You Don't Even Know He's Trying

"You keep pushing and banging on a locked door, hoping that the other will finally open up to you. What you don't realize is that he's right behind you, trying to reach you as well. Just let it go and try the other door."

Okay, for those who don't know, I absolutely detest NiChu. Oh, not nearly as much as IggyChu, and I actually used to be able to tolerate it before I saw how the Japanese fandom depicted it. Now, that said, I absolutely adore their relationship as family. Why, do you ask? Well...just because of how complex it is. At first glance, it doesn't seem like it is. It just looks like China really wanting acknowledgement from someone who seemingly doesn't care. That's not how I see it.

In my mind, Japan never attacked China out of hate or spite. Around that time, China had sunk about as low as he could go. He was known as The Sick Man of Asia because he was heavily addicted to Opium, had been pushed into a huge financial crisis due to wars and debt, and was basically Europe's plaything. He didn't even own half his land, and he'd been forced to open up what he had left. On top of that, England had already taken away Hong Kong, and I imagine China wasn't really able to support the rest of his family as he used to. I could be totally wrong, and of course I don't think this is how the people were thinking, but I can see how Japan would think it was best for him to take over. He was adapting to Westernization a lot better, and he was actually a fairly powerful nation at the time. The main goal of Japan during WWII was control over Asia, so this can't be that far fetched. Sure, you still might wonder why Japan used the method of randomly attacking China, but if you think about it, China is a very proud nation, and around the time of the war, his pride was really all he had left. He wouldn't give up what he had left without a fight. Not only that, but Japan and China had never been able to really understand each other. Japan had always been preparing for the time when the Westerners would come to Asia, and China had not even been able to fathom such an idea. Their thinking was very different.

Of course, we all know how this whole thing went. What the Japanese did to the Chinese was just horrible. I don't think Japan was ever personally involved with the war crimes, but that doesn't mean they weren't committed. Japan has even tried to deny some of them, which I think is mostly out of shame. I do think Japan realized at the end just how much he'd screwed up. Now, the two of them are stuck in this spiral of hate. The characters themselves don't really seem to actually feel that hate. China constantly reaches out to Japan as though trying to be like an older brother again, and Japan often seems to be trying to reach back. He was the only person to come see China at Chinese New Year one time (even if China ended up being just too overbearing and Japan left.) I can definitely see that the effort is there, but the way I see it, China is still stuck thinking Japan hates him and rejects him as an older brother. To him, that was proven when Japan attacked him, and he still doesn't feel as though Japan has sincerely apologized. For that, he carries a bit of bitterness and a lot of distrust on his shoulders. On the other hand, Japan feels as though he's begged forgiveness, and really tries to show how sorry he is, but he feels as though China will never really forgive him. China brings up the past because he wants to have it acknowledged and addressed, but Japan avoids it because he wants to let it go and move on.

Anyway, that's how I view their relationship, and it really makes me want to see the two of them have good relations for once. I suppose the chances of that happening are slim, but who knows? America has very good relations with Italy, Germany, and Japan now, and we were all sworn enemies once. I can hope, anyway.

Inspired by Within Temptation's "The Cross," which has sort of become my theme song for these two.

Credits:

China models (c) roco-55 (clothes by namimaA. Edits by me.)
Japan model (c) JP_Orca (Hakama by aokana. Edit by me.)
Chibi Japan model (c) nononoP (Clothes by aokana. Edit by me.)
Doors (c) Q-Ku-mmd
Effects: Ghost, GreenerShader_ES_CLOUDY, Hyper Shader, Bleach-bypass, SSAO, Vignette, DOF