Ex-Aid discussion: Can we talk about Saki?

[zaluzianskya]

I hesitate to call Saki a "character". She's a plot device, really. She's Princess Toadstool from the NES Mario games (before she became Princess Peach and gained a personality).

But there's a whole lot of symbolism packed into the tiny little package that is Saki, and I really like it.

First, it was obvious that Hiiro was never going to go so far as to kill any of his allies. Even if you disregard his entire characterization, Saki herself provides the audience and Hiiro with the correct answer. Every time Masamune is telling Hiiro to violate his sense of doctorial ethics, there Saki is, telling him, "Become the greatest doctor in the world."

That's obvious, though, right?

But there's also something really subtle in her name. "Saki". It's written as 小姫 (there's the princess imagery again!) but I don't believe it's an accident that it's pronounced the same as 先　-- "before", "previous", "prior". She's Hiiro's past and she was never going to come back.

Anyway, with that plot arc over and done with, I just got really emotional about it and wanted to talk about it.