Descendants of Darkness/WMG

Muraki's curse is a metaphor for AIDS

He gave the curse to Hisoka while abusing him, which, after years of illness, killed the young man. This implies Muraki is sick himself, and would explain why he's always trying to feed on the lifeforce of others, and is fascinated with immortality, yet isn't poetically associated with vampires. This has added weight, since the show is rife with gay overtones.

• • He's a predatory older man, and does seem to have a weird thing for blood, even if he's not strictly speaking a vampire...
  • He is technically a psychic vampire, but that doesn't get brought up much after volume one. The vampire motif isn't brought up that much after being solidly established in the Nagasaki arc where the rape and murder are revealed. But vampirism doesn't have much to do with AIDS, not even in media depiction. At least, not in so much as vampires=gay=AIDS. Not discounting the theory, as it seems reasonable, just pointing out.
  • It was transmitted as part of rape and killed him slowly, but I'm not sure it quite hits the metaphor level. Because really, what would it be saying except Rapists Can Kill You Slowly, Too?

Chief Konoe was present for Tsuzuki's first descent into the insanity which lead to his suicide. He may have had a hand in it, which is why he's so tolerant and protective of Tsuzuki.

• • How is this wild? Remember what Sagdalius said? 'I know all about that night...I even know about you, Konoe!' Where's the ambiguity here? That was before Tatsumi usurped Konoe's place in the main casting by Power of Bishie, so even if the series resumes (which it won't) it's likely it'll never be developed, but it's solid.

• • This troper says: The Count is the father or other ancestor of Tsuzuki, as indicated after that damn party. Tsuzuki has demonstrated his incredible 'hanyou powers' a la Abe no Seimei, the Japanese Merlin who was supposedly half fox and who was the last person to have Tsuzuki's set of shikigami, and King Enma and the other people running the world want to use him in some way. They make reference, when they turn up in context of Konoe reporting to them, to their plans for Tsuzuki, the fact that Tsuzuki can't get away, the fact that they apparently killed off Muraki's grandfather Yukitaka to prevent his interfering with said plans (!) and so on.

• • Way back in Tsuzuki's adolescence, this plan went into its first stages by sending a set of their goons, the shinigami, to force his powers to show themselves. Konoe was part of that team, and followed his orders in manipulating Tsuzuki into flipping his lid, causing the deaths of his family in the resulting power surge. For which Tsuzuki unfairly blames himself, Konoe with more justification blames himself, and Enma blames himself not at all as he is god and doesn't need a conscience. Even Muraki has more morals than this guy, although they assert themselves only as shards that prick him under the ribs and drive him to more frenziedly immoral behavior in reaction against.

• • All of this so that Enma could get Tsuzuki squarely under his thumb, which he has done, and wait for the opportune moment to do whatever-it-is. He 'spoke' to Ashitarote, King of Demons, to get Tsuzuki out of his job as King of Dragons, which was apparently a sort of right-hand job to Ashitarote--don't know what the King of Hell can pull on the King of Demons to get his way (considering that despite translation these aren't mutually inclusive domains), but whatever it was, it was worth it to him.

• • So only Konoe knows what's really going on, and the fact that even in their farcical daily life they are merely pawns of a cruel god. The Count may know something, too, and you'd think that as a Noble of Hell and clear supernatural being he'd be able to do a little more than Konoe, but apparently he's either helpless or has some kind of uninvolvement policy he can't break under these circumstances. So want to see the Count and Summons Department forming a subversive organization to free Tsuzuki and break Enma's tyranny. Muraki provides assistance and possibly dies (seriouslyforreallthistimehahaha) in the process, and Enma is deposed and his son takes over.

• • Then Enma-loyalists in keffiyeh will take over the Ministry and threaten to blow up the world as a religious gesture. No, that's what happened in Yu Yu Hakusho. Plus, that Enma actually had a son.

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