There are many things people expect from one called 'God of Blood'. Always, the first thought is the blood of war, the blood of violence, the blood of the weak shed for the goals of the strong. Ares doesn't think of the blood of battle at all. When he thinks of blood, he envisions the many tied knots of blood bonds and bonds forged in the blood of battle. Blood sons and blood daughters, blood brothers and battle sisters, blood oaths and blood vengeance - he watches over them all and keeps close each one of these bonds.
One cannot begrudge his displeasure then when he realises he cannot tell Leto's offspring apart just by looking at them.
It was easier when it was just Artemis. Dark hair curled about her shoulders, a fierce mien whenever Father summons her to the mountain, a scattering of bones and blood shed whenever she was disturbed; the eldest child of Leto was a wild thing, sharp toothed with sharper claws always at the ready. There's whispers of her being a twin, of her other half being made to crawl on their belly as penance for their sin of god-slaying but Ares pays it little mind. What twins look alike among their number? Even dog litters are born distinct with all their unique markings inlaid in their fur. Artemis' twin too would be much more than their sister's mirror image.
Pouring over his list now, he wishes anything about Phoebus Apollo was that simple.
Mirror image did not begin to describe it. The twins were the same height, the same build, had the same colour and texture hair, ate the same raw food and drank the same amount of nectar. There was no difference in how they dressed, no difference in the company they kept, no variance in the weapons they used. There are some days Ares still cannot believe Phoebus will grow into a man and not some nymph with the way his ears have that slender point. He watches them now, sitting together beneath a shady palm and stringing their bows in an uncanny unison and curses because he still cannot tell them apart. What use is his skill in knowing blood when they both have the same damn blood running through their veins? What bond is there to sense when they are tied so tightly together, Ares can scarcely tell brother from sister?
He sighs. Unadorned and completely alone, the only way to know who is who is to speak to them. He'll have to find more ways to tell them apart from a distance. Surely they cannot stay this similar all the rest of their immortal lives.
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Thoughts about Inazuma Eleven Ares
So.... I've finally finished Inazuma Eleven Ares a few days ago (Already started watching Orion lol) so I decided to talk a bit about my thoughts on the series, if I enjoyed it or not, what I disliked about it... and just me telling my overall opinion on everything. This isn't meant to be a critical review or anything, it's just my own thoughts on the series. You are all free to disagree.
If I had to describe how I felt about Ares I would still stick with my first statement I said when I watched the first 2 or so episodes: I both love it and hate it.
Was it as good as the Original Season? Hell no.
Was it still entertaining for me? Honestly, yes.
So let's dive into things from the very beginning....
1- New Characters
The new characters introduced in Ares where... something for sure.
On one hand, there's characters I liked a lot like Nae, Nosaka and Haizaki *I keep forgetting that man's name* on the other hand other characters felt... somewhat boring.... character that I DID find interesting weren't concentrated on... either they were only focused on for a bit or not at all.
Take Nae for example, she was a character I highly doubted I'd like before watching Ares.... and in the end, the complete opposite happened. I ended up liking Nae but she barely got ANY focus in Ares... and it seems she'll pretty much be completely ignored in Orion.
Many of the goalkeepers introruced in Ares where too weak too, I loved Norika as a character but she was such a weak goalkeeper and honestly it wasn't a problem with just Norika but the other goalkeepers too.
This isn't new to the series overall since as a soccer anime that introduces tons of characters, it's only expected there will be wasted potential but it makes it annoying when the less interesting get the others deserved.
Nosaka and Haizaki are exceptions though because I DEFINITELY loved those two and their backstories, especially Nosaka. The mc was... okay for the most part, I didn't dislike him or hate him.
The other Raimon eleven though.....? The only one I might've liked was Hiura and Norika otherwise.... they were all... just there for me.
2- Older characters
I am also putting Kira Hiroto and Atsuya in the older characters category because... technically they are older characters (Dead as they may be in OG series)
So.... let us begin....
In general.... i am pissed at how the og characters were treated like supporting cast.... they barely did anything or got the attention they deserved. A lot of the 26 episodes were wasted on the newer characters, that's expected but still annoying in a way, especially since I found a majority of the new Raimon eleven less interesting than the Og characters.
