These are scattered thoughts, as I haven't had a chance to sit down and compose them. But as I'm now up to chapter 7 in my first reread of this volume in years, here are some impressions:
Boy, Naoe and Kagetora both really (intellectually) understand their position, even Kagetora, who lies and blusters about it more. They understand its dynamics, but neither of them can see a way out. In essence, they see no alternative but mutual destruction, which is much what Irobe observes a few volumes later. I think Kagetora captures this in his ruminations that love, hate, desire, and kindness are not enough to tie them together; only the eternal battle over who wins and who loses is. The problem here is the need to be tied together, as nicely illustrated by Kagetora's interrupting his own thoughts about how he can keep Naoe chained with a sudden, passing reflection that he doesn't want to chain him. The core question is why do they need to be chained? For Kagetora, the answer is ultimately that he's insecure; he needs outside validation to feel worthy. I think for Naoe the answer is more complex and multifaceted. Part of it is likely his own insecurity, his need to hitch himself to Kagetora's "superior" star, but part may, indeed, just come down to love, even compassion. I don't think he can leave Kagetora, in part, because he knows how much Kagetora needs him and that Naoe's leaving would destroy him.
Other stuff: I had forgotten how truly brutal the rape of Kagetora was. I had also forgotten how closely his relationship the primary rapist echoes his relationship with Naoe. He has already been brutally and totally betrayed by a very proper, trusted, older male servant. No wonder he has fears about its happening again, especially when Naoe is lunging at him in a way that absolutely is sexual assault if not actually rape. Kagetora behaves like someone who has been badly traumatized, and I can't say he doesn't have a right to.
I had also not registered how much foreshadowing is going on in the interactions between Yuzuru and Takaya. I don't want to be too spoilery here, but the general tenor of their conversations is going to come back in a "karma is a bitch" sort of way, in their case, both literal karma and metaphorical intra-lifetime karma.
Now that we're older (OMG how many years has it been since we crash-landed into this fandom?), do you still find the characters believably 400 years old? One of the things that frustrates me about Takaya is that he seemingly gains all of Kagetora's traumas and some of his worst tendencies (e.g. hit out at anyone questioning him) but none of the perspective that living for 400 should've given him. There's a stark example of this in Chapter 5, but I feel like this is true to a greater or lesser extent for all of the characters.
Yay, meta! I crash landed in this fandom in 2006, and I know you were already going strong. (Side note: is there any chance of more translation from Exaudi Nos?)
Here are my random thoughts on our heroes across 400 years. Is their lack of development plausible? Obviously, I can't really say as no one really lives 400 years, except some kinds of sharks? But in-universe, I find it plausible, and here's why. In a Buddhist frame of reference, the normal course of life is to die and be reincarnated. That process helps with spiritual/psychological development because it pushes a sort of reset button on a lot of life trauma, creating a sharp break that allows people to move past issues where they might otherwise be stuck. Karma remains as an echo of these past issues, but it's not as severe as dealing with the issue itself. It's like the difference between actively robbing banks vs. sitting in prison for having robbed banks, now knowing that it's wrong and when you get out you'll choose a different direction: both suck but the former is a less mature place to be. Though it's not true reincarnation, we see something of the immense value of this "reset" with Nobunaga as Kuchiki in the prequels. (I don't know if you've checked them out, so I won't say more.)
Kanshousha, of course, don't get this reset. They just have to work through their issues in more-or-less continuous life, and I do find it plausible that, like many folks in real life living 80 years, they have mindsets and patterns that don't fully change because there is tremendous inertia in the human psyche. Habits are very hard to break. And Mirage as a text is intensely aware of how psychological habits and patterns work. Thus, you have Naoe and Kagetora doing their "One day I will conquer you" "See if I care, you loser" thing across the decades, not because the writing is redundant but because they don't know how to break the pattern. (I think vol. 10 is really good at articulating this fairly explicitly, how stuck they both feel.) We see this with others too: with Haruie not being able to get off her thing for Shintarou, with Nobunaga not being able to get off his thing for world domination, with Kenshin not being able to be open and vulnerable with Kagetora. They are stuck because it's easy to get stuck and getting unstuck is a lot of work. As Irobe says in what is becoming one of my favorite Mirage quotes, "It's takes courage to let something go!"
