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[wmiescieinazumy]

i probably won't be able to finish this response before my next class starts but i can try lolol- yeah i didn't make it KSHFJSDK

Really sorry abt taking so long with responses </3 i'm not really built for long, back-to-back discussions, the fatigue catches up to me really fast

I'll respond referring to specific parts like this so it's easier to read for both me and you 😭

It really pains me, though, because the concept is amazing, just the execution that leaves A LOT to be desired.

I totally get the feeling. I think GO in general struggles a lot with executing and expanding on the concepts they choose to introduce. They could have done so much more with Keshin and Keshin Armed, done a better job at making the side characters from opposite teams more memorable (so you don't end up going "who tf are those people" when they show up in resistance japan in galaxy-), led and resolved certain subplots a lot more effectively... I love GO, I think it has so much potential and by god do i wish the writers took more time working on it. I can be pretty harsh on Chrono Stone because the premise really doesn't do it for me since I'm not a big fan of time travel stories. That, and the way CS does it leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. It doesn't flow well at all: the entire club is back really fast, then it turns out uh oh, tsurugi is missing we gotta go get him; yuuichi's appearance is out of nowhere and doesn't get brought up ever again; after that we find out about some random match that got used to make soccer illegal in japan; the team leaves again; fei conviniently remembers there's this super epic soccer manual in the future so now we're doing a museum heist; then we need to find someone who can read that goddamn soccer fanfic; we start jumping from era to era but we make sure to visit the torture facility island (god eden) in the meantime; suddenly after 30+ episodes we're on el dorado's side and nobody mentions that they tried to kill us for so long- it's a mess.

It's so fragmented and has little to no actual weight and consequences. Like you said, CS is aggresively plot-driven. The characters are dragged away from event to event like puppets and nothing they do makes any significant impact on the course of events. The plot idea came first and it's inflexible, the characters have to fit the mold; it's like trying to put a square-shaped block into a circle-shaped hole.

I see the appeal of CS and it's so disappointing that it's not as good as it could have been.

When it comes to Galaxy, I'm at the very start of the season because of other obligations and also the fact that i physically cannot make myself watch more than two episodes at a time. 😭 I spent all my energy reserves when i watched 17 CS episodes in a row that one time.

It's actually something I recall myself talking with people before - how Fei's only bonds (in Raimon) are Tenma and Kinako (more bc he's literally her son than because they're close or anything - speaking of which, what I NEEDED was for Kinako to become friends with Fei, and actually, yknow, put some work to get to know her kid, instead of running of info from Asurei, essentially - I wanted to see her organically grow to care about him).

I totally agree. Their bond in the show feels more like a conceptual connection rather than an actual relationship. In my older texts i sent to my friend i said that Fei's interactions with Kinako are mostly Kinako reaching out to him and Fei passively receiving without giving a lot back. It felt one-sided.

Kinako befriending Fei would have been so good... Especially when you start wondering about her background. What was her life like for her to agree to a stranger's request, not to mention one this outlandish? My personal interpretation is that her life up to that point must have been terribly lonely and devoid of deep, meaningful connections. I doubt a kid who agreed to be swept away on a journey, essentially into a different world, would have done so if they were happy with their life. The promise of a family member somewhere out there, someone who is supposed to love and cherish you no matter what would be extremely appealing to a child in a bad situation. It's really no different from people wishing they could travel to a world from their book and identifying with characters who leave their reality behind for their new life in a fantastical world. Exploring her motivations would bring another dimension to her character, because all of it being about blood-relations is a pretty shallow approach imo.

I would have loved if we saw Kinako finding her family with the raimon soccer club, and not just fei on the basis that they're blood-related. It'd make her inevitable departure SO much more heartbreaking. As a side note, i can't believe the anime didn't show us everyone signing that soccer ball for Kinako and just showed her already holding it. That's prime tear-jerker moment right there and they just let that chance slip by them. 😭

This is the "friendship is magic" show and it's honestly so sad that the friendship takes a backseat for the abomination that is the time travel plot.

