Show/movie versions
R1: Jennifer Walters (She Hulk)
R2: Mike Ross (Suits)
R3: Fritz Verdemann (Monster)
R4: Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)
R5: Matt Murdock (Daredevil)
R6: Harvey Dent (The Dark Knight)
R7: Maurice Levy (The Wire)
R8: Howard Hamlin (Better Call Saul)
R9: Chuck McGill (Better Call Saul)
R10: Kim Wexler (Better Call Saul)
R11: Jimmy McGill (Better Call Saul)
The versions of these characters from anime/manga
R1: Kazuya
R2: Mineta
R3: Zenitsu
R4: Takemichi
R5: Wakana Gojo
R6: Jiraiya
R7: Brock
R8: Sanji
Bonus: how far do part 1 and part 2 Denji individually make it?
The versions of the characters from anime/manga
R1: Tanjiro
R2: Deku
R3: Luffy
R4: Denji
R5: Yuji
R6: Frieren
R7: Gon
R8: Edward
R9: Mob
R10: Musashi
R11: Okabe
R12: Eren
R13: Guts
R14: Thorfinn
R15: Subaru
Bonus: How far does Suzaku get?
Willibald is severely underrated in how he plays his role as a minor character. On the surface, he appears to be comic relief that happens to deliver his thesis to Canute at the perfect time - but his speech in the snow is actually the culmination of his experiences
He seeks the abstract concept of what real "love" is to reconcile his faith with the depravity and meaningless brutality that he witnesses every day. The vikings, who are incredibly close as comrades, are simultaneously willing to commit unspeakable acts on others. His alcoholism is a coping mechanism that numbs him from the cruelties of the viking world. He plays the drunken holy fool to separate himself from the violent power dynamics that surround him - it is a survival tactic that allows him to be a passive observer and divorce himself from the savagery
When he hears the story about a warrior of uncontested strength who refused to kill a single one of his enemies, he appears to find what he was looking for. It seems to be proof that unconditional love exists in the material world, but he is subsequently notified of Thors's death. It reveals to Willibald that it is possible to attempt to dissolve one's ego and show agape, but it comes at the ultimate price and requires surrendering basic biological instincts
His thesis is delivered when Canute is psychologically fractured after Ragnar's death - he points out that Ragnar was willing to let innocent villages be slaughtered as long as the prince was kept safe. His viewpoint is predominantly shaped by the endless cruelty that he has been forced to behold, his conclusion is an assertion that only a corpse can love. He takes advantage of Canute's shattered worldview to drop his act and deliver the perspective that he has landed upon - human affection is discrimination
Willibald wasn't simply looking to spread his ideology. When Canute responds to the speech with his own heretical shift, declaring that he will build a paradise on Earth himself, Willibald is euphoric. Canute was able to find an answer his quandary and offer him a way out of his philosophical impasse - ironically, by rejecting the principles of his faith
What do you consider the highest peaks in fiction?
Matahachi (Vagabond)
Matahachi's entire subplot is resolved with his mother's validation. Osugi has her own epiphany when she conveniently realizes that she probably shouldn't have treated her son like garbage, which is treated as a masterful revelation. His character arc is then abruptly completed when Osugi tells him that he "can be the kindest person" - an entirely surface-level platitude that carries no meaning
In a leap of flawed logic, his utter cowardice is attempted to be conflated with empathy after hearing this. Being a screw up and being a gentle person are entirely different issues, none of which are actually addressed, let alone fixed, by regaining his mother's approval
He never earns his own realization through any of his actions. His bloated subplot is conveniently resolved with Osugi's sudden enlightenment doing the heavy lifting, before she spoon feeds him his character resolution. Handing a stagnant character the approval of his mommy is not equal to meaningful writing. His entire "journey" culminates in a cheap and unearned pep talk where Osugi effectively announces to him, and to the audience, "you're nice now"
Most of the justifications I see are based entirely on the "themes and such". Buddhism allows for unearned grace or some thematic explanation like that. It is still a poorly done conclusion to the subplot
To get into what makes Vinland Saga truly great, we must look at the supporting cast. The sheer amount of compelling characterization is at the top tier of animanga. In this analysis I will be examining Vinland Saga Season 2, as I believe that it is the embodiment of phenomenal character writing
Yukimura doesn't use the side characters as pointers towards Thorfinn's ideal of Vinland, he writes them as psychologically intricate people trapped within the cruel Norse culture - they have their own internal complexities, goals, and desires
Ketil:
