| How crazy is too crazy? How dangerous do you think Ame really is? For the sake of this argument, let's say she doesn't have psychic powers. (It's neither confirmed nor denied in the anime.) Ame stalks a guy, offers him her eternal servitude, sees some girls hassling him in the hallway so she points the sharp end of an umbrella at them, THEN she introduces herself. After her explanation, Juu tells her to get lost. Ame responds by climbing into his window while he's sleeping and sitting by his bed. Even so, Ame's interest in Juu does not seem to be sexual. If we swapped their genders, it would be an entirely different show. Since Ame is a waif-ish girl, she seems less dangerous than a male stalker would be... until you look at the rest of the cast. Why does she fixate on Juu so strongly? Does she remember that day he comforted her on the playground when they were kids? Did Juu just dream that up, like it was symbolic of their current relationship? Does she know Juu is the same boy? If so, why not just tell him that, instead of stalking him? Do you think she's going through a phase? It looks like she has a lot of fantasy manga and figurines in her room. One set of books was called "Bizarre Murder" (the title was written in English). Her sister mentions that Ame has always "daydreamed a lot". I think Ame really believes what she's saying. And I think Ame could / would kill someone if necessary. She might have yandere tendencies. I don't know if they consider themselves a romantic couple by the end, but if Juu ever got a girlfriend that wasn't her, and she deemed this girl a threat to Juu somehow, she might do something to her. At present, Ame waits for orders from Juu to do things like confront and "punish" the girls at the end of the second episode When Juu was about to be stabbed, she stepped in front of him. I love Ame. She's pretty creepy, but I like her loyalty, quick thinking, and investigation skills. I'm just not sure if---if she were a real person---she should be on meds or not. |
DateKyousuke said: Could she be going through a phase? Maybe, but I think it's more than just that. It could be some form of mental illness that puts her into a delusional state of mind, which in turn, makes her believe the things she says. The manga and books are probably what enable her state of mind further. I actually translated a few of the book titles in her library with the Google Translate app and lots of patience. The fantasy anime is called "Queen Saga", and some of the other books say "Andromeda" and "Space Visual Wide" (not a typo as far as I can see). She's clearly into sci-fi and fantasy. "Queen Saga" sounds a series that would be like what she's re-enacting / imagining with Juu: loyal knights and royalty in dangerous fantasy adventures. Her finding the murder photos on "a certain image board" online suggests that she checks 2chan sometimes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futaba_Channel My main question now is: if she and Juu started dating, would it mean Juu is taking advantage of her delusional state? Ame is utterly devoted to him for her own reasons. They obviously enjoy each other's company, and have come to depend on each other. I'm not saying it's romance yet, but the title of the series has "girlfriend" in it, so it's implied their relationship could take that route eventually. Would it be "wrong" if they got together? Would she stop calling herself his knight? I'm sure she'd still protect him. Maybe Ame has a crush on Juu, and can't express it like a typical person, so decided to stalk him and become his knight. I've been watching Love, Chuunibiyo, and Other Delusions, and it has some interesting theories about delusional behavior and why some people convince themselves they're knights or the Eye of the Dark Lord or magical girls, etc. It can be a coping mechanism when someone can't deal with life. The dream or memory Juu has of when they were kids suggests that Ame was lonely. She has a few friends (the girls who get her the stun gun), a sister, and a mother, but otherwise blends into the background around her school. None of Ame's friends or family go to her school. Juu is lonely even though he pretended he wasn't at first. DateKyousuke said: Urabe is pretty great too going by your profile picture. They share some pretty nice similarities. Urabe is probably why Ame caught my eye, because they have similar bangs. Mysterious Girlfriend X is one of my favorite anime of all time. Well, that turned into a long, rambling reply. |
| Get ready for another essay DateKyousuke said: I'm not sure whether it'd actually be taking advantage of a delusional girl that's clearly into you, but I know i'd feel guilty as hell if I started dating someone like that. Juu would feel the same to considering he rejected Ame's sister's advances when she wasn't in the right state of mind. Despite himself being a delinquent and secretly lonely, he never takes advantage of women. If he were to actually form a relationship with Ame, then it would probably be platonic at best. I have a feeling you're right. Ame says that her only reason to exist is to serve Juu in whatever way he wants. I firmly believe that if he told her to strip naked and do something lewd, Ame would do it without much hesitation. And she proclaims this absolute loyalty to Juu immediately after meeting him. She didn't even introduce herself. There's no two-way communication there: it's all her. Further evidence comes when Ame's sister was protective of her and tried to kick Juu's ass because she thought he was taking advantage of Ame. Juu was actually weirded out by her, so the sister spared him. As much as I want to believe Ame's going through a chuunibyou phase, I don't think she is. She does not have delusions of grandeur, she's not a hipster, she's not trying to be edgy. I don't think she can tell her "past-life bonds" are fictitious, and that climbing into someone's window at night is wrong. Still, even with her fixation on Juu, I think Ame could be a functioning adult in society. Like, I can see her holding down a job and possibly living on her own. According to the 1 (and a short preview of 2) chapter of the light novel that was translated to English, she's an honors student. (Warning: some parts in that first chapter are kind of cringey)
