#why older anime protagonists are better

[deviousdiesel]

.

[deinocheirus]

ok so i've been a big fan of your AKFW posts for a while and i eventually formed a theory about chuck

Chuck is a Basilisk, they only have the abilities they need to have at the moment Not only that but chucks crown

it is a bassilisk Crest,you have expressed interest in making basilisks brood parasites,something his mother already suspects him of being. It also explains the title,if chuck is a basilisk,and from what i understand chuck is the protagonists then he would be a king of worms. I suspect why so many dragons dislike him might also be instinctual.

You are not the first person to figure this out but congradulations on knowing Chuck better then Chuck knows Chuck.

Other random hints towards this:

-Chuck's ma and pa are based off toads and snakes, animals traditionally needed to incubate a cock's eggs to create a basilisk/cockatrice

-Chuck's older design was extra limbed, as some depictions of basilisks are. His face also kinda looks like an ugly chicken-lizard if you squint.

-Belette's name is literally just weasel in french, the traditional enemy of basilisks.

Dragons dislike of Chuck is partially instinctive (he has an "uncanny" feeling to them to a varying degree), but moreso its justbecause dragons tend to be a bit mean...

[door-insurance]

So I played Life is Strange 2 for the first time ever

I didn’t wanna play it for a long time not cause it didn’t have Chloe or max (tbh I got sick of their asses around BtS they’re not even my faves)

By that point I was in college and had lost interest in the whole franchise but also I was very apprehensive of white creatives writing racism with no input from the group they’re portraying, they don’t usually do a good job

Sometimes they make it cartoony, sometimes they trivialize it, sometimes they romanticize it

So years later adulthood kicked my ass and I came back crawling to this franchise for some comfort, I finished True colors annnnd I finally started 2 after hesitating annnnd

^sketched this while playing

SPOILERS

I actually liked it

I liked Sean, the drawing segment he does- he was such a likable main guy, deserved better honestly.

I also liked Daniel, he was very adorable and I never got it when people called him annoying like no shit the 9 year old is gonna act like a 9 year old- just don’t be a jerk to him, I know he can be frustrating but that’s what taking care of a kid is like

And lis had always been about realistic complex characters, y’all can’t handle a traumatized nine year?

I have two younger siblings and two nieces plus I’ve been a bratty younger sibling to two older sisters

Maybe I’m just used to it?? But honestly Daniel wasn’t that bad

The racism portrayal in the first few episodes was not all that cartoony and it actually felt real at times, like I can check for American news rn and find stories similar to what you see in episodes 1-3 (minus the telekinesis)

Although the gas station racist hick spouting trump slogans was a bit on the nose, it’s more of dialogue thing

Some people thought the gas station detainment was egregious but it can happen unfortunately, especially to vulnerable people in rural areas and by someone of a higher systematic advantage

One other thing I did not like was the love interests, I thought Finn and Cassidy were alright characters on their own but why do we need romance in this game where the protagonists are always on the run?

I don’t like to compare lis 1 to 2 but when it comes to the romance the former did a better job as it spent more time establishing it, plus max stayed in the same place for the majority of the game- but you know what? Sean doesn’t have to be in a relationship right? It can be a one off thing, that’s fine

Which brings me to my next point

How old are Cassidy and Finn?

Cause Sean is still 16 and no, being on the road didn’t mentally age him- he’s not “mature” for his age

He is still a kid

So for some reason Dontnod never really specified their ages but some articles described them as teens (they look 30 to me) and they can be around 18 right? Their lives are hard stress ages you- it happens, we can with live that, it’s just a two years difference

But teens or not

why did they animate a whole knocking the boots scene???

Of all the games in the series, the only one that gets a sex scene is the one with the much younger protagonist and his ambiguously aged older looking love interest and I think it’s only with Cassidy you get to do it in the tent

Alex Chen was robbed of a on screen booty call from a beanie wearing lesbian with a sexy radio voice or a buff ass Adonis of a man who was Smokey the bear’s regional manager or something

Anyways I’m gonna move on I’m uncomfortable lmao

*im not hating on people who ship Sean with either Finn or Cassidy, I’m not even tagging your ship names- im just stating my personal preferences on my blog

One last thing I did not like about LiS 2 and it was the one thing that kept me from playing it for years

That one scene from episode 4

So at this point Sean Diaz went through the following:

-lost his father, had to abandoned his loved ones, education and home

-was accused of killing a cop

-had to take care of his little brother on his own while on the run, the same brother with telekinesis and none of them know how to control it

-was harassed, beaten then detained by a racist white man

-had to take refuge in an abandoned cabin with little resources

-the dog that they adopted at the gas station eventually gets mauled

-the one time they found solace at their grandparents house they had to leave abruptly cause the police was hot on their trail

-on their way out they can potentially witness the neighbors kid that they befriended get hit by the police car that’s chasing them

-they find shelter at a nomad campground but oh no they get involved with drug trafficking cause they barely have any other options to make money (unfortunately this happens a lot IRL this isnt egregious)

-Sean now has to deal with the trafficking, making sure that Daniel doesn’t get into any trouble with his powers while fake ass giancarlo esposito is breathing down his neck

-and guess what happens next… Daniel gets robbed into pulling a heist on temu gus fring and it goes badly, Sean can potentially lose a love interest/friend in Finn

-Sean gets hurt, Daniel goes so mad that he blows the whole place up; a shard glass flies into Sean’s eye and he ends up losing it

- Sean wakes up from a coma and learns that his brother is missing and he’s about to be taken to jail

- the one thing that consistently brought him joy during this trip was his art and because of the missing eye he can’t even do it the same anymore cause it hurts now

- Sean has to escape the hospital with a hot wired car, little money and has to drive across two states just to get to his brother

-on the way he dreams of his father, he wants him back he wants his old life back but that’s not gonna happen so he has to move forward

Im not listing all this as examples of bad story telling, a lot of these are real life experiences of homeless people. im just painting a picture of the shit that Sean had went through so far

Cause right after the dream sequence, Dontnod didn’t think all that was enough no you had to see Sean get hate crimed by two lifetime movie, sitcom special of the week racists- be made to either sing or suffer a brutal beating

It added nothing to the plot, it didn’t need a choice system either- it’s a hate crime, you’re not asking Joyce for fucking pancakes or eggs n bacon at the whales diner or hosing down Lisa the fckin plant.

This to me went straight to trauma p*rn category, it’s wheelchair Chloe all over again

I hated it then in LiS 1 and I hated now in LiS 2, this is why I don’t dick ride Dontnod that often

They always had this tendency right before the end they single out a particular character and mentally whip them, they become the writing teams punching bag- they think we didn’t get it the first time that this character is going through it, they just hammer it in with the subtlety of a heart attack and I hate it

“Yeah but it’s there to show Sean’s resolve to find Daniel-“

HE ESCAPED FROM THE HOSPITAL AND THE FEDS, HE HOT WIRED A CAR TO DRIVE ACROSS TWO STATES

He’s starving, dehydrated, suffering from chronic pain

That’s enough

Let the character breathe

You ask why not a lot of people wanna play this game and I’m gonna tell you, as much I enjoyed it myself it’s not an easy game to play- it gets brutal, especially right around the end

I’m not against bleakness or extreme conflict, I’m into that but sometimes that doesn’t translate well to any gaming format- especially a choices matter game that’s meant to be replayed

Some people have asinine reasons not to play LiS 2 like it dealing with racism and those people suck, lis had always dealt with progressive themes like calling out objectification, cyberbullying and sl*tshaming

Racism shouldn’t be the exemption

but misuse of racial trauma and not knowing when it’s appropriate to invoke it is a huge turn off and hella triggering to a lot of non white players and I remember when LiS 2 dropped I’ve seen (mostly white) lis fans at the time proclaiming that not wanting to play it meant that you were racist

Like I said there were probably racists who didn’t wanna touch the games cause of the main characters skin but there were people like me who were apprehensive of the “Let’s go to the mosh pit Shaka brah” people handling racism

This is the same studio that had Ms Grant (one of the few black characters from LiS 1) claim that the white settlers peacefully shared the stolen land with the native Americans

I find that shit harder to believe than the time traveling powers

And they were doing alright in the first episodes they covered stuff like unconscious biases slipping through, dog whistles, polite racism from the grandparents segment, police brutality, racial profiling and being targeted/othered- some of these things I went through when I visited western countries

Then they did the bullshit I feared theyd do…

I really don’t blame myself for being hyper vigilant at the time and honestly I was going through a lot then, even if I wanted to I wouldn’t have touched LiS 2 cause it’s a very heavy tasking game to play

I know I kinda made it seem like I didn’t like this game but I did, its the best one in terms of the choice system

It had more weight to it, seeing Daniel internalizing what you say to him or how you act around him was so cool

Also what the second game has over the first one aside from the choices system is the ending selection- I never liked picking the endings for max, I wanted her to pick the ending or her coding/script to do that

Its definitely more fleshed out technically even though LiS 1 has a special place in my heart it’s always gonna be no. 1- but im also glad that I got to experience the 2nd game for the first time, I liked it

Personal lis ranking

1: Lis 1

2: Lis 2

3: True colors

Discount bin: BtS

My personal fave moments from LiS 2:

- beating up the racist bully and giving him a concussion

-mushroom (rip icon)

- victorias letter

-winning that that bear from that claw machine

-gorillaz song that was not feel good inc

-Brody pointing at a fucked up looking arcadia bay yelling “that’s the past!”- that was hilarious

-Sean paying tribute to Arcadia bay in his sketchbook (this fucking kid man, he’s so sweet he deserves the world- what did he do to make DONTNOD mad at him)

- the wolf animation and the story that plays before every chapter

-this was the worst hate crime in the whole game

[leportraitducadavre]

It's this article even real? I found it hard to believe someone would read the manga or watch the show and decide that Naruto "doesn't need the overdone Sasuke Arc".

First and most importantly, Sasuke singlehandedly moves the entirety of the plot forward, he doesn't have an entire arc dedicated to himself because he's relevant for every single arc the story possesses, and he's the reason key characters behave the way they do; taking away Sasuke's journey to make him a complying tool of the state wipes out the reasoning behind every villain's actions, therefore, it destroys them as well.

It's hilarious how this article exists to take away Sasuke's relevance within the story to give it completely to Naruto, something his fandom has wanted since the very beginning of the manga and that Kishimoto never complied.

In the Naruto series, Sasuke was Naruto's rival in the Hidden Leaf. However, he was training to kill his older brother, Itachi, for wiping out their clan. In time, Sasuke would learn Itachi did what he did to protect Konoha as their Uchiha kin wanted a coup. This enraged Sasuke, who nonetheless vowed to kill Itachi and exact revenge on Konoha.

Okay so, we start awfully, and no surprises there. Sasuke killed Itachi and later on, through Obito, learned about the reasoning behind his brother's actions. It's after this that he vows to bring down those who allowed and encouraged the construction of a system that pushed the Uchiha to rise up against this power dome and forced his brother to murder his entire family.

Regardless of the circumstances, Sasuke hated the fact he had to grow up alone. This is the reason he joined the Akatsuki, formed his own terrorist cell called Taka, and tried to murder Naruto after the wars against Obito and Madara.

No. You cannot use "regardless of the circumstances" when those circumstances are detrimental to his character's actions and the functioning of the system against which he, like other characters throughout the plot, stands. He not only hated having to grow up alone (a consequence of, once again, the genocide carried out BY THE STATE ITSELF through his brother), but also the indiscriminate murder of his relatives, both those who engineered the coup and those who were profiled based on biological conditions over which they had no control.

Also, there was one single war against Obito and Madara that stretched through a couple of days for which he participated in bringing down both of them as his idea of revolution didn't partake in their idea of absolute control of people's minds.

The Naruto movie (and obviously, the sequels) would be better served by doing something unpredictable. The Evil Sasuke arc is overdone, especially since it comes up in the Boruto era. In the latter case, a redeemed Sasuke keeps using it as a lesson to teach Boruto and Kawaki why they should not let rage guide them. Fans don't like being reminded how unnecessary this was in the source material.

Overdone? Did this guy actually watch the anime at least? The entirety of the plot focuses on the system flaws that even the protagonist is "set to change", Sasuke's arc is detrimental to the story as both Naruto and Sasuke observe the same issue from different standpoints, the former wants to keep the system and make gradual changes as not to "bring chaos" and the latter wants its complete destruction as a gradual change only guarantees greater injustices being committed over time until it is "changed".

Take Sasuke off of this equation and there's no reason for Naruto to even go on or have any introspection on the matter of Konoha's political and military system --and I'm being incredibly kind about this as even when Sasuke blatantly exposes it Naruto has a hard time grasping the most basic concepts to rebel against.

Additionally, Sasuke's villain arc would be a lot to condense into live-action, even if it's done over a trilogy. It could be done the way the MCU took 10 years to build the Thanos fight in Avengers: Endgame, but by that time, the story would be stale. Everyone would know what happened. The advantage the MCU had while adapting the source material is that it subverted the lore and crafted an original story. c

Does this author actually know what "adaptation" actually means? Or what it entails? What they seem to want is a reversion of the story as they desire to modify the entirety of the character that is the main plot device within the original product, not an adaptation. Also, what's with the last phrase? How can Sasuke be a loyal rogue? That's a contradiction in itself, is he a rogue of Konoha or is he loyal to Konoha? Pick one -you can't have both.

The advantage of Sasuke being a rebel without defecting from Konoha is that Naruto would have the help needed to fight the big villains of the franchise: the Ōtsutsuki. 

