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So Who Is This Guy?
He is the first ranking enemy minion introduced in Nurse Angel Ririka, a general of sorts who answers directly to Buros, the head nasty-bad of the Dark Joker orgainization. Dewey is basically human in appearance and mindset, but comes equipped with an array of superhuman and supernatural powers. He is of indeterminate origin, though he may have been a Queen Earth warrior turned to the service of Dark Joker. Dewey's current job is to deal with people who get in the way of Dark Joker's plans, (i.e. Kanon, Nurse Angel, or Seiya,) cause suffering among the general populace, and kill any and all living things in his path. His plans to those ends tend to be in some way kawaii or captiviating. When he first appeared in episode #2 with a bouquet of roses in hand, I said to myself, 'this kid is cool,' and he quickly became my favorite character. I've gotten the most enjoyment from this series out of watching Dewey in his every action. Dewey's seiyuu is the talented Fuchizaki Yuriko, read up on her at Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Database. |
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Why Dewey?
His superb kawaii-ness! Ririka isn't the only angel in this show; Dewey's halo of soft silver hair seems to glow with it's own light dispite the darkness he frequently appears in. He is a
bishounen in the truest sense of the term, and bares a striking resemblance to Fushigi Yuugi's Nuriko with his long braid perpetually flipped over his sholder.
(Compare for yourself!)
His overall niftiness! He commands a wide and ever-changing variety of powers (this is Ririka after all,) and uses them with a lot of skill and even more panache. Superhuman strength and agility, energy projectiles, and a nifty glowing sword comprise his main abilities, and he also has talents for dramatic entrances, memorable quotes, and cool poses. Though he can be over-eager at times, he's held his own against every other sword wielding warrior in the show, and few characters can match his power. It takes a fluke or an order from a superior to rescue his opponents.
His Characterization. When you get right down to it, Dewey is so interesting because he is always changing - and he is easily the most dynamic character in the show. He is a drastically, but believably, changed character by the time the show concludes.
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The Ever-Changing Villain(?)
Dewey has three major behaior-altering changes in the course of the show. The first is in the vecenity of episodes 12 and 13: a shift from standard magical girl minion to a more classical anime villain. All of a sudden Dewey stops calling up Monsters-of-the-Day, starts doing his own work, and develops a rather chivalrous interest in playing fair. No more playing chess with no opponent while waiting for his turn, in fact, no waiting at all. This is the birth of some of Dewey's best attributes, but his playful side lessens as he starts to take some things seriously. What does he take seriously? His job, and his life. It's surely no coincidence that this is the same timeframe in which the show moves from formulaic Magical Girl country into a pretty undefined, previously unexplored territory for the genre. Dewey was required to conform, but I prefer to think the show was conforming to Dewey. ^_^ |
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The second change occurs at an unspecified point between episodes 19 and 22, and unlike the previous one it is completely supported by the plot events, rather than the whim of the creative staff. Having been abandoned by Dark Joker and healed of the influence of the Black Vaccine, Dewey develops a feeling of indebtedness to Nurse Angel for saving him. Of all the characters who were under the influence of the Black Vaccine, Dewey showed the fewest signs of it. Why? I dunno, because he's so cool?? Anyway, Dewey's growing ability to take things seriously expands to the people around him. At this point, Dewey is up in the air about his identity - he's not bad, but he's not willing to be good. But not being given to prolonged angst (or perhaps not capable of it yet,) Dewey decides to act - by repaying Nurse Angel for the favor she rendered him at the risk of his life.
The third change followed shortly thereafter, in episode 24. Now Dewey is not simply an outcast from Dark Joker, but a fugitive whom Buros is determined to kill. However Nurse Angel and Seiya come to his aid again, practically smother him in hospitality, and refuse to let Dewey fight futile, solitary battles in order to keep them out of his troubles. Dewey is in over his head this time, and he can barely admit that he needs their help and support. Nonetheless, he accepts it, and realizes that he cares about Earth and Nurse Angel. Thus, Dewey officially joins the good guy team, and starts learning what it means to be human. And a slow and amusing process it is. ^_-
Evil Dewey is Twisted
All of Dark Joker is hypocritical, using life to achieve death. They
have to sponge off the Flower of Life to make their power source. But
Dewey being evil is particularly disturbing and plain wrong. What other Dark Joker minions use plants and animals in their plots? In fact, when things really start to go wrong for Dewey, it's when he stops using flora and fauna and relies on someone else's power. Who fights fair and doesn't exploit weakness on several occasions? It's unnatural behavior to help your enemy and kill a forest simultaneously (Eps 18). Dewey likes the good things in life, and life in general, games, clothes (though his fashion sense is rather odd,) food; having fun. He has no personal motives for fighting with Dark Joker. He has a real talent for helping people (even though he isn't much of a "people person"). It doesn't seem that the Green Vaccine did much to him other than fix that unnatural evil in his character, because he was essentially good to start with.
