The Real Beauty of Fullmetal Alchemist’s Characters

Many a longtime reader of this blog – and anyone who knows me in person – can testify that I am extra picky about what writers and stories I consider “masters of the craft”, especially when it comes to characters. Of that handful I currently have, Hiromu Arakawa has a firm, uncontested spot.

The Manga and Brotherhood variants of Fullmetal Alchemist are an absolute treasure trove when it comes to detailed, flawed characters that just about every viewer will fall in love with. As a writer, I’m usually in awe of Arakawa’s ability to make a streamlined narrative, that’s equal parts funny and dramatic, and the amazing characters that carry it forward. It’s very rare to find an anime with a cast that’s as well loved as this one and I couldn’t help but wonder what it was about them that sticks with everyone so well.

And, well, you know I can’t resist deep character dives. And before you move on, be aware: spoilers ahead.

Arakawa’s strategy seems to start with something I think many a writer wants initially: memorability. I’ve recently had the “joy” of reading a book that had a good plot, and fascinating villains, but I found myself bored because the protagonist in question was a generic, leather-clad action girl with the social skills of a rock. Your character’s arc, motivations, and story mean next to nothing if the character is a bland, blank slate that could easily get lost in the crowd.

 Arakawa has this skill down pat: each character features not only a unique look, down to the side profile but a personality that could easily become their trademark. Hughes’ kind heart, busybody nature, and outright worship of his family would never be confused with General Louis’ Armstrong’s patented brand of hyper-chivalry and drama. Each one of these characters, even the small ones with bit parts, can easily be identified without use of their clothes or their role in the story. Take it from me; that is far from easy to do.

Once we have these wonderfully created specimens, which your audience loves and worships, our writer does the one thing every newcomer is too scared to do: she cracks them open and spills their guts.

I see a common problem in published fiction where authors are afraid to do any lasting damage to the characters of the story. They’ll kill tiny characters of no significance, and they may even injury their protagonists a bit, but they won’t do anything that rips them apart internally or remove a prominent character that would upset audiences. Arakawa has no such fears, to the point of things being rather dangerous if you’re a character with a first and last name. These characters will feel pain both physically and emotionally, and maybe have their whole world ripped out from under them.

The best example in the show comes from the characters Winry and Scar. Scar is already tragic in his own right: his homeland of Isvalla is being invaded by a greedy, conspiracy-laced government. But then he wakes up in the hospital run by two people from the enemy country. He kills them in a blind panic, even though the two in question are doctors that are healing everyone and anyone they come across. And lo and behold, he’s confronted on his “Kill All Alchemist Quests” by their daughter. Said daughter has lost both parents in one swoop, is now facing their killer, and can’t bring herself to kill him.

But in that same moment, and other moments to follow, we see why this formula works so well. Because each of these characters have such a strong personality, they have a chance to shine when that tragedy strikes. Instead of crumbling under the trauma, most of them will build themselves back up to be bigger and better than they started.

The show’s main characters follow this principle to the letter. Ed and Alphonse have, arguably, lost the most of all the characters in the show: bodies, family, home, peace of mind, you name it. But, instead of crumbling into a pile of blood, flesh, and sadness, they burned down the family home and joined the army. They decided right then and there to fix the problem, no matter what it took, and became the righteous and lovable badasses that lead the show. Or, to take it to a side character, Roy Mustang finds himself in the midst of a massive government conspiracy that robs him of Maes Hughes, his best friend, and confident.  And, while it’s clear that the sadness is crushing for him, it becomes the fuel for him to burn a path directly to the killer and the heart of government corruption.

And inspires some of his most badass moments

I could go on forever with how these characters shape up and become pedestal-worthy, but I can sense my worship-welcoming wearing thin. To bring it all succinctly to a close, Fullmetal Alchemist in its Brotherhood and Manga context works so well, even with non-anime fans, because it hits the major trends of writing while taking some huge risks. Everyone’s life is on the line as this mystery unfolds, but there’s not a point where you don’t dare give a crap for fear of instant loss. It ’s one hell of a tightrope to balance on, and I hope I can try it for myself one of these days.

