Betrayal – My key ingredient for anime drama

Warning: Spoilers for Soukou no Strain ep 11

I was rather disappointed with Soukou no Strain weeks ago when I caught ep 10. It was a crucial revelation ep, dealing with the reasons behind Ralph's betrayal. I came away disappointed because atrocious the act it might have been, the holocaust of Emilies at both Ralph/Union's hands still could not fully justify Ralph's betrayal of the human race and the deathwish for his most precious imouto. Ep 11 overturned that when it was revealed that Ralph himself inherited the memories/emotions/senses from the final Emily he killed, taking upon himself the pain the Emilies endured though the dissections/inhumane experiments. Unlike Anakin Skywalker's fall into the Dark Side, Ralph now have sufficient grounds for his hatred of mankind that extends even to Sara.

One of the most powerful plot devices in stories has to be betrayal. Not baseless betrayals for the sake of upsetting viewers or spicing up an monotonous plot but well motivated, forsaking of previous loyalties to have former allies going for each other's jugular, flowing from credible character choices. Most betrayals are motivated by changes in mindset/values although there are those triggered by change in circumstances. For example, the recent face-off between Captain Bravo/Kazuki in Busou Renkin 16 demonstrates how former comrades can turn against each other while defending their original positions.

Ultimately it is this theme of 'change' that I enjoyed most in anime and betrayal guarantees it. One of the reasons why I enjoy many SUNRISE shows is because they know the power of betrayal/switching of sides in stories all too well. Okay, not all of their productions do this well but it does say something when more than half my top 10 betrayals in anime belong to the SUNRISE franchise.

Here's a hastily compiled list of notable betrayals in anime (spoliers galore - proceeed as your own risk)

Kannazuki no Miko

Chikane's betrayal made the series for me. Its most shocking ep 8 left me utterly weak while the finale, where the motivations of her betrayal was revealed, reduced me to a pathetic sob.

Cowboy Bebop (SUNRISE)

The powerful back stories for the 3 leads have the theme of betrayal. (Faye's massive debt, Jet's cybernetic limb and Spike's search of Julia etc)

Gundam SEED/Wing (SUNRISE)

The formula to sustaining 50 eps series is to have many factions in the story and have round-robin battles. Meanwhile, inject some drama with former comrades fighting on opposing sides as alliances are broken and reformed. Rinse and repeat.

Gungrave

I knew it was going to happen but my heart still bled at the scene of Harry shooting Brandon in the eye. Excellent buildup on how Harry's quest for power turned him from a steadfast/loyal comrade to a self-serving bastard.

Noir

Gotta love how Kirika out of her affections for Mirielle turned on the organisation and even Chloe who adored her.

Mai HiME (SUNRISE)

It was delicious to see the HiME alliance disintegrate with fierce HiME in-fighting follow immediately after. But the one rivalry that stood out was Mai/Mikoto. Kudos to SUNRISE for the setup in ep 20 that give FULL justification for Mai to pour all of her murderous intent onto Mikoto.

Naruto

I don't care about Naruto. But Sasake and his nii-san fascinate me. Driven by vengeance of betrayal, Sasuke embarks on the dark path of betrayal himself. Such wonderful irony.

Vision of Escaflowne (SUNRISE)

Another nii-san betrayal. Folken, bishie with black wings, intrigues me. I enjoyed the Star wars ending very much.

X TV

The most powerful moments in the series are marked by betrayals. (Fuu's awakening, Subaru/Seishirou finale and the Arashi's switching of allegiance)

Infinite Ryvius (SUNRISE)

Ikumi's betrayed his own ideals by becoming very person he swore to protect the masses from. Superb culmination to the finale, sadly, poor resolution of his issues.

Mai Otome (SUNRISE)

Nina joining the Dark Side was already foretold but still when it did happen, it gave Otome the much needed plot boost to raise flagging interest. Nowhere as dramatic as its predecessor but a good SUNRISE effort nevertheless.

I had placed emphasis on SUNRISE betrayals in this post because there's a particular one that I would like to see in a current SUNRISE production:

Suzaku (Code Geass)

He reminds me so much of Ikumi (Inifinite Ryvius), having a strong righteous streak that borders self-righteousness and yet a victim of circumstances. I'd love to see how he struggles with the impossibility of reconciling his ideals with reality, fall into despair and recovers by using extreme means to pursue of his lofty principles. Right now, he's just too bland a personality and a huge waste of his character setup/design.

Hoping Suzaku brings treachery and villainy to new heights for SUNRISE. Now to watch Code Geass 16.

Related posts:

1. Vision of Escaflowne DVD 2: Betrayal and Trust
2. Heaven and hell – Anime edition
3. What does your top 5 anime say about you?