It is difficult to not instantly label Ketil as a despicable hypocrite, especially considering the actions that he takes later in the story. However, he isn't inherently evil. He wants to be a righteous and kindhearted man, but his actualized morality is entirely conditional - it only exists when it comes at a low cost and feeds his ego
At first glance, like when Ketil takes pity on the boy that stole to feed his family and spares him from having his hands cut off, we see that he is different from the other masters. Him allowing slaves to earn their freedom and treating them with a basic level of respect suggests that he is perhaps even a "good slave owner" that is making every effort to be a better person within the constraints of society at the time
The audience is initially led to believe that he is acting with measured compassion without sacrificing his image of strength, bolstered by his stolen moniker of "Iron Fist Ketil" and his thought process when sparing the hungry child from absolute punishment. In reality, Ketil does not act out of empathy or inherent benevolence. He is not a strong but sensible man acting out of compassion, he is a weak man that is driven by his underlying desire of wanting to be perceived as a virtuous and principled savior figure
The nature of his half-hearted kindness is entirely revealed after Arnheid makes her escape attempt. Ketil is not only bound by society's expectations, but at the core of his character he has unknowingly accepted them
He believed that because he treated Arnheid with relative kindness despite being in a position of supreme power over her, she actually fell in love with him - or at least developed a strong sense of loyalty towards him. When this illusion is demolished by her attempting to escape with Gardar, he is able to recognize the genuine essence of their relationship
Instead of reflecting on this and coming to the realization that slavery might be inherently wrong regardless of how the slaves are treated, Ketil actually embraces his newfound understanding of the system and loses his mask of good will. He just had his land, wealth, and pride stripped by Canute
He beats Arnheid to death to vent his anger because it is allowed within the system - he is a vain man that needs his ego to be fed, yet is unable to exact violence upon Canute due to his relative powerlessness. He recognizes and understands the inherent inhumanity of the system but is unable to let go of it, and ends up adopting it in its entirety
Snake:
As opposed to Ketil, Snake is a tenacious survivor that wants peace but is constrained by his own proficiency in carrying out violence. He is ripe with contradiction - he reads the Bible and finds companionship with Sverkel, but commands mercenaries and violently enforces the authority of a slave owner (even if reluctantly)
Snake operates on pragmatism, but tries to be compassionate if brutality is unnecessary. When he hunts down Gardar, it is not because he is sadistic or is a strict believer in the law, he pities him and dislikes systems of control. However, he is chained to societal expectation, much like Olmar, but he actually has the necessary capabilities to carry out what is expected of him. If he doesn't get vengeance for the guests that Gardar killed, then he will lose his authority - collapsing the fragile order on the farm
Snake recognizes that prioritizing his men as much as possible requires him to murder those that are in opposition to them, especially when the other party has already resorted to lethal violence. He is rational and empathetic, but his own strength shapes his approach to resolving the situations that he encounters
Olmar:
At his core, Olmar is just a normal teenager being heavily encouraged to participate in a vicious culture that equates capacity for violence with strength. Despite his laziness and being seen as a slacker by those around him, he has a genuine and naive desire to prove himself to the world
From his perspective, he is given that chance by Canute. When he tries to sever the head of the pig to prove himself, he is publicly humiliated. He is unable to meet the expectations of others, due to his physically weak body and relatively sensitive nature. He is a normal kid with a fully functional sense of empathy that is trying to stand beside sociopaths
When he is manipulated into killing a man for the first time, with some help, he doesn't feel the rush of his first kill. He instead vomits and feels disgusted, immediately thinking about the ramifications of what he has done. Though he has been conditioned to view killing as a courageous act to aspire to, his inherent empathy prevents him from embracing that path
In the end, after being inspired by Thorfinn, he makes the difficult choice and surrenders. When Olmar cries and begs Canute to allow the farm to surrender, he effectively discards his dreams of proving himself to everyone. He accepts the label of "coward" to save the remaining people on the farm. His character conclusion of abandoning his aspirations of societal validation and his superficial definition of strength, accepting the shame of surrender, to protect what truly matters is remarkably strong
Sverkel:
The old man recognized that chasing societal recognition and wealth were destructive tasks that would result in unnecessary conflict. Sverkel does not operate on the same wavelength that society does - he doesn't value money or power and treats slaves as equals
He does not offer condescending pity, nor treat Einar and Thorfinn as subhumans. He engages with them through a transactional yet respectful relationship, bartering with them in exchange for labor. Through these fair yet strict interactions, he affirms their sense of human dignity
His quiet rebellion develops beyond simply farming - it becomes a more active rejection when he hides Arnheid and Gardar. Through this, Sverkel makes the assertion that his personal sense of morality is far more important than whatever society expects him to do. He refuses to flee from his bed despite Canute's army approaching, solidifying his absolute denial of the system's power
This isn't even delving into the most important characters in the season - Thorfinn, Einar, and Canute. Vinland Saga is able to achieve an immense amount of excellent characterization in such a short amount of time - all of this is accomplished in 24 episodes
I am aware that Black Clover doesn’t have good writing, but it just hits. Especially during the Elf Reincarnation arc
Was a huge fan of this game back when it came out. How well written is it? How much character depth does Sunny have?
It's been a while since I've watched Code Geass, but his writing seemed to be relatively respectable
Can someone explain why he is well written?
Within Monster, we aren't ever shown Johan's perspective. Throughout the narrative there are breadcrumbs that give various explanations for how he could've been influenced to turn out this way, but the story never comes out and tells us. In this analysis I will go into how I believe that Johan became a "Monster"
Ever since the moment that Johan was born, being raised by his mother along with Anna at the Three Frogs, he was already having issues with his identity. To avoid being caught by Bonaparta who was searching for a mother with twins, his mother dressed him as Anna and treated them as if they were the same person. She never used either of their names, Johan was essentially Anna's double. This heavily contributed towards the erosion of Johan's identity. Before he could even begin to form his own ego his sense of self was tightly tethered to his sister
The single most catastrophic breaking point that fractured his already withered ego was after Bonaparta finally tracked them down. He gave Johan's mother a choice - give up one of her children to take place in experiments at the Red Rose Mansion. Because they were twins that were dressed identically, she hesitated and pushed one forward before pulling them back and letting the other one be taken. This hesitation was the fatal blow to Johan's psyche
Johan ended up being the one left behind - he never actually participated in the Red Rose experiments. However, he was left with an unbearable question that he would never get the answer to - did his mother choose him over Anna, or did she simply mistake her for Johan? He was left with this unanswered question, unsure if he was the one that she was trying to protect
While Anna was gone Johan stayed in the Three Frogs and eventually stumbled upon Bonaparta's book (though he was using a pseudonym): The Nameless Monster. For most children it would just be a somewhat disturbing picture book, but in Johan's shattered state he used it as a blueprint
When Anna returned from the Red Rose Mansion, she poured out the bloody details of the massacre to Johan. Because Johan lacked a solidified ego and was already primed by the fairy tale, a terrible conflation occurred. Johan "devoured" her experiences, he internalized her memories so deeply that he believed that he was the one who actually experienced them
After General Wolf found them wandering alone, they were separated and sent to different Kinderheims (orphanages). Anna was sent to a relatively normal one, but Johan was sent to Kinderheim 511 which was an orphanage designed to strip emotions away from children and turn them into perfect soldiers/spies
It failed with Johan as he was empty. He already possessed no real emotions and it just served as a proving ground for him to refine his manipulation, ultimately getting everyone to engage in an all out massacre in which there were only two survivors. This event helped prove to him that everyone had a monster on the inside, and it only needed a push to come out
When he and Anna escaped and were adopted by the Liebert family they returned to a facade of normalcy. After Bonaparta decided to check in on them after being reformed, he unknowingly triggered Johan to execute the Lieberts and instruct Anna to shoot him. At this stage, his goal was simple - erasure. It was his first attempt at the "perfect suicide"
When Tenma defied the hospital director to save him instead of the mayor, he challenged Johan to his very core. Johan operated on the belief that all life is worthless, and that death is the only true equality. Tenma sacrificed his own career and social standing to prove that all lives have the same value. This act fascinated Johan - Tenma became the only person whose philosophy could challenge him