Anime that Turned Their Genres Inside Out

Ever rolled your eyes at the cliches in your favorite anime? Or maybe you love them to itty-bitty pieces? Either way, we all know that each genre of anime has baggage or traditional settings that come with it. You probably know the storylines by heart, the types of characters within it, and what the outcome of the story may very well be. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but it is very fun to see things shaken up. And lo, anime has its fair share of titles that take their respected genres and re-set the standard, or take the standard somewhere off-kilter. They may very well deconstruct it as a whole.

These are four anime that turn their genres inside out and around, changing the stage for everyone. These are, as always, my opinions and I choose shows that deserve to be talked about a little more. I’m open to discussions with others in the comments below.

 

• Isekai – Now and Then, Here and There

 

Isekai, or “different world”, literally refers to stories where a normal person is transported to a different world in the story. It’s often used in sword and sorcery-typesettings, where the hero is given a mentor to teach him the “ways of the world” and an added love-interest for extra measure. It’s a genre with a pretty heavy focus on wish-fulfilment, with shows like Sword Art Online for fantasy lovers or Girls Bravo for harem fans. However, the deconstructive tales to be found here can be extremely dark in nature when the writer is allowed to make a literal hell-on-earth type situation. Such was the case with Now and Then, Here and There, which turned this genre from “wish-fulfillment” to “really be careful what you wish for.”

No jokes to be had here. This one is some serious shit

Now and Then, Here and There sees the hero transported to a world that is dark and unforgiving. Children commit acts of immense violence against each other; young men are conscripted into an insane king’s army, and young women get passed around that same army to be raped and abused. Our hero, Shu, tries his best to be the big hero, but there really can’t be any heroes in this more realistic look at war and tragedy.

• School Anime – Great Teacher Onizuka

Oh, those slice of life school anime, they tend to be so innocent. And they are no stranger to the “Save Our Students” trope in popular culture, where some new teacher swoops in and gives each student a new start on life: better grades, better study methods, so on and so forth. But, really, what if that new teacher was so very far away from innocent? And what if he was just as jaded as all the other teachers?

Enter Great Teacher Onizuka, or GTO, a manga/anime that takes both school anime and the Save Our Students trope through a shredder and a blender. Onizuka himself is crude, impulsive, morally questionable, and only here in hopes of netting jail-bait. Does he slowly come to realize he cares about his students, their asshole-behavior aside? Absolutely, but not before trying to kick some ass, get laid, and just generally try to avoid any real work.

Or scare the crap out of a teenage gang so hard that they become his personal assistants.

While I can’t recommend the show over the manga, I can make the argument that GTO turned the school anime into something amazing. Instead of providing some random, albeit quirky, moral figure to whip the kids into shape, we’re given a former delinquent that accidentally teaches his students moral values that work IRL. The story is definitely not for the kiddies, but I think most adults will get a big laugh out of it.

• Magical Girl/Shojo – Revolutionary Girl Utena

 Everyone loves to talk about Puella Magi Madoka Magica these days in regards to the deconstruction of the magical girl genre. I will be the first to admit that the show does a good job of showing the more serious side of being a magical, sailor-suited soldier of love and justice, and yet there was one before it that made it look dangerous and trippy.

If Cutie Honey is magical girl’s grandma, and Sailor Moon the proud mama, then Revolutionary Girl Utena is the rebellious little girl ready to strike out on her own.

The whole show and manga revolve around Utena herself brushing past shojo girl stereotypes and the show itself looking at more serious issues. The idea is to pick apart the pretty and fantastical world of shojo manga to get to the truth, “reality” as it were, with lots of mind-screwy, allegorical moments to get it done.