Sasuke fought alongside Naruto against Kaguya, bringing the union of former Team 7, without having to compromise his original ideals... did they just... forget?

Kaguya was the first alien who came to Earth, got sealed away, and then tried to return to enslave it. Naruto and Sasuke were reincarnations of her sons (Ashura and Indra, respectively), but the manga and anime didn't spend much time detailing how they would form their clans down the line and the emotional impact Kaguya had fighting her descendants.

Haha, come on, this is clickbait isn't it? Ashura and Indra are not Kaguya's sons, they're her grandchildren that reminded her of her sons, bet your ass this is a Boruto fan that just heard about the original series and wrote whatever this was without eyeing the og manga.

but the manga and anime didn't spend much time detailing how they would form their clans down the line and the emotional impact Kaguya had fighting her descendants.

That's because one of Kaguya's sons went to live on the moon and the other one, Hagoromo, had two sons on Earth (Indra and Ashura) who -as the manga establishes, founded their own clans (Uchiha and Senju respectively) that were at war until Konoha's foundation.

It focused heavily on Sasuke plotting in the shadows, and Naruto forming an army, realizing much later in the story of their link to Kaguya.

What? They learned about their connection to Kaguya through Hagoromo before fighting her, Sasuke also never plotted in the shadows, he blatantly tells them he wants a Revolution and later on decides to kill Naruto as he's his last connection to his past! That's the whole reason they fight!

By switching this up and making lineage a primary and not secondary arc, the movie can dial more into the emotional core: Sasuke and Naruto exploring their family tree and the overall theme of dynasty. Sasuke could learn more about how Indra developed a dark side, which passed down to the Uchiha, while Ashura's light gave way to the Senju and Uzumaki (Naruto's family) clans.

That's incredibly explored throughout the manga. The Senju are the only clan linked canonically to Ashura himself, the Uzumaki obtained Ashura's attention after the Senju disappeared as they were distant relatives.

Also, love the distinction of "Indra developed a dark side which passed down to the Uchiha" and "Ashura's light gave way to the Senju". Hagoromo favored this distinction by granting the totality of his power to one of his sons and expecting the other to be functional to his brother's decisions. If Hagoromo considered that Ashura's position was better than Indra's, why did he not teach his eldest son to make similar decisions? How is it that Indra decided to form a clan and a collective group of people if his idea was to move and gain power alone? How is it that Ashura, the being full of light, decided to fight his brother for power instead of seeking a peaceful solution to work together if what he wanted was power through union? Why did he not question the idea of a single person having the totality of command?

This would allow the movie to not hinge on Naruto and his fate with his Nine-Tailed Demon Fox (Kurama).

This just proves my initial point.

Instead, Sasuke would become a key player by garnering clues as to who Kaguya is. This would also unearth her plan to place everyone in a dream state (via the Infinite Tsukuyomi genjutsu technique) and drain their chakra. In other words, he would be the egotistical brains of the operation, while Naruto functions as the go-lucky muscle.

What's the point of doing all that if this exact thing ends up happening anyway without having to destroy any character's core? Are they serious?

This would not be different from what's been seen with Iron Man and Captain America, and Batman and Superman.

Brain minimized by the same comic story over and over again, what's the point of seeing a dynamic story repeated hundreds of times in different products? Is the main idea of this theme to make audiences like this guy believe that he possesses some kind of intellect because he can predict a plot he has seen thousands of times before?

Such an approach speaks to the legacy of both warriors, which makes them the yin and yang they were meant to be. 

Don't believe this fool. Sasuke and Naruto as characters explore the Yin and Yang implications very well as they are, he doesn't seem to understand what this metaphor actually entails.

Such a change fits Sasuke's destiny organically because this is the kind of sleuth he would become in the Boruto era, where he atoned and roamed the lands as a Ranger. This same development felt rushed and left-field in the manga, as he never did that kind of work before.

Making Sasuke a heroic anchor in the Naruto movie also works for the evolution of Team 7. To start with, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura were all trained by Kakashi, but their story felt disjointed. Naruto was preoccupied with bringing Sasuke home, Sasuke was off seeking Itachi and an army, while Sakura tried to quell the anger in both of them. This took away time from her personal development and detracted from the bigger threat of the aliens. By making the plot so convoluted, fans found it odd the Boruto era would marry Sakura and Sasuke, despite them never being developed as an official romantic couple.

By not splintering the team, Naruto's director, Daniel Destin Cretton, can focus on what made Team 7 work in the first place. Sakura was known to stop arguments and function as the team's mature, responsible leader. Naruto also liked her while she liked Sasuke. Sakura eventually realized she needed to change the views of Konoha and have the village recognize female shinobi more. This worked in the love triangle that allowed Sasuke to develop feelings for Sakura that would pay off down the line. This would also allow Naruto to understand he was meant to lead the Hidden Leaf.

What is removing Sasuke's entire characterization gonna do for the rest of the characters? The author is not saying Sakura realized this canonically, by the way the paragraph goes, what he implies is that she could realize this in the movie. So he’s telling us that Sakura didn’t notice she needed to change Konoha’s views about females because Sasuke wasn’t there to help her or what? It's Sasuke staying that detrimental to her development?

He wants to change everything about the original Team 7 in order to make them fit their Boruto’s characterizations. Hell, I bet he’s a Boruto fan who barely watched the original series, I’ll go as far as to state he used AI to write this garbage.

That also was Tsunade’s ordeal as well. Shikamaru questioned her involvement and was proven wrong when she “consoled” him after Sasuke’s Retrieval Arc and proved herself to be a good Kage. He’s asking something of Sakura that Tsunade already did.

Does he know what character development is? Why should they change everything about the original series to fit better the spin-off? Is the spin-off that it's badly written as it couldn't follow the original's characterizations, not the other way around.

According to his page, Renaldo Matadeen, "author" of this abysmal take, focuses on: As a filmmaker and scriptwriter, Renaldo loves to dissect the nuances of stories, especially narratives involving people of colour, minorities, and the socially-displaced. He believes art is a medium to reflect and provoke, and loves engaging in content that evokes this energy. 

So you mean to tell me that Sasuke, a metaphor for the socially displaced people, a survivor of a state-sanctioned genocide, and a revolutionary is somehow better by being stripped of any value inside a story that focused on his struggles, to begin with? That somehow the story would be better if he, a minority, was more complacent with the State that represses him?

[supercalime]

Girl who’s too old for DCOMs talks about Descendants Rise of Red for way too long:

- Literally no joke, I’m a firm believer that this is the best descendants movie and I wish we could’ve followed this story since the beginning

- im so so happy that they had a much bigger budget! This franchise really needs big set pieces, a lot of CGI, costumes that look expensive and a cast that can actually act, so it paid off

- ok so I’m gonna highlight a few things, let’s go

- I was really shocked they killed Carlos off (for obvious reasons, my respects to Cameron), as this franchise is for younger kids and dumbs down a lot of things. China’s delivery and her tears made me very emotional. Which is no surprise as she carried the other 2 movies she was in on her back

- Red is a very likable protagonist but some choices made for her character were boring. She’s not really looking for approval from her mom and she clearly has a good head on her shoulders so I don’t see the reason of having the “fake outs” that she will actually sentence someone to death but again, kids movie

- we only got one and a half scene of Maddox but I already love him

- Rita Ora and Brandy ate and left no crumbs. They play queens because they are queens

- after the reveal that there was a prank that turned the QOH evil, I expected that Cinderella had something to do with it (more of that later)

- I did cringe a little on how much rapping/sing-talking there was. If you want that hire Lin Manuel Miranda

- I’ll forever be bitter that Disney flipped Kenny Ortega off and stabbed him in the back, but that being said, Jennifer Phang couldn’t have done it better. She knew how to work with the script and the budget. Although some of the photography and choreography felt a bit weird

- it was certainly a choice that young Bridget looks nothing like her older self. Specially um…skin tone wise. There’s some implications I won’t get into

- im very surprised on how little we saw of the supporting characters. I thought Aladdin, Jasmine and Fay were going to be more prominent. And poor zellie (btw stupid name, just use Rapunzel)! Who got cut out of the movie completely!

- Aladdin and Jasmine were absolutely adorable!

- uliana and the other villains were fun antagonists. They were what I expected so I don’t really have notes.

- it probably has something to do with the IP but I don’t see why not have Uli just be Ursula but whatever

- I do appreciate that this installment finally made clear of what the lore is. We finally got confirmation that this universe isn’t a sequel to the movies, which was very confusing in the first 3

- this is gonna sound horrible but. Im so glad they committed to killing Cinderella. I do wish they had done that before Chloe and Red time travelled to give Chloe more motivation. In fact I’m very happy that this movie was darker than the other. Disney animated movies always had a lot of death so this feels closer to them than the other 3 ever did

- Now onto me thinking Ella was in on the prank, this will be long: the movie has third act issues and it was very anti climatic, which even led me to believe there was going to be a twist until I saw there were like 5 mins left. Anyway, when Cinderella told the QOH “it was just a prank and that was so long ago” I was convinced she had been involved, so I was looking out for it. I was reading into every expression Ella’s actress had and thought I saw that she was pretending to be Bridget’s friend to get out of her abusive home. I thought that it would’ve been revealed that when the prank was done, she’d maybe just do nothing and leave Bridget helpless because she was afraid that if she did help, she’d never be like the other princesses or something. It would’ve been so cool to see Chloe’s view of her mom shatter, as she only knew her as this benevolent queen who’s only kind and perfect.

- obviously none of that happened and the climax felt really flat. We should’ve seen the dance in the beginning of the movie, not knowing who the characters were, then we go to the present, then once the time travel happens, we don’t spend as much time before the dance and we get the dance a little before the third act and see a few of the things play out. Like Ella and charming falling in love, or even Fay giving her the dress and shoes before, and a Carrie like scene of the prank almost happening that is stopped by Red and Chloe. Then back to the present and a BIG ENDING MUSICAL NUMBER!

- All that being said, I hope we get more sequels. I think it would be cool to see this as more of an anthology thing, following different protagonists so the stories don’t feel too stuck into a few characters. Also Disney, cmon. You’re a streaming site now, let’s get some cannon queer characters please

[juinxa]

SHE

[ an excerpt from BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME! that I wrote so long ago ]

[ TW: suggestions of animal cruelty (nothing actually happens they were just being loud kids) ]

OR, kisaki’s first encounter with his slice��of Heaven

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                KISAKI WAS ALWAYS a nervous child, never sticking up for himself. His younger years weren't his best, but maybe he could’ve made up for it when he was older. For now, he was teased and an easy target for lunch money robbing. He never fought back. Was there any point when the most he could be scream before they would tape his mouth shut? Older kids were more dangerous than they used to be. He wasn’t sure he heard about kids mugging other kids from his parents. He wasn’t sure that he heard about kids his age abusing animals like it was an afternoon run. Though, he knew better than to criticize them. Who was he to say anything when they were dangerous. Ah, who was he kidding?

Kisaki Tetta wasn’t a hero.

Maybe he could’ve been the smart sidekick with the smart plans. He didn’t have the looks of a typical hero protagonist when he had black, messy hair with strands poking out, dark bags that carried heavily, and a face that wasn’t unique enough to attract model agencies. However, his smarts made up for it. His intelligence was exceeding more than others. He knew how to plan things accordingly, and whether there were bumps or not, he would easily find a way around them in order to reach his goal.

His classmates were a bore; they never interested him in the slightest. Sure, there was Hinata Tachibana, but she was more of a female who praised everyone, and she rarely stood around him to know much. Everyone in his year was bland, tasteless, and boring, overall. He couldn’t understand the joy of having many friends when everyone seemed to distance them from himself. He could’ve tried, but he didn’t know why he didn’t. Maybe it was fear of rejection. Maybe it was because they weren’t worth it. Maybe it was because he knew there was someone better out there.

Better there was.

[Name] [Surname], who was a year above him. She went to the same school as him. She also attended cram school. She was a peculiar girl with a likable personality, and he wondered why she had to be in the grade above him. Coincidentally, they sat next to each other in cram school. She always spoke about her adventures with her friends. Every story she told was interesting and caught his attention. He was always invested in what she had to say next. She was like an enigma force, like a book with millions of stories, or like a refreshing air after a day of being locked in a cramped room. Kisaki truly thought this girl was a heavenly slice of life.

Not to mention, she paid more attention to him than cram school. She explained that she was only there because of her parents and didn’t really want to attend. He felt flattered, flattered at the fact that she had rather spend time with him than listen to what was going on. She was given two options, and she went for the one that included him. She was including him in something that she chose. Refreshing. It was refreshing. At that point, he enjoyed her company. She was a good friend to have around.

”Kisaki, we should totally get ice cream afterward. You’re like my cram school friend, y’know?” She murmured, spinning her pencils through her spinning fingers. Kisaki pushed down the phrase “cram school friend” into his throat and decided to twist the words to his own liking—my best friend. ”I’d like that,” He smiled at her, heart racing fast at the offer.

At other times, she would ask other questions.

”Kisaki, you’re very quiet. May I ask why?” She asked, placing her chin atop of her hand while she stared at the words she was writing like she was in a trance. He continued on, thinking over his next words. “I’ve always been at the top of my exams, and many tend to avoid me because of it.” She hummed lightly, placing her hand down on the table to put her head down. It didn’t sound like he enjoyed those experiences. She never understood why being smart had to do with isolation and loneliness. Without much thought, she crawled out a response, “That’s stupid of them. If they spoke to you as I did, they’d see more than just a smart student. I suppose they’re missing out on a piece of art.”

