.hack//Wizard of Oz... uhm, "Color Theory"

Rhyste · Post by **Rhyste** » Fri Feb 07, 2003 2:56 pm

Uhm, not sure how many people exactly read this after I posted it in the LiveJournal Community, but, random thoughts concerning .hack//SIGN... anyway, edited it a little.

In the Wizard of Oz, the heroine Dorothy see's Kansas as a dull, boring place, and it's not colorful at all; hell, it's in black and white. But when going to Oz, we the audience see that Oz is colored, and she goes a little adventure with her friends (four, notably... Toto, the Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tinman), and she finds her way home, and the way home turned out to be something she could've done all along - all she had to say, really, was admit that there was, "no place like home" even though she thought of it as a black and white place. Tsukasa's situation is easily comparable, his rememberance of the Real World is that's it's black and white, but we do see the red sirens off the ambulences in episode one, and the lively green glow from his headset. Red, however, is usually a color that denotes "hate," "violence," "anger." Tsukasa's interpretation of the Real World then is that it's a dull place full of hate. He hates it there, and wants to stay in The World. The only place the players truly "alive" then is in the imaginary online world. By the end of the series, Tsukasa goes and awakens Aura because, well, he wants to. He wants to go out to the real world, and he's decided that Aura is his way out. He's no longer afraid of harm from his Father, or from Morgana, because no matter what, he has a place where he belongs, with Subaru. When she goes out, the Real World is still black and white, with the Red Coloring on the Hospital Cross. When Tsukasa and Subaru's players look at each other, they're grayscaled. Tsukasa realizes this is where she belongs in the Real World, she begins to smile, and she goes into color. When Subaru realizes where a wheel chaired girl constantly judged and pitied by society has a place (or person) who will not judge her, she smiles, and goes into color. She welcomes Tsukasa to where she really is home; Tsukasa, like Dorothy, then accepts the real world. After the melodrama behind their hands, we see The World. It's colorful, but slowly gradiants into grayscale, and you hear the words of Morgana, with the glowing color red in the tombstone. The World has now become a psychological torture of Tsukasa's, as the real world and reality once were.

... so... yeah... @_@;

Gearhead · Post by **Gearhead** » Fri Feb 07, 2003 3:56 pm

It's a possible and valid theory.

The colors that remain in the greyscale images are typically used to convey a mood, they're 'pure' and 'simple.' Of course, associating red with hatred calls to mind all sorts of interesting things with that hospital, but I suppose that it would have been the place where one of the greatest crimes in the series was committed. Namely, the attempted murder of Tsukasa's comatose body.

One of the things that I always had a little bit of disappointment in has to be the fact that we never really hear much about Tsukasa's father, other than that he's a genuine scum-of-the-earth type. Certainly there was no justification for what he did, but I would have liked to see a little more about why he did what he did.

But I digress.

It's fortunate that Tsukasa was able to befriend people while she was stuck inside the game, because after escaping I suspect that it took all of them to help her readjust to the world outside. She was never particularly well adjusted to begin with, and this experience probably didn't help her much.

Tsukasa · Post by **Tsukasa** » Fri Feb 07, 2003 5:46 pm

I want to comment on the justification bit. I think what little clues were dropped were enough for the audience to detirmine such things.

There was obviously a separation in Tsukasa's family. That's why... *thinks* ep 11, he said that his mother "died alone."

We've seen that Tsukasa had gone to his mother's funeral. Did anyone else notice the fact that Tsukasa was dressed in a suit at that funeral? n.n The shoplifting scene is also proof on this theory of mine. Tsukasa took both a toothbrush... and a bra. Not anything really -normal- for someone to shoplift, I'd say.

I think, being that the Japanese society is very patriarcal (sp. x.x), meaning that the man runs the family. Something happened between Tsu's mother and father, ended up having them split up. Tsukasa was then left with a father who was wanting a -son-, not a daughter. More than likely, that would explain part of the beatings to him. That would also explain Tsukasa's insistance of being a boy in the game- it was so ingrained, the only flashback we have that proves against this in ep 1 when you can see Tsukasa's skirt.

Of course, after everything Morgana did to Tsukasa, I'm surprised his mind is still intact.

However... Tsukasa's gender stays completely ambiguous throughout the series. Boyish haircut. Boyish clothes. His father never treated him like a girl. o.o When Tsukasa -wanted- to be a girl, his father disaproved of this...

