Back to my roots of talking about shit no one cares about and today it’s Lou Lang from Sword of the stranger
I don’t see a lot of discussions about his character especially in relation to his parallel to Nanashi in terms of their status as foreigners. While Nanashi seems to crave some form of acceptance hence the act of dyeing his hair and that being the foundations for his want to help others, Lou Lang seems to swing the opposite end and instead embraces and even take pride in his difference. He's someone who gave up trying to connect to ppl in a conventional way and on a large scale.
His character is often interpreted as being cold and ruthless (which isn’t wrong), but I think it’s interesting to view it in the context of scenes such as when he’s reporting to the dubious priest and gets called a barbarian (out of earshot but the implications seem to be that he gets insulted like this a lot). Lou Lang said he doesn’t take it personally which I think is true, but I don’t think it’s bc he doesn’t think much of it but moreso that he’s learned to compartmentalizes it. When he speaks his mind, there’s still an expectation to be listened to, but also he’s not taken aback by aggressive pushbacks and judging by his indifference it can be interpreted that this was also common occurence to him.
It goes back to his contrast with Nanashi, who does take these comments to heart on some level and reacts go them by hiding his natural traits, unlike Lou Lang who proudly displays them. They react differently to discrimination but I find it unlikely that Lou Lang is unaffected by it just bc he’s not emotional about it like Nanashi.
Lou Lang’s lust for fighting is another part of his identity that I believe is somewhat contributed by his discrimination too. Throughout the movie, both him and Nanashi are only ever talked about by the majority through their combat prowess as if it’s another reason justifying their alienation from the hegemony. It’s one of the traits that exists in this grey area where some level of acceptance is possible for them.
For Nanashi it ties into his want for some form of connection, so in the past, he defined himself based on his utility, but his char dev is him moving away from that societal expectation to craft his own values. I’ve only ever seen Lou Lang talked about as a warning to Nanashi about pursuing selfish desires, again, not wrong but I think it’s further than that.
Lou Lang’s individuality and ego doesn’t exist outside of what was socially constructed. When Itadori attacked him, he could’ve simply walk away just like any other instances, but his ego has been defined by his status as a warrior sm he just has to engage. To him, this was the only way he’s ever known to connect to other ppl and the only way he’s ever allowed to. Even the twink who gets teased by his teammate for following Lou Lang around only ever seem to do so bc of his skills. If even the only person who attempts to have a relationship with him can not see him independent of his usefulness then what does that says? In Lou Lang’s mind he’s just doing what was always seem to be the norm and also what is expected of him, it seems like pure, independent, antisocial and selfish desire on the surface but it is very much part of the social playbook. Lou Lang kinda cracked the code to the system but approach the solution in the wrong way
