The Final Showdown

Once and for all why Tamahome Is better than Darien Shields Two men. Two shows. One conflict. Well, maybe I should rephrase that; there really isn't a conflict here at all. Tamahome kicks ass, and Darien...doesn't. Those poor misguided souls who actually see a conflict between who is the better of the two really need to sit back and seriously think for four minutes and thirty-two seconds WHO is the better. Nine times out of ten people will choose Cocoa Puffs to Raison Bran and Tamahome over prick-ish Darien. So, now I'm spending the little free time I have to write this paper to help all those Wonderful People out There in the Dark see the Light. Aren't I a kind soul?
What's in a name?
Let's start with the most obvious - the name. You thought I was going to say something else, didn't you? You're all sick. Every last one of you. All right, all you people who think Darien Shields is his real name raise your hand! That many of you? Dear Suzaku! Sorry to disappoint you, his real name is Mamouro (Mam - OR - oo). Mamouro, what the hell kind of name is that? That has got to be one of the stupidest Japanese names I have ever heard. Sounds kind of like mammary glands, doesn't it? Technically, I don't know what to really call his true name. He's got around FIVE of them! Who needs five different names? This loser is lacking in so many places they decided the glorify him with an abundance of names. Sheesh. Let's see if I can name them all, Hmmmmmmm...Darien Shields, one. Mamouro somethingorother, two. Prince Endymion, (REAL imaginative) three. Prince Darien, but I don't think that counts. Uh, nope, don't know any others. Darien. Has a short little ring to it. But what about Shields? With that last name, he'll never get married. And what kind of nicknames does Darien (Mamouro) spawn? None. It's really very boring to tease a guy like that.
Tamahome. Now there's a Japanese name for you. Once again, how many of you crazed citizens of this screwed up country think his name is really Tamahome? Sadly, it's not. But hey, it's still a pretty cool nickname. His real name happens to be Sou Kishuku. A true Oriental name, unlike sissy Mamouro. And good old Tamahome even has a last name. Wow. I want you all to be impressed. Anyway, who could blame the guy not wanting to be called Kishuku? Tamahome's probably his middle name, and a lot of people use their middle names. And Tamahome is the name of the constellation he was named after, so its makes since to call him that. Tamahome also is chalk full of fun nicknames. There's Tama, Tamakins (now that's a nice one), Tamahome (technically, it is a nickname), and others I'd rather not mention.
Age of Aquarius
Darien, Darien, poor misguided foolish Darien. The guy is eighteen years old and still hangs around video arcades. He should have more important things to do (not that there's anything wrong with video arcades). One never sees Darien holding a job or going to school, although he supposedly does. He must play hooky a lot. And since the guy is orphaned with no family members at all, I can't figure out how he affords the luxurious condo in downtown Tokyo and all the school payments. I betcha he goes around at night in that tux outfit and rips off banks. Or maybe he just mooches off Andrew, which explains why he's always broke. He just can't seem to act his age. For fun, he teases poor little middle school girls he sees on the street. And what would you say if your fourteen-year-old daughter was his girl friend and practically fiancée? This guy really needs to get some friends his own age and stop pestering girls who are FOUR YEARS YOUNGER than he is. Tamahome is seventeen, almost eighteen. Yet he, the saintly Tamahome, acts more mature than Delinquent Darien. Tamahome has a full time job as a hire-out mercenary and an auctioneer of strange things. He's a year younger than Darien and already holds two full time jobs. Now that's pretty impressive. Tama is in touch with reality and knows that in order to support himself and his family he must work and not play around. He's a very mature seventeen-year-old. I do admit though, Tamahome does like to tease girls, but only to girls he's a good friend with. And as for dating, Tamahome is currently hooked up with (and I think engaged by the end of the series) to a fifteen-year-old. At least there's only a two-year difference here. Besides, the story takes place in an alternate world of ancient China; people married young there. The fact that he's dating a fifteen-year-old is pretty good.
Phys. Ed.
