Bruce Roberston (Filth by Irvine Welsh - 1998) x Ogata Hyakunosuke (Golden Kamuy)
Some quick thoughts under the cut
This is really only a shred of the similarities between Bruce and Ogata, but I decided to narrow my focus for space and Tumblr’s image limit. But here are a few more thoughts from the top of my head:
In Filth, Bruce Robertson is vying for a promotion to detective inspector in the Scottish police force, hoping that once he secures his position, his wife will see the “error of her ways” and return to him with their daughter. Ogata aims for the position of first lieutenant to prove his mother’s assertion that he must become a fine officer like his father to be deemed just as good as those with status/wealth. At the same time, obtaining this position would make her proud/happy, thus he would also gain his mother’s love. To accomplish this, both men sow seeds of doubt amongst those who stand in the way of their goal. Bruce pits the other candidates for the promotion against each other, just like how Ogata picks off Tsurumi’s inner circle until he is the only one left.
Both men are severely disillusioned with the systems (the police/the military) they are part of and abuse the authority granted to them by those systems. They take great pleasure in breaking down and mentally destroying others as a way to reaffirm their sense of moral nihilism.
Ian Robertson isn’t actually Bruce’s father. Bruce’s biological father was a mentally ill serial rapist who targeted his mother right before she was set to marry Ian. Due to his mother and the village’s catholic faith, she kept the child (Bruce), but he was uniquely shunned/bullied by everyone in his village, including his stepfather, for being a product of rape. (That’s also why Ian tries to keep Bruce away from Stevie and Bruce’s half-siblings because he views Bruce as an inherently corrupting force, spreading his filth to his other children.) It’s not that dissimilar from Ogata being bullied by his supposed “comrades” in the military because his mother was a geisha (sex worker). Now I wouldn't say Tome was anywhere near as abusive as Ian was, but they do share some similarities regarding food and neglect that impacted Bruce and Ogata in the same way.
After killing their younger brothers, Bruce and Ogata both project Stevie and Yuusaku onto other people. In Bruce’s case, Clifford Blades’ morality, status, and privilege subconsciously remind him of Stevie in the same way Asirpa’s moral purity reminds Ogata of Yuusaku. Both seek to impose their own lack of morality on the people they project onto, as Bruce and Ogata goad Clifford and Asirpa into being their worst selves/giving into immorality.
Asirpa’s persistence in finding the good within Ogata is similar to Bruce’s dynamic with a woman named Mary. Bruce tried to save her husband, but ultimately failed. Mary never blames him and instead views him as an upright “good” cop. It’s the discrepancy between how horrible Bruce is as a person and who he is in Mary’s eyes that causes him to have a severe mental breakdown, just as it did for Ogata due to Asirpa’s care for him. It’s because Mary sees the good in him that she forces him to confront his guilt/pain over killing Stevie, just like Asirpa does with Ogata.
The text within the bulging line is actually dialogue from a tape worm in Bruce’s stomach, which he has unknowingly anthropomorphized and serves as his conscience. As the book progresses, it takes up entire pages, pushing Bruce’s internal dialogue to the background, which marks a fascinating parallel to Ogata’s conferring with multiple versions of himself right before he dies/hallucinating Yuusaku whenever he feels guilt.
I would have added screencaps from the 2013 adaptation of Filth, but alas, I ran out of space. But I do want to note that Bruce is a horrible, irredeemable person in the book who commits every crime imaginable, alongside being a horrific racist, so like... don’t feel bad for him lol (and I wouldn't recommend reading the book or watching the movie unless you can stand like horrific behavior/aren't grossed out easily). He is marginally a better person in the movie, but not by much.
I could go on, but I’ll likely save that for an essay or something, who knows. Toodles!~
