IkeSen Kennyo
Jan. 19th, 2020 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
waterscrollIkeSen is treating me very well this month. Sasuke's route continues to be excellent, more about that later. And in addition I paid too much money for a few short stories about the evil warrior monk Kennyo, who unfortunately doesn't have a route yet (but probably will in about a year). I think they were worth the too-much-money though, because I've been watching them over and over again.
In most other routes Kennyo is a completely destructive villain. He wants revenge on Nobunaga for destroying his monastery and, lacking a sizeable army, mostly gets it by pitting warlords against each other. The kinds of things he does include burning peasant villages and getting Shingen's people to think Nobunaga did it and Nobunaga's people to think Shingen did it, so they will keep fighting each other. He's ruthless and has no qualms about targeting civilians.
But it's a little more complicated than that. In Mitsunari's route Kennyo goes out of his way to give a poor peasant money for food and medicine before destroying the peasant's village. What was that all about? Was it hypocritical and meaningless? We don't find out if the peasant died in the ensuing battle, but maybe he did. So why did Kennyo go out of his way to give him what he needed first?
In the short stories Kennyo is always surrounded by animals and always caring for their wounds. And it's not that he cares for animals rather than people, you can tell he once dedicated his life to caring for the sick and wounded and still does that when he can. But destroying Nobunaga is more important.
IkeSen gives Nobunaga a mostly free pass. His war crimes are glossed over in favor of the prosperity he brought. Nobunaga is rapey towards MC at the beginning of his route, purely out of a sense of entitlement - as he says, he doesn't like to sleep alone - but it ends up ok because MC wants him and in any case it turns into a game. And ok, fine, I enjoyed Nobunaga's route a lot. But Nobunaga was definitely allowed to get away with stuff, by both the MC and the narrative.
And maybe this is overreading but: if Kennyo is a healer, maybe Nobunaga in power is the greatest wound of all. Maybe the way this narrative allows Nobunaga even more power than history did makes this wound even more damaging.
In every route, and in his own stories as well, Kennyo is absolutely clear that he knows he is damned and going to hell for everything he's doing to stop Nobunaga. He has a strong conviction that stopping Nobunaga is worth not only his life but also his afterlife. As much as I loved Nobunaga on his own route, I can't help but think Kennyo might have a point. And whether or not he's right about Nobunaga in particular, someone who is willing to give up absolutely everything to stop a tyrant is someone I'm going to have to at least a little bit admire.
I do wonder how things are going to go in Kennyo's route, if they're going to make it so he doesn't do the bad things he did in other routes or if they're going to have him do the bad things but show them from his perspective. I'd kind of prefer the latter.
In one of the short stories there's a very powerful scene where MC tells Kennyo that she used to want him to stop trying to take revenge on Nobunaga, but now she understands where he's coming from she just wants him to live. Which is powerful, because he doesn't want to live at all, and it seems like this sketches out the beginnings of a redemption arc. If he could be willing to live, even knowing that Nobunaga is in power, maybe he could find a way to work towards healing his very wounded country in a way that is less destructive.
Anyway, thank you IkeSen for giving me a messed-up complicated evil religious dude to love. And here I thought you were just a fluffy AU. I stand very corrected.
In most other routes Kennyo is a completely destructive villain. He wants revenge on Nobunaga for destroying his monastery and, lacking a sizeable army, mostly gets it by pitting warlords against each other. The kinds of things he does include burning peasant villages and getting Shingen's people to think Nobunaga did it and Nobunaga's people to think Shingen did it, so they will keep fighting each other. He's ruthless and has no qualms about targeting civilians.
But it's a little more complicated than that. In Mitsunari's route Kennyo goes out of his way to give a poor peasant money for food and medicine before destroying the peasant's village. What was that all about? Was it hypocritical and meaningless? We don't find out if the peasant died in the ensuing battle, but maybe he did. So why did Kennyo go out of his way to give him what he needed first?
In the short stories Kennyo is always surrounded by animals and always caring for their wounds. And it's not that he cares for animals rather than people, you can tell he once dedicated his life to caring for the sick and wounded and still does that when he can. But destroying Nobunaga is more important.
IkeSen gives Nobunaga a mostly free pass. His war crimes are glossed over in favor of the prosperity he brought. Nobunaga is rapey towards MC at the beginning of his route, purely out of a sense of entitlement - as he says, he doesn't like to sleep alone - but it ends up ok because MC wants him and in any case it turns into a game. And ok, fine, I enjoyed Nobunaga's route a lot. But Nobunaga was definitely allowed to get away with stuff, by both the MC and the narrative.
And maybe this is overreading but: if Kennyo is a healer, maybe Nobunaga in power is the greatest wound of all. Maybe the way this narrative allows Nobunaga even more power than history did makes this wound even more damaging.
In every route, and in his own stories as well, Kennyo is absolutely clear that he knows he is damned and going to hell for everything he's doing to stop Nobunaga. He has a strong conviction that stopping Nobunaga is worth not only his life but also his afterlife. As much as I loved Nobunaga on his own route, I can't help but think Kennyo might have a point. And whether or not he's right about Nobunaga in particular, someone who is willing to give up absolutely everything to stop a tyrant is someone I'm going to have to at least a little bit admire.
I do wonder how things are going to go in Kennyo's route, if they're going to make it so he doesn't do the bad things he did in other routes or if they're going to have him do the bad things but show them from his perspective. I'd kind of prefer the latter.
In one of the short stories there's a very powerful scene where MC tells Kennyo that she used to want him to stop trying to take revenge on Nobunaga, but now she understands where he's coming from she just wants him to live. Which is powerful, because he doesn't want to live at all, and it seems like this sketches out the beginnings of a redemption arc. If he could be willing to live, even knowing that Nobunaga is in power, maybe he could find a way to work towards healing his very wounded country in a way that is less destructive.
Anyway, thank you IkeSen for giving me a messed-up complicated evil religious dude to love. And here I thought you were just a fluffy AU. I stand very corrected.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-20 06:13 pm (UTC)http://www.hongwanji.or.jp/english/history/
So a route in which Kennyo marries MC and rebuilds his monastery would be actually sort of plausible. Hm. And yeah, IkeSen Nobunaga does like to roll with things, and is pretty happy to ally with Shingen in almost all the routes, so maybe peace would be possible.
I would love to see SLBP Kennyo and Nobunaga conspiring together! They'd have a lot to talk about: how to get the 'common people' on your side while doing everything you want, how to use inspiring but false narratives to motivate people, how to create unity while keeping the power for yourself. Working together they'd be amazing.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-20 07:22 pm (UTC)Yeah, that does sound plausible. And I could see Kennyo being happy that way.
They'd have a lot to talk about: how to get the 'common people' on your side while doing everything you want, how to use inspiring but false narratives to motivate people, how to create unity while keeping the power for yourself. Working together they'd be amazing.
Yes, and those conversations would be amazing to listen in on! I imagine there would be a lot of insults tossed around all the while -- I think Nobunaga only really learns things when people are yelling at him and calling him a fool.
Also, MC and Kennyo would really be fascinating, given that she is a common person and also a true idealist (and she tends to think about things in terms of black and white). I would love to see him pick apart Nobunaga's MC's motivations in the same way he does Nobunaga's, and I would love to see her give him one of her "the reason you suck" speeches in return.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-20 07:46 pm (UTC)Since you mentioned wanting fic recs, here's a slow-burn Kennyo fic that I enjoyed. Warning: it's an unfinished WIP
https://archiveofourown.org/works/18610567