Like he and Utena, as well as he and Akio,
Mikage shares many aspects of his past form, Nemuro with his present self. Primarilly,
they are both treated as "spare parts" so-to-speak. Nemuro was handled this way
by his students to obtain success in their eternity project, but what they did
now know is that Nemuro could hardly care less about his duties, for it was only
that, a duty. He only worked half way, simply for business reasons and felt overworked,
controlled by his contract. Then, Akio sent Tokiko, the one person who could breathe
life into an emotionless body. It was pretty obvious that Akio actually sent her,
with full knowledge of what she and her brother would do for him; what doors he,
the genius Nemuro, would open for Akio. Akio was then presumably the board of
directors, the "you-know-who" the boys working on the eternity project whispered
of behind Nemuro's back. The one statement that proves his sending of Tokiko was,
after a comment made about how Nemuro worked with her, one boy says, "whatever
you-know-who does is never in vain." Once Tokiko was sent to her duties, Nemuro
continued to be treated as a computer by his coworkers, a selfless machine that
acts purely for its yielder, but he also emotionally involved, using the project
to attempt to restore Tokiko's beloved brother, Mamiya's health and hopefully
for him, develop a relationship with Tokiko herself and become a part of the only
family he has presumably ever known. Mikage is this way as well.
Mikage is supposedly a completely warped version of his past, but the pure human
spirit Nemuro possessed is always there within him. His intense emotional bond
guides him to his (present, but illusory) lover, Mamiya. (Note how only Mamiya's
status and personality has truly changed.) However, Mikage continues to be considered
only as a spare part, a side project, an unnecessary piece of Akio's great plan.
Whether Mikage realizes it or not, he is the same man he has always been, but
used under different circumstances.
The one prominent difference between the two personalities is their understanding
of friendships and relationships in general. The early, "computer-like" Nemuro
knew practically nothing of this behavior until he became fully involved with
Tokiko and Mamiya. Before that, and even somewhat during his escapade as Mikage,
he was hesitant and quite irritable when handling unimportant components like
small talk. An example of this is his small conversation about snow a student
of his had presented him with. He completely verifies the statement's insignificance
and easily avoids the comment, calmly walking away. In a later conversation with
Tokiko, he is even hesitant to make a personal comment to her when describing
the Eternity project. Being logical as he is, the action of dismissing small talk
is understandable. The later Nemuro and Mikage differ from this character, finding
simple conversation less disrupting, more easily engaging, but a degree irritating
nonetheless. The way he acts upon these quiet exchanges is the main dividing point
between the two personalities.
The major turning point in Nemuro's life is when he witnessed Tokiko's tears,
the quiet leaking of emotion toward her brother. When he first arrived at their
home, he was a bit mystified as to why anyone would invite him into their home
for personal reasons. By the end of his visit, as well as his first encounter
with Mamiya, it became clear to Nemuro that he was a changed man. He had finally
found the emotion, what truly makes a man, (or any human, for that matter) inside
of himself.
Tokiko:
"Is there someone important in your life? Or perhaps these people known as geniuses
never fall in love with other people?"
Nemuro:
"So it would seem. That is, until today"
What Akio did at this point destroyed all that Nemuro was toiling for, what
he had lived for. He made absolutely sure to send Tokiko precisely when Nemuro
would be ripe a rapid change from machine to man (namely, Anthropomorphism)
and his plan had succeeded thus far. Nemuro had found a reason to live. After
he had become passionate, when it was time to succeed in his eternity project,
Akio approached Nemuro with his plan, knowing well that he would decline at
first. Then, he arranged it so the love Nemuro had recently found would be demolished,
not only murdering what he had built inside, but allowing him to execute Akio's
insane plan of burning Nemuro Memorial Hall, 100 boys along with it.
Even decades after Nemuro Memorial had been burned to the ground, Akio continued
to mockingly treat Mikage as a pawn, even if the only reason he executed Akio's
plan was to prove himself as crucial to something. Akio even seemed to take
a sort of sick pleasure in knowing he had control. Though events had caused
Nemuro to mutate into Mikage, he was the same man he had been, but regressed
into this form by Ohtori's promenant "string-pulling bastard from the shadows."
Mikage seemed to give mercy to all of those who had reminded him
of his past. Particularly, he must have identified with Kazami Tatsuya. The
way the two characters had both been madly in love, yet unable to attain mutual
romance was reminiscent of what had happened to Nemuro. Mikage was dreadfully
cold when handling Tatsuya, but his memories had not resurfaced to the point
where he could show much emotion. Tatsuya's actions, on the other hand, were
a mirror to Mikage's during his duel. The love he feels so extremely for Tokiko
burst out in a melancholy, yet frustrated, series of screams. During Tatsuya's
"interview," Mikage even showed reluctance for what he had become.
This statement reveals that Tatsuya, frighteningly similar to Nemuro, should
not have been caught into any madness and violence, such as the Mikage Seminar
and Black Rose dueling. Mikage becomes disinclined to be completely similar
to Akio, allowing an innocent into the products of his dark psyche. This is
a strange, yet clever view of the future of the Kurobara arc, or more correctly,
the past of Mikage.
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