ultragen2009
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ultragen2009 · 1 year ago
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ultragen2009 · 2 years ago
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For Gaysi Family Magazine, I wrote a piece about magical girl (mahou shoujo) anime, homoerotic subtext, and why they matter to sapphics across the world. Do give it a read and comment if you like it!
my kofi: papenathys (I am a bisexual gnc student in India, any tip will be appreciated)
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ultragen2009 · 2 years ago
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Early 2000s/late 1990s anime that is now on the verge of ‘forgotten’ status
I’m talking about those nostalgic analogue animations, or when the anime industries were facing a strange identity crisis of digital or analogue. I don’t know about you, but looking back, that period of anime certainly was the most mature I’ve ever seen, even compared to most shows ever released in the past decade or so.
Once more, this one’s a personal list of shows I remember just as some have never even heard of them
Romeo x Juliet
Earth Girl Arjuna
Last Exile
Noir
12 Kingdoms
Ergo Proxy
Escaflowne & Vision of Escaflowne
Blood+
Hellsing
Argento Soma
Elemental Gellade
Black Cat
Sorcerer stabber Orphen
kobato
Eden of the East
Fullmetal panic
Gankutsuou: Count de monte Cristo
xxxholic
Nodame Cantible
Mushishi
Baccano
The Irresponsible Captain Taylor
RahXephon
.hack//sign
Kare Kano
And that’s all that I can remember.
enjoy.
ps. a few of these are a bit on the mature side, so research with caution
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ultragen2009 · 2 years ago
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Genesis of Genre: Part 4
Post modern Puella Magi and what the future holds for Magical Girl as a genre
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Author’s note:
I wrote the bulk of this essay the same time as the previous essays I’d posted to this blog. There’s an interjection partway through that notes where I begin to rewrite parts, and you can check the addendum at the very bottom of the page if you want to read about my meek return.
The “Golden Age” of Japanese Magical Girl media would be the 90’s and early 2000’s, introducing us to to genre defining series like Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura, alongside the more Avant-Garde series like Utena. As mentioned previously, Sailor Moon ushered in an array of series clearly influenced by it’s sentai style dynamic, but those kinds of stories are much more rare these days. I believe we are instead in a Post-Modern age of Magical Girl Media. It’s more common to see a deconstruction or subversion of the archetypical Magical Girl narrative as opposed to seeing it played straight. While some pick up on the darker elements of the genre, others choose to subvert expectations; we’ve had everything from stripper angel magical girls to anime centred around groups of magical boys in the last decade. However, not all series are made equally, and in this (perhaps overly long) segment we’re going to look over the Magical Girl genre hits of the mid 2000s to the 2010s.
Utena began the dialogue with darker themes; Akiyuki Shinbo’s 2004 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha continued it. Nanoha is notable in being one of the first contemporary Magical Girl shows that was not aimed at young girls; instead it was a seinen, aimed at young men. We’d previously had lots of instances of men writing series, along with an uninvited male gaze, but these series were still targeting an audience of young girls. Nanoha is also different than pre-Sailor Moon examples like Cutie Honey, which is a Shounen, as instead of being more of an action comedy, it delved into darker themes of abuse, on top of being a spin off of an erotica visual novel game; all of which is made much more disturbing when we remember the characters are all elementary school aged children.
Real talk for a moment: it sucks a genre that started out being about young women’s friendships and dreams for the future eventually got turned into torture porn for crusty men. And it didn’t stop with Nanoha.
Shinbo returned in 2010 with the acclaimed Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the huge franchise that now comprises the original anime, several films and countless spin-off manga. I’ll save my complex feelings towards Madoka for another time; the key point is that for better or worse, it is a definitive deconstruction of all Magical Girl media that comes before it. Madoka succeeds in examining the human experience of suddenly being thrust into a world of aliens and magic better than it’s predecessors. The character’s youth and immature decision making is central to the story, and the tragedy stems from the magical girls being children who act rashly and aren’t able to fully process the consequences of their choices until it’s too late. While there is a portion of the audience that is undoubtedly there to view misery being inflicted to young girls for whatever gross whims, it can’t be argued that Madoka’s narrative managed to be compelling to people of all ages and genders, and that is a strength of it’s story. However at the same time, it also lead to a lot of copycats, just like Sailor Moon before it, because there is unfortunately a market for teenage girl torture porn. Please look forward to my Black Rock Shooter hit piece.
