MovieChat Forums > Petto shoppu obu horazu (2000) Discussion > D and Leon

D and Leon

posted 18 years ago by xxxrhps666
12 replies | jump to latest

Ok! Here we go. I am so...intrested and confused (for lack of better words) at D and Leon's relationship. Especially how Leon feels toward the Count. I mean one minute it seems like Leon really likes D and is like thinking of persuing something and the next he's trying to arrest him! And D is all like "O i love my dear detective" but what about that chapter...i forget the name..when he gives him the butterfly and practically kills the man!!! All im askin is what do you think. If the series went on do you think they would have hooked up, been friends, or become enemies?

Gotta Juice
Rachael

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] xxxrhps666 18 years ago

OMIGOD!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously!!!!!!!!! Is it released in America yet?!?!?!? THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] tyigra 18 years ago

It's not that the butterfly almost killed him. The butterfly let Leon see things from his old friend's point of view, let him experience how he turned out the way he did, so that Leon could stop feeling responsible for his death. D was very irritated at Leon's wish to have died instead.

D and Leon's relationship is rather complex; I do think they love each other, though not in the "romantical" sense. Here's what I can make of it.

(*Don't read if you haven't read the whole series.*)

Leon is every inch a typical American, and doesn't understand his own attraction to the Count. He rationalizes it to himself that he just wants to put him behind bars, and with this excuse safely keeping him from thinking too much, he doesn't even realize how close he's getting. Popping into the shop whenever he has nothing else to do, even forcing poor D to babysit his little brother, are not things you would do to someone you don't feel reasonably close to.

Count D, on the other hand, is a remnant of a race of people with an affinity for nature and magic. Long ago a human Prince proposed to one of these beings, but was turned down. In return, he had the entire race slaughtered, and only one male escaped. As he dragged himself through the forest, he swore to get revenge on humankind. In the present day, D is carrying out this old vow by selling them his pets and letting human nature take its course. But D is much softer then his father, and despite Leon's obvious and typical human faults, he finds himself growing fond of him. When Leon does something that reminds D of why humans are scum, he grows cold and looks down on him, but when Leon surprises him with some redeeming quality, he's not sure what to do. He addresses him almost like a pet and flirts with him, as if exaggerating his own emotions in order to make them less real. (And to scare Leon off!)

In other words, they both try to avoid the fact that they're fond of each other, Leon by claiming it's his job, and D by claiming it's put on. The only thing that could possibly bring these two together is to strip away the defences of habit and normality and force them to either be honest or be forever apart. Hence the ending of the series. It is my hope that in the sequal series, New Pet Shop of Horrors, there will come a time when they find each other again. But that probably won't happen early on. In fact, it would probably be the finale of the series.

[–] grace_corina 18 years ago

D and Leon are a macabre/TwlightZone/AnimalPlanet version of Romeo and Juliet. Star-crossed lovers (or at the very least deep friends) whose ancestry and beliefs separate them from their love.

I think Leon is awestruck by the Count because he's so different than anyone he's ever seen but D's also one of the few genuinely good people he's met. Being a cop, he's suspicious of everyone's motive and tries to find evil in D but can't.

And D's so used to humans blindingly causing the world so much pain, I think he's intrigued by the fact that Leon is, despite his brashness and American ideology, a good man. He's almost animalistic, which might make it easier for D to love him.

And I do think D loves his dear detective (or at least the pseudo family he had in Chinatown) because *spoilers*

. . .

. . . he was crying when he said farewell to Leon (volume 10).

[–] eggroll_angel 16 years ago

What a remarkable post.

I know it's quite a bit back in forum time, but did you ever finish the series? Were you surprised?

[–] fosthoff 17 years ago

I've only read the manga, so I'm going off of that:

Leon knows (or strongly suspects) Count D's involvement in the deaths of the people from their weird pets. At first, he sees this as murder and tries to arrest the Count. As the series progresses, they become better friends, though they fight a lot. The butterfly, if I recall correctly, actually caused a series of realistic dreams of "what if" sequences to show Leon that even if his friend had reformed and not killed anyone, the future wouldn't necessarily have been better. After the story arc with Monica, Leon thinks that D doesn't really like humans at all and feels angry with him again. By the end of the manga series, Leon realizes that D is so angry with humans because of how hateful they can be and how much they've harmed each other, animals, and the environment. D does seem to care about Chris though, and saves Leon from the fire at the end.

