#The deep dedication to not letting Vegeta be a protagonist in the series in which is essentially the protagonist..baffling

[shannonsketches]

I think I wouldn’t be as mad about Toei’s choices for Super if the things they overwrote wouldn’t have translated so beautifully to animation.

I have my beef with the gaps in my sense of humor and Toei’s writers room and our opinions on characterizations, sure, but so many of the cool things that happened in the manga and the movies that Toei reiterated were changed, botched, or removed completely, and that sucks.

Vegeta being so cool and so protective of his family during the Goku Black arc, and Gohan being a total badass during Ressurection F are my biggest “why did you change this??” beefs. But also man. The tournament had so many good moments in the manga that were totally snubbed in the anime.

As a fan it makes me angry but as an artist it makes me sad. Toya is such a cinematic storyteller and his pacing and compositions were just. Thrown away. :(

EDIT: Someone in the notes pointed out that the anime caught up with the manga before the GB arc so I do take back that they threw away Toya’s later work in the GB and Tournament arcs, but I will never understand why they weren’t sharing assets when they were in production at the same time. And I still can’t forgive them for fumbling the retellings of BotG and ResF so hard OTL

[paronymie]

Two months late, but I’ve just realized I missed out on an ask game because tumblr’s tagging system hates me. I’ll just thank @myulalie for tagging me and get right to it! 

Without further ado:

Your gateway fandoms:  I think my first real foray into fandom territory came from Robin Hood (2006 BBC) fanfiction (which little 11 year old me read via Google Translate… Some real dedication there) - and then I came into contact with the HP and Fullmetal Alchemist fandoms. 

Fandom you most recently joined: Star Trek DS9, though my involvement is more often that of a distant spectator than that of a participant. I rarely seek fandom out anymore, unless I’m trying to read fic, find meta or share a particular viewpoint with other people. Once I’ve found what I need, I’m out!

Fandoms that make you nostalgic: Not sure I actually feel nostalgic when it comes to fandom. I’ll just go with DBZ and Pirates of the Caribbean, which I associate with good childhood memories… And I’ll throw Charmed in there too. 

Fandoms you’re not in but most often see or hear about:  Supernatural’s chokehold on Tumblr is still quite strong, and no one can ever truly escape from the MCU. I’ll also throw Succession and Our Flag Means Death in there… Seems like the latter is tumblr’s newest darling?

Fandoms you used to be in but drifted from: Most of the fandoms I was a part of in my early teens are now just memories. I had a (mostly ironic) tryst with The Vampire Diaries, and little 12 year-old me was Team Jacob all the way (I have not read Twilight since, but my stance on that hasn’t changed). I also gave up on Once Upon A Time at some point, which I do not regret. Whilst I still consider myself a reluctant Star-Wars fan, I don’t interact with fandom much, as it is an unholy cesspool. 

Guilty pleasure shows/series: I’d say anything I watch for characters more than plot is a guilty pleasure, because I don’t actually think the series in itself is very good. That criteria means a lot of fandoms I have been a part of ARE guilty pleasures… But I’ll cough up Da Vinci’s Demons as an answer, as it is the one show I absolutely despise but cannot get away from. I also dabble in the MCU for some unknown, ungodly reason - I have no idea why, as I don’t even enjoy the source material! 

Fandom you wish was bigger/you interacted with more: I actually like small fandoms, they feel cozy and not too crazy! The Wire is one show that still has a rather dedicated online following, but not on Tumblr, which I believe to be a shame. I also badly need the fandom comfort of spiteful commentary whenever I watch Da Vinci’s Demons, but alas… 

Favorite characters of all time: Does your work feature an anti-hero? Does he work for the real and very abusive Big Bad, or perhaps a slightly manipulative Protagonist? Have you coded him as a dark knight? Are his romantic interests tragically doomed? Is he going to die to achieve redemption? Then I’m probably in too deep. I’ll just name Snape and Vegeta because they’re some of my oldest faves, but lots and lots of my favorite characters share some of the traits I’ve just listed, if not all of them. 

OTPs you will die for: Let’s be honest, whichever OTP I’m currently writing for is probably the One… The writing frenzy is real. With that being said, I’m willing to bite someone’s ear off for Leario right now… And I might just be in the mood for Maul/Obi Wan. 

BroTPs/ found families: I find DS9’s crew delightful. I also quite like when an antagonist gets adopted by the protagonists… DBZ did this best with Vegeta, in my opinion. 

Fandom you post about the most: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ let’s be honest, I have no consistency whatsoever. Flavor of the month wins!

[tigerlover16-analysis]

Dragon Ball Super: Episode 2 Review

Okay, sorry about this one coming late, i was a bit distracted around here and i haven't had much access to my computer the last few days. But, here i am now.

