u/mp3help

For one reason or another, adaptations like to downplay or refuse to condemn child abusers. Either to make them sympathetic as a "both sides" argument, or because stories don't think children can handle stories about cruel parents, despite it being a central theme of many fairytales told to young children for ages.

1. Netflix Ozai (Avatar: The Last Airbender) In the original series, Ozai burns his son Zuko purely out of malice for his son being "weak" and showing compassion to the soldiers of the Fire Nation. The point of his character is to be a despicable abusive monster, and that nothing Zuko does to earn his respect is worth it. That Zuko needs to learn that his honor comes from his own actions and integrity, not how much cruelty he can exhibit to impress his father.

The Netflix adaptation tries to make Ozai more sympathetic by making him regretful of burning and banishing Zuko, seeing it more as "necessary tough love" which he is reluctant about, while burning his own son anyway. Trying to give any weight to Ozai's point of view only muddles the point of his whole character- that he's emblematic of all the cruelty the Fire Nation has fostered and inflicted on the world in the last century, that his rhetoric of "might makes right" is not in any way condoneable.

2. Lusamine in most adaptations that aren't the original Pokemon Sun and Moon games: In Pokemon Sun and Moon, Lusamine is a narcissistic power-hungry woman obsessed with gaining power over the Ultra Beasts and their worlds after she lost her husband to a wormhole. She cryogenically imprisons Pokemon in her trophy room, tortures Cosmog to create wormholes for her, and restricts her children in what they can do or wear, enforcing her philosophy that only aesthetic beauty has any worth whatsoever. This has led to her daughter Lillie developing severe anxiety and self-worth issues, and her son Gladion becoming especially rebellious, aggressive, and cold. Lusamine practically disowns Lillie in the game's climax and attacks the player purely because Lillie speaks her mind and tries to stand up for herself.

In the Ultra games, Lusamine is portrayed more as an antihero, doing all the cruel things in the original games for the new reason of trying to defend the world from Necrozma. While her desperation to obtain Cosmog in this version of the story is understandable, her cruelty to her children and their clear trauma from her behavior is still inexcusable, especially since this version of the story ends with them letting her back into their lives.

In the anime, Lusamine is an entirely different character, not evil at all in this interpretation and more like a dorky soccer mom. And as a result, Lillie's whole character arc changes too. Lusamine is still recklessly obsessed with Ultra Space and her experiments with it still have dangerous effects on the environment and her children, but again, their trauma is presented as just an unfortunate mistake on her part rather than a character flaw she needs to address.

The only adaptation of Lusamine I know of that keeps her as evil and addresses the ramifications of that is the Pokemon Adventures manga, which is very good and well worth a read! But speaking of which...

3. Norman, Pokemon Adventures (English Publication). In the original Japanese publication, Norman is a rageful and abusive dad who struggles to accept his son Ruby's lifestyle of performing in Pokemon contests rather than battling. This whole aspect of his character is what motivates Ruby to run away from home to chase his own dreams. When Norman finally hunts Ruby down, he savagely beats Ruby with his bare hands, demanding Ruby to fight back to prove his resolve.

In the American English publication, awkward steps are taken to block out all of Norman's abuse. When he throws Ruby down a flight of stairs, the translator just says Ruby '"accidentally fell down". When he punches Ruby in the face, an awkward speech bubble is added in to say "Lightning struck nearby and he accidentally dropped Ruby", ignoring the fact that he was furiously holding Ruby by the nape over the edge of a building before either way. And by downplaying Norman's abuse, it makes Ruby's frightened and rebellious behaviour seem less reasonable, and weakens the story overall.

(Another example is the English translation removing Crystal's mother slapping her with an awkward redraw, but that's a one-off moment that's less connected to the themes of the story.)

4. Zeus and Hera, Disney's Hercules. I don't actually hate this one, I just found the sheer difference between this and the original myths humorous and wanted to include it to add diversity to the examples.

It's been 2.5 months since my last post here and in that time, Even a Replica Can Fall in Love had over 7 new chapters translated and a full anime season, so it shot up from 9th place to 4th place! Definitely check it out if you're feeling uncertain- it's not the most comedic series on here but it more than makes up for it by being the most emotionally mature and heartwarming+heartwrenching series! I've already bought the light novels so I can keep reading ahead from where the anime left off!

