In the show Kanon, a sword-wielding
high school girl living in a snowy town – Mai Kawasumi. She has a reputation
for breaking windows that stems from her first year, a fact known throughout
the school. Thus, Mai is considered suspect for all damage performed to school
property. Considered a strange, scary person, others stay away from her. Except
for one: her friend Sayuri Kurata, who loyally stays by her side. Yuuichi Aizawa
also befriends Mai a few days after transferring into the high school. Despite
being an outcast, she now has two friends. Together Yuuichi and Sayuri are
supportive of Mai in a caring manner that undoes the cruelty and resulting
isolation she faces; Mai’s story vividly depicts hospitality.
The idea of “hospitality” comes from
the essay “From Cruelty to Goodness.”[1] The opposite of cruelty “is not simply
freedom from the cruel relationship; it is hospitality.” Memories of
institutional cruelty can persist in those who have escaped the power
relationship; its removal alone is thus insufficient to restoring an oppressed
person’s humanity. Phillip Hallie writes, ”It lies not only in something
negative, an absence of cruelty or of imbalance; it lies in unsentimental,
efficacious love.” Hospitality can be simply described as counteracting the
harm done with unsentimental love towards the end of restoring a person’s
humanity. This idea can be better illustrated by way of example. Last year I
lived in a university dormitory. One day the power went out, shorting out the
elevator; I could not get to the second floor – where I live – with my scooter.
So I left it on the first floor. A friend of mine, who had noticed me, held the
door open for me. Cognizant of my condition, she asked if I needed help
climbing the stairs. Though such an offer can come across as condescending, my
friend was asking because she knew about my condition and realized that I may
need help. Instead of feeling patronized, I felt respected. She went above and
beyond mere kindness and was hospitable in her treating me as a person, not
simply as a disabled person.
Mai is considered a social outcast,
someone too scary and different to be accepted. After entering the school at
night to retrieve his cousin’s notebook, Yuuichi spies Mai standing in the
moonlight streaming from the window. Wielding a blade, fighting demons. He does
not understand why she would do such a thing, placing her as the Other. One day
Mai is called to the principal’s office upon only suspicion; she is then
admonished pre-emptively despite no wrongdoing. Schools attempt to maintain
order but in doing so often primarily target those who stand out. Upon leaving
the office she is pointed out by two passing by students, highlighting Mai’s
social isolation.
In an effort to improve Mai’s image,
Yuuichi invites her to the school ball. This plan backfires due to Mai sensing
the arrival of demons. She grabs her sword and engages the demons in battle,
causing commotion. To everyone Mai is simply slashing wildly through thin air.
Unbeknownst to them (the haters), she is fighting the weight of her burden.
Admitting defeat, Mai stabs her sword into the ground. Kuze, insensitive jerk that he is, shouts at
Mai, harshly criticizing her behavior. The next day a meeting is held to determine if
Mai should be expelled. Sayuri with the help of Yuuichi and another person
mounts a defense. Kuze’s plan to get her expelled was foiled by their combined efforts.
Here Sayuri and Yuuichi show their understanding and respect for Mai by
standing up for her. They fight against insidious cruelty, reaffirming Mai’s
humanity.
Yuuichi found the proper motivation
to help her – so he practiced his sword-wielding to help Mai defeat demons. The
next time she went out to fight he accompanied her. Though earlier he did not
understand Mai’s problems, Yuuichi now realizes that he has to help her
overcome the emotional damage she has suffered. Meanwhile, Mai’s birthday
approaches. The present? A giant stuffed anteater. Later on Yuuichi met with
Sayuri in a coffeeshop. Here he learns why she worries about Mai – a person who
seems invincible. Sayuri views Mai as an older sister, as someone who helped
Sayuri smile again after her little brother died. To phrase it simply, Sayuri
wants to return the favor and support her friend.
That night, unbeknownst to either Yuuichi
or Mai, Sayuri takes the birthday present to the school in a gesture of love. With
this gift she hopes to bring Mai happiness. However, she has a traumatic fall
and has to be hospitalized. Mai furiously attacked the air, infusing her blade
with pure frustration. She continues until Yuuichi restrains her – she then
cries. Their battle against the demons begins anew. During this nocturnal battle
in which Mai struggles under the weight of her burden they vigorously fight to
defend each other. Finally in this next scene the source of Mai’s demons: the
loss of a friend she had made years ago continuing to haunt her. Mai took this
event as a sign of defeat
With this gift she hopes to restore
Mai’s humanity from the cruelty she faces. When Yuuichi arrives he realizes
something is amiss – he saw Mai collapse, eyes shuddering. Sayuri lay on the
floor, blood pooling near her head in the bathroom. She is hospitalized. Mai furiously stabs the air, knocking over a
garbage can, continuing until Yuuichi restrains her – she then cries. Both
Yuuichi and Mai renew their fight against the demons. Mai struggles with the
weight of her burden. In this scene the show reveals that Mai’s first friend
was Yuuichi, who soon disappeared. Mai took this even as a sign of defeat,
allowing it to haunt her for years. Yuuichi takes the opportunity to tell her
that her demons were not real – they were simply a manifestation of her desire
to keep her friend. In doing so, Yuuichi sought to counteract the harm that had
been done to her. Together Sayuri and Yuuichi convinced Mai that she was truly
human, not simply a demon fighter or another shallow identity. They raised Mai
up from the social isolation that she had felt for so long. Hospitality,
delivered by both Sayuri and Yuuichi, was able to slay her metaphorical demons.
She was thus set at ease.
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