Many people think Darien is one good looking hunk of meat (I won't mention any names). fiancée? This guy really needs to get some friends his own age and stop pestering girls who are FOUR YEARS YOUNGER than he is. Tamahome is seventeen, almost eighteen. Yet he, the saintly Tamahome, acts more mature than Delinquent Darien. Tamahome has a full time job as a hire-out mercenary and an auctioneer of strange things. He's a year younger than Darien and already holds two full time jobs. Now that's pretty impressive. Tama is in touch with reality and knows that in order to support himself and his family he must work and not play around. He's a very mature seventeen-year-old. I do admit though, Tamahome does like to tease girls, but only to girls he's a good friend with. And as for dating, Tamahome is currently hooked up with (and I think engaged by the end of the series) to a fifteen-year-old. At least there's only a two-year difference here. Besides, the story takes place in an alternate world of ancient China; people married young there. The fact that he's dating a fifteen-year-old is pretty good.
Phys. Ed.
Facial Structure
Many people think Darien is one good looking hunk of meat (I won't mention any names). Now, I will refer to the picture below during this part of my discussion. In this very accurate photo taken of Mr. Shields while at home resting, he is shown slouching on a strange looking couch, which I WILL come back to later. Ahem, to put it mildly, DARIEN'S FACE LOOKES LIKE A SPINNING TOP! Observe the facial structure of the al-mighty prick-ish one. His skin is way too taut and drawn across his face. It needs a little give for it to be entirely healthy. Mr. Shields needs more sunlight; he is not generating enough melanin to make his skin have a nice golden glow. Paleness on a man is disgusting, you agree? His ears are positioned too high on his cone head. Proportionally, they should start at the base of the nose and go up to the top of the eyes. Not quite true on Deformed Delinquent Darien. I also believe he plucks his eyebrows. No man I've ever met has brows that thin and defined (must be a girly man). His nose is too long and thin for his face; it makes him look like a rat. And what is UP with that smirk of a smile on his face. It makes me want to beat him hard with that book he's holding. Pinched-face Darien needs plastic surgery in time for that hot dance in two weeks.
Oh Tamahome, you are perfection incarnate. All who seek gaze upon his god-likeness in awe and wonder. Tama...Tama...Tama. OK, I'm back. Yes, this is a rather small picture of him, but that's just to save room for all the others I have! Mr. Kishuku's face we see is more rounded, and the chin isn't as prominent as it was on Mr. Shields. Pointy chins are bad, wouldn't you agree? Also, his nose is shorter and more proportional for his face. Kudos to Tama! He's not smirking like his adversary, but I wouldn't call it smiling either. *sigh* Some people are just NOT photogenic. Tama's skin isn't so pinched looking and has a healthy glow to it that Mr. Shields was lacking. It isn't a dark nasty tan, but it's not ghostly pale either. His ears are more rounded and cuter that Darien's (if you can think of ears as cute). I can't really talk about his eyebrows in this discussion because his hair hides them or they're just rally close to his eyes at the moment. Well anyway, Tama's face is more lovable and flexible than Darien's. (I wish I had some of those super-deformed pictures of him. They're funny. Laugh.) I think I've wasted that subject now.
It's all in the eyes, man.
Eyes, everyone loves eyes (well at least I do). Ahem. Let's start with my hero Tamahome this time. OK, the manga shots below aren't really good, but they show a close up of the eyes, so why not use them at least for decoration. Look, I wrote a bad poem about his eyes! (I'm REALLY bored.)

                  Eyes of violet stare into mine,
                  Yellow they are not.
                  Easy to loose one's self in,
                  Sinking in a pool of Welch's Grape Juice.

OK, we all can now see poetry is not my thing. Hmm, In the pictures, they do kind of look yellow, don't they? But they're not! Tamahome's eyes are a beautiful lavender or deep violet, depending on his mood (or the artists' taste). Now let's see a really good picture. Ah, now you can see the violet coloring (and the eyebrows!) Since I left that out, let us start with that. His brows are long and graceful, but not overly thin. All right, enough said on that. In this picture, Tama the God is slightly peeved and is about to through the guy in the gray shirt over his shoulder and knock him on the ground. So logically, his eyes hold a cold steel look about them. That's one of the great things about Tamahome, his eyes actually change with his emotions. Just be looking at his eyes, you can tell what the guy is thinking. Now that you know this, go look through all the pictures and gaze lovingly at his eyes. Eyes make a guy in my opinion. In the little picture, Tama's happy, and his eyes reflect that. They look kinder and have a more serene glow to them. I can't be the only person in the world seeing this. Tama's eyes open a portal into the very depths of his soul.
