#dl analysis

These 2 are 100% Toxic Yuri. No one can change my mind.

Cordelia yearns for attention, and because Karlheinz is unable to feel anything towards anyone, Cordelia is stuck craving and wanting. Especially since Karlheinz doesn’t care for Cordelia, seeing her as a failed experiment and a means to an end.

Cue Beatrix.

Someone who can GIVE Cordelia the reactions and attention she wants, while still revelling in the same stoic, cold, nonchalant appeal that Karlheinz brings.

—All in the twisted comfort and solace in Beatrix.

And that somewhat tears Cordelia inside knowing that she must seek it out from Beatrix—her rival.

In a way, she finds herself loathing how Karlheinz sees her as disposable despite seeing Karlheinz as her drug, her innate need to be seen as a true woman or a true person in her own right. As in a way, she’s forfeited everything to him; her life, her soul, her.

So it’s quite scary to see herself so comfortable in the soothing—yet gentle—arms of Beatrix. So much that she starts to crave it. …And perhaps like it.

100% toxic since Cordelia—in her twisted senses—attributes these new found “acts of service,” albeit gentler than she’s used to, as something foreign yet needy. Needy in the way that she’s never thought she could be needed or valued in such a way.

It goes against her values, especially since Cordelia believes Beatrix is under her mercy, her whims. Only for Cordelia to realize the innermost parts of her has forfeited parts of her (shockingly unclaimed?!) heart to Beatrix—despite it being for Karlheinz.

Or so she thought.

It’s toxic in Cordelia’s possessiveness towards her inability to share Beatrix’s attention, border-lining her urges to ruin Beatrix in every way she can. Ripping and gnawing at skin, scratches—red streaky lines—coursing broadened backs, and stealing selfish bruising kisses, where sharpened fangs tear gums and burst lips like hot searing geysers.

Whereas Beatrix realizes she’s one of the only people who can “handle” or “deal” with Cordelia, in any way she sees fit. The sole person who can fully understand Cordelia’s insecurities and amateurish ways in which she displays it. Amateurish. That’s Cordelia. In comparison to Beatrix, that is, in terms of relationships and “playing house.”

But Beatrix is toxic, too. For every “model” housewife holds secrets unlike any other. She knows how to carefully manipulate Cordelia’s needs. The way in which she keeps Cordelia coming back when she’s in one of her “depressive” moods. Where she finds her self-worth attributed to whatever selfish desires she can enact and take—take, take, TAKE—from another. Never give. Always take.

And Beatrix? Always willing to give—for the right price, that is.

Ok so I’m hella rusty here because I haven’t done analysis in a while. But I started thinking about this because I remember a post a long time ago that called Reiji weak for hiring a vampire hunter to kill his mother. And that’s stuck with me for a long while. 

I know we talk about all of the trauma and pain all these boys have a lot but I feel like Reiji gets glossed over a lot simply because he’s really good at hiding that pain for the most part. 

But when it comes out it’s glaring. He’s screaming for attention and appreciation as loudly and desperately as all of the other brothers. 

Because here’s the thing, hiring a vampire hunter to kill his mother isn’t as weak as it is calculating. Everything Reiji does is so painfully calculated. 

Reiji is ignored his whole life. We know that. He is the most neglected Sakamaki, which directly correlates to his standards of perfection. The more the neglect, the more he strives for perfection. All of the other brothers had some sort of recognition, regardless of how batshit it was. Reiji got nothing. Growing up it was as if he didn’t exist. 

What Reiji wants most is recognition. 

Shu is such a huge sore spot because Shu shadows all possibility for Reiji to get recognition. It’s why when Yui comes back with Shu’s scent (even though all she did was talk to him) Reiji reacts as strongly as he does, and whips her through the night. He resorts to physical lashing--to something that will scar over so that there will be a permanent reminder on her body that he exists. So that Yui will be forced to recognize Reiji, so that even if she doesn’t see him, she feels his pain. She knows he exists. 

