The Case for Kanbei/Kyuuzou
Back to The Angsty Androgyne: Random Musings
Warning: Spoilers included.
When someone first told me that Kanbei was in love with Kyuuzou from the first time they met, I was not entirely convinced. Sure, I knew the pairing was popular with yaoi fans because of Kanbei's infamous "I'm in love" line. Even so, one could always come up with a non-yaoi explanation for that. But when I rewatched Samurai 7, I realized that there was indeed something more than mere 'competition' going on between those two. Other commentators talk about a 'blind rivalry' between the two, but from what I see, the 'rivalry' is one-sided. Kyuuzou was obsessed with defeating Kanbei but Kanbei was never interested in beating Kyuuzou. He already told Kyuuzou from the start that he could not beat him. Why does Kyuuzou still feel the need to beat him? Could it be because Kyuuzou does not really believe Kanbei's admission of inferiority? Or could it be because he needs to master his own unwanted emotions?
In Episode 4 match, Kanbei's suggestive lines ("I'm in love...", "I want him") could be explained away without resorting to yaoi, but there's no getting around his smouldering gaze directed at poor Kyuuzou (things become a lot clearer if you watch the scene at half-speed). As for Kyuuzou, he was calm, collected and detached in all his battles - except for the fight scene with Kanbei! With Kanbei alone, Kyuuzou was flustered, angry and hasty. Perhaps it was because he rarely had the chance to fight someone who was equal or superior to him in skill. Or perhaps Kanbei's intense gaze made him nervous in a way that no one else had ever done.Then there were the literal sparks flying between the two when their swords scraped against each other. I wonder if it was an intended metaphor. ;-) And at half-speed, it is quite obvious that Kanbei unnecessarily caressed Kyuuzou's hand. I'm not the only who who noticed that too. (My str8 guy friend saw it and said, "Hey, that's weird. Why's he doing that?", so it's not just the imagination of a queer fan looking for a gay subtext.;-)
In later scenes, whenever Kyuuzou spoke to Kanbei, he kept his back to the older man (there are rare exceptions). Kyuuzou did have face-to-face exchanges with other characters, e.g. Heihachi, peasants etc, so it is not like he doesn't have the habit of having a face-to-face conversation. Either he really hates Kanbei to the point he doesn't even want to look him in the eye, or Kyuuzou is nervous about meeting that man's desiring gaze. (More on the desiring gaze later.)
The dynamics between Kirara and Kyuuzou are also very telling. The witch eyed the crimson warrior with the hostility with which a woman would eye a rival in love. Komachi wrote in her letter that "Kyuuzou was always hanging around Kanbei, and this made Elder Sister nervous." Kyuuzou wasn't one to back down in the face of Kirara's hostility. He showed himself quite capable of out-bitching her on the road to Kanna. Their petty tit-for-tat power game was bordering on a catfight. LOL.
Kyuuzou always said that Kanbei was his alone to kill; that's his excuse for the times he helped or even saved Kanbei. But Kanbei did not need any excuses to save Kyuuzou from Hyogo. Kanbei only committed to the future death duel because that was what Kyuuzou wanted. Why does he care so much about what Kyuuzou wants anyway? This itself is noteworthy because Kanbei is not the sort of person who lets other people pressure him into doing something he does not want to do. Kanbei never really cared what other people, e.g. Kikuchiyo, Katsushiro, or even Kirara, wanted. Then why does he indulge Kyuuzou's pointless whim? Maybe because it is the only thing that could bind the two of them together. The DVD literature for the Katsushiro-Kirara relationship states, "He fell in love with a shadow he saw on the street, and put his life up for the gamble for a bowl of rice." This could just as easily apply to the Kambei-Kyuzo dynamic. Only Kambei gambled his life so that Kyuuzou would always come to him, at least until one of them no longer lives.
Shimada Kanbei is always either 'apologizing' to Kyuuzou or asking the younger man to "wait for him" (Sounds almost romantic ^_^) The first time is after their match, when Kanbei says, "I'm sorry, but please let me go." The second time is in the House of the Fireflies, when Kyuuzou says, "It seems that our assignment is not yet done." and Kanbei replies, "So it seems. I've kept you waiting. I'm sorry." Why is Kanbei always 'apologizing' to Kyuuzou? Since when is he so solicitously polite and sensitive? Kanbei could be quite curt and insensitive - when dealing with Kikuchiyo, Katsushiro, and even Kirara and Shichiroji. But with Kyuuzou he is different.
