Noriko Nakagawa

[tallulahgs]

I am bored and grumpy. However, a topic on the Battle Royale forum has inspired me to write down my thoughts on Noriko Nakagawa. Cos it's Friday, and work sucks.



I'll be honest and say that Noriko is the only BR character I don't like. I don't dislike her personality, or think she's a bitch... I just find her dull. This isn't just because she's a 'good guy', because I love Shuuya, who's the goodest guy in the whole thing, let's be honest. The reason I don't like Noriko is that I find her boring. At first I just didn't have an opinion on her one way or the other - I accepted her as a cute, sweet, nice Japanese schoolgirl and tolerated her presence because she was making Shuuya happy ^_^ (moi, problems distinguishing between reality and fiction? Ha!)
But now I've gone off her. I don't think it's because she's a Sue exactly - but I just can't see her as a real person; I don't think she quite comes to life as a character, and this is becoming a problem in the later books of the manga, because Noriko's presence is having a greater and greater effect on one person, namely Shuuya. Example: Book 10 of the manga. Shuuya pretty much goes to pieces, and is only brought back to sanity and self-control by remembering that Noriko is counting on him. Fair point - she is. But from what I remember of how this scene is presented (and I don't have the book, so I may be wrong) it's not just that someone is counting on him, but that Noriko is counting on him. And that grates. I just can't believe that Noriko is that 'special' - and that's why you could argue that she's a Sue. Not because of what she is, but because of what she isn't. Where there should be a strong (as in, well-written), realistic character for Shuuya to fall in love with, there's just her - and I can't believe in her as a person.
I think this is partly because she has very few flaws. She seems to have a nice, well-adjusted life back home; she has a lot of friends whom she gets on well with (movie!Noriko doesn't, but I like movie!Noriko better - possibly because she gets picked on) she is kind, she isn't a show-off, she's virginal and innocent, she gives sensible advice (like in Book... 2, I think, when she reassures Shuuya that Yoshi's death wasn't his fault) she doesn't complain when she gets sick...
I dislike the whole 'Noriko is such a lazy, pathetic bitch' attitude because, really, she isn't. She'd be doomed without Shuuya and Kawada. She's not insisting they take care of her, or making unnecessary demands on them, and she helps when she can - reloading guns, etc. I just don't think she has many flaws. Most of the other girls do - you have the obvious flawed characters like Mitsuko and Hirono, and then the more ambiguous ones like Satomi and Yuko. Off the top of my head, girls who you could argue are not flawed are Yukio and Sakura. And Sakura, it could be argued, is overly cutesy and obsessed with her boyfriend, while Yukio's big plan blows up in her face - literally - which certainly doesn't suggest she's 'perfect'.
So yeah. I don't like people bashing Noriko, because they're mainly doing it for unfair reasons, or are angry that she survived and [favourite character] didn't - but I don't like the girl. She's just... bland. I think Takami wrote her as a love interest and forgot to define her as anything else.
My two cents.

Comments

[sashwizzled.livejournal.com]

I can see where you're coming from on all that - you've said probably what some of the people screaming 'Mary Sue' on that board are thinking, just far more eloquently. I don't think she's a Mary-Sue, hence my butting in on that board, and I do think that she has her own character... just one that was unlucky enough to always be lumped in with Shuuya's plots - and God forbid anyone have more focus than Shuuya in any scene he's in. (Not that I dislike Shuuya) Ehh. Once again, you're making more sense than I am. XD

[tallulahgs]

No, I see what you mean! ^_^ I don't think she's a Sue, and I think a lot of Noriko-bashers can't see past 'I hate her therefore she = Sue.'
I think it's not so much that Shuuya steals her focus in the actual scene as that she's only been created for Shuuya. Well, so has everyone, if what Takami said in Book 8 is right... but Noriko is created to be on Shuuya's side and be a positive thing in his life, whereas Kawada (whose purpose is also totally bound up with Shuuya's) is created to be more ambiguous and play the cynical Devil's Advocate to Shuuya's naive optimism.
What does bug me with the Noriko-bashers, though, is when they complain how weak and pathetic she is and how she uses Shuuya and Kawada and can't do anything for herself, etc etc... The reason she needs them is because she is injured and has a sucky weapon. The weapon isn't her fault, and the injury is because she tried to help Yoshi, which is in no way passive or cowardly - if she weren't so perfect, I'd love her for that. And this is about to turn into a rant on the idiocy of some fans, so I'll stop ^_^

[nodrogg.livejournal.com]

I don't know from Battle Royale, but I will point out that I have known girls like Miss Nakagawa - mousy, innocuous girls who simply don't leave a deep impression on the texture of reality.

I can readily imagine that such a girl could be very attractive to someone with a flamboyant or violent lifestyle, simply because she is so... restful. He knows her, he can trust her, she needs him and [presumably] does what she can to show her appreciation, even if she can't think of much that would show it...

Yes, I could see a man turning away from neurotic, violent, faithless but more 'interesting' women, to favor such a gentle mouse.

I would, without question.

[tallulahgs]

That's quite an interesting point, but even gentle mice (I nearly wrote 'mouses' there... am not awake today) are real people with real flaws. What irritates me about this character is that you know a lot about her, but you never see any evidence that she isn't perfect, whereas practically all of the 'less important' girls come across as real people. For me, it makes it hard to suspend disbelief and feel immersed in the story.

Better?

[nodrogg.livejournal.com]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/nodrogg/108140.html

Yes, I could have simply slammed the shutters in your face, 'friends-locked' the post in such a fashion as to exclude you from seeing it, but you are a friend, and I'd like to think that I could expect better treatment than that at your hands, were the situation reversed...

On top of that, you weren't the only one to be bothered by it - and the bothersome element was so off the point that I simply gave it over.

No, you're not being censorious; I am being considerate. If I did feel the need to vent spleen in that fashion as the subject of the post, as a courtesy I would of course filter you from even seeing it.

Re: Better?

[tallulahgs]

I would hope I could behave considerately in such a situation... thanks, I think your last paragraph shows an excellent grasp of the situation.
As for the comments in the reply to my comment - I take your point that American TV has some sucky values (and I recognise some of what you said in British TV as well). That wasn't my argument - my argument was that not all feminists would agree with the value system depicted there. I just want to make that clear.
I also take your point that the comments on feminism weren't the point of the post, but... they were still there. If I was writing something about, say, a movie I'd seen, and wrote something like "It was great - a real woman's movie, demonstrating values like gentleness and non-violent means of problem-solving (bet all the men in the audience were having heart attacks at the very idea!)" (Can't imagine why I'd write something so... weird, but there you go ^_^) I would expect to be called on it, because half my Flist are male. I know it's not a perfect analogy, as you don't know that someone on your Flist supports feminist ideologies, etc, but I hope you see my point.