On War: Suicides, to the Last, and other stupid ways to die in this life

I believe that not even losers like Ito have the right to die by their own hands. For they do not deserve a quick painless death.

So after Stripey decried the saving of Aono it got me thinking as to the root of his displeasure. The gist of it was that Aono was saved by Matsuri for her own selfish reasons after Aono’s suicide. I find it hard to fault the saving of an idiot suicide seeker and I applaud Matsuri for wanting some hawt yuri time with Aono. Nay saving Aono was a good idea, otherwise Stripey would have less ribbons to fawn over the end of series near yuri blow out might not have been. It also brings up one of the major differences between Japanese stories and those of the West and to an extent the rest of the world, namely the treatment of suicide and death in folklore, myth, and contemporary stories.

Suicide is viewed with much more romanticism in Japan. After all some of the most noted love suicides do come from the stabbiness of Japanese writers who took a look at the local brothel and composed their stories. The genres most noted examples basically have a dude who is in love with a prostitute who was sold to her wicked and unhappy lot in life by fate or her parents. More tragic is that the lover of the prostitute is a dimwit who loans money he cannot afford to lose or doesn’t even have or he does something really really stupid and gets disowned by his family and his wife adroitly leaves him. All these horrible things are needed before the douche and the prostitute can kill themselves. What you say? By slashing their wrists? Oh, no these idiots have the male stab the woman in the throat before his own. The Love Suicides at Sonezaki and The Love Suicides at Amajima are the most famous examples for the curious.

All these contrivances are built up to put these fools into the best light possible and then to highlight the sadness of their passing. In the West and the Middle East where Judeo-Christian tradition have dominated culture for the last few centuries there is no equivalent genre as a rule because suicide is a sin and God/Allah will punish you for your insolence at wasting your precious life in such a disgraceful manner. Hence why there is a debate on for the Jews whether or not the mass suicide at Masada in Roman times was really martyrdom or simply denying the grace of God. For Christians there is little to no room for suicide, and in the Islamic world there is the very nagging question of whether or not a suicide bomber is really a martyr as suicide is expressly denounced. Even Buddhism shuns suicide. In China the general attitude was that suicide was generally reserved for defeated commanders, defeated sovereigns, and political protest for men. For women suicide was more acceptable even desired since there were actual consequences to her natal family should she live after some contrived disgrace. Chinese literature has its share of love suicides but it is more littered with tales of ministers dying in political protest against a despot and defeated generals with no where left to run. In Japan however it is not about consequences but more often or not about “honor” for men and “love” for women.

Why commit suicide for doormat love is quite beyond me. Far better to live and end the Yuri drought than die in vain.

In anime there is a lighter side to suicide as it is some how helpful or simply beautiful about killing yourself in an emo state. In the West, dramas point out that suicide is not the answer by correctly pointing out that life insurance does not cover suicide hence your family is down one person but still in dire financial straits. Not much to like there yes? Well in Holland they support your right to die, though personally you may have the right to die, but you also have obligations to live. No parent should ever have to bury their children in peace time. That’s just my 2 cents though.

More over it seems that in anime it is women who commit suicide and or try to commit suicide more often or not; out of the lack of love or some such nonsense. Men on the other hand die for some sort of cause though it is much more for maintaining some sort of image which is just as self serving if not more so. In the Western literature women rarely successfully commit suicide and as a rule men don’t either.

I think that having so many stabby heroines implies some sort of need for women to be subordinated to doormats. This strange sense of alienation seems to addle the brains of women more in anime land that these dense stupid doormats. The list of these idiotically desperate otome is quite extensive and I am sure that many of us can name at least more than one in our viewing careers, though they are not always in a permanent state of stupidity. While women are more likely to attempt suicide the fact that the reasons given in anime are ridiculously shallow. This hardly constitutes as a meaningful way to shed light on the issue, not to mention the correct solution to the problem, even after considering the fact that a lot of anime is derived from He-Man woman hater p0rn.

Happy genki otome are far more attractive than dreary stabby suicidal ones. Nothing accentuates beauty like a smile.

To be sure such depression may feel to them fully justified, but against the weight of the suffering at large in Africa alone they pale in comparison. Not to say that it is not important to an extent but it is rather strange that females in anime that are the first and foremost of the wrist slashers.