‘There it was again,’ Kisaki thought, ‘that stupid heart thump.’

[Name] had no problem opening up to him about her concerns or worry. She’d ask for advice about troubles she was experiencing. He loved helping her out. Whenever she would confess something, he felt like he was getting closer to her. She was growing vulnerable around him, and it was blissful to know that she could trust him. There was a bond—a genuine bond that he had never experienced with others. It was the type of bond that exceeded any other he had. It wasn’t a bond of pity like others may have done. This was a true bond of friendship. She had willingly taken the time to befriend him, and Kisaki knew how important time was. You could never get time back, once you wasted it, there was no chance of getting back. You couldn’t reverse time!

So when she took the irreversible time to speak, know, and understand him, Kisaki felt like he was at home. It wasn’t like the location of the home. It was a sense of familiarity—where you could be safe behind the walls that wrap around you and hold memories. He held memories with her. He didn’t care if it was only at school. To him, as long as it was with her, he’d cherish it to the end of time.

She was always oblivious to her surroundings. He took notice of it. Cram school came with its own difficulties. There were those in cram school who were aggressive. Some were even rude to her, but she was never phased by it, simply ignoring their threats and taunts. She was strange indeed. When he asked her why, the answer was the same as always: “Hm? Why do I ignore them? They aren’t threats to me or my friends. If anyone hurts my friend I’m mad. Besides, I’m a pretty patient person.”

No threats to her or her friends. He wondered if he were threatened, would she do something? Would her patience run low if someone bothered him? He didn’t have the answer, and he wanted to know. She didn’t seem like the type to fight anyone. Throughout his time with her, she never displayed any signs of violence or aggression. Languid is what she was. 

“Who can make me mad?” She repeated Kisaki’s question, in which he nodded. Pondering, she poked her chin with the eraser on her pencil. “I don’t think anyone can make me mad. Oh(!), but I know someone—or some people—who can annoy the hell out of me.” Her smile was wide like she enjoyed having them annoy her. Kisaki felt his throat clench. She seemed very happy about the ones who could annoy her. Why was she so happy?

”Mikey and Baji!”

”Mikey?” He breathed out. It sounded familiar to him, but Baji was a foreign name to him. Since Mikey was the only one he was familiar with, he asked, “Who’s Mikey?”

”Hm, he goes to a different school, but he’s my friend! He knows how to get on my nerves, though.” The girl admitted, giggling at the memories of what he had done. Kisaki felt his hands grow sweaty. Her giggles were nice, too nice to be caused by someone named Mikey. He felt his brain freeze. It was as if he felt there was a threat towards him. Why was he feeling this way? He had only seen her around school and during cram school. He never hung out with her outside of school. He had a chance with the ice cream scenario, but he couldn’t go out late as she could, so he had missed an opportunity.

”Mikey, huh?”

”Mikey isn’t his real name. It’s actually Sano Manjiro!” She beamed, and Kisaki felt his hands go cold, mouth losing its salvia that lapped around, and his legs began to bounce from confusion. The Sano Manjiro? Who hadn’t heard of him? He was an infamous name around the elementary schools. He was a delinquent who managed to beat up many middle and high schoolers. He didn’t know how you were affiliated with him. You were so pure and innocent, so how did you know him?

It kept Kisaki up all night. Mikey seemed to be one of your closest friends. When he thought back to previous conversations, it was then he remembered that you mentioned him in some of your stories that sounded like dreams to him from how adventurous they were. He couldn’t believe he forgot the repeated name you continuously brought up. Mikey was always in your adventures. If he met Mikey, would he be able to tag along? Would he be able to understand the inside jokes you had? He definitely would’ve. He wanted to be her true friend! He wanted to be by her side! She stuck with him, always acknowledging him, unlike others. He opened up to her and she opened up to him about her feelings and thoughts.

Kisaki knew her better than anyone! He was her best friend!

”Kisaki, do you wanna walk home with me? You don’t have an umbrella, I see.” She noticed, looking out the window to see the small neighborhood that was dark from the heavy, thick clouds. Cram school had just ended and everyone was packing their papers and pencils, rushing to get out before the rain could start pouring. There were whispers thrown around about how it was going to be a bad storm, which didn’t deter the [h/c] haired girl one bit. Kisaki had just finished putting his things away, now only staring at the girl who was looking out the window. Her black umbrella was loosely in her hand, still waiting for the inevitable response of her friend.

”Um,” His hands grew sweaty, legs almost collapsing like there was a building he was lifting. This would be his first time hanging out with her after school. He couldn’t miss the chance. This could be his only chance to then hang out with her on the days there was no cram school. His adam apple bobbed as he swallowed his spit that was overflowing in his mouth. He was nervous, so nervous that he could barely muster a sentence. “I w-would like-like that, [Surname].”

Ignoring the stutters, she turned around to finally walk out of the classroom. Walking past him, she grabbed his hand to lead him out. The sky was darker now, giving the school an omniscient vibe. Putting up her umbrella, she released his hand to pick it up over her and Kisaki’s head. It was drizzling, faint sounds of patterns forming puddles in the potholes around the streets. Some kids from different schools were walking as well, chatting away while the pair walked in silence. The silence was insufferable to Kisaki while [Name] didn’t mind it. She enjoyed peace and quiet from time to time.

“[Surname], do you still want to take up on that ice cream appointment one of these days?” He felt his throat go dry, almost shaking that he actually said that. She hummed lightly, not even thinking before speaking. “I’m afraid I can't, I’ve been very busy these past couple of weeks compared to the last time I asked.”

His heart dropped as his eyes were wide. She didn’t spare him a glance, looking forward towards a park. Kisaki felt like he failed. She had been busy in recent times? He almost cursed at himself for not just taking the chance when she has asked him last time because now she was too busy. “I see, can I ask with what?”

”It’s personal.” Was her response, but she continued, “I think the rains picking up.”

Kisaki nodded in understanding, but truth be told, he wanted to yell in frustration. He was masking it well under his smile. He did feel the rain go harder as his shoulder was poking from the umbrella, slightly soaking his uniform. However, the sounds of the rain could not block out the cries of a kitten. Kisaki stopped as soon as she did. He noticed her head turn towards the park where a group of middle school delinquents stood around a box. He gulped, realizing that they were one pester him for money. He freaked out, worrying for the safety of the girls next to him who continuously stared at them like she was trying to figure something out.

”Hey, what are they doing?” She wondered, stepping forward on a twig that snapped loudly. Kisaki’s breath hitched, knowing that it drew their attention. [Name] heard the noises of a distressed kitten, but she didn’t know if it was coming where she thought it was coming from. The group of boys craned their necks to see the pair under an umbrella. Then, their eyes laid on Kisaki, someone who they knew very well as they began to walk towards them. Kisaki looked at her, hands shaking, “[Surname], we need to leave. We shouldn’t involve ourselves with them.”

”Oh, and why not?” One asked, looking down at the female and male. She didn’t pay mind to them, looking past them to see the cries from the kitten stopped as soon as they left, followed by a small cat poking it’s head out, perfectly fine. She heaved a sigh. It confirmed her suspicion. They were bothering a defenseless kitten, so whenever they left to come to them, it had stopped meowing because it was left alone. However, it may only be because they moved their targets to other people—them.

”Kisaki, you wouldn’t have any money leftover. I really need a drink right now.”

”Hmm, who’s your little friend?”

”She’s very pretty! Is this your girlfriend?”

”Nah, no way he could’ve bagged a girl!” With a push, he was stumbling back on the ground. The rain was getting worse, making the sidewalk runny and slippery. They surrounded him while a boy stood in front of [Name]’s face, keeping an eye on her. Kisaki’s breath was taken from him as a punch was delivered to his stomach. 

“Stop,” [Name]’s voice was hushed when the older male’s burly finger was placed on her lip. He grinned at her, looking into her eyes that were blank. Kisaki gasped, garnering all of her attention. She hadn’t noticed that she spaced out, too focused on the box that was away. It looked red? Was she seeing things?

”Leave her out of this!” Kisaki wheezed out, “Run!”

”Kisaki?” She muttered, looking down to see his glasses on the floor the same way his body was. One of the older boys laid his hands on her shoulder, pushing her into his chest. She repeated once more, trying to be patient as best as she could. “Leave him alone.”

”Hm, we couldn’t hear her?” He taunted, leaning closer to her mouth. Her mouth was parted, and he didn’t notice, but her eyes were shaking at the frustration that was bubbling within her. “I said: leave him alone.”

She was pushed down on the ground, the grip on her umbrella coming unloose. Her hands scraped against the concrete, an abrasion ripping the top layer of her skin off. Her face was in a puddle, dirtying her uniform. Kisaki’s voice was shrill as someone delivered another kick to the stomach. They moved their attention away from her, focusing on the smaller boy that “owed” them money. The leader leaned down, smiling at Kisaki’s busted lip and bruised skin. “We need you to speak up, Kisaki~“

“Hey,” [Name] placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping it tight, “leave him alone.”

”Huh?” He turned around to her, “What are you going to do—!”

Her knee swiftly knocked into his mandible before she pulled her knee back to strike again in his face. Pulling his hair, she swiftly threw him aside. The commotion stirred Kisaki. It was then he stared at her. Kisaki saw something different. She looked different. The atmosphere was different. The emotions being expressed were different. Her skirt was dirty with some stains of blood from her first victim. One of the other males grabbed her shoulder from behind, in which she pulled her arm forward before jabbing him in the face with her elbow, making his head fling back. Turning around towards him, the toes of her feet slammed into his jaw, sending him back.

Moving her head to the left, she avoided a quick punch from behind. Grabbing the arm she dodged, she pulled him over her body, slamming him onto the ground. He coughed violently, eyes going white from the impact. Her eyes looked at the last member who came at her with full speed. She scoffed, striking a hit in his face before he could react. His nose cracked as he fell to his knees. She took the chance to then give a back kick in his face.

”I warned you. I gave you three chances, and you didn't stop.”

Kisaki’s vision was hazy, but he saw the whole thing clearly. He didn’t know where that came from. He didn’t know how you managed to take care of them so easily. You saved him. Why did you save him? He carefully heard your words, and the next sentence made his heart stop.

”You hurt my friend.”

The rain continually poured down on him, drenching him to where it felt like a flood take over his body. He remained still like the other bodies around him. His pulse was racing while his body was weak. The rain was loud, the thundering booming and clapping. It was everywhere. The droplets fell and fell on him—until they didn’t. His eyes were cracked open, staring at the sky that was then blocked by a black umbrella. He was no longer being attacked by the rain. His eyes widening when [Name]’s face came into view. Her shining [e/c] eyes staring down at him in concern while her [h/c] hair was framing her face as she bent down. She looked like an angel coming to help. She was like a descendant from heaven.

His slice of Heaven.

”Kisaki, are you okay?” She placed his head on her lap, observing the wounds on his face. “Can you stand up?”

He nodded slowly, admiring her appearance, saving it to his memories. Her eyes were full of worry. They continued to stare at each other, ignoring all other surroundings. She sighed, “I’m sorry I didn't fight them sooner.”

”It’s okay,” He confessed, and it was true that he believed it was okay. You had a breaking point that they crossed. Smiling, Kisaki reached up to her face before dropping his hands back down. She didn’t grab his hand, only focusing on his wounds. After a short while, she decided to help him up from the soaking floor. With careful steps, she pulled him to his feet, cautiously keeping her hands around him to prevent him from falling. He almost fell if she hadn’t caught him. She smiled at him, telling him to not worry since they were going to get him fixed up.

He liked her smile. It comforted him in a way that no one else could. Kisaki’s stomach bloomed in a euphoric way, his gut tightening when her saw her dazzling eyes. She did so much to help him. He almost felt pathetic, but he was grateful for her at the same time. She could’ve gotten hurt, but she protected him. There was a reason for it, and he was then reminded of what she said way back: “They aren’t threats to me or my friends. If anyone hurts my friend, I’m mad.”

She was his friend. She was his first friend. Kisaki was infatuated with that idea. He wanted more of it. He didn’t know what more he could want, but then he finally knew where it had to go from there. It could go from friend to something more. He swore he’d do anything to protect her, to understand her, to have her. Kisaki didn’t know how just yet but he would find out. After all, she was the first one to know him, really know him. She was the first person to accept him with open arms. She was his very first friend.

And his very first love.

—

never published this, let alone the story, probably never will bc I lost motivation from it but I didn’t want this to sit, I wrote it almost three years ago? Time flies

[destinygoldenstar]

Worst ways to describe Ninjago to people

(Let me know if I should turn this into a series, or if you come up with any)

(These are all jokes)

"This is a show about how plastic makes tornadoes"

"That's Jay, the blue guy. His special power is screaming at the very top of is lungs"

"That's Kai. He's an anime protagonist. His special power is getting sidelined in everything he's ever been involved with"

"That's Cole. Best hair. No criticism" (Quote my GF)

"Society hates and torments a ten year old because he's a brat"

“See, his father is a tired old man who wants to be a better father, it’s hard when you’re an evil terrorist trying to turn the world into your personal zombie land”

"And then the child slipped on ice and fell into a snake pit, and then he was a KING"

"So there's this purple snake. He eats purple snakes. That's how you know he's a good friend"

"Also there's a pink ninja. Yeah. We don't talk about pinkie no no no no no-"

"He's always wondered who he was on the inside... turns out he's a bunch of wires"

"If he could get someone to fall in love with him, the curse would be broken. But who could ever learn to love a snake?"