It’s the equivalent of a child throwing a tantrum for attention. Look at me. Focus on me. Hear me. See me. He desperately wants/needs to make himself known, but he does it in a way that assumes false composure. He is the living breathing definition of “fake it till you make it.” 

So then looking at the whipping scene. Yui thinks to herself something along the lines of “are these scars the ones on Reiji’s heart? Maybe that’s too convenient...” but I don’t think it’s convenient at all. I think that’s precisely it. Reiji can lash out at Yui. Can leave his mark on her. He couldn’t do the same to Beatrix.

Lowkey starting to sound like Laito

Here’s where the vampire hunter comes in. I think a lot of people struggle with the concept because if Reiji hated Beatrix so much, why not just kill her himself? Why not own the entirety of the whole process? What’s the point? 

To answer the first question, I don’t believe Reiji really hated Beatrix. I think he resented her. Heavily. But I don’t think he hated her. Above all he revered her for a very long time. And when he finally realized he’d never be recognized for going above and beyond her expectations, that’s where he had to shift gears. If he wouldn’t be noticed for his perfection, then he’d be noticed for his strength/power.  

Ok, so with that in mind, it doesn’t make sense to hire someone to do the job for you, right? But I’d argue that it’s precisely because he didn’t hate her that he couldn’t bring himself to kill her the way the triplets kill their mom. Because quick aside, the triplets fucking hate their mom.

In my opinion, Reiji’s thought process was hire the vampire hunter so that Beatrix can suffer, so that she can feel pain and torment the way Reiji has all these years. And then, just before she dies, he reveals himself to be the mastermind who orchestrated it all. Beatrix then feels the ultimate betrayal of being killed by her son, and dies in anguish being forced to finally face Reiji and see him for who he is. Maybe even with a sprinkle of regret for neglecting him.

All of that backfires on him, however, because instead of feeling betrayed, Beatrix smiles, tells Reiji she was glad it was him who killed her, and dies in peace.

All his plans have fallen to shambles, cue the dramatic break-down.

Before I get to said breakdown, let’s take a moment to think about what killing means to vampires. For anyone new here, killing for vampires is the ultimate declaration of love. Previously I’ve analyzed Reiji wanting to kill his mom as a way of owning her, so that she’ll always belong to him. Similar-but-different to why Laito wants to kill Cordelia. 

HOWEVER.

I think I’m going to amend that. Because I think this further explains why Reiji might have hired a vampire hunter. He hired the hunter, sure, but he didn’t directly kill Beatrix. He only orchestrated her demise. Showed up at the end so that he could have the satisfaction of seeing her take her last breath. So that he could look down at her. So that when/if she asked for his help, he could deny her of that. In other words, by hiring a vampire hunter, it’s the ultimate I don’t love you/fuck you. 

He wants Beatrix to hurt. He wants her to feel that same rejection that he’s felt from her. He wants to be able to reject her in the same way she’s rejected him.

But. It doesn’t. Work. Because this bitch really dies with a smile on her face!!!

Okay so now we’re at his mini mental breakdown. All of the boys react to displeasing situations in different ways/have various coping mechanisms. Shu sleeps things off, Laito has sex, Kanato screams/goes to his doll room, Ayato challenges people/blows off steam and Subaru obviously resorts to violence/destroying things. 

Reiji is interesting because he strives for solutions. He becomes engrossed in fixing whatever it might be that he found “unpleasant” or “disagreeable.”

In this case, obviously, he feels as though his mom died in the wrong way. 

So he’s just gonna kill her again the right way. All he has to do is come up with a potion that will bring people back to life. No big deal. 

People gloss over this a lot, I think. Like oh, Reiji just made a freaking revival potion in two days cuz he’s smart or whatever. He’s always brewing something anyway, how is this any different?

But guys. He’s been working on this shit for YEARS. Beatrix dies before Cordelia does, which means that he’s been trying to make this potion work since before Yui is born. That is 16+ years AT LEAST. 

SIXTEEN. YEARS??? Who?? Has the patience for that??? It’s his life project. Bringing his mother back literally is his everything. He is consumed by the need to make her “die the right way,” to exact his revenge and make her suffer the way he’d originally intended. 