So, episode 2. In contrast to the first episode, which was focused around the members of the Son Family and setting up Goku's role in the story, this episode focuses more on Vegeta, who will be the secondary protagonist for much of Dragon Ball Super, while also giving us a more substantial introduction to the main villain for the first arc (And a few funny scenes with Goku on King Kai's world to help move the plot along some more). Gotta say, it was a pretty smart move and a good way to steadily reintroduce us to the characters for the new show/introduce them proper for new viewers.

This episode also isn't particularly plot heavy, rather another episode focused on character interaction and comedy, but like last time what we get is pretty good.

The episode opens with a fun little scene of Goku arriving on King Kai's planet to train, and accidentally causing King Kai to crash his car into his house and destroying it (Man, the poor guy can't catch a break, can he?), and then transitions to Vegeta, Bulma and Trunks going on a family trip to a Hawaiian themed resort.

Not a lot to comment on the actual plot here outside of how it relates to Vegeta, but needless to say there's a lot of good jokes and back and forth between the characters. Whether it be King Kai's poor attempts at making puns, Bulma flying her airship underwater and through a forest like a crazy person to give Vegeta some "Training" as he stands on top, there's a lot of good stuff here. My favourite joke is probably the scene at the diner that ends in Vegeta digging in to an enormous cooked octopus that inexplicably squirts him with ink. If you're a fan of the briefs family, a Vegebul shipper in particular, then the first half of the episode is practically tailor made for you, since it's pretty much dedicated to having cute moments of Vegeta, Bulma and Trunks hanging out on vacation.

Naturally, Vegeta is silent and aloof through most of the ordeal, only putting up with spending time at the resort to try and be a decent family man for once, and out of obligation for the time he'd promised to take Trunks to an amusement park. Which, yeah, it's pretty sweet, even if Vegeta has to be a sourpuss about the whole thing. Still, as Bulma points out, the guy did stick around a lot longer than either her or Trunks would have expected.

This episode establishes Vegeta as the secondary protagonist of Super, replacing Gohan in that role from Z. A decision that would... have very mixed results, and I can't say it was necessarily for the best overall, but future episodes will provide much better context to discuss that.

As far as this episode goes though, his portrayal is mostly fine. It at least shows he's trying to make an effort to be a better father to Trunks. At the same time though, it also establishes that even after everything that went down in the Buu Saga, Vegeta still has a chip on his shoulder in regards to his rivalry with Goku, and his desire to surpass him is still present.

I know a lot of people were torn about this at the time, and still are considering the end of the Buu Saga had Vegeta conceding that Goku was the superior fighter and seemingly putting his obsession to an end, with arguments about whether this was a regression of his character. Personally, at least as far as the first half of the show goes, I don't have much of an issue with it.

Mostly because it's made clear through the rest of the saga that his overall character progression has still stuck in spite of his obsession with being the strongest still being present. And it's brought up by the time of the Champa saga that Vegeta by that point has moved past the point of having a self-destructive inferiority complex, and his rivalry with Goku by then is mostly a more healthy motivation for self improvement.

And let's face it, fundamentally changing who you are as a person takes a lot of time and effort. Self-realization of your faults and a desire to change for the better are only the first steps to self-improvement. And a deep-seated inferiority complex like what Vegeta has isn't going to go away after a few moving speeches, it seems natural to me that he would have some trouble letting his urge to surpass Goku and be the strongest go, even after some time had passed from the Buu Saga. He's had plenty of instances where he started to regress on any progress he's made before, at least in this saga the worst it amounts to is him being grumpy and storming off to train after being caught in a large crowd and losing his temper.

Vegeta and Goku's rivalry is very iconic, and you kind of have to keep it alive if you're going to have a series where they're the two most prominent characters. Vegeta is still a better person than he once was, and the later episodes of this saga would demonstrate that clearly, so i think that's what really counts. And hey, Vegeta still wanting to surpass Goku is consistent with the updated final chapter of the manga Toriyama put out in the 2004 Kanzenban, so they kinda had to do it this way.

So yeah, for me personally I'm okay with this. But then again, maybe I'm just not inclined to take issue with it right now since we also got to see Vegeta riding a choo-choo train with Trunks and Bulma. That was adorable.

The second half of the episode is a bit more action packed and plot relavent, as it gives us a more extended introduction to Lord Beerus and Whis.