"His dad didn't say NO MUSIC, he said YES MUSIC, ONLY MUSIC"

"So they have the devil himself living in their boat, and they all think he's a really good neighbor who wouldn't try to kill them while they're sleeping. Except for this one guy who is suspicious. What a hypocrite he is, am I right?"

"Do I save the entire world or do I have this one child? I'm gonna save the child, c'mere child"

"'No destiny, I AM the Green Ninja' 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-'"

"And then the emo child became god"

"So he died. Then he died. And then he died again."

"A machine told her that cheating was okay"

"To save her life, he gave her a piece of his heart. Literally"

"And then they were yeeted into space"

"The Flash is in this show"

"You know how they say the cake is a lie? Wrong. It's the noodles"

"The best way to make things right with your friend is to try to strike them with lightning"

"I must fulfill my daddy's wishes to start up the evil empire-but wait, why is this fire boy so pretty? I think I'll side with him"

"Dude was drunk on power holding a stick, don’t worry he’s fine, they just had to slap him with a jet”

"He was born a devil in a human's body. Then he became a devil. Then he became human again. Then he became a snake. Then he became a dead person. Then the devil again."

"Dead people are deadly allergic to water"

"What do you do when you don't know what to do with a character? MURDER THEM... and then bring them back as a ghost. Problem solved"

"A thousand year old genie wants to marry a teenage girl"

"You ever heard of Romeo and Juliet? Well Jay just said NOPE"

"A young boy became the father of an elderly man"

"Oh Lloyd, if only there was someone out there who loved you"

"And then his dad was brought back from hell to drag him along"

"They didn't die, they were transported to the middle of nowhere"

"A child grew up with his four dads, and then became thousands of years older than said four dads and tried to become a counselor to their rocky marriage"

"Cole fell into the void"

(Come up with your own when reblogging)

[ilikekidsshows]

Have you seen the post from descendant-of-truth analyzing the problem of ML trying to cater to 2 different audiences? I think that it makes the issues with the show make a lot more sense when we pair it together with their decision to center Marinette above all else. Plus the 2 audiences feels like a better explanation of their flaws than the 2 genres others have critiqued.

---

I think it’s both, actually, but also that we need to go deeper on both of these arguments than what I've seen. I do strongly agree that Miraculous is juggling its genres poorly and that’s why the writing is consistently so weak, but I also think there’s three genres being juggled, not two. However, I also strongly agree that some of the worst singular scenes and episodes happened specifically because the writers suddenly decided to write something aimed solely at the teens and young adults in the audience. The controversial retool, in particular, turned the show to try to appeal more to the older audience, because it addresses several of their complaints. A thing can suck for multiple reasons.

The thing about combining genres is that it’s not actually that hard to do when you have specific scenes dedicated for the different genres and stay consistent on what your main genre is, romance scenes, for one, rarely get in the way of the action in an action movie, unless the out-of-place romancing is meant to be a joke because of the mood whiplash. However, Miraculous doesn’t do this. Miraculous’ genres overlap constantly, which makes the writers’ end results clash so terribly with the show itself. The thing about the magical girl warrior and superhero genres is that they have very different conventions from each other, and then we also have the school drama genre slowly rising up to eclipse these other two in importance as the show goes on.

Miraculous is, first and foremost, a superhero show with the aesthetics of a magical girl warrior show. This is what the concept, marketing and merchandise focuses on. We have cute magical creature mascots, the heroes get transformation trinkets, there’s a lot of focus on the transformation sequences, and the heroes’ get signature moves/spells that are triggered most often with some more carefully crafted stock animation. But Miraculous is part of the “Zag Heroes” branding, and our heroes are treated as no different from the heroes who just put on costumes in-universe. The Akuma victims are literally called “villains”, as in, supervillains. There’s a lot of focus on what the public thinks about the heroes and there's a bunch of secret identity hijinks.

However, it’s specifically when Miraculous tries to be more like a magical girl show in terms of storytelling that it ruins Miraculous as a superhero show. I have said, for years, repeatedly, that a superhero franchise relies heavily on having a “rogues gallery”, a collection of different villains, for longevity, but magical girl shows typically have one threat per season/series who turns innocent bystanders into temporary foes, and Miraculous decides to do the latter. Miraculous has the weakest rogues gallery of any superhero franchise I’ve seen and that’s a bad thing. Any toys of Akumas aren’t going to sell very well, because they only show up once per season or have only one appearance period, so toy companies aren’t going to be interested in making many toys of characters with weak marketing, which means kids can’t easily recreate the episodes when they play.

Superhero shows also, like, tend to give top billing to its protagonists. So, it’s the classic: “why is the show called ‘The Adventures of Ladybug and Cat Noir’ if Cat Noir is just a side character?” complaint, but framed in a way where we very clearly see what the issue is. A comic book called ‘Batman and Robin’ is about Batman and Robin, if it’s a Batman solo book, it only has Batman’s name in the title. Superhero series are also really comfortable with sharing the spotlight with other characters. Because even Batman solo series often have storylines where Robin or some other character shows up to be important, sometimes more important than Batman even. Some of the most popular superhero titles are about teams of heroes. In fact, X-Men has often been Marvel’s best-selling book and the same is true for DC with Teen Titans. It is also notable that giving one team member superior status over the others is a sure way to turn the fans on you for favoritism, so equal billing with different stories focusing on different team members is the standard.

Magical girl shows, on the other hand, are far more often about a singular main girl. Even when there’s a whole team of girls who get focus episodes on occasion, you can always spot a “main girl” in the cast, who is the protagonist and will show up in every episode and will often get some kind of purification/healing power to justify that. This relegates the other team members, naturally, but it’s a genre staple. You can see from this description that Miraculous is using a magical girl warrior genre approach to its team building, which will rub any superhero fans in the audience the wrong way, and has only showcased the writers’ favoritism towards Marinette more the more inconsequential teammates we got.

The school drama genre, ala Dork Diaries, however, has been growing into this black hole that’s swallowing both of the conflicting action genres. (Middle) school drama is the genre where petty, inconsequential nonsense like whether or not your classmate’s preschooler brother thinks you’re cringe is worth an entire episode’s plot. School drama is the genre in which “I won’t be able to see my crush for the rest of the school trip, everything is over!” is an acceptable darkest hour moment for a movie. And, if you look at the retooled seasons, you can see how school drama conventions are taking over the show and sidelining both the superhero and magical girl warrior genres.

In seasons 1-3, we got one episode about class presidency, where the whole thing is treated as wacky hijinks, and which was framed together with the villain of the week being involved in a different election, with the superhero conflict getting directly tied into the school conflict in the end by Marinette’s quick thinking in a dangerous situation winning over her classmates’ trust (a trope common for teen superhero shows). In season 5, we get several episodes building up and dealing with the end of the school year, like arranging school parties, class presidency re-elections, and filling out applications for study programs. All of these plots are played far more seriously this time around and with the civilian conflicts resolved in ways that humiliate Marinette’s school rivals (a trope common to school drama stories).

However, as I stated before, most of Miraculous’ most controversial moments are because the writers wanted to address the older audience. ‘Simpleman’, the third most-hated Miraculous episode (used to be second until the S5 finale eclipsed the recap episode in terms of lowest-ranked episode), is about the writers talking about the thought process behind the show to fans that they think just don’t “get it”. The retool that I think ruined the somewhat working system the show had going, raised the rating (slightly) to appeal more to the older fans, and, before the actual release of season 4, there were comments from the creative team about the plot being more linear now with watch order actually mattering. Continuous plots are something that notably appeal to older fans and what the older fans had been asking for online as well.

We also moved focus away from kiddie superhero action to personal drama. Instead of the heroes having fun saving the day and having endless time for wacky hijinks as civilians, Marinette is constantly whining about how being Ladybug is ruining her life. Deconstructing superheroes is something that the industry constantly tries to sell as a more “mature” take on superheroes. Speaking of those wacky hijinks, suddenly none of the classmates have anything silly kids would be interested in going on, everyone is just shipping the main ship so that the older shipper audience can project onto them, because we all know older audiences only care about shipping (sarcasm).

There are also all these deflections directed at the older fans who criticized the original show. Marinette stops “stalking” Adrien, well, most of the time at least. In fact, Marinette’s stalking was caused by Chloé traumatizing her so badly in the past it drove her into mental instability, so it’s totally not her fault and the audience should just let it go. Speaking of Chloé, she was born evil, so stop asking about her redemption arc. Cat Noir apologizes for flirting with Ladybug and just easily stops having feelings for her, despite Astruc earlier going on a several Tweets long ramble about how we can’t help how we feel when people were asking him about Marinette’s tendency to fall for any guy who prioritizes appeasing her emotions, because we gotta address the sexual harassment allegations. We even get Marinette begrudgingly acknowledging that she used to stalk Adrien while falsely insisting she never does that anymore and was more justified than anyone else.

All the classmates turning into Adrinette shippers is also something that’s clearly for the sake of appealing to fans who only care about the romance in the show, whether they exist or not. Let me tell you, preschoolers are not interested in romance stories, they think kissing is funny and makes for a funny show. So the turn into having almost all the characters constantly talk about Marinette and Adrien’s relationship just feels like ship bait written by people who have no idea what ship bait is. Also, the twist that Adrien fell in love with Marinette in the widely ridiculed ‘Puppeteer 2’ episode is absolutely moronic and only happened to be “surprising” as a reaction to so many fans hating the episode to begin with.

All the weird plot developments are just copied from tumblr blogs of older fans of the show too. The whole “love-square reversal” that led to absolutely nothing interesting is a thing the fandom has been bringing up as a way to “develop” the romance arc for years, and would you look how that was their go-to-idea when they started to devote more and more focus to the lovesquare. Similarly, the SentiAdrien concept originated from tumblr fan theories and was implemented in a way that was clearly directed at people who’d read all those same theory posts that the writers had, with everyone else, especially kids, in the audience being confused.

The issue here is, of course, that Miraculous' targeted audience is still small children, the kids who will want the toys, the costumes and the Miraculous themed bedsheets. So the show's general approach to all of this "deeper" stuff is played for laughs, dropped before the audience can dwell on it or to present it as an interpretative theatre performance where the visuals are meant to entertain the kids and none of the characters address the horror of the revelations in the play so that the supposedly deeper elements of the show remain mere implications. And these implications don't really affect anything in the show as-is. They're only there for the older fans to discuss amongst themselves. It's like they writers are doing the narrative equivalent of dangling keys but it's directed at teens and adults instead of the usual small children.

[runabout-river]

Thoughts on JJK chapter 247 (spoilers)

As I said last chapter, Sukuna is fascinated by Higuruma using his CT while using DA. Sukuna did sth similar against Gojo, where he merely stopped Mahoraga's wheel from being cancelled. He also explains that Higu does this by manipulating his CT

The fight resumes with Yuji in the mix again

This was a chilly panel. Just recently we've seen the damage those cubing slices have on people in the anime. Higuruma survives with DA probably but we don't see the aura of it anymore in this chapter

Sukuna fucks up Yuji and he still goes strong with the Yuji slander. In other manga I would've said that in the end Yuji will manage to get Sukuna's interest if not even his respect but for JJK and Yuji in particular, I'm saying that he doesn't need that. At all. Yuji's fighting prowess are basic but turned up to 11 and he doesn't need to change that not even as the protagonist.

Nothing to say here except that that's a cool panel of Sukuna. Also, when will he start to dance? He can use the chants but not the dances?

Only a sorcerer for two months and already getting his arms ripped off. Also, he's only a sorcerer for two months and he can use DE, DA and RCT. 👏👏👏 Someone give this man a medal for succeeding in the Sorcerer Olympics

Choso isn't dead yet and no one is surprised except maybe Sukuna. We don't see him though and I wonder why Gege chose to draw it like that. Maybe to not take attention away from Higu?

After Choso's attack, Sukuna is looking at his fingers which reminded me of the same thing he did after the Bath. Megumi had cracked his finger at the time (different hand though) and I wonder if this time is meant to be a call back to that time or if Choso's attack was just stronger than Sukuna thought.

Look at the way Higuruma healed is arm. He isn't as good and as fast in it as Gojo, Sukuna and Hakari, so he prioritized the functionality of his arm over a proper healing.

Higu stabs Sukuna but Sukuna cuts his hand off beforehand. What Todo can do Suku can do better.

I needed to look at this panel for a minute before I understood what had happened: that's Yuji's open palm there grabbing Higu's sword.

And what is it with Yuji and his older male friends dying on him

Not that Higuruma is dead. He's still alive at the end otherwise his CT would end. And I have this suspicion that Higuruma will actually survive. Not even Gege will want to kill a man like Higuruma (hopefully)

Next chapter we'll see if Yuji's attack will work

[thee-horny-thicky]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

Okay, so, technically, Satoru and Suguru are two different characters, but they're canon parallels to each other, two halves of a duo. When that stopped being the case, a chasm was created and their worlds shifted. Their relationship is a major part of both characters stories, so separating them is difficult.

It isn't hard to guess that I love them. They're complex characters, and both serve as a cornerstone of JJK. It's impossible to imagine the series without either one of them, and their respective ideologies and the reasons behind them can be essay material. (I know because I've written one for school)

Bella Goth is an iconic Sims character. She's a baddie, and has some of the most intriguing lore of the game. I think it's a shame the Sims 4 slacked up on the storylines of the townies, because even though I've never owned the original game or Sims 2, the lore of the first two games is compelling. I have fond memories of her, often revolving me breaking up her marriage, and protecting her from those mean, scary aliens.