• Mecha Anime – Mobile Suit Gundam and The Gundam Franchise

Of course, giant robots were a thing long before this series hit the ground. But the genre itself focused mostly on the Rule of Cool principle, with unruly and unrealistic robot designs that were impractical at best, impossible to work with at worst. Several shows in the 90s poked fun at that fact, and at the overall sentai-ish nature of it, but one series decided to “fix-it” with a hard-science approach.

Mobile Suit Gundam looked hard at how these kinds of robots would function and what a war involving them would really look like. It wasn’t a fun series; it took a very hard look at how a war would harm the surrounding people and areas and you got a whole crapload of technobabble to make a Star Trek fan blush. This set the stage for the rest of the Gundam franchise, in which the robots have gotten fancier-looking and the stories have continued to be hard drama. Of course, outliers will exist, with shows that returned to traditional giant robot escapades… I believe I named one of them as my guilty pleasure.

Childhood Nostalgia Powers, GO!

What anime do you know that broke the stereotypes to smithereens? Feel free to share below. Like and follow for more content just like this.

 

What Makes an Anime Stand Out?

Do you know how much anime gets released in a year? Ten, twenty? It’s more in the 30-50 range and a grand majority of them will become hidden gems or long-forgotten failures.

My friend always used to say that life was too short for bad anime, so I find myself starting and ending series a lot. For every Tenshi Muyo and Chobits, there’s a Girls Bravo somewhere in the mix, known to a select few but not famous enough for mass appeal. It makes one wonder what it is about these shows that let them stand the test of time while others become relics demonstrating what went wrong in that time of animation.

For example, see Psychic Wars

As a writer myself, I have my own theory on the matter. I find that, almost always, the devil is in the details when it comes to anime.

 

• A New Idea, or An Old One With a Unique Twist

 

One wise writer once said that there are only seven original plots in the world. Mainly, asking for complete originality is looking for a needle in a haystack because every story will have similarities to each other. It gets even worse when you realize that artists are inspired and/or driven by each other and take bits and pieces they like. In reality, nothing is ever 100% original and is likely a Frankenstein-collage of ideas, characters and set pieces from all over that creator’s field. But where the magic happens (as far as this unprofessional writer can figure) is when you combine these already-on-the-table pieces, and possibly a new piece, in a unique way.

A shonen romance? Normal. A shonen romance with a young girl as the protagonist? Strange. A shonen romance involving a young girl and Western Faerie tropes? Curious and unique.

Anime is the exact same way. There are so many genres, tropes, storylines, character types and other trappings that have been done and done to death, and some that continue to go on despite being old. What differentiates a series is how it can present the old ideas in new ways (the hard way) or how they can present a new idea altogether (the really hard way.) Shows that just give what sells in a way that’s been seen a 1000 times will fall to the wayside.

 

• Memorable Characters With Appealing Looks and Personalities

 

 But a good story is only as good as the people walking around within it. Your grand and epic story will fall flat or cease to even exist if the people walking around in it are flat caricatures with nothing remotely interesting about them. Even if the character isn’t a well-rounded individual, they need to at least look memorable or have a personality that will stick out. Alucard from Hellsing may not have the most complex or even intricate personality, but everyone remembers the red duster and hat, large orange glasses, and the fact that he’s bat-crap insane. Anime is about being out there and imaginative after all, so shows that go the extra mile with their characters become famous.

Ah, but there’s a flipside to everything, including fame. Because, if you present a character who fails to charm, has too much power, or is just utterly wrong in every fashion, then you go from memorable to INFAMOUS in record time. Look no further for this than the sad state that is Kiro of Sword Art Online, with a design that’s fairly mundane but a personality that is memorable for being overpowered and really boring.

 

• Memorable Visuals

 

Speaking of memorable things for the eyes, when was the last time an anime you liked looked boring? Didn’t think so.