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On the possibly brighter side, we also had more comedic subversions. First, there’s the very specific brand of Magical Girl shows that Studio Gainax and Trigger started putting out in the 2010s; both Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt and Kill La Kill take the sexualisation of the female body present in old school works like Cutie Honey to the logical extremes, and despite being so overtly sexual and fan-servicey, both wind up completely absurd by the end of it. These are obvious subversions of the idea of Magical Girls as pure and innocent; Panty and Stocking is particularly interesting because of how it blends Japanese and American art styles – particularly cartoons like The PowerPuff Girls- to create a cute and cartoony presentation that contrasts with the crass humour and antics of its titular characters. Conversely, I remember watching Kill La Kill during it’s original run and being stunned that by the end of it, when the finale happens and all the characters are completely naked, I was astounded to find I’d become completely desensitised to the naked human form (all this before 3 years of life drawing).
-a future interjection- I’m writing this at the time of posting. The part of the essay you just read is a part I’ve mulled over for over a year. My original essay from 2017, which I’m using as a basis for this much larger work, spoke quite favourably of both Kill La Kill and Panty & Stocking. I think I simply could not leave it as is.
I recently rewatched parts of both Panty and Stocking and Kill La Kill. Surprisingly, Panty and Stocking held up well, so this isn’t about them. Kill La Kill on the other hand simultaneously held up better and much, much worse than my first watch during it’s original run. (I think I might begin doing straight up reviews for shows soon; but that’s for another post)
My main thought upon rewatch was my attitude now, and my attitude nearly 10 years ago is a real reflection of the ways popular feminism, and my own ideologies have shifted over time. Originally, I’d felt the display of the main character’s bodies, that they were powerful and strong while wearing the skimpiest chainmail bikinis, was almost a power move. I especially admired Satsuki’s character, being someone so unflinchingly determined, and feeling no shame in her body as she served a higher conviction.
I just don’t think I can look at the show in the same way now. Yes, the show is still absurd; I do still think it veers into the surreal. But its far more uncomfortable than I remember.
Either way, both these shows still serve as a perfect subversions of the classic magical girl story. -end-
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Sliding across the spectrum, there’s also the notable increase in shows that star Magical Boys. On paper this might seem like a thoughtful take on how we present young men but in reality most of these series are played for comedy and or fanservice for a female demographic. Though I’m sure there’s merits to it, it’s a far cry from earlier Magical Girl series which deeply examined themes of gender and sexuality. At best, these are missed opportunities!
We’ve also seen an uptick in remakes and sequels to more nostalgic franchise; Sailor Moon Crystal is the notable example, as is Card Captor Sakura’s Clear Card Arc which is currently ongoing. Tokyo Mew Mew, at the time of writing, has now seen two separate revivals with the short lived magical boy spin off (???) and now with a new anime version airing as I write this! I think the revisiting of these older properties is both a symptom of our expected nostalgic media cycles (see, the 30/20 year cycle), but also a reflection of the current want to revisit late 90’s and Y2K media again, and companies as always being more willing to bank on pre-existing franchise.
The last few decades of Magical girl media has, to be honest, been a mixed bag. However there is one, single shining light for me, and that is 2013’s Little Witch Academia, and it’s subsequent sequel film and anime series. Somehow, the creators of Kill La Kill, the most edgy, ludicrously sexual and action orientated Magical Girl show in recent years also created the most sweet and wholesome. Little Witch Academia takes the genre right back to its roots, utilising the Magical Witch Archetype with a main character named Akko, just like the heroine of years passed, and centres the relationships between the students and teachers at their magical academy. The series also stands out from Trigger’s other works as it didn’t start out as a syndicated show; the original OVA was Trigger’s first outing, created as a project for new animators, and its sequel film was crowdfunded to increase it’s original runtime of 20 minutes to a full 50. The eventual series was created in collaboration with Netflix, and I believe this alternate production also lends to why Little Witch Academia successfully unshackles itself from the troubling tropes that have stagnated Magical Girl media in recent years. Little Witch Academia is the genre returned to it’s primordial state; devoid of fan service and rich in substance, it’s a love letter to the genre.
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Addendum:
I started writing this blog around the winter of 2020/Jan 2021. A lot of terrible things have happened in my personal life since then but recently, I started feeling like I could write some essays again, for fun. This particular essay had been sitting in my storage since back then too. As I said in the post, part of what made me not publish it until now is because I'd started to re-contextualise some of the writing with my current views, and it felt incomplete to post it as I'd written it; as in, quite true to my perspectives in my original 2017 essay. I still have a lot I want to write, both based on my original work and also large pieces, but I think I might start writing the essays out of order+mix in some more general reviews with my personal thoughts added in. I do intent to write a more contextual essay about western magical girl shows, but I'll leave that for later maybe! Thank you everyone who followed this blog and read my work so far. I hope I can start posting more frequently!
