Iâm having feels about the Ramakien aka the Thai version of Ramayana. Basically, the Thai version is much edgier lmaoo, whereas the OG Ramayana is a semi religious text.
The real villain seems to be gods. The god who is the shitty manager of heaven, allowing his servant (the previous incarnation of Thotsakan- the âbad guyâ) to be bullied until he finally snaps, and the arrogance of the our âprotagonistâ who when he was a deity (Phra Narai) challenged our âvillainâ to be reborn as someone incredibly strong so they can fight fairly. Like, why not fight fair in the first place (fuck that excuse of teaching Thotsakan a lesson about lust)? If Phra Narai really cared about the wellbeing of the mortal world then why release a monster to be reborn in the world below, just so you can show off your strength and kill him?
And damn, the war between Rama (Naraiâs human incarnation) and Thotsakan is really imbalanced. Rama had a bunch of his friends incarnating alongside him to fight in his army, along with extremely advantageous blessings from the topmost god (the guy who allowed the villain to be bullied in the first place).
A lot of the characters in Team Protagonist are also assholes. Hanuman is vindictive, and also a sexual predator who fucks Thotsakanâs wife by pretending to be Thotsakan.
The part that reaaalllyyy made me angry is when Thotsakanâs wife realizes the truth, she tries to kill herself in shame but Thotsakan stops her and is all like âwhatâs done is done, itâs okay, donât hurt yourselfâ etc. In contrast, Rama - our oh so great protagonist - made Sita (his wife) walk through fire to prove her purity and innocence (aka that she didnât sleep with Thotsakan whilst he kidnapped her... like even if she did itâs not like she could refuse???). And again, he doubts her when he sees a picture of Thotsakan on her (turns out to be a ploy but man, have some faith in your wife dude).
I know you shouldnât judge old literature by modern standards, but when the villain treat their wife better than the protagonist I couldnât help but be annoyed.
Also, a lot of the Yak/Asura/Demons in the story arenât bad or heartless. After a battle where Thotsakanâs son got killed, he cried over his sonâs corpse and his soldiers also cried over their lost comrades and relatives. Kumbhakarna, imo, is Best Boi. Heâs Thotsakanâs little brother and is a demon who just keeps to himself, and tries to talk sense into his brother but in the end supports his brother anyway out of loyalty (and I suppose, fear of being exiled lol). Heâs a guy who just wants peace. This other demon, Mareet, is also a dude whose mother is a general who followed Thotsakanâs orders and got killed (Iâm not trying to excuse her complicity or justify Thotsakanâs action though). He lost his mother, his brother (and not sure maybe his wife and kids too) to Team Protagonist and heâs just another piece on the chessboard who is so outclassed by his opponents.
This play really shows how war sucks.
Ahhh I love it so much but the protagonists are so hypocritical and annoying. That might be because the author wanted all characters to be 3D, but having flaws doesnât mean they should be unlikable.