The problem with the large bucket of anime that comes out every year is that a significant chunk of it all looks the same. It takes place in more modern settings where the backgrounds are just “there,” so to speak, and the character designs are either ridiculous or underwhelming. Their problem is a lack of something visually stunning and memorable, a trademark that sets them apart from all the others.  Maybe you play with the animation; maybe you have one thing that’s done differently from other shows. An anime will separate itself from the wave of mediocre shows by having something in the art that people will remember and talk about, be it the overall look or one specific asset.

Take, for example, the likes of Ajin: Demi-Human.

Ajin’s visuals have issues with being weightless and floaty, but their artistic look is spot on. Things are dark and sharply contrasting, with unrelenting violence and frightening images of science gone completely wrong. On top of watching people wrapped in bandages, being experimented on mercilessly, Ajin than throws out the haunting IBMs, these black monsters they can summon that look fantastic in the 3D animation. The show stuck out for taking a huge risk, with both losses and payoffs to show for it.

 

• A Feel That’s Unique

 

The last thing that will make any anime stand out and become the next big hit is, in my opinion, the most important. Because all the unique characters and visuals in the world, even with a story that somehow has a completely original plot, will not save you if your story has no unique feel.

Think of your favorite anime. Think hard about what you loved about it. I’m sure you noticed that it had a specific ambiance or emotion or background emotion to it that felt almost like a signature, something only it could recreate. Call it mood if you want, but it’s basically the overall way the show touches your thoughts and emotions. It’s nebulous to explain, but you recognize it when you encounter it.

To illustrate, take the likes of Inuyasha and The Ancient Magus Bride. Both shows feature a monster/mortal romance of some sort and are a shonen written by a female writer. But one would be very incorrect to say that they have the same feel. Inuyasha is a more traditional shonen despite the romance/female protagonist, with that more adventurous mood and a couple that feels much more like an old married couple than a new blossoming romance. The world surrounding it is cold and dangerous; it’s just a shame the main couple found little warmth in each other.

Now take Magus. Magus is far warmer than Inuyasha, despite having a world that is equally dangerous. There’s a warm, familial atmosphere to the show as the story focuses on a budding relationship between Elias and Chise, and how it changes over the episodes. The feel is more about discovering the world naturally rather than staking it out on an adventure and the main couple are far cuter. The feel of Inuyasha is slow and bristling; the feel of The Ancient Magus Bride is fantastical, tragic, and dangerous.

The anime that can manipulate a mood and ambiance unique to itself will find its characters more appealing and its story more flowing. The great failure of many a generic story is just that: it’s generic. I hope that this new year brings an influx of more unique anime, especially now that I’m focusing more time on them.

Secrets to Success: Fruits Basket

When I think romance anime, I tend to forget about Harem and Reverse-Harem animes. They dance more to the tune of romantic and sexual fantasy rather than a love story, and the jokes commonly between shows tend to grow stale. But great things can happen in overused genres, especially when the writer decides to shake things up.

For the few who don’t dance in anime circles, Harem anime refers to an anime in which the male protagonist (who’s usually a useless dork) is chased by or encounters a large group of females who are bound and determined to jump his bones, come hell or hellish rival. Reverse-Harems flip the genders and put one female in the center of Pretty Boy Island, or at least in a position to pick amongst a crop of guys all very much interested in her. Both genres have a heavy fan-service focus, though Reverse-Harem prefers to go the traditional shojo romance route: everything is sweet and cuddly because all these cute boys.

For example

And then there’s Fruits Basket, a beautifully raw little gem of an anime that will make you laugh your ass off and bawl your eyes out in the same breath. Rather than a fantasy to be enjoyed ironically, Fruits Basket plays more like a character study of tragedy and trauma. Because sometimes we smile when, inside, we hurt.

• Tohru is Tohru, And Thank God.

The idea behind Harems and Reverse-Harems in anime is to allow yourself to slip into the title role and fantasize about being fought over by multiple types of guys/girls. As such, the leads in these types of series tend to be bland or blank slates, with minimal personality traits to get in the way. Reverse-Harem Girl is essentially, a paper cut out for the audience. As someone with a deep love of Otome, I can’t judge it.

