Kyuuzou as a Disguised 'Female' Character
Back to The Angsty Androgyne: Random Musings
Warning: Spoilers included.
There was some talk of making the character of Kyuuzou for Samurai 7 female. (See DVD booklets for Vols. 11 and 12) In the booklet for DVD 12, Kusanagi did say "maybe it would be better to design Kyuzo as a woman..." :-) (Don't hold me to the translation as the translated DVD literature for different markets seem to have slightly different meanings.) Although the idea of female Kyuzo was scrapped early, I am of the opinion that male Kyuuzou has some feminine aspects in his dress, movements, appearance and behavior. A friend who watched S7 also thinks the scarlet samurai looks a woman, and his dress looks like female clothing. My gay friend also calls Kyuuzou a drag queen. So I'm not the only one who thinks this way ;-)
Contents
The Physical Aspects of 'Feminine' Kyuzo
Objectification by Camera
The Social Aspects of 'Feminine' Kyuzo
The Physical Aspects of 'Feminine' Kyuzo
Sure, he doesn't have a round bosom or big hips, But it's all in the proportions:
For a 'normal' male and 'idealistic female' proportions, the body width (width at widest part of arms, just below shoulder) is 2 head units (head unit being distance from top of the head to chin). I did a measurement on the fanbook picture of Kyuuzou, taking a little off the top of his head to make up for poofy hair. He has a shoulder width of less than two head units, about 1 5/8 head units to be exact. So Kyuuzou is actually significantly narrower than a normal male/idealistic female. Kyuuzou's proportions as far as body width is concerned falls well within the 'female' range. ;-)
For 'idealistic' male proportions, the body width is 2 1/3 head units . I did a measurement on the fanbook pic of Kanbei. His body width is about 2 1/2 head units , which is wider than 'idealistic' male proportions, but still narrower than 'heroic' male proportions (Greek god type of figure) which is 2 2/3 head units.So Kanbei is more than the 'ideal male' as far as width proportions are concerned ;-). (I did set his head unit at a little less than the actual head measurement to compensate for poofy hair) Shichiroji, on the other hand, conforms to 'normal male' standards with a body width of 2 head units.
Another difference between ideal male and ideal female proportions is the chest. A woman's chest sits slightly lower than a man's. Once again, I took my ruler to the DVD literature picture of Kanbei in his underwear. For the ideal male, the bottom of his chest should be about 1 1/6 head units from the chin. Kanbei does conform to that. Then I did a similar measurement on the fanbook pic of Kyuuzou in his inner clothes, where they drew in the bottom of his chest. For an ideal female, the chest sits at 1 1/3 head units from the chin. Kyuuzou's chest is not quite as low as that but proportionally, it is lower than Kanbei's (the ideal male's). About 1.1875 head units.
Another point to note is that for idealistic male and female figures, the woman's waist sits higher than the man's. It should be at two head units below the chin. Measuring the fan book picture of Kyuuzou (even slicing a bit off the top of his head to make up of poofy hair) his waist is actually quite a bit higher than two head units below chin. Kyuuzou's waist position is well within female 'norms'. The position of Kanbei's waist, however, does fit ideal male figure standards - about 2 1/6 head units from chin.
So Kyuuzou's proportions conform much closer to 'female figure' standards than to male standards. Makes me go "Hmmm..." ;-) Of course, not all men conform to the ideal masculine figure. Shichiroji's figure is more like the 'normal male' but still wider than Kyuuzou. And anime characters hardly conform to human proportions ;-) So Kyuuzou's feminine proportions do not prove anything about him being female, it only explains why he looks like a woman next to Kanbei. *cacklesnort* ;-) The 'idealistic female figure' is also about half a head shorter than the 'idealistic male figure',and Kyuuzou does happen to be roughly half a head shorter than Kanbei. Those two go so well together. LOL.
Haha, my figure drawing prof will probably shake his head to know what kind of idle matters I apply his teachings to. ;-D
In an interview with Anime Insider Vol 23 August 2005, character designer Takuhito Kusanagi said of Kyuzo, "If we made that kind of cool character into a woman, it would've been interesting! But in the final design it actually didn't work out that way, but his thin shape does have some feminine aspects." [Thanks to elfjune for typing up the interview info] So, even the designer was aware of Kyuuzou's feminine form. ;-)
Objectification by Camera
The camera treats Kyuuzou in a manner that is more commonly used for female characters. We get brief close ups of specific body parts like his butt and his legs - a process my film studies prof calls 'objectification'. The camera cuts the female subject into pieces for the presumably heterosexual male viewer's consumption. Not that it doesn't happen for male subjects, but it is very rare. Close ups of male subjects typically go to their face or eyes, or if the camera focuses on some other body part, it usually pans to the face in the same shot - in other words, the male character's personality and identity remain the focus; they are not objectified. For women, we get more isolated shots of their hips, chests, legs, butt, etc.
Biseinen as Shichiroji is and bishounen as Katsushiro is, we don't get shots of their butts or calves. No other male character is shot using the angles with which Kyuuzou is framed in S7. We don't even get close ups of Kirara's butt or legs, come to think of it. ;-) So the question is who is the camera objectifying Kyuuzou for? Straight female audience? Gay male audience? Straight male audiences who gravitate to Kyuuzou's femininity? All of them? After my gay friend watched S7, he became convinced that there must be gay men working in the S7 creation process. ;-)
The Social Aspects of 'Feminine' Kyuzo
It is rather telling to see how other characters interact with Kyuuzou. Kikuchiyo says to Kyuuzou at one point, "You're not being at all lovable (kawaii), are you?" Now that is a question that is usually not addressed to a male character. In addition, Kirara and Kyuuzou behave cattily towards each other on the way to Kanna. The dynamics between the two are like the dynamics between two women competing over the same man, in this case Kanbei.
