SIGN characters in ZERO

Jejune · Post by **Jejune** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 1:21 pm

While flipping through Phantom Pain today, I noticed that one of the chapters is about Subaru outside the game, so I skipped ahead and read it. The book takes place a few months after SIGN, so you get to find out what Tsukasa does after logging out, too.

Anyway, Subaru's real name is Mariko Misono (御園真理子), and Tsukasa's is An Shouji (荘司杏 - note that the second kanji in her last name, the "ji," is the same kanji as "Tsukasa"). They can't see one another very often, but they talk on the phone and write letters all the time. Tsukasa, or rather An, seems to have taken Bear's suggestion about going to a boarding school.

... Okay, so it's not that much info, but I thought it might still be interesting. ^^;

Ryo · Post by **Ryo** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 1:46 pm

COOL, is there anything in that book about a little fourth grader being hospitalized after playing "The World"?

Jejune · Post by **Jejune** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 1:51 pm

Well, Sora - the character - appears a lot, but I don't know if you ever hear anything about him in real life. You see, I only read the first 50 pages, then flipped through until I saw Subaru's name and read that particular chapter. I haven't read the whole thing yet. ^^;

YashaOokami · Post by **YashaOokami** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 3:26 pm

Well atleast we get to know what happens to them afterwards,thats a good thing.If you read the rest of it,tells us more when you can ^^;

Andy00 · Post by **Andy00** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 3:54 pm

Oh, brilliant plan, Bear. Send the girl who was self-destructing from lack of contact away to boarding school.

Do they explain _why_ Bear suggests this? He does adopt Tsuk....An, right? For someone desperate to do a family right, this seems contadictory.

While I'm rolling my eyes, though, I can't say I'm surprised. The Japanese <warning, armchair sociologist mode> seem to have a split personality over this sort of thing. They seem to recognize that they're killing themselves with loneliness, and that extraordinary measures need to be taken to get pass the barriers in their lives, but they can't just seem to bring themselves to actually modify how they do things. So many animes are about people learning the importance of friendship and connection, then the epilogue beats it down with a club.

At least tell me An plans on being with everyone once she gets through college, yes?

YashaOokami · Post by **YashaOokami** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 4:30 pm

It was in the SIGN episodes,Bear mentions it to Tsukasa about it.I'm not sure what he said..but only he said for him to decide on whether it would be a good idea or not :/

Jejune · Post by **Jejune** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 5:11 pm

YashaOokami wrote:Well atleast we get to know what happens to them afterwards,thats a good thing.If you read the rest of it,tells us more when you can ^^;

Yeah, If I see more in the novel, I'll post about it. I'm definitely going to read the entire novel, though, since I'm going to do a summary of it like the one of AI Buster that I'm working on now.

Andy00 wrote:Oh, brilliant plan, Bear. Send the girl who was self-destructing from lack of contact away to boarding school.

Do they explain _why_ Bear suggests this? He does adopt Tsuk....An, right? For someone desperate to do a family right, this seems contadictory.

Well, it doesn't say whether he adopted her or not (and besides, if she refuses the offer, there's not much he can do). I don't really think he did, though, since if you talk to him in Quarantine, he mutters something to himself about how he wonders how Tsukasa's doing. ^^;

And I don't think that Bear's suggestion was necessarily a bad one. There's no telling whether he knew anything about how she related to people in general outside of the game, unless I'm forgetting something, and the main thing he was concerned with - getting her away from her destructive home life - is accomplished by her going to a boarding school.

If it's any consolation, Mariko mentions that what An tells her about her progress at the school - including getting along with people - is "hopeful." ^^

At least tell me An plans on being with everyone once she gets through college, yes?

No clue. It doesn't say anything about it, and besides, I doubt she would be thinking that far ahead. ^^;

Rhyste · Post by **Rhyste** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 5:15 pm

Personally I don't think that Tsukasa went to live with Bear.

Andy00 · Post by **Andy00** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 5:15 pm

My point is..throughout all of SIGN, we keep seeing Tsukas going "I want to be alone." And this is KILLING him/her. He finally gets over this, and she wakes up (gotta love third person when talking about Tsukasa) and she goes away to boarding school?

Isn't that just a bit self-defeating?

Well, if she's away at school, that could also be why Bear is wondering if she's doing okay. While I can see her maybe writing Bear every now and then, I don't see her going into much detail. (Tsukasa liked Bear, but didn't really have long conversations with him)

Rhyste · Post by **Rhyste** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 5:20 pm

Andy. ~_~; If you didn't pick up the HINT, or rather, understand the ENTIRE psychological highlight of the series, in finding Subaru and awakening, Tsukasa has lost that attitude.

Andy00 · Post by **Andy00** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 5:56 pm

Rhyste....and if you haven't noticed, I'm pointing out I know that. Yet after Tsukasa makes this incredible jump to _wanting_ to be with people, she goes off to a far away boarding school, away from the people with her, struggled so hard to get past those barriers?

Here's what I mean.....

Tsukasa in SIGN - I want to be alone.

Bear, Mimiru, Subaru - Let's see if we can help.

Tsukasa: Okay, I don't want to be alone anymore. There's people I want to be with in the real world.

Then in Phantom Pain, Tsukasa decides to go away from them all?

Tsukasa · Post by **Tsukasa** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 6:13 pm

Let me make a note to something....

First off, everyone is acting like going to a boarding school means the end of a life for you. However, An most likely willingly made the choice to go to school herself. I don't see Bear being the type of person to force her into such a decision, afterall.

However... another note... as is shown in some character sketches that our dear Balmung-san snagged...

An has a roommate at school. And... she's not the world's tidiest person either. While her roommate's side of the room is quite clean, there are little things littered about on her own side, to add to that. ^^;;

But considering the educational culture of Japan, if you manage to get yourself accepted to a good boarding school (which is likely private), that's quite an accomplishment in itself. If you want to attempt to get into a school such as that, it's going to be very difficult.

It's likely a good thing for An to go to college like that, though. It's giving her a chance to be in a real life situation, to be with new people, and most likely get herself a new start. This is a very good thing, too.

She still has contact with them, and that usually keeps people close.

The most important thing is, like Jejune said, getting An out of the relationship she was in at home, because it was certainly not helping her.

Rhyste · Post by **Rhyste** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 7:10 pm

Andy, common sense. Tsukasa is not by herself if she's going to school.

I mean, if you go to a boarding school especially, you see the same group of people pretty much every daaaaay. T__T; If Tsuaksa is as anti-social and self-defeating as you think she is, she'd've dropped out.

Andy00 · Post by **Andy00** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 8:08 pm

Okay, okay, maybe I've just been reading too much Dickens. Still, I do hope she gets to be with them some day.

"And then they went their seperate ways" happens so much in anime, it's depressing. And mindboggling, when so much is done during a series to be together.

Rhyste · Post by **Rhyste** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 8:17 pm

WTF does 50 year old Dickens work have to do with Modern Day Cultural Japan? Great Expectations is horribly outdated, in example, and thus, wouldn't fit into modern day unless it was updated to meet like so.