I've read "Phoenix: A Tale of the Future". In fact,I read it, and was totally blown away by it. I loved it. I bought "Dawn", too, and read it, and am hoping the rest of the books get translated. In fact, if I get to go to Anime Expo 2004, and have the money for it... I want to have the person who made my costume this year (Anime Expo 2003 was my first con, and I went as Vash the Stampede)... to make me a costume of the Phoenix. I've drawn up designs for one.
I found Masato being alone so sad. I was thinking that if I were in his situation... I would spend a few hundred years finding inventive ways to commit suicide and hoping something would work
I'd definitely go insane... and am wondering how Masato kept even a fragment of sanity. The part I found espeically sad (mod can spoiler button this if they want to, I don't know how...)
SPOILER:
Was when Masato found that coffin with the person in cryosleep that said "Don't wake me up for 5000 years." He would visit that coffin, and wait, and wait... just waiting for 5000 years to pass so that he could awaken the person and have another human to talk to. And when he does...
All that's left in the chamber is dust!
END SPOILER.
I like immortal characters in fiction. I just do. I love the Phoenix, for instance. I also love Manji of "Blade of the Immortal". (He, like lots of immortal characters, hates his situation, and is in fact, on a mission to kill a thousand evil people so he can finally die). I love the Elves of the Lord of the Rings books. I liked and felt sorry for Longinis in the short-lived TV seires "Roar" (the dude was a villain, so I didn't like his personality,but I liked him because I found him interesting and felt sorry for him), I love Vash the Stampede and he's...
SPOILER
extremely long-lived, if not immortal.
END SPOILER.
As for the the fear thing... my great fear is eternal suffering. I'm not afraid of eternity as long as I go to Heaven. According to what I believe and whom I've accepted... I will be going there. I just have this phobia of loosing my salvation. I'm horribly afraid that when I die... I'll find myself in Hell... in pain and despair forever. I also don't fancy the idea of living in this (living, Earth) plane of reality forever, because the world is full of suffering. I remember seeing a movie on TV one time... "White Dwarf". It was a space-fantasy on FOX. It was a highly intersting movie - saw it years ago. Anyway, on the planet the people were on, there was a prison for intergalactic criminals. The harshest penalty was not execution (which was a rather disturbing prospect - as the condemmed were fed to ... creatures) The harshest penalty was to have an immortality serum, secreted by one of the seintient species of the planet into the mouth. The criminal would then be unable to die, and would be held in the prison - locked away from freedom - forever. Something like that... scares the crudola outta me.
As for Heaven... I think "time" will be diffrent there. I don't think it will be possible for anyone to become bored, for example. I'm rather looking forward to it, as I'm a very time-challenged person. (I find being on time difficult.. I like do to things when I feel like it, in my own time.. which causes a lot of problems for me, I have trouble sleeping and getting up, ect.)