To each their own

Tohru is not. Maybe her personality isn’t as colorful as those of her compatriots, but it is distinct. She’s a hard worker, sweet, caring, stubborn about helping others, and honest to a fault. She’s an underdog protagonist who’s overcoming a lot of emotional trauma to be where she is, making it difficult for the audience to really be “in her shoes.” She fits in with our study of character flaws because she herself is dealing with some intense issues.

• Not Everyone is in Love With Her

One of the biggest criticisms you hear about reverse harem anime is that “everyone is in love with the protagonist.” I call this the “Tenchi Muyo” scenario, mainly in that one pathetic little protagonist is being hounded by several highly aggressive partners and acts like their life is a living hell. It’s the ultimate fantasy for some; for others, the only hell they know is watching the show.

Nope. Nope nope nope nope.

Enter Tohru, the sweet little cutie-pie who’s now living with three guys whilst meeting the other men in her family. And even though these men (and a few women) drink from Tohru’s Pollyanna Therapy, they are not all romantically attracted to her. In fact, I would argue only one of them is and the rest just find her helpful. While this may kill the fantasy for some, it’ll help others give the anime a try. There’s nothing wrong with the fantasy of being chased by guys/girls, but there’s also nothing wrong with only having one true love in the pack.

 

• We shall Delve into the Abyss and Laugh til it Hurts

 

Shojo animes tend to turn up the cute to absurd levels. Most people don’t realize, however, that a handful also get dark pretty damn quick.

Whether it be Sailor Moon delving into suicide or Tokyo Mew Mew discussing sexual assault, shojo isn’t always afraid to dip into the darker topics and spread, like a spritz of delicious dark chocolate. The problem comes, like confectionary treats, when that dark chocolate is put on too thick. When those dark topics are not treated with respect, or when the audience is bombarded with them over and over, they lose their impact.

Yeah yeah, tortured soul, tortured past, yeah right

Fruits Basket goes pretty heavy on the heavy topics, mostly focusing on physical and mental abuse by family. It goes so heavy that it can’t really stand on its own as a romance fantasy but it also works alongside some absolutely fantastic belly-laughs. With both drama and comedy walking hand and hand, the viewer is put through a gauntlet of different emotions, which steer us away from fanservice and straight into the story.

 

Final Thoughts

In its own way, Fruits Basket does fulfill some kind of fantasy. It’s still a perfectly ordinary girl being the prized jewel of a family of attractive men, making it someone’s dream come true somewhere. But for the rest of us, or even for those people, Fruits Basket also offers a deeply moving plot that cuts real deep; it’ll make you laugh like crazy, feel horrible for laughing, then smile again as wounds mend. I’m not always into drama, but this drama is my cup of tea thanks to its heart and awesome sense of humor.

It makes me all kinds of happy.

 

If you like what you see, feel free to give it a like. If you want more, you can follow via email or wordpress above. Don’t forget to comment your thoughts below; I love hearing from you guys.

Secrets to Success: Ouran High School Host Club

Genres tend to have calling cards, and Shojo is no different. But are those calling cards bad or just hilarious? Ouran High School Host Club says the latter, and the fans ate it up like sweet dango.

At the Prestigious Ouran Academy for the “Wealthy and Beautiful,” those with too much money and too much time on their hands know to head to Music Room #3. For a small fee, girls can spend some time with a Type of their choice and Fangirl to their heart’s content.  The club is especially active with their newest member, Haruhi Fujioka; a scholarship student who broke a priceless vase on their first visit, and now must work off the debt. The only problem? Haruhi is a she.

Amazing what some gum and a lack of money for a uniform can do

Ouran High School Host Club has all the drapings of a Shojo Manga, all wrapped up in a tongue-in-cheek sense of self-awareness. The Fourth Wall is non existent; the characters are aware they are playing to Shojo Types; and the world around them goes the extra mile to point out when it’s following the usual Shojo formula. In short, one of the most famous Shojo series of all time is mercilessly poking fun at itself and everything like it, and still earns buckets of fans.

