Spotlight Character: Youko "Youshi" Nakajima (Juuni Kokuki) MAL Character Information Page: Youko Nakajima MAL Favorite Character: #360 - multiple tie (with 53 favorites) For the next week I would like to have everyone familiar with Youku Nakajima discuss what they think makes her an exceptional character. What attributes make her stand out in the ocean of interesting characters that exist in the realms of anime and manga. Unlike the other two subjects I will not force this conversation to fall into any set structure. Characters that are nominated typically get here because they are adept at breaking the existing character moulds and defying definition. Because of this freedom I encourage everyone to do their very best to stay on topic and keep any and all debate civil. Have fun and I look forward to seeing what everyone has to say about this character. RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL Youko Nakajima was PERMANENTLY inducted into the club Character list: 29 Yes - 87.8% 4 No - 12.1% 34 Don't know this character - 49.2% of the total number polled 2 Abstained - 2.8% of the total number polled *Since this character has made the cut-off percentage-wise but has failed to gather enough votes, it is now once more available for nomination due to rule changes. (August 2011) RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE REVOTE Youko Nakajima REMAINS in the club Character list: 22 Yes - 70.97% 09 No - 29.03% 46 I don't know this Character - 59.74% of the total number polled -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESULTS OF THE "YOU DECIDE POLL" Youko was inducted into the club Character list: 21 Yes - 75.00% 07 No - 25.00% 36 I haven't seen this Anime - 56.25% of the total number polled |
santetjanNov 5, 2011 2:19 AM
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| I rated Youko a 7 because, well, I didn't really like her very much at the beginning. Maybe because I'm used to red-heads being a little more confident about themselves and how paranoid she was about EVERYTHING; and I found myself wanting a youma to eat her or something. However, little by little as the story progressed I liked her more and more because it turned out to be a good story about how someone can come into their own and also about taking responsibility for something bigger than themselves because not everything effects only that person but others as well. |
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| Well, I didn't like her much in the beginning either, but it is for that very reason that I am able to appreciate her throughout the series. Youko is kind of a whiny, wannabe cool senior in high school who suddenly gets told one day that she is actually from another world by a strange blonde-haired man who starts calling her "Shuujou" (kinda like "your highness"). Now, not only does she actually get whisked away to this world, but much of the first part of the anime is spent focusing on how she interacts with people and the environment she encounters. No, it's not easy at all, but she has to do it. She initially rejects her responsibility in the beginning, but comes to terms with it eventually. A strange girl in a strange land, Youko manages to stay afloat long enough to find herself, and when she does, she takes charge of her life. She comes to recognize the responsiblity she has to her friends and her country. Youko Nakajima epitomizes "character devlopment" in anime. I don't think I have seen any one single protagonist who managed go from zero to hero quite like she did. After I finished the show she instantly went to the top of my character list. Obviously, 10/10 |
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| She's brilliantly done. I think the anime has it's flaws and I don't even know if I can explain how much her character aggravated me in the first half of the series, but Youko is hands down the best example of character development/transformation I can think of in an anime. (Though, to be honest, it's been a while since I've watched the show, so forgive me if I leave stuff out, I guess.) The weakness, the doubt, the fear, the insecurity of her Earth self was so painful and realistic in a medium where I think it's easier and prettier to have main characters that are admirable or sympathetic. And I think it was really gutsy to have a main character who was so easy to dislike in the beginning and I think it takes a lot of skill to undo as negative a first impression as I had of her and bring viewers around to a point where we're rooting for her in the end. I also think that it's pretty common to pretend that people are either good or bad, likeable or unlikeable. Even when a good character has a "flaw", it's usually a minor thing that doesn't really shake the foundation of your opinion. Youko's character is so complex and human in that she has serious flaws and there are points where you have to stop and wonder if you like her or not. ...In other words, I really admire the way that they were willing to make her ugly and unpleasant and trusted the audience to stay with her and her story anyway. And I have to respect the way her character changes were slow and stuttering, with the occasional slide backwards or awkward plateau. They didn't just slap