Like, Fubuki mattered to everybody, and Fubuki cared about them, too - it was never something that you felt the need to question. With Fei I'd say the only person he genuinely cares about is Tenma, and even that relationship feels more like it's running on They're Similar :) than them actually being friends.

Great comparison to Fubuki! I 100% agree with everything you said here. Genuinely, if you asked Fei to name all of Raimon members i bet he wouldn't have gotten half of them /j And so on point about Tenma and Fei too. Their connection feels so surface level. One other character Fei also interacts with often is that blue bear mascot but like Torb, he's even more of a gag character. i honestly hate that bear sdfhsjkfhskjd whenever he wasn't chosen to be coach i was cheering

As I've said in that other post, even Shindou and Tsurugi aren't given all that much focus beyond their arcs.

Yeahhhhh CS really is the Tenma and Fei show huh. And even then it took them 30 episodes IN A 51 EPISODE SEASON to give Fei anything more to do other from being the chill exposition character. Waiting until the dino arc to start digging into his emotional state and past was a huge misstep in my opinion - this is (essentially) your secondary protagonist for this season for god's sake! When I got to that part i told my friend that if i wasn't insane I would have dropped CS a long time ago because it's ridiculous you have to wait so long to get to know anything meaningful about Fei.

And yeah. Also. Fucking Torb. Like, I don't dislike him, ok? But he's a randomass late addition that doesn't get much of anything, to be honest. He's just kinda there. Kariya should've had this miximax and I'll die on this hill. Especially after he gave Kirino that chance, it kinda felt like he desevred something for it smh.

Yeah fr 😭 And the mental gymnastics the show had to do to justify him going with them had me scratching my head. My guy one second was like "i gotta protect Big now that his mom is dead" and five seconds later he decides to fuck off. I found my direct quote from when i was watching: "just an episode ago he was all like "i will protect rockstar's son" and now hes like "its when you are alone that you find out if ur truly strong or not" sighhhhh".

I like your idea about his spot being given to Kariya! I said Kurama later in the response bc he's my underrated fave and i genuinely forgot that the position was for a defender LMAO Kariya would make a good fit here :]

Gamma is there to be used by Zanark, which pisses me off so fucking much I just can't.

Personally i have no strong feelings about Gamma one way or the other (definitely bc of his very limited screentime, this guy wasn't even given a chance to get to make an impression on the audience-) but i completely uderstand the feeling. The only thing i remember about him is that Zanark kicks the ball into his face during one of the ragnarok matches and that made me laugh. I was so out of it man

Like, I can genuinely believe that Zanark was always meant to join, but his arc is so fragmented that it starts to feel out of nowhere.

Once again, hard agree on Zanark. They really yeeted him into the backrooms and had him come back and be like "im on ur team now" and the rest went "ok". Like bro what was that. wdym you're letting him join just like that

Zanark was kinda my saving grace at the end because he is so fucking funny in the ragnarok matches. Genuinely woke me up from my stupor with all the insane lines and expressions they gave him. is his arc well-written? hell no, but so isn't CS so i was just like you know fuck it. comedic fave right there

the range of emotions chrono stone makes me feel and not feel is lowkey crazy (can you tell im losing my eloquence-)

All of this. But even aside from that, what I wished was for exploration of Shindou and Kirino's relationship, especially post-France. I don't remember, so correct me, did Shindou notice that Kirino was starting to doubt himself before they went there? Like, Kirino is very attentive to Shindou's emotional state, we've seen it, but I don't recall Shindou ever doing the same. I love him dearly, but it does feel like he takes Kirino's presence and support for granted. And, sure, you can chalk it up to Shindou's trust in Kirino being that strong, but there's trusting, and there's ignoring the emotional well-being of your best friend. Kariya was far more attentive and showed far more care for Kirino if my memory doesn't fail me.