I think, too, that with Naoe and Kagetora in particular, the original 40 volumes give us a somewhat skewed view of their whole lives. The 5-6 years or so it occupies follow Kagetora into a terminal descent that is really the sputtering out of a candle burning too brightly for 400 years (and, yes, it ultimately follows him ascending too). The Takaya we see, at least up through post-volume 20, is a mess. He is as big a mess as Kagetora has ever been. Some of the time, he's probably over the edge into clinically psychotic, in the sense of detached from certain pieces of reality. By the start of vol. 20 (which is his nadir and the start of his ascent), he is literally non-functional. It wasn't until I watched the Shouwa plays and started reading the summaries of the prequels that I began to realize how atypical this is for Kagetora. A lot of the patterns have always been there, but he's very rarely at a Takaya level of nattering on at strangers, "Why doesn't he love me? What did I do? It's not my fault!" Throughout most of their run, Kagetora has presented a plausible veneer of being very in control; this is much of why Naoe feels so dominated by him. Though I've only read the summary of it, I find the Bakumatsu prequel interesting here, as it shows Naoe and Kagetora after 25-30 (?) years apart having a pretty normal, functional relationship, with Kagetora stating quite astutely that he's steadier when he doesn't have Naoe to lean on. Though he ultimately does need Naoe, in a proximate way, his functioning improves a lot by just getting the break from the drama. Naoe's too. (This break gives them a slight taste of the "reset" of reincarnation, I think.)
Meanwhile, back in the 1990s, Naoe is not quite in the tailspin Kagetora is, but he is declining in tandem and grappling hard with the ramifications of Minako. There is both repetition of very old patterns and a new level of extremity pushing them toward finally confronting the core issues that drive their bad habits. And once they do, those bad habits start to fade really fast.
What a great analysis--thank you! I love your metas, even though I have to skip some of them for fear of spoilers. It's kinda silly, I know, but it motivates me to do more translations. There will definitely be more Exaudi Nos, but I'm not there yet chronology-wise (sorry!)
I think I'll save further thoughts on perspective for after I've gotten Chapter 5 up, which has a scene I want to use to illustrate my point. I know you're speaking from a Buddhism perspective, so there are probably some cultural thought differences here...but if everyone did their major trauma-processing after death, wouldn't that have some bad implications for the rest of us who're still living our 80 years?
Sorry for spoilers! I realized after saying, "I won't say more in case of spoilers," I had already just spat out a massive great spoiler for play 1. Sorry!! I look forward to your comments on ch. 5.
Re. reincarnation and trauma processing, I can only transmit my best understanding what my temple's sensei has said on this topic (from a Shingon perspective). He notes that it's generally believed that the buddhas, and a few others, can recall all their past lives but this is (obviously) unusual, and that's because recalling our past lives is highly traumatic if you're not deeply spiritually prepared. It involves having to re-experience, on some level, all the trauma of those lives. Being reincarnated and carrying forward the karma but not all the direct memories and associations is helpful in creating that sort of "reset" button for healing. We certainly can and do heal and process within our lifetimes and that's extremely valuable but so too can be a "fresh start."
At risk of getting too personal, I'll use myself as an example. I have a lot of trauma over what I'll gloss as a friend's betrayal. (That description may not be fair to the friend, but just to give a sense of the emotional stakes for me.) I'm working my way through it, and I'm more healed than I was five years ago, and I'll be more healed ten years from now. But I can readily see how dying and coming back as a new person in a new life would be a tremendous aid to healing in that I wouldn't have to deal with those specific experiences, resentments, etc. anymore. In a sense, that would be really, automatically over, even if the karma carried through in ways like making me less trusting or more circumspect in how I deal with other people. So our 80 years count for a lot: that's when we do the work. But the chance to start again is also a chance to alleviate a lot of the pain and not be mired in it; it makes the work easier. (For the record, I have no actual belief in reincarnation. I'm just trying to articulate a line of reasoning within that framework.)
