Orenji no Taiyou: Kei/Sho

[lefcadio.livejournal.com]

Fandom: Moon Child
Pairing: Kei/Sho



I. Introduction

yuugure ni kimi to mita orenji no taiyou
nakisou na kao o shite eien no sayonara
“In the evening, I saw with you the orange sun
You looked like you were going to cry eternal goodbye”

So, Moon Child. The infamous vampire-scifi film, starring Japanese poprock icons Gackt and Hyde. Except… not quite. Despite what you may have heard, Moon Child is, in fact, a gangster film at heart – albeit one with strong themes of friendship, the futility of race segregation…. and a vampire.
Conceptualised, mostly written by, and starring Gackt – primarily a singer by trade – one wouldn’t have high expectations of this film, especially on the acting side of things. However, he’s actually come up with some very human, easily likeable and quite believable characters.
It’s a film about how friendships grow, change, and break.

And this is where Kei and Sho come into the picture.

II. Those Involved

kirameku nami to tawamureteita mujaki na kimi no sono yokogao
hadashi de sunahama o kakenukeru kimi ga itoshii
“The glittering waves played with your innocent profile
You are lovely as you run past me barefoot on the sandy beach”


From left; Yi-Che, Kei, Sho, Son, Toshi.

Kei

The token vampire. As such, Kei is immortal and perpetually young; something which he frequently agonises over. Though he’s attempted to end his own life before, he’s always hung on. He hates the thought of being attached to his human friends, because he knows that in the end they’ll grow old and die, but he’ll be left behind. He never quite feels like a part of their ‘group’; always the outsider, he thinks of himself as a monster and loathes what he’s become: he swears he would never inflict his own condition upon another, even to save their life.

Sho

Initially, Sho is a reckless, hot-tempered young man. Best friends with Kei from a young age, together they find ways to survive. Sho’s likeable, and though usually quite outspoken, when younger is prone to getting a little awkward at times, especially around Yi-Che. He often tries to do cool stunts, but usually ends up failing!
After the years have passed, Sho’s changed quite a bit. No longer young and awkward, he’s become calm, sophisticated, and a man of power.

Yi-Che

A mute ever since she was a child, Yi-Che is an artist. Raped several years ago, she’s become even more withdrawn and never smiles. However, she is very drawn to Kei.

Son

Son is a young Taiwanese man, and is very protective of his younger sister. He meets Kei and Sho when he goes to kill the men who raped his sister.

Toshi

Toshi has been friends with Sho, Shinji and Kei ever since he was young. He works at a pizza place, and is responsible for delivering the drugged pizzas they rely on for their schemes.

Shinji

Shinji is Sho’s older brother. Orphans, they’ve relied on each other since they were young. As an adult, though, Shinji is addicted to drugs and, as much as he hates it, frequently has to rely on Sho for help with money or with getting jobs. He becomes resentful and bitter about this, but it’s mostly directed at himself.

III. Detailed Plot Summary

ikutsumono yorokobi ya kanashimi mo kazoekirenai deai ya wakare mo
ano koro to kawarazu yasashiku miteru orenji no taiyou
“A great many joys or sadnesses, countless meetings or farewells
Just the same as back then, it's watching kindly the orange sun”



This is long; you might want to skip it if you know the film well. However, I wanted to try and get across what the characters go through together. (Note; I have a feeling I interchangeably use ‘yakuza’ and ‘mafia’ throughout – but they’re the same kind of thing)

Most of the action in Moon Child takes place in the fictional city of Mallepa – somewhere in Asia. The film is in a mish-mash of languages (though mostly Japanese and Cantonese), representing the mixed populace of the city. Supposedly, in this future, there was mass emigration to Asia of ‘economic downturn’. Things have turned violent because of new anti-immigration laws, and the poor Japanese immigrants have been worst hit.

The film begins with a flashback. This is where we are first introduced to Kei – in a darkened alleyway, having an urgent last conversation with his companion, Luka, who’s dying, covered in blood. They are being chased, and Kei is urged to go on.

Kei: “What will I do without you?”
Luka: “Find another “friend”.”.

We next see Kei lying, apathetic, in a place where the sun will certainly reach it once it begins to rise. A small child approaches him, wondering if he’s alright. Kei fails to respond, and soon the sunlight begins to affect him. It’s hard to tell if Kei is just too weak to move, or really wants to die… but I suspect the latter.