It starts off with Whis being sent to an alien planet to bring back dinosaur meat that Beerus is interested in because it might help him remember the details of a prophetic dream he couldn't fully recall. After Whis fails to negotiate with some locals to give up their kill in time, Beerus shows up and gets into a fight with what i assume is the tribe leader. Who Beerus dispatches quite easily, and then decides to just blow up the planet out of annoyance. The resulting explosion ending up being what jogs his memory, ending the episode with foreshadowing of some mysterious figure called Super Saiyan God.

It's a pretty fun scene overall. The banter between Beerus and Whis is spot on and their dialogue gives us a good impression of their personalities, with Beerus in particular being presented as somewhat comedic but still threatening and someone to take seriously. I really like the designs of the aliens, especially the powered up form of the one who fights Beerus, makes it a bit of a shame their world got blown up. The action itself is very short, but it's pretty decent, Naoki Tate's effects work is always fun to see in the alien's energy blast.

Admittedly we still don't know much of anything about who the characters actually are, just the idea that Beerus is seeking a fight with a Super Saiyan God, what exactly that is being a mystery for several episodes, though Old Kai clearly knows what's going on with him. Thankfully we do get a more substantial explanation for who Beerus is next episode, so the show doesn't drag it's heels too long with that, and this episode does a good job of hyping him up and raising interest.

I do question how the heck Beerus got to the alien world so fast from his palace, considering he's not nearly as fast as Whis and seems to rely on him for transportation as next episode establishes, so that's a bit of an oddity. I'm just going to put it down to cartoon logic.

So, yeah, the episode is overall pretty light on actual story, but at this point in the series I don't think that's a big issue, especially as the plot does start to get rolling over the next few episodes. I do wish the parts focused on the Briefs Family vacation had gone on a bit longer though, it felt like the episode really breezed past that.

Also, I do feel like I need to bring up King Kai's voice in the Japanese version. Jōji Yanami, his original voice actor for many years, is well into his 80's and apparently wasn't in the best of health when Super started... and it really shows with his voice acting. All of King Kai's dialogue in the episodes he voices him in, starting with this one, are spoken in a weird monotone that's... kind of distracting. Especially in places where he's supposed to be shouting or expressing emotion.

It makes some of the scenes with the character in the first saga seem a bit off putting. I feel really bad for Yanami, and I'm glad that he took a leave of absense and seems to have retired by the 12th episode. I don't know exactly how he's doing right now, but I hope he's in the best health he can be.

Thankfully this also isn't a problem for Sean Schemmel's performance of the character in the dub, which is on point. Honestly, the dub for the episode and most of the saga is pretty stellar and makes the episode even more fun to watch with it's slightly wittier dialogue, though I do feel Chris Sabbat's tone as Vegeta sounds a bit harsher in places compared to Ryo Horikawa's portrayal... though, i can't understand a word of Japanese or really make sense of the inflections in the Japanese casts line reading a lot of the time, so maybe that's just me.

The animation and art direction is also strong in this episode. I love the animation of Bulma's aircraft spinning around, and the effects work on display as it dives underwater. And there's a lot of beautiful shots throughout the episode, the scenes on the beach during the evening with all the people on it draped in silhouette look gorgeous, and the explosion created from the planet that Beerus blows up in the last scene is just mesmerising. I mean, it's horrible that an entire planet and all it's inhabitants just got annihilated, but I can really see why Beerus finds the results beautiful. The music and direction are pretty effective, too.

This episode was the first to be supervised by Naoki Tate, one of my favourite animators working on the show and probably one of the most well known. And while he obviously didn't animate everything himself (See animeajay's videos for the low-down on that), as a supervisor this was a great first impression to make... pity then what he was forced to immediately follow it up with.

Oh boy, that episode is going to be "Fun" to talk about.

So, yeah, I don't think there's a lot else i can say without just recapping every moment from the episode and going "I like this" or "Wish this was a bit longer" or whatever. The character interactions were fun and mostly on point, the production values were good, and overall the episode was pretty enjoyable despite a few flaws. Admittedly though there wasn't a lot of substance to it, and I didn't enjoy it as much as the first episode. Still, I don't have any major complaints about it either, and for what it is it works fine.

I'd give it a B+, maybe a high B.

Not really the best episode in the series, or even this saga, but it was a lot of fun and gives us some necessary set up that gradually eases the viewers into the overarching story. I'm happy to come back to it, anyway.

I think the next episode should give me a bit more to talk about compared to the first two episodes, so look forward to that. Hopefully i get that one up by Sunday this time. Sorry if this review feels rushed or that i could have done better or gone into more detail in places, but I kind of was rushing. Any specific questions about stuff you might have in the episode though, just leave them in an ask.

[kisaragizan]

Character Analysis [Jin Kisaragi]

Hey everyone, Zane here again with a... different type of discussion. Was going to do deck profile but I wanted to have something more thought engaging for me and to write about something towards my interests like characters, games, genres, etc. without being straight forward about the subject and more about me I guess. 

