Actually i’m not done. Mondo and Taka’s ‘opposite attract’ friendship goes deeper than ‘thug and nerd’; Mondo was constantly playing to an audience, crafting his entire identity around a one-dimensional visage of ‘leader’, that was in itself steeped in his grief-ridden memories of his brother. Mondo was never going to get fulfilment or make any connection doing this, and just spent his life spiralling into grief which forced him further into hiding which forced him further into grief.
Alternatively, Taka is nothing except 100% genuine in everything he says and does. He does a rigid belief in being the ‘traditional Japanese man’ and upholding specific ideals. But those are his ideals. He fully understands that no one likes him. He isn’t playing to a crowd or get anyone to like him, he just does what he thinks is right with a fervent intensity.
Both Mondo and Taka live their lives according to unbending rules and codes they were raised with. Mondo’s entire character is based around bosozoku, a counter-culture that focuses on embracing tradition and following conduct. Bosozoku have always followed a strict set of rules.
Despite the outward skin of someone who rebels against society and doesn’t do what he’s told, Mondo is a man who is scared of substantial change. He doesn’t want to go against his gangs pre-written rules of what is expected of him. He doesn’t want to question his memory of his brother, or his death too deeply. He doesn’t want to change any of the strict gendered rules he knows; boys are strong and meant to protect girls, who are incapable of fighting for themselves. There are hints of his personality not quite fitting right in his design; his soft, calm voice, occasional shy and self-conscious moments and colour palette including soft lilac and gold create the general sense of ‘royalty’ that suggests him being a leader don’t reflect his supposed ‘loose cannon, macho rebel’ mask.
Taka, however, fully embraces his traditionally Japanese style of living and views (boys and girls spending the night together is ‘unwholesome’, he practises calligraphy and kendo as his only hobbies outside of studying, I read a post about how his attitude towards nudity actually reflects older generations of Japanese men, not youth culture. I can’t speak on how accurate that is though).
Despite this, Taka’s characters motivation is based entirely around him demanding change. He wants to change literally everything he can about his peers; from their informal appearance, to their opinions on studying and school, to their morals itself. He wants to change society’s opinion on him and his family name, he wants to go into politics and change the way the very country is run. His character design perfectly matches who he is; the colour palette is literally black-and-white, the harsh red and royal gold play perfectly into his intense ‘holier-than-thou’ personality, he is 1-to-1 with a military soldier including the impractical boots and buzzcut, and he is the only one in the Dangan cast with double rings in his eye, creating a ‘bullseye’ effect. It is simple and to the point, just like him.
If their friendship had been allowed to run its course I think they wouldn’t have just been ‘Mondo learns anger management and Taka doesn’t study quite as hard’. But also Mondo takes charge of his own life and learns who he is as a person, and Taka stops running full-speed into the future and stops to appreciate what’s around him, instead of trying to ‘fix’ everything.
jacobvanloon
pixelskylines
tangentwithtanner
izzy806
2087
prguitarman
areudirty
origamiaround
