APPLICATIONS | 2012; 01

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Akira Inugami | Wolf Guy - Part 3

[not_so_big_and_bad]

Personality:
For most of the manga, Akira was a rather contradictory boy, forced between the self he wanted the world to see, and the self that really reflected who he was. Not even Akira seemed to fully know which is which, at times. How often can one put on a front, before that front starts to affect who they really are?

For one thing, Akira was a master of self-denial. He constantly talked about how he didn't want or need other people, yet always found himself drawn to them. He's the offspring of two very social species, humans and werewolves, and it's in his blood to seek out others, no matter how much he told himself otherwise. He told himself that Aoshika didn't mean anything to him, yet he was always looking out for her. This was easy to see, due to the many instances where he saved or checked up on her. When she fell on him by accident in his apartment, he told himself that he was above base desires, but couldn't deny the way his body reacted to hers. Arousal and shame. He said human lives didn't mean much in the big scheme of things, yet always intervened when lives were put in danger around him. This veneer started to crumble as he grew closer to Aoshika, and finally shattered when he saw the video of Aoshika's torment at Haguro's hands. His own inner self forced him to confront his hypocrisy, spurring him to action. It gave him no choice but to accept his own feelings and charge forward to protect what he loved.

Being a wolf, Akira is also not without his more vicious instincts. Though he was often loathe to attack or even defend himself against human attacks, his patience was never infinite. This can easily be seen when he savages the large army of thugs that attacks him in the beginning, endangering Aoshika, killing several of them. Or when he mercy kills the lion in the park, in order to spare it the slow, painful option of being shot to death by police. Or when he loses control and murders several of the assassins sent after Haguro, merely due to them reminding him of his past trauma. His spite is especially evident when taking on the thugs responsible for Aoshika's rape. He methodically takes them down with brutal efficiency, even going so far as the torture one of them for information. There's no question that when his wrath finally kindles, there's little he won't do.

Akira has always felt an immense amount of persecution from the world. Inferiority complex at its finest. His egotism and arrogance would put people off naturally, a product of his super-human status. He was stronger than anyone around him and he knew it. Judging from his grades, he was smarter, too. This caused a large amount of malice to be directed at him, especially by other males. Their jealousy gradually turned to discontent, then rage. This escalation had always ended the same way through Akira's life. Violence. Then, when they saw that their attacks did no good, it only made them even MORE vengeful. Eventually it would get to the point where he'd have to leave. This cycle repeated in every place Akira moved to, every school he'd ever tried to learn in. Due to this, he considered humans to be brash, vicious, and haughty, yet failed to understand that he shared some of those exact traits. It was only in his darker, introspective moments that he realized he hated seeing his own behavior in others. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy. He didn't expect humans to respect him, so he showed no respect to them. While people did feel unjustified anger toward him, he didn't help the situation by constantly antagonizing them. It was only after the school shooting that Akira was humbled. He learned from the experience, changing his attitude toward those he disliked.

Loneliness had always been a large part of Akira's mental landscape. He'd always lived alone, away from his extended family, using their resources to get what he needed. Their wealth allowed him to live comfortably, away from other people and isolated in his apartment. The whole place barely looked lived in, like he got too lazy to even attempt making it like a home. His walls were bare, his living room sparse except for books, his computer, and something to sit on. It reflected the solitude he constantly lived with. Akira, as far as he was concerned, was the last of his kind. In a world of six billion humans, he was completely alone. The last embers of a species that's about to die out completely. Add into this the fact that anyone who got too close to him tended to suffer for it. Pushing people away protected both them, and himself, or so he thought. Eventually, Akira realized that trouble would happen REGARDLESS of his presence, and if something bad went down, it was better for him to be close by instead of running away from his problems.

Akira's relation to Akiko Aoshika had several layers to it. On the one hand is her matronly, motherly appeal. She brought Akira's deep-seated mother-loss issues to the forefront, due to her always looking after him, and the way she seemed to see right through his act. She cared about him. On the other hand was her very attractive physical appearance. Akiko was a beautiful woman, and it had often brought her attention from the wrong kinds of people. He was aroused by her, but at the same time devoted to her well-being. The deepening of this relationship was a focal point of the series, as was the constant shifting it did. From teacher and student, to caretaker and charge, to lovers. Akiko represented all the better aspects of humans, in Akira's eyes.

Haguro was the opposite end of the spectrum, perfectly personifying everything in humanity Akira hated. Haguro wass brash, sadistic, spiteful, and utterly obsessed with his own power, and crushing anything that threatened it. To Haguro, Akira was many things. Hated enemy, rival, and object of adoration. Ever since encountering Akira, Haguro was introduced to emotions that he never before emerged inside of him. He was largely dead inside. Seeing a true werewolf unlocked his fears and passions, causing him to obsess over Akira both as a rival and an equal. Something he couldn't accept. His psyche was torn between wanting to destroy Akira, wanting to own Akira, and wanting Akira to accept him. This was one-sided, as Akira largely thought of Haguro as an evil he'd rather not deal with. This attitude proved to be Akira's undoing, as Haguro's knowledge of this only made him escalate their rivalry into harming the people around Akira, in order to goad him into battle. In his death, Haguro was once again made to feel small and weak, his bravado shattered by Akira's true, monstrous power.

By the end of the manga, Akira's personality has transformed for the better, despite all of the trauma he and others suffered. He's no longer outright spiteful of humans, realizing that some of them are truly worth knowing and protecting. That being said, he also hasn't lost his edge. His snark still comes out in force at times, even if it's usually reserved for people who deserve it.