So now imagine you’re Reiji. Imagine you’re chilling after hours of research for your life’s work that you’re so close to completing. And then this tiny little human comes in and READS YOUR DAMN PAPERS. Is it any wonder he nearly kills Yui in that scene??

People tend to not understand or act like he’s overreacting but that resurrection drug is literally all Reiji has. That’s his coping mechanism. It’s all he’s got left to hold on to. 

It would have been the equivalent of Yui trying to hold Teddy. 

And so Reiji loses it. Rightfully so. Which, I will agree, at first glance seems super out of character for his usual stoic demeanor, but now that I’m looking at it I think it was beautifully done and it really reveals a lot about him when you take the time to put it into context of everything else he’s been dealing with. 

Iris: Ahhh I'm excited about this one!! THANK YOU NAT <33

Mirrors & Mothers; How Christa’s narrative haunts Subaru’s psyche.

I was talking to @shadyraisincookie and I thought this would be fun to do. I know @midnightnico is also familiar with the games, and much more familiar with the Japanese than I am so if you wanna chime in too feel free, since I only have knowledge of the songs and the only game I’ve played in the actual Japanese has been Vandead Carnival. Like in my other posts, reblogs are fine, but if you have something to add or say, then just send me an ask or message and don’t add to this post. Thanks :)

So I was listening to Gin no Bara recently and I realized I’d only ever heard Reiji’s and Kanato’s. So I went to give Laito’s a listen, and I almost flipped my shit because instead of ‘anata’ he used ‘omae’ and I thought I was crazy cuz I thought I’d heard Kanato’s and Reiji’s wrong all this time. But no! Kanato and Reiji are the only ones to refer to the heroine as ‘anata’ in their Gin no Bara versions. Everyone else uses ‘omae.’ 

And then I thought, oh this is interesting. 

Especially when we consider the connotations these words hold in the actual Japanese. Because in translations everything always just becomes ‘you’ and loses the attached meanings. So I was like this begs to be talked about. 

Anata, Kimi, and Omae

They’re basically listed in descending order according to...familiarity? I guess is what you could call it? That’s the best way I can describe it at least. 

While anata can be a more formal kind of thing, which is why I think people assume it’s the go-to word for Kanato and Reiji, it’s more so associated with couples. Not quite ‘dear’ but I guess you can think of it like that. I don’t necessarily think Reiji or Kanato see her in this way, but I do think the way they see the heroine from the very beginning is different from the way the other brothers do. While the heroine will of course always be food, I feel that to Reiji and Kanato she also immediately becomes their ‘responsibility’ in a sense. She becomes their property in a way that is not quite like the other boys. Where I think the other boys feel she owes them everything, I find that to Kanato and Reiji, they also feel as though they need to provide her something as well. They look after her, even if its in their own fucked up way, even if its in a condescending way, but more than food she becomes something of theirs that they then have to take care of.  Kanato also often refers to her using her own name, adding the -san honorific, which I think speaks volumes, considering he is acknowledging her for who she really is while simultaneously being respectful.

Ok so now we have ‘kimi.’ Which is like just sort of the default. I feel like most of the boys use it at one point or another. It’s the most natural way to call someone, so I won’t really say much about it, other than they’re comfortable enough to use ‘kimi’ with the heroine instead of like addressing her by name. 

Which leaves ‘omae.’ This one puts the other person at a sort of arm’s length away in terms of familiarity I suppose. It can also come off as very rude if used the wrong way, and I feel like most of the time the boys probably are using it in that context. The one who stands out the most is Subaru just because he’s the one I’ve heard use it the most. So he clearly draws the line between the heroine, and himself. Like I said before, it’s what 4/6 boys use in the Gin no Bara, but that may or may not have more to do with the fact that it fits in the three syllables, and anata might be the wrong vibe (or even out of character) for anyone who isn’t Kanato or Reiji. 