Now, all that said, this runs me smack into my epic confusion over the Shadow Shikoku, which I won't go into, as I know you're not there yet. But it butts up right against these issues, and I do not understand how it's supposed to work from the perspective of the Dharma. Maybe someday!
I promised to write something about why Chapter 5 (visit to the Atomic Bomb Museum)...ah...blows a hole in my suspension of disbelief regarding Takaya/Kagetora as someone who's lived 400 years. I've been thinking about it off and on, and the short reason is that this chapter is so ahistoric.
It talks a lot about the horrors of the nuclear blasts, which: yes! Always needed. And I agree with Chiaki that the graphicness of the museum's exhibits should not be reduced.
But notice there is nothing in here about Japan's entry into WWII as a belligerent. Reading this chapter, you would be forgiven for thinking that Japan was a simple victim rather than an aggressor.
There is no reflection on Japan's 2,000 years of military history as backdrop for its invasion of Manchuria, for its horrific treatment of the Asian peoples that fell under its rule or similarly of its barbaric treatment of POWs. Nothing about the tradition of valuing 'honor' above lives which led to, among other things, the creation of kamikaze units and common people throwing themselves off the cliffs of Saipan for fear of falling into US hands.
The one thing that I feel a long life should confer is perspective, and Kagetora fails badly here.
Is it right to hold the author of a light novel to account for something that even her government fails to do? I don't know, but I do think it's legitimate criticism.
Why is this even important?
(1) It's basically impossible to understand the geopolitics of Asian as it is currently without talking about Japan's actions during that time period. For example: why are relations so cold between Japan and its fellow democratic nation South Korea?
(2) As the only nation to suffer a nuclear detonation, Japan should be a leader of the movement to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons. Why isn't it?
Japan is trying to sail right into the future without making restitution for its past, and it's finding that history actually does matter.
By the way, Takaya, women had approximately zero say in Japan's conduct in WWII (and that hasn't changed much), so leave those high school girls the fuck alone.
Thanks for all your amazing translations recently! I've meant to post more in response, but... life. Anyway, thanks for this lovely meta too. I have no coherent response but will just throw out random free association. First, excellent points about Japan taking responsibility for its actions in and prior to WWII.
As to Kagetora/Takaya, that's an interesting perspective I'd never thought of that he ought to know better, given a) his great age and b) his generally compassionate/moral nature. As to (a), I wonder at this point in the story how much he's functioning by default as "Takaya" vs. "Kagetora," and if the former, if he might have just imbued the late-20th century stance of emphasizing the horrors of the atomic bombing and culturally erasing Japan's responsibility for other horrors.
His attitude in this chapter is also interesting to bounce off the Shouwa plays, which take place shortly after WWII. I don't remember if you've seen these, so SPOILERS lie ahead...
There's a scene in the first (?) play, where Kagetora and Naoe are discussing Kagetora's time in the navy in WWII, and how he contrived to leave the service to focus on his Yashashuu work, given all the new onryou being generated. And Kagetora remarks ruefully (if I'm recalling right) that he made the wrong decision, that he should have prioritized staying in the navy and fighting for his country. This begs the question of why? Did he really believe in Japan's imperialist objectives?
My sense is no. My sense is Kagetora is much more driven by human relationality than abstract political principles. Loyalty and duty mean a great deal to him, and I think he felt a great duty to stand by his nation, as he feels a great duty to serve Kenshin faithfully. It could be that the international political objectives weren't (emtionally) very real to him, but the need to stand by Japan was. [/PLAY SPOILERS]
I'm also reminded of the bit in Saiai no Anata e, when Takaya hears about all the horrible things Narimasa did to Sayuri and says that Narimasa deserves to be punished for it, but then when he sees Sayuri torturing Narimasa, he immediately feels that they have to help him. To me, this also illustrates that his sense of compassion, while huge, is largely activated when he's fairly close to the human context of a situation. In the abstract, his beliefs can be a little more "canned" and simplistic (ex. "punish the horrible person"). In a WWII context, I could imagine that he'd be horrified to be confronted, say, by the suffering of Korean "comfort women." But if not confronted by it, it might not be very real to him.