Ah Darien, once again you come up with the short end of the stick. Go look at the picture on the first page of Darien in the upper right corner. Go on! What are you waiting for? You're back, now we can start. Darien's eyes are a blacky-brown if you couldn't tell. Look at the cold anger smoldering in there. That's not especially a good thing. Darien's eyes never change. Ever. They always have that cold, steel, indifferent cast to them. Personally, if I were dating the guy, I'd be a little unnerved and worried at that. It also makes his personality seem flat (which it is). Gaze into his eyes a bit deeper and what do you find? I'll tell you. Cold, calculating indifference. What kind of guy is that? Surely no one I'd want to meet.
Oo, It's Witchcraft!
Hair is FUN to play with, I should know. I got loads of it sitting on top of my head right now. Survey Time! Who out there Likes buzz cuts and shaved heads? Not me. Short hair (or no hair) is bad. What can you DO with hair cut right against your head? Nothing! Mr. Shields' hair is as boring as you can get. Look at the pictures already printed out. (I would have included the others I have, but I think they got deleted when Windows crashed. That really sucked. Trust me.) Darien's hair is TA-DA - black. Boring Black. In the picture on the first page, it doesn't even have any highlights. Doesn't he ever wash it? He must curl it too. Observe the perfect curls of bangs along the forehead. Too perfect. He has to look nice when he's out in public you know. (Girly-man) Now lets look at the second picture. He's at home on that god-forsaken couch. Expecting no one to see him, he didn't bother to fix his hair. Look how scraggly and think it is! That's just really nasty. It also looks wet and limp. What he'd do? Dip it in the toilet bowl to get the grease out?
Now Tama's all about the hair!Tama's hair flows and swirls around his head with the bounce and volume of healthy hair. He's just a healthy guy, what can I say? See the highlights on his bangs? This picture was taken at night by the glow of candles and his hair still glows. Wish you had hair like that? You can't see it from here, but Tama has long hair, just about as long as mine. That does NOT make him a girly-man. It suits him very well. (I have just realized I am using ALL the ink on my printer. Oops.) Tama has locks of flowing hair that you just want to dig your fingers into. He also doesn't part his hair in the middle of his forehead, thank Suzaku. It may look a little disheveled at the moment (hey, he was sleeping), but that just makes it even look better. Flat glossed hair is totally disgusting. His hair is also magical! Observe how it changes color. In some pictures, it looks ebony black. In others, it's teal blue. Blue hair is really cool. Think about it. It's not every day you meet an awesome guy with blue hair. And most of the time his hair is a mixture of the two. Technically, I think the blue is just healthy highlights, but it still looks cool. Aha! Now you can see the long hair part. I think it makes him look more exotic. It also proves that he doesn't spend all his time worrying about his appearances. He's just naturally good lookin'. He just keeps it tied with the little strips of cloth and that's it. Done. Oo, it flows in the wind too. Oo.
(This is another reason why Fushigi Yuugi is better than Sailor Moon. It's got Tama)
We are Hans and Frans, and we will Pump, you up.
I am now officially off the head part. Now what do you think I'm going to talk about? You guessed it, their marvelous (and not so marvelous) bods. Who'd I star with last time? Hmm. OK Tama, time to kick some Shield butt. Tama is in great shape, and has the body to prove it. (The guy works as a mercenary, he's gotta look good.) Tamahome's got a well-defined six-pack too. Now that takes talent. Let's use the pictures above as reference. (I love Pictures!) The upper one shows his manly chest off. (Rrrghhrrr) His chest is well muscled and defined. (I wish I had a clip from episode seven when his shirt's off. Then you can really see it.) Tama's also has a well-defined collarbone. It makes him seem a little more refined yet still rugged. He has built biceps too. Tama doesn't have an ounce of fat on him. It's all muscle. And look at his leg muscles. That's all power and no flab. He looks good, am I right? And the good thing about Tama is he's not over built, just nicely muscled. Too much muscle is nasty and Tama knows it. Tama is 180 cm in height. What is that, six feet? Tama isn't a midget either. He's tall and muscled. Nice, huh? While we're on bodies, Tama also has type O blood. What that has to do with anything, I don't know.