As to “how”, I have a three-part theory.

• There is no Proper Parody That Doesn’t Love the Source Material

Free fun fact about me: I hate Teen Titans Go!

I’m a fan of the original show, so I unoriginally don’t like the parody remake. But I dislike the remake less on its new tone and more that it doesn’t understand its source material. The writers even admitted that they never saw the old show and that they purposefully write as stupid as  they can. Because they don’t get the source material, nor do they seem to like it very much, the show is more insulting than parodying.

Needless to say, Ouran has a different approach. It loves Shojo, candy-coated warts and all.

Obligatory Tamaki Gif, blah blah blah

Shojo as a genre is loaded with cliches, repeated tropes, and plot lines that you’ve seen at least three other places. Ouran doesn’t just poke fun all these stereotypes, oh no;  it puts them on loving display and turns them up to 11. It’s clear the author loves Shojo Manga and Anime, so people who also love the genre are more likely to resonate with the jokes. If they felt like someone was putting down something they really loved, chances are they won’t laugh at the jokes.

• You Do Better When You Recreate

The Mood is everything; especially in a visual medium. The story will have an overall tone or mood, dictated by various things on the screen, and that shapes how the audience absorbs the plot. The mood and the plot become one in the same in the eyes of the viewer, and the ability to recreate that mood becomes essential to making a gut-breaking comedy. After all, Young Frankenstein would not be as funny as it is if Mel Brooks didn’t recreate the feel of the old Frankenstien.

Anime is no exception, and Ouran hits the nail on the head so hard it split the wood in half. Ouran has an uncanny ability to recreate the feel of several types of Shojo stories: reverse-harem, school romance, romantic comedy, all of them. It sets the stage almost perfectly before proceeding to chew the scenery. With Ouran, it’s not about making something completely different, or more of the same. It’s about setting the stage and then throwing everyone for a loop.

And the twins making snarky comments, because that’s what they do best

• It’s Not Afraid to Make You Feel

Genre mixing is a difficult thing to do, especially when your first genre is comedy. Light-hearted, goofy material stands at a stark contrast to dramatic conflict and serious tragedy. This becomes glaring when the media in question involves heavy parody, and then you ask to have a serious storyline.

It’s hard, but not impossible.

By creating a stand-alone Shojo plot, Ouran works in real drama and character development into its self-aware comedy seamlessly, all while handling some super heavy conflict. For example, when Shadow King Kyoya Ootari isn’t scaring everyone with his cutthroat money and managerial tactics, he’s dealing with a family name that overshadows him completely, and two older brothers he constantly must compete with. Even the jovial Tamaki isn’t free from this kind of writing, with his family’s strict standards and his carefree nature.

Everyone’s history gives me all the feels

I guess I could say that Ouran’s greatest strength is its ability to stay real, despite all the comedy. There’s a human element to it that stays strong through the series, something other cartoons could learn from.

• At The End of The Day, it Just Works

Fans of Ouran High School Host Club understand that their favorite genre has flaws, but those flaws are what make it unique. Thus, when this show took the time to point them out and celebrate them, fans will happily follow along. Work, time, and love went into this series, as opposed to ego and easy jokes, and thus it became one of the most well-loved series of all time. Because, at the end of the day, people prefer to laugh with someone rather than laugh at them.

 

Are you a fan of Ouran High School Host Club? Do you think the show is an overated piece of garbage? Whatever your thoughts, feel free to share them below. And don’t forget to like and follow for more content just like this.

 

 

Secrets to Success: Attack on Titan

If you barely know anime, if you’ve only seen it at a passing glance, you’ve probably heard of Attack on Titan.