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ultragen2009 · 2 years ago
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G.U.N. Fortress, and how you turned Shadow into a monster
Because ShTH is a mess from a narrative standpoint, but when it gets it right, it really gets it right.
I pointed out how the fact that the G.U.N. soldiers don’t attack you in Westopolis makes the Dark mission even more evil and purely revenge-based, setting the stage for Shadow’s potential corruption arc.
I briefly commented on the context behind Central City, and how it ties in an interesting way to the only previous stage it has, Cryptic Castle.
I also analyzed The Doom and how the way you decide to live through this flashback shapes Shadow as a person, and then how Lost Impact conveys how important Maria was to Shadow, and how helping her might make the difference between existential depression and peace of mind.
And yesterday, I talked a little about The ARK, and how it symbolizes Shadow (or the player) crossing the Moral Event Horizon.
The last stage I wanted to analyze is G.U.N. Fortress, as the ending of a very creepy story arc in which the player allows Shadow to lose himself.
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If you reach this 6th stage, congratulations, you’ve officially doomed the entire human race.
You can reach this level by either allowing Black Doom to destroy Central City with the Eclipse Cannon, as previously detailed, or by trying to assassinate the president himself. Even if no one actually dies, Shadow’s actions have been heinous enough to push G.U.N. into a corner.
The cutscene before the actual level is intriguing for two reasons. We hear, for the first time in the game and the only time outside of the Last Story, Gerald Robotnik’s voice. He simply says “Shadow, I’m counting on you”, but compare it with the cutscene before Final Haunt: there, Shadow remembers Maria and his promise to her to make humanity happy. Here, he remembers his insane creator, the one who first modified his memories to make him believe his purpose was to destroy the Earth.
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Which he now believes again fullheartedly.
Speaking of which, there is also a striking difference between the Japanese and the English version.
JP: “I am the ultimate lifeform, born to punish mankind…”
ENG: “The ultimate lifeform born to ensure peace and justice amongst all of mankind.”
This is the only instance in the game where I prefer the English version. The Japanese line is scary, as Shadow is completely lost in his hatred and bloodlust… but the English version is chilling. Not only Shadow is dooming humanity, but he’s so far gone he sees it as a good thing, as a favor he’s doing!
Incidentally, you know who else described his plans to turn humanity into food as “salvation”? Black Doom. Looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
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You cannot talk about G.U.N. Fortress without touching on its masterpiece of a theme. I’ve gushed about it multiple times, but I will never get tired of pointing out its brilliance. So I’m going to post a famous comment on the deleted BrawlBRTSM channel comparing this music with Final Haunt’s (which I’ve briefly mentioned in my Lost Impact post):
“If there’s one thing this game did right, it’s the fantastic parallels between [G.U.N. Fortress] and Final Haunt (the final Pure Hero mission).
Both of them have pretty slow, relaxed themes. At least, considering what you’d expect from fast-paced, violent final levels. But it represents the fact that there is no more inner conflict within Shadow. His mind is fully made up. He knows where his heart is.
The difference is, in Final Haunt, Shadow knows who he is. He’s found what he was after. In GUN Fortress, he’s lost everything. What was once Shadow is now a broken, angry shell. But his mind is still made up. He’s found inner peace either way. Except in this case, he lost his identity to do so. In Final Haunt, he finds it. And the music reflects this.
GUN Fortress is somber. Shadow, or whatever is left of him, has taken everything away from the humans: their families, their lives, their hope, and he doesn’t realise he’s lost all of that as well. Because he’s at peace.
Final Haunt is upbeat. Shadow has discovered who he is. His mind is made up, and he’s going to fulfill his best friend’s dying wish. He can finally put the past behind him and move on. Because he’s at peace.”
You don’t get epic death metal underscoring how badass and cool and edgy you are as you’re committing anthrocide. You get a simple, somber track, because you turned Shadow into a shell filled with nothing but hatred and bitterness, and you don’t get to feel good about yourself.
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You have two choices here. You can listen to Black Doom one final time, and destroy the mother computers coordinating G.U.N.’s defense, striking the final blow to humanity. If you choose to go down this route, the level essentially allows you to stay 90% of the time in Chaos mode, blasting everything in sight without a care in the world; nothing can stop you, you’re free to destroy every last object, mecha and soldier. It feels perversely good, as long as you ignore the soldiers’ cries and “men, forgive me” as you leave them helpless and terrified on the floor.