It's Delinquent Deprived Dumb Delicate Darien's turn. Darien is tall I guess. I would have an exact height, but I left my Sailor Moon CD at school. Stupid. I think Darien's a little shorter than Tama though. Darien is not muscled or built in any way. He's lanky and wimpy. He should be called Beanstalk Boy, but that's just me. Darien has no arm muscles, led muscles, or abdomen definition. I've seen picture of him and he's pretty flat. I really can't drag this out any longer. Darien just doesn't have it.
I got Friends in Low places...
Darien's personality sucks. As I've mentioned before, he's cold, calculating, and indifferent. He's also out just for himself, the greedy punk. Everything is about HIM. "No Sailor moon, you can't have the Rainbow Crystals. I know you need them to save the world, but they're mine! ALL MINE! And you can't take them, see?" What a jerk. He enjoys tormenting little girls too. Just walking down the street, he'll stop and annoy someone behind him with name-calling and taunts. Darien's personality sucks. As I've mentioned before, he's cold, calculating, and indifferent. He's also out just for himself, the greedy punk. Everything is about HIM. "No Sailor moon, you can't have the Rainbow Crystals. I know you need them to save the world, but they're mine! ALL MINE! And you can't take them, see?" What a jerk. He enjoys tormenting little girls too. Just walking down the street, he'll stop and annoy someone behind him with name-calling and taunts. Darien only has one friend too, Andrew, the guy who works at the video arcade. I'm surprised he got even one person to fall for the fake charm. He isn't nice to anyone, even to Andrew. Darien is a loner, an angry loner. He is also lacking a sense of humor. I couldn't live with someone without at least a little humor in their lives. Darien just frowns and walks away. Never makes any jokes or laughs at any. In fact, the guy barely laughs at all. I feel sorry for Andrew, I really do. Darien tries to act all deep and artistic, but he doesn't pull it off. He's just a mean old man who likes to bully people around.
Now Tama's got connections and the buddies to prove it. I've got a lot of pictures of Tamahome and the gang. This one is my favorite. Tama's in the middle on the hood. The Flaming redhead is Tasuki, the mountain bandit. The butch guy with the cat is Mitsukete. The little guy (it IS a guy!) on the edge of the hood is Chiriko. The man in front of him with the TIGHT jeans is Hotohori, professional Narcissist and Emperor of the Konan Empire. The other guy in the pink is Nuriko, a cross dresser who thinks he's a girl and is in love with Hotohori. And behind him/her the guy in the patriotic shirt is our friend Chichiri, wandering mage. These are just a few of his many, many friends. Darien only has a lowly arcade worker for a friend, but Tamahome.... He's got an Emperor as a close friend who will do a lot of stuff he tells him. Now that comes in handy. Chichiri can freeze people and blow them up, as well as Mitsukete. He's got friends across the social class scale. Tasuki has connections all over the mountain bandit network and Chiriko is just useless. But this shows how unprejudiced Tamahome is. He's a friend with a little eight-year-old and a gay guy. Many people are mean to gays, but not Tama. In fact, before anyone knew Nuriko WAS a man, Nuriko flirted with and kissed (many times) Tamahome. It's always good to have a little spice in your life. Tama hangs out with slightly deformed people as well. Chichiri always wears a mask (that's why his face looks drawn on - it is.) Chichiri's left eye has a gigantic scar over it and he can't open it at all anymore. So he wears a mask. He's also got a girl friend, Miaka. (The girl making the peace sign.) Isn't that a cute photo taken of all eight of them? Maybe I should actually talk about his personality now. Tama's has a great one, better than a lot of people I've met before. Tamakins is loyal, self-sacrificing (especially to Miaka), humorous, kind, gentle, generous, and caring to name a few. Tamahome is completely loyal to Miaka and will always put himself in danger to save her. He may seem greedy to a lot of people, but that's because they just don't know him. All the money he makes goes to his family back in Hakko Village. (I'll explain later.) He's very kind and will always help out a person in trouble. Tama also has a very high sense of altruism and will always try to see it realized. Tama can also admit when he's wrong or scared about something. That's always a nice thing. He's never afraid to stand up for what he believes in, and once even stared down the Emperor, who had a sword pointed at his throat. That takes bundles of courage, which Tama has loads of. Tamahome's humor is beyond awesome. The guy cracks jokes unintentionally all the time and has a wide range of strange facial movements. Tama has a great laugh and is not afraid to use it. Now Darien on the other hand is the most serious person to hand around. No jokes, never laughs or sees anything as funny, and rarely smiles; it's just boring. Overall, Tama's just a fun guy.