Mind you, I'm not committed to this reading; it's just my brain trying to figure out if his lack of perspective can be read as plausible in-universe. I think an argument can be made, but maybe it's not a sufficient one to explain why 400 years of life experience have not made more of an impression. Thanks for posting!
You're very welcome re: translations, and thank you for sharing your thoughts in this post!
I agree that seeing Takaya/Kagetora more as Takaya is a way around the lack of perspective issue, but it does present additional narrative problems. Would you agree that the Mouri arc is where Takaya transitions into Kagetora in earnest? Narratively, there are a lot of pointers to this: Saori recognizing his grown-up air in the first chapter, the way he intimidates Chiaki during their conversation, the way he hypnotizes Yuruzu and then lies to his face about it (which the reader can accept from Kagetora but would find hard to stomach from Takaya), his vivid recall of his rape as Saburou...
So to have him suddenly revert to a seventeen-year-old feels quite inconsistent. (And as you can probably tell, I'm not at all enthused about his interaction with those high school girls. "400-year-old dude assaults teenage girl" basically destroys whatever moral high ground he has.)
Re: Showa plays: I admit, I'm kinda disappointed that Kuwabara-sensei doesn't look a bit more at the larger historical picture in the age of the Internet. An isolationist depiction of Japanese history post-Tokugawa is at best incomplete. Since Mirage's history is one of the things I like best about it, I really wish it would go a little deeper.
I wonder if we're so comfortable criticizing authority in the US that it feels odd when other people don't do it in their (democratic) countries, where presumably it's safe to do so?
These are scattered thoughts, as I haven't had a chance to sit down and compose them. But as I'm now up to chapter 7 in my first reread of this volume in years, here are some impressions:
Boy, Naoe and Kagetora both really (intellectually) understand their position, even Kagetora, who lies and blusters about it more. They understand its dynamics, but neither of them can see a way out. In essence, they see no alternative but mutual destruction, which is much what Irobe observes a few volumes later. I think Kagetora captures this in his ruminations that love, hate, desire, and kindness are not enough to tie them together; only the eternal battle over who wins and who loses is. The problem here is the need to be tied together, as nicely illustrated by Kagetora's interrupting his own thoughts about how he can keep Naoe chained with a sudden, passing reflection that he doesn't want to chain him. The core question is why do they need to be chained? For Kagetora, the answer is ultimately that he's insecure; he needs outside validation to feel worthy. I think for Naoe the answer is more complex and multifaceted. Part of it is likely his own insecurity, his need to hitch himself to Kagetora's "superior" star, but part may, indeed, just come down to love, even compassion. I don't think he can leave Kagetora, in part, because he knows how much Kagetora needs him and that Naoe's leaving would destroy him.
Other stuff: I had forgotten how truly brutal the rape of Kagetora was. I had also forgotten how closely his relationship the primary rapist echoes his relationship with Naoe. He has already been brutally and totally betrayed by a very proper, trusted, older male servant. No wonder he has fears about its happening again, especially when Naoe is lunging at him in a way that absolutely is sexual assault if not actually rape. Kagetora behaves like someone who has been badly traumatized, and I can't say he doesn't have a right to.
I had also not registered how much foreshadowing is going on in the interactions between Yuzuru and Takaya. I don't want to be too spoilery here, but the general tenor of their conversations is going to come back in a "karma is a bitch" sort of way, in their case, both literal karma and metaphorical intra-lifetime karma.
Interested to hear what others are picking up.
Now that we're older (OMG how many years has it been since we crash-landed into this fandom?), do you still find the characters believably 400 years old? One of the things that frustrates me about Takaya is that he seemingly gains all of Kagetora's traumas and some of his worst tendencies (e.g. hit out at anyone questioning him) but none of the perspective that living for 400 should've given him. There's a stark example of this in Chapter 5, but I feel like this is true to a greater or lesser extent for all of the characters.
