Summary
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One of the more interesting dynamics emphasized in the anime adaptation ofThe Beginning After The Endis the contrast in how Arthur experiences family in his two different lives. We see how, from a young age,, King Grey was isolated and never understood the love and connection that having a family brought him.
Because of Arthur’s unique upbringing as an adult man who is conscious and aware while he turns from an infant into a child, we see him realize the power of familial love in a way that a child wouldn’t be able to verbalize. In this way,The Beginning After The Endis set upto deeply explore the meaning behind familial love that is hard to put into words and that some of us take for granted.
The Contrast Between Arthur and Grey
Learning What Family Means
With the anime’s additional scenes at the beginning,we are given a much different opening impression of Grey in this adaptation. He is portrayed as much more ruthless and cold. We see small scenes of Grey growing up as an isolated kid who had to dive into training his combat skills to have agency over his own life. In the OP, Grey and Arthur are seen performing similar actions, but they have different contexts because of Arthur’s support network after his reincarnation.
“To think, after my countless victories, I would be reduced to a helpless infant.” -Grey as Arthur.
This enhanced perspective of Grey’s lifemakes for the perfect contrast with his reincarnation life. As Arthur, Grey is now handed unconditional love and affection despite being unable to control his infant body or be of any valuable use with his combat skills. He doesn’t need to prove himself, and he experiences firsthand how nice it feels despite also feeling the helplessness of his new body.
At first, he finds this concept of familial love strange. The first episode’s arc is about how Grey comes to accept his role as Arthur and better understand the behavior of his family. He grows to accept their affection more and more, eventually breaking down and crying, now fully as Arthur, when he hugs his parents in the aftermath of the awakening of his mana core.
“Why are they crying? They fulfilled their duty. They should be proud.” Arthur, after being saved by his parents from falling rubble.
Arthur’s Sacrifice
The Culmination of What He Has Learned
After Arthur was shown and understoodthe pull and power of his familial bonds in episode 1, this idea further paid off in the climax of the next episode. Hearing the revelation that his mother is pregnant with a second child, Arthur becomes determined to protect her as they flee an overwhelming bandit onslaught. This contrasts with a scene earlier in the episode where King Grey had executed a mother and child in front of their father for opposing his rule and trying to harm him. With his new familial bonds, Arthur understands the love and devotion he couldn’t understand in his previous life when the man begged for his wife and child to be spared.
“After taking so much, I’m on the run to avoid losing something. Perhaps this is karma.” -King Grey
As they run,a wind mage fires an attack at Arthurand his mom. At that moment, he chooses to sacrifice himself so that they can live by pushing her out of the way of the blast. As he is knocked off the cliff, we hear for the first time the blending of King Grey’s internal voice with his new voice as Arthur, wishing he could have become a big brother to his unborn sibling in both voices.
“It feels so strange. I’ve gained nothing, but my heart feels fulfilled. I think I finally understand…What that man was asking of me. And why the two of them cried.” -Arthur as he falls from the cliff.
Through Arthur’s eyes inThe Beginning After The End, we see that familial love is built on self-sacrifice, which contrasts with intense sadness when that sacrifice separates loved ones. The bonds of family transcend contradictions and even different worlds to give strength to those who experience both joy and sadness together.