More important is the Kanbei-Kyuzo relationship itself. Kyuuzou seems to fulfil a role usually filled by a female character. Kyuuzou's function in the story is that of the femme fatale. A shape-shifter the hero is drawn to but whom he is never entirely sure will stand on his side.
I have always thought the relationship between Kanbei and Kyuuzou made more sense with a female Kyuuzou, or at least a gay or transgender Kyuuzou. The Kanbei/Kyuuzou relationship is not unique. It is a repeated motif in many East Asian martial arts movies. This sort of dynamic could happen between two main characters or between two supporting characters. Things usually unfold along the lines of:
Guy and 'girl' (it does not have to be a 'physical' female as in the case of the film 'The East is Red') are both strong fighters. They are drawn to each other but the girl refuses to acknowledge the attraction. Girl usually sees guy as rival.
Sometimes guy does not really want to fight girl but girl really wants to fight guy because she has something to prove, e.g. in Shinobi (AND in Samurai 7). Sometimes they both make the decision to fight each other because they are on opposing sides, e.g. in The Dog Warriors and in The East is Red.
The doomed couple have their duel anyway, and they either kill each other (Dog Warriors), or the girl kills the guy (Shinobi), or the girl 'dies' because of some third party intervention (The East is Red). Sigh. Unlike Hollywood movies, happy romantic endings are not as common in East Asian film.
The one-sided rivalry between Kyuuzou and Kanbei - somehow Kyuzo still wants to fight Kambei even after Kambei squarely admits he cannot defeat Kyuzo - can be interpreted as the battle of the sexes. The member of the more despised group has a higher stake in proving 'herself' as equal or superior. The member of the more socially privileged group already feels secure in his status and can afford to admit 'personal inferiority'. Male characters can have a similar rivalry purely out of 'ego' issues, of course, but they rarely have the kind of personal tension that runs between Kyuuzou and Kanbei. An example of guy-on-guy rivalry comes from Samurai Fiction, in which the tall, ugly samurai Rannosuke becomes obsessed with beating the short, pudgy middle-aged Hanbei. Hanbei, however, is a modest fellow who tries to placate the ugly swordsman with, "Is it all right if I just say you're the better fighter?" (Btw, while Rannosuke is a 'manly' man, his sexual orientation has always been suspect, even in the eyes of other characters.)
Anyway, one can see how Kyuuzou fits quite nicely into the role usually occupied by a female (and sometimes gay/transgender) warrior character. And like the not-quite-villain-not-quite-heroine women fighters in Dog Warriors and The East is Red, Kyuuzou is an amoral, cold-blooded killer, but not entirely without human decency.
Samurai 7 can be interpreted as having another love-triangle subplot besides the obvious Kirara-Katsushiro-Kanbei story. As the narrative progresses, there unfolds the tale of the two 'women' in Kanbei's life - the one who loves him, and the one that he loves. The two women are diametrical opposites:
Community-oriented Individualistic Nurturer Destroyer Life-giver Death-dealer needs Kanbei's rescue rescues Kanbei
If Kyuuzou was female, s/he would have served as the perfect foil to Kirara. Two very different women drawn to the same man - one has a simple rural beauty, the other exudes city sophistication. Kyuuzou represents negative female energy while Kirara represents positive female energy. One is a Kali-like figure, a goddess of war and death. She destroys life in order to save it. The other is like the goddess Persephone, bringer of life and beauty.
The two women both follow after Kanbei, seemingly for very different reasons, but perhaps deep within, their motivations are not all that different. They both do whatever it takes to protect the man they care about.
In Hollywood movies, the hero often has to choose between a 'good' woman and a 'bad' woman. But in East Asian film, the 'bad' woman is not always so clearly all-bad. And sometimes, the hero chooses the bad 'woman' (e.g. The East is Red). In the case of Samurai 7, I do not think there was ever really a contest between the two 'women'. Kanbei never needed to make a choice between the two because he never considered Kirara an option. He promised his life to Kyuuzou the first day he met 'her'.
Shimada Kanbei's bittersweet journey is also not unique for the samurai genre. In the violent adult anime Ninja Scroll, the impoverished wandering samurai Juubei takes on a mission that does not concern him personally. Early in the journey to achieve 'the greater good', he encounters an angry female ninja Kageru who serves as both antagonist and ally. The two grudgingly develop an unacknowledged attraction and come to care for each other, but in the battle against the archvillain for the future of the nation, the female fighter is killed. The hero has only a moment to embrace his beloved's fallen body before duty calls and he has to fight on to complete what he has started. The samurai emerges victorious against enormous odds, but he has gained nothing for himself. He leaves the story as he has entered it. A lonely man. But he carries with him one memento from his beloved. A headband he now attaches to his sword. Now just substitute Kanbei for Juubei, and Kyuuzou for Kageru, and Kyuuzou's dying promise for Kageru's ornament, and you get Samurai 7.
Anyway, that's it for female-role Kyuuzou, at least for now.:-)