The Lovably Deplorable - Contradictions are Entertaining

There's something about contradictions in a single character that make those characters appealing and entertaining. This tension of repulsion and endearment is utilized to great success in such mainstream rappers as 2pac, Kanye West, and Eminem. But there's a certain version of the lovably deplorable character that is found in amazing extremes and with masterful execution in anime.

The best example I can think of to illustrate this is everyone's favorite 300 year old uninhibited ephebophile Happosai in Ranma 1/2. He proudly runs around stealing undergarments from high school girls and frequently cops a feel here and there as well. In fact, Happosai is a great master of martial arts but is rendered harmless if he goes too long without creeping out a young lady. For those who haven't seen Ranma 1/2 the description might leave you puzzled as to how he could be lovable or entertaining, but he is in a very powerful way.

Happosai enjoying his latest bounty of women's undergarments.

This archetype of lovably deplorable might be most masterfully executed by Rumiko Takahashi in Ranma 1/2 but I argue that it's this archetype that Miyazaki was probably working off of when he created Dyce from Future Boy Conan and Dola for Castly in the Sky. There's certainly the element of festival at play in both of these characters. Dyce's confused moral compass at one point leads him to attempt to burn our hero Conan alive while he sleeps, but if his lovable deplorability doesn't allow us to excuse his actions in real-time we've certainly forgiven him by the final episode when we cheerfully celebrate his marriage to Monsley.

Dola too seems to have qualities we ought to find unforgivable or revolting. She values self enrichment over the safety of Pazu and Sheeta early in the film. Rationally and logically, just the fact that she's a pirate should disqualify her from the lovable status she has in our hearts by the end of the film. But it's this contradiction that makes her all the more entertaining and endearing.

Perhaps her character design itself highlights contradiction and absurdity. Her pink braids are awkward and jut out of her hair visibly portraying the absurdity of her femininity. This is juxtaposed with Sheeta's braids which are very cute and feminine in a more proper sense. Dola also has morbidly huge breasts which again portray her femininity as a lovable absurdity or contradiction. At the end of the film when she grabs Sheeta and hugs her, the audience might wince as Sheeta is suffocated between her mammoth mammaries. But our wince is not without a sense humor and acceptance... what may be uncomfortable and awkward about that hug only highlights what we've come to love about Dola. The objectionable is a yin to the yang of enjoyment.

These sorts of characters are great fun and ridiculously entertaining..  and there's certainly a delicate comedic genius required to perfect them and pull them off. Miyazaki may not give us the most classic examples but he's definitely competent. This and many other fun/adventurous elements make Castle in the Sky a nice followup to the much more heavy and challenging Nausicaa. Miyazaki doesn't abandon his didacticism at all in Castle in the Sky but he allows us to not care and just have fun if we want.