I wanted to start talking about video games and anime shows in terms of their plot and especially some of the characters. Today’s topic has been on my mind since I’ve been asked over and over about my interest about said character and it’s been more of a ��I could explain it but it would take an entire hour or so explaining” (because of having to back track their origins of their story and relevance to their respective show/game). As many of you may or may not know, despite being blatantly obvious, I’m a huge BlazBlue fan and my favorite character of that series, probably of all time, is Jin Kisaragi. For those who don’t know who he is or what BlazBlue is, you don’t have to go on the wikia, play any of the games, or read any of the manga to get an understanding of why I like him because I am more than willing to provide enough details to generally wrap up what he’s been through, who/what he is as a person, plot relevance, and why I adore him so much. This, of course, will include spoilers especially of the latest game, Blazblue Centralfiction, so if anyone doesn’t want to be spoiled on plot/ending, please either do a quick wrap up of the game although I’ll do my best to keep it discreet. With that out of the way, let’s begin! I’ll split this up into a few sections: basically who Jin is, his back story, and overall the general philosophy of his character and why I like him.

Who is Jin Kisaragi?

Jin Kisaragi is one of the main characters of the entire Blazblue franchise. His role throughout the story is actually pretty straight forward: he’s the standard typical anti-hero; he gets in the way of his brother, main protagonist, Ragna the Bloodedge, while also fighting off the antagonists of the story, even teaming up with his brother while also protecting those closest to him. He’s very quiet, keeps to himself, and hardly ever reacts to anything that has zero relevance or significance to his objectives, goals, or desires. There are a few people who he really bats an eye towards enough to get some kind of reaction, whether it’s good or positive, at the start of the series, including his brother. Otherwise, he’s a bit of an ass to people, almost narcissistically arrogant as demonstrated towards his interactions with his Lieutenant, Noel Vermillion. Outside of this, he’s very obedient and takes his missions with utmost care, fulfilling each and every instructed objective to perfection, annihilating an opposing entire city and its government by himself within three days to end a civil war and was dubbed “The Hero of Ikaruga”.

This all starts to change by the second game where he is wanted for deserting his post to chase after his brother in the first game. He starts to question the ideas of justice, order, balance, power when he is faced with his childhood friend, Tsubaki Yayoi, whom has come to take him into custody. He believes that the balance and order of this world is wrong and shoulders the duty to truly balance the world. It is here; he realizes his true power and uses it to fight against those who preach a false idea of justice and those whom are deemed as enemies of the world.

This is just the general idea of who he is without getting too into it. Personally, this is enough for me to even like him, but there’s more to him that makes him a really awesome and interesting character.

The Origin of Jin Kisaragi

Jin was originally an orphan along with his older brother and younger sister in a lab facility until they were rescued by Jubei. They were taken to a church where they lived quiet lives with their new foster mother, a nun. Jin being a younger sibling to his older brother, Ragna, became very dependent of him. When his younger sister, Saya, got ill, Ragna dedicated most of his time towards helping her recover; ultimately giving Jin the cold shoulder (I swear this pun was not intended.). Jin felt very jealous of Saya and would pick on her occasionally. However, one day while Ragna was out, he returned to the church set ablaze and their foster mother murdered. He saw Jin standing beside a man, whom had just taken off Ragna’s arm. After crying out to his little brother to find their sister, Ragna turned to see Jin unsheathing a sword and proceeded to thrust it into his chest, before vanishing out of Ragna’s life.

Later on, Jin was adopted into the Kisaragi Family, one of the twelve noble families. Because of his talents, he ascended into the ranks of the Novus Orbis Librarium (essentially the government) although many of his new siblings didn’t trust him and many of his peers threw comments at him stating he’s only recognized because of his family name. However, this didn’t seem to phase, let alone, bother Jin. Neither the teasing nor the praise, nothing seemed to interest him. At some point, he met a girl named Tsubaki Yayoi. Like the Kisaragi’s, she was the daughter of the Yayoi family and in time would become Jin’s first and most important friend. Both of them entered the Military Academy, where Jin was elected as Student President (not sure how the election process works). He enforced many new policies to help the students grow such as the cafeteria duty. All and all, everything at the time seemed to be going well for him.

One day, while sitting atop a hill viewing over the academy, a piece of paper flew by his side. When he grabbed it, a girl came running over apologizing profusely and had asked if he could return the paper she let escape. Jin returned it and she introduced herself to him, Noel Vermillion. Jin had heard the stories of a girl with high Ars Magus, enough to rival his achievements and he was surprised to actually meet her. When he got a look of her face, he was shocked. She looked very similar to his sister Saya, whom he thought he’d never see again. He was bothered by it, every time he saw her; he grew more and more troubled.