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Or you can listen to Rouge pleading you to protect the last Chaos Emerald from the aliens’ clutches. It’s heartwarming how she, despite being a high-ranking G.U.N. agent and probably seeing with her own eyes the crimes Shadow has committed, is still willing to give his old friend a last chance. Choosing this mission turns the level into a mad race, as you can easily zigzag through the aggressive mechas who still see you as Enemy #1 - while not hard at all, it’s far less satisfying than the Dark mission, but then again, you don’t really deserve to feel good about youself, traitor.
You might think that this means that the endings you get are “serve Black Doom for eternity” or “turn good at the last second”. Well, no. Remember how I said that the “serve Black Doom” ending is the Semi Dark-Dark one? Pushing Shadow to his limits wields very different consequences than one might think at first.
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After destroying the mother computers, the only obstacle between Shadow and fulfilling his “purpose” is Sonic and the Diablon piloted by the Commander. Neither of them is a match for the dark weapon of destruction. With Sonic at his feet, Shadow declares that he was “created to bring order and justice to the humans”, and decides that he’s going to “destroy this damn planet”. We don’t know if he’s going to blast the Eclipse Cannon until every city has been turned to dust or if he’s going to go on a rampage with the help of the Chaos Emeralds, but one thing is certain: it’s game over for the Earth. Gerald got what he wanted in the end.
(in the Japanese version, he says that he’s “an emissary from the skies, born to judge the foolish humanity” and that he’ll “lead the ugly world to its demise”, which is more vague but not less threatening - also notice again how in English Shadow presents himself as some sort of savior while in Japanese he doesn’t bother to hide how lowly he thinks of humans).
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But wait. Wasn’t Black Doom’s plan using the humans as a food source? Surely he wouldn’t want to see the Earth destroyed, right?
Well, yes. But what’s he gonna do against a very angry Super Shadow?
That’s right. By obeying Black Doom too much, by giving in to his hatred and resentment, Shadow’s thirst for death and destruction surpasses Black Doom’s. And no one can stop him. Not the humans, not Sonic, not the creature that corrupted his mind to this extent. In the Pure Dark-Dark ending, no one wins… but Shadow doesn’t care anymore.
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By the way, Sonic sounds almost scared here. It’s really uncomfortable to hear. Maybe it’s me, but I’ve always found jarring to go back to Westopolis after getting this ending, seeing Sonic so happy to meet Shadow, knowing that there are at least two endings where I forced him to see his rival turn into a heartless, powerful villain.
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But then there’s the Pure Dark-Hero ending, which may be even worse.
Imagine being Rouge. The entire world is in chaos, and humans are losing the war against these aggressive, murderous aliens. You know that the reason they’re winning is because your dear friend has decided to side with them. Depending on the route, you may have already encountered him when he was still sane, still himself, although he had just finished attacking soldiers that weren’t doing anything to him. Maybe he even helped you, and could have chosen to turn a hero. But apparently it wasn’t enough.
You bump into him among the army of aliens that stormed the last G.U.N. base. You can see in his eyes that he’s no longer himself. He’s convinced his purpose is to destroy humanity - he has regressed to back when you first met him, and he’s even worse now. Still, you know he’s a good person at heart, and you try to plead with him, desperately, hoping maybe in vain to get through him.
And you do! He accepts to help you! He turns on the aliens and secures the last Chaos Emerald! He even defeats Black Doom in a battle! It was not too late after all!
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And then you learn he didn’t do it for you - he couldn’t care less about you. He simply used you to take Black Doom’s place and become the new dark lord of Earth. Humanity has still lost, this time to a creature you used to call your friend.
What, you thought you could redeem Shadow? After what you, the player, made him do? I told you that, by the time you reach The ARK, Shadow is completely alone.
Now, admittedly, the game making you feel bad for your actions loses its bite when you remember that you have to go through these endings to complete the game, unlike other morality-bases games which make clear that nobody is forcing you to be an asshole. But still, there’s something eerie about how low you can make Shadow sink, to the point that he becomes worse than the main villain of the game.
G.U.N. Fortress is one of my favorite levels in the Sonic series, which is amazing as, aesthetic and level design wise, it’s nothing special compared to your Twinkle Parks and Eggmanlands and Generations Seaside Hills. But everything else, the context surrounding it, how sad it makes you feel for the protagonist and the other characters that appear, not to mention the memorable music and the catharsis in taking down the enemies, make it a joy to play over and over again, and I consider it the highlight of this mess of a fun game.