I am not saying I hated them, but still... it sucked.
On top of that I didn't think the Raimon team really should've won a majority of the matches they won... maybe I am being Bias here but they just felt way weaker than the Og characters in general.
In Og series, no matter how OP the other team was I always cheered for Raimon.
In Ares I was cheering for ANYONE but Raimon. Especially in the Hakuren and Eisei Academy matches. I think there was only two or three matches were I cheered for Raimon.
Again this might be Bias speaking here but also can you blame me?
For a new series, it's only natural that they'll focus on newer characters but when the setup is made in such a way that they make you feel the Og cast will have important roles... it sucks.
Like I am genuinely trying to remember if Someoka did anything during his match because I honestly don't remember any moments of him actually being useful in the match.... And Kabeyama didn't even PLAY in his match.
Kidou and Endou had it the best out of the others.... especially Kidou for some reason.
Now...moving on to Kira Hiroto, he had a great backstory and I LOVED his episodes, it also cracked me up every time he'd get interrupted halfway before finishing his speech, he was a character I got invested in emotionally and again this is a reason why I wanted them to win against Raimon! Raimon didn't make me as invested as Kira Hiroto. In the Og series, he was just this dead kid who you somewhat felt sorry for but they did well with him in Ares...
On the other hand they did Atsuya Dirty. Not just Atsuya but Shirou too.
First off... genuine question but why did they have to change that those two were twins?! Unlike With Hiroto (who is apparently older than his sister) that change has no purpose at all? And .. that's not even the problem... this is more of a small detail that annoyed me lol. The real problem is...
Shirou and Atsuya pratically got NO backstory in Ares. Zero, absolutely nothing. They were pratically just another team Raimon had to go against and that's all.
I saw someone say Atsuya was better off dead because of how much he barely mattered in Ares, and again it's not that he's better off dead. Atsuya had amazing Hissatsus, it was fun watching him play but bro barely had ANY character development, they didn't give him that Kira Hiroto treatment at all...
Idk if it was me, but Atsuya was a character I genuinely loved even back in the OG story and I am sure I thought of that him and shirou would've been a great duo if he was still alive.... so when Outer code came out, I was honestly really happy to see an AU were he was alive.... but I am honestly disappointed.
Atsuya is still amazing... what sucks is the lack of attention he got.
And shirou didn't have it any better! This is really a shame because i honestly wish we got more moments of him and Atsuya.
Again, their backstory had potential, especially if we are to assume the avalanche still happened and their parents died in it, this is only but one example they could've done. It would've been a great way to dive into why Atsuya only trusts Shirou and give it an actual reason. And just like Tatsuya and Hiroto got a different version of their backstory so would Shirou and Atsuya, the differences would still make it interesting while strengthening Atsuya (and Ares version of Shirou) as characters.
3- Animation
I am not here to complain... I am here to tell my thoughts, and lets all be honest... the animation is better than og, or not the animation exactly... the character design. They actually look like teenagers. I also absolutely loved seeing older techniques being used... even if I admit none of them felt as... dynamic as the Og ones. Except Death Zone, that one was genuinely better than the Og in my opinion.
Newer Hissatsus were also amazing! I especially loved The explosion and... literally every Hissatsu the Fubuki brothers did.
It makes me wish we could get the og Inazuma eleven remade with this animation style but that will probably never happen.
Depsite me thinking the Hissatsus in the Og series looked better visually I still really liked seeing them with the new animation style and I definitely think they look great in their own right, it's just that older animation had more dynamic perspective and it felt like there was more care being put into the animation.
4- Plot
It was a somewhat straightforward but lacking plotline, it had potential, was enjoyable to watch... but could've still been done way better than how they did it.
I enjoyed the comic moments though, maybe I just have a bad sense of humor but I genuinely laughed at those funny scenes.
Though probably the only time I genuinely got hyped for an inakuni raimon match was the final match- 🤔
Overall they needes to give those characters backstory or moments thar actually made us care more, or you know... have them have interesting personalities.
Despite all that, I did genuinely enjoy watching this. Yes, the writing could've been better. But at the end of the day... since I did enjoy It I'll say it barely passes 🤣
Who where your favorite characters in Inazuma eleven Ares? What were some ot your compains about it?
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