Topic: Avenger Analysis

[Koveras]

Ok, folks, I know some of you do not want to dissect and preparate the series, so I won't go into the detail too much and start with something simple and general:

What was the true meaning of Layla Ashley's journey?

[MartAnimE]

 I suppose this will be a spoilorific thread, and I'm pretty sure not everyone here has seen Avenger yet so...

Spoiler: show

 In my opinion, the meaning of her journey started of as "Revenge". Layla was like the metaphorical incarnation of all those people who were killed in that ship who wished for revenge. She was like a ghost from the past with unfinished businesses to solve, so she couldn't be free until she killed Volk.

 At the beginning, Layla was clouded by her wish of revenge and couldn't see past through it. She was living like a manifestation of the past, seeking only that one thing that would fit her purpose, not noticing she was actually still alive. And this is also why I think she keeps telling other people to try to kill her, she was so convinced that she couldn't die (cuz she had already died once) that she became fearless towards death. She actually was so indifferent towards death that I think she wouldn't even have minded that much having gotten killed by some random person somewhere on her journey...

 But, just like Cross tried to transmit to her, her revenge was not that crucial. Cuz he was already anticipating that if Layla kept living for Revenge only she would lose her purpose to live after killing Volk. In a way, Layla seeked for her death! She wanted either to kill Volk and lose her reason to live or to get killed in the process (either way she'd find a way to release herself from her existence). However, by the end, Layla's priorities had already spread from only wanting to kill Volk. She came to care a great deal about Nei and even Speedy, and so they could become her other purpose in life. So that was the other and probably the "true" meaning of her journey! To find a reason to live rather than a reason to die!

 Still, I think the death of Volk was something symbolically necessary, so she couldn't have got away without killing him (neither did she wanted to). His death represented the death of a decadent era in that planet and the rise of a new era of prosperity. But even though his death brought prosperity to the people of Mars, Avenger's ending can't really be considered an happy ending for Layla. She had solved her unfinished business with Volk, but after that she realized that, even though she had found a new reason to live, she couldn't pursue it any longer. She couldn't keep living with Nei and Speedy as she had been till then.

 Layla never really wanted any power to rule over anything, so everytime she was confronted with that she would just simply leave. And her shock was that her story had finally come to an end when she couldn't keep running anymore, cuz Nei and Speedy wouldn't follow her anymore. Nei had become so important to all those people that she couldn't just selfishly keep her to herself anymore. So in the end Layla enthrusts Nei to Speedy and once again she leaves, probably to meet her own death and finally disappear.

 But of course, there's always another way we can interpretate this, maybe it is that her true journey starts then, after she kills Volk, and all the meaning she wasn't able to find back then she'll live to search for from then on, now that she has no longer a need to keep fighting!

 Well, I tried to keep it short... I really did! ^^;

[Koveras]

What you said, MartAnimE, reminds me of a book named "Day Watch".

Spoiler: indirectly and directly Avenger • show

There you have a powerful mage who doesn't remember his past but gains power very quickly. As it turns out, he is a s.c. "Mirror", that has been created by the magical dimension of the Twillight to destroy another mage, whose power threatened the balance of the universe. After the "Mirror's" mission is accomplished he simply destroys himself since he has no purpose in this world anymore.

I personally think that Layla's journey is over, because she failed to find and, more importantly hold on to its true meaning (that is, becoming an integral member of the new society).

[Cyberia]

Spoiler: show

Perhaps someone can explain me the reaction of laya at the end. As Laya heard that Nei became a girl she is laughing and crying or something like that. But what is it really ? Was it an aim for Laya to protect Nei and so she has succed or is crying that she know that they go seperated ways the end of journey.
About what is she laughing ?

[Koveras]

Spoiler: show

Well, sometimes people laugh at the irony of life, when it's actually more appropriate to cry... Like, for example, Layla was laughing at her own after-life realizing its senselessness.

Ok, here is the next question: what was the fighting technique Layla used in her last fight and who taught her that?

[MartAnimE]

Ok, here is the next question: what was the fighting technique Layla used in her last fight and who taught her that?

That was her natural style!

Spoiler: show

 It wasn't the old earthen technice taught to her by Cross that Volk also used, nor was it any other fighting technique Volk would have known about. She was using her natural fighting style and that's why Volk was caught off guard and defeated! Only by the end, I think, Layla truly wanted to defeat Volk by herself (instead of relying on the technique Cross taught her) and for herself (not as a revenge for all the earthen people that were in that spaceship anymore). It simply was something she wanted to do and needed to do to bring a better future to the planet Mars and those she cared about.

[Koveras]

Then she must have been a hell of a natural. %)

Spoiler: show

I mean, a fighting technique is practice, knowledge of anatomy and a whole bunch of other stuff. To invent your own one, you should have either a lot of time or a genetic predesposition towards hand-to-hand combat. Given Layla's age, I wonder what was her youth on the Moon like, with all those latent abilities of hers...

Btw, what was Nei's story? I didn't get the meaning of that flashback...

[MartAnimE]

Btw, what was Nei's story? I didn't get the meaning of that flashback...