Anta and Kisama

I think it’s Shuu who often uses ‘anta’ which is the rude version of anata and I believe would basically be the equivalent of ‘omae’ but slightly sharper. Shin likes to use this one as well when referring to the heroine. Again, just another way to keep the distance between themselves, and her. They always place themselves as superior. 

Carla we all know uses ‘kisama.’ And I think everyone gets the general idea that it’s not a nice thing to call someone. But I was surprised to learn the meaning as to why. “Kisama” is actually a very formal and respectful thing to call someone, but this person would have to be the emperor or have god-like status. So what “kisama” really is is just a super sarcastic and degrading comment because no one will ever really reach that level, and that’s what makes it so offensive. I don’t think there’s really an English equivalent to this, other than ironically calling someone “your highness” or something like that. But even then I don’t think it carries the same weight as ‘kisama’ does. I think this is particularly fitting for Carla to use, considering he is himself a king and one of the only founders left, so he already sees himself as above everyone else. And I think the fact that someone as simple as a human girl is the key to not only continuing the race but also the cure to his endzeit, no doubt that’s probably incredibly fucking irritating, not to mention frustrating, which is why I think he chooses this very harsh version of ‘you.’ 

Chichinashi, Bitch-chan, Kachiku, and M-Neko-chan

The following I can say with more confidence, because the analysis will remain the same across any language. All of these ‘nicknames’ I guess you could call them, are degrading in their own sense. I know Yuma also tends to call her “Sow” but I’m unaware of what it is he actually calls her in the Japanese so I’ll be omitting it for now. Regardless it’ll be the same sort of analysis as Ruki’s ‘kachiku.’

So Chichinashi, I’m sure most people know by now is literally ‘titless.’ Which is interesting in the context of Ayato. It’s no secret this is his preferred body part, so to define her as someone completely lacking of that feature is to put the heroine in a position that functions only to satisfy a sexual gaze. And with a name like Chichinashi, she doesn’t succeed in even that much. While obviously offensive, it becomes a constant reminder, not just to the Heroine, but to Ayato that because she lacks that which might make her sexually appealing, her only redeeming feature is the quality of her blood, and calling her chichinashi over and over seems to solidify this in Ayato’s head. In a way I feel like this is him convincing himself that he’ll never feel anything towards her, because no matter her personality she is lacking what he has determined to be an ideal feature. It’s his way of putting his walls up, to keep his emotions at an unreachable distance.

Bitch-chan and M-Neko-chan I find to be in the same category. First of all, they both include the ‘chan’ honorific, which can of course come off as flirty, but it’s also the honorific used for small children and women. What’s fucked up about it is that it functions to falsely neutralize the insult because it gives it the appearance as being ‘cute’ or ‘endearing’ when in reality calling someone a bitch or a masochistic cat aren’t really very nice. Both nicknames place the heroine in a position below themselves, arguable far below themselves, considering they’re on the animal spectrum, which already seems to ‘other’ her and again subject her to a single, male gaze. Neko gets a slight pass, considering a ‘cat’ doesn’t have the same negativity attached to it that ‘bitch’ does, but what drives Kou’s nickname home is the “M” he slaps in front of it. As I’m sure everyone knows, it stands for ‘masochist’ which like the ‘chan’ functions to neutralize the insults/abuse. Whatever he subjects to her will be fine, even if it’s painful, since he’s declaring her a masochist, and must therefore “enjoy it” when this is again not the case. To push it further, the masochist is always subject to the sadist, so again, by calling her as such, it reinforces the heroine’s position as beneath that of the boys. 

Kachiku, while still an animal of sorts, is a bit different. Literally livestock, it is not roundabout in the way bitch-chan and m-neko-chan are. It makes it very clear that the heroine is food, that her only purpose is to function as food, and there is this ever-present looming feeling that she could be set up for slaughter, like any other kind of livestock. In her case, it’d probably be equivalent to being drained dry. Rather than placing her beneath him, what Ruki does is put her in a separate category altogether, and much like Ayato’s Chichinashi, it serves more as a reminder to Ruki himself that she will never be his equal. She is meant to be eaten, to be used for his own gain, so it creates a barrier that might stop him from developing feelings for her.