Known as Shingeki no Kyojin to the Japanese (and “that weird anime with the giants” to everyone else), Attack on Titan is the smash hit shounen anime where humanity fights giant creatures called Titans, who like to eat people for no known reason. It’s a bloody, dramatic affair with lots of action, plenty of trauma, and some of the coolest plot points I’ve ever seen. It’s also famous for having two of the most kick-ass openings in history, courtesy of Linked Horizon’s songwriter, Revo.

Fans are sitting on the edge of their seats for the next season, which is due to air next year.

How can something so graphic, so dark, and so dramatic earn such an enthusiastic base from all sides? After all, anime of a more “grim and grit” nature tend to have niche followings, and a common way for people to parody anime is to remark on how serious and overdramatic it is. How does AOT still get mocked for its dramatic tone, and still become a smash success?

Well, to be blunt, it’s because it doesn’t get lost in the darkness. Attack on Titan is not a wallowing nose-dive into the dark, but a painful, hard-core claw towards victory, come hell or high-water, with some kick-ass writing behind it. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, a smash-success.

That success begins with the avoidance of pointless gore. AOT does enjoy the splatter of blood, practically painting its characters in it (or drowning them in a pool of it). Such things are not inherently evil, but the appeal can wear off fast. Case in point, most Mortal Kombat lethality moves are short and sweet, because going any longer would lose its appeal.

But when that gore is a part of something bigger, when it adds to an already tense situation, the fun stretches itself out. Much like the anime Higurashi, AOT is attempting to shock its audience to a greater point, to fully emphasize that the situation is dire. After all, it’s one thing for characters to tell you that the Titans have nearly wiped out humanity; it’s another thing entirely to watch them devour half of the cast you just saw in training, and see the bubbling insides of their bellies. It’s meant to shock you not because “scary” but because things are just that bad.

Now this is where the other half of the audience may have dropped off. It’s a sea of blackness before you: a situation as bleak as it gets and you’re hit with trauma after trauma. Here, half of the audience goes “well shit, what’s the point if this is never gonna get better?” and switches to watching Naruto (where, ironically, it just keeps getting worse). This, dear children, is called Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy, and you should remember it next time you write that gritty, dark fanfic where Light is just “so misunderstood” and L kicks puppies.

Ah, but Hajime Isayama and the anime gave us two glimmers of hope in this darkness: Eren Jaeger and Revo.

One of the biggest draws to this anime is the opening theme song, which should go down in history as one of the most metal, fist-pumping anthems of all time. In a genius move, Revo took the dire straights of the situation and turned it into a power anthem of a soldier, marching forward no matter what evil comes their way. That anthem is inspired by the show’s main character, Eren Jaeger, whose resolve to fight and kill the titans is iron-clan and infectious. Eren won’t lay down and die, or let his drive to fight be squashed by the darkness. Because he won’t give up, the audience has a small glimmer of hope they can cling to, and the opening reinforces it. Because we are not the food,  wir sind der Jäger (we are the hunters).

So you have a story that’s more focused on plot than edge, and a character that refuses to go under the oncoming waves of angst. Now how do you create a mega-popular series that crosses lines to get even anime detractors to watch it? Well, you flex those fingers, get the cranks in your head turning, and you churn out the best writing you possibly can.

The actual narrative in AOT is exceptional, loaded with suspense, drama, and even comedy when appropriate.  Pathos and action take center stage for most of the show. At least they did for season one, but we still have plenty of mysteries hanging over our heads. Much like Scott Cawthon does with the Five Nights at Freddy’s lore, Isayama knows how to leak just enough information to hook the audience then keep leading them on. This, combined with some beautiful animation, makes for one of the most successful shows anime has ever seen.

 

What do you love about Attack on Titan, or do you think the show’s a mess and overrated? Feel free to comment about whatever in the comments below, and I’d love a like if you enjoyed yourself. Don’t forget to follow if you want more content!

Secrets to Success: One Piece

When it comes to anime, Pirates have definitely beaten Ninjas.

