Ai no Kusabi : character analysis through cigarette psychology or « Maybe finally an explanation to why everybody’s always smoking (aside from the obvious) »
I stumbled across an interesting picture online about « cigarette psychology ». Since the characters in the first AnK smoke so much, I decided to give a shot to identify the way(s) each character holds their cigarette. I haven’t seen anybody talk about this before and I do not know if it was a deliberate artistic choice from the animators to « hide » all these details, or I’m just reading too much into this.
Anyway, it becomes very interesting to analyze the characters and how they may feel during these scenes. I’ll only do Riki and Katze here, from the 92-94 OAVs. Luke and Guy (2012’s), and others smoke too.
Ok, let’s start with Katze, of course since he’s the first that comes to your mind when talking about smoking !
Katze : The direct, cautious businessmen from the sidelines.
There were three patterns I could find in Katze’s cigarette mannerism :
Pattern E : Very tense individual, direct, straight-toward, inclined towards stubborness.
E1 : Just before Katze starts to talk about his past as Iason’s furniture. I’d say he’s feeling tense?
E2 : Katze talking to Kirie, asking him if it’s a yes or a no. That’s straightforward. Maybe has a little of F?
E3 : Extinguishes his smoke before ordering Riki’s capture. Is very direct.
Pattern C : An intellectual, a very brainy type of guy, a contemplative character.
C1 : Katze welcomes Riki in his office. Switches in his black market boss persona. Brains are in motion
C2 : In the aircar outside of Riki’s. Thinking to himself about Riki and Iason’s relationship, and quoting the title. Here has also that « man from the sidelines » behavior.
Pattern I : Very pessimistic, excessive in business caution.
I : Reporting to Iason and talking about moving Riki to Apathia and the risks of him working on the black market. In business mode, but much more focused.
Riki : Pessimistic, contemplative dreaming mongrel (plus a bit of Iason)
C : Here, he is on the balcony, in contemplative state ; remembers the past, with hints of pessimism.
E1 : tense after finishing his cigarette, his (not) « last one ».
E2 : returning to Eos, leaving the slums and Guy. Made his choice.
Pattern H : A dreamer, always off on a tangent.
H1, H2 : Iason and Riki share a smoke. After both acting out of character, each confessing their love for each other (Iason saving Riki, Riki returning to Iason). Are they dreaming ? It doesn’t matter anymore, they’re both smiling at last.
Tell me what you think about this and if you agree with my choice/interpretation.
