Chapter 12 begins with Musica reforging the sword that once was broken, the Ten Power's sword. Here's where I start to get really incredulous. Haru has, at this point, less than two hours to save Elie; therefore, he needs his sword finished in time. Musica even tells him that in his prime, it took a day for him to make a sword. Now, I don't know much about metalwork, but I'm pretty sure it would be pretty damn hard, if not impossible, to repair a sword in under two hours. Add on the fact that Musica's been drunk for the past 15 years, it seems to me this would be well out of the realm of possibility. But story trumps logic, and Musica is able to fix the sword in no time flat. Haru promises to destroy Lance's sword, and is off to save the girl.
Meanwhile, Elie is chained in Lance's place, and reminds me why I like her so much. Even though she's a damsel in distress and waiting for the guys to save her, she's still a fun and upbeat character. She's not panicking or crying or just saying Haru's name, like that will bring him faster. Maybe it's a bit ridiculous that she's doing this even when she's threatened with a sword, I appreciate that she brings some levity to her situation.
Musica the Gangster is waiting for Haru outside Lance's mansion, but decides to go in by himself as the clock winds down. He wastes no time in beating up the guards outside getting in. His next exchange will Elie represent a huge difference between the thirteen-year-old reading this manga and me, as an adult reading this manga.
Maybe it's because I've finally read the first book of Game of Thrones, maybe it's because I'm more aware of sexual assault and rape now than I was, maybe it's just because I'm an adult and have learned that the world is dangerous, even moreso if you're a woman...I always get on edge when I hear about situations - fictional or not - like these.
Cute, young girl gets captured by a strong, powerful man with no morals, who has her chained up and could do anything he wanted to to her. If this were Game of Thrones, or a crime novel, maybe a TV drama with adults as a target audience, you know exactly where this is going to go.
But it doesn't. There's nothing sexual about this scene. Elie claims that Lance was trying to look down her shirt, but she says that it was a joke. I'm so glad that this scene didn't go anywhere near that. I remember that Rave Master gets dark in some places. There's death, suicide, and some reasonably adult themes in the series. But it never goes into sexual assault. There's a lot of reasons why this might be the case. It's an action manga, rather than a drama; the target audience is teenagers; it's too dark.
Whatever reasons Mashima decided not to use it, I'm glad.
I'm also glad that when I was reading this as a young adolescent, the idea that Elie might be raped never even crossed my mind. It's a small piece of innocence, but innocence nonetheless. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better if I could still think like that.
Musica fights Lance's bodyguard, Bis, and there are more puns. When it becomes apparent that Musica is going to win, Lance cuts down Bis, to prove just how evil he is. Evil, but not interesting. As Musica steps up to fight Lance, Musica the Blacksmith has just finished repairing Haru's sword. Haru learns that Musica the Blacksmith's family was murdered by Lance, and Haru vows to destroy Lance's sword, ending chapter 12.
Right now the story seems pretty generic. Girl gets kidnapped by bad guy, hero goes to save girl, bad guy has no real motivation to be so bad. It really bugs me that Lance is just evil for the sake of being evil. The best villains are the ones that do wrong for reasons they think are right. A good villain believes in something. Lance? He believes in hurting people, mainly for shits 'n' giggles. I don't know about you, but that's not a cause I can get behind.
Meanwhile, Elie is chained in Lance's place, and reminds me why I like her so much. Even though she's a damsel in distress and waiting for the guys to save her, she's still a fun and upbeat character. She's not panicking or crying or just saying Haru's name, like that will bring him faster. Maybe it's a bit ridiculous that she's doing this even when she's threatened with a sword, I appreciate that she brings some levity to her situation.
Musica the Gangster is waiting for Haru outside Lance's mansion, but decides to go in by himself as the clock winds down. He wastes no time in beating up the guards outside getting in. His next exchange will Elie represent a huge difference between the thirteen-year-old reading this manga and me, as an adult reading this manga.
 | ||
| If this was how GoT treated sexual abuse, I might actually watch it. |
Maybe it's because I've finally read the first book of Game of Thrones, maybe it's because I'm more aware of sexual assault and rape now than I was, maybe it's just because I'm an adult and have learned that the world is dangerous, even moreso if you're a woman...I always get on edge when I hear about situations - fictional or not - like these.
Cute, young girl gets captured by a strong, powerful man with no morals, who has her chained up and could do anything he wanted to to her. If this were Game of Thrones, or a crime novel, maybe a TV drama with adults as a target audience, you know exactly where this is going to go.
But it doesn't. There's nothing sexual about this scene. Elie claims that Lance was trying to look down her shirt, but she says that it was a joke. I'm so glad that this scene didn't go anywhere near that. I remember that Rave Master gets dark in some places. There's death, suicide, and some reasonably adult themes in the series. But it never goes into sexual assault. There's a lot of reasons why this might be the case. It's an action manga, rather than a drama; the target audience is teenagers; it's too dark.
Whatever reasons Mashima decided not to use it, I'm glad.
I'm also glad that when I was reading this as a young adolescent, the idea that Elie might be raped never even crossed my mind. It's a small piece of innocence, but innocence nonetheless. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better if I could still think like that.
Musica fights Lance's bodyguard, Bis, and there are more puns. When it becomes apparent that Musica is going to win, Lance cuts down Bis, to prove just how evil he is. Evil, but not interesting. As Musica steps up to fight Lance, Musica the Blacksmith has just finished repairing Haru's sword. Haru learns that Musica the Blacksmith's family was murdered by Lance, and Haru vows to destroy Lance's sword, ending chapter 12.
Right now the story seems pretty generic. Girl gets kidnapped by bad guy, hero goes to save girl, bad guy has no real motivation to be so bad. It really bugs me that Lance is just evil for the sake of being evil. The best villains are the ones that do wrong for reasons they think are right. A good villain believes in something. Lance? He believes in hurting people, mainly for shits 'n' giggles. I don't know about you, but that's not a cause I can get behind.
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