As an adult, Ame would probably continue to be a loner with few friends. Go to work, come home and watch anime / read scifi / post on message boards, talk to her family, and do it again the next day. Not much different than what I do, except I like to talk to people at work. I almost never go out, and don't date. Outgoing, but a homebody. She solves crimes too, so that's pretty cool. I guess I'm a little sad that Juu and Ame getting together would be based on a guy dating a girl who isn't in her right mind—someone who honestly thinks they have a telepathic link from previous made-up lives. Though given some of her actions, she might have a psychic sense or just be a really good guesser. On the upside, Ame looks like she's opening up more after spending time with Juu. She could get "better," or otherwise treated for mental illness, and learn to exist for her own sake rather than existing solely for Juu-sama. Maybe Ame is really insecure, and looking for someone strong and good-hearted to latch onto. Juu is another loner who appears to be strong: he gets into fights, and is intimidating enough to be left alone by most people. Even though he's not supposed to, Juu dyes his hair blond and casually breaks the school rules that diminish individuality. He stands out. She doesn't stand out at all, or maybe she's too shy to make an effort. Her hairstyle says "don't pay attention to me" and she usually has a flat-affect expression. So she thinks, "if I'm not strong / brave enough to be royalty, I can be a knight." Ame's delusions, the manifestation of her wishes, aren't a power fantasy that makes her look special or impressive to others. That sets her apart from someone with chuunibyou. This is actually getting sadder the more I think about it. Here's a girl who is lonely, doesn't understand that she has value as a person vs. being a tool for someone else, and is likely mentally ill on top of it. At least she has a family and friends who care about her. Her waitress friend even made a point of testing and teasing Juu to see if he was a decent guy for Ame to be around. Ame is a prime target for physical / emotional / mental exploitation by someone she trusts. At least she's smart, and she can read people pretty well. She found a way to talk down the girls at the end of episode 2 by using their own logic against them. Juu's dream of when they were kids probably never happened, but it was symbolic. He—sniffling, with bandaids on his face after fighting with bullies—saw a girl crying all alone. Instead of ignoring her, he went over and did his best to comfort her. Then Juu showed her his king action figure. It's as though he said, "Don't be sad; I'll play with you." Once he gets out of the hospital, Juu literally tells Ame he'll "play along" with her king / knight fantasy until he gets sick of it. Of course, this is all my interpretation, and we'll never really know what Ame Ochibana's deal is. Even if all 3 light novels get translated, I doubt everything will get cleared up. Volumes 1 and 3 were the ones adapted into the OVAs. I heard Volume 2 was about an organ-harvesting serial killer (briefly mentioned in the first OVA). Ame's still great, even if her situation is sadder than I originally thought. And that's today's Ame Ochibana speculation rambling essay. |
towelgirl21Dec 21, 2019 9:40 AM
Merry Christmas to you too! And if you don't reply right away, don't worry about it. I think it's fun to have someone read my observations and weigh in with their own on such an obscure topic. But don't feel pressured or anything. I doubt I have as much to do as you do. All I really do is work, do chores, and then watch anime and read manga, and then comment on it. And I can pick things apart forever. I was an English major in college, i.e. our coursework was "read this and nitpick and find symbolism in it." But back to Ame for a second, I'm sad that I can't totally root for her to be Juu's girlfriend since she's not really in her right mind to be a romantic partner (as of the OVAs). A bit of a tendency from my fanfiction-reading days. I wasn't usually into pairings that seemed implausible or built on something fishy. I think Ame could get better, and Juu would not take advantage of her unconditional vow to do whatever he wishes. She's got friends and family watching her back, and those two friends from the restaurant busted down a woman's door and stuck a razor in a guy's mouth because Ame called in a favor. I'm scared to imagine what they'd do if someone actually hurt Ame. Seriously, do those two chicks have mafia ties or something? They're still in high school, for pete's sake. Maybe it has something to do with the author's other work, Kurenai, which I haven't read or watched. Afaik, it's set in the same world, and I heard that Juu's mother is a character in it. And one of the other girls is related to someone in it. Maybe the serial killer girl from the first OVA? I'd have to look it up. |
towelgirl21Dec 25, 2019 9:29 AM
| Assuming that she is mentally ill is applying this world's rules to a fictional one. Maybe in that world reincarnation is real and you can regain your past life's memories. Heck, there are literally billions of people in this world who believe that, including most of Japan, China, India, etc. |
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