I was six when this movie came out, and my mother took my sisters and I to see it in the theater. That first watch is something I'd never forget, and even though I was upset that my older sister stole my snacks, the magic of the movie overrode it all. To see a princess movie set in New Orleans endeared it to my entire family, and the fact that she's the first and only Black princess gives Tiana a special place in my heart. She's hardworking, ambitious, and persistent. Not to mention, she's a baddie.

Her and Naveen's love story is one of my favorites, and I adore the fact she showed you can have a loving husband and a prosperous career. She's an independent woman, but can still accept love.

Speaking of....

The original Disney baddie, (argue with your mama), and the first to spark my interest in martial arts. I thought she was so cool, and seeing her growth always puts a smile on my face. When she sat on the top of that pole, I was so proud of her. She started out headstrong and determined, and more honorable than most of the men around her. The crowd bowing to her was exactly what she deserved, and her Father giving her her props was such a sweet moment to me.

As a side note, she deserved better than Li Shang. I fully subscribe to the theory that Li is bisexual and developed an attraction towards Ping. I love the hypothetical queer representation, even if he ends up in a straight relationship. What I don't love is how he left her to die. He tried to pose it as an act of mercy, showing his gratitude for her heroic actions, but he still left her on a freezing mountainside in barely anything. Then, when she escaped and tried to warn him, he refused to give her the time of day. Put short, he was raggedy.

Saiki is one of my favorite anime protagonists. The way the anime pokes fun at tropes is so funny, and Saiki being done with the world around him is a mood, as is his fear of bugs. Anime is riddled with all powerful characters, and a lot of the time, they have a copy and paste personality. Seeing Saiki longing to be normal, (to the point of stalking someone who's scarily average), whilst also being over reliant on his powers and being comedically apathetic is a nice change of pace. It also makes him surprisingly complex. Though this is a theory and not canon, he's great ace representation. He's content with having no romantic partner, and I like how he grows to deal with having friends without having a sudden interest in romance.

Another good example of Ace representation, in my humble bisexual opinion, is Barbie. She shows that friendship and sisterhood can be fulfilling on its own, without any need for a romantic relationship.

Now, I don't think the Barbie movie is as revolutionary as people made it out to be. It was feminism 101, with the core message being the patriarchy oppresses women, and grossly limits men. A message that's still controversial in 2024, but not one we haven't heard before.

Still, it was an incredibly fun movie, and Barbie was a great heroine. The moment she chose the high heel over the Birkenstock, I knew I'd love her, and I was right.

I love Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was so ahead of its time, and is an example of how complex 'kid' shows can be. It's pretty hard for me to pick a favorite character, but if I was forced to choose, I'd say Uncle Iroh.

Long ago, I saw a comment about how if there was a character that embodied the pleasant warmth of a fire place or cackling campfire, it'd be Uncle Iroh. I completely agree. He's the perfect mentor, standing in Zuko's corner no matter what he wanted to do, while subtly guiding him down the right path. He also wasn't blind to his nephew's flaws, but never addressed them in a way that made Zuko feel unwanted. Even after being backstabbed, he was simply sad that Zuko lost his way.

We don't see his character arc on screen, but we know he underwent an incredible transformation, going from a fearsome Fire Nation general, to a humble old man reflective about life, though he can still kick ass if needed.

Leaves From The Vine still makes me feel mushy and teary-eyed. It's bittersweet knowing that losing his son was the catalyst for him to become the character we see, and the reason he's so dedicated to Zuko. He's trying to prevent him from suffering the same fate, and right a wrong that's haunted him for so long. Learning that the tears in Iroh's voice was genuine, because that was one of the final things Mako Iwamatsu recorded before passing, made me want to curl up in bed. He brought the character to life, and is one reason he's so iconic.

Finally, Mr. Shouta Aizawa's fine ass. Now, besides just being fine, I love him for many of the reasons I love Iroh. He's nowhere as cheerful and warm as Uncle Iroh, but he takes his role as a teacher and mentor seriously. He stands in his students corner no matter what, and has shown time and time again that he'd give his life for them. Furthermore, he isn't a hero for fame or recognition, but because he believes it's the right thing to do. He knows the society he lives in is flawed, and tries to right U.A's quirk prejudice system by mentoring Hitoshi.

One might not peg him as it, but he's a very parental character. It's shown with his students, with Hitoshi, and most especially Eri. He's dedicated to guiding the next generation to achieve their fullest potential. Plus, his quirk is cool as hell, and he can throw hands.

Bonus:

Anya Forger and Nezuko, because they make me reconsider my stance on children. They're so cute, and highlights of their respective shows. And I love how Anya is shown to be childishly intelligent. It's due to her powers, but still.

TF141 also gains an honorable mention, especially my baby girl Ghost. Despite being the most secretive character of the task force, we have the most information on his background, and I love his fruity friendship with Johnny. Likewise, I love the mentor relationship Gaz and Price have. On a hornier note, I wish there were more threesome fics with Gaz and Price taking a lucky lady to Pound Town. All and all, these four awful people are my favorite pieces of military propaganda.

[bestygogirl]

BEST YGO GIRL: Round 4, Group B

Match 2

please use this as an opportunity to say why you like a character, not why you don't.

Propaganda under the cut!

Aoi Zaizen

The show hates her but she is a very good character. Trickstars and Marincesses are both hella cool decks.

Aoi’s parents died when she was around 6 and she was mostly raised by her older brother. She’s the 2nd best Duelist in the VRAINS at the start of the series and over the course of the first season goes from being rather shy and only putting on a happy facade to a determined Duelist willing to risk her life to save the world. She even puts a stop to a virus that’s leaving people in comas.

Aoi gets two more avatars (Blue Girl and Blue Maiden) and also obtains a semi-magic AI named Aqua as her partner.

She never lets her trauma keep her down and was a huge inspiration for me in high school!

AOI ZAIZEN IS THE BEST GIRL! She's gonna sweep this whole tournament and here's why:

Is the peak YGO Girl who Deserved Better from the writers

Just a normal everyday girl IRL who secretly turns into an ultra bubbly sweetheart idol who everyone absolutely loves when in the virtual world.

Her VRAINS persona is extremely popular, and none of her fans know that she's just Some Girl.

Plays an idol deck with Trickstars (toxic meta combo not included)

Is sheltered by her overprotective older step-brother/guardian, but very quickly stands up for herself and what she believes is right.

Mutual protection with said step-brother is the sweetest thing ever, I love Aoi and Akira moments so much!

She does NOT fall head over heels for the main protagonist, but they do share a nice conversation and handshake as they become friends IRL (one of the best VRAINS scenes, honestly)

Absolutely wrecks Soulburner for like 99% of their duel, and only loses because the writers don't understand how to move a plot along if Soulburner doesn't win as many duels as possible

Duels two seasonal antagonists, and completely destroys them both before losing thanks to an OP anime card that will never see the light of day, and a one-off card made specifically to counter her strategy and have her lose.

Her first virtual avatar, Blue Angel, is inspired by the main character from her favorite childhood book. That's adorable!

Her main summoning chants are all about hopes, dreams, and believing in yourself.

In the English dub, she says "I could so swipe left on you right now" implying that Tinder exists in the Yu-Gi-Oh universe.

Never got the Magical Girl transformation sequence she deserved because the writers apparently were not aware that Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS is a Magical Girl show, despite the two main dudes getting that special treatment.

AOI ZAIZEN DESERVED BETTER! Give her what she deserves!

AND SHE'S A TRANS LESBIAN

Dark Magician Girl

she is iconic, basically the unofficial mascot of the anime. She has so much merch and so much fanart she is THE girl ever

[iamafanofcartoons]

RWBY Fans talk about what makes RWBY enjoyable for the FNDM.

I want to take a moment to thank the RWBY Fandom for coming together on post

www.tumblr.com/iamafanofcartoons/714857308133441536/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

and discussing why RWBY was an enjoyable show for each of them.

Everyone here had a fantastic reason, and I am grateful to each of you!

@hmvw2015 : For me, RWBY filled the void left behind by Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra.

It’s one of the few shows I’ve seen (aside from Adventure Time) that grows up with its audience.

The fight scenes are so incredible! They’re lightening fast I would have to rewatch the same episode at least twice or thrice! Easily rivaling those done by Studios Gainax or TRIGGER, or Titmouse.

Since every character, place, and object have connections to fairy tales, mythologies, folklore, and classic novels, it did a great job portraying them to their root inspirations. Plus, I’m always digging deep into their designs and backstories.

The music is almost top tier to the music from the Disney Renaissance Era. Maybe even better than that. The songs add another layer of foreshadowing for the characters, and they’re fun to listen to~!

It tackles issues like self-worth, abuse, and death.

The series basically screams “Women’s Rights” and “Gay Rights” and proud of it. :D

www.tumblr.com/hmvw2015/715987868852666368/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@ammy246 :

I've always enjoyed the characters, and I like how there are 4 badass female protagonists who are each enjoyable to watch. I also like how the villains are actually threatening, so the heroes have to put effort into earning victories unlike many works of fiction. The animation always excites me, because you never know what you're going to get. And, don't even get me started on the amazing soundtrack.

@cinnamonrollfuckhead :

it tickles all the right things about me. i got in trouble for reading in classes when i finished my work early at school, it was nearly always history or mythology. i was an ancient Egypt kid. i read outside my age group. if Snapple wanted to employ me to write factoids for their caps i would take it. i was hooked on RWBY immediately despite being older than any of the main characters. i found an unlikely character to relate to in Jaune. i loved how it balanced serious and goofy themes.

@satoshi-mochida :

Some stuff I like about the show is that it's pretty fun and entertaining to watch, has constantly improving writing and animation(the CRWBY recognizing ACTUAL criticism, and working on those), with smarter and deeper than some may think moments, well-done characters, great music and songs, and probably more. I even cosplayed as Jaune(and the 'HuntsMan' with a Wonder-Zwei plush)with my then-girlfriend before COVID hit and other stuff happened, and enjoyed doing that.

@haunted-meatsack :

I'm waaaaay behind but I started watching for the fight choreography, music, and battle skirts. Plus I'm a sucker for small girls who kick ass with GIANT weapons. Then the story and characters kept me coming. I need to catch up.

www.tumblr.com/haunted-meatsack/715895495101497344/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@bumblebyfan :

I like RWBY due to a lot of reasons, for starters, the relationships between the main characters, and how they constantly help each other, I also really like the whole fantasy setting and how funny it is at times, I also really liked how they handled Ruby’s arc during season 9, as someone who has had... intrusive thoughts

www.tumblr.com/bumblebyfan/715730749688561664/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@xlbingo10 :

one thing that i particularly like about rwby is that the characters aren't dumbasses. i feel like so often in shows i watch there's an episode conflict where the characters make an obviously terrible plan that will clearly backfire horribly just for the sake of the episode plot and it's always painful to watch, so it's really nice to watch a show where that doesn't happen.

www.tumblr.com/xlbingo10/715707865708527616/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable.

@sir-somewhat :

I love the cast.

I honestly can't say there is a character I am not fond of in some way and that includes the villians.

I love the idea of semblances and the faunus.

Also I want more faunus lore. Given the existence of the Ever After I have to wonder if the Faunus came from another world created by the Brothers.

www.tumblr.com/sir-somewhat/715323283721076736/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@ghost-of-sparda :

Rwby was a show I found in college that I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy, but as I watched it- I found myself completely enthralled in the world created by Monty Oum and his friends. It’s story has me on the edge of my seat every episode, and it’s anime vibes make it a treat to watch. It’s not perfect, I will admit that- and there have been times where I didn’t agree with a direction of story telling at first. However there hasn’t been a show that gets me as excited as RWBY does since I was a kid.

If you grew up watching anime, or grew up watching anime- I’d give RWBY a go. If you are still not over the Owl House/ She-Ra/ ATLA/ LOK/ Naruto/ or any other amazing series with crazy fights and an amazing story: I recommend Rwby as your next obsession.

And if you want to give anime a try, but are still dipping your toes into the medium- Rwby is a good half way point for newcomers.

www.tumblr.com/ghost-of-sparda/715237926532956160/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@aspiringwarriorlibrarian :

I really like the characters and their arcs, tragic villains, the triumph of hope and healing, and the fantasy elements.

www.tumblr.com/aspiringwarriorlibrarian/715056039519830016/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@miki-13 : I love how they use fairy tales and myths as inspiration but execute them in really interesting ways, as well as how human and grounded everyone feels while inside such a fantastic setting.

www.tumblr.com/miki-13/715136165044469760/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@thatringboy :

For the same reasons above, I’m also in love with the complex motivations behind the antagonists. Mercury hated the world and needed an enabler, Emerald needed security, Cinder snapped after a lifetime of abuse (just like Mercury), Hazel wanted revenge, Lionhart wanted to save himself, Raven wanted to save herself, Tyrian is just insane (based), Watts wanted petty revenge, Neo wanted revenge but doesn’t know what to do afterwards, CC wants to fulfill their cruel purpose, and Salem just wants to finally die. Torchwick was a comical villain who posed a dangerous threat, the Malachite sisters were doing their jobs, Ironwood was a victim of his own paranoia, Cardin was just racist, Cordovin worships her superiors, the Fennec brothers too, Adam wanted total control over everything and everyone in his life and would stop at nothing to get it, Ilia believed in a cause, Tock was following orders, it’s all so varied and exciting!!

www.tumblr.com/thatringboy/715138435689676800/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@pyrokinetic-murder-hobo :

I honestly fell in love with this project immediately back when the red trailer was first introduced to me.

