I recently finnished watching the anime Get Backers. It is now easilly my favorite series. Now, normal people talk about their favorite things with there friends but... no, damn you, I was not going to say I don't have any friends *sniffle* I do, I really do... ahem, as I was saying, none of my friends have seen it, or would ever want to. So, I decided I'd do a little piece about it on my site. So here you go, my thoughts, images (mainly Akabane and Makube X... um, because I like them) and links on the goodness that is Get Backers. ^_^
And a brief warning: There may be some minor spoilers in here, but they won't ruin anything in the show.
Images:
- Makube X
- Akabane
- Makube X and Akabane
- Group
My Thoughts:
Akabane
I'll start with Akabane, since he's my favorite character. When I first said that to someone, they said something along the lines of "I can see why you'd like him, since he kills people." Which should tell you something about my reputation for being just a wee bit morbid ;) But that's not why I like him. A lot of people seem to just view him as a serial killer, and focus on how he has no moral issues over doing it. I like the mystery about him. In the beginning he seems evil, but as the series goes on I started to think of him as more of a neutral party. Everything he does is just so he can have some fun. While Akabane doesn't mind hurting people, that doesn't seem to be his end goal. He's always very polite and there's moments where he actually seems good, like near the end of the series when he gives Ban the box of cigarrettes because his are all wet. You're never sure if he may actually have a good side, or if he's just doing to make sure his opponents are at full strength. Which, in a round about way, brings me to my next point.
Akabane is constantly in search of enjoyment, which seems to generally involve slicing people up, or harassing Ginji - more on that later. He's looking for someone who can challenge him, someone who can beat him. Which is an interesting point. In many ways Akabane seems like a god, even after Ginji completely fries him, all of his knives just fly back into his body and he's fine. His full name can imply "keeper of bloody corpses". In many ways Akabane seems to represent death, and it's generally assumed other people's death. But with his obsession with combat, is there the possibility that Akabane is also looking for someone who can kill him?
Now on to his obsession with Ginji. I'm going to have to ponder this more to decide how I feel but I'll say my possibilities anyway. In the earlier parts of the show he seems to just enjoy scaring the sh** out of him. And now on to some major speculation. Could Akabane have chosen Ginji because he is the nicest, most accepting character in the show, and our cold serial killer just wants to have some friends? At one point, Akabane says he's not a traitor, because he didn't have any friends in the first place. It doesn't seem very regretful at the time. But as the show goes on, Akabane's expression starts to change a small amount when Ginji runs away from him screaming. He looks just a little bit hurt. When Ban defeats him near the end of the series, Akabane essentially asks Ban why he doesn't kill him. Ban says that since he met Ginji, he's fought for a reason, to help people, unlike Akabane who fights just to kill. And that's pretty much where the anime series leaves Akabane. But then in the ending music of the last episode you see him while Ban and Ginji are driving the beetle around town. They don't seem to notice him, but he definitely sees them. As they go by Akabane has a kind of hurt/wistful/sad expression his face. (
See Pic) Maybe he understands what Ban said and in some ways envies the two some?
Quotes:
"Even though he sees through everything, he smiles at me like he knows nothing."
-Makube X about Kagami Kyouji
"Everything might be someone else's one night dream"
-Makube X
" I, Makubex... Am I really here?"
-Makube X
"If there's no door...how about we make one?"
-Akabane
"The reasons we gathered in Mugenjou were all supposed to be different...but everyone's just trying to find somewhere they belong."
-Kazuki
Links:
Official Manga Home Page ~~~~~ Official Anime Home Page
The best Get Backers site I've see. Period.
Very nice Get Backers Art ^_^ ... I wish I could draw :( ...
A shrine to Akabane, who is, in my not so humble opinion, the best character in Get Backers.
GetBackers Copyright © Rando Ayamine & Yuuya Aoki / Kodansha, Ltd. Publishers / TBS, Inc. / KONAMI & Konami Computer Entertainment Japan. All rights are theirs.
