Friend of mine suggested Kusaka wanted a female protagonist on an journey often reserved for male characters but got her past editors concerned about target demographics with the hat.
That is, it’s one power up for one Ranger to use at a time but not just red.
It establishes her more as her own character when Ash is saved for the final minute of the episode. It’s her story becoming a Trainer and bonding with Piplup.
At worst, they might be indifferent to them as a device of the narrative and not be as passionate as some fans might be of them.
I just feel like some audience members are in their right to feel a character they like isn’t been as well utilized by the writing but some… get way too conspiratorial about it.
That is to say, she knows Belos is going to purge the Isles and doesn't want to go out without "disciplining" her child one last time. Bonus points if Camilia gets her with a chancla with a sigilygh drawn on it after the kids try to keep her from damaging the puppeted Isle folk.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LEInmrQZWLg&pp=ygUOYW5kcm9pZCAxOSBrYWk%3D
Todd Haberkorn did a good job in voicing 19 as the soulless automaton they are but the dialogue makes great usage of big computer words that show him as cold, calculating and all about the numbers.
Specifically it would pay off her becoming more of a Trainer and pay off their romance (yes, I ship them) with her taking on Team Plasma's true boss. I mean... Black's team was likely too worn out after taking on N.
Even more so in how they each build up to the final story arc with an iconic villain.
I honestly wish other Seasons did this where they could since it made the world of Goseiger a lot bigger with angels, aliens, cyptids and underwater robots.
Plus, it makes for good stopping points if you got a lot of other shows on your plate and you need a break.
I like Book 2 more than I should. Though half of that is in retrospect with how it fits within the wider storyline of LoK. I do think a Dark Avatar should’ve been more than an admittedly sick ass kaiju smack down (which isn't any more ridiculous that a giant drill or the Ocean Spirit going Godzilla on Zhao's fleet).
So with Pavi and her twin, it’s clear that they’re going for an Avatar with Unalaq’s spirit in mind. One more about chaos, given the state of their era. Too many wanna be all sacred about the franchise and what's right for it, often making vast double standards for Korra that ATLA doesn't have to answer for IMO.
While everyone can be passionate about what they didn't like, I firmly believe that unpopular ideas that (admittedly) could've used more time in the oven can be brought back and freshened up.
So... yeah. Dark Avatar State, yip yip!
...the funeral in the story. When we see Kousei with Kaori's parents well after his big performance, my reaction was, "...oh." Like I hoped against hope that the story would not kill their main female lead and that Kousei would rush from the concert hall to the hospital to find her clear into recovery.
But skipping over the service conveyed the message of, "I'm sorry but... we all knew it was coming..." Especially when we see Kousei envisioning Kaori dueting with him only for her spirit to leave him as if he know that right then and there... he lost her.
...
Please tell me there are angst fics about Kousei rushing to the hospital or his friends during his piece getting the call on Kaori not making it.
That's such a fascinating tribute to one of their overseas markets. Apparently she had a more meaty role in Jiraya.
Part 1 focuses on Shoya and Shoko's childhood with maybe a bit more equal story focus for Shoko (perhaps bring forward the flashbacks to her spineless father or Yuzu).
Part 2 shows Shoya and Shoko reuniting as teens and ending on a "Holy sh*t" cliffhanger with Shoya saving Shoko to his detriment.
Part 3 brings it all home. Maybe have that coma dream sequence of Shoya's expanded on to question his motivations.
Like listening to Erica Mendez’s Retsuko and Ryuko, I can totally see her being cast as two leading ladies, one feminine and the other very tough, and forget the share an actor.
Honestly, the dodgy aspects of indie animation was always part I the charm. When I engage with it, I do so understanding that this is somebody without the support of professionals or the studio system.
In fact, it’s without the numbers focused system that lets them be unapologetically themselves. Those rough animatics, those dodgy full animated shots and that cringe dialogue. It’s artistry in motion. It’s what I expect.
If they improve from there and refine their craft, all the better. Yoda put it best: faillure is the best teacher. Sometimes you gotta unshackle yourself from the anxieties of being perfection out the gate to put something out with the potential to reach that level.
Take chances, make mistakes, get messy to cite another wise childhood quote.
Especially with Anime where the animator's or Mangaka aren't hiding jack. They're wearing their kinks on their sleeves and are not ashamed. Mostly.
