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I was asked for an entry pointing to particular episodes and issues that have to do with Kazuki and his harem, and contain the necessary background for the forthcoming Getbackers longfic. Here we are!

Kazuki and his style: episode 13 or Return to Infinity Fortress 7-8. (Be aware, there are translation errors in this, Akame is actually of the Western school; this will be important later. Also, warning for Himiko's clothes getting torn off, fortunately not nearly as extensively as usual.)

Kazuki v Juubei: episode 19 or Infinity Fortress 28-32.

Kazuki, Toshiki, Juubei: episode 48 (Note: the plot lead-up diverges a lot from the manga, but the basics are still there.) or Kami no Kijitsu 26-31. (Note: Kazuki has previously been mystically brainwashed by Toshiki, here, that's all the prep you really need.)

The anime ended after this point.

Kazuki's gang Fuuga: Voodoo Child 9-10.

Saizou's introduction: Voodoo Child 13-14.

Saizou's betrayal: Voodoo Child 24.

Saizou and Yohan: Get Back the Lost Time 1.

Kazuki as Prince of Terror: Lost Time 6-7. (Note: This is intercut with Ban and Ginji fighting Yohan's siblings Maiya and Yuuri, and Maiya is the personification of skeezy fanservice; I do use her character, so you may wish to have a look, but go in warned.)

After this, it's all text translations and raw scans. I highly recommend the middle of volume 33 and all of 36, for the pivotal fights between Kazuki and Saizou, and Kazuki and Yohan.

jk's excellent translation of vol 36, which Getbackers Respect does not have.

( Short summary of salient points; spoilers, obviously )

I thought this deserved a post.

Ways in which we can tell A&A really intended that we should read all of Fuuga's men as deeply in love with Kazuki:

( spoilers, of course )

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: I've noticed you've been posting about Getbackers recently- maybe some meta about that? I know nothing about that series, so if you could explain it a little & talk about why it excites you, I'd appreciate it.

It occurs to me that I never actually wrote up a review post for Getbackers, so this seems like a good opportunity to attend to that.

( The pretty, the silly, and the annoying )

The irony of Uryuu Toshiki is that he hungers for high position (the firstborn but illegitimate son, not understanding why his superior strength is not acknowledged) but he shies from claiming that position for /himself/. Rather he seeks out powerful people to support in their rise to high position (the only time he feels really alive as he says, first Kazuki, then Lucifer, then Makubex when Juubei sees the pattern and offers that as a suitable new place), staying that one step separated from the seat of power itself. As if he were afraid to reach for it in his own name.

The dynamics of Kazuki and all his people are very tied up with this question of finding one's place. When asked why he did not take the last step to rule Lower Town for himself, Kazuki says it's because he felt Ginji was the one who should do that and that his place was at Ginji's side. Which actually makes a certain amount of sense of the way Kazuki leaves the Volts in Ginji's wake. I think he needs the sense of direction and rightness that Ginji, and later Makubex, have--and which he does not.

This is more speculative, but Kazuki was raised to be the head of a vast clan, raised to lead and command. But his clan falls. And, like Toshiki, I think Kazuki shies away from the reminder of what he lost or was denied. I speculate that the reason Kazuki lacks that sense of rightness that allows Ginji and Makubex to lead is that he has refused to accept his position as a leader. Difficult to do while leading the most powerful gang before the Volts, but if you recall his words when he reconvenes Fuuga: he tells Sakura that he is not the lord of Fuuchouin and not to call him -sama; that he is only another warrior seeking to avenge his clan. Even while leading he does everything he can to not be a leader. Hence his lack of that rightness-sense and his refusal to take a leader's responsibility. He doesn't bring his people into the Volts, he disbands them. He doesn't take them with him when he leaves the Volts, he just goes.

This, I think, is what makes Juubei actually willing to regard Kazuki as his enemy. Juubei is inflexibly traditional, and I think his sense of betrayal when the lord he swore himself to and followed into exile finally and inarguably denies his part of the liege relationship just hit critical. Of course, all it takes is for Kazuki to assert a) his dominance and b) his sense of rightness and morality for Juubei to fall right back into line, but you note that in the process he did force Kazuki to assert a sense of right direction. Sneaky, sneaky.