Males, on the other hand, in Japanese works choose to die in such works as the 47 Ronin or more recently in anime where they go off in some conflict with the resolve to fight to the last in some desperate situation. To be fair the shogunate would have executed the 47 Ronin anyway so their deaths were a foregone conclusion. The little interesting caveat there was that they were criticized for focusing on getting the job done right rather than go for it then and there. Apparently there was the opinion that had their enemy perished before their plan went into action they would have been labeled cowards. The other argument was that earning honor for their fallen master in an unsuccessful vendetta was of paramount importance rather than a successful vendetta. In anime there is an idiot insistence on fighting to the last. This to me stinks of the lack of tactical imagination as last stands are the refuge of inept commanders. Strictly speaking dead heroes don’t win wars live soldiers do.

While there is the mystical warrior code of the Japanese Samurai, the reality was that during war this seppuku and harakiri nonsense was rather rare for the average low ranking warrior only the top guys actually did it since the reality was that they were going to be killed anyway; unless of course they switch sides at the right time. If you were a lord in the Sengoku Jidai and you lost power; suicide was more or less taken so your servants could hide your head and prevent your corpse from becoming a trophy. As for your women folk, rape was a likely out come of being captured with death not far away. In that light maybe death would be preferable though sensible people would try to escape if possible. Since I hope Japan and most of the world have advanced beyond medieval period there is no need to die from your minor disgrace so long as it is minor. Even then it is preferable that you correct it rather than just expire and have the state cover the funeral.

Even the Japanese soldier during WWII did not always spurn retreat and the Banzai charge was not always done. In fact in Burma the Japanese Imperial Army really legged it when they limped back after the epic failures at Imphal and Kohima. They even retreated. The stories indicate that while some chose to die there were just as many who told their officers to fuck off when they were told to die by piling up on a grenade. However, it is true that their no surrender attitude at certain battles contributed to how bleak the picture was for a full scale invasion of Japan hence why the dropping of atomic bombs was even militarily acceptable.

At this point having her hit the pavement is far too kind a fate for her. I want her break out the saw and go nuts. Its the only way for School Days to end.

The West does have a tradition for portraying last stands but last stands are rarely the first choice and more often or not always serve some higher purpose such as a delaying action in the case of the 300 Spartans. In Japan and West the last stand is undertaken there to tell the enemy of their resolve to fight and their determination to never yield. The difference is that in the West there is always a bigger reason for the last stand. In the case of the 300 Spartans, treachery allowed the Persians to gain a superior position, and there was still the need to buy more time, hence a last stand was needed though I must point out that the other Greek warriors were sent home. Thus it was a rearguard mission first and foremost and not a last stand to show resolve. In Japan the statement is essentially the only reason with little mention of the strategic significance of having to defend and indefensible position.

In the West if you are defeated you are not expected to die after every failed battle but you are expected to do what you can. If you cannot fight then there is little to cry about. Napoleon went into exile as a deposed French Emperor and yet he is not called a coward, but still referred to as a military genius. Heck the King Haakon the VII of Norway gets more acclaim for his willingness to abdicate if Norway chose to surrender to Hitler; in contrast to Hirohito who kept is throne rather than be morally courageous. King Haakon VII did not insist upon dying in some ill-conceived last stand but retreated to Great Britain with the Storting, gold reserve, and what remained of Norway’s military in tow. Because of his actions Norway was rebuilt with much less pain and they contributed to the Allied War effort.

Fighting to the death is not manly. Fighting nearly nakkid is manly.

The treatment of suicide in anime does reflect much of the “culture of suicide” image of Japan. It is only recently that the Tokyo regime has established a national suicide help line, and Japan does have a higher suicide rate than most other First World Countries and even then there is the suspicion that the suicide rate may even be under reported.

While stabbiness makes anime more enjoyable I prefer it directed more outwardly. Suicide though makes me shake my head at times. Last stands and courageous deaths for the sake of vanity fill me with rage.

So do you think that suicide is beautiful in anime or simply stupid? Perhaps both? Is dying in some last stand the ultimate expression of one’s manliness or simply due to the lack of imagination and the final admission of one’s ineptitude?