I find it's interesting to contrast with western media like with certain classic Disney animation or the likes of Totally Spies where you can tell certain episodes were produced with something freaky on the brain. Yet it's done within layers of either comedy, horror or just plain camp that it gets by.
I just feel there's a constructive conversation to be had about it that's less "Weird Japan" or "hardy har horny on main." Like some feel that criticizing the implimentation of fanservice in Anime on any level is some call for censorship. Sometimes it is with this new wave of puratanism but other times it's like, "This kink doesn't mesh with the story I have been enjoying." Much like how comic relief can be ill-timed in an otherwise grounded story.
So Robotech is an Anime from the 1980s adapted from three Sci-Fi Mecha Anime that were redubbed into 85 episodes of the same storyline.
There was the first saga adapted from SDF Macross which actually had a 27 episode storyline that ended with the Earth taking immense destruction during a climatic battle. The final nine episodes were an episodic epilogue that ended on the capital city's destruction and the titular giant battleship destroyed beyond repair.
The second was adapted from SDC Southern Cross. It was more radically altered in the localizion as the OG's setting was an Earth like alien planet being Terraformed by humans only for the original alien inhabitant to return and not take too kindly to the technical invaders.
The alien planet became a post-alien war Earth in Robotech, one still recovering with a new defense force. The conflict with the aliens became one of resources over a fuel source originally central to the first war. The final battle is a bloody tied with the fallout attracting the attention of a far greater force.
The third saga adapted from Genesis Climber Mospeada involved the Earth already overtaken by a hive-minded alien force by Episode 1. An attempt to retake the planet fails with only the bare minimum of survivors. We follow one of them as he gathers a ragtag team of rebels and explores how the alien occupants have turned human society into a fuedal state where many will sell out others for their own skins.
Robotech kept this plotline intact but retooled the script so that this Earth is the very Earth we saw fought over in the previous sagas. Now there's no human governments with towns and cities scattered about trying to live with the more powerful alien overlords. It adds a bit of weight to the episodes as we've followed previous protagonists try and maintain the world they've seen thrashed about.
Okay, so with all that yapping of an English Dub that I really like more than I should as an Anime fan (check it out on Crunchyroll, it passes the first episode test very well), what does that have to do with Seven Havens?
Well... this is the Avatar Series's own Invid Invasion. The previous protagonists have failed in someway and have allowed for dark forces to have their run of the show to humanity's detriment. Now new heroes have to pick up the slack and figure out how things got this way.
It's a lot similar to what interested me in Robotech with not only a refresh of the cast but a refresh of the storyline even as it built off of what came before. Like the change in perspectives could be a surprise but a good one since it gave the show's world this sense of scope that this story was bigger than just this or that.
And the world itself going through several eras of conflict made it feel alive. Like it was never unchanging and things were never the same in the end. I felt that with The Legend of Korra with a lot of the expansive worldbuilding and the seventy year leap in technology that tantilized the imagination as to what that progress might've looked like.
People complain about her being all "snippy and bratty" but after defeating Amon as well as connecting fully to Aang before getting the Avatar State in her lowest point, she would feel stiffled by Tenzin and Tonraq. She would especially take issue with being cooped up in a compound not on Aang's request but by those she trusted. She bounced back from Amon's debending and got Republic City back on its feet. Why can't she be the fully realized Avatar she believes herself to be?
Additionally, Unalaq treating her more as an equal and trusting her abilities as the Avatar would ingratiate himself to her. Say what you will about him being a touch boring in personality but his methods for manipulating her were spot on as a villain. It very much connected with me at the time as an young adult trying to, well, adult but still feeling like I was at least still in college.
I get that "Korra loses her bending" might've been a more interesting premise but I feel it blinds people to the merits of the story we did get. I have my own notes of where Book 2 could've used some spit and polish but I feel that the cons are vastly overstated.
Especially in terms of Korra's central storyline.
Yes, even her love drama with Mako.
Man, I am really throwing hands this week, huh?
Like Cell's narration bridges over large swaths of the story and, before the show is done, we see the secret origins of Goku in the TFS universe.
Especially when it’s just put out with no elaboration. Even with elaboration, it’s the same old, same old opinions that are far more a them problem than anything objective. Assuming “Objective” is even a thing anymore and not just some way to win at a gloried dick measuring contest.
It sorta elevates their headbutting dynamic from just rich girl sniffing at the commoner to a prepped Magical Girl having to deal with a raw rookie thrust into things. Like a bit of a buddy cop with a old vet and a fresh faced recruit.