Random musings on the "fish out of water" theme of FMP... very mild spoilers for BOMF.
We (or at least, I) commonly perceive FMP to be about Sousuke's inability to fit into a civilian life, with Kaname and Jindai defining normal. However, as we can see from ODBD onwards, Kaname herself is equally out of place in the military world. So why doesn't Shouji Gatou write more about the flip side of things?
War isn't funny. (Duh.) Put Sousuke in a civilian life, and he'll survive with a few bruises. He's escaped prison time so far, right? Put Kaname in a war zone, though, and expect death or at least a nervous breakdown in 10 minutes. It's probably a miracle that she's still alive now, after 3 or 4 hostage situations - actually, come to think about it, the main reason she's not dead yet is because the bad guys specifically want her alive. (Okay, except for that one bit in ODBD/TSR where she fools Wraith and one assassin. That was definitely a miracle.
)
And therein lies the problem. Since having Kaname as a hostage is probably the best way to keep her alive, short of writing out any military conflict, she'll probably get
1.) Typecast as a damsel in distress
2.) Less exposure (refer to BOMF, the Wind in the Homeland arc of Season 1, and the whole TSR deal)
3.) Flak from people who forget that normal civilians in similar situations would freak out just as badly.
If they actually do animate these subsequent arcs, I can see Kaname's fanbase decreasing in exchange for Tessa's, who, by virtue of the fact that she started off as a loveable klutz and subsequently grew a spine (no offence intended) in ODBD and beyond, automatically scores points for becoming someone kickass.
Discuss? *shrug*
