#tskukasa shishio character analysis

[simphellscape]

a conversation about tsukasa shishio and his perception of greed

in which i word vomit about why, while i really love tsukasa and his desire for a better world, i think he's setting his sights impossibly high.

so, i'll start this by saying that tsukasa is one of my favorite characters in dr. stone. he might even be one of my favorite anime characters period. he's compelling, he's incredibly smart, and he's got a good heart. i really think that, even though he's slated as the antagonist for the better part of the show thus far, he's just doing the wrong things for the right reasons.

i rewatched the first few episodes of the series with some friends, and after hearing tsukasa's spiel on greed, it sparked an interesting conversation on the concept of greed: how it forms, how it grows, etc. my roommate and i have talked about tsukasa's character a lot, and while we both love him, we disagree on the practicality of his goals.

i am all for the upheaval of modern capitalism because this shit sucks and is not working for anyone except for the elite, but it just won't solve the issue of greed, because greed existed before capitalism ever did. tsukasa's distaste for a capitalist society is amazing and inspiring, but i think his aspirations for the new world are unrealistic.

my roomie has said over and over again that tsukasa hit the nail right on the head about the fact that modern society breeds greed. i agree wholeheartedly, however, i think that both my roommate and tsukasa forget that greed has existed in all phases of society. it is an integral part of the human condition. greed has persevered, and will persevere, for all of time.

i also agree that we most commonly see greed manifest over time in an individual's life. as people grow older, greed tends to fester. but, while greed is a lot of things, it is not discriminatory. everyone, no matter how old they are, is subject to its grasp.

my roommate also made the point that the absence of capitalism in tsukasa's perfect world would subdue greed. again, i agree. but, greed would still be there. while there wouldn't be any greed surrounding a singular currency, like we see in the world today, i think that people would still find things to hoard. wealth comes in many forms, and in the stone world, it comes in the form of food, clothing, land, alliances, weaponry, etc. greediness being broken up into multiple avenues like that might make it a bit easier to control from tsukasa's perspective, but it's still around.

and what happens when the people in his society grow older? tsukasa's disdain for greed is assigned to the adults of the modern world. who's to say that the adults in his world won't become just like them? who's to say that, once tsukasa reaches adulthood, he won't become just like them? unlearning a pattern of behavior such a greed is a long, difficult progress. one thing that we all agreed on in our conversation earlier is that greedy behaviors are definitely generational, at least in part. the people in the stone world will eventually become parents, and then their kids will become parents, and so on. to eliminate greed entirely, it will likely take centuries to completely do so. even then, that's iffy. like i said before, i think greed is integrated into the human disposition. there are entire cultural sects that condemn any expressions of greed, going back centuries. i'm mainly talking about religion here. i'm from the southern united states, so the one that immediately comes to mind here is christianity due to the demographics of my area. the bible explicitly forbids the expression of greed many times over. if one of the most dominant religious groups, with teachings directly concerning the erasure of greed from society that is millenniums old, hasn't done it as of yet... how can tsukasa expect to do it at all, with his actions alone?

in essence, i think that tsukasa is placing boundaries on greed that simply aren't there. young people aren't immune to it. inherently good people aren't immune to it. even tsukasa himself isn't immune to it. greed is powerful. greed is infectious. greed is innate. and, no matter how much he wants to, tsukasa can't stop it from corrupting his ideal society.

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i didn't mean for this to turn into a fucking essay, but here we are ig. i know that this point of view sounds kind of pessimistic, but i don't want to sugarcoat anything. also, don't know if you could tell from this rant, but i studied psychology in college before i dropped out lmao

if you disagree PLEASE TELL ME I WANT TO DISCUSS THIS SO BAD