Style, PIZZAZ!
Tama's got style, good looks, and enough charm for twenty people. Tama knows how to look good. He can dress in the most flamboyant colors and styles and still pull it off. But thankfully he has a natural since of taste. Observe the picture below. Teal is his color; it matches his hair really well. For a little brightness, yellow sleeves that set off his eyes and a pretty red belt to keep it together. And to top it all off, a stylin' pair of shades. Ladies, he looks good, am I right? Of course I am. Tama is a natural entertainer (that's why he's an auctioneer guy). He can a make a show of anything and still pull it off with flying colors. The boy's got style. Even his fighting clothes look good on him. I mean, look at that cool ensemble of colors flooding his formal fighting fatigues. They make him look good. Hey, if your gonna be in the public spotlight, you might as well look nice. Tama also has good taste in furniture and the like. Nothing too gaudy, flashy, or unusually bad. His taste in stuff tends more toward the homestead natural look. Soft and clean. Nice. Very Nice. Tamabox.

Darien once again needs help. He is fashion challenged. Look at Tama's fighting clothes. Now look at Darien's. A tux, complete with a top hat, cane and bow tie? What fighting can you do in that? (It also makes him look like a sissy goody-two-shoes. And don't forget the Moonlight knight! Oo. This one is even worse than that sissy tuxedo. "Oh Turban boy! Would you mind coming over here and kick this monster's but? Oh no, you tripped on your extremely long cape. Ouch, I bet that concrete felt rally hard through that cloth turban." Give me a break. And you NEVER where white to a fight; it shows blood to well and stains to easily. Stupid Darien never learns. *sigh* I wish a had a picture of that ugly tuxedo. And I'd like you to refer back to that picture of Darien lounging on that thing called a couch. To start with, that suit is horrendous and makes him look even wimpyer than he already is. It looks like hand-me-downs form the Donald Trump closet of Horrors. (It DOES exist.) And his apartment furnishing is not much better. It's either too odd (like the couch) or it's too flashy for its own good. Poor Darien.
Back to the Future...
It's time for some background information on both men so you can see where I'm coming from a little easier. Darien was born three thousand years ago on ancient planet Earth, and was named Endymion. (If you know the Greek or Roman myth about Endymion you don't need to read any farther.) The guy was an only child and never experienced sibling rivalry or having to fend for himself. Everything was handed to him on a silver platter with 24-Karat gold trim. There, he was the crown prince of Earth, but liked to chill out on the moon. That's cause he loved the Moon Princess. (oo, this gets REAL original. Think Romeo and Juliet and you get the picture real well.) The only bad thing was that the princess was constantly busy on the moon and had to sneak down to see him. His parents and all the other Earthmen did not trust the Moon Kingdom and eventually led a revolt against the moon. Endymion was on the moon trying to guard the princess but got his but whooped buy a scraggly little lady holding a sword she didn't know how to use. The moon Princess killed herself after that and followed Endymion into death. (She must have been stupid.) In the present he was reborn as Darien Shields and was traveling with his "family" in a car. The car went over the edge of a cliff and he was the sole survivor. So basically after that Darien hung out at the orphanage for a while, got out on his own, and harassed little girls. Darien never got a job I'm aware of and from then on only looked out for himself. He really had an easy life. First a crown prince and then some undeserving punk who must get government checks in the mail. That just kind of sucks. Three thousand years in the future he marries the Reborn Moon Princess who is now the Queen of the Earth and he's the King. They have a bratty kid (me!) and live happily ever after. (well, according to Lindsey, they had three kids, but that's not important.)