At some point after the Military Academy, Jin was assigned to Ikaruga to “bring an end to the war”. He did so by taking down the head of the government, Tenjo, and crushing all of the resistance with his Nox Nyctores, Murco Aglesco: Yukianesa, his weapon which is a katana that can freeze people and create ice. After successfully ending the war, Jin was hailed as the “Hero of Ikaruga” and was promoted and given the rank of “Major”. Sometime had passed, and his lieutenant was assigned to him, it was again, Noel Vermillion. Jin found to be of a nuisance and treated her as such, although, Jin had found himself once again, having the empty feeling.

Character Analysis

So for those who’ve read through everything above, I basically retold the origins of Jin Kisaragi from his early life up until the start of the first BlazBlue game. For those who are familiar, yes, I left out some key parts; I didn’t want to go too into detail in that when they can be explained here. So Jin’s main thing is that he’s a jerk to anyone, especially Noel. This only ever changes if he’s in the presence of his brother, in which he shifts into raging psychopath, trying to instigate a fight between Ragna and himself in order to kill him. Saying he has an obsession with Ragna is an understatement, literally his whole motivation: kill Ragna. Even to where it can come off as very erotic yet sadistic with him giggling and his famous “Niiiii-saaaan”, which are usually the two things fans or people who know of him, associate him as. It also doesn’t help that he gives off the elitist vibe, feeling the need to put himself above anyone whom he feels is inferior to him. Although he does have a few redeeming qualities, Jin is an honestly a complete ass to the majority of the cast, to which many people see and can’t fully come to understand why anyone would like a character such as him unless they’re known for just liking the asshole characters like Kaiba, Vegeta, Sasuke, so on and so forth.

So is that everything? No, not even close. Like I said before, Jin is one of my favorite characters and I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t mind if a character is anti-hero or villain or even protagonist, it really depends on the characters development, origins, ideals, and/or capabilities/abilities. Although, just because I think a character has a cool development, doesn’t mean they’ll be my favorite or excuse them from their flaws, except Jin here, whom I think is a generally good person if you delve deep into his character.

Most people associate Jin for being a complete asshole to his peers and cast, while yes this is true, but there’s a reason, a reason that can’t be helped. Like most anti-heroes, Jin suffers from the tragic past syndrome, but to an extremely small extent from let’s say “entire family was killed by another family member”. Jin very much loved his siblings considerably, especially his older brother Ragna. When Saya got sick, and Ragna was taking care of her, even to the point of ignoring Jin, it’s understandable why jealousy kicked in. As a young boy, he felt as though his play time and enjoyment with his brother was being cut short due to Saya, an ‘obstacle’. However, this doesn’t mean he hated Saya for this. Throughout very specific points of the series, it is implied that Jin and Saya got along pretty well together and cared for her as much as Ragna. After the events of the church being set on fire, Jin’s memories of that event, regarding how he got Yukianesa in the first place, what happened to Saya, and why he was next to Terumi, were wiped by the latter. Ultimately, Jin was left with a broken past that he couldn’t recollect due to trauma and lack of memory of the event, which caused him to feel empty as he was adopted into the Kisaragi Family. Meeting Tsubaki for the first time and becoming her friend allowed him to start fresh and start new, as they both entered the academy, promising to always be there for each other and to help one another out. He continued his life as normal until meeting Noel Vermillion. Now, there’s some speculation as to why he treats her like dirt in general, though I believe it’s because of the memory of his sister. Mind you, Noel does not hate Jin; in fact she wishes to make herself useful to him, despite his constant putdowns and cruelty. In the beginning, Jin isn’t nearly as hostile towards Noel as he is post-Ikaruga War, he greeted her and was interested in her but again he felt troubled after seeing and looking at her. Now, as we established Jin loves his siblings very much, and because of his past (or lack thereof), seeing someone with the same face as her is bound to cause some sort of reaction. Because the last thing he remembers is his jealousy (and potential dislike) of his sister and him rampaging, ‘killing’ his brother, these ideally suppressed memories are starting to resurface, causing Jin to feel these emotions towards Noel (though he doesn’t act on them as harshly as he does later on after the war, but there is another reason for that.). Short version: Jin dislikes Noel because of the last remaining memory he has of Saya, whether he disliked her, or whether he loves her but the past in general troubles him, or alternatively the memory of his adored sister is being stained by this girl who looks just like her, because let’s be honest, Noel is… although adorable, she is not necessarily the brightest to the point of questioning her will leave you with a colossal headache and having a memory of your adorable sister be connected through this is probably not the best way to reminisce about the past. It should also be mentioned that Jin received his Yukianesa from Saya and has held onto it over ten years, which being the last thing he got from his sister, shows he must’ve really loved her to cherish that gift.