AND WE'RE BACK WITH AN ENERGY BURST BABYYYYYYYY

I totally agree, I wish we had a deeper exploration of their bond than what the show has given us. As much as i love those two, I'll be the first to admit that their relationship is often portrayed one-sidedly, with more visible effort coming from Kirino's side. This could be a good set up for a conflict later on, but because it isn't, it just ends up making you feel sad. The curse of a captain and their long-haired best friend is real in the inazuma eleven franchise 😭

Shindou didn't notice Kirino's doubts before leaving for France, in fact, Kariya is the only character who did. It's a double edged sword for me. On one hand there's a point to be made about Kirino's tendency to keep his problems to himself (like how in the Kirino&Kariya subplot in season 1 he never told anyone about Kariya's bullying), and how perhaps he has gotten so good at it that even his friends don't notice when he's worried. On the other, Kirino doesn't make all that big of an effort to hide what he's feeling. In particular, he never tries to fake his expression or anything like that. He'd tell you that it's nothing, but you can clearly see there is something bothering him. And one you start guessing and guess correctly, you can easily get a reaction out of him that will give you a hint or tell you directly what is the problem (just like what Kariya did).

No one else noticing, especially Kirino's best friend, makes everyone look... kinda stupid. Some of them are supposed to have known Kirino for over a year now and you're telling me nobody noticed? I think that the writing is partially at fault here. Having Kirino internalize and hide his worries feels like an intentionally written part of his character, but the lack of reactions from anyone else is a result of weak writing imo. New raimon isn't as well established as the OG cast, and since CS already neglects its characters, i'm not surprised no one else reacts except for that One Character Chosen For This Specific Scene. I have a longer post in my drafts about this moment actually, I might finally revise it and finally send it out into the world haha

Like you said, Shindou has great trust in Kirino - he trusts him to handle his conflict with Kariya, he supports his efforts unconditionally during the France arc - which is very sweet to see, but it's definitely on a more passive side compared to Kirino's actions when it's Shindou who needs the support - visiting him at his place, listening and talking to him, keeping him company. Obviously, relationships aren't a 1:1 equal effort at all times - but I'm not discussing their relationship in the dimension of realism, but the quality of its writing. This lack of Shindou's POV in their relationship creates a disparity in how it's perceived by the audience.

Currently, with the way they're portrayed, it really does feel like Shindou takes Kirino's support for granted. And like I said, i would have loved if this was grounds for conflict further down the line, that would end up strengthening their relationship. What's interesting is that in the CS anime, we get the moment where Shindou tells Kirino he feels reassured that he's with him, BUT in the game this exchange is different, specifically Kirino's reaction. Since the inalog CS game script released i can screenshot those lines, but i knew about them before from my trips around old ina11 tumblr.

I have this moment somewhere in my drafts- Their expressions during that exchange are pretty telling. Shindou says his line with a smile, but Kirino looks upset when he replies "have you?". It gives you an impression that Kirino doesn't believe Shindou when he says that. And how sad it is that he feels so distant from his best friend that he doesn't believe him when he says he missed his presence?

In the anime he doesn't reply but the face he makes expresses a similar sentiment, but more on the sad rather than angry side.

But in classic CS fashion this exchange never matters lol

I'm gonna wrap this up somewhat ungracefully since it's late and i'm sleepy: goodnight („• ֊ •„)੭

still thinking about them. they're both wearing green sob

i love this scene so bad, kirino walks up to this nobleman with no fear, tells him like it is and when kinako sees it she jumps in to support him, letting him do the main talking and have his moment while she gets to taunt the guy (and use her upperclassman as a shield skshfhfkjs). her support of kirino during this arc was SO sweet. she liked jeanne too, she connected with her as well but she saw that as much as she wanted to miximax with her, it was not something she needed. but kirino did, so she selflessly decided to help him achieve that :( screaming crying throwing up

truly the duo of all time, if chrono stone bothered to give them more moments together