So we're about to head into the endgame segment with Meru. I figure this is a pretty decent point to do an intermission. Now, there's several ways to paint yourself a target of MSTing. The first of which is to do a crossover of two series known for their extensive Fan Dom and Hate Dom. The second is to write about a character and then make your username "character'slover"
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Well, lucky you, kakashi'slover29, today your masterpiece "kakashi the vampire ninja" gets put on the line.
Actually, this is a tragedy of sorts, and quite Greek in nature. See, there are three steps to a Greek tragedy, first you have someone of high esteem, power, and prestige. Second, that person must act in some sort of manner that, while not necessarily bad in of itself, causes that character to begin a fall that takes all of those qualities away, leaving an empty shell of his or her former self. Finally, the tragedy completes itself with the character realizing this.
KL has actually managed to mix things up a bit by lettings us begin at the final step. This is typically called In Media Res, or simply, it starts in the middle or (oddly enough) end of the story. Why do this? So that way, we can already see the broken, shattered man that Kakashi now is compared to his former glory, creating a stark contrast and leaving us to wonder just how he managed to fall that far.
The second step, continuing in reverse order, is the actions which set Kakashi out on his mission. What can we determine of Kakashi here? Well, he's a man of great importance, working directly under the Hokage. This also means that he's quite loyal and efficient at what he does, all of which are qualities valued by the Japanese.
And now more on the first part of the Greek Tragedy, the story continues to show Kakashi's great prestige among the ninjas of the Leaf Village by not only endowing him with an important and timely mission direct from the leader of the village, he also is shown to be a role model to the younger members of the village. Thus, he is an elite soldier and father figure, the paradox nature of being a nurturer and killer only adds to his glory as he is able to balance both.
Now, here's where part two of the greek tragedy begins to kick in again. In carrying out his mission, out of both loyalty to the village and due to a sense of duty to protect those that live there, his keen sense are shown as he spots a random stalker. Again, nothing here is inherently bad, but does ultimately lead to his downfall.
Now here begins the second brilliant part of this piece of writing, the metaphor for the westernization of Japan. The tree that separates them is a metaphor for the amount of distance that keeps Japan and England separate entities, yet the sudden appearance of the stalker behind Kakashi is demonstrative of how unexpectedly England appears at Japan.
The mention of killing and subsequent biting is meant to remind us of how England entered Japan and threatened them using superior weaponry and then proceeded to steal the precious valuables of the land. In short, preying upon it.
The subsequent retaliation is much like how the first few lords who fought the English reacted, it was quick but meaningless as they had not the weaponry to fight back. It was only after England had started not only started taking land, metal, and art (or here, the blood), that they could unite as a single force to fight off the invaders (the lightning blade).
And so in the closing bits, the Greek Tragedy and metaphor are complete. Kakashi has fallen from protector of the Leaf Village to a vampire and slave to a random attacker. It was merely chance that brought him here and such, chance that can similarly bring down any great man or woman or even nation. The turning into a vampire is a metaphor for how Japan went through a rapid modernization in response to the English invasion in order to survive but also the loss of its own roots in honor and humility, just as Kakashi has lost his humanness. Yes, this piece of writing is a grim reminder both of how we as individuals are imperfect and ultimately playthings for the world, ripped from that hard earned power and of Japan's own tragedy, its fall from grace and spirituality and forced transformation into a sad mimicry of Europe.
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