So, he loves his siblings, why does he act like a homicidal maniac towards his brother, Ragna? Well, the main reason is again, the jealously factor from when they were kids. However, it’s not just this alone. I’m going to bring up a key point in the BlazBlue series: the concept of the Nox Nyctores. Each weapon has the risk of damaging their wielders mental state and the effects increase with profound use and/or attachment to the weapon. In Yukianesa’s case, it amplifies Jin’s emotions to an extreme level. So general happiness turns could turn into a fatal obsession or even a bothersome person to him, whether it’s jealously or flat out annoyance, can lead to unyielding hatred towards the person. There is even a subplot within Continuum Shift of Jin’s story where the Yukianesa manipulates Jin, otherwise, Jin cannot use the sword. (Which symbolically shows how easy it is for people to bend to the will of others without their knowing, which plays again for a certain friend of his.) Not to mention, Ragna has the Dark Beast subplot going on, so sensing a powerful evil force, Jin obeys his mission as “hero” and aims to defeat the evil of the world.

The common misconception amongst people who’ve heard of the name “Jin Kisaragi” is that he is just an ass much like every other anti-hero, which, on a small percentage yes, but in the grand scheme of things? No, Jin is a fairly capable person of being able to express a decent set of morals; helping and assisting those in need, showing concern to those who are important to him, even compassion and perhaps even love. If he is one, which he is, there are actual reasons behind it that is beyond his control (at the time). When his development kicks in, he starts to regain control of himself and realizes what is important to him: protecting the world and those he cares about. Willingly agrees to join forces and even put aside grudges and differences (although begrudgingly) for the benefit of those goals, and humbling his former elitist attitude and asking for help. This is all on top of his previous set of morals such as obeying all rules, never lying, being responsible and owning up to mistakes. Little by little, ever so slowly, he is following the path that leads him to his destiny of becoming a true hero by correcting the errors of his former past and leading the world to a better future.

Why I like Jin Kisaragi (End)

Jin by far, in my opinion, is the best character in BlazBlue from start to finish. He starts off as this really hopeless guy who doesn’t really understand much about justice and is pretty selfish guy. However as the story goes on, he takes the time to realize the situation that the world is in and begins to take action. Although he gets rewarded here and there with a gag of him trying to pick a fight with Ragna or him picking on Noel, Jin ultimately made a change that set him apart from his alternate counterpart, Hakumen, and is actively trying to protect the world. I’m a bit of a sucker for stories like these but I believe Jin’s was the most well written story by far, especially having Tsubaki alongside him for that emotional conflict and to have the compare and contrast moments between him and Hakumen, which when I first found out, always wondered how Jin will ultimately become Hakumen. Although, when I look at the two now, I feel Hakumen is the “failed” Jin and was cursed to the armor for the sake of being a “Power of Order” whereas Jin chose to obey his fate and do what is right. The difference being between Jin and other anti-heroes is that their development, I feel, is just brought from a sudden motivation in that specific situation. Jin’s development was predetermined by the inclusion of Hakumen in the cast, the subtle hints of a potential past between him, Ragna, and Saya, as well as the idea of all three of them coming together once more, the addition and expansion of his school life and relationship with Tsubaki. I feel these sub-plots are important because it shows more of people acknowledging Jin as something more than just “Hero of Ikaruga” (which is the idea of Jin being ‘knight in shining armor’, perfect soldier, figure head, etc.) or “The Pain in the Ass” (which shows what Jin is really like to the rest of cast from the narrative point of view and how detrimental he can be towards others). Seeing the moments of Jin and Tsubaki, shows that he does have a mind, a soul, and a heart on a genuine healthy level towards anything that isn’t Ragna or Noel.

There’s more to him beyond the “Niiiisaaaaan” or the “Die you obstacle” that he’s normally associated for. People actually do care about him, look up to him, and respect him. Especially after his development, you grasp just how why Jin is important to these people despite previous behavior and attitude towards some of them. Jin’s maturity into a real hero, though not necessarily a nice one, is a very proud moment for his fans. Even in the final game, Jin still undergoes developments such as fighting against Saya (Hades Izanami), attempting to destroy the Azure Grimoire to prevent anyone from accessing that level of power, locating Platinum for Trinity’s sake, fighting against Hakumen and even preventing Tsubaki from locating Noel. His actions are both for the world and for those whom he cares for. Even his siblings that he feels are suffering on the inside; he bears the burden in hopes of stopping them for the world and for their sake as well, fighting against Ragna and defending Noel to prevent the former from sacrificing himself despite Jin’s weakened state. I love characters like Jin; they have their own set of morals and ideals and develop throughout the story into an even better person for the sake of their loved ones. Although it is a typical story, Jin’s seems to be the most interesting one considering he was even influenced by his former self from a different timeline. He grows into a strong hero and into a dependable big brother to Saya as Ragna desired.

