RANTS— ANIME'S GREATEST MONOLOGUE: PART 2

For the second part of our series Rants, Animatrix brings you five of the greatest monologues in anime history.

Times where the characters were in their element verbally, straight up spitting fire.

MERUEM’S PARTING SPEECH TO KOMUGI. (HUNTER X HUNTER, EPISODE 135)

"I suppose I must tell you the truth. I... I have been poisoned, and I have little time. Komugi, I wanted to spend my final moments playing against you. But this poison is contagious. If you stay near me too long, you will also... She reversed my reversal?... I see... I... was born for this moment."

This wasn’t just a monologue— it was a full circle moment. Meruem, in all his power and might, and glory, draws the curtain on his very eventful sojourn, one where he rose to become the most powerful being on the planet, not in the classic majestically chaotic way that a king bows out, but with a very heartfelt message to the one person that brightened his otherwise dark life and persona. Quite a way for the Chimera Ant King to die.

GOKU’S DECLARATION. (DRAGON BALL Z, EPISODE 96)

"I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to you!"

Goku was doing what we call aura farming these days. On top of achieving SuperSaiyan status, he made a declaration to a defeated Frieza. He was the one moving the needle now. He was hope personified. He was the torch carrier, and the days of helpless people being helpless were over, because Goku, now more powerful than he had ever been, was their voice.

ROY MUSTANG’S CONFESSION. (FULL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD, EPISODE 43)

"I once executed two people, two doctors. 'There are no sides, just patients.' That's what they said as they treated our fallen enemies in Ishval. But the people they were healing would just rise up again to fight us. The military asked them to stop, but they wouldn't. And their makeshift hospital was becoming a den for insurgents. I got my orders in the morning, and I shot them that night. Afterwards I tried to kill myself, but I was too much of a coward. So I took an oath instead: to never follow unreasonable commands again, to reach a position where I wouldn't have to follow them. And I've stayed true to that. I'm not chasing you because I was commanded to. I'm doing it because I'm pissed. Now, why the hell did you two run away without asking for my help first?!"

Roy Mustang shared a moment of vulnerability with the Elric brothers, telling them that he wasn’t always the level headed man they knew him for. He had his moment, and he had regrets that he still carries with him, but he made a decision; to start doing things differently for a positive change, and that was all the belief he needed to break the wheel and carve a legacy for himself.

“I HAVE NO ENEMIES” (VINLAND SAGA, SEASON 2)

"Why ask such a ridiculous question? Beating a man into submission is no way to start a peace negotiation. Today is the first I've met any of you. We know nothing about one another. I have no quarrels with anyone here, and I'm not who you came to fight. So what reason could we have to hit each other? It's absurd. We're only here because of a dispute between Canute and Ketil. The two of them could settle it with a game of hnefatafl and it would mean as much as this war. But they both raised armies instead and sent them out here to spill each other's blood. We just met and we've hardly even spoken. I don't have one enemy among these men. I have no enemies at all."

This rant served as a full circle moment for Thorfinn. After years of being a bloodthirsty assassin, here he was, negotiating for peace. Being a better man, like his father always wanted him to be and containing the discussion to avoid escalation. This monologue has gone on to become one of the greatest in cinema history, I dare say, not because of the mastery of words or the conviction of the delivery, but because of the precision of the message.

EMPEROR LELOUCH’S DECLARATION. (CODE GEASS, EPISODE 25)

"Attention, entire world! Hear my proclamation! I am Lelouch vi Britannia, emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire and your only ruler. Schneizel has surrendered to me. As a result of this, I am now in control of both the Damocles and the F.L.E.I.J.A. weapons, and even the Black Knights no longer possess the strength to oppose me now. If anyone dares to resist my supreme authority, they shall know the devastating powers of the F.L.E.I.J.As! Those who could challenge my military rule no longer exist. Yes, from this day, from this moment forward, the world belongs to me! Lelouch vi Britannia commands you: Obey me, subjects! Obey me, world!"

Many people are of the opinion that the vocal performances of villains are meant to be the best of any given show or film; that notion is justifiable, and Lelouch’s rant is one of the proofs to that effect.

And he does it in the most brazen style you could ever imagine. He got what he always wanted; control. Absolute, unrivalled control and having got it, there was nothing else left but to demand that the world acknowledge him for the god he had just become.

If that isn’t absolute cinema, then hardly anything can be.

These five vocal renditions prove that pictures might tell a story of a thousand words, but it will never have the effect of the spoken word.

Nothing brings a viewer to the edge of their seat more than a properly fashioned, spine tingling masterpiece of words.