Title: Echoes Fading Into Darkness
Author: Ria
Spoilers: All the manga and anime; heavy spoilers
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Personal Website: https://notquiteroyal.net/quillstrokes

Notes: The Pretear anime and manga have completely different storylines with major differences. Thusly, I've tried to make it as easy as possible for readers by explaining whether many of the major storylines occur in either the anime or manga.

Echoes Fading Into Darkness
An Essay On Sasame, Leafe Knight of Sound

The Leafe Knight of Sound, Sasame, is, at first glance, probably the most perfect kind of anime character: kind, gentle, charming and sincere, with an ideal job and amazing manners. Needless to say, Sasame is incredibly popular and immediately noticed by girls everywhere he goes. Plus, who else can look gorgeous in reading glasses? But the perfect-looking guy is far from perfect, hiding secret feelings that will eventually transform him and then lives of those closest to him, beyond comparison.

 

Beginning Note :: so what�s it all about?

Pretear is a shoujo anime/manga (full name Shin Shirayuki Hime Densetsu Pretear � New Legend of Snow White Pretear) with the central character of the Pretear, a girl with the ability to merge (or pret) with her seven Leafe Knights to keep the environment, animals and people balanced and healthy. The current Pretear is Awayuki Himeno, a sixteen year old freshman having a difficult time adjusting to her father�s remarriage to an extremely wealthy widow. The Pretear is called when the Princess of Disaster (Saihi) appears with her red snow and demon larvae that suck all of the Leafe (life energy) out of plants, animals, air, water and even people. The Pretear is the Princess of Disaster�s main adversary, with the ability to turn the snow white again and restore balance. To aid the Pretear are her seven Leafe Knights of Wind, Sound, Light, Water, Fire, Ice and Plants.

�So, let�s fight the Princess of Disaster together, huh? What do you say?� - Sasame to Himeno, Volume 1

 

Crystal Chime :: introducing Sasame

Sasame is the Knight of Sound, with the job of detecting disturbances in Leafe fluctuations that usually coincide with the arrival of new demon larvae (aided by the pretty clip device on his ear). He can hear sounds from miles away and use them to track people (as he did to find where Himeno lived in the manga), as well as fling vibrations through the air and ground that can devastate an enemy. He can manipulate and control any type of sound and when Himeno prets with him, she is given the same ability. When Himeno first merged with Sasame to practise in the manga, she picked up the skills associated with sound very quickly (unlike her previous attempt with Hayate).

�But Sasame, why was it so different with you� Than it was with Hayate?�
�Well, I guess you could say it�s like a ballet duet. If both partners have proper technique and their timing is right, the man can lift his partner easily. But, if they lose their balance��
�Oh no.�
�Hayate doesn�t really �lift�. He uses brute strength and takes the entire burden on himself. But Sasame is good at leading.�
�Hayate just doesn�t know how to treat a lady!� - Himeno, Kei and Sasame discussing Hayate�s shortcomings as a teacher, Volume 1

In the anime, she destroys the lake on the family grounds and blows her stepsister, Mayune, away in a rather humorous moment.

Though Sasame has the appearance of a seventeen/eighteen year old, he is actually in his early thirties, which is eventually explained in both the anime and manga. During the day, when he�s not doing his knight duties, Sasame works as a radio personality with his own show �Word�s Gate�. In this, he receives postcards from countless listeners all telling him their problems or secret desires, to which he replies by singing advice to them (the other knights call him a �pro�.)! Mawata, Himeno�s other stepsister, is one of Sasame�s biggest fans, having taped nearly all of his shows.

Sasame is one of the more mature Leafe Knights and is usually very serious and soft-spoken, smiling gently every so often. He takes his duty as a knight very seriously, along with all the responsibility attached, and doesn�t immediately dismiss Himeno�s abilities like Hayate does, instead agreeing to help her when she asks to practise.

�We just followed the sound. The growing plants� the crawling insects� the singing birds. Everything that has Leafe will answer our questions. Can�t you hear their faint whisperings?� - Sasame on how they found Himeno, Volume 1

 

Cracks in the Crescendo :: Sasame�s strengths and weaknesses

Sasame�s strengths are many: he can be cool, calm and collected under pressure. He has extreme determination and dedication in what he does, as well as extreme loyalty towards those he considers important to him. He�s good at his job and is very popular as a result, though no one knows who he is or what he looks like. Yayoi, Himeno�s best friend, is shocked when she finds out how young and handsome Sasame is! He takes his responsibilities as a Leafe Knight very seriously. His powers and ability match up to those of Hayate, Knight and Wind and leader of the knights.

But Sasame has a weakness� a rather large weakness.

Takako.

Sixteen years ago, Saihi rose up again and a Pretear was called � Takako. While she had extraordinary abilities as the Pretear, Takako had to constantly deal with the battle inside her and the conflicting emotions she felt at having to fight. It turned out to be Hayate who reached out to her and helped her, though he saw her as a friend, while she gradually fell for him. In the anime, Sasame held feelings for Takako, though he never voiced them when he saw how she felt for Hayate, because Hayate was his closest friend and he didn�t want to make Takako upset. Even when Hayate tried to explain to Takako that he didn�t love her the way she wanted him to and she offered herself up to darkness and became Saihi, Sasame fought her because it was his duty. He fought her and helped seal her away, even though he loved her. And he told no one how he felt, allowing his feelings to fester.