A little later, it’s shown that the boy – Sho – decided to rescue him, and take him in. Sho’s brother, Shinji, and their friend Toshi meanwhile, are happily counting out the money they managed to steal from a yakuza guy. However, they were chased and soon they’re being threatened with a gun. They attack him and run (apart from Kei, who’s lying in a corner), and Shinji is shot. He’s ordered to fetch Toshi, and then returns when he hears a scream… only to be confronted by the sight of Kei hungrily feeding off the body of the yakuza guy.

Kei: “Aren’t you afraid?”
[Sho does not respond, just smiles.]

And from then on, Kei and Sho were together. (or, almost.)

The film then fast forwards many years, ‘til Sho is a young adult, and it opens on a gunfight; Kei and Sho working together with uncanny ease. They live together and make a living now by, pretty much, just drugging the local corrupt mafia and robbing them.

However, on one such job, it’s not just them against the mafia. They meet up with Son (initially holding each other at gunpoint before joining forces), a young Cantonese man with a particular vendetta against these yakuza. It turns out these are the guys who raped his sister, and he does get his revenge. Son and Sho are hurt in the fight, though, and Son takes them back with him so his sister can treat them.

And that’s how the main group met. A few years pass, in which they spend all their time together and become fast friends. It transpires that Yi-Che falls in love with Kei… and Sho falls in love with Yi-Che. Personally, I also believe that Kei was always in love with Sho – but opinions vary on that one.

Eventually, on a fateful stormy evening in the park, they’re attacked by some of the enemies they’ve made, and Toshi is killed while protecting Kei. While Yi-Che and Sho break down by his body, Kei has disappeared. Sho and Son find Kei feeding upon the body of the attacker. Sho pleads with him, trying to get Kei to acknowledge Toshi’s death – tries to get him to leave the attacker’s body… but it falls on deaf ears. Distraught, they leave Kei and take back Toshi’s body.

And that’s the last time they see Kei for many years.

The film skips forward in time again. Kei was evidently captured, because he has spent the last several years of his life incarcerated, arrested for several murders, awaiting his death sentence. (which he is only too glad of).

Sho, in the meantime, has married Yi-Che, and they have a daughter, Hana. He’s become a respected and powerful yakuza boss for their district. Son, on the other hand, has apparently gone over to the local Taiwanese mafia, and is working for their boss. (This is ostensibly because Yi-Che married Sho, and Son believes that he needs to ‘do what’s right for his people’) and now has conceived a hatred for Sho. And so, their group has fragmented.

Meanwhile, Sho discovers where Kei is, and goes to visit him. At first, Kei is mute and responds to nothing – but eventually Sho gets through to him and shows him a picture of his daughter.

Sho: “I always hoped you’d get to see her. You, above all.”
[Kei finally looks up]
…
Kei: “I’m glad you’re still alive. You were reckless. I figured… you’d already be dead. But… I’m glad you’re not."

And then one day, Sho’s gang is shot dead in the street.

Shinji, sick of being useless and relying on his younger brother all the time, determines to try and kill Chan, the boss of the Cantonese mafia in revenge. But as he sites his gun, the man picks up a child… and instead, Shinji gets shot – by Son. Sho goes to identify the body, and attacks Son in his rage and grief, only stopped by Yi-Che, who finally speaks. Their violence dissipates, but the hatred remains.

Yi-Che is diagnosed as having a tumour in her brain; unable to do anything but slowly watch her die, Sho feels weak and helpless. Thus, he turns to the one person he truly knows and trusts; Kei. When Kei receives the phonecall, he’s being lead out to his death. But with the plea from Sho, Kei manages to make a getaway.

Sho: “I wanted to see you. I missed you so… I can’t go on alone. I need your help. Help me, Kei…”

Sho begs Kei to help Yi-Che – to turn her into a vampire like him so she will survive. However, Kei flat out refuses, saying he would never want to turn anyone into a monster like himself. Sho is furious, and has to watch Yi-Che slip away from him into death.