Yay, meta! I crash landed in this fandom in 2006, and I know you were already going strong. (Side note: is there any chance of more translation from Exaudi Nos?)
Here are my random thoughts on our heroes across 400 years. Is their lack of development plausible? Obviously, I can't really say as no one really lives 400 years, except some kinds of sharks? But in-universe, I find it plausible, and here's why. In a Buddhist frame of reference, the normal course of life is to die and be reincarnated. That process helps with spiritual/psychological development because it pushes a sort of reset button on a lot of life trauma, creating a sharp break that allows people to move past issues where they might otherwise be stuck. Karma remains as an echo of these past issues, but it's not as severe as dealing with the issue itself. It's like the difference between actively robbing banks vs. sitting in prison for having robbed banks, now knowing that it's wrong and when you get out you'll choose a different direction: both suck but the former is a less mature place to be. Though it's not true reincarnation, we see something of the immense value of this "reset" with Nobunaga as Kuchiki in the prequels. (I don't know if you've checked them out, so I won't say more.)
Kanshousha, of course, don't get this reset. They just have to work through their issues in more-or-less continuous life, and I do find it plausible that, like many folks in real life living 80 years, they have mindsets and patterns that don't fully change because there is tremendous inertia in the human psyche. Habits are very hard to break. And Mirage as a text is intensely aware of how psychological habits and patterns work. Thus, you have Naoe and Kagetora doing their "One day I will conquer you" "See if I care, you loser" thing across the decades, not because the writing is redundant but because they don't know how to break the pattern. (I think vol. 10 is really good at articulating this fairly explicitly, how stuck they both feel.) We see this with others too: with Haruie not being able to get off her thing for Shintarou, with Nobunaga not being able to get off his thing for world domination, with Kenshin not being able to be open and vulnerable with Kagetora. They are stuck because it's easy to get stuck and getting unstuck is a lot of work. As Irobe says in what is becoming one of my favorite Mirage quotes, "It's takes courage to let something go!"
I think, too, that with Naoe and Kagetora in particular, the original 40 volumes give us a somewhat skewed view of their whole lives. The 5-6 years or so it occupies follow Kagetora into a terminal descent that is really the sputtering out of a candle burning too brightly for 400 years (and, yes, it ultimately follows him ascending too). The Takaya we see, at least up through post-volume 20, is a mess. He is as big a mess as Kagetora has ever been. Some of the time, he's probably over the edge into clinically psychotic, in the sense of detached from certain pieces of reality. By the start of vol. 20 (which is his nadir and the start of his ascent), he is literally non-functional. It wasn't until I watched the Shouwa plays and started reading the summaries of the prequels that I began to realize how atypical this is for Kagetora. A lot of the patterns have always been there, but he's very rarely at a Takaya level of nattering on at strangers, "Why doesn't he love me? What did I do? It's not my fault!" Throughout most of their run, Kagetora has presented a plausible veneer of being very in control; this is much of why Naoe feels so dominated by him. Though I've only read the summary of it, I find the Bakumatsu prequel interesting here, as it shows Naoe and Kagetora after 25-30 (?) years apart having a pretty normal, functional relationship, with Kagetora stating quite astutely that he's steadier when he doesn't have Naoe to lean on. Though he ultimately does need Naoe, in a proximate way, his functioning improves a lot by just getting the break from the drama. Naoe's too. (This break gives them a slight taste of the "reset" of reincarnation, I think.)
Meanwhile, back in the 1990s, Naoe is not quite in the tailspin Kagetora is, but he is declining in tandem and grappling hard with the ramifications of Minako. There is both repetition of very old patterns and a new level of extremity pushing them toward finally confronting the core issues that drive their bad habits. And once they do, those bad habits start to fade really fast.
What a great analysis--thank you! I love your metas, even though I have to skip some of them for fear of spoilers. It's kinda silly, I know, but it motivates me to do more translations. There will definitely be more Exaudi Nos, but I'm not there yet chronology-wise (sorry!)
