#Zexal III but it's a Steven Universe Future kinda series where all the kids and young adults have to learn to cope with trauma

[larmegliamori]

Zexal Month: The Hanged Man, Upright

@zexalmonth

"'Cause you don't need nobody else

When you are true, true to yourself

You're skin and bone, you're full of fear

But you are just a human being

No matter what they do"

[Marina Diamandis- True, from her album LOVE+FEAR]

This may have been the most popular opinion in the fandom back in the early 2010s, but when I first started watching Zexal I didn't really like Yuma. I genuinely found him irritating because of his careless and obnoxious attitude, while Astral and his logical temperament (and the Arclight family overall) met my taste.

But, growing up and catching up with the series, I had a change of heart and I got to understand him better. Is he obnoxious, naïve, kind of hard to be reasoned with? Yes. But he's also, and I will never stop saying that, thirteen. He's a teen and he acts like one: teen years are, for better or worse, messy for everyone.

Also, he starts off as a beginner, so is perfectly normal for him to be stubborn and make mistakes. I really appreciate this side of him, because It makes for a simple, but great character arc.

Last but not least, can we consider how much pressure and traumatic events he had to face? They left scars on him, sure, and yet he kept on going and kattobingu-ing. He's got that simple, mundane and yet strong bravery that kept me rooting for him.

And this, kids, is how I learned to love our protag. Give him all the love! (and the psychologists because I feel he needs them. Badly)