Also noteworthy is that Komi Can't Communicate had a special bonus 10th anniversary chapter released, for any fans who haven't heard about it yet!

I also added another page for series that I loved as anime, but haven't read the manga yet (just because I'm busy)

As always, if you want to know more about any of the series listed here before you start reading/watching, I'm more than happy to give a synopsis and review in the comments!

Special shoutout to u/Endiamon for recommending me Aharen on my last post! I had so much fun watching the anime for it! You’re the big winner of understanding what I like in a romcom, including:

·       It being really REALLY funny

·       A couple where both people are weird and silly, not just a “normal” person and their hotter quirkier love interest. Even kuuderes are used for comedic moments.

·       A story that continues after the couple gets together

·       Fun and memorable side characters (even if I felt the side couple’s arc was weirdly rushed)

·       Lots of wholesomeness, antics, and vibing. No forced arguments and no love triangle (outside of self-aware jokes)

I don't need all of these in a recommendation, but the more of these that fit, the better! And as a reminder of what I'm usually not into in romcoms, I dislike:

1. Enemies to lovers or just constant arguing

2. Will-they-won't-they with repeated confession fakeouts

3. Kuudere leads whose emotionless natures aren't used for comedy.

4. I don't hate ecchi, but I'd prefer if it wasn't the series' main focus, or if it's at least funny.

But yeah! I had fun making this! I'll probably only update this whenever Journey Home wraps up its first anime season!

I had a lot of fun practicing art styles for this- Ruthye is inspired by Gurihiru's art (one of my favorite art teams ever), especially how they draw eyes! Lobo's crazy proportions are based on his DCAU design, just with Momoa's look instead. And Kara is drawn in more of my own art style!

But yeah, it's a good fun movie! Directing and editing a bit choppy at the start and it could have been more colorful, but the effects and the acting were great! 8/10, would recommend!

Now that we know their abilities, I just had to swap Scovillain out with Emboar this time.

I tried incorporating a lot of my favorite design elements alongside common Mega design trends!

It's based off a Therezinosaur, with the arm blades from the original Mega Sceptile now as its claws- and the tail looks more like a palm frond than a conifer. The blue accents come from Charizard and Mewtwo's X Megas also having more blue on them (RIP Raichu X breaking this trend but still) and the colored belly, longer snout, and head leaves come from Grovyle since a lot of the new Megas borrow traits from their pre-evolutions!

I'd also appreciate more feedback on if/how Parry Blade is balanced? I'd like if it didn't fail against non-priority moves like Upper Hand, but I also don't want it to be so spammable it shuts down entire builds without any effort. Maybe it just has low PP? Or it takes a 50% damage penalty whenever it blocks a priority move?

I'm also aware that it also goes on way more threatening Pokemon than Sceptile, including unreleased Megas like Golisopod and Absol Z, not to mention Kingambit, Chien Pao, Sneaseler, Iron Valiant, and Kartana, so I'd love to hear more about how a move like this would shake up the meta!

Super-speed is already known as one of the most overpowered abilities since it usually comes bundled with a lot of other powers to make it work like strength, durability, reflexes, and even full-on telekinesis and time alteration at its extreme. So I really appreciate it when speedsters come with built-in limitations to prevent them from being overpowered and to let them use their abilities more creatively!

1)      Mas and Menos, Teen Titans. They can move at superspeed but only when in contact with each other.

2)      Yo-yo, Agents of Shield. She can run really fast, but she is automatically sent back to her starting point after a brief amount of time.

3)      Star Platinum, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. (And most other short-range power Stands) A little unconventional, but it still counts! They have incredible speed and reflexes only in the single-digit meter range they can be summoned in by their user. For the close-range Stands that can even move at all outside this range, it is implied that either their strength or their control drops off noticeably upon doing so.

4)      Pohatu, Bionicle. At his original power level when using super speed, his surroundings are mostly a blur to him. After his Nuva powerup, he is able to clearly view his surroundings even when going faster than before.

5.  Chase, Dispatch. Every time he uses super-speed, the time dilation to allow it ages him extra fast.
   

6.  Tiger Beetles, real life. Similar to Pohatu, Tiger Beetles have the fastest running speed of all land animals relative to their size. However, their eyes and brains are unable to keep up with their surroundings at that speed, meaning they have to stop every few seconds to re-calibrate their position.
   