Spoiler: show

 The flashback I think you're talking about only showed us Nei as a real human child, born outside the domes, being taken away from her mother. We later get to know that, for some weird reason, she was born genderless and only by the end of the series she goes through a metamorphosis that turns her into a female child. Who took her from her mother, where has she been till Layla found her, and why was she pretending to be a robot are all unanswered questions.

 But I suppose the people who found her, probably Dome scientists, must have dispose of her somewhere outside the domes cuz she was a defective child. Maybe Nei's real mother died so she didn't have a place to return to. In the first episode they tell us that Layla got to Serena City with Nei already, so she must have found her somewhere outside the domes and decided to take care of her. If you pay attention to the opening sequence we get a glance at a scene that might represent Layla and Nei's first meeting outside the domes. I think Layla always knew Nei was a human child to begin with and was trying to protect her by having her pretend to be a robot.

[nae]

Is it bad to resurrect an old thread on this board? Hit me if it is. 

I finished the thirteenth episode of Avenger today, and was crying by the time the credits rolled. I loved it, and I miss these series. (Haven't brought myself to finish Madlax yet due to the obsession with Noir.) The following are thoughts which have probably been repeated by multiple people in the past; but do forgive me. I'm a newbie to this fandom.

Spoiler: show

The trope of a woman with a death wish, for instance, I thought was lovely. I'd been comparing Avenger with Noir throughout, as the latter is the series I feel the most for. In the process of watching Avenger, I was drawing parallels between Layla and Nei, and Mireille and Kirika. It wasn't a direct correspondence, but echoes of each can be found in the others. It seemed to me that both Layla and Kirika go on journeys, only to find that the thing most precious to them is beside them all along -- that old romantic motif I'm a sucker for, only it needn't be that kind of romance. Ahem.

With that in mind, I asked myself why Kirika could be saved and Layla couldn't be. Weren't the love and the memories enough? Was it because Layla's wounds were too deep to be healed? Eventually, I said no, and decided that the difference between them is that Layla is, necessarily, alone at the end, and Kirika isn't. I think the reason for Layla's sadness when Nei gained a sex is her solitude. Perhaps when they first met Layla recognized in Nei, who was unsexed, in doll form, someone who was as different and alone as she was; hence she bonded with this creature; she allowed herself to care for someone. Then Nei changes, becomes a real child, a normal child. She no longer needs Layla, in a sense. This, together with the culmination of her revenge, leads to Layla realizing that she has reached the end of her journey, but now she has nothing. That is why I think she walks away. (In opposition to this, Mireille who was alone learns how to care for Kirika, but at the end Kirika remains hers, so they can still live.)

I was sure Layla leaves to die, but watching the ending, I had doubts again. The cross on what I presume is a gravestone has one of the military tags (whatchamacallit) on it, right? Is it just one? If it is, maybe Layla went to symbolically bury her mother, and she will continue on with her own life, and find it, possibly. I've already dreamed up a scenario to comfort myself.

That said, I actually think Avenger's ending is excellent. It's a realistic portrayal of a girl who loses everything and can't put herself back together again. Not everyone recovers from trauma. Sniff.

[Koveras]

Spoiler: show

she has reached the end of her journey, but now she has nothing. That is why I think she walks away.

Actually, that reminds me of the dying words of Darth Malak (please, forgive me for butting in with Star Wars all the time, but the universe has got so much cool quotes that I just can't let them aside):

I suppose... I suppose you speak the truth. I alone must accept responsibility for my fate. I wanted to be Master of the Sith and ruler of the galaxy. But that destiny was not mine, [playername]. It might have been yours, perhaps... but never mine. And in the end, as the darkness takes me... I am nothing.

military tags (whatchamacallit)

It's called a dog tag. No kidding:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_tag_%28identifier%29

That said, I actually think Avenger's ending is excellent. It's a realistic portrayal of a girl who loses everything and can't put herself back together again. Not everyone recovers from trauma. Sniff.

It is indeed realistic, yet I usually find such realistic plots very disturbing. I don't like them, call me an idealist if you want. Yet Avenger is really something different - must be the open-endingness of the series. Open ending is really the best one ever created.

[ot]PS: Btw, does anyone here remember Blade Runner? Now, that film had the best ending ever IMHO.[/ot]

[Alesiopdv]

Thank You Guys! I just finished watching the series (yeah, I know Im reaaaal late..) and I was really confused, my head was spinning after watching that ending, I was all WTF?!? but after reading your toughts Im relieved, I kinda understand things, Its still a little confusing but I suppose thats just right, Noir was confusing as well and I love it! Still a bit of a Downer Ending.. poor Layla 

[janus]

Spoiler: show

It started as "revenge" and changed to "trying to make the world a better place".  The point was how to survive on Mars - use the dead for fertializer; very disturbing, no?  But very true - blood and bone do make things grow.

[Alesiopdv]

I just realised why this series seems familiar to me, the setting is very similar to this novel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rose_For_Ecclesiastes both are setted in a dystopian and sterile Mars with an impeding end of the world.