Sho: “I want… you to turn Yi-Che into a vampire.”
Kei: “What the hell are you saying?”
Sho: “Kei, make her like you. So she won’t die. So we can save her.”
Kei: “Sho… you’re just being selfish.”
Sho: “Why?!”
Kei: “I curse my life. I curse this person who feeds on others. I can’t condemn her to that.”
Sho: “At least she’d live. She wouldn’t die. That’s blessing enough, for me.”
Kei: “I’m a monster! A monster, you understand? There’s no way I’m doing that to her.”

With this, we enter the final chapter of the film: Sho’s revenge. He’s set on making Chan pay for what was done to his brother, and he and Kei set off to their HQ. Sho asks Kei to take care of Hana for him, if he dies. Sho is resolute; almost suicidal – he ploughs through, shooting everyone who gets in his way. By the time he reaches the main hall, his white coat is soaked with blood. No longer wishing for Kei’s interference, he shoots most of the ceiling down to let in the sunlight, effectively trapping Kei in a corner. Unbeknownst to him, Chan has already been shot dead by two rebellious underlings, who then go out to the hall to find Kei trapped in the corner. They shoot him many times.

Sho, meanwhile, has found Son. Long gunfight ensues, until finally they decide to end it in a ‘duel’ fashion; that is, 3-steps, turn and fire. We never find out if Sho actually went through with firing, but Son certainly did, and Sho collapses to the floor, dying. At this point, Kei has got his revenge on the underlings, and bears the pain of running through the sunlight so he can get to Sho – upon coming into the clearing and seeing what’s happened, Kei is livid, and repeatedly shoots Son.

Kei goes to Sho, cradling him in his arms and begging him not to die, not to leave him, to stay. Then, the camera fades.

Finally: the epilogue of sorts. Again, the film has fast-forwarded. Hana is seen, now grown up, accepting a prize for her work of art – something of her mother’s that she continued. Later, she is with Kei, who obviously kept his word and became her guardian. Hana thanks him, and she heads off towards her bright future of art college.

Once she is gone… Sho appears. It’s revealed that – despite anything he may have said in the past – Kei had been utterly desperate to keep Sho with him, and so his resolve crumbled and he made him a vampire. Sho couldn’t deal with what had happened to him (and couldn’t stand the thought of Hana seeing him like this), and so, he had just been watching her from afar.

Kei: “You still mad at me?”
Sho: “You cared for Hana all these years. I’m not mad. It’s just… I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t take what I’d become. Didn’t want her to see me like this.”
Kei: “That’s why you didn’t come back? You’ve always been so selfish.”
Sho: “Look who’s talking. What about you…”

The film ends with Kei and Sho in their convertible, watching the orange sun begin to rise, as they imagine what should have been; the five of them on the beach together, in the sunlight.

IV. Kei/Sho

eien o yume miteta ano koro no bokura wa
itsumademo hanarezu ni dakiatte waratteta
“At that time, the two of us were dreaming about eternity
We held each other and laughed like we'd never part”



Kei and Sho have a very interesting relationship; on the one hand they have this amazing trust and belief in each other (especially shown during the fight scenes) – but on the other hand… there’s still something between them, something stopping them from being truly close.
In the simplest sense, it’s Kei’s issues. In the beginning of the film, before they meet Son and the others, it’s clear that Sho wants nothing more than to be with Kei; he stays in all the time to keep him company, but Kei doesn’t want to accept this.

Kei: “You should get out more.”
Sho: “It’s fine, I don’t want a tan”

Of course, Kei is conflicted. No matter how much he may like Sho’s company, he still hates it because it just adds to his guilt;

Kei: “Let’s spend time apart.”
Sho: “What do you mean?” [looks shocked, offended]
Kei: “Don’t adjust your life to mine.”

And that’s just it. He doesn’t want them to spend time apart because he wants to, he wants it because he thinks that it’s what’s best for Sho. He hates the thought that he’s keeping Sho from living a normal life. Of course, Sho doesn’t see it that way, but Kei always sees himself as the problem.

Kei: “I’ve fed on so many evil men… I’m becoming like them. Maybe I’ll turn on you.”
Sho: “You wouldn’t dare. Jerk.” [half-affectionate]

They trust each other beyond anything. But, in the end, that’s not quite enough to stop Kei’s self-hatred from pushing Sho away a little, despite how he may truly feel.
Once they become friends with the others, Kei begins to feel even more like an outsider; he loves all his friends, but knows he can never quite be like them. At one point, they make a midnight trip to the beach and take a photo, of them all happy together.