Specifically, when a character gets rejected by their crush and the story almost immediately gives them a new relationship partner so the audience doesn't feel too bad for them.

1. Nancy and Edward, Enchanted: This one is a double instance since both Nancy and Edward's original fiancees Robert and Giselle got together, so Nancy almost immediately leaves her life on Earth behind to run off with him to his animated fantasy kingdom in another dimension to marry him.
2. Manbagi and Wakai, Komi can't Communicate: After getting rejected by her crush Tadano after almost a dozen volumes of love triangle drama, Manbagi soon runs into the awkward soccer player Wakai and the two quickly hit it off in their own romantic subplot from that point onwards.
3. Black Canary and Green Arrow, Batman the Brave and the Bold: I know they're one of DC's most iconic power couples, but specifically in the Brave and the Bold cartoon, it's almost comical how she only accepts Green Arrow's confession the minute after Batman rejects her. (Sidenote: this happened in the Music Meister episode, which is one of the best cartoon episodes ever made)

More on my Youtube here!

To clarify, this isn’t about a character finding out that they aren’t human. This trope is for characters who already know they aren’t human, try their best to be human, but wind up failing tragically anyways.

1)      [Infinity Train] Lake is a literal mirror of Tulip Olsen, created to simply serve as her reflection in the mirror world. When Lake escapes and tries to live her own life, she learns a little at a time that she can’t exist like regular humans can. She isn’t allowed to leave the train with her best friend Jesse due to not being a human passenger, and she is repeatedly taunted by the mirror police about how she’ll never be accepted in the real world due to her appearance. This comes to a head when Lake has a small amount of hope that going to the train’s passenger number registry and getting a number on her hand like the other passengers will prove her humanity and give her an escape. However, even the Infinity Train’s security and number registration systems refuse to acknowledge her as a human entity, causing her to have a breakdown.

2)      [Toy Story] When Buzz Lightyear finds out he’s a toy and not a real space ranger via a toy commercial in Sid’s house, he tries to prove that he's real by activating his jet pack and flying away. Unfortunately, he can’t fly of his own power, crashing into the ground and losing his arm.

3)      [Even a Replica can Fall in Love] Nao is a supernatural duplicate of high school girl Sunao, whom the latter can summon and de-summon at will just to perform menial tasks. For most of the series, Nao tries to form bonds and hobbies separate from Sunao to prove she has an identity and existence beyond just doing Nao’s chores and being willed away afterwards. However, when Nao is >!killed in a train accident, she comes back to life right away as if nothing happened, and realizes that her inability to die further separates her from the humanity she wishes to be a part of, making her spiral into a severe depression.!<

If it’s any consolation, all of these characters eventually find happiness in their stories after these moments- I just really like these themes being explored in “Dark night of the soul” moments!

Episode 5 just aired and it was such a great conclusion to the first arc/light novel- And now's a great time to get into the series since you can watch the first 5 episodes like one big movie!

Or better yet, check out the light novels and/or manga, too!

1. Infinity Ultron (MCU- What If) Starts out as his weak scrap form, but eventually downloads himself into Vision’s body as planned, then steals the Infinity Stones to evolve further into a multiversal threat.

2)  Alpha (Generator Rex/Ben 10) absorbs fellow nanites until it is strong enough to also absorb the powers of the Omega Nanite and the Ultimatrix, each gadget a universal-tier threat on their own, becoming Alpha-Omega by the end of the crossover.

3. Necrozma (Pokemon) starts out in its twisted and starved normal form until it absorbs the powers of Solgaleo or Lunala to regain its original Ultra form- one of the strongest Pokemon in the series, with the ability to produce/devour all the light in a solar system.

4. Hunson Abadeer (Adventure Time) devours hundreds of souls across Ooo until he achieves his giant demon form.

5)The Spot (Across the Spiderverse) starts out as dorky scientist Jonathan Ohm until the explosion of Kingpin's collider turns him into a klutzy joke villain with portal abilities. Tired of being mocked, he hops from universe to universe and absorbs the power of even more particle colliders to turn into his distorted final form, strong enough to destroy universes.