Quote:
Originally Posted by Anh_Minh
On request, I'll elaborate.
To be clear: I don't think they're similar at all. But they're both wish fulfillment. Tatsuya's wish is "I wish I was awesome and that nobody could hurt me. And that it made me popular".
The awesome part is, I think, self-evident. Even his so-called "weakness" with conventional magic is neatly circumvented by his Flash Cast ability, which is even better than normal CAD use.
The "hurt" is a bit more interesting. He can be temporarily damaged physically, but he'll just regenerate, as good as new. But mostly, it's about pain: with his emotions amputated, he can't be emotionally hurt, and even physical pain loses its real edge. He's said to pay a terrible price when he restores others... but without emotions, he feels no apprehension, and even the memory of pain is merely unpleasant. Just information, instead of a part of his being.
It's not even a new desire: a lot of characters are The Stoic. Usually all it takes is some traumatic event or unconventional childhood, not brainwashing, but that's unimportant.
As for the popularity - it's different from SAO. What did Kirito get? A beautiful wife and a cute daughter. And enough admirers to flatter his ego. What did Tatsuya get? Completely subservient women. Fortunately Mayumi and Lina were there to balance things out a bit, but Miyuki, Honoka and Pixie? |
I agree with most of it, though I think both characters have more than enough development and problems to keep them from "wish-fulfillment" status.
However, Miyuki doesn't really count as subservient. She certainly tends to act that way around Tatsuya, but she does it deliberately to balance out the fact that he's completely subservient to her, and not entirely by choice. We see enough of her true character when ever she gets pissed or caught up in a contest.
Honoka and Pixie (who are basically the same character) are indeed like this. However, it isn't presented in a fetishy way, but instead as a kind of problem that neither side can help. Tatsuya can't return her feelings, which has been explained as gently as possible (My opinion of Tats sky-rocketed after that). But Honoka is just as incapable of stopping her own feelings, which were apparently created as a result of an experiment similar to the Miya used on Tats.