Toshi: “Let’s come back here in the sunlight.”
Kei: “Good idea. A proper day out.”

Again, it comes back to the fact that Kei is bitter about holding people back. So he suggests they should – implicitly, without him – since he is not able to. What Kei is always blind to, however, is that Sho simply did not care. So by pushing Sho and the others away, thinking it would be better for them, he was only hurting himself.

Kei: “I live by draining the lives of others. You know what that’s like? That’s my entire life. Sometimes I can’t bear it, so I go without. A starvation diet. Now I’m having fun with you all… but it’s not real. You’re all growing up, I’ll be left behind. Sho, one day you’ll die. But I’ll keep living. You think that’s fun?! … you cry baby.”

Sho is distraught to hear Kei talking like that, and gets teary. Kei clearly regrets worrying Sho with his troubles, and goes to comfort him. Ever since Sho saved him all those years ago, Kei has been Sho’s protector, and he’d do anything to keep him safe.

Toshi’s death seriously hurt Sho; it changed him, forced him to grow up. Seeing Kei’s lack of reaction to the death deeply affected him also – so much so that he was willing to turn his back on Kei and leave him indefinitely.

Kei: “Will I be put to death? I just want to die.”

While incarcerated, Kei wanted nothing more than death. He felt, finally, that maybe his futile struggles had come to an end; everyone was better off without him. But, then Sho turned up.

Kei: “I’m glad you’re still alive. You were reckless. I figured… you’d already be dead. But… I’m glad you’re not."

Kei clearly thought that Sho would already be dead – which in some ways, perhaps explains why he was so eager to die. With no Sho around to protect, Kei was back to being lonely and apathetic. However, he sees that Sho is happy with Yi-Che and Hana, and doesn’t want that to change.

With Yi-Che’s illness, Kei is forced to face the world again. Sho makes that heartbroken phonecall to Kei just as he’s being led out to death-row;

Sho: “I wanted to see you. I missed you so… I can’t go on alone. I need your help. Help me, Kei…”

And, it being Sho, Kei cannot refuse. Despite the fact that he wanted nothing more than to die, he gave that up for Sho, and returned to his side. He refused to turn Yi-Che into a vampire, for both Sho and her sakes, and followed Sho on his revenge mission.

He shoots their old friend Son viciously, many times in the chest when he enters and discovers Sho’s been shot – and despite everything he’s said before, he does end up turning Sho into a vampire to save his life. This, I think, is one of the most powerful moments of the film, when you realise that in spite of everything, in the end Sho was just too important to him, and he couldn’t let go. For that one desperate moment he let his selfishness get the better of him, and he gave into his desire to keep Sho with him, always.

Kei is utterly devoted to Sho. Regardless of Sho’s actions – wanting him back so he could help save Yi-Che, trapping him in a corner with sunlight when he’d followed him to help – Sho is always Kei’s priority, and he’ll do anything to get to him and to keep him safe, regardless of the cost to himself or others.

I do believe that Kei was always in love with Sho, and that his actions highlight this. But what of Sho? In the beginning, Kei was his priority and his focus. But with Kei pulling away, Sho began to grow apart a little and, perhaps, move on. With the introduction of Yi-Che and the disappearance of Kei from the picture, Sho most definitely fell in love.

But, perhaps that’s a little unfair on Yi-Che; she’s an integral part of the the love triangle, which I will examine next.

V. Kei/Sho, and Yi-Che

akireru hodo kimi o omou yo sore dake de boku wa mitasareru
nakanai de, itsu datte aeru yo
hitomi o tojireba...
“I think of you with almost amazement, with just that I'm satisfied
Don't cry, we'll meet again some day
If you close your eyes...”