I feel as though I can relate to Jin as being a good person at heart in his own way but with a few serious flaws, although still doing whatever he can to help out those around him and those he cares for. Additionally, I believe Jin is a cool character that gets overlooked because of the story trope he’s associated with as the anti-hero with the additional key differences being his obsession with Ragna, though if taken a more closer look at who he really is, you start to understand that these misconceptions as mentioned above are just that, misconceptions. Though, he’s still an ass, he’s a very awesome character story wise, ideally, and game wise.

[kitsunesbooks]

Boku no Hero's Power of Three

The Power of Three is an extremely common theme that has been frequently occurring in fiction, literature as a whole, and just language in general. With Boku no Hero Academia, this theme is displayed in an interesting manner. Utilizing its characters, we see a number of different power trios showcasing different dynamics. The use of trios is an great example of this theme and it is by far one of the most common in fiction. You’ve got teams like Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger; Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli; Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura; the list goes on. I mentioned Naruto of course simply because there is entire mechanic in that series that puts its massive cast of heroes into teams of threes. However, the difference between Naruto and Boku no Hero is this, these triads overlap. Our main trio in Boku no Hero consists of our main character Midoriya Izuku, Ochako Uraraka, and Tenya Iida. However, with the new season of the anime, we saw this triad blend together with other characters. The most important trio to emerge from this blending is Izuku, Katsuki Bakugo, and Shoto Todoroki. This trio became increasingly relevant to the series as these three serve as the series’ main rivals. These three are the topic of this article as I am actually pretty interested in this interesting take on the rival trope.

The rival character is almost always present in a shonen battle anime. Naruto has Sasuke, Goku has Vegeta, Melodias has Ban, Allen Walker has Yuu Kanda, as before the list goes on. But with Boku no Hero, our rivalry is a triangle which adds a unique dynamic that heavily resonates with the series’ theme of self betterment. The series has a lot to say about working for yourself to improve and grow stronger so that you can achieve your dreams. There is a heavy presence on competition as opposed to cooperation, as seen in shows like Naruto. Basically Boku no Hero get’s rid of the whole “power of friendship” bullshit that is incredibly prevalent in shonen battle anime. The main moral of Boku no Hero isn’t cooperation, but support. It preaches independance and vouches for a lifestyle where people make their own decisions and work for themselves while supporting their friends so they can do the same. This message stands at the forefront of our rivalry. Between these three larger than life heroes there is one common goal and that is to become the number one hero, but each one of them has different ways of going about achieving their goal. With Izuku, he overworks himself and pushes his limits constantly because he frankly has a surprising lack of self worth and constantly claims that he needs to work harder than anyone because of his circumstances. Bakugo on the other hand grew up with young Izuku, who was born Quirkless, and bullied him for said circumstances. However, Bakugo’s attitude changed when Izuku acquired a Quirk and was able to stand toe to toe against him. Bakugo has a bit of a superiority complex, but that does not get in the way of his sense of honor which we will get into later. This brings us to Shoto who has the most fleshed out motivation for striving for the number one spot. Shoto was born of a woman who was essentially forced into a marriage with number two hero Endeavor. This marriage was based purely off of the compatibility of Endeavor’s Quirk and his bride’s, hence Shoto’s half and half appearance. The troubled childhood he suffered through is what pushed him to suppress his powers and only ever use the Quirk he got from his mother. This is the source of his motivation as he essentially wants to make his father eat his words.

So to break things down even further let’s look at each character individually, starting with Izuku. As mentioned before, Izuku demonstrates a surprising lack of self worth for a shonen protagonist. The biggest part of this rivalry’s dynamic is how each member of the triangle sees themselves. Izuku constantly views himself as perpetually on the bottom of the totem pole. This lack of self worth is what forces him to constantly claim that he has to work harder than anyone else. Even when he makes progress he still sees himself as the bottom tier of the totem pole. This is what also creates his severe lack of self preservation as he is more than willing to sacrifice his body in order to achieve a victory. More often than not, his dedication turns to madness and forces him to get extremely reckless, despite his intelligence. This is more than likely why he irks his childhood rival, Bakugo. Bakugo can’t stand this lack of confidence Izuku has, because Bakugo sees Izuku as leagues ahead of himself. This plays heavily into Bakugo’s place in the rivalry.