Also, I'm pretty sure D isn't gay (at least not towards people). I'm basing this off of the story arc about the tiger and the Chinese mafia, when D meets with the mafia's previous owner. The owner reminices about how he mistook D for a woman and proposed and there's a picture of D not looking very happy. The only time I've seen D seem to seriously be flirting with someone is when he's got the animals draped around him or something and that's because they're animals who he sees like humans.

[–] EvilNeverDies 17 years ago

*spoilers*

I think D's androgyny may extend to his sexual preferences. He admitted that he doesn't understand love, and although he let Mr. Wong kiss him, he didn't really have much of a choice and was trying to 'aquire' him at the time. D isn't human, so I think the human sense of gay/straight/bi doesn't apply. I don't even think that D understands the concept of sex, let alone love. Maybe that's why he acts so strangely with Leon sometimes...he is very fond of Leon and he doesn't know what to make of it. He doesn't understand love so it would make sense that he wouldn't realise it when (or if) he fell in love with Leon.
I think he really wanted Leon to come with him at the end but he knew that he couldn't. He could have let Leon die in the fire, and Leon was willing to let the count kill him anyway. But he didn't. He even said 'maybe humans will learn to fly one day'. I think that was wishful thinking on his part. Coupled with the knowledge that Leon seemed ashamed of what the humans did to D's ancestors and was willing to let D kill him because he was human. In the end, Leon understood and could see humanity from D's POV.
D always wanted Leon to be more open-minded and in the end, he was. And Leon and Chris obviously had a big impact on D, since he kept the crayon drawing and wanted to keep it with him at all costs.
I do think that Leon's desire to arrest D was covering up for his feelings. At the end, when Agent Howell practically handed him a warrant and handcuffs, Leon didn't seem as happy as he should have. I think he realised that it wasn't what he really wanted, especially when he was talking to Jill. If D was only another criminal to him then why did he wait in his shop for three days? Why didn't he even try to arrest him (ok, his father) when he picked him up?
Leon always visited D, even when he was off duty (even on Christmas Eve!), he left his six-year-old brother with him all the time and he always brought sweets with him when he visited. And when T-chan got shot, he seemed worried (he rushed to the animal hospital!) and told the vet to do what he could...he didn't like T-chan. But he knew how much T-chan meant to Count D (and I guess he was a little fond of the totetsu, no matter how many scars it gave him)...ok, and Chris, but still...

Maybe it wasn't love between them. At least, not love in a romantic sense. They didn't seem to realise how much they meant to each other until they were forced to go their seperate ways. And that's probably why Leon went after D; he couldn't imagine life without him.

But I hear that at the end of the first volume of Shin Pet Shop of Horrors (I think in an extra story), it tells how Leon showed up in Germany looking for D and, because of it, D moved to Japan.
I wonder if Leon will ever catch up with D. Because from Chris's words at the end of volume ten it seems like he never saw Leon again after he left. Could it be that Leon was still looking for D twenty years on? I mean, that's devotion, lol.

Heh, I just thought of the extra chapter, the sex education one. D started telling Leon about the species where the female kills the male after they mate. Jealousy? lol

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[–] fosthoff 17 years ago

Like I said, D seems to feel love only for animals (who he sees as human equivilants). Hence why he let Mr. Wong (totetsu) kiss him.

Also, Chris mentioned that Leon had something to return to D (possibly the picture he left them).

[–] Biteswhenprovoked 17 years ago

Count D hates humans. I think that Leon amuses him

NO ONE HATES ME LIKE MYSELF

[–] fosthoff 17 years ago

While he hates most humans, Leon and Chris (along with a few customers) seem to be the exception. Chris, young and totally innocent, can also see the animals as people and seems to be the only human D is openly attached to. The Count seems touched by his innocence, like when Chris mentioned that the princess and rabbits might still be alive on the moon (D was using the story as a metaphor for how science and exploration "kill" gods and myths of ancient times. Chris, however, interprets it literally and retains an optimistic view). Leon is likewise fairly innocent and decent. While he wants to arrest D, the two stick around together for so long, they begin to appriciate each other (like Mulder and Scully a bit). D seems to appriciate other customers, like Em or Cathrine.