freud example, mugen train

Freud's theory can be seen in hundreds of films and storys as a whole but for todays example i'll be looking at the 2020 film kimetsu no yaiba: mugen train based on the popular book series, this entry in the series features a great example of the id the ego and the super ego and despite the film being part of a larger series the characters i will be looking at are all indtroduced in this entry so the fil itselfs provides all the nessecary information for my analysis the film focuses on a group of demon slayers who have borded the tictular train in order to investigate the reported sightings of demon, at the begining of the film the main characters from previous entries alomgside the audience are introduced to a senior member of the demon slayers named kyojuro Rengoku who will be commanding the current mission, as the film progresses we learn more about kyojuro as a person and learn that when he was young his now deceased mother instilled him with various life values including the philosiphy that the strong must nurture and protect the weak. kyojuro here is the ego whilst his mother is the super ego, she is the voice in his head who thoughtout his life reminds him of whats right. at the films climax the mugen train is derailed by a powerful force which is revealed to be the upper rank 3 demon named Akaza who will be the id here, demons in this series are humans who have gave up thier humanity in exchange for power and near imortality and thus have no morals, freely killing and indulging in anything they find pleasure in and akaza embodies this mentallity. this brings us to the scene in question, at the latter end of the film Kyojuro and Akaza engage in a battle of both words and weapons, whilst they physically clash their idiologies also clash as Akaza attempts to convince kyojuro to join him as a demon

from akaza's entry he is shrouded in shadow and it is made clear the differences between his and kyojuro's ideoldgies, these two characters are clearly contrasting with akaza embodying the idea of the id, this is clear visually as akaza uses mute colors compared to kyojuro's more vibrant colours, also the way they are both dressed with kyojuro fully dressed in a respctable manner whilst akaza is barefooted and barechested. akaza is in direct contrast to kyojuro's mother, as their values are different but both of them are trying to instill their values on kyojuro himself giving a literal representation of the id (Akaza) the ego (kyojuro) and the super ego (kyojuro's mother)

kyojuro's mothers entance features vibrant colours and high key lighing symbolising how she's the light that guides her son

akaza's entance features low key light, he is a demon emerging from the darkness ment to represent the id which emerges from the subconsciessness and influences them comparing both the id and super ego's entrance into this sequence makes things more clear, when kyojuro sees akaza he is shrouded in shadow, emerging from the darkness he was lurking in like how the id lurks in the back of ones mind, compared to when he first sees the image of his mother she is much more visable and closer to kyojuro himself, she is not shrouded at all and is lit in the sunlight with vibrant colours. during this sequence akaza is constantly badgering at kyojuro for him to become a demon, since demons represent repressed desires and self endulgence this is esseintially akaza acting as kyojuro's id and trying to persude him to indulge himself in all the pleasure of becoming a demon, multiple times akaza tempts ktojuro by constntly reminding him of the things hed have to gain as a demon but kyojuro refuses as it all goes against the ideology his mother gave him.

kyojuro sticks with his mothers ideology dispite akaza constanly trying to temp him which leads to the final moments of thier fight, Akaza belives the weak are worthless and belives as a demon he can kill and murder anyone weaker than him, he tells kyojuro that since he is also strong he can become a demon to and follow the same lifestyle

however just as the super ego would remind the ego not to give into the ids urges kyojuro sees memories of his mother who like akaza did tells kyojuro he is strong but unlike the former she tells him that it means he should set the example

kyojuro dies by standing by his own conviction passed to him by his mother but after his death his comrades remark how he was the true victor as he stood strong whilst akaza ran from the sun, this last sequence is symbolic as akaza the id lurks in darkness and as the sun rises he retreats, when the sun rises kyojuro sees an image of his mother, the sun rising to draw away the id and the arrival of the super ego here represents the urges of the id praying on the ego only for the super ego to shew the id away by forcing it back to where it came