It’s far from hyperbole to say that One Piece has conquered Shounen Island, going from best selling manga of all time to one of the most-watched shows on Japanese TV. It’s not just kids watching this fun, fast-paced romp on the high seas; adults are cueing up to nibble alongside them. With over 700+ episodes under its belt and movie number 13 slated for this month, One Piece feels like the anime that will always be tied to the upper tier of the anime fish tank.

This is not a toy. This is a lifesize Going Merry. You may be thrilled now.

And yet, the fans couldn’t be more thrilled: why? I even admitted in one of my own posts that most series have a shelf-life, and yet One Piece has left that little “limit” crying in a corner two streets back. How does this show continue to move forward and be decent quality despite its absurd length?

By keeping things connected. One Piece’s  greatest strength is the open world feel of it all. Instead of setting one straight line for the audience to follow, giving a narrow view of the setting, One Piece drops the viewer into a world as large and intricate as our own, and we follow Luffy as he explores every inch of it. It’s a character-driven story of discovery and exploration, something most shounen can’t boast.

This is the face of “winning.”

And the characters, as it turns out, are One Piece’s greatest strength. The greatest sin of stagnation is character overflow: when you’ve introduced so many people that the audience no longer cares to remember names or faces. One Piece hovers dangerously close to this problem, unavoidable when you truck on for 600+ episodes, and non-fans of the show will gleefully tell you that this makes it an over-bloated cash cow meant to print money.

But fans, like myself, don’t mind the character abundance because each character is interesting and intricate. And, even better, side characters come back as main characters all the time. You never know who’s gonna get a promotion on this show, or whose gonna be one of the most well-loved characters in the entire show.

First villain, destined for greatness

But all the good characters in the world can’t help a series that moves at a snail’s pace. When shounen gets into seasonal rot it will linger on plotlines, taking up 5+ episodes just to resolve one fight. This DBZ-style stretching is used to draw in more money for a series that’s dying, when the idea bucket gets a hole and runs dry. I’ve heard critics accuse One Piece of doing much of the same, that the series has so many episodes just to draw in all the money. To this I say they have a point: You’d be blind to say that Oda wasn’t pumping out episodes to pay his mortgage.

Then my response would be thus: it’s okay, because he’s giving us new content in return. One Piece keeps the new material coming, and doesn’t linger longer than necessary to get things settled. Each new piece of the story builds on this massive world and, once again, gets called back later on to accent new plotlines. In short, this cash-cow still provides enough good milk to avoid getting a bullet between the eyes, unlike other popular shows

All I’m gonna say is cough cough.

So you have your great pacing, great characters, and a story that feels more like open world exploration. But we could still get stale if we weren’t careful; the story could still feel like it’s going on and on, and a bored audience with a short attention span will quit the field. How in the world can Oda-Sensei keep these fans watching his glorious brain-child without foaming at the mouth?

By making them laugh like a hyena, then cry buckets down the line.

No ifs, ands, or buts, this show is funny. But the comedy almost always has this sad, dramatic lining underneath it, with some genuinely sad backstories, great tragedies, and super high stakes. But those who aren’t a fan of sad stories can rest assured, the show doesn’t let the sadness sit for very long. Even when someone’s tragic backstory has been dropped neatly in your lap there’s a bunch of jokes waiting in wings.

I’d go on forever if given the chance, so let me just end it with this: Yes, One Piece is a cash cow in the same vein as Pokemon, a monster of a story that can go on forever and keep the money coming in. But the show is going forward with quality material that demonstrably stands heads above your average shonen, and fans are a-ok if the writing stays as good as it’s always been. The show is good, no arguments about it, and I highly recommend it to everyone I meet. In fact, all of you who haven’t seen the show and read this post, go watch it.

You won’t be sorry.

What’s your favorite anime? Do you think One Piece comedy gold or overrated pyrite? Feel free to comment whatever below, and don’t forget to like and follow for more content!