User blog:BigBadSquid/PE Proposal: Julio Asuka Misurugi



Here's one that I've been looking at for a while. We've already approved Embryo, so that makes my job easier.

What's the Work
Cross Ange is a Mecha anime and manga about people having technologically advanced material in their DNA called Mana that grants them special powers. Various global problems such as pollution and war are things of the past. But those born without Mana (Norma) live at the bottom of society who have no rights of their own. The Norma are sent to military facilities to pilot mechs against alien invading dragons as cannon fodder. It's a very weird series.

We follow Angelise of Misurugi who is revealed to be a Norma and sent to Arzenal to fight the dragons against her will. The one behind her reveal being leaked was her brother, Julio Asuka Misurugi.

Who is Julio and what he has done
The eldest son to King Jurai and Queen Sophia of Misurugi, Julio is one of the more fanatical citizens against the Norma, as he sees them as nothing but mere trash. The reason? He once overheard his parents about hiding Ange's identity as a Norma. He's also a greedy power-hungry man who seeks to learn all knowledge of modern technology. So on the day of her coronation no less, Julio performs a coup and reveals Ange's secret to the entire kingdom, causing her to be exiled. During the panic, Sophia is gunned down by Julio's men while attempting to protect her daughter. With Ange away, Julio takes the crown after executing his father for hiding Ange's secret and corrupts his innocent crippled sister, Sylvia, that Ange was responsible for the deaths of their parents.

Still unsatisfied about his usurpation, His Holy Emperor Julio plans to restore the influence of the discredited royal household by spreading fake news of Sylvia being held hostage to make Ange escape from Arzenal to lure her to come to the Imperial Palace. She falls for it and Julio attempts to break Ange even further by having her publicly humiliated by the empire and has Sylvia whip her since she still thinks Ange killed their parents. All for his amusement. Once the day came that Ange was to be executed via hanging, Tusk rescues her while Julio receives a scar on his face by a missed shuriken that Ange threw at him.

Going further down madness simply for Ange being still alive, Julio mishears Embryo's opinion of destroying the world to make a better one during a summit and decides to "purify all Norma". As in committing genocide by sending a complete military armada towards Arzenal. He tells his army not only to kill his sister, but to kill everyone that stands in their way, regardless if they even are a Norma or civilian. Even the Norma children aren't safe from the massacre, but Julio doesn't care.

The massacre ends when Ange flies her mech towards Julio's ship, gunning down all of his men who stand before her. She shoots Julio in the leg and threatens to shoot again if he refuses to call off the attack. Julio reveals his true cowardly ego and calls it off, beckoning his sister to spare his life. Ange decides to kill him anyway claiming that scum like him don't deserve to live, only for Embryo to block her attack and kill Julio himself, only so she will not "stain her hands" with someone so lowly.

Mitigating Factors
It's explained that he hates both Norma and his sister Ange simply because she got more attention from her parents from him. But considering that he shows no empathy for his mother being gunned down and hangs his father without remorse to take over the empire... and the fact that he has his men massacre an entire military base to kill his sister while leaving no witnesses including children... yeah, no.

There's only one minor factor that comes into mind, and that's his relationship with his youngest sister, Sylvia. It's suggested that he may hold a soft spot for her, however, I think this can be nullified considering he uses her as a pawn for his plan to get revenge on Ange, showing no care if she comes out alive or not. Moreso, the first time we see Sylvia before Ange returns, something bad is happening to her offscreen and Julio raises no objection in helping her.

There's also Liza, Julio's aid who is really a dragon spy. Even though they once have sex, nothing is shown or suggested that Julio has any romantic interest in her.

Heinous Standards
Now, I do know that Embryo is technically the worst of the work as it's his fault the world is in the corrupt state it is, as he rejects his good intentions when it's revealed he destroyed the Earth multiple times through the dimensions and cares nothing about who will or die when he merges the human and dragon world together by force, using only love through perversion and mind rape to make Ange his. However, where Julio stands is particularly that massacre that I mentioned beforehand. Embryo may be using Julio as a pawn for his rebirth masterplan, but Julio's action to commit genocide on the Norma and everyone else without powers was completely his own. Even Embryo kills Julio for not following his rules.

Compared to the other "villains" in Cross Ange, they all have at least one redeeming quality that Julio lacks.
 * Jill, the commander of Arzenal, is a total bitch to her squadron and later the dragons when they team up, not caring at all when any of her minions hit the dust. But she's given a pretty tragic backstory where her formal squadron was killed off by Embryo and Jill herself became mind raped by him. Plus, even if she goes against her intentions, she still wants to win and kill Embryo.
 * Same could be said about Liza, who follows Julio in all of his oppressive ways when it came to ruining Ange's coronation. But she is also against Embryo and wants him dead to save her race, even once attempting to poison Julio.
 * Sylvia, Julio and Ange's younger sister, is manipulated by Julio into hating Ange, thinking she is to blame for the deaths of her parents, and later Julio. But once Liza reveals the truth about Julio killing her parents, she immediately becomes remorseful for her actions and tries to make up with Ange.
 * The dragons themselves, while played as the monsters of the week for the first half of the series, are tragic former humans who were the results of Embryo's former sampling of a previous Earth who only travel to the new Earth to stop Embryo, attacking the Norma in their ships for they see them as a threat.

Verdict
Julio is a coward and pathetic king, but he's also a horrible human being who uses both oppression and cruel tactics to get what he wants. He's far limited than Embryo, who is essentially God, but he still shows himself as an unredeemable menace. I think he's a yes.