While I could have continued to talk about Klaus and Kureha in my Episode 09 post, I figured I could do better by devoting a post to them alone. Kureha holds Klaus up as an idol, and very clearly has a crush on him. On the other hand, Klaus is nowhere near the man she thinks he is. The episode delivers a contrast of the idealized hero with the realistic hero.
The man. The myth. The legend.
First, we have Kureha’s idol. Right off the bat, she calls him the Desert Wolf, as well as Miracle Klaus. This guy is so amazing that he has two nicknames! He tattooed his platoon insignia on his chest, so you know this person is loyal to his comrades and takes his duties seriously. We also have Kureha’s testimony from episode 05. There, she says the Major once crossed a desert in a tank with no supplies. It took him three days and at the end of the journey, he took down an entire enemy fortress! Klaus is a man’s man and fits the ideal heroic image almost to a T. Clearly, he would be right at home in an action flick or an old war movie.
And he once killed a lion with his bare hands!
Klaus the Courier does not even come close to this image. He’s shy and bad with words, so he can never find a way to tell Kureha he’s not the person she really idolizes. He has more than a problem with speaking. He also fears dangerous situations. He’s so scared of sidling back up the rock wall that he sends Kureha ahead of him. For those of you keeping track, she is not only a girl, she is also one-third his age! When the rock slide strands the pair during the typhoon, he has no great plan to escape and consigns himself to their fate. He does a good job of mustering some false bravado to cheer her up, but you can tell he doesn’t truly feel that way.
I'll stay and pray the rain stops in the next 10 seconds.
When the trumpet blares with a message of hope, though, he pulls himself together and vows to protect Kureha. When the anchor fires he springs into action to secure it, but the unthinkable occurs. The ledge starts to break apart, with Kureha stuck on the wrong side. Would he let his fear get the better of him and leave her to die? No, he puts himself into danger, reaching out to save her. Yet he still can’t quite reach, and his half of the ledge drops into the torrent as well. Somehow, he manages to pull her out of the water, and just before she collapses, Kureha tells him that he’s still the man she admires most. The old wimp of a courier has become a hero.
That Klaus is the coolest guy I know!
Why don’t we hear more about this type of hero? When we watch an anime, read a book, or view any other medium, we look for a specific type of person. We want to see the man or woman who can give a stirring speech, rallying the forces of good in their darkest hour. We want to see a person who puts their life on the line and ultimately prevails. We want Kamina! We want Saber! We want this ideal hero, in the process glossing over the details. In short, reality is unrealistic. Take some time to notice the details. Kamina maintains a constant sense of bravado so Simon can believe in him. In reality, Kamina fears death, and he actually looks up to Simon ever since the kid saved his life. Saber has her greatness thrust upon her when Britain needs a ruler. Throughout her reign she dealt with feelings of inferiority, and even while dying reflected only on her failures and wished for a different life.
Even heroes feel weakness.
The idealized hero has no place in reality. There isn’t a single person out there that wakes up in the morning, decides they’re going to save the world, and then does it. That person exists in only one realm: fiction. A true hero is a person just like you and I. They live. They fear. They bleed. They die. What perhaps makes them different is that when faced with insurmountable odds they can swallow their fear and ignore the pain to protect those precious to them. Even if only for a second, one person can make a world of difference. Klaus closes with these words:
Listen up young lady. What someone watching sees and what the person front and center feels are completely different things. The glasses we call admiration are always out of focus.
The experience doesn’t magically transform him. He’s still a coward. With those words, though, you have to reflect upon the legendary Desert Klaus. Was he really this great hero like the history books read? Alternatively, was he just a normal kid that repeatedly found himself in impossible situations? Perhaps he crossed that desert without any supplies, not out of a sense of duty, but because he had no other choice. We probably will never know. What I do know is that Klaus the Courier is a true hero.
And really, everyone needs a hero.
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