Yosha! Is everyone acquainted with the twins? Like yin and yang, these
two Seiryuu brothers fit together like opposing sides of a coin, their
halves forming a complementary whole. They may look alike, but as all
twins their inner natures are different. Nakago discovered the twins
together as the third and fourth of the Seiryuu shichiseishi, but we are
introduced to them at different points in the series. Amiboshi, older
twin, has a greater control of his powers and is employed earlier on.
Suboshi, with his hot-headedness and quick temper, is at first valuable
only for the link with his twin but later comes into play with his deadly
ryuuseisui. The twins are shaped from the war-torn world of Kutou, and
this plays a large part behind their motivations within the series. But
in the end, although Amiboshi is seen as the only 'good' twin, both
Seiryuu seishi acted from the power of their own convictions in defence
of what they seemed right... Like so many of Yuu Watase-sensei's complex
characters, it is hard to pin an absolute label of good or bad on either
one, but ultimately both Amiboshi and Suboshi did what they thought was
right - for family and country, or for revenge, both boys put their lives
forth with their most deeply-rooted intentions.
Now, to start with the basics...
Amiboshi's stats
name: Bu Koutoku
seishi symbol: 'ko' or high spirits
birthplace: Kutou-koku, Sanun-shou, Tenryou-shi
age: 15 years old
family: younger twin brother, Suboshi - parents killed in a Kutou civil
war
height: 168cm (5'6")
blood type: B
seishi ability: manipulating his ki with a flute, projecting it through
his mouth and shaping its power with the flute (apparently a rare use of
ki)
Amiboshi is the gentler twin, but he can be ruthless to serve the ends he
deems are just. He makes his first appearance in episode 17 masquerading
as a Suzaku shichiseishi at Nakago's command. He later uses this
position of trust to betray Suzaku's seishi and the Miko, disrupting the
summoning ceremony and their chance to summon the Phoenix God. However,
Amiboshi redeems his own treacherous actions. During a high-speed chase
by the ever-eager brawling Tasuki and Tamahome, he plunges into a
swiftly-rushing river rather than drag Miaka, Suzaku no Miko, into the
river with him. Amiboshi is a gentle soul who has seen the bond that
lives between Miaka and her seishi, one of friendship and trust, and
Miaka appeals to the side of him that abhors killing. He releases the
grip on his flute that connects them, and gives up his own life rather
than facing the decision to kill again in the name of Seiryuu.
From Amiboshi's standpoint, he has grown up in a war-torn country, his
parents dying before his own eyes, forced to raise his own younger twin.
He has seen enough death and destruction and wishes only to discover a
path to allow them to live in peace - he wants to protect his country.
Amiboshi sees his position as a Seiryuu seishi as a chance to win that
peace. In this light, he is willing to do anything to achieve that, even
going against the Suzaku seishi, people who he sees as his sworn enemy.
However, once he grew closer to them, and realized ultimately that
Miaka's willing heart and forgiveness were the embodiment of Suzaku's
side.
Amiboshi's actions were motivated by love - love for his brother, and the
necessity to protect him and his country against the destruction they
believed they faced - but in the end, he chose death for himself rather
than be faced with causing it for anyone else again.
Suboshi's stats
name: Bu Shunkaku
seishi symbol: 'kaku,' or angle
birthplace: Kutou-koku, Sanun-shou, Tenryou-shi
age: 15 years old
family: older twin brother, Amiboshi - parents killed in a Kutou civil
war
height: 168cm (5'6")
blood type: B
seishi ability: Controls the 'dark weapon,' the ryuuseisui, a pair of
feathered globes that spin razor-sharp at full speed connected by a
length of whiplike rope. Apparently uses telekinesis to do so.
Where Amiboshi is gentle, Suboshi is often brash - he is noticeable for
his short fuse and long memory for a grudge. He appears as Nakago
reveals part of his secret plans to Yui, the planting of a Seiryuu agent
among the Suzaku seishi themselves : his twin brother, Amiboshi. Due to
their close connection, even more so than normal twins they share a bond
of emotions and physical sensation. When Amiboshi writes characters on
his arm, they appear on Suboshi's - letting the Seiryuu seishi know
what's going on. And the pain that his brother feels is transmitted
directly to the twin - letting Suboshi feel the full pain of his
brother's death, at the moment Amiboshi plunged into the river.
Many people view Suboshi's actions as unforgivable, after that point. On
Nakago's strong suggestion, the young man needed an outlet for his pain
and grief, and inflicted the same pain on the one he deemed responsible -
Tamahome. First he took his family, and once Tamahome felt the same pain
and grief, Suboshi intended to kill him as well, but failed due to his
inexperience and lack of ability in the face of Tamahome's power-up. For
the killing, he must be held accountable, but his reasons behind them
were ones of pain and madness, of a young boy deprived of the only family
left to him, once his parents had been reft away. Amiboshi was closer to
him than most siblings, most twins even with the great strength of their
physical and mental connection. Then he was suddenly taken - so his twin
thought - by the violence of the Suzaku seishi. Suboshi was born of war
in a quick-tempered violent world, and his actions reflect it. He acted
the only way he thought possible, by striking out and revenging his
brother - and also, he was manoeuvred into taking the path he did by the
most clever of manipulators, Nakago himself.
Suboshi's actions had powerful motivation as well - as Amiboshi loved
him, so was Suboshi devoted to his brother, to the point of obsession.
Once his world was shattered, his necessity became revenge, its focus
sharply directed towards those he believed responsible - the Suzaku
seishi, Tamahome. And ultimately he, too, would have to make a sacrifice
for what he believed in.
Like all good anime characters, Amiboshi's fall into the river doesn't
ultimately culminate in his death. In episode 37 he makes his return as
Kaika, washed upstream into Sailo country and saves Miaka. Once she is
trapped in Tomo's illusion, it is 'Kaika,' who decides to face the burden
of being Seiryuu once more as Amiboshi, who breaks the illusion but is
nearly killed by Tomo. And Suboshi is the one who saves him, killing
once more for his brother - this time in defence - so now both twins have
broken ties with their Seiryuu comrades. Once again his overwhelming
need to protect his brother comes into play. This time, he makes the
decision to allow his brother to forget, giving him the drug that will
erase his memories for real and allow Amiboshi to live as Kaika.
Thus ends Amiboshi's stint as a Seiryuu seishi.
For Suboshi, his battle continues - still with Seiryuu, because his
grudge lies with Tamahome, whom he still holds responsible in their
ever-escalating bad blood, and Miaka, whom he holds responsible for Yui's
'rape.' Suboshi is the twin who is ever quick to act upon his emotions,
be it the pain he feels for Amiboshi, or his love for Yui - when Yui told
him of the 'rape' in episode 36, his feelings immediately crystallised
into a hatred of Miaka, holding the same feelings Yui herself held
against Suzaku's Miko. Suboshi is the type to act swiftly on his
feelings, whatever the initial impulse may be - and his feelings at this
time are for Yui. As she blames Miaka for her pain, so does he. While
Amiboshi's ultimate fate is to be allowed to live in peace, Suboshi's
ends in a violent rush as he pits his pain and grief against Tamahome's -
and ends up torn clear through the chest with his own weapon.
So the fate of the second twin ends where both began - in a brief moment
of violence, another victim of a war-torn world. But in the end, although
Amiboshi is seen as the only 'good' twin, both Seiryuu seishi acted from
the power of their own convictions in defence of what they thought seemed
right...
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Article copyright 1999 Talya
