Anime fans, hell probably fans of most media, have loved heartily loved attractive and smooth villains guilty of much worse than Masao. That's even taking into account his child abuse. I agree the manga brought out a lot more of his weak points; I was much less sympathetic to him than I was in the anime. I cheered when Chizuko did him in too, she was right, he WAS just going to bite Chika and go from there, but I can't say I find him completely unsympathetic. With the village's behavior towards his kind on display and with his family's track record towards him at the end being his last interaction with of them, wanting solid protection is understandable. He's a coward, a liar, a self-centered piece of crap, but he's only as bad as, say, most the regular cast of this series. Megumi's much worse in my eyes but she's also very cute and sassy so she has many sympathizers.
I think Natsuno looking like Cain is either (1) a design fluke or (2) secondary symbolism. If it's 1, that's a little pathetic given otherwise the artist has gone out of his way to make every character look distinct, if not absolutely insane with those hair styles. If it's 2, I think it's because Natsuno, at least in the novels, lives the ideal Seishin is trying to develop and flesh out: being yourself to the end, even if it means having no place in society. Natsuno has no Abel or "public face." Given Seishin has never met Natsuno, I don't think the writing can mean much more than that in regards to him: its primary symbolism is, after all, from Seishin about Seishin.
The drama CD can be read along with the manga more or less perfectly. Pop open the manga and follow along. Here's part 1, with links in the description to parts 2-4 which make up the entire CD. If someone rips the video and Youtubes it, I'll be happy to provide timed subtitles (which can be added, via text-file in all of 10 seconds as closed captions.) Heck, if someone rips the video and sends it to me, I can Youtube it myself if they really want.
I prefer the anime cast, but I'm also a huge fan of Ozaki's anime seiyuu so bias ahoy. I'd be interested in ripping lines from each for side by side comparisons. One example that sticks out is, regarding Mieko, "Omoshirou darou? Tsumari Mieko baa-san wa koko nan nichi ka shitai to kurashite ta koto ni naru'n da." The anime version had a much more sly, cynical tone, and in general makes him sound more dry. But the drama one sounds more shounen-hero like and dependable. As for Seishin, he also sounds firmer and less wistful or like he's "fronting" or behind some thoughtful veneer. Megumi sounds more air-headed or vapidly dismissive and mean in the drama than she does aggressively scornful in the anime (that's not to say the lines themselves aren't aggressively scornful, just the level of thought or vitrol it sounds like she's put into it). Natsuno sounds older, possibly too old, but his withdrawn and huffy nature is still about the same. Kaori's a little less "shy" sounding but about the same...
Is Blue Exorcist that big? I'm surprised, it's pretty new. I thought it was okay but really generic and dropped it, but then, I did the same to Bleach and it's huge, so it shows what I know. Gainax, on the other hand, has a knack for creating classics. (Eva, FLCL, Lagaan...) I'm glad if FLCL is still well known and watched, though. It's one it took me time to even realize I liked as much as I did.
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I think Natsuno looking like Cain is either (1) a design fluke or (2) secondary symbolism. If it's 1, that's a little pathetic given otherwise the artist has gone out of his way to make every character look distinct, if not absolutely insane with those hair styles. If it's 2, I think it's because Natsuno, at least in the novels, lives the ideal Seishin is trying to develop and flesh out: being yourself to the end, even if it means having no place in society. Natsuno has no Abel or "public face." Given Seishin has never met Natsuno, I don't think the writing can mean much more than that in regards to him: its primary symbolism is, after all, from Seishin about Seishin.
The drama CD can be read along with the manga more or less perfectly. Pop open the manga and follow along. Here's part 1, with links in the description to parts 2-4 which make up the entire CD. If someone rips the video and Youtubes it, I'll be happy to provide timed subtitles (which can be added, via text-file in all of 10 seconds as closed captions.) Heck, if someone rips the video and sends it to me, I can Youtube it myself if they really want.
I prefer the anime cast, but I'm also a huge fan of Ozaki's anime seiyuu so bias ahoy. I'd be interested in ripping lines from each for side by side comparisons. One example that sticks out is, regarding Mieko, "Omoshirou darou? Tsumari Mieko baa-san wa koko nan nichi ka shitai to kurashite ta koto ni naru'n da." The anime version had a much more sly, cynical tone, and in general makes him sound more dry. But the drama one sounds more shounen-hero like and dependable. As for Seishin, he also sounds firmer and less wistful or like he's "fronting" or behind some thoughtful veneer. Megumi sounds more air-headed or vapidly dismissive and mean in the drama than she does aggressively scornful in the anime (that's not to say the lines themselves aren't aggressively scornful, just the level of thought or vitrol it sounds like she's put into it). Natsuno sounds older, possibly too old, but his withdrawn and huffy nature is still about the same. Kaori's a little less "shy" sounding but about the same...
Is Blue Exorcist that big? I'm surprised, it's pretty new. I thought it was okay but really generic and dropped it, but then, I did the same to Bleach and it's huge, so it shows what I know. Gainax, on the other hand, has a knack for creating classics. (Eva, FLCL, Lagaan...) I'm glad if FLCL is still well known and watched, though. It's one it took me time to even realize I liked as much as I did.