gone with the wind
Gone With The Wind is a sweeping
piece of historical fiction focusing on the life of
a feisty Georgian woman named Scarlett O'Hara as she
learns and loves during the American Civil War period.
Written by Margaret Mitchell and originally published
in 1936, the Pulitzer Prize-winning text was later
adapted into a feature film (1939) starring Clark
Cable and Vivien Leigh. It is quite simply one of
the most powerful and vivid pieces of American literature
ever published, a title which still influences culture
today. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Ai
Tenshi Densetsu Wedding Peach and its portrayal
of the passionate angelic rebel, Angel Salvia.
It is important first to express that
yes, as one may have guessed, Ohara Scarlet (Angel
Salvia) is named after Scarlett O'Hara, the heroine
from Margaret Mitchell's aforementioned novel. According
to Yazawa Nao;
"...in the beginning Tomita-san (co-creator,
anime script writer) was keen on the name "Salvia"
for this name had such a passionate feeling, but we
didn't have any ideas for her human name. Though we
(the editor and I) suggested other names to him, for
example “Violet” (Japanese-human-name
would be "Sumire"), he didn't agree. And
you know what happened after that, don't you?"
There was no plan originally to have
Scarlet mirroring Scarlett in her title however, after
various names were suggested it was unanimously decided
that "Scarlet" had the same passionate sentiment
to it as "Salvia", making it the only name
truly befitting of the fourth love angel. It is well
known that Tomita Sukehiro enjoys employing puns and
word-plays when naming characters/items/places, so
it seems only appropriate that in the end "Scarlet"
became Ohara Scarlet. Yazawa explains the naming process
for Scarlet as follows;
Salvia > scarlet sage >
scarlet > Scarlett O'Hara > Ohara scarlet
After it was decided that the character's
name would be Ohara Scarlet, various other elements
about her persona would come to be inspired by Gone
With The Wind. Salvia's family in the angel world,
although never mentioned in the series, all had names
based on characters and actors associated with Mitchell's
text according to ideas planned by the series staff.
Salvia's father was named butler
after the character of Rhett Butler, Scarlett O'Hara's
sardonic love interest and eventual third husband.
Salvia's mother was named vivien
after actress Vivien Leigh, who portrayed Scarlett O'Hara
in the 1939 feature adaptation of Mitchell's book.
Salvia's brother was named lee
also after the actress Vivien Leigh.
These characters were never portrayed in the
canonical text however, other aspects inspired by Gone
With The Wind were. Both of Salvia's love interests
(in the Wedding Peach DX OAV and the manga serial)
had their names derived from the text, similarly to the
above.
 clark
oasis was named after Clark Gable, the debonair
actor who portrayed Rhett Butler in the film adaptation
of Gone With The Wind. He is Salvia's love interest
in the second episode of Wedding Peach DX and
is physically modeled on Clark Gable's appearance as Rhett
Butler.
 dean
butler was named after Rhett Butler, Scarlett
O'Hara's love interest from Gone With The Wind.
Yazawa Nao notes that he was originally to be called Rhett
Butler but "...in Japanese, "Retto (Rhett)"
and "Sucaaretto (Scarlet)" have the same sound,
"retto". So his given name was changed".
 Just
as Clark Oasis resembles Rhett Butler's physical appearance,
so does Salvia with regard to Scarlett. Aside from
the fact that both women have blazing red hair of
similar style and length, Salvia is often depicted
in outfits and poses fitting of Scarlett. This is
particularly noticeable in the second episode of Wedding
Peach DX with Salvia wearing an elaborate gown
and even taking up a mourning outfit just as Scarlett
does after the death of her first husband. They both
hold themselves with a similar posture and an air
of haughtiness. Salvia's hair frames her face in the
shape of a heart too, reflecting the much-famed appearance
of Vivien Leigh's strong facial outline.
 Salvia
and Scarlett are also quite similar in their personas.
Scarlett is a fiercely independent woman, resourceful
and with an unwavering streak of optimism. Salvia
is a loner who is quick-witted and endowed with incredible
emotional fortitude. Both characters share a thirst
for independence, a longing for affection and a painfully
selfish streak which hinders them in their pursuits.
They are both outspoken and at times crass, with each
having a certain bitter dislike for the actions of
other racial groups (Scarlett and the freed slaves,
Salvia and the devils). Their personal strengths see
them through hardships. regardless of their (rather
obvious) slew of flaws. In both texts, the women must
deal with their positions in a changing world after
wartime conflict and each must come to terms with
what is truly important to them.
Salvia's link to Scarlett is undoubtedly
a type of textual exploration born from love, respect
and good-natured humour. Fans of Gone With The
Wind can look at Salvia and enjoy the contrasts
in her representation of various elements inspired
by Mitchell's novel, while those unfamiliar with the
original text can find themselves interested in Gone
With The Wind after enjoying Salvia's exploits.
As Yazawa herself stated, "..."Gone
with the Wind" is very popular in Japan- of course
we love it." and this is charmingly apparent
in Wedding Peach.
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