Yi-Che was in love with Kei. Sho was in love with Yi-Che. And depending on who you talk to, Kei was in love with either Sho or Yi-Che. (or hey, maybe both).
So, how does it all fit together?
Yi-Che’s love for Kei is very apparent. Sho says himself that the reason she put off marrying him for so long was because she was still thinking about Kei. (And, indeed, when she’s in the hospital and her memory is going, she even calls Sho ‘Kei’.) Kei was the one who made her smile again, and she was utterly horrified when she saw him feeding on the body of Toshi’s killer.
An interesting thing to wonder is whether or not Sho and Yi-Che would ever have gotten married if Kei had not disappeared. I don’t believe that Kei would ever have considered entering into a relationship with Yi-Che, so perhaps the love triangle would have just become awkward and tense, with nothing ever really being resolved.
Sho most definitely loved Yi-Che; he pestered her for a long long time until she agreed to marry him, and his desperation in wanting to keep her with him was tragic.
Sho and Kei had a very deep bond that couldn’t be broken over their years apart. They clearly love each other (at the very least in a platonic sense) and thought it seems Kei is more devoted to Sho than vice-versa, once Yi-Che is leaving him, Sho’s clearly running back to the one thing he knows, loves and trusts – “I wanted to see you. I missed you so… I can’t go on alone”.

Yi-Che was very important to both Sho and Kei, and should never be disregarded. However, at the end of the film when Sho returns to the park after Hana leaves, he seems to finally have come to terms with everything; with himself, with Kei, and with Yi-Che’s death.

And after all, as vampires, Kei and Sho are set to be together for a very long time.

VI. Conclusions

aoi sora wa iki o hisomete akai yuuhi ni dakareteyuku
boku mo kimi o dakishimenagara hitomi o tojita
“The blue sky whispers softly, the red sunlight embraced us
I closed my eyes as I held you as well”



So. In conclusion, I will say this: Kei and Sho went through so much together, and a lot alone. They’ve been together for a very long time, and despite their separation, in the end the base love and trust they have in one another enabled them to overcome everything, and make it through together. I believe that each of them gives the other what he needs, and throughout the film demonstrate that’s it’s inevitable that they will be together. Almost coming full circle; from the two of them at the beginning, to the two of them at the end, while having matured and been through hell along the way.

And to end on some symbolism, I think it’s interesting to note, also, that the film’s theme song, ‘Orenji no Taiyou’ (Orange Sun, written/composed/performed by Gackt and Hyde, the last track on Gackt’s 4th album, ‘Crescent’) is something Kei sings snippets of throughout the film. He says that Luka taught it to him, so, intitally it’s more like “their” song. (We are led to believe that Luka was Kei’s lover, but this is debatable.) But right at the very end of the film, when Kei starts singing it, Sho joins in – and so it becomes more “their” song.

VII. Recommendations

Now, Moon Child has an utterly miniscule fandom. And I mean that in all seriousness, and therefore there’s very little to recommend. I know of one good site for the film, and an LJ community; listed below.

On the fanfic side of things… there’s even less. FF.net has the grand total of 33 fics listed for MC, and of what I’ve read (not meaning to be offensive to any of the authors) none of them are up to much. Or at least, they’re certainly not to my taste. (Most being of the happy-fluffy ‘Kei and Sho were always in love/Yi-Che was nothing!’ / ‘Kei/Sho angsts non-stop about their feelings in a very melodramatic fashion, then they confess their love and everything’s squishy-happy’ type.)

But I continue my search. If anyone has any good Moon Child fic to rec, I would adore you.

Updates!

There's a wonderful Moon Child fic, found here, by absenceofmind. :D

VIII. Sources/Credits/Notes

- http://www.senshigakuen.com for the translated lyrics to Orenji no Taiyou.
- http://moonchild.deep-river.net/ for the images. (A blessing really, since my own laptop was simply refusing to take screencaps from my DVD) Also a good source of info if you're interested!
- http://www.livejournal.com/community/___moonchild/
- The DVD is available to buy from http://www.amazon.com
- And of course, thanks must go to both Gackt and Hyde for making such a wonderfully strange, slashy yet involving film. ;)



Obviously, spoilers galore. :)

Comments

[metridious.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your essay! I finally watched Moon Child about a month ago, and although the movie itself wasn't quite as brilliant as I had been expecting (blasphemy!), Sho and Kei definitely were all I could have hoped for and more, especially that terribly sad scene where Sho starts crying. I especially loved Orenji no Taiyou.

[lefcadio.livejournal.com]

Thank you, glad you liked it! :D

Heh, indeed... Moon Child is certainly far from perfect, but still very enjoyable. ;D