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redwoodalchanSo I recently finished watching the anime "Durarara!!" Last night during the special episodes I noticed that Izaya's sisters Mairu and Kururi appeared to be incestuous, and this was treated as perfectly acceptable. This puzzled me for a bit because Namie was earlier shown to be in love with her brother and this was clearly intended to make her seem creepy. It was only after I'd thought about it for a moment that I realized that in fact, by the logic of Naritaverse relationships, both in "Durarara!!" and its spiritual predecessor "Baccano!", this apparent contradiction was entirely consistent.
Here's what I think it is: in the Naritaverse, if love between two characters is mutual, anything goes. Anything. Incest? Okay. Hybristophilia? Fine. Loving someone who isn't human? Sure, why not. Loving only a single body part? Eh, it happens. As long as both parties freely agree to a relationship, then it's treated as perfectly acceptable, no matter how weird or perverted it may seem to an outsider.
So, with that in mind, it's totally okay for Mairu and Kururi to be romantically involved because it's something both of them want. By the same token, it's wrong of Namie to love her brother, Seiji, not because there's anything inherently wrong with incest per se, but simply because Seiji does not return her feelings. If he did, there would be no issue. And in fact, although Namie is creepy we never actually see her directly harm Seiji. In many respects she's content to let him do what he wants, though she will get upset if he shows more interest in another girl than her. Furthermore, it wasn't actually her fault that Mika initially fell into her clutches--it was Seiji's. And Namie's decision to give Mika plastic surgery to make her look like she had Celty's head was something she did to benefit Seiji (and which Mika agreed to, not that she was exactly in much of a position to refuse), suggesting that she will put his desires first, in the end. So Namie's feelings for Seiji, while creepy, are genuine, and they're not inherently harmful (though they can be, as she did try to have Mika killed once)--she's portrayed as a bad person only because Seiji does not reciprocate. Chances are, if he returned her affections, they'd probably be a happy couple by the time the series ended, even though they would be incestuous.
...Yeah, ew.
Here's what I think it is: in the Naritaverse, if love between two characters is mutual, anything goes. Anything. Incest? Okay. Hybristophilia? Fine. Loving someone who isn't human? Sure, why not. Loving only a single body part? Eh, it happens. As long as both parties freely agree to a relationship, then it's treated as perfectly acceptable, no matter how weird or perverted it may seem to an outsider.
So, with that in mind, it's totally okay for Mairu and Kururi to be romantically involved because it's something both of them want. By the same token, it's wrong of Namie to love her brother, Seiji, not because there's anything inherently wrong with incest per se, but simply because Seiji does not return her feelings. If he did, there would be no issue. And in fact, although Namie is creepy we never actually see her directly harm Seiji. In many respects she's content to let him do what he wants, though she will get upset if he shows more interest in another girl than her. Furthermore, it wasn't actually her fault that Mika initially fell into her clutches--it was Seiji's. And Namie's decision to give Mika plastic surgery to make her look like she had Celty's head was something she did to benefit Seiji (and which Mika agreed to, not that she was exactly in much of a position to refuse), suggesting that she will put his desires first, in the end. So Namie's feelings for Seiji, while creepy, are genuine, and they're not inherently harmful (though they can be, as she did try to have Mika killed once)--she's portrayed as a bad person only because Seiji does not reciprocate. Chances are, if he returned her affections, they'd probably be a happy couple by the time the series ended, even though they would be incestuous.
...Yeah, ew.