For Bakugo, there is no meaning to a victory unless both parties use every ounce of strength they have to win. Bakugo, despite being a bit of an asshole in season one, proves to have a bit of a warrior’s code. Originally he just picked on Izuku because he was different. Izuku not having a Quirk was extremely rare and thus made him stand out. He was a prime target for the typical school bully. However, as they grew into their shoes at UA, Bakugo’s attitude shifted. Personally, I believe his hatred in Izuku is rooted in the same reason he resents his victory in the Sports Festival. Bakugo despises weakness. He especially hates it when the strong either don’t utilize their strength or view themselves as weak, this is evident in his views on both Izuku and Shoto. He doesn’t want to win when he himself hasn’t worked for it, or his opponent for that matter. He firmly believes that if you don’t work for your winnings then you haven’t won at all. This brings us to young Shoto.

Shoto Todoroki is by far the most troubled of the three rivals in Boku no Hero Academia. His backstory is tragic due to an abusive childhood he suffered through. The pressure of being forced to live up the expectations of his father is what drove him to become the subject of quite a lot of frustration from both Bakugo and Izuku. In season two we learn of how Todoroki was conceived and the sort of childhood he lived. He began intense and grueling physical training at the age of five and his mother did her best to support the troubled child. In short, Todoroki’s father is basically Heihachi from Tekken. This abusive childhood brewed a deep hatred towards Endeavor, which manifests in Todoroki vowing to never use his “other side.” This vow of his earns the scorn of his rivals and culminates in possibly one of the greatest fights in all of anime. (Yes I am dead serious.) Both Izuku and Bakugo are infuriated that Todoroki dares to aim for the number one spot while only using half his strength. They essentially point out that Todoroki’s brooding is one giant middle finger to everyone in the Sports Festival, especially those not in the hero class as they have had to work twice as hard as those in the Hero Course. Izuku manages to reach through to Todoroki and get him to use his fire, but afterwards Todoroki begins to doubt himself and the path he should take, forcing him to essentially forfeit to Bakugo. Bakugo of course despises this action taken by Todoroki.

All three of these characters have a common goal and different methods for reaching that goal, but there is a lot of clever foreshadowing in this season that hints to the relationship between these three deepening in surprising ways. The bond between Izuku and Todoroki is now obvious. It really only took one moment of the two of them smiling for the audience to realize that these two are gonna end up bros for life. As for Bakugo, things are a little more complex and take some reading into. We know from Izuku’s analysis that Bakugo has had a dramatic shift in character ever since the incident at USJ in season one. However, the overall attitude Bakugo has towards Izuku has changed as well. As I stated before, Bakugo despises weakness, but there is a moment where despite all the bullshit surrounding their relationship, Izuku comes through for Bakugo. During Bakugo’s fight against Shoto, Izuku encourages Shoto to use his flames once again. Bakugo insults Izuku in response with a smile on his face, though this time his insult seems more friendly than before. He seems to genuinely appreciate that Izuku wants to see Bakugo get what he wants and truly earn his victory. Not only that, but watching the fight between Izuku and Todoroki more than likely showed Bakugo what Izuku’s true resolve was like. Throughout the fight, Bakugo offers commentary several times, demonstrating his genuine interest in the match. They even show his astonishment when Izuku begins to push himself far beyond his limit. Even when Izuku tells Todoroki straight that everyone is fighting with everything they have to achieve their dream, there is a single panel of just Bakugo’s face. Bakugo was moved by this fight about as much as Todoroki was.

The rivalry between these three characters is by far one of the most interesting relationships I have seen among characters, and not only in anime. Because of the messages and themes of Boku no Hero Academia, the rivalry these characters share is possibly one of the most intense and also the most heartwarming. The fights these three had in the Sports Festival show just how far these three are willing to go for their dream of being number one. Not only that, it shows us that they will go just as far to support each other. Each one of these characters shows immense promise as the next generation of heroes, but they still have a long way to go. Izuku still needs to control his powers and learn restraint. Todoroki needs to settle his family matters and learn to accept all of his Quirk. Bakugo needs to learn to cool off and rely on his friends more, which he has already started to do since the cavalry battle earlier in the season. These characters have a lot of development in their future and I am so excited to see them grow together and become great heroes in the future of the series.

Boku no Hero Academia is shaping up to be one of best shonen series since the big three. It already has Shonen Jump’s number two spot and is still climbing. Who knows if it will surpass One Piece in rankings, but for an anime only like myself it is very obvious why this story grew in popularity. I cannot wait to see the second half of season two and am looking forward to seeing the next arc which I have heard is one of the best if not the best in the series. I hope you enjoyed the article.