The ViviSection

Doujinshi commentary: Mebius


Circle:    Lazies    Mebius: Front Cover
Type:   Normal, serious story. 26 pages.
Date:   2001/08/10

Here we have a one-story drama doujinshi. Vivi leaves the Black Mage Village and goes to the Iifa Tree, where he finds Zidane bearing the injured Kuja out. After joyfully greeting Zidane - who is less energetic after all he's recently been through, but still happy to see his friend - Vivi turns serious and thanks Kuja for manufacturing him.  Otherwise, he would never have been alive at all. Understandably, this surprises Zidane He speaks to Vivi, and right in the middle of answering Vivi closes his eyes and collapses.  Zidane catches him and realizes that Vivi has "stopped." Kuja is blase about this - after all, the prototype wasn't meant to last forever - and Zidane comes unglued. Kuja has a change of heart. After Kuja appears to erupt in a laserlike special effect, feathers begin to fall on the Black Mage Village. Mikoto, apparently understanding that Kuja has died, mourns silently. One of the feathers falls on Vivi, who is still in Zidane's arms, and he comes back to life.

I really, really like this one. It says something when two of the cliches that bug me most in FF9 doujinshi - Zidane-and-Kuja-after-the-Iifa-Tree and Vivicide - are merged in a story that actually comes out touching. The more I think about it, the more the story is about redemption. Vivi forgives Kuja for creating the Black Mages as instruments of war, and then Kuja gives his life to return Vivi's, and (by implication) to give the Black Mages longer lifespans. Both Vivi and Kuja are cleansed.

And for those of you who think I'm taking this too seriously, there's also the neat artwork. Lazies is one of the few circles that actually draws the Black Mages on model, the characters are well drawn and posed, their faces are expressive. And there's lots of Vivi. Did I mention that I like that?


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