�Hayate, I understand why you can�t forget what happened back then� but even if you were the cause, you shouldn�t feel responsible for� that day sixteen years ago, when the Pretear became the Princess of Disaster�� - Sasame to Hayate, Volume 1

When Takako, as the Princess of Disaster, begins her campaign against Himeno and the knights, Sasame constantly attempts to convince her to repent and give up her ways of darkness. He desperately tries to explain to her not to try and destroy the world just because she can�t accept or forgive what Hayate said to her. But she refuses to listen and eventually he realises that there is no way to return Saihi back to Takako again. And since he can�t ignore his feelings for her any longer, he�s left with only one choice �

To join her as her Knight of Darkness.

�No matter how much you hurt other people, it won�t heal the wound in your heart.� - Sasame to Saihi, Episode 7

 

From Note to Note :: Sasame and other people

Apart from Takako, Sasame has other very important relationships with other characters. He is Hayate�s closest friend and knows him very well � he�s also able to control Hayate when he�s in a temper, preventing him from shooting his mouth off� much. He�s also pleasant and charming to Himeno. At the beginning of the anime series, Himeno seems to have a crush on him, but it quickly subsides, particularly when we are given the complexity of Sasame�s feelings towards Takako. But in the manga, in which Sasame has no feelings whatsoever for Takako, there is a definite hint of interest from both Himeno and Sasame to the other, but throughout, Sasame seems to be held as the epitome of a perfect man, not exactly someone you could actually date.

Mawata, on the other hand, is infatuated with Sasame, even when she only knows him as a voice on the radio. She has spilled her deepest, darkest secrets to him on postcards and takes it very badly when she realises that Sasame is friends with Himeno (not realising why or how, of course) and mistaking it to be much more. She finds it difficult to realise that Sasame holds no feelings for her, and is easily fooled when Sasame takes an interest in her, under Saihi�s orders. Sasame ruthlessly plays with Mawata�s feelings for her and ultimately treats her with extreme harshness, accumulating when Mawata sees him embrace Saihi and realises that Sasame will never care for her the way she wants him to. Afterwards, when he realises what he is done, Sasame is deeply ashamed for the way he has treated her.

 

Growing in Pitch :: Sasame�s motives and growth

In both the anime and manga, Sasame�s primary motive is his duty and responsibility as the Knight of Sound. It is for this he works constantly and helps to seek out a Pretear. This is why he never allows Himeno to give up, encouraging her and helping her when she asks for it.

But in the later episodes of the anime, Sasame�s motive is most definitely Takako. It is because of her that he gives up his role as a Leafe Knight and joins her as a Knight of Darkness, even though love between Saihi and a knight is strictly forbidden. He gives up his duty as a knight and gives up his friends for her, allowing her to drain all of the Leafe out of Leafeania to grant him powers of darkness, effectively killing everything. Many people condemn him for this, but I can�t help but admire him for it. He loved Takako so much that he risked everything for her � he basically switched his dedication from being a knight over to her. He knew that Takako was only using him (mainly to help Mawata severe her last ties to the mortal world so Takako could use her as a shield) and he knew that Takako couldn�t be redeemed, but he still stayed by her.

�If I�m going to deceive myself, I�d rather play the fool.� - Sasame, Episode 11

Sasame cannot be fully alleviated from guilt, however � all the actions he does while under Saihi, he does with full knowledge and constant. He abandons his friends. He battles and nearly kills Hayate just because Saihi told him to � he almost attacks Himeno. He carelessly toys with Mawata, knowing her feelings for him. But Sasame knows what he�s done is wrong and he accepts responsibility for it, ending up with him sacrificing himself to save Takako. Sasame has grown from a man who hides his true feelings behind silence and advice to a man who can admit what he feels, what he�s done, and take responsibility for the consequences of his actions. When Himeno brings him back to life in the anime, it�s obvious that Sasame is greatly changed.

 

Ending Notes :: in conclusion

My first impression of Sasame was of a rather perfect anime character � well liked by nearly everyone and with impeccable manners and such. Plus, there was also the reading glasses to consider! But as I went deeper into the anime and manga, I realised Sasame was far more complex than I�d originally thought. He had a deep level of dedication in him that caused him to take his duties as a Leafe Knight incredibly seriously and, later, cause him to stay with Takako despite everything she did, even when it caused him to betray his friends and everything he believed in. I found it incredible that Sasame could be that strong (even when he showed cowardice by what he did while with her, namely manipulating Mawata like he did), and I also found it amazing that he could care about Takako so much that he would give up everything, even his life, for her. How could you not care about him after that?

 

Recommendations

I�ve actually been unable to find any fic with Sasame either in an important role or the main character that I�ve enjoyed, so, please, rec me!

The one site that helped me immensely with this essay is Broken Echo, a fantastic, in-depth character site to Sasame. It helped me put a lot of my ideas into actual words.

 

Also, thank you to Kohakutenshi, who mentioned Pretear and caused me to pick up Volume 1 and the anime, thus leading to the eventual writing of this essay.