And saying things like that is so weird. @.@;; I'm trying to just keep one gender here so that I don't start confusing people. x.x;

Nevertheless... I think a lot of stuff in the series needs to be read into. The explanation of Bear's job, for example. They don't come right -out- and tell you he's a writer. I had no clue what the manuscript of Anwwn was for until everyone started quoting it and Bear picked up on it. It was like 'hello! that's what it is!' @.@;

.....now I'm just rambling. I'll leave you be. :p

Rune Grey · Post by **Rune Grey** » Fri Feb 07, 2003 9:39 pm

Well, seeing as the forum ate my last reply - time to try this again.

Really, I'm not sure what we can assume about Tsukasa's mother, truth be told. That 'she died alone' offers a wide array of possiblities, from that she had a divorce or seperation with Tsu's father to that she remained with the family, and eventually suffered from enough abuse that she died for some reason or other... the possiblities are endless.

One point I do find interesting are that a lot of the flashbacks that Tsu has are of her childhood - not of her current life. We know that Tsu is wearing a dress when she collapses, and one can hope that its a sign that she is winning free of her father's rather... unhealthy influence. And given how good that Bear comments that she is doing in school, its quite possible that she is trying to escape through college and such. And for the moment, that she is trying to make her escape from her life through 'The World'.

Which obviously leads to the predicament that Tsukasa faces when he gets trapped, and doesn't want to leave - it takes someone who is able to identify with him and has faced a similar level of hardship for him to even begin to consider coming out of his 'safe house'.

Yet another sign of reverting back to childhood behavior... not that its uncommon, especially when faced with a large amount of emotional or phyiscal abuse.

Makes you respect Bear all the more, for what he offers at the end of the series.

Gearhead · Post by **Gearhead** » Fri Feb 07, 2003 11:41 pm

I have a massive amount of respect for poor, picked on Bear.

Tsukasa is something of a second chance for him. She's mostly grown, if somewhat on the shellshocked side in many ways, but she's essentially a good egg.

Bear is a second chance for Tsukasa too.. she finally gets a father figure who isn't the scum of the earth. And I seriously doubt that the offer would have ever come if her father hadn't already long since abandoned the poor girl to whatever fate there was for her.

Rhyste · Post by **Rhyste** » Fri Feb 07, 2003 11:56 pm

Eh, I think Bear has issues about his own ability to parent because of his Son - which is why he chooses to ask Tsukasa about adopting him... in episode 25 - he nows *wants* to get involved with the situation. XD As for Tsukasa's mother, I think she's been dead for a while, because Morgana seemingly tries to act like the, "Mother Tsukasa never had."

Gearhead · Post by **Gearhead** » Sat Feb 08, 2003 12:24 am

There's also evidence that she tries to fool him into thinking she IS his mother.

Rune Grey · Post by **Rune Grey** » Sat Feb 08, 2003 12:59 am

Tried? Seemed that she rather succeeded - but Tsukasa didn't have any reason to think otherwise at the time. After all, what would you do if you'd been sucked into some alien otherworld that you never really wanted to go to, and there was someone there to protect you?

Its not until episode 14 that Tsu has ANY reason to distrust Morgana - and even then, it takes quite a while...

Gearhead · Post by **Gearhead** » Sat Feb 08, 2003 1:12 am

Good point.

Very good point.

Rune Grey · Post by **Rune Grey** » Sat Feb 08, 2003 1:34 am

The point was also raised in another thread - we don't KNOW who Morgana is and why Aura is there or anything similar. There is a lot of speculation, and we're only assuming that Morgana is the 'bad person' at the moment.

Things may turn out to be much different, as the mystery unfolds.

Tsukasa · Post by **Tsukasa** » Sat Feb 08, 2003 1:55 am

I have a ton of respect for Bear as well. I was all cheering and stuff when he made the offer, however, my friend saw it from the very beginning. I don't think he's even seen the end yet, but it was like... episode 11 or 12, he ended up saying 'Bear's going to adopt Tsukasa. It's going to happen that way.' So... You see it coming and it makes total sense, but over that time period, Bear is having to decide whether he should or should not make the choice.

You put it exactly right, Gearhead. It's giving them both a second chance to live their lives how they want to.