Though the animation for RWBY was simple and understandably a lot of people regard it as not the best. Even V1 and the original 4 trailers had a living soul to me and there was a certain charm to the characters and the animation.

What kept me coming back is I find myself being unable to predict where the show will go and it honestly keeps me drawn in that my thoughts and predictions are completely circumvented. The show doesn’t follow the trajectory of really any other media and Monty navigated it masterfully.

There’s so many relatable characters and the situations they are put in are approached not perfectly but in a human way as to be a human (even if you have copious amounts of power) means you’ll definitely trip up.

But simply put I’ve loved this project since the beginning with the 4 trailers and could write a dissertation on why I love this show and include a long list of different things I love ranging from OST to characters to design animation. But maybe a talk for another day

And it made me some awesome friends on tumblr of course too which is a major plus (you better know who you are lol)

www.tumblr.com/pyrokinetic-murder-hobo/715072709057478656/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

iamafanofcartoons:

For me, RWBY is a change of pace.

It allows for women to be shown as independent characters, just as smart and strong as male ones.

It doesn’t use fanservice , you don’t have internal monologuing during fight scenes, you don’t have people screaming random attack names, and the music and designs are great.

I appreciate the humor, its not toilet humor or degrading humor like a lot of anime.

It also tackles difficult themes like abuse, leadership, morality, and debate.

It also takes the white male savior trope so common in the fanfics that people use to promote their OCs, and takes a giant dump on that garbage. If anything, when people say “the fanfics are better than the show” you’ll see them promoting a white male savior trope above all else.

Finally? Its a pro-LGBT show on many aspects, which amusingly infuriates a lot of straight shippers who defend their straight white male character who they put on a pedestal.

www.tumblr.com/iamafanofcartoons/715040015347040256/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@grimmgrinningghouls :

for me RWBY is a comfort

It has been for 10 years

I literally would not be who I am today without this show

I'd probably still be a closeted lesbian living in a conservative household with an abusive father

and a mother who hated me

hell I may not even be here

But instead I'm living across the world from them and I'm okay

As okay as I can be

Its helped me through so much and its introduced me to people I have become life long friends with

These funky little lesbians are part of my life and they will be till the day I die

www.tumblr.com/grimmgrinningghouls/715064091163721728/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@snowqueenofmyheart :

Agreed to the above, as well as being able to enjoy a story that centers women in a way that doesn’t reduce them to simplistic tropes or fanservice. I’ve been looking for more female-centered material over the last several years, and stumbling upon RWBY turned out to be a real joy in that regard. Across the board, you have so many compelling female characters, heroes and villains alike. Not to mention two main characters being explicitly in a queer romance is a delight and a relief.

www.tumblr.com/snowqueenofmyheart/715058819349233664/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@youraveragecatastrophe :

well first i love fantasy so we're off to a good start between the monsters heroes and magic

the characters are a very strong point of this show. they're well fleshed out

(even many secondary characters including villains and despite the big cast!)

and they get the opportunity to develop and evolve

i love the themes! love and hope and caring about each other and all that

the fights are really fun to watch especially with the unique weapons and everyone's different fighting style

the story is really compelling and well written too!

also gayness. can't forget the queerness

really this show has everything

www.tumblr.com/youraveragecatastrophe/715058708953071616/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@foulfirerebel :

The music was what first made me get interested in RWBY. The hard hitting rock that also carried quite a bit of meaning into it if you truly took a moment to listen to the lyrics.

So, from there I watched V1 at a friend's house and felt it was good. It did a good job with the action scenes, and setting things up for the characters.

Volume 2, however, is where I truly fell in love with the show. The appearance of Cinder, of Ironwood, the food fight, the investigation into Torchwick and the White Fang, the dance and hacking sequence! Everything pointed to something more going on. Something hidden waiting to spring forth!

V1 was a great entry point, V2 convinced me to stay and hooked me, and when I finally marathoned V3 I was EAGER to watch V4 and onward. Any and all quibbles I may have had melted away when the Fall of Beacon happened.

So, long story short, I love the story. I love how things are built up and come back further down the line (Jaune's issues, Ruby's issues, etc.). I love how the characters do go through a lot and need help getting back up. I love how sincere and earnest everything is without a hint of irony.

I love the slow burn relationships, and that the show doesn't end with those relationships just being established. I love that, despite everything, this one little indie show has continued going past everything that's happened in a decade since it started. I love that the story is engaging, the characters are deep, the writing is great, and that I'm even feeling bad for the villains which I don't normally do.

RWBY may not be the most perfect thing ever, but frankly I love that the writers do see and incorporate feedback into their work. I love that, unlike how Halo or Star Wars do things, you don't necessarily need to have read all the side content to understand things too.

Most of all is I love how this show has improved on every level: animation, writing, voice acting, etc. It's just so refreshing. It's the Little Engine that Could continuing onward and getting better as it goes.

And hey, being a Bumbleby shipper since V3 and being vindicated in V9? Cherry on the sundae. It's been a wild ride, and I'd love it to continue.

www.tumblr.com/foulfirerebel/714989613562904576/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@maor-koren :

RWBY is one of my favorite shows, it take a unique concept and make it very enjoyable to watch.

The main and side characters are all unique in their own way and very enjoyable.

The story is really good.

The animation, fight scenes and the design of the characters and places are all very pleasing to the eye.

And the music is phenomenal.

Don’t let other people make your opinion! look at the show and see for yourself if you like it or not!

www.tumblr.com/maor-koren/714954350873788416/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@but-a-humble-goon :

Rwby is, in a word, earnest. Its characters are unashamedly sincere, affectionate and vulnerable and the show understands not only that these things are not a weakness but that there can be no greater measure of strength. It’s a story overflowing with heart that categorically rejects stoicism and nihilism and never once apologises for itself. Nothing has ever hit me harder and I do mean that.

www.tumblr.com/but-a-humble-goon/714953671346176000/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@mikey-polo420 :

I watched RWBY Because i was drawn in by the trailers when Monty was alive and i liked the idea of cute girls fighting monsters with giant weapons, then i wanted to see their journey through beacon and now i've become invested with the Messages of hope the show presents, i love each of my precious children and want to see them achieve their happiness , i want to support RWBY to it's conclusion because that's what Monty wanted, it's what his friends wanted and they deserve to complete his Brain child.

www.tumblr.com/mikey-polo420/714951464721743872/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@mooninoir :

i started watching when vol. 1 was still going, with a fansub (!) working hell and back to translate each episode as they came out. i remember waiting every week to see a new episode, and when the last episodes came, i was entirely invested in this sci-fi fantasy series with fairytale elements and wanted to know what would happen next.

and, for me, it's an endearing series that i enjoy watching, even with its flaws. it's fun, but it also has a heart. i like how it didn't shy away from telling a broader story. vol. 3's gut-wrenching finale was for me what made me realize i was not there just for the amazing fights and cool soundtrack, but for the characters and how they live in this crazy world. it was amazing to watch its worldbuilding evolve to such great lengths and see the characters i like to grow and learn and evolve along with it. they are done well and don't feel misplaced in the narrative. it just flows nicely and i guess the latest volume proved that to me (the themes, the motifs, the characters' choices, and the visuals) everything comes together, y'know?

and i just... like it. i like rwby. i really do.

www.tumblr.com/mooninoir/714949733681102848/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

Tumblingxelian:

Why do you watch this show?

I watch RWBY for the cool characters, interesting setting and engaging overarching story and arcs, plus some gorgeous animation, sets and awesome music.

What makes it appeal to you?

Women, including queer women, are center stage and given tons of dynamic personality, agency and exploration in ways I rarely see done in other series.

www.tumblr.com/tumblingxelian/714943623381303296/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@feifiefofum :

look, the ad on the tin was cute girls doing violent things and looking great while doing it. that was the impetus for me to follow the show, i was there when it started with the famous red trailer to yellow trailer.

the writing then wasn't bad, a bit condensed because, y'know, shoestring budget so everything was very tight time wise. but y'know, you didn't watch the four trailers and get sold on the story- which was good by the by, but it wasn't exceptional. it was by the numbers, hitting what they need to hit, but good. you didn't think it was spectacular.

but then volume 3 hits you out of nowhere, and you realize, oh, the writing is phenomenal actually.

rwby has deceptively good writing that on the surface is good par for the course that lulls you into complacency, and then manages to sideswipe you with incredible twists that you don't see, but on looking back, the seeds for the twist were planted from book 1 on. the world is slowly and meticulously rolled out to the viewer, the characters shine, and the action, while still spectacular, become secondary to the characters and the world.

i started watching rwby, expecting cute girls doing violent things. and they deliver on that, and if you come watch rwby just for that, it delivers that. i didn't come in for hearty world building, intrigue, and lore so deep you can get lost in it. the writers write on a razor's edge, giving enough lore for a backdrop and setting the stage, but if you decide to dig at any trail, you can get lost in it. the concept of dust, the name of the world itself- frankly i think it's a masterclass in giving enough to keep the story going but having enough in the back that every new twist that they lay out can be found to have grown from a seed that was planted in an earlier volume.

i dunno who traded their soul away to keep track of all that world building and lore, but that excel sheet must be something to behold. rwby throws u-turns that you don't expect at you, lulls you with a sense of 'okay, i see your tricks now' and somehow manages to turn you around again, and have it make sense.

frankly, it's a little frustrating, i've been bamboozled and led by the nose.

and i love it for that. i'm delighted by the ride i'm on, and i hope the show keeps going.

www.tumblr.com/feifiefofum/714920887601790976/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@aspennntree :

I watch rwby for several reasons- mostly for the characters, i find some of them really relatable

also i just genuinely enjoy the story and the visuals and find the show very comforting

i also like the people i’ve met in this community that are kind and i like having people to share my interests with

i’ve made many new friends being in this community and it’s something i’m very passionate about, i just really enjoy it genuinely

www.tumblr.com/aspennntree/714906439613906944/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@tokufan400 :

Even with everything, I can't bring myself to stop watching RWBY. I got back into it after talking with some friends in highschool, and I've been doing my best to keep up with it since. I have love for the characters (Weiss is the best), and I do feel a sence of amazement that a western project like this ha s grown so much. Not to mention the amount of art, comics, manga, and fanfics that have spawned from the show.

Do I have problems with RWBY? Yes. I will probably never stop ranting about something the show does to tick me off. But I do the same for Star Vs and Kamen Rider Zero One, both shows I still hold a love for. Hell, I might do the same for Amphibia and Owl House down the line if I do a re watch.

So yeah, still love RWBY and I want to be around to see how this story ends.

www.tumblr.com/tokufan400/714910475313446912/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@howlingday :

So, I was in high school and I was watching Red VS Blue. Then I started watching Rage Quit. Then Achievement Hunter. Play Pals.

Then my sister and my high school crush were like, hey, try out RWBY. I mocked them by saying "It should be Ar-Dubyoo-Bee-Why". Then I got into it and, well, I liked it the more I got into it until I was caught up to Volume 2. Then Death Battle had the Yang VS Tifa fight (PLEASE, NO REMATCH), and I was rooting for Yang. Then I saw Volume 3, and I was shocked, dismayed, and devastated at the sudden heel turn. I've been hooked ever since.

So, to answer your questions.

I watch RWBY because it's fun, and I want to know where the story goes. I loved the fun had at Beacon, and I want to know what happens next.

The appeal comes from the desire to see these group of friends fight to save the world from the Grimm. I want to see them thrive against a world where everything is stacked against them! And I want to see them flying kick someone in the face to the sound of the most amazing butt-rock since Crush 40 Sonic (No offense MGR)!

