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12 days of 12 kingdoms, day 3 — relationships // taiki + sanshi and gouran in demon child

"...There's the griffin, and sometimes I feel a person's atmosphere. I call it Murgen. Whenever I feel sad, Murgen and the griffin will appear and gently stroke my shoulders or rub their bodies against my legs. I think they're comforting me.

#twelve kingdoms #juuni kokki #12K12Days #taiki #sanshi #gouran #12k #edits #gfx

#12K12Days: 12/13 Favorite Character

Nakajima Youko is fr fr my favorite character in 12K, and one of my favorite fictional characters in general.

I first came across the Twelve Kingdoms anime as a pre-teen, and the historical fantasy vibe immediately captured my interest. The synopsis sounded cool, and—most importantly to baby ace me—there was no talk of romance being a defining arc in the show.

there's nothing wrong with romance arcs, but because most of the female-led stuff i was aware of at the time had one—especially Fushigi Yugi, which was around at the same time and had superficial similarities with Twelve Kingdoms—I was elated that Youko's story never centers around romance, but on her growth and integrity in other aspects.

Like. She starts out as being a hypocritical, wishy-washy people-pleaser who doesn’t really stand up for her own values, mostly because of how she was raised in a household with rigid gender roles. Her father demanded meek submission from her as a "proper lady", and her mother was complicit in it. Youko was taught to "be a good girl," where being a good girl meant being subservient to other people's wishes—especially men—and never standing out... something that her natural-born auburn hair complicates. It's something she's born with, but her father and teacher makes her dye it to fit in, and places the fault on Youko for "standing out too much" even though she had no control over it.

After all the Bad Shit that happened to her after arriving in the 12 Kingdoms—being thrown into a confusing world with no information and hunted by deadly demons who are specifically out to get her, the discrimination she gets being in a country that hates people like her, being betrayed and almost dying multiple times—she becomes cold and calculating, distrustful of everyone around her and shuts down her emotion.

but unlike grimdark cutthroat fantasies where trust is derided as foolish by the narrative, Youko's triumph comes from refusing to give up on the goodness in people after meeting a kind person who is also discriminated for being different, and resolves to defend her values with concrete action, taking responsibility for her own actions. Her confrontation with the Blue Monkey is breathtaking, and the way she rejects his nihilistic despair by staying true to herself left a strong impression on pre-teen me. Going along with other people may seem easier, but staying true to yourself and taking responsibility for your life is true fulfillment.

She continues to grow after the first novel. As she takes the throne—a duty and responsibility tied to her life, as well as the lives of the people in her kingdom—she realizes how much she still has to learn, and takes action so that she would not be reduced to a mere figure head and people-pleaser, like she had been. She questions the structure of the world, and makes changes to not only benefit her own kingdom, but to also strengthen international diplomatic relations across the 12 Kingdoms.

In short, Youko is cool as hell and an admirable person to look up to, especially after seeing how much she's changed from her first appearance.

#12K12Days #12K #twelve kingdoms #juuni kokki #nakajima youko #十二国記 #12 kingdoms