Couple random points to throw in (re: Kaiba, because, umm, yeah, obsessed.) There's an interesting definition of "evil" in YGO when it comes to Kaiba - at Death-T Kaiba is a villain, evil, proven by his rejection of Mokuba's loyalty and finally betrayal, subjecting his brother to the penalty game. Other than his restored loyalty to Mokuba afterwards, the biggest difference we see in Kaiba post-Death-T is a lack of deception. He's not only an honorable duelist; he doesn't lie at all (he does leave things out, such as *why* he's so hell-bent to defeat Pegasus even at the risk of his own life, but that's different). Which is a 180 from Kaiba's original introduction, in which he makes nice with Yugi first to steal the Blue Eyes, then to connive them into Death-T (with that creepy, creepy friendly smile, and the announcement that this is his dream, to make amusement parks for children - and it's only much later that you find out he was in fact being totally honest about that.) As you pointed out re: Bakura, manipulation = evil, in the YGO 'verse; Kaiba flips from evil to good (if rival/foil) when he becomes honest, various sociopathic tendencies nonwithstanding.
Am really wanting to see Battle City play out in the manga, because in the anime there's the thread through it of Kaiba trying to figure out what this friendship thing really is all about, (Yami's 'friends, opponents, does there have to be a difference?') and possibly coming to terms with some of it in the end, and I suspect that's a stronger theme in the manga.
(There's another aspect to Kaiba's attitude that isn't really explored in the manga so is likely unintentional, but while Yugi-tachi are all high schoolers, Kaiba doesn't appear to attend school after that first chapter - as a CEO, he lives in the adult, cutthroat business world, where trust and friendship aren't nearly as pure, more negotiation than feelings. He quite literally can't afford to be too trusting or open at work, and since he's been raised to live his job, he doesn't really have a personal life. Even Mokuba, who seems to be the one person Kaiba does trust without reservation, is as much business partner as brother.)
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Date: 2005-10-14 02:31 pm (UTC)Couple random points to throw in (re: Kaiba, because, umm, yeah, obsessed.) There's an interesting definition of "evil" in YGO when it comes to Kaiba - at Death-T Kaiba is a villain, evil, proven by his rejection of Mokuba's loyalty and finally betrayal, subjecting his brother to the penalty game. Other than his restored loyalty to Mokuba afterwards, the biggest difference we see in Kaiba post-Death-T is a lack of deception. He's not only an honorable duelist; he doesn't lie at all (he does leave things out, such as *why* he's so hell-bent to defeat Pegasus even at the risk of his own life, but that's different). Which is a 180 from Kaiba's original introduction, in which he makes nice with Yugi first to steal the Blue Eyes, then to connive them into Death-T (with that creepy, creepy friendly smile, and the announcement that this is his dream, to make amusement parks for children - and it's only much later that you find out he was in fact being totally honest about that.) As you pointed out re: Bakura, manipulation = evil, in the YGO 'verse; Kaiba flips from evil to good (if rival/foil) when he becomes honest, various sociopathic tendencies nonwithstanding.
Am really wanting to see Battle City play out in the manga, because in the anime there's the thread through it of Kaiba trying to figure out what this friendship thing really is all about, (Yami's 'friends, opponents, does there have to be a difference?') and possibly coming to terms with some of it in the end, and I suspect that's a stronger theme in the manga.
(There's another aspect to Kaiba's attitude that isn't really explored in the manga so is likely unintentional, but while Yugi-tachi are all high schoolers, Kaiba doesn't appear to attend school after that first chapter - as a CEO, he lives in the adult, cutthroat business world, where trust and friendship aren't nearly as pure, more negotiation than feelings. He quite literally can't afford to be too trusting or open at work, and since he's been raised to live his job, he doesn't really have a personal life. Even Mokuba, who seems to be the one person Kaiba does trust without reservation, is as much business partner as brother.)