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ultragen2009 · 2 years ago
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The ARK, and consolidating Shadow’s corruption
What’s this? I still have Things to Say about ShTH levels nobody cares about? Yes, it’s not my fault this game has gallons of untapped potential :)
I planned to write only one last post, but since it turned out a little too long, I thought it was better to split in two parts. This one is a little shorter than the others, and it’s about Shadow’s trip to his old home with his dad. Fun, right?
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The ARK is the darkest 5th stage in the map, and you can reach it in two ways: either Shadow detonated Black Doom’s giant bombs in Central City, destroying at least part of it, or Black Doom succesfully corrupted Shadow enough to let him experience a false memory in which he killed every G.U.N. soldier during the famous raid on the ARK.
Obviously, both of these events are nothing short of a Moral Event Horizon. Either Shadow is a full-fledged terrorist, or he succumbed to Black Doom’s violent brainwashing to the point that he can no longer trust his own thoughts. In any case, if you reach this point, it’s too late for him to redeem himself.
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Look at him, he’s out for blood. Even Black Doom is happy that Shadow has “finally come to realize just how abominable these humans are”. And personally, I find the music that starts playing when the cutscene focuses on Shadow’s hatred-filled eyes a little unsettling, as if it’s saying “This is not Shadow anymore. Who is this monster?”.
Much like its mirror counterpart Lost Impact, The ARK has an unbalanced set of missions, only Neutral and Dark. It again emphasizes how Shadow can’t turn “good” anymore; but it also conveys how alone Shadow is now. He has rejected the help of many of his friends and, depending on the route, committed unspeakable crimes: his only ally in the world is the manipulative Black Doom, from which he cannot escape anymore.
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There’s actually not much to talk about the level itself: for being the second-to-last stage in a path, it’s incredibly easy, as you literally fly your way through shooting at your targets with the Black Volt. Either you destroy 4 defense systems to allow the Black Arms to get to the Eclipse Cannon, or you… don’t. It’s a needed breather between what came before and what comes next, but it’s a shame that it’s so easygoing considering the heartwrenching context of Shadow violating his old home under Black Doom’s orders.
On that note, the music is worth talking about:
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It’s a very catchy remix, the only contribution to the soundtrack from Tomoya Ohtani no less, of Sonic Adventure 2′s Final Rush.
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What’s the significance? I think it’s pure irony. Final Rush is the last stage of the Hero Story in SA2, where Sonic has to make a mad dash to prevent the Eclipse Cannon from firing. In ShTH, you return to the same location (with a very similar level design if you bother getting off the Black Volt), but as a villain with plans to fire it again. If you played SA2 before, revisiting a beloved level in this situation just rubs salt into the wounds.
Anyway, much like Lost Impact, what’s really interesting is the endings both missions send you to.
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You can suddenly tell Black Doom “nah i can’t be bothered with opening the way for you, cya” and fly to the Goal Ring in 2 minutes or so. Shadow’s musing at the end of the mission implies he’s simply filled with nostalgia for “where it all began”. The big man is strangely okay with this, even though he doesn’t get to use the Eclipse Cannon: he can still threaten humanity, and with reason. He also still trusts Shadow enough to ask him for help with G.U.N. raiding the Black Comet. (It makes me think he didn’t really need the Cannon, he was just being petty.)
Believe it or not, this is the path you have to take if you want to see Shadow becoming Black Doom’s servant: dispatch 50 of the G.U.N. mechs on the Comet, and Shadow will find his place to the right side of the alien lord.
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It’s actually creepy how easily Shadow vows loyalty to Black Doom and forgets everything about finding his own identity, and I can’t help but wonder what kind of existence he’ll live with him.
(small comparison: in the Japanese version, he says “My name is Shadow the Hedgehog… The strongest soldier, chosen by the ruler of darkness, Black Doom! Together with him, using this wondrous power, I shall dye the ugly world in black!”. Not only Shadow sounds less servile, but there are several paths that lead to this ending named after the concept of “dyeing in black” and especially being a “soldier”. A clear case of lost in translation, but the English version isn’t bad, so I’ll let it pass)
(and before you ask, I hate the Semi Dark-Hero ending so I refuse to spend more time thinking about it than the writers did, which is “they didn’t”)
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But let’s back up a bit. What if Shadow is a good obedient tool and destroys the 4 defense systems instead? In that case, after murdering the poor pilot of the Blue Falcon, he gets a front row seat to watching Central City crumble under the Eclipse cannon.