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The Indefinite Advantage
Would Ririka and Seiya have made it alone? No way. Even as an opponent, Dewey was helping them out by giving them a chance, unlike the rest of Dark Joker, which takes pride in underhanded tactics. Forget Mimina, Dewey is Kanon's replacement. While Kanon was the leading authority on Nurse Angel and Queen Earth, Dewey is the leading authority on Dark Joker. He knows how and when operations should be executed and what to expect. And by the point in the story that he comes in, that's more useful than Kanon's field of expertise. His more objective influence helps Ririka through touchy situations. His Black Vaccine auto-sense is most helpful, and he can deal with almost anything Dark Joker throws out. |
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The Arch-Fear
The only character Dewey fought that he couldn't match at one time or
another was Buros. I can forgive him that, after all Buros is the
designated nemesis of Nurse Angel. Dewey knows very well he's weaker
than Buros, but he's quite capable of outsmarting him; Dewey doesn't
give himself much chance of proving this because he's very afraid of
Buros. He knows first hand how ruthless and deadly he can be. Fear is
Dewey's motivation under Buros's direction and his stumbling block
once he has been kicked out of Dark Joker. Even though though Buros
wants Dewey dead, Dewey continues to call him Buros-sama. Totally uncharacteristic fear in a critical situation marked his confrontation with Buros while trying to get some Vaccine for Nurse Angel. (Thankfully he wasn't so petrified that he couldn't pull off a brilliant upset victory. ^_-) Although he comes into direct combat with Buros in his various forms several times after this point, it's still about three episodes before Dewey renounces all connections with his former master. Why does Buros have such a hold over him? Well, Buros was always rather... close with his bishounen minions. There are is no background concerning this, but plenty of suggestions; "Itoushii Dewey," Buros's continuous intrest in Dewey, and
the incedent where Buros caresses Dewey's face in eps. #17. Buros practically owned Dewey while he was in Dark Joker, so the quite villainous "mine in death" concept comes into play here easily.
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The Lone Wolf in Love
"I want to see your smiling face."
It's no secret; Dewey loves Ririka. That's nothing too unusual, (after
all, Ririka is the heroine of a magical girl) but
how it came about, as well as the results, are a different matter.
Before the Episode 12-13 switch, he was a minion, and thus not given
to personal opinion about anyone other than his colleagues (since he
usually sits on the sidelines and has some minion fight Nurse Angel,)
other than the "Curses! Foiled again!" sort. But as a villain, he MET
Nurse Angel, was impressed by Seiya, and earnestly battled Kanon. Not
long after came the complements, the adorable scene where Dewey
catches Ririka before she falls in the mud, and the mental images of
the guardian Nurse Angel comforting his pain. He'd die for her if he
had to, and risks his life for her on a regular basis. It wasn't just
the Green Vaccine that changed him, to paraphrase his own words. Ah,
'tis love that makes the world go round! |
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The Bad Guy on the Street Corner
Dewey has filled THE top human characteristic, but the others are his
greatest weakness. He controls the pace on the battlefield, but
subordinates himself to more commanding personalities in casual
meetings; when Grandma Kurumi tells him to do something, he does it.
His semi-human life is nomadic at best, and we never find out
where he spends his nights or how he supports himself, (not that he
should worry about that when he has a 100 ft vertical leap, the ability
to suspend himself in midair, and he can walk through walls) and for
appearing to be in 12-13 age range, he doesn't enroll in school.
He puts up an indifferent facade to the people who know him; a primo
example is when Seiya asks if he could give up his life to save Ririka,
and Dewey snaps at him, when HE had been trying to save Ririka moments
before. He tries to look like he's always on guard; you never see
him window shopping when Seiya and Ririka are around. He can barely
stand to break his facade to pay Ririka a complement, though he means
well. Most people would simply be jerks with these sorts of flaws, but
Dewey's a regular "Storybook prince" (Misa-chan), IOW a sucker for someone who's in trouble with looks that draw stares. So the kakkoii oniichan gets mobbed by adoring fangirls when he can't even reason with the likes of Mimina. ^_^ Poor Dewey.
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