On Deconstructions

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of genre deconstructions, especially if it's a genre that I like. I've read Watchmen multiple times over, and I sat through all twenty-six episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion plus The End of Evangelion. Just with Evangelion, we're talking about something like thirteen hours of raw mindfuckery, which I watched directly after the sublime hotblooded heroism of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. The mood whiplash was something akin to going out for a night with the guys, and when you get home your cheery, adorable wife is wearing a black leather corset and crotchless knickers, wielding a riding crop. You're not quite sure what's going on, but you have the sneaking feeling that you're going to like what's to follow.

So anyway, it felt necessary to establish my fondness for them, as I'm about to discuss yet another deconstruction, this time of the traditional anime magical girl: Sailor Nothing, by Stefan Gagne.

Completed in 2001, it is the story of Shoutan Himei, a girl who has the secret identity Sailor Salvation, a bishoujo senshi in the same vein as Sailor Moon and her cohorts. Except, unlike Sailor Moon, Himei has been at the game for five years, and is more than a little bit shellshocked by the bleak, unending labor of her given task. In the first chapter, Salvation flies into a berserkerganger rage and tears apart the Monster of the Week with her bare hands. This leads tangentially to her having her title stripped from her by her guide and mentor, Magnificent Kamen. Except she's stuck with her powers, and she still gets crippling headaches each time a new monster spawns. If she doesn't answer the call, she'll be responsible for dozens of horrific, bloody deaths. If she does, she'll be plunging straight back into the nightmare she tried to escape.

Basically, our heroine starts off suicidal, and it all goes downhill from there.

It sounds brutally depressing and more than a little angsty--the bit of artwork above does the atmosphere justice, even if it's not technically the best--but (like Evangelion), it's the sort of thing that you have to see through to the end if for no other reason than raw curiosity.

My initial response to most of the twists and turns the plot took was...not overwhelming. I realized along the way that, if you view/read enough deconstructions, and if you are familiar with the genre, you're pretty much going to see all the author's tricks well in advance. Just imagine, "What could make this psychologically-scarring and full of squick?" And that held true for me up until the last chapter, which was pretty much chock full of "holy shit" moments. The best, it seems, was saved for those last thirty-some pages. Pages that are proof that, through all experience, even a jaded consumer of culture such as I can be surprised.

Anyway, if you're looking for a good read and are particularly stout of psyche, I'd recommend giving Sailor Nothing a chance. Though I would suggest copying it off of the website and into a plain text document or something similar--teeny white type on a black background spread across the full width of your web browser can be murder on your eyes.

...Perhaps that was the point.

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"My name is Shoutan Himei. I'm sixteen years old, and I'm very tired."