Kanbei also gives Kyuuzou rather meaningful looks on a number of occasions. There's the time when Kyuuzou volunteers to be the scout and Kanbei gives him this intense, concerned gaze, and Kyuuzou gives the old man a sarcastic smile in return. Maybe it's his version of flirting. Then there's the moment Kyuuzou runs into the village when the last Red Spider is approaching. Shichiroji and Kanbei are already there. Shichiroji smiles and says, "It's Kyuuzou!" like "Yay! The ass kicker is here! We're saved!" But the look on Kanbei's face was something else altogether when he turns his gaze towards Kyuuzou. It's almost dreamy. Don't believe me? Go watch the scene again. Btw, Shichiroji was giving Heihachi an inappropriately tender look shortly before that, but the second Hei-san turned around to face him, Shichiroji quickly put on a straight face. But maybe that's the subject for another essay. ;-) Later, when Kyuuzou and Kanbei meet again outside the House of Fireflies, Kanbei was giving Kyuuzou this weird, almost lecherous smile. Kyuuzou was, of course, keeping his back to Kanbei while talking to him. I don't blame Kyuu for not wanting to make eye contact with Kanbei. Heck, if I were Kyuuzou, the old guy would be creeping me out by now too.
What is also interesting is Kyuuzou's response to Kanbei in the House of the Fireflies. The look he gives Kanbei in return is soft, tender. A little unusual considering he usually does not even look at Kanbei when talking to him. And in that one scene, Kyuuzou could pass for beautiful, which is also a little out of the ordinary. I am of the opinion that Kyuuzou is not a biseinen character in the sense that he is not designed to be gorgeous. Seinen, probably. Bi, no. (Katsushiro, on the hand, is a definite bishounen.) There are some scenes in which Kyuuzou look undeniably ugly - when he is practicing his swordwork in front of Ukyo, when he gets angry and flustered during his match with Kanbei, and when he gets hit by the bullets, just to name a few. The rest of the time, he is tolerable to look at, but not stunningly handsome. (Sorry, Kyuuzou fangirls. I like Kyuuzou too, and I would be pleased if he is always pretty, but the fact is, IMHO, he's not.) But it is worth noting that the one moment Kyuuzou crosses the line from tolerable-looking into beautiful is when he meets Kanbei's eyes. There is a saying that being in love makes someone beautiful. Could it be true in this case? ;-D
The third time Kanbei asks Kyuuzou to wait is the time Kyuuzou was mortally wounded. Kanbei catches him in his arms. Kyuuzou tells Kanbei he'll wait for him in the village. In turn Kanbei asks him to wait for him in the world to come. Can it get more obvious that the two had committed to each other for eternity, albeit in a bizarre way? And after Kyuuzou dies, Kanbei takes Kyuuzou's sword into battle. My friend Zan observes:
When Kanbei exacts revenge from Ukyo, he has Kyuuzou's sword. He dodges the bullets fired at him with his own sword but he does the cutting with Kyuuzou's sword. He is pretty grim-faced when he does it, as if that was the only chance at revenge he was going to get for someone dear to him. His slaying of Ukyo seems more a personal act. As if he is holding Ukyo personally to blame for the death of Kyuuzou.
Shortly later, Kanbei wields both his own sword and Kyuuzou's when he and Shichiroji are slicing through the Capital's machinery, trying to dismantle the flying fortress.
The Kanbei-Kyuuzou tragic ending is not atypical for East Asian martial arts movies. In other films, the proud cold female/gay male warrior gets killed before the could-be romance is even acknowledged on a verbal level. The hero does not have much time to embrace the fallen body of his beloved before more pressing concerns call him into battle. No tears are shed. It is the same way for Kanbei and Kyuuzou. I feel quite sorry for Kanbei. He enters the tale as a lone wanderer, risks his life to fight for the 'greater good', loses his chance at love, and then leaves the story the same way he entered it - a lonely man. But then he is not the only character in the samurai genre who came to such a fate.
Kyuuzou is a somewhat tragic character. He formed an obsessive attachment to the older samurai, but he is much too proud to let softer feelings rule him - he would rather kill the man he is drawn to than let himself fall in love. But it is tormented angsty types like these that make stories interesting.
By the way, the arrangement of scenes in the alternative opening credits also lends itself to a Kan/Kyuu interpretation. ;-)