Due to Tenma's intervention, Johan’s goals fundamentally shifted. He no longer wanted a quiet death, he pursued an apocalyptic philosophical checkmate. His objective evolved into what he called the "scenery of doomsday". Johan became obsessed with the concept of being the "last man standing". The ultimate validation of his nihilism was to destroy everything, leaving him alone at the end of it all reminiscent of the tale of The Nameless Monster
However, when he discovers that he wasn't the one who was at the Red Rose Mansion when the massacre happened this goal collapses as well. He realizes he isn't born from a eugenics experiment or anything special, he is literally nothing. Even his deepest traumas belong to someone else. He is an utterly empty shell. Once he realizes that his identity is entirely built on a borrowed nightmare, the "scenery of doomsday" loses its weight. There is no longer a point in proving his nihilism to a world he feels complete apathy towards. His focus shifts inward, back to the "perfect suicide" but more refined this time
He wanted to retroactively erase his existence. His goal was to commit suicide while ensuring that everyone who remembered him died with him. He orchestrates the town wide massacre to kill Bonaparta, and to get Tenma to kill him. By forcing Tenma, the only man who valued his life, to pull the trigger, Johan would ensure that Tenma's philosophy that all lives are equal is proven wrong. In the end, Tenma isn't able to pull the trigger. A drunken father that stumbles into the situation at random sees his child being held hostage by Johan and shoots him out of impulse and a desire to protect his son
Johan wakes up in a hospital bed (unclear if it's a hallucination but this was my interpretation), saved once again by the doctor who refused to let him die, only to ask Tenma the exact question that was at the core of his emptiness and broke his psyche at the Three Frogs - "Was my mother trying to save me that day, or did she just confuse me with my sister?" In the end, the "Monster" was simply a child whose identity was eroded before it could even form, desperately trying to erase a world that he believed had already erased him
We need to re-evaluate how we look at narrative quality. There is a massive bias towards works that have "subtext" or "good pacing", yet the more fiction I consume the more I realize that traditionally "well-executed" works often pale in comparison to works that prioritize thematic resonance. Higurashi truly opened my eyes to what media could achieve on this front
Critics will often approach Higurashi and immediately complain about the bloat, terrible pacing, and the complete lack of any subtext. These criticisms are fundamentally backwards and simply fail to understand Ryukishi's ingenuity
He understands that tragedy is purposeless without a baseline, that there is no point in "establishing stakes" or creating an "engaging story" if the reader is not personally made to understand every character's daily routine. Pacing is just a crutch for authors who pander to audiences that expect the plot to move forward
When a character in Higurashi temporarily halts a physical altercation to scream about the necessity of communication, they are engaging in a high level philosophical discussion. The narrative recognizes that the actual murders are really just localized symptoms of ideological failure
Detractors often complain that it is too "on the nose", but once again this is simply a failure to grasp narrative efficiency. Subtext is up to interpretation and audiences can often "miss the point". Higurashi ensures that never happens through absolute semantic clarity and "high density ideological payloads"
Subtlety is the tool of a coward, real literature ensures that the themes of the story are universally understood by readers. If an author doesn't trust their themes enough to pause the story and have a character exposition dump to explain them to the audience, they have already failed before they have even begun
In this analysis I will argue that Better Call Saul has grounded themes, psychological depth, and flawless execution. Chuck and the infamous courtroom scene that I will explore showcase these very well
Chuck is a masterclass in veiled narcissism and pathological resentment. His psychological framework is molded by the one thing that he can't escape - Chuck follows every rule and is respected, yet he remains fundamentally alone. On the other hand, Jimmy breaks every rule but is effortlessly adored
In the real world, his mother uses her dying breath to call out for Jimmy, not Chuck. Chuck's wife, Rebecca, finds Jimmy’s sleazy lawyer jokes hilarious while sitting in awkward silence when Chuck tries his hand at one. Chuck worships the law because it is the only societal construct that makes sense to him. While Jimmy may fool people into sympathizing with him, the cold hard facts in the legal system will hold him accountable in Chuck's mind