I think I'll save further thoughts on perspective for after I've gotten Chapter 5 up, which has a scene I want to use to illustrate my point. I know you're speaking from a Buddhism perspective, so there are probably some cultural thought differences here...but if everyone did their major trauma-processing after death, wouldn't that have some bad implications for the rest of us who're still living our 80 years?
Sorry for spoilers! I realized after saying, "I won't say more in case of spoilers," I had already just spat out a massive great spoiler for play 1. Sorry!! I look forward to your comments on ch. 5.
Re. reincarnation and trauma processing, I can only transmit my best understanding what my temple's sensei has said on this topic (from a Shingon perspective). He notes that it's generally believed that the buddhas, and a few others, can recall all their past lives but this is (obviously) unusual, and that's because recalling our past lives is highly traumatic if you're not deeply spiritually prepared. It involves having to re-experience, on some level, all the trauma of those lives. Being reincarnated and carrying forward the karma but not all the direct memories and associations is helpful in creating that sort of "reset" button for healing. We certainly can and do heal and process within our lifetimes and that's extremely valuable but so too can be a "fresh start."
At risk of getting too personal, I'll use myself as an example. I have a lot of trauma over what I'll gloss as a friend's betrayal. (That description may not be fair to the friend, but just to give a sense of the emotional stakes for me.) I'm working my way through it, and I'm more healed than I was five years ago, and I'll be more healed ten years from now. But I can readily see how dying and coming back as a new person in a new life would be a tremendous aid to healing in that I wouldn't have to deal with those specific experiences, resentments, etc. anymore. In a sense, that would be really, automatically over, even if the karma carried through in ways like making me less trusting or more circumspect in how I deal with other people. So our 80 years count for a lot: that's when we do the work. But the chance to start again is also a chance to alleviate a lot of the pain and not be mired in it; it makes the work easier. (For the record, I have no actual belief in reincarnation. I'm just trying to articulate a line of reasoning within that framework.)
Now, all that said, this runs me smack into my epic confusion over the Shadow Shikoku, which I won't go into, as I know you're not there yet. But it butts up right against these issues, and I do not understand how it's supposed to work from the perspective of the Dharma. Maybe someday!
I promised to write something about why Chapter 5 (visit to the Atomic Bomb Museum)...ah...blows a hole in my suspension of disbelief regarding Takaya/Kagetora as someone who's lived 400 years. I've been thinking about it off and on, and the short reason is that this chapter is so ahistoric.
It talks a lot about the horrors of the nuclear blasts, which: yes! Always needed. And I agree with Chiaki that the graphicness of the museum's exhibits should not be reduced.
But notice there is nothing in here about Japan's entry into WWII as a belligerent. Reading this chapter, you would be forgiven for thinking that Japan was a simple victim rather than an aggressor.
There is no reflection on Japan's 2,000 years of military history as backdrop for its invasion of Manchuria, for its horrific treatment of the Asian peoples that fell under its rule or similarly of its barbaric treatment of POWs. Nothing about the tradition of valuing 'honor' above lives which led to, among other things, the creation of kamikaze units and common people throwing themselves off the cliffs of Saipan for fear of falling into US hands.
The one thing that I feel a long life should confer is perspective, and Kagetora fails badly here.
Of course, the feel of this chapter is very much in line with Japan's official stance, which continues to attempt to whitewash its historical atrocities--so much so that apparently some Japanese people are unaware of the fact that they did enter WWII as a aggressor. See also: Japanese history textbook controversies (Wikipedia); Osaka, Japan, Ends Ties With San Francisco In Protest Of 'Comfort Women' Statue.
Is it right to hold the author of a light novel to account for something that even her government fails to do? I don't know, but I do think it's legitimate criticism.
Why is this even important?
(1) It's basically impossible to understand the geopolitics of Asian as it is currently without talking about Japan's actions during that time period. For example: why are relations so cold between Japan and its fellow democratic nation South Korea?