together a montage and have her magically transform into a strong, confident woman... she had to be dragged, nails dragging, feet kicking into it by the circumstances and the people around her. She didn't suddenly face one moment, change eye shape while realization dawns and then become superwoman. She didn't even slowly change at a steady pace; it was jerky and halting and awkward. And I completely appreciated that because people aren't smooth or simple. It is hard to change who you are and I don't think that a person with no confidence, with no experience with courage, with no real sense of self can suddenly take a stand and become a leader without a few hiccups. It takes time and experience and some wrong turns and a kick in the pants to earn a sense of self-esteem when you start where Youko did and I really like that they make Youko go through all of that. I especially loved how they slowly, subtly altered her appearance along with her personality. I remember first noticing it before they addressed it in the series and wondering if it was my imagination that she was getting prettier -- if it was just a byproduct of the fact that she was growing on me and not as horribly annoying as she was in the first episode. And when they addressed it in the show and kind of made up a reason for it -- I was SO impressed with the fact that they had done it intentionally. I don't necessarily even know if I needed the kind of whatever reasoning they gave for the physical transformation. But I thought it was a brilliant touch to underscore the very slow, subtle transformation in her personality. Last of all, it was such a relief to see an honest reaction to a bizarre situation. In so many shows -- including a bunch I enjoy -- something absolutely insane happens and the character freaks out for 30 seconds and then adapts. Youko doesn't. (And even though this discussion is supposed to focus on Youko, I just have to mention that the juxtaposition of Youko and Yuka in the first few episodes and their individual reactions to the situation was amazing.) She has to travel the wide range of emotions that swamps a person when they are unexpectedly but completely out of her element and it isn't always pretty or nice or courageous, but comes across as human and honest and sincere. Or, at least, it did to me. And then to use that stranger in a stange land sort of dynamic to raise questions about morality and politics... amazing. Okay, this is all that I can come up with off the top of my head without rewatching the show and sorry if it's disjointed and rambling... but, if you can't tell, I definitely think she's one of the finest examples of character development in anime. I definitely think she should be on the club list. I think that if she doesn't meet the criteria, I don't have any notion of what character would. ^.^ |
lowellMar 22, 2008 12:47 AM
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Rofelos said: That was a fantastic write-up lowell. Since I have nothing to say that you haven't expounded upon I will selfishly piggyback on your review :p 10/10 for both Youko and lowell! Yeah, this. One thing which I loved about JK was that it didn't suffer from "chosen one syndrome" and the characters had to prove themselves through their own strength that they were worthy. At which Youko succeeded admirably. |
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| I don't think there's much more for me to say D: Gave her an 8. I should finish this series soon... |
| Well, lowell really summed it all up admirably... Youko gets an easy 10/10 from me. She's the best female character I ever encountered, and one of the best characters overall. Certainly the best development wise. I still look back and remember how much I disliked her after the first 3 episodes. To the point that I put the show on-hold for more than a week and even pondered dropping it. Glad my reason to the best of me ^^. |
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| Not much to say about Youko, I think the development is far from done, considering the anime forced to finish imho. Gave her 9 cause her accomplishment and the growth of character is nicely done. |
| I also agree with pretty much all lowell said. It is a rare occasion when a character is actually developed to the extent of Youko not only by way of personality but the subtle changes in animation as well. It was also refreshing to have a sense of realism. I think Youko, given how she was portrayed in the "real" world, responded very appropriately to events as they unfolded. While I must say that I never really cared for her character much throughout the series (not that I disliked her, I just didn't really care much one way or the other), I felt that she was a real person and could identify with her situation to an extent anyway. In many anime with multiple character plotlines moving, not only do I not care for a particular character, I really don't want to sit and watch them for any length of time. This wasn't the case in Juuni Kokuki. All of the characters were fleshed out so well that I enjoyed listening to their stories whether I was particularly fond of them or not. I gave her character an 8, because despite the fact she was very well developed and all, I still didn't really feel much for her. I liked Sugimura and Taiki more. Most of the positives I mentioned previously are more directed at the mangaka than Youko's character considering the same holds true for pretty much all the characters in the series. |
