Due to the nature of this discussion series, series-wide spoilers will be casually mixed in to the conversation. Rather than having spoiler tags everywhere, I feel it’s more appropriate to have a sort of “umbrella” spoiler warning here.
Jean (Japanese ジーン Jīn)
First appearance: Chapter 41 - The Witch’s Maw, Part 1/ Episode 15 - The Witch’s Maw I
Nickname - Never specifically addressed by one. Maybe “Drill Sword Jean” or “Jean of the Drill Sword.”
Type - Offensive
Defining features/characteristics - Creator of the Giga Drill Breaker Drill Sword technique. She possesses extreme willpower, and her loyalty is comparable to none. Half-awakened.
Status - Dead (she sacrifices her life to prevent Clare from fully awakening)
Rank:
Jean was ranked #9 of Clare’s generation. Her single-digit ranking allowed her to lead Awakened Being hunts, and she was later chosen as a squad captain during the Northern Campaign.
Appearance & Personality:
Jean's features work together to give her a staunch and somewhat masculine appearance. About chin-length hair that is slicked back, with long bangs across her forehead. She doesn’t have eyebrows, and her eyes appear to be set a bit deeper than average. She can look downright scary at times. I mean, look at this stare.
If I had the chance to nickname Jean, I’d call her “The Unbreakable.” Not for physical strength, not for leadership, not for defense...but for her damn stubbornness mental fortitude. Once she sets her mind to something, she’ll follow through with it until it literally kills her. No one has the power to convince her away from anything she’s decided on. Brutal torture from Riful and Dauf? Her spirit won’t budge. Clare saves her life? Jean now follows Clare around until an opportunity to sacrifice her own life for Clare’s sake arises. With a gaping hole in her stomach, Jean holds on long enough to synchronize with Clare one final time before finally dying. She’s earned her #9 spot through strict discipline, loyalty, and strength of spirit.
Also, she hates fun.
Fighting Style:
While she created the Drill Sword technique, Jean’s offensive capabilities are nothing special for a single digit. Her general combat skills are enough to slay awakened beings, but her technique requires time and intense concentration to prepare, rendering it pretty much useless in 1-on-1 combat. But it looks damn cool.. So her teammates have to protect her while she’s readying, which is kind of ironic given her personality. Normally, she’d readily sacrifice herself to protect her comrades, but here she requires them to fight a man down while she’s getting ready. However, a successful attack is pretty much guaranteed to kill its target. In essence, she's a glass cannon.
Awakening:
Riful attempts to recruit Jean and her teammates to her cause by forcing them to abandon their humanity and awaken. Jean withstands Riful’s torture longer than anyone else, until her mental exhaustion is at its limits. For a warrior with a stern appearance and strict personality, her awakened form is almost breath-taking. A large, bright butterfly form with web-like appendages spreading out in every direction, complete with large antennae. Or perhaps she’s a gross moth. Do moths have antennae? I have mottephobia. I fucking hate moths. Ugh, she’s probably supposed to be a moth. Who’s going to be a scared by a giant, graceful butterfly? I guess if her wings were made out of blades or something…
In any case, with the help of Clare she is able to revert back, becoming “half-awakened.”
Northern Campaign:
Upon their arrival to Pieta, she almost starts a fight with Helen when the latter playfully attacks Clare. Her strict nature leaves no room for Helen’s silly antics! Miria selects Jean as a division captain to lead a squad during the assault on Pieta. During the first battle, her squad quickly falls to the blind insect guy, and only pulls ahead with backup from Veronica’s team. She modifies her drill sword to act like a propellor to take out the insect’s legs to incapacitate him. Later, she’s critically wounded by Rigardo when he enters the fray, and is the only squad leader (except Miria) to not die immediately from his attack.
And now her watch is ended
In the manga, Clare pleads Helen to kill her, but Jean steps in the middle to prevent that. She takes the full force of Clare’s many blades, but uses that as an opportunity to get into position the synchronize their energies, an exact reversal of when they first met. it takes every bit of Jean’s remaining life to do this, but she dies happy knowing she’s saved Clare.
In the anime, Jean struggles to move during the entirety of the fight, but she’s desperate to help Clare. Her moment comes when Raki appears and loses all hope of following through on his promise to Clare. She gives him a pep talk, and together they (slowly) make their way to the volcano where the battle between Clare and Priscilla is raging. When Clare’s uncontrollable blades are about to slice Raki, Jean steps in front (whether or not this was a good move is debateable) and performs energy synchronization with Clare, finally fulfilling her debt.
Other notable attributes:
Jean is to mental toughness as Undine is to physical. She witnesses her comrades getting tortured by Riful into forced awakenings, where they’re quickly killed, then is forced to awaken herself after she physically cannot constrain herself any longer. However, she keeps her human conscious intact long enough for Clare to find her and synchronize their energies to pull her back. Even Clare remarks on this - “Even though her whole body has already awakened, her mind remains! What incredible concentration!!” Then, after all of that she has the strength to participate in the fight against Riful and Dauf! Screw Alicia and Beth, Jean could probably keep three awakened warriors under control with her left hand!
Bonus:
Jean’s symbol is inconsistent in the anime. Sometimes, she has Galatea’s symbol!
The original Kanji of her attack is 旋空剣. I’ve only got about a year of Japanese under my belt, but I couldn’t find a direct translation from “旋空剣” to “Drill Sword,” so I made my own connections! “空” is the Kanji for “emptiness” or “sky” and “剣” is the Kanji for “sword”. So putting these together and adding a dash of Gurren Lagann influence, it’s clear that her (drill) sword is the (drill) sword that will pierce the heavens, or...skies!
Discussion points - These are only guiding questions I quickly thought up. Please comment about whatever you want!
What do you think of the drill sword technique?
Was Jean memorable for who she was, or just her sacrifice?
Are there any characters that might be considered "spiritual successors" to Jean?
“I told you before. My life is yours. I’ll follow any order you give, no matter how impossible.”
Source by DekuNut
Mens Hair Styles 2015
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