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And then he goes to the last stronghold humanity has left, where he loses what little sanity he had left.
The second part of this post will be about my favorite stage in ShTH. See you then as I try to convey how horribly well-written the evil endings are :)
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ultragen2009 · 2 years ago
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5 Centimeters Per Second (2007)
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ultragen2009 · 2 years ago
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Hanazawa arc ranking.
1. Teru Arc. Mob meets the first person he’s ever met who is Like Him with catastrophic results on both sides. Teru is the first person that we see force ???% out into the open, the first to engage with all of Mob however unintentionally. The tension of the two hating each other’s philosophy and the loaded wording of Shigeo refusing to fight as Shigeo rejecting Hanazawa. Teruki singlehandedly marks the transition from a good joke manga to a proper, serious story and is the last of the main 4 to appear. Can’t go past it.
2. Ritsu arc. A tough choice, but the complete 180 from intro Teru fills in the other half of his character. As ???% and Mob are two halves of one whole Shigeo, the silly flashy fop and the powermad sadist are two halves of one fully Hanazawa. He quickly shocks the viewer with his laid-back charity and shocks Ritsu with his brute force. We are left to wonder—who is this? Can we trust him? To which the answer is: it’s still Teru, he still has his nasty sense of humour and need for control, and we can trust him, he has learned that he needs to be more than a bully to survive and engage with the world. His brief appearance is both as Mob’s proxy (protecting and disciplining Ritsu) and his saviour (taking him home and caring for him until he wakes up). All contradictory aspects of Teru are fully present.
3. ???% arc. A tough choice. This is the perfect culmination of Teru’s character arc, with him and Shigeo switching places. The aggressor becomes the victim, the pacifist the brute and the sadistic the nonviolent. Teruki not only shows his growth as a person by attempting to resolve the situation through peaceful conversation, he also ‘passes’ the rest of the arc by acknowledging Shigeo’s explosion as a natural and normal part of personhood AND achieves a narrative victory through surrender. After being beaten, he refuses to go in futility and instead saves the city—at the same time saving Shigeo. Shigeo’s conscience can’t bear a life, and this is something Teru protects him from. Teru does everything right, he is humiliated, but his reward is to be the hero of the arc where all others are bystanders. He achieves main characterhood.
4. Claw II
Cannot believe this one is so low. Mob is knocked out for so much of this story that Hanazawa is forced to be not just a main character but a protagonist. His managing the Shimazaki situation isn’t 100% successful, but what he does is mobilize the anti-Claw alliance. In this story Teru struggles with himself as embodied by Shimazaki, his counterfactual, an all-powerful esper who skates by on his powers. He saves Ritsu, keeps the team out of despair, and defeats the OP enemy using nothing more than sheer smarts. Here, Teru gets to show off a little of what makes him special—he’s cunning, compared to Ritsu’s outright intelligence, Reigen’s charisma, and Shou and Mob’s brute force. Unfortunately we don’t get much in the way of introspection this arc, even if Teru is sick as hell in it.
5. Divine Tree
Another arc where Hanazawa takes over the protagonist role from Shigeo! He spends a lot of time as a brainwashed zombie, downgrading it from Claw II. Still, there are enough good moments to make it worth that cost. He’s the only character to avoid brainwashing outside of Mob, and he does it through cleverness, not luck. Teru notices the problems, outsmarts the antagonist, and tracks down Dimple to confront him before Mob even knows he’s in an arc. A great showing! He even gets some pathos; Teru’s captivity is the first thing from Dimple that drives him to action. Divine Tree shows off Teru’s skills and character while unfortunately not having any standout moments to rival 1-4.
6. Claw I
A good arc for Teru! There’s never a bad one. Hanazawa is relegated to support for this story, yet he doesn’t just fade into the background. The air whips encounter lays the groundwork for his talent—adapting any other esper’s technique and improving on it—while the pyro battle provides some interesting background on who he is. Teru is a boy who likely has faced Claw before and has only gotten this far by fighting off their agents. In a kill-or-be-killed situation he does kill without hesitation, then holds his own in a telekinetic duel against Sakurai. The story shows us a clever, cold tweenager who is very nearly as good as he thinks he is. This is the closest we get to a platonic Teru, independent of Mob and his gravity. Still, a lack of interiority and independence knocks it down.
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