All your FACES are belongs to ME!!!
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Committing "Horrible" acts? Are referring to that scene where Haruto was overcome by desire in a "Vampire" state? From what I've seen, he doesn't even know what he has done. Only realizing it after the fact. He even tried to make up for it by asking Rukino to marry him....
 
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I... am not sure what to say to that! For starters, he's admitted he's not a "nice guy"? He's full aware of his doing wrong (if you mean killing people and whatnot), because from the first episode on, where he retracted his almost-confession, he knew he couldn't go back to his old life after the things he'd done.

So I guess, if it's just that, then I'd have to say he's not "pretending" anything, really. He's just trying to be himself, who he was before everything, and isn't everyone? He's hardly the only person who's killed someone at this point - we've had students in the little turrets shooting down people for a few episodes now, after all. What's going on is they've adapted to war, essentially.

Now, if you mean what happened in episode 10 in regards to horrible things he's done, well that... was kind of "the evil robot made me do it," but it's clear in 11 he's trying to take responsibility for it all the same.

As for "why isn't he trying to get rid of/stop the power?" ... Well, er, because it's kind of a necessary evil right now? He tried to stop other people from becoming "afflicted" with it, so he knows it's bad, but you can't exactly ask him to start looking for ways to get rid of the only thing protecting everyone. That's just silly.
 
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Committing "Horrible" acts? Are referring to that scene where Haruto was overcome by desire in a "Vampire" state? From what I've seen, he doesn't even know what he has done. Only realizing it after the fact. He even tried to make up for it by asking Rukino to marry him....

...The ****....how does THAT make up for...

Oh wait.

Hey now! She didn't resist... :169:

You were SERIOUS?? >_<
 
The new Tendou Souji
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Committing "Horrible" acts? Are referring to that scene where Haruto was overcome by desire in a "Vampire" state? From what I've seen, he doesn't even know what he has done. Only realizing it after the fact. He even tried to make up for it by asking Rukino to marry him....

30cy73o.jpg


I was left literally unable to care about anybody by the end. (Except, as you mentioned, maybe Kallen.)

I felt similar but, only because the end of R2 had reached critically awful by that point.

Interesting insight as always Lynx...but I'm literally dumbfounded that this series is actually popular. Not enough headdesks in the world.

Apparently, TM Revolution + Nana Mizuki singing an OP together equals best show ever for some people.
 
All your FACES are belongs to ME!!!
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...The ****....how does THAT make up for...

Oh wait.



You were SERIOUS?? >_<

30cy73o.jpg




I felt similar but, only because the end of R2 had reached critically awful by that point.



Apparently, TM Revolution + Nana Mizuki singing an OP together equals best show ever for some people.




Looks like we're not watching the same show... Yes, I was serious... Looks like you need to re-watch the episodes. :laugh:
 
Nice post!!
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Committing "Horrible" acts? Are referring to that scene where Haruto was overcome by desire in a "Vampire" state? From what I've seen, he doesn't even know what he has done.

If you get drunk and kill somebody, you probably won't remember what you did. You may not hold anything against them and deeply regret your actions, but you'd still be legally held accountable for having killed another person. Why? Because nobody forced you to enter a drunken state. You chose to drink enough alcohol to become drunk, and you're responsible for knowing what being drunk means.

It's the same with Haruto's vampirism. Think back to the first episode. He agreed to become like this. He is a guy who was presented with the question, "Do you resign as a human?" and instead of going "Wait, what the ****? No!" he was so wrapped up in his feelings at the time that he just clicked the "Yes" button, mindlessly, so the damn robot would hurry up and turn on so he could start killing people.

If you agree to a contract without reading it... well, for one, you're stupid. And man, Haruto is really stupid. But two, the contract still applies. And the fact that Haruto is the type of person who would say "Yes" to "Do you resign as a human?" to get what he wants is the central trait of his character. And in 99% of all other fiction, anyone willing to do stuff like that would be the villain.

In that moment he was so angry he just wanted the power to hurt the bad guys who hurt him, and he didn't care about the consequences. He was being a massive hypocrite and proving that everything L-Elf said about him was absolutely correct. When faced with a real conflict, all of his protestations of pacifism flew right out the window. In the heat of the moment, he only cared about making himself feel better.

And that's what it goes back to with Haruto in Valvrave, over and over again. He regrets it when things turn out badly (for him), but every time he's given the chance to make a decision, he never thinks about the wider world or other people. He thinks about himself, only himself, and what will make him happy in that moment.

Only realizing it after the fact. He even tried to make up for it by asking Rukino to marry him....

Only someone who is a tremendous asshole, I mean like the most mind-blowingly self-centered person in the world, would think that made up for anything! So I was entirely pleased that was his reaction. What the **** was he expecting to hear? "Yes, Haruto, I totally want to spend the rest of my life with a man who at any time can explode into bursts of uncontrollable violence that will most likely be directed at me"? Haruto's literally asking someone to become his goddamn battered wife! It's just more proof he never really cared about Rukino's feelings, or anyone else's feelings, and is just worried about satisfying himself.