So, yeah, I love watching RWBY because it's a story to be told. And I'm going to openly sob when the story finally comes to an end.

www.tumblr.com/howlingday/714865441082851328/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@gorillageek27 :

i watch because, okay i was kinda turned off by it at first, just "what is this anime shit?", but i watched it and it's the most out there animated thing i can think like. Rwby is a show that somehow got me appreicating animated projects and you can tell the writers and animators have fun with it.

www.tumblr.com/gorillageek27/714864574777671680/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@lithominium :

Its endearing, the lack of amazing animation in vol 1-3 is made up for in how much love was put into it. The characters are fun and loveable and the writing is goofy but unlike some other media ive watched its very good at knowing when to keep the tone consistent. Its very gay and i love gay and its got one of the greatest slow burns ive ever seen with great payoffs which always happen when they should. I like the setting and the lore and the weapons and the semblances. Its such a good show

www.tumblr.com/lithominium/714869719134535680/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@everafterfrisk :

I love RWBY for a ton of reasons but to keep it short:

• The Facial Expressions of the characters match really well with the tones of each scene

• Amazing character designs that can just tell you so much about them before you get to know them

•The animation: RWBY imo is best 3D animated series, most of the time 3D animes tend to be stiff and lifeless

But RWBY gives its fights alot of finesse and creativity to go along with

Like here's a few examples:

(V9)

Weiss and Blake using gambol shroud's blade to propel Yang while simultaneously having Yang use Arma Gigas's Sword

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9RQnk7Oueo

(V3)

Yang closing Flynt's Trumpet making his quartet backfire on him

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLu3_LKG_A8

(V4 Short)

Ruby using the recoil of her weapon to bounce out of the way from a Grimm and trip him up using her Scythe catching him into a Hurricane formed by her semblance (13:54)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivns4_clQ_c

There's even a full in depth analysis on the fight choreography from the earlier volumes to check out

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMQfm0RsY6o

• Themes of Unity,Self identity,Acceptance,Loving oneself, Finding hope in the most dreadful scenarios and the list goes on

• The Protagonist Ruby Rose is a breath of fresh air similar to say Deku from BNHA where both know the world isn't exactly kind but still try to help the best they can; even if it results in them destroying themselves to get there as their series's goes on

•The Villains are all pretty realistic in their motivations being not afraid to fall victim to arrogance while simultaneously being victims of either the world's actions or their own

°The show doesn't swindle you into thinking that just cuz they have sympathetic backgrounds that they're immediately good

They have to work for it and atone for misdeeds such as Ilia,Emerald and Hazel or doesn't believe their actions are unwarranted like Salem and Cinder or has a lack of empathy for the world around them like Mercury or Tyrian or Wants to do the right thing but lets the ends justify their means(Ironwood) or Living only on the fear of your actions(Lionheart) or The world has dealt so much injustice to you that you felt giving it by ten thousand fold would remedy it ( Ilia and Adam)

▪︎ The Music is just PEAK for me

The Sound design,everything just speaks volumes of the scene

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS4HvQ5BP-1gKp4Ou4PRkqdEDvnNqdTGS

www.tumblr.com/everafterfrisk/714883876389044224/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@blakistan :

I think RWBY was first suggested to be me on the grounds of “lots of really cool fights” which, while not ultimately the point of the show is still a big plus! Monty was an absolute wizard when it came to fight choreography and CRWBY has done a fantastic job keeping up that legacy. Ofc that was only the thing that got me to look at the show in the first place - what made me stay was the incredibly well done character-driven story. Following along and exploring the arcs of all the different characters in the show helped me through tough times and shaped a lot of who I am as a person today - Blake and Weiss’ stories in particular did so much in helping me find hope that I could grow as a person because that what the show is: hope. So uh yeah, if you like deep, interwoven character narratives that don’t shy away from growth, change, or the ugliness that sometimes crops up along the way with those things, definitely give RWBY a watch

www.tumblr.com/blakistan/714867196992585728/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@proximio-5 :

Tbh, I don't know, there's something about it that I can't explain, I started watching it in 2018, but somehow it's one of my top 3 Favorite animated shows, it can be because of the story or maybe the background, like the people behind it and everything they've done and how far they've come

For example, Monty; first he made the Haloid animation, then he became director of animation in Red vs Blue, and then he created this masterpiece that will be a big part of me

The animation itself is one of the best things about the show, I mean looking back at the style of background in V1 and more recent volumes, saying it has improved would be an understatement, I mean just look at it, you can see how much effort the've done for it

Another reason is the development or the characters, they've changed and matured in many ways. (Speaking of, I really hope Ruby comes back different but keeping at least some of her previous self)

So yeah, this show is far of being perfect, but then again...

What isn't?

www.tumblr.com/proximio-5/714866831427567616/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@kereeachan :

I’m generally a fan of animation, and it’s been neat seeing how it’s improved since volume 3 (when I got into it). The story intrigues me, and I love the wide cast of characters and their development. The alternate universe is a neat one, Grimm are fascinating as a take on Evil Creatures to me, and the designs have always been cool, bar a few that never flew with me (Blake’s 1-3 outfit just kind of always looked a lil too sexy for my tastes on a “huntress” and I initially thought Nora’s 4-6 look was a downgrade before it grew on me)

I really enjoyed Ironwood’s slide from well-intentioned, if incorrect, hero to villain. Honestly his foreshadowing in volumes 2, 3, and 4 was some of the best I’ve ever seen. Maswartz above has commented on how they fool you by having him take facistic actions against people we hate more to hide how far he’s falling fast until we actually GET to Atlas and Mantle and realize it’s gone full Police State (if it wasn’t before). Genius.

I also adored Penny, she was my baby, she was amazing as a character and I’m so happy we got her back for a few more volumes before losing her for good (as much as anyone is ever truly gone, of course, she still looms large over vol 9). As one of the “weird girls” of the world who took a long time to come into my comfort with being a girl due to teasing and bullying (autism, baby. they always know) Penny just always SPOKE to me. I’m glad she not only proved her Real Girl bonafides as a Maiden but even got to live outside a metal body for a few episodes before her death, finally feeling the warmth of a hug.

www.tumblr.com/kereeachan/714863784387297280/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@sevenofreds :

It's a genuinely fun and enjoyable show that can mix multiple genres together without it being jarring. There's action and comedy, there's horror, there's mystery and drama, and it all makes sense for what's happening. It has a layered and complex plot where things almost always turn out to be more nuanced than they first seem, and almost every twist/big event is subtly foreshadowed in some way. The shorter length of episodes compared to other shows also makes it really fun to binge watch.

www.tumblr.com/sevenofreds/714860874339352576/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@crowwrites2140 :

Of course it has its flaws like every other piece of media, but I genuinely find RWBY both entertaining and just a good show in general. I love the "AHA!" moments when you something is revealed that has been hinted at for volumes. I love the music and could listen to it for hours. I love the characters; their designs, their motivations, their relationships with each other and their character arcs that span the show. In regards to the protagonists, I also enjoy how they all seem so human. The writers allow them to make mistakes and fail. They aren't always the perfect heroes. And in regards to the villains, they are believable too. Nearly every one of them has some kind of motivation that drives them to want revenge in destruction. I love the plot, despite its flaws. It's complex and ties in with countless allusions. And lastly, I love the fanbase. Not the toxic side, honestly it makes me sad that a show like RWBY needs positivity posts because its hate fanbase is just so large. But there are so many in the community who are incredibly creative and create hilarious memes, beautiful art, and amazing stories, and I'm grateful to be a part of that.

www.tumblr.com/crowwrites2140/714860089114312704/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@the-god-of-nihon :

RWBY is a special show to me. I’ve been with the series since it premiered at the end of RvB Season 10, and ten years is not an inconsiderable amount of time to be a fan of something. And unlike the “critics” or RWDE, I don’t stick around to hate-watch because of the sunken cost fallacy, or “to learn what not to do.” Or just for a reason to complain, more accurately. I simply enjoy the series. I have since it began, and I still do, and I’ll continue to do so.

While I don’t like everything about the show, or agree with all the creative choices; I don’t automatically assume that something I don’t like is wrong or bad. I happily take RWBY for what it is, and not what I think it should be. I, by no means am blind to the flaws and missteps, but none of them hinder my enjoyment to the degree that I feel like the show overall is a negative experience, even at its lowest points.

I watch the show because I like it. It has been a consistent source of enjoyment for me, and even now. I’ve enjoyed growing alongside it from an indie web-series into what it is today and seeing how it’s changed and improved with every volume.

I enjoy and am invested in many of the characters. I like the world and the bits of world-build and lore we get throughout the main show and supplementary material. And of course I can’t not touch on the fights and character designs. Its vibrant and narrative-relevant use of color, and how that’s effected the shows aesthetic development. And Monty Oum’s classic high-speed, frenetic and intricate choreo, that’s yet to be replicated. And how while different the post-Monty fights are still interesting and engaging for the most part.

I love the depictions of friendship and platonic/familial connection in the show, most prominently for me personally, Ruby & Jaune’s bond. As it’s so rare for a male-female friendship to be purely platonic and still be so genuinely well-written and integral to both characters. Although, I think RWBY is largely hit or miss with the way it handles romance, I think its friendships & familial bonds are where it excels.

Ruby, Yang, and Jaune are my top three favorites characters in RWBY, and how their characters and arcs have been so endearing and intriguing to watch. Especially as since V7, and what is being done with them current.

www.tumblr.com/the-god-of-nihon/714867324298182656/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

@lostdemifiend :

The biggest thing for why I love RWBY so much it is "oh that makes sense!" when something unexpected happens BECAUSE everything was set up previously that would result in this eventually, and none of it feels forced.

At the same time, its gleeful deconstruction of common shonen anime tropes adds to that sense of surprise. Subconsciously, one goes in expecting certain things to happen, but it defies that expectation in a way that feels like a natural consequence.

There's so much more, but I can't even start to unpack just exactly why I love this series so much.

www.tumblr.com/lostdemifiend/714857897499164672/lets-talk-about-what-makes-rwby-good-or-enjoyable

Thank you all of you for showing everyone what makes RWBY fantastic to all!

If you want some youtube channels that discuss RWBY in analytical or philosophic detail? Or if you want comic dubs?

Xel Writer on Youtube aka @tumblingxelian for analysis videos

@marylizabetha on Youtube for philosophy videos

and @markzschiegnerii or Mark Zschiegner on youtube for comic dubs!

I love you, RWBY Fandom, you've made my life rich with joy.

[animeyanderetalker]

So you finished enies lobby eh? How’s ur one piece journey so far, and do you have any brief thoughts on the straw hats (so far)?

I’m giving you my honest review here because as much as I like the series so far, I also have my fair share of stuff I don’t enjoy.

I adore the world in One Piece. I’ve been a big fan of Pirates of the Caribbean as a child and I have always wished back then that I would see Jack Sparrow exploring all mysterious islands and finding all treasures. I got that with One Piece but even better. Each island feels unique and whilst there are definitely pacing problems at times even this early for me, I do love the aspects of exploring each individual island and learning about the rules, the environment and the life of the people calling it their home. I know that the Skypiea Arc isn’t that beloved amongst Anime fans but I really loved the arc due to the unique and interesting setting the island in the sky had. From its past to the inventions to the way people live in the sky, everything has so much personality and that has been the case with every major island so far. The sense of adventure and curiosity I always get whilst getting to know a new island is really addictive and I love the foreshadowing. The fact that the end of the Going Merry had already been hinted during the Skypiea Arc but was only revealed during the Water 7 Arc is insane and from what I have heard, Oda is great in foreshadowing and I’m looking forward to that.

What I find myself struggling with, and I don’t know if the Anime is partially exaggerating this sometimes, are the characters itself at times and the, in my opinion, lukewarm comedy that gets very repetitive and boring after a while.

Luffy:

I am actively struggling with the main character at times. Luffy is quite carefree, impulsive and does whatever he wants and it is not even that this is what I dislike about him. He has such heartfelt moments such as giving Nami his straw hat during the Arlong Park Arc despite the hat being a treasure for him or him defending the pirate flag of Chopper during the Drum Island Arc. It’s just that he sometimes is portrayed as so amazingly incompetent and stupid that I am agonizing over it. How can you get stuck twice within the same arc in between two walls and then spend episodes there whilst your friends are trying to save Robin?? Him being a glutton is expected, older Shounen protagonists just seem to have a habit of having a black hole instead of a stomach. I also still don’t understand how he learnt Gear 2 and 3 in such a short time considering that I cannot recall a time where he had time to properly train.

Roronoa Zoro:

I have very little to criticize about Zoro. Luckily his character gag of always getting lost isn’t something that is thrown into my face every episode so I can tolerate it. He’s a man of honor and I like seeing him on screen, but I’m still waiting for that one moment of him where I go from liking him to loving him. I also feel like he suffered in the Enies Lobby Arc from being paired with uninteresting opponents to fight against (Kaku and Jabra).

Nami:

I love and hate Nami at the same time. But the reason why I hate her isn’t even her own fault. As a character I love how she isn’t someone who is actively fighting and has admittedly not the most interesting fights but without her literally nothing would work. As a navigator she is irreplaceable and without her skills the Straw Hats would go nowhere. Her backstory was also heartbreaking but Oda seems quite skillful when it comes to writing a good and tragic backstory. The reason why I hate her though is because she has become more and more a victim of sexualization the further the story has progressed and I just know that it’ll get even worse. I have seen the pictures of her after the timeskip and it is so infuriating because she didn’t look like this at the beginning of the story. The freaking scene in the Arabasta Arc where she was sexualized from a camel and a crab was a different low for me because it’s the first time I have seen animals thirsting over a female character.

Usopp:

Usopp is a character I also find myself struggling with. On the one hand his creativity and his craftsmanship are to be admired. This is a man who invented Nami’s Clima-Tact and was the shipwright before Franky joined. On the other hand his character gags of being the big coward can get a little bit tiring after a while for me. I really loved the Water 7 Arc because it showed him in a much more serious light which was a nice change for once. And I am going to be quite honest here with you, I did not enjoy the whole Sogeking sequence. I understand that he was too ashamed to face his friends after he had left the crew but it got a tad bit annoying to me after a while. I was also not surprised that Luffy and Chopper were the only ones who didn’t recognize him in his disguise.

Vinsmoke Sanji:

I actually really enjoyed Sanji’s character when he was first introduced. I admired his ideology of not letting anyone starve due to his own experience of being stranded on an island without much food and the relationship he had going on with Zeff and the other chefs was heartwarming. However, his simp character has significantly increased since then to the point where it has gotten frustrating and annoying. I remember that scene in the Skypiea Arc where the Going Merry was kidnapped with a few crew members still onboard. And the first thing that left Sanji’s mouth then was that he was disappointed that Nami wasn’t in bikini anymore. I think that is the moment where I started not liking his character as much anymore and from what I have heard, it’ll become a lot more worse. It’s really disappointing in my opinion because he could be such a cool character but around women he is always reduced to a simp with heart eyes.

Tony Tony Chopper:

Chopper is adorable and I love his versatile forms he can use with his Rumble Ball. But I just wish that the show would actually give him more recognition because the 50 Berries he has on his head as of now and the fact that he was called a pet on those wanted posters is saddening. Because not only can he actually fight because he took down one of the CP9 members but he is the doctor of the ship and fulfills such an important role because of it. He is more than just a cute little animal and I hope that will be more recognized.

