team in flusterment... When Kirihara gets in between Sanada and Yanagi... When Echizen mouths off at the start of their match and trots away... Each time, Sanada is left standing there for a frame (with his hand hanging in the air, for the first two).
So I think... he's stubborn.
He watches. He's a very good analyst. He has a good deal of self-control, which he seems to use to hold and focus that phenomenal intensity of his. But he also has a stumbling block, which is his own stubbornness, and I suspect that this sometimes trips him up and skews the speed/accuracy of his analysis. Not by much. But by just enough that another opponent who's very, very good can slip in through the crack.
He is, however, capable of adjusting quickly. After he loses he makes an immediate shift around to the stance of Rikkai as challengers, and rallies his team around that point.
So I think what his stubbornness and occasional slowness to respond are based on is the same thing his occasionally brusque manners are based on: his pride and confidence. He has been, for years and possibly barring Yukimura, the very best, and sees no reason to be humble about it. His pride is not, however, an all-encompassing blind-spot. He does not willingly allow himself to be moved by others. But when it happens, he deals with it.
I will be very interested to see how his character develops now. (Always supposing Konomi bothers with his development...)
On the one hand, I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that Sanada does in fact have a good deal of self-control. We see him break reserve exactly three times, off the court. Once when Yukimura is being taken into the hospital right after his collapse. Once when Kirihara loses to Echizen (which, it appears later, Sanada only thinks could be possible if Kirihara was blowing the game off and screwing around). And once, maybe, as he calls to Kirihara-in-Muga to go for it, to win the match and take the tournament.
On the court... you know, having read it all through, I think that his consistent yelling at his opponent about how worthless they are and how they should just give up now is a part of his play style. A calculated psychological attack to drive down his opponent's fighting spirit. Because he's never just wild; he's thinking all the time he plays. He only shows a flash of wildness, on the court, when he uses Ka.
Sanada watches all the time, with scary intensity. Compared to his watchful expression, his smirks/grins are very rare, and at least half of them are confined to that alarming grin he has when he hits Ka.
Now. The reason I'm torn is that he clearly failed to watch Atobe closely enough, when Atobe came to challenge him.
On the other hand, there is the other side of his personality that I also observed this time around. He's not very quick to react to quick changes in circumstances. When Ooishi snaps and says Seigaku came to win, and then runs back to the team in flusterment... When Kirihara gets in between Sanada and Yanagi... When Echizen mouths off at the start of their match and trots away... Each time, Sanada is left standing there for a frame (with his hand hanging in the air, for the first two).
So I think... he's stubborn.
He watches. He's a very good analyst. He has a good deal of self-control, which he seems to use to hold and focus that phenomenal intensity of his. But he also has a stumbling block, which is his own stubbornness, and I suspect that this sometimes trips him up and skews the speed/accuracy of his analysis. Not by much. But by just enough that another opponent who's very, very good can slip in through the crack.
He is, however, capable of adjusting quickly. After he loses he makes an immediate shift around to the stance of Rikkai as challengers, and rallies his team around that point.
So I think what his stubbornness and occasional slowness to respond are based on is the same thing his occasionally brusque manners are based on: his pride and confidence. He has been, for years and possibly barring Yukimura, the very best, and sees no reason to be humble about it. His pride is not, however, an all-encompassing blind-spot. He does not willingly allow himself to be moved by others. But when it happens, he deals with it.
I will be very interested to see how his character develops now. (Always supposing Konomi bothers with his development...)