Which, no doubt explains why I now have a deep urge to write a little arc in which the regathering of his people leads Kazuki to actually accept his place as their leader. *wry*

You know what really frosts my cookies about the Getbackers manga?

(Aside from the appallingly gender-skewed and exploitative T&A which I page past as fast as possible and try not to see for the sake of my blood pressure, fuck you very much Ayamine. That one is a given.)

Aoki can't seem to decide whether Kazuki is the baddest badass in Badassville or the designated damsel in distress. His narrative position flips unpredictably from one to the other without anything in the way of signaling or set-up, and it gives me a case of story-whiplash.

I find it exceedingly predictable in shounen, to be sure; the polite ones are the ones you have to watch out for (eg Akabane), but the actively feminized male characters are either comic relief or, narratively speaking, women--women in a shounen manga, which means damsels in distress regardless of what minor skill they may have on their own account which allows them to mop up the small fry while reemphasizing that, in context, they are still weaker. Kazuki winds up written as both a and b, and rather randomly one or the other.

Second verse, same as the first: I actually have an easier time reading shounen manga when the female characters are absent, because the inclusion of female or even strongly feminine characters is almost invariably the signal for a rousing round of role reinforcement. *spits* Thus, again, my glee in any fic I find that ignores Aoki's inability to actually characterize across gender lines even when he set it up himself and takes on the work of reconciling Kazuki's character.

( Pondering the ending of Getbackers )

In short, good grief what a mess.

Catching up on Getbackers summaries.

I see a lot of people suggesting the manga will end just like the anime. Clearly, it can't end /just/ like, because the characters are dispersed in different ways. I could see a very similar ending, of turning back from power/knowledge in favor of companionship, and basically hitting the world-reset thereby. But one basic point keeps nagging at me.

In the anime, there is an implicit assumption that the world outside Mugenjou is real. In the manga, starting with the card arc and accelerating since, there is an implication that it is not. Whether this will culminate in some kind of statement about what reality is or unravel in a lot of messy loose ends, I don't know. (And if this whole thing turns out to be some kind of virual reality and the 'archive' is the entry/exit point, well that would be consistent but it would also be a total cop out.) So the ending can't be as simple as it was in the anime.

( And some spoilers apropos of reality and Ban )

Also. Really, really want a good translation of issue 80, which seems to have been some explanation of Rai Tei.

So, I should mention, I squee with spoilers.

Finished Get Backers. Squee, squee, squee! Oh, the slashy possibilities! Not counting either Kazuki and Juubei or Ginji and Ban because those don't actually qualify as subtext when they do everything but, as I believe Em put it, tear off each other's clothes and shag on screen. I was particuarly taken with the potential for Ban/Shido. And there's something terribly suitable about Akabane/Kagami. Teeny little hints of Yamato/Ban.

Though, Kagami smiling over Himiko's picture at the very end was a bit disconcerting. I can accept his fixation on Akabane and Ban, because turnabout is fair play, and hey who wouldn't fixate on Ban, but Himiko? Yikes.

And the filler fluff episodes frequently drove me up the wall. Admittedly, the hospital ep was entertaining in a twisted sort of way, but I deeply desired to wring the neck of that high school girl.

And I have to say, whoever did the third ending was on crack. Quite possibly cut with Comet. That may be the most disturbing thing I've seen all year.

On the other hand, the very end of the second ending is exceedingly sweet. That's a perfect realized-we're-just-about-to-kiss moment. Actually, I liked pretty much all the openings/endings besides that third; good music and neat composition.

Loved the core theme of Mugenjo. Still trying to figure out whether Kagami is virtual or not; I'm leaning toward yes if only because he explodes and recomposes in a fashion very similar to the clones. Did notice that both children explicitly identified as virutuals have the same color eyes.

There are no indications of this at all, but I do have a Makubex/Kano (fan boy) bunny nibbling my toes. Such fascinating tensions there.

Ban and Ginji remind me very strongly of Hisoka and Tsuzuki of YnM, except that the serious partner is older not younger and the colors are reversed. But both Tsuzuki and Ginji have that extra gear (psycho ass kicking mode).

And, best of all, a bunch of my favorite seiyuu showed up.

Squee!