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Duality
Light and Dark
Dualism describes "the interdependent relationship between opposing concepts of life and death, good and evil...day and night... Many Celtic and Romano-Celtic cults demonstrate this ambiguity and a close interaction between apparently opposite aspects of the supernatural" (Green, 87).
In many anime stories a balance of light and dark must be maintained or else a natural balance in nature or the world is lost, and the storyline may involve having to regain that balance. There is an idea that inside humans and within the cosmic order of life, both light and dark exist, and both must be aknowledged and accepted or else the balance lost within life causes suffering or chaos from the two elements not being kept in check. This idea can be seen in Lodoss War when Parn realizes at the story's end that in order to stop the fighting and restore peace, both light and dark must coexist, and so both must be brought together back in balance. Throughout the series, parallels are even drawn between both the side of light and the side of darkness to show their coexistance: the pairings of Deedlit the Light Elf with Parn the young knight and Pirotess the Dark Elf with Ashram the dark knight, the two kings and their swords of light and dark which Parn must bring together at the end, and the two goddesses that represent both the light and dark. In Shamanic Princess, Tiara learns an early lesson that she must accept her shadow as part of herself, and later the lesson that light and dark coexist and are one.
Light and dark also manifest as the shadow in anime. In Utena, the shadow is more of a psychological representation of that part of the personality that is either repressed or part of the
unconscious. For a full discussion of the role of the shadow in Utena, visit the Utena section of Aurorean. In the second half of Rayearth, Hikaru battles a shadow of her heart, Nova.
Having to kill Princess Emeraude, and learning of the sad fate of the Pillar and the true mission of the Magic Knights, causes Hikaru to manifest her guilt in the form of Nova. Nova is
the shadow of Hikaru's feelings, the pain she'd like to forget. Debonair, at the same time, is the incarnation of the shadow of the hearts of the people of Cephiro. Their doubts and fear
manifest into her and the monsters that would destroy the country. In Shamanic Princess, Tiara's shadow confronts her in episode 5, and she must be strong enough to take it into herself,
or be overwhelmed by it. Her shadow is the magical and unseen side of herself. The darker unconscious. In the X film, Kamui is faced with having to fight Fuuma. Fuuma becomes a kind
of shadow twin of Kamui, the Kamui seeking to fight for the destruction of the Earth. The prophecy calls for twin stars to face each other in the final battle, so while Kamui decides to fight
for the people in his life he loves, Fuuma being his twin star, becomes the dark twin fighting for destruction instead.
From BSSM, Beryl is
continuing things that happened in Princess Serenity's
past, she's the dark aspect to the light Queen. She's
after Endymion, so there's greed in wanting the
kingdoms and this kind of dark love, all of which
Usagi fights against. Nehellenia goes back to
fairy tale aspects of shadows in the female heart, and
is much like the Queen in Snow White. Galaxia, she
took Chaos into herself, and Usagi has to purify the
darkness out of her, and show her the value of love
again. And there is the implication that this story
with Galaxia shows a bit of mirror or warning for
Sailor Moon, because Usagi in her nobility might very
well have done the same, and so Galaxia's lesson and
enounter is important to Usagi as she needs to
understand her powers, as well as the great forces of
life (which she utilizes) but also that of Chaos out
of which everything was created originally.
Vash and Knives from the series Trigun are a good example of the existence of yin and yang, of opposite forces. Vash is ruled most of his life by emotions and a sense of compassion and
his belief in humanity's goodness. Things he learned from his mentor, Rem. Even amidst a harsh life on a barren planet, where the lifestyle is reminiscent of the old West, Vash still keeps to
his creed of the sanctity of all life and his refusal to take it from anything living. He believes in always finding the compromise. His twin brother, Knives, is calculating and believes in cold
logic. He does not like humans as he sees mainly their weaknesses as a whole. His methods are often cruel and lean on the environment or self-preservation (it's revealed he and Vash
are really plants) as motive. But their personalities are extremes of the other, one positive and the other destructive, and ultimately, one cannot destroy the other. In the final episode, both brothers match each other skill for skill
and when Knives tries to use the ultimate weapon upon Vash, Vash pulls out the same, and the blasts cancel each other in a swirl of a yin-yang like mix of powerful energy between them.
In the end, Vash has a choice with his brother lying before him, and chooses life for both, and the continuation for existence.
Sun and Moon
In CCS Yue and Kero represent this duality. Yue represents the moon, has powers of ice, and bears colors of white and cool colors representing the moon aspect. Kero represents the sun, has powers of fire, and is a lion (a solar animal). There is also Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon who represent both the sun and moon and day and night. Both pairs act as guardians to their master, and it is an interesting note that the guardians must embody the two sources of light and energy that have been said to govern the world since ancient times.
In Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity represents the moon, is based on the moon goddess Selene, owns the Silver Crystal, and is in love with Endymion who's guardian could be argued to be the sun and who mythologically was said to represent the sun when paired with Selene, and he owns the Golden Crystal in the manga. Their daughter Chibi Usa also represents the moon and loves the young priest Elios who has the Golden Crystal in the anime and is based on the Greek god of the sun. Both couples stand for a sun and moon relationship, the ruling bodies of the solar system.