BlackMagicApr 4, 2008 8:41 PM
Rofelos said: That was a fantastic write-up lowell. Since I have nothing to say that you haven't expounded upon I will selfishly piggyback on your review :p 10/10 for both Youko and lowell! Very good review. |
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| It's been so long since I watched 12 kingdoms that I can't do a proper write up on her. But I do remember that I never cared much for her character or EVER found myself able to identify with her. I didn't like her at the beginning, then I started to like her after she began to change, but something happened that by the end I pretty much didn't give a damn about her. In fact the only character that I thought was worth remembering in the entire series was Rakushun. I gave Youko a rating of 6 and will definately NOT support her in the you decide votes, but I'm sure my voice won't be loud enough to stop you fanatics. lol. |
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8GaugeBrett said: Nominate a character from an anime or manga series that you believe is particularly unique, well developed, and has nearly flawless execution in their given roll. 8GaugeBrett said: It's been so long since I watched 12 kingdoms that I can't do a proper write up on her. But I do remember that I never cared much for her character or EVER found myself able to identify with her. I didn't like her at the beginning, then I started to like her after she began to change, but something happened that by the end I pretty much didn't give a damn about her. In fact the only character that I thought was worth remembering in the entire series was Rakushun. I gave Youko a rating of 6 and will definately NOT support her in the you decide votes, but I'm sure my voice won't be loud enough to stop you fanatics. lol. It's interesting because... I didn't think this was a popularity contest and I didn't think you saw it that way either. Does a character have to be likeable or accessible to be unique, well developed and well executed? Personally, I hated her guts in the beginning. She was whiny, spineless, self-pitying and selfish. And interestingly, the other two girls (I forget their names now) weren't any more likeable for similar reasons. But all of them (and Youko especially) were created with detail and nuance and an eye towards a character type that's often overlooked. ...It can't always just be heroic people who are thrust into situations requiring heroism. Don't you think? :) I'm sorry that you decided not give your opinion until the last minute and effectively cut off the possibility of a discussion on the matter. Maybe if you had said something earlier, we could have at least had an interesting back and forth about it. Lastly, I don't really think it's fair to call people fanatics just because we have differing opinions, do you? P.S. Thanks for the compliments above, guys. =D |
lowellMar 28, 2008 11:49 PM
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| I guess you missed the first sentence: "It's been so long since I watched 12 kingdoms that I can't do a proper write up on her." This implies that I won't be able to offer many specifics as to why I feel the way I do about her. Perhaps if I was to re-watch the series then I could provide you with specific reasons as to why I didn't find her to be all that unique, or didn't care for how her character was developed, or where she failed in her execution. Your right though, it's not a popularity contest, but if I don't care for a character then you can trust that I have valid reasons for it and that I'm not just being flippant. P.S. Fanatics isn't a term I say with any amount of malice or negativity. Now if I had called you a "Rabid Fanboy/Fangirl" then I would definitely owe you an apology. |
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| Recently finished the series, and Youko went straight to the favourite character list. It's always fresh to see such a believable and human character that is not diseased by cliché. Her actions and behavior seems real, and I didn't get the feeling that I had seen it all before. |
| I gave her an 8. She is a very good character overall, but in the beginning she grated my nerves for possibly all of book one. However, it did just give her a definite starting point making her whole growth that much more apparent by the end. Though Youko really is one of the better female characters, I just couldn't let myself give her above an 8. |
| i won't make this terribly long but here we go... Yoko is prolly one of my least favorite characters in the show. During the first arc she was just a whiny little teenager, really nothing appealing. It was nice to see her develop into a stronger character, but after she became Queen she went right back to being annoying again, she was far too critical of herself, and still was just far to whiny. In the end she ended up redeeming herself and really growing into a nice leader but for a good majority of the series she was just plain annoying, so i'll give her a 6... |
