Name: Caasi, Danielle Verna J.

Section: S23-1

Raya and the Last Dragon – Reflection Paper

Raya and the Last Dragon, a story about trust and unity. Truth be told, I once
looked forward to its release when its trailer first came out, knowing it was about South
East Asian Culture and Mythology. Yet, I didn’t have the drive to watch it until today,
when it was made an assignment. In technical aspects, it had amazing animation yet
the pacing was too quick and already knowing Sisu’s original character design made the
final design a bit lackluster. But this essay isn’t about that, but about the message of the
film and contemplating about it.

A major theme sprinkled throughout the film is the idea of “trust”. Raya, and many
of the other characters, were adamant that you shouldn’t trust anyone. The tribes saw
each other as an enemy that may backstab them with a façade of “alliance” through the
concept of “trust”. Because of their distrust with each other, they sought out the dragon
gem which is said to grant power over others as leverage for their own prosperity. This
became a self-fulfilling prophecy, because of their distrust; they ended up fighting over
the gem and backstabbing each other for that power, leading to the major conflict of the
film. The main antagonists were supernatural forces called Druun, which was born from
the people’s disharmony, likely reawakened by their conflict.

I could relate this in a real world setting, since major powers of the globe are
fighting against each other for the upper hand. For example, instead of having an
agreement to no longer possess any nuclear weapons, because of their distrust that
maybe a country will go against their word and carry those weapons regardless, they
too should carry one as a counter; this way they can mutually eliminate each other as a
threat against using the weapon, having fear drive stability instead of peace.

During the climax of the film, Raya distrusted Namaari and attacked her,
accidently pulling the trigger to an arrow, killing Sisu. During their final confrontation,
Raya finally realized that their distrust was the root of their problems, and that Sisu was
right. In the end, trusting each other was actually the answer all along. Only by trusting
that Namaari will piece together all the shards of the gem, which meant she put the
peace of the world above all else, did they ultimately solve the problem. Although the
message of the film was bringing the tribes of different cultures together and uniting
them into the harmonious Kumandra, it wouldn’t have been achieved without trust.

Another tidbit, I watched it with my friends and they’ve been enamored with Sisu’s older
brother, Pengu. When he first made his appearance, they all thought he was handsome.