aliensamba | Lost You Forever

Fandom: Lost You Forever, mentions: Inuyasha, Gundam, Jane Eyre, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Naruto, Ushio no Tora
Warning: spoiler warning for the abovementioned fandoms
Notes: My scattered thoughts after watching Lost You Forever.

Summary and Impressions:
I wonder if the director watched Inuyasha.

Xiaoyao:
Lost her sense of self (literally forgot her own face) and spirit power due to being tortured. She was like Hansel and Gretel in the witch's cottage (fattened up to be eaten by a fox demon). Lived as a Wen Xiaoliu, a male physician, for 100 years. It's not explicitly stated but I think her father is Chi Chen (the Chenrong general, fox demon, enemy of Xiyan kingdom). She is ruthless, calculating, and practical.

She reminded me of Rin when she sang that song to lure FeiFei (Rin: "in the mountains, in the breeze, in the forest, in my dreams, lord sesshomaru where are you?"). But she's also like No Face.

Cang Xuan:
Orphaned prince who wants to be King to protect his remaining family (Xiaoyao); he fulfills what his grandfather taught him in the first ep. Pretends to be wine merchant when he meets Xiaoyao. Pretends to be a lot of things to survive (a common soldier, wine merchant, powerless prince). Ladies love him but he only has eyes for Xiaoyao. She only sees him as a brother. LOL.

My song for him would be "Heartlines" by Florence and the Machine.

Tushan Jing:
Lost his name and status as a 'lesson' from his brother. Became Ye Shiqi and lived an ordinary life with Wen Xiaoliu until his past caught up to him. Trapped by his family and becomes head of Tushan clan. He's like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella but a darker fairytale (filial piety; things being done while sleeping; he possesses female-lead attributes like gentleness, kindness, and loyalty but this dooms him).

Xiaoyao loves him and his gentleness but things happen and she severs their relationship because of this impediment (ala Jane Eyre). But not before breaking her heart meridian (maybe that's why she seems heartless).

My song for him would be "Heartless" by Kanye West".

There's a scene in the earlier episodes which made me think of Inuyasha series... Xiaoyao falls asleep while caring for Tushan Jing, Tushan Jing wakes up and shields her from the dripping candle wax. The way Tushan Jing was wrapped up reminded me of Onigumo in the cave with Kikyo. Now I know there's no tender moment between Onigumo and Kikyo unlike Tushan Jing and Xiaoyao... but the Onigumo vibes.

He suffers beautifully. He cries so prettily. He is the wronged maiden in this story.

Xiang Liu:
Snake demon. Leads the Chenrong rebel army as gratitude to his master. Takes up Fangfeng Bei's identity and experiences human emotions. Continues the farce and ends up fooling himself (he presents the carefree Bei to Xiayao and she wants this persona for him not realizing that it's not really who he is). He falls in love with Xiaoyao but can't do anything about it because she fears him (she fears for her heart). He's like the Little Mermaid (the sadder version with the seafoam).

My song for him would be "No Ordinary Love" by Sade.

I really like the scene where he transforms his robes into another dress for Xiaoyao.

One thing that bugs me is that Xiaoyao used to admire Xiang Liu's sense of duty towards his men but later on she doesn't appreciate him because of her loyalty to Cang Xuan. Cang Xuan has become her priority and this influences all of her relationships especially the ones before Cang Xuan (Tushan Jing and Xiang Liu).

Back to Xiang Liu, he's got all the aspects which I like: aesthetically Zechs Merquise, hungry like Hakumen no Mono, angst, tragedy, winter. But also doomed.

Something I noticed: Xiang Liu (winter - hunger, snow), Tushan Jing (spring - rebirth, nature), Xiaoyao (Summer - bloom, desired), Cang Xuan (Fall - reap, change).

Winter gives way to Spring. Spring supports Summer. Summer surrenders to Fall.

The ending is not exactly a cliffhanger but some fates are not resolved (especially Xiang Liu).

I kept waiting for Tushan Jing to do an Itachi. It would be so easy to be a villain. His kill mode is beneath the surface of his kindness. Activate it, babygirl!

When will Xiaoyao take a risk for love? When will she leave Cang Xuan to live independently? I don't know. But I feel that her fate has been so determined by Cang Xuan's goals that there is no real Xiaoyao if you take away Cang Xuan.

An anime solution for this would be reverse harem for Xiaoyao; Tushan Jing and Xiang Liu for her. Cang Xuan and Fenglong can be BL.

That's all.

Notes:
Rin (Inuyasha)
Onigumo (Inuyasha)
the impediment thing (Jane Eyre)
Zechs Merquise (Gundam)
Hakumen no Mono (Ushio to Tora)
Itachi (Naruto)