| I hated Youko with a passion for 35 of the 45 episodes of this series. As a few people have said before me, for the first arc or so, she was too busy crying and complaining about her situation rather then doing something about it. And for the just about the rest of it, she's too busy soul searching. and while this is good, natural character development, that is an excellent example of how life really works, it doesn't do much to entertain me...which in the end, is what this is all about. For me, a great character draws me in, gets me excited every time they are on screen and has me rooting for them in the end, be it a good or bad guy, for right or wrong. But really, no matter how hard i tried and even after all the promise she showed at the end when she FINALLY (OMG FINALLY!!) takes full reins as Queen of Kei, it was too little, too late. In the end, i really didn't care about her at all...let me repeat, AT ALL! Maybe if the series continued and we got to see all of her soul searching go to good use, but we don't, so in the end, i can't give her a high score. 6/10 - 3 points alone for making her general piss his pants at the end of the rebel war. best part of the whole show. |
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| I don't think I have ever even seen a person change as much as Youko did in such a short period. Usually such major change for a person would take years (or hundreds of episodes in Anime time), but the show did it under 20ish episodes (I think two of the arcs weren't even about her). Initially we were presented with a girl who had no respect for herself and a personality of the most pathetic form of a human being. Then during the third arc, Youko grows out of her shell to a adult and an empress I personally don't think it is correct to say that "she changed back right after she became empress, being indecisive and all". Being suddenly thrown into a world where anything can eat you and in a world where a lot of her "common sense" don't apply, indecisiveness is unavoidable. |
| Even when I was in crowd, I was always alone |
| I'm really surprised to read all the posts here about not liking Youko until episode 30-something... I'm only on episode 11 and I already find her to a fantastic, dynamic character. It's obvious she's still in the process of growing, but that process is a very visible one... it's bizarre easy to call this one of the best examples of character development I've seen, without even seeing what she develops into. I'd normally wait until I'd actually seen that to vote, but judging from the posts here I don't think that's going to be an issue. |
Lind_L_Tailor said: I'm really surprised to read all the posts here about not liking Youko until episode 30-something... I'm only on episode 11 and I already find her to a fantastic, dynamic character. It's obvious she's still in the process of growing, but that process is a very visible one... it's bizarre easy to call this one of the best examples of character development I've seen, without even seeing what she develops into. I'd normally wait until I'd actually seen that to vote, but judging from the posts here I don't think that's going to be an issue. Well peoples didn't receive her early attitude with positive thinking, but seriously I can't blame Youko for being insecured and scared in the first part. The Twelve Kingdoms is really a scary place and can even be hell itself depending on where you land. Anyway, upon finishing Twelve Kingdoms, she earned a place in my favourite characters list because I simply thought her development was more than amazing. So, I'm voting yes. |
| -Fixing- |
| Japan is quite technological dependent (even during the time the story was written)! |
| Even when I was in crowd, I was always alone |
Wilio said: Lind_L_Tailor said: I'm really surprised to read all the posts here about not liking Youko until episode 30-something... I'm only on episode 11 and I already find her to a fantastic, dynamic character. It's obvious she's still in the process of growing, but that process is a very visible one... it's bizarre easy to call this one of the best examples of character development I've seen, without even seeing what she develops into. I'd normally wait until I'd actually seen that to vote, but judging from the posts here I don't think that's going to be an issue. Well peoples didn't receive her early attitude with positive thinking, but seriously I can't blame Youko for being insecured and scared in the first part. The Twelve Kingdoms is really a scary place and can even be hell itself depending on where you land. On top of that, though, I think they gave very good attention to why she was even the way she was in the first place. |
| I gave her a 6 out of 10. I found her a pretty interesting character in the beginning portions of the series. The makers did a great job showing how a socially awkward teenage girl might react when thrown in such a strange world, but her transition from that to a stern, reasonable king was much too drastic for me. And by the end of the anime I felt that there was barely any trace left of the Youko at the beginning of the story. Queen Youko was a little too perfect for me. |
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