I'm agreeing with Rune on this- Morgana lead Tsukasa to think that she is his mother. It was... agh. I don't remember the episode numbers. It look a -really- long time to get Tsukasa to figure out he's been manipulated and lied to. He completely trusted her. And she screwed him over with that trust. ~.~

Rune Grey · Post by **Rune Grey** » Sat Feb 08, 2003 2:04 am

Hmmm. Well, honestly it depends on if you think that Morgana was trying to mess Tsu up to begin with. For the most part, Tsu was doing a really good job of being miserable and depressed all by himself.

Its Subaru who actually gets him back on the upswing, truth be told. Because she isn't prying and poking like Mimiru and Bear are... that's when Morgana starts to be a bit more hostile to Tsukasa.

If he had continuedto ignore the outside world, do you think she would have done all of the things to Tsu that she did?

Tsukasa · Post by **Tsukasa** » Sat Feb 08, 2003 2:16 am

Actually, I agree with you completely. All the way from him meeting with Subaru in ep 6, things begin to change somewhat... Of course, Mimiru instigated a change with him as well, when he found out that she really DID wait that whole time for him on DL. It was then that he'd go out to actively seek Mimiru. That's how episode 9 happened. He ran into the Puchiguso girl while looking for her. Honestly... Meeting with Subaru was the one to begin it all... But Mimiru is the one who made action from it. People say that he tossed her aside... No. She held just as important of a role as anyone else did. In fact, I think she held the hardest role.

Who's to say why Tsukasa turned his back to her when Mimiru told him she'd protect him? He certainly didn't want her to see what he was really thinking, you know? I honestly think she began the cycle that Subaru eventually picks up on.

Rhyste · Post by **Rhyste** » Sat Feb 08, 2003 2:24 am

Eh, Mimiru's wait; I think she did that for herself, for her own justification, maybe to prove to herself that she really isn't just a child.

As for Morgana, she gave Tsukasa the Guardian, and yeah, at one time she did convince him, "Hey, I'm 'mom.'" But, I think Tsukasa knew deep down in that Morgana was not mother, but he just... didn't care: because, well, Morgana gave him the guardian. In the Real World, Tsukasa didn't have "power." All throughout episode one this little golden bug is following him around. He shoves it off; he doesn't care, even if it is bothering him. However, after acquiring the Guardian, he goes, "Hey, I have l337 sk33lz," decides it won't be a bad idea to be stuck in the Real World, and squishes the buggy to show his "power" that he has in the game that he doesn't have IRL. Morgana provided with everything that wouldn't want to make him leave the game, so then he'd stay, he'd never want to leave, he wouldn't want to awaken Aura... but when she realizes people could perhaps convince him to leave the game, namely: Bear, Mimiru, and Subaru, and he's met Harold. As Mimiru pointed out: Tsukasa said he figured soemthing out before they began running for their life out of the castle. The floor drops on Bear, and Maha sends Mr. Dumbell after Mimiru. But Tsukasa *shields* her. This proves to Morgana where his loyalities now lie; with his "friends," the last thing Morgana wanted him to have. She wanted him to Power Trip with the Guardian, and he did, but it wasn't before long that he got a serious reality check. Subaru then comes into the picture, literally, and Tsukasa kind of crosses this invisible line by brining Subaru to Aura's Forest. So, if Morgana can't trust him to not be curious by himself, she then pretty much does her Wrath of God bit on him, forces him to stay there, braindead, so he won't leave The World, nor have thoughts about it, but then he mentally becomes lost, and looses himself, even though he had previously began to find himself.

Rune Grey · Post by **Rune Grey** » Sat Feb 08, 2003 2:29 am

Hmmm. True, although Mimiru really doesn't put the sort of effort into it that Subaru ends up putting in, at least in how it seems to me. Mimiru still has her life to consider - while she might have some degree of interest in Tsu, she doesn't devote her time to him quite like Subaru does and Bear eventually does.

Remember, we see Mimiru off doing a lot of 'extra' stuff during the series, apart from Tsukasa. Subaru and Tsukasa, on the other hand, are together quite a bit after episode 16, except when Subaru is dealing with her duties and Tsu is off moping with Aura, and certainly after 19 until things really go nuts.

Yes, Mimiru is important... but she could have been much more so, at least from my view of the series.