Tamahome never had it so good. Tama was born in Hakko Village in the Juso prefecture (think of it as a county) in the Konan Empire. Hakko Village is a really small nothing town, like Maurice or Milton here. Tama was branded with the symbol of the Ogre on his forehead, and all the other children avoided him. Tama comes from a family of five: himself, his two younger brothers (Chuei and Shunkei) and his two younger sisters (Gyokuran and Yuiren). His mother died shortly after Yuiren was born. Soon after, his father fell ill and had to be restrained to his bed and couldn't work any longer. Tama, being the oldest by at least four years, went out to the city to try and provide for his family. Every minute of his life for the next seven years was devoted to making money. Every fortnight or so he'd go back and give 90% of his profits to his family. What he kept was barely enough to keep him alive. While coming back from the village on his way to the city, he ran into two girls who were about to become slave trade fodder. He saves them, asks for money and leaves them after Yui insults him. Miaka follows him through the city and he saves her life two more times. By this time Miaka and Tama are starting to like each other. They are arrested by the Emperor and eventually escape. Miaka runs off and Tama desperately searches for her. She is revealed as the Priestess of Suzaku by the Emperor. The mark on Tama's head glows when he fights for Miaka's behalf and he in revealed as her strongest Suzaku Seishi (soldier). Tama from then on constantly puts himself in danger for her and realizes he loves her. He dies protecting her from the evil Seiryu Seishi, but Miaka is able to wish him back to life with the divine power of Suzaku. He dies again for the same reason but Miaka can't make him return to her. She eventually returns to her own world (ours) and is stricken with grief over losing Tamahome. Meanwhile Tamahome was not exactly totally dead. He transverses the portals between their two worlds, never able to return to his home again. He is resurrected and reunited with Miaka. The end. Tama's life is more heartfelt and trying. He had to work for his goals, unlike Darien who had wealth to begin with.


Skills and Attributes - 2d12
Tama's a natural born fighter and has proven his worth numerous times. How else do you think he became the strongest Suzaku Seishi? Tamahome excels in all martial arts and is often called Master Tamahome even though he's only seventeen. These are all pics of Tamahome fighting, if you hadn't figured that one out yet. Tamahome is not only proficient in hand to hand fighting, he's also a master at acrobatics and using this blade thing that I don't know the name for. (It looks like a stick with a chain attached to one end. On the end on the chain is a blade. These things can cause some serious damage.) Tama also has the skill to make women laugh, which can be more dangerous than the deadly back throw. He trains hard and is worthy of the name Master.
Darien, on the other hand, I have no clue where he learned his stuff from. He must have taught himself. That's royalty for ya. Darien is not good at all at martial arts and can only jump really high and fast. But so can Tama, so that points mute. Darien's major attack is (drum role - drrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) throwing roses. Throwing Ordinary HOUSE ROSES!! How that can accomplish anything exceeds my comprehension. He's too weak to street fight or use real martial arts like Tama. Darien DOES carry a sword, but it's obvious from the start he is NOT a master fencer. All he does is swing it around wildly, hoping to hit something vital (and luckily not him.) Darien just can't fight. He gets beat by a girl. Many times. Watch Sailor Moon and ye shall see.
I think that about covers it. Tamahome is more sexy, exotic, cuter, and overall BETTER than Darien. Watch Volume IV of Fushigi Yuugi - The Priestess of Seiryu - and you can see what I'm talking about SOO much better than I can say in words. Anything I forgot to mention? Uh, Tama's birthday is the 28 of June, if that counts for anything. Ah, he's fun to hang out with and is really exotic. I LIKE exotic men if you haven't noticed by now. Watch Volume IV. Really. It's available at Suncoast right now for 24.95 dubbed (better) or 29.95 subbed (not so good). Tama's just good.
Michelle Menard Sou
Many days of bordness over Easter Vacation.

I don't actually have anything against Darian from SM, he's actually pretty cool. But my friend and I wanted something to debate on, so we had to choose sides. I should paste her side of the debate too. *Phew*. Now THAT is trully wierd. Back to the mainpage
Background Music: Sarani from FF7