As for "why isn't he trying to get rid of/stop the power?" ... Well, er, because it's kind of a necessary evil right now?

Also, because he's selfish. Before Haruto had the power, he was a milquetoast wimp literally anyone could push around. Now that he's a vampire, he's literally the most important person in the world! He's strong and can do whatever he wants to whoever he wants, and they could never stop him. Haruto keeps using the Valvrave for the same reason a man who gets drunk and beats his wife keeps getting drunk. Because it makes him feel good.

And even better, Haruto's powers make him famous! He has literally millions of friends, and everyone thinks he's a big damn hero and praises him constantly. L-Elf, the character who directly pointed out what a useless pile of crap Haruto is in the first episode, has now made Haruto the center of his life. It's very obvious that Haruto doesn't actually care about saving or helping anyone, beyond the fact that it makes them indebted to him. Haruto doesn't care about good or evil. At this point, he just enjoys being a celebrity, and he does all manner of superficial things (like ask the girl he raped to marry him!) to try and make sure that celebrity doesn't go away.
 
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After reading the discussion the last few pages, I am relieved that I gave up on this series. The last episode I watched was 4, and it was more than enough for me.

As far as Geass goes, I sort of liked season 1. Season 2 I got 5 episodes in, and just deleted it all.
 
All your FACES are belongs to ME!!!
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Yes, Haruto did agree to become "inhuman", but it was also due to circumstance. He was / they were trying to survive and protect the rest of the people. It's not the fair to compare it to being drunk. As far as Haruto being stupid, yes, he was... But with the intention of trying to save everybody, it's not all his fault.

As far as justifying what he did to Rukino, of course, it isn't. From what I've understood from the story, is that when the "urge" comes up, his human side is turned off and only the supposed "monster" is active. Of which, I can only assume that he doesn't remember what he has done. I think, it's different from when they try to body swap.


IF Haruto didn't make the contract with the Valvrave, then where would this story go? Well, Jior would just be under a new rule.
 
Nice post!!
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Yes, Haruto did agree to become "inhuman", but it was also due to circumstance.

Well, in a lot of other shows, that's how they'd play it off. You're clearly supposed to think, at the time, that Haruto is just walking in the footsteps of every Gundam Kid who came before him. But if you think back on that first episode after seeing how the show plays out? No, that can't be the case.

In Valvrave, you can contrast Haruto with L-Elf and Shoko. L-Elf and Shoko use their own personal abilities to alter the world, taking advantage of whatever circumstance they're in. They both use Haruto as a bargaining chip, but ultimately accomplish far more than Haruto personally does. (Haruto, personally, just flies around killing people.)

Haruto is dependent on what Valvrave gave him to have any real importance in the world. He's not a self-made man, and he knows this. In a lot of modern fiction, vampirism is used as a metaphor for substance abuse, and I think that metaphor is in play in this show, too. The power that Valvrave literally gets Haruto is what the alcoholic or heroin addict feels.

It's not the fair to compare it to being drunk.

Why? I mean, the excuse you've offered for Haruto's behavior during his vampire freakouts is exactly the excuse someone would offer for a friend who got drunk and did something stupid. "Oh, he didn't know what he was doing, he didn't even remember it, and he's really sorry!"

But with the intention of trying to save everybody, it's not all his fault.

But he didn't want to save anybody, he wanted to murder the bad guys who took his girl away right before he could confess his love to her. What's the operative term in that sentence? He. Me. Haruto was angry because of what the Dorssians took from him, and nothing else. He wanted revenge, and nothing else.

Think back to eps 2 and 3. Haruto acts surprised when everyone's treating him like this big deal savior, because he knows he wasn't actually trying to save anyone at the time. There's not the sense of happiness you'd see on the face of a Gundam Kid, who knows his own efforts have kept his friends alive.

IF Haruto didn't make the contract with the Valvrave, then where would this story go? Well, Jior would just be under a new rule.

Yeah, and we'll need to see how the story ends to be able to speculate about whether or not that's actually better or worse than how they end up. The plot about Not America planning to kill everyone certainly gives the impression that if Haruto hadn't done something for selfish reasons, everyone would've actually ended up dead.

And maybe that's also why Haruto keeps trying to conceal his real motivations: so the people who love him now won't realize they weren't ever the point. Wouldn't it be horrible to know you owed your life to someone who didn't even care? What would happen if everyone found out? Could Haruto become a worse master than any of the invaders could ever be?

It's an interesting situation. I actually care about seeing how it turns out. Honestly, stuff like this is why I think conventionally likable protagonists are overrated. You couldn't get a situation this layered, with these kinds of stakes, if your protagonist was actually a decent person. If he's a horrible little shell of a man, though? The sky's the limit.
 
All your FACES are belongs to ME!!!
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So now being drunk is equated to being a vampire... All it is to me is comparing "real" to "reel"... Sometimes, you just have to just enjoy the show and not think too deeply into it... :laugh: And I'm not saying you shouldn't...
 
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