(2) As the only nation to suffer a nuclear detonation, Japan should be a leader of the movement to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons. Why isn't it?
Japan is trying to sail right into the future without making restitution for its past, and it's finding that history actually does matter.
By the way, Takaya, women had approximately zero say in Japan's conduct in WWII (and that hasn't changed much), so leave those high school girls the fuck alone.
Thanks for all your amazing translations recently! I've meant to post more in response, but... life. Anyway, thanks for this lovely meta too. I have no coherent response but will just throw out random free association. First, excellent points about Japan taking responsibility for its actions in and prior to WWII.
As to Kagetora/Takaya, that's an interesting perspective I'd never thought of that he ought to know better, given a) his great age and b) his generally compassionate/moral nature. As to (a), I wonder at this point in the story how much he's functioning by default as "Takaya" vs. "Kagetora," and if the former, if he might have just imbued the late-20th century stance of emphasizing the horrors of the atomic bombing and culturally erasing Japan's responsibility for other horrors.
His attitude in this chapter is also interesting to bounce off the Shouwa plays, which take place shortly after WWII. I don't remember if you've seen these, so SPOILERS lie ahead...
There's a scene in the first (?) play, where Kagetora and Naoe are discussing Kagetora's time in the navy in WWII, and how he contrived to leave the service to focus on his Yashashuu work, given all the new onryou being generated. And Kagetora remarks ruefully (if I'm recalling right) that he made the wrong decision, that he should have prioritized staying in the navy and fighting for his country. This begs the question of why? Did he really believe in Japan's imperialist objectives?
My sense is no. My sense is Kagetora is much more driven by human relationality than abstract political principles. Loyalty and duty mean a great deal to him, and I think he felt a great duty to stand by his nation, as he feels a great duty to serve Kenshin faithfully. It could be that the international political objectives weren't (emtionally) very real to him, but the need to stand by Japan was. [/PLAY SPOILERS]
I'm also reminded of the bit in Saiai no Anata e, when Takaya hears about all the horrible things Narimasa did to Sayuri and says that Narimasa deserves to be punished for it, but then when he sees Sayuri torturing Narimasa, he immediately feels that they have to help him. To me, this also illustrates that his sense of compassion, while huge, is largely activated when he's fairly close to the human context of a situation. In the abstract, his beliefs can be a little more "canned" and simplistic (ex. "punish the horrible person"). In a WWII context, I could imagine that he'd be horrified to be confronted, say, by the suffering of Korean "comfort women." But if not confronted by it, it might not be very real to him.
Mind you, I'm not committed to this reading; it's just my brain trying to figure out if his lack of perspective can be read as plausible in-universe. I think an argument can be made, but maybe it's not a sufficient one to explain why 400 years of life experience have not made more of an impression. Thanks for posting!
You're very welcome re: translations, and thank you for sharing your thoughts in this post!
I agree that seeing Takaya/Kagetora more as Takaya is a way around the lack of perspective issue, but it does present additional narrative problems. Would you agree that the Mouri arc is where Takaya transitions into Kagetora in earnest? Narratively, there are a lot of pointers to this: Saori recognizing his grown-up air in the first chapter, the way he intimidates Chiaki during their conversation, the way he hypnotizes Yuruzu and then lies to his face about it (which the reader can accept from Kagetora but would find hard to stomach from Takaya), his vivid recall of his rape as Saburou...
So to have him suddenly revert to a seventeen-year-old feels quite inconsistent. (And as you can probably tell, I'm not at all enthused about his interaction with those high school girls. "400-year-old dude assaults teenage girl" basically destroys whatever moral high ground he has.)
Re: Showa plays: I admit, I'm kinda disappointed that Kuwabara-sensei doesn't look a bit more at the larger historical picture in the age of the Internet. An isolationist depiction of Japanese history post-Tokugawa is at best incomplete. Since Mirage's history is one of the things I like best about it, I really wish it would go a little deeper.
I wonder if we're so comfortable criticizing authority in the US that it feels odd when other people don't do it in their (democratic) countries, where presumably it's safe to do so?