Don’t get me wrong… I wasn’t necessarily accusing it of being a “cheap” plot device–just a common one. Everyone will have to judge how it fits into a story based on their own opinions, of course.
SPOILER WARNING
Personally, I usually don’t have a problem with the brother/sister affair plots, simply because it always turns out that there is, in fact, no blood relationship between the two–which, in my opinion, is the only rational argument against incest (the genetic factor). In the case of Taka and Kana, there were simply too many things that bound them together: Taka had developed a sense of protectiveness and caring that was almost bound to develop into something, and Kana had a dependence upon Taka (which could be argued was unhealthy from a relationship point of view, and ergo a good reason for her to leave in ending 1), which also turned into feelings of love. From a story writing point of view, these were solid progressions that were well played. I won’t judge them, except to repeat that I, personally don’t have a problem with their relationship, simply because–in my mind–aside from the legal formality of a piece of paper saying that the Todo family had guardianship over Kana, there was nothing else between Taka and Kana except a lot of shared experience that they nurtured into something greater. However, I’m willing to accept that not everyone will perceive things so openly… that’s their decision, and I don’t expect them to change their veiws. From a technical standpoint, even Taka and Kana wrestled with the “rightness” and “wrongness” of the situation (so did Ryo and Ayume, to some degree, in Crescendo, although they had other, larger issues that were weighing on their consciences).
END OF SPOILERS
By the way, for the record, my English adaptation of the lyrics for The White Season is finished (except for maybe some last minute tweaking)… I’m pretty happy with it for the most part, although I’m not sure what to do with the thing now…
[This message has been edited by Wolfson (edited 07-12-2004).]