[noirlax]

Another long winded essay about my interpretation of Avenger, I've been wanting to write and finish one about Avenger for ages.

Spoiler: Plenty of Avenger Spoilers • show

For me personally the main theme here is transformation. 

Transformation in Avenger seems to be expressed by the contrast of those who transform against those who don't. This appears to be expressed at personal, physical, societal and metaphysical levels.

Volk and the domed cities epitomises those who don't transform and adapt to the conditions around them. This is shown in the 'siege mentality' of Volk and willingness to sacrifice others for mere survival are symbolic of this. They seem rather ‘utilitarian’ as they hold together inside. This is highlighted by his belief the outside Martian environment, outsiders from the moon and Earth are against the well-being of the people of Mars. Gladiator battles are symbolic of this with people fighting for “what is left” as a method of distributing limited resources is highly respected as Jupiter testifies. This siege mentality might seem like a critic on urbanisation/cultural assimilation but can also be metaphysical; exploring how the cocooned may not actually be protected but rather sheltered from the wilderness which despite its harshness can give one a strength and beauty. This is well contrasted with the barberois such as Layla and Cross recognises this and is ready to take the chance as he believes the Martian soil can breed new crops outside. Vesta acknowledges it but is too afraid to take it and Volk views it as a fantasy void of practical value.

The question beckons what are the consequences of resistance, the answer Avenger gives is degeneration and the ultimately futile attempts to keep things static characterised by a lack of regeneration. Volk’s Mars is one that is firm but eroding, like a cliff holding on against the sea. Without regeneration the cliff will fall and a slow suicide as Cross would think. In the domed cities most people are lifeless, struggling to survive, not having the initiative to fend for themselves. This also reflected in the power structure in Mars seems similar to the autocratic Roman imperial empire. In contrast most barberoi seem rather healthy, independent and strong being subject to the harsh elements of the red planet. As the later episodes testify this resistance eventually breaks, the ice beneath breaks and the world is flooded from within rather than from external forces. The domed cities is not the only major metaphor. The absence of children in Mars who are replaced by dolls is a powerful one. As Vesta expresses, the extension of life without regeneration is one of no future and delaying the inevitable as they use life extending technologies. The common people of Mars are not so lucky and compensate with dolls; which leaves us with the exception of Nei (The child of destiny). A metaphor for regeneration and rebirth, born out of the soil of the barberoi and harsher climate, she is a contrast to the lifeless dolls.

However the process of regeneration is like a cycle of death and rebirth where at times something has to be destroyed in order for something new to grow. It is sometimes upon the moments of crisis that brings things and forces into a rebirth and reshaping of their flow and values. The last scene of Volk's death illustrates the idea of death and rebirth very well. In the final episode the domed cities and their dolls are destroyed from within Mars, the enemy not being the moon external to Mars but the ice beneath the surface. The corpses of the dead will replenish the future as Vesta describes as she begins to assert herself. The metaphor is not just about the natural environment but the abandonment of the old values is poignant as Speedy throws away the old symbols into the new ocean. The power structure of Mars characterised by the quote “people will now think for themselves” which contrasts to the earlier disempowerment and the attitude of people towards the soil of Mars as a positive rather than a negative one.

In addition this is expressed at a personal level with some characters and in particular Layla. Avenger started with Layla Ashley seeking revenge on Volk. She is overcoming the pain and hate from her desire to avenge all the people that he killed when he ordered the ship to be destroyed. This inability to adapt is threatening to destroy her. Layla’s turning point is her meeting with Cross who tells her to stop seeking revenge and seek the real meaning of her journey. He also says that protecting Nei rather than avenging the deaths of the ship is preferable. Knowing his message might be ignored he assumes the identity of Volk to hope this will satisfy her desire for revenge. With revenge 'achieved', Layla grows a deeper relationship with Nei, her outlook on revenge changes. The act thaws her soul like the water breaking the ice beneath the surface and highlights unlike dolls people seem to have irrational drivers. With this transformation in her she faces Volk in the final battle.

Volk has qualities of strength and survival of the fittest (thanks Kavi) the issue was more he uses his strength to reject outside forces and more importantly his strength is brittle. The early part of the battle; Layla tries to fight Volk with everything that was taught to her from Cross. She is on the brink of defeat but Layla adapts, survives and transforms her defensive fighting style to a more open and quick one which Volk has no answer to with his decaying static power. Layla defeats Volk but does not kill him; in the end Volk as a symbol of the old and decaying, acknowledges the future and willingly falls into the ocean to allow the herald of a new age. Nei then finally becomes a girl to demonstrate the completion of the transformation. With this complete, Vesta announces the new age of hope and prosperity. Layla laughs with tears perhaps at the idea she is a saviour or she will promise the new tomorrow or at the senselessness of it all. Later Layla appears to abandon her tag and shawl as she walks away from it all. Who really knows what's the meaning of her actions? But at that moment perhaps that's where her her old self is destroyed and her real journey of transformation truly begins.

[kavi]

Very good essay Ricky, made my breakfast worth eating