Nico Robin:

Robin is as of now my favorite character and I have literally nothing I can criticize about her. She is intelligent, her backstory is my favorite as of now and I love how her character also shows that it isn’t only pure strength alone that can be dangerous in the eyes of others but also intelligence. She was wanted for simply knowing how to read Poneglyphs. I’m also happy that she hasn’t been sexualized in the Anime so far and I pray to god that she won’t get the Nami treatment later on. I also love her dark and blunt sense of humor.

Franky:

Franky is incredibly likable. He is as of now the newest member of the Straw Hats so I have not as much to say about him but he is also a well built character with a nice introduction. The relationship he had going on with Iceberg and his past with Tom were well written and despite his rowdy experience he has a heart made out of gold. The fact that he took all outsiders in Water 7 under his wings and gave them a new home and purpose says really all you need to know about him and I’m looking forward to seeing more of him.

[lolia21]

In my mind and let me be clear this is purely a delusion that I have created but...

In my mind, there is a weird three-way race happening where no one is trying to win or is even aware they are in a race. But it's a race to make to most lgbtq+ adjacent main character in Shonen anime. And I was to be the main character. I love Yamato is he my son whose older than me. But he's not the protagonist of anything but my heart.

I mean, in my mind, as of September 2024, One Piece, Boruto(inexplicably), and HunterXHunter are in this race to the gayest. Like at any point Borumitsu, Killugon, or Lawlu could be canon and nothing would change about the main story of the manga. Like it wouldn't get worse or better.

And in my mind those are the best and most insidious ships.

This isn't about ships . This is about how close all three of these are to being the first shounen jump manga with a gay/bi lead and how widely they vary in quality. Like it goes from gold tier one piece to good but kinda rough Hxh to fuxling boruto!

What I'm trying to say is Oda please... please make lawlu canon before Boruto make borumitsu canon. For the culture. Please! I ship borumitsu and I still don't want it to be the first. Oda do it for your most devoted fans!

This was all in good fun. I don't like boruto, but that's because I don't get kawakis character (if someone could explain why I should care about him, please do). All ships are valid even if the manga they are in isn't. Even if some fans make it really hard to be part of the Fandom that ship is from.

Let's see who wins! Place your bets!

[razorwrites]

Was Light Yagami Kira? A dissection of Light’s motivations.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!! FOR THE DEATH NOTE ANIME/MANGA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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We can all agree that Death Note’s protagonist, Light Yagami is the Villain of the story, but I don’t think that becomes apparent to viewers in the first few episodes.

Whenever I see people online talk about Death Note, most agree that Light started out with good intentions but later became corrupted in his pursuit of power. I disagree. I don't think that there was ever a time when Light was killing criminals out of a sense of moral obligation. From the moment Light picked up the Death Note in episode one to the moment he was caught in episode thirty-seven Light’s motivations stayed the same, power and a means to sate his boredom. The first volume of the manga is called “Boredom” after all.

I believe that Light's descent from idealistic vigilante to delusional authoritarian wannabe with a god complex— try saying that five times fast —begins in episode four and is fully cemented in the narrative by episode seven. That is not to say that Light had pure intentions in the beginning. That couldn’t be further from the truth. However, I don’t think that Light’s sadistic tendencies are supposed to be apparent early on. Sure, his plans were overzealous and unrealistic from the start, but they did seem to come from a good place. Even if it was sort of twisted.

By not showing Light’s darker characteristics in the first couple of episodes the viewer gets to know the charismatic, intelligent kid with a strong sense of justice that the rest of the characters do. Which makes it all the more jarring when his true colors begin to show.

I know that when I watched Death Note for the first time I was rooting for Light, granted I could not have been older than eight so my worldview was very idealistic. That said, it was during this stretch of episodes that younger me realized that Light was not on the side of justice, instead he was looking out for his own personal gain.

The fourth installment of the Death Note anime is a turning point, not for Light but for the viewer. The way you’re meant to view Light as a character fundamentally shifts in the episodes that follow. Throughout the first three episodes, we see Light in a way that is for the most part favorable. Without getting into the ethics— or the lack thereof —of the death penalty we can all agree that when people do bad things they need to face the repercussions, so Light can’t be evil if he’s just feeding criminals their just deserts right?

That is exactly the way the writers want you to think during those early episodes. And it is in episode four that they begin to challenge that thinking making, you reevaluate everything you know about Light and his motivations.

What makes this shift in perspective evident is the character Raye Penber. Penber is one of twelve FBI agents sent to Japan to investigate the Japanese police and their families. Unfortunately for him, he was assigned to investigate the Yagami family, specifically their teenage son.

When Light notices he’s being followed he devises a plan to find out his “stalker’s” name. Using the death note he makes a criminal who had yet to be taken into police custody hijack a bus that he and Penber are riding. This puts Penber in a situation where he has to show Light his ID.

Ironically this feat takes place on the last day Penber would have been investigating him and his family. Light was already cleared of suspicion by the time he learned Penber’s name.

(Light is narrating)

And if he truly was only concerned with the betterment of society there should have been no reason why Penber had to die. But of course Light does not operate that way, instead, he sees this FBI agent doing his job as a personal slight. Light wants to send the message that he is god and anyone who thinks of opposing him will burn.

When Light claims Penber’s life in episode five along with all the rest of the FBI agents he does so not because they would have hindered his efforts in ridding the world of evil, the death note is an untraceable, undetectable method of killing. There is no way investigators could prove that Light's writing in the notebook has anything to do with the deaths of criminals, Light even says so himself.

Instead, he does it to make an example out of them.

Light kills those FBI agents to feed his ego, using their deaths to send a message to L and the Kira task force.

Up until this point Light had only killed criminals and people who were directly opposing him. Penber’s death was the first innocent to die at his hand or rather his pen. It is satisfying that Light’s choice to kill Penber resulted in an oversight that caused L to look into him more closely and ultimately led to his downfall. Especially since Penber’s death was completely unnecessary.

Side note: Light using Penber to kill all of the FBI agents in Japan is extra evil because people who use the death note can’t go to heaven or hell. So Light didn’t only kill the man, he ruined his afterlife as well.

Naomi Misora was a former FBI agent and the fiancé of Raye Penber. Before the events of the series, she worked under L in the Los Angeles BB murder cases. We learn of her sharp intellect and detective skills back in episode five when she correctly intuits that Kira was responsible for the bus being hijacked when Penber tells her about it.

After Penber was killed Misora began to theorize about Kira. She figures out that Kira can kill in more ways than a heart attack and that he can control his victims’ actions before they die. It is both random and unfortunate that when she went to share this information with the police she ran into Light who was dropping off a change of clothes for his father.

From the moment Light hears her mention the Kira investigation every action he takes is carefully measured. It’s almost predatory how swiftly he manages to lure her into a false sense of security. First, he walks up to the receptionist and loudly states his name and relationship with the chief of police.

Then when the receptionist recognizes him from his time spent helping his father with previous cases, Light pretends not to recognize him, causing the receptionist to explain out loud that Light has worked with the police before. All in earshot of Misora.

When Misora is sent on her way because no one from the Kira task force is available (They are meeting with L for the first time) Light offers to walk with her and allow her to use his phone to speak with his father if he calls back, revealing to her that his father is the lead investigator on the Kira investigation.

Keep in mind, at this point Light has no idea what information Misora has, whether it's something the police already know or if it holds any weight at all. For all Light knows she’s a harmless conspiracy theorist wasting the police’s time. It was already confirmed to us, the audience, that she knows what she is talking about but Light has no way of knowing that. To Light none of that matters. He still asked for her name— presumably in order to kill her —before he found out what intel she was so desperate to share. He even offers up his own name first, spelling included as if to make her more comfortable in sharing her own.

However Misora was cautious, she knew her fiancé died shortly after being put in a situation where he had to show a stranger his badge, so she gave Light a fake name when he asked. And when Light tries to write her name on a page of the death note nothing happens. Though in the brief period between writing down her alias and discovering that it had no effect, Light inner monologue says something disturbing:

When Light learns that this woman was the fiancé of Raye Penber he uses his knowledge of her loss as fuel to manipulate her.

And finally, when he manages to trick Misora into giving him her name, by appealing to her desperation to speak with L, He mocks her as she walks to her grave.

Clearly, he’s taking pleasure from the amount of power he has over the people around him.

It is a popular notion in the Death Note fandom that Light Yagami is the mask and Kira is who he truly is. I don’t believe this to be true. Before I can explain why I think this way, I need to define what Kira is in the first place. Kira is not an alter ego that Light created, rather it was bestowed on him by the public when they interpret his crimes as acts of God. Light may have referred to himself as “the god of the new world” before this point, but it is public perception that grants him that title in any meaningful way. Furthermore, it is the same public perception that decides that Kira is a force for good. Kira to the general public is a saint who damns the guilty and protects the innocent. However, we know that’s not what Light is about. Light doesn’t kill criminals out of a sense of moral obligation, he does so because he wants to exert power over others. Killing criminals just makes it easy for him to justify his actions.

In reality, both Light and Kira are characters that our protagonist is playing. He is neither the perfect son nor the god of the new world. Light isn’t motivated by altruism or a sense of justice. He is driven by a need to assert that he is better than everyone around him. He acts out of pride and boredom, not a moral obligation like he’d like you to believe. Death Note’s protagonist is special in the way that he manipulates everyone around him, even the audience.

It brings to mind a line of L’s from episode twenty-five.

Only we, the audience, don't realize how deep L manages to cut with this question, considering Light hasn’t been honest with us either.

I hope you enjoyed reading my take on the mind of Light Yagami! Did you agree with my takes? Did you disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feelings about this meta. Feedback is greatly appreciated as I am new to this style of writing, and if you’d like to discuss any point in this work further don’t hesitate to use my ask box! Have a good day/evening/night <3

[superkitty4789]

I wanna start doing lists/rankings. I doubt anyone will wanna see them, but it's for me, so that's fine.

If anyone does wanna see. Some might have spoilers (like this one), so look out for that.

Anywhoo...

MY TOP 10 FAVORITE STRAWHATS

10 Sanji. I don't hate Sanji per se, as whenever he's not being weird around women, I actually like him. The problem is when he's around women. I don't like it. Stop it. Stahp. That being said at least he's cool when he's not around women and his genuine relationships with his crew and Zeff make me happy. I love his rivalry with Zoro

9. Usopp. Oh boy. I HATED him as a kid. I'm still not the biggest fan of him now, either. But he's... fine, and at least he gets better as the show progresses. He does get braver and less cowardly. But I still hate how much of a wuss and braggart he is. Also... his luck annoys me at times, but at least it comes in handy

8. Chopper. He was once one of my favorite straw hats, but as I got older, his naivity and gullibility started irking me. His "We need a doctor " joke was never funny to me either. He's still AWESOME. Don't get me wrong, all the straw hats are. I know my complaints about Usopp and Sanji may make anyone think i think otherwise, but i do geniounly like all the straw hats as characters. But those irks about Chopper are why he's so low. That being said, he's still a great character, and I love how compassionate he is about being a doctor. He's also adorable. I want to hug him.

7. Luffy. He's awesome! I just like the others more, sorry Luffy...I truly hate to put you this low. He's everything I love in an anime protagonist. Stubborn, brave, determined to protect those he loves. He can be smart when he needs to be and is so dang cool. Luffy is one of the best anime protagonists of all time, and I can't wait for him to be king.

6. Zoro. I love that he's not just a badass. He's also kinda dumb, and it makes him more endearing. But he's also still badass and super loyal. Amazing character, feck yeah. His directions gag is pretty funny, too. I also love the idea of three sword styles, and he actually makes it super cool.

5. Franky. Reverse chopper, he used to be one of my least favorites. But my God is he so FUNNY. He is easily the funniest character, in my opinion. He's also super epic, and I love his take on masculinity and how sensitive he is. I will say, tho...not a big fan of his redesign. I also love that he refuses to wear pants. Overall, great character.

4. Nami. She is so awesome. From day one, she was epic and I love that for the most part, she isn't a Damsel in distress. Her take on Fishmen despite what happened to her makes me respect the hell out of her. She's so strong and brave and even kind. She may be greedy, but it makes a lot of sense. Easily one of the best characters.

3. Brook. Look...I may not like his panty thing, but at least it's over fast and isn't as cringy as Sanji's thing. That being said... I admit I'm biased. I tend to like skeleton characters because I think they're cool. And well...Brook is no exception. He's a gentleman, a musician, and has skull jokes! There's so much to like about him!

2. Robin. She's my 2nd favorite character in the whole show. She's so intelligent and mysterious and super freaking cool! I love how she slowly starts to trust the straw hats and build bonds with them. Her character arc is my favorite in the entire show. I cannot stress how much I ADORE her. Amazing character. I will fight anyone on this.

1. Jinbe. Best character in the show, but it's close between him and Robin. Again,... some bias, as I think he's attractive. But I genuinely like him as a character, too. Fishmen are my favorite species in one piece, and I tend to like tackles of racism in media as a species. I liked this about the faunus in RWBY, too. Jinbe is a badass. He's funny and oh so huggable. Oh, and I love how he acts like a gentleman. So polite and well spoken. He's just...so damn cool, too. Love him. I love him so much

TIER LIST TIME

C Tier, lowest to highest: Sanji, Usopp, Chopper

B Tier: Luffy, Zoro, Franky

A Tier: Nami, Brook

S Tier: Robin, Jinbe