He uses the law and his status as a lawyer to enforce a hierarchy that the real world denies him, allowing him to position himself as superior to Jimmy
Chuck's mental illness, Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity, is a subconscious control mechanism that is a physical manifestation of his allergy to Jimmy's success. The illness flares up when Jimmy becomes a lawyer, when Jimmy gets a big case, and when Jimmy proves that he can be successful on his own
It serves two purposes: getting in the way of Jimmy's success and making him go back to being Chuck's subordinate - bringing him ice, newspapers, and groceries like a retainer would. It also allows Chuck to be the victim, hiding his vicious jealousy behind the facade of a sick and helpless man
Now, moving onto the infamous scene in Chicanery
Because Chuck’s entire identity is built on this rigid, protective framework, Jimmy knows he cannot defeat his brother on the actual legal facts of the forgery case. It was "one after Magna Carta" and Chuck knows that for sure. He even has a recorded confession that wasn't made under duress. Chuck’s legal logic is flawless
Jimmy doesn't target the "facts" of the case, he targets Chuck's constructed reality. He has Huell secretly plant a fully charged cell phone battery in Chuck's breast pocket. For nearly two hours on the stand, Chuck operates normally and feels absolutely zero symptoms
When Jimmy has Chuck pull out the live battery, the real world collides with his internal reality. He has been on top of an active power source for two hours without being affected, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt in front of the entire disciplinary board that his illness is a mental fabrication. However, this alone isn't enough to lend enough weight to Jimmy's story that he was just looking out for his mentally ill brother. He needed to provoke Chuck into a public meltdown to prove to the bar association that Chuck's prosecution was driven by a deranged and personal vendetta
Chuck has once again been humiliated in front of everyone - made to look like a fool even though he played it straight and had the evidence, while his brother broke the rules yet again and came out on top regardless. His entire past few years have been revealed to be the product of his own insufficiency, his electromagnetic hypersensitivity being revealed to everyone to be a disorder that was all in his head. He has been made to look insane in front of the very system that he had the utmost faith in, catastrophically collapsing Chuck's "legal scholar" persona
Every single sentence in Chuck's breakdown is a perfectly executed callback to years of established history. His mask of superiority and foundational belief that the law is impartial and based only on fact shatters. They are proven invalid in the real world, by Jimmy no less
We get to see the core of Chuck's resentment - "Couldn't be precious Jimmy! Stealing them blind! And he gets to be a lawyer? What a sick joke!" - how it started from when he saw Jimmy stealing a few bucks from the cash register when they were children and how it compounded from there, festering in the back of his mind all the while
In most visual novels, a psychological breakdown of this magnitude is almost exclusively spoon fed to the audience through heavy handed, artificial mechanics. Instead of showing a character unravel, the medium relies on exhaustive walls of internal monologue that meticulously over explain the character's exact mental state. They substitute smart dialogue and concise writing with walls of text. Maybe throw in a philosophical soliloquy every once in a while - they rely entirely on stylistic gimmicks and exposition dumps instead of grounded character work
Better Call Saul’s execution completely eclipses most other media. The narrative trusts the audience enough to understand the subtext through the actions and expressions of characters without ever having to explicitly spell it out. The fact is that Chuck is merely a side character who exists for only half of the series, yet still possesses a level of writing that effortlessly annihilates the contrived and tiring execution of VNslop
People will really larp their opinions off of instagram reels and use it to push their agendas here. This isn’t even good larp if routes have mediocre writing for the most part (aside from greed and maybe sloth). Can someone who actually believes this (and has read the novels) explain how if routes are superior to main route?
I liked most of these works that I’d consider to have poor pacing, but at times it severely hampered the enjoyability
Higurashi (VN) and Re: Zero arc 7 had brilliant ideas hampered by extremely poor pacing and repetitive unnecessary dialogue
One Piece, Naruto, HxH, and Bleach all suffer from being stretched out in the anime
I’d say Steins;Gate (anime) and Monster are “good” examples of slow pacing but I still felt that they dragged at times
How heavily do you think poor pacing can affect a story’s quality?