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animebw · 2 years

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What is it with devil part timer? I wasn't ever going to watch it but now i am curious.

Short version, it's an anime from 2013 that's sort of a reverse-isekai: instead of a normal person getting teleported to a fantasy world, a demon lord and a couple of his minions get teleported to our world and have to work at McDonalds (sorry, MgRonalds) to make a living. It's basically a sitcom about super-powerful demons and angels adjusting to the life of a low-wage service worker, with some occasional action thrown in for good measure. I wasn't in the anime fandom when it was released, but it apparently got quite a passionate following. And they suffered for almost a decade with no season 2 announcement until a new studio finally picked it up just this season. So people were excited.

And then they saw what the new season was actually gonna look like.

See, the first season was produced by White Fox, the studio behind Steins;Gate and Re:Zero. And while it wasn't a visual masterpiece or anything, it was very well put together on a technical front. Solid action, solid direction, solid editing from shot to shot, and- and this was the real ace up its sleeve- some of the best damn expression work of its time. So much of this show's comedy works before of just how damn expressive and intense everyone's faces are. It's just the right balance of snappy and over-the-top. And while the studio producing season 2, 3Hz, isn't a bad studio by any stretch, the style they chose to go with was a lot softer, a lot rounder, and a lot less suited to the style of comedy it's going for.

Like, this is how the average punchy expression looks in season 1:

And this is the baseline for season 2:

Like... there's just no personality to the second one. It's the most generic anime face of concern imaginable. Plus now every female character has that godawful perma-blush that way too many female character designs have nowadays, and there's so much less animation overall, and the production quality really sinks as the season goes on, and... look, this whole season just looks so bland. There's no imagination or energy to any of the visual choices, and the first season had both of those in spades.

And unfortunately, once you take away the strong visual presentation, you're forced to confront the fact that The Devil is a Part-Timer... really kind of sucks in the story department. Yeah, it's a neat premise, but the execution of that premise mostly just results in every overused anime trope you were already getting tired of back in 2013. Half-baked lore, unnecessary love triangle/harem, the main guy being somehow completely oblivious to the girls' interest in him (despite one of them LITERALLY TELLING HIM TO HIS FACE SHE LIKES HIM AND HE STILL DOESN'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND SERIOUSLY), groan-inducing fanservice, casual fatphobia, That One Scene From Sword Art Online, you get the picture. But at least the first season had enough energy that you could mostly overlook those things for the sake of a well-produced comedy. Season 2, though? It's so lifeless and aimless that the flaws in the writing become impossible to ignore. This is just not a good story, and it doesn't even have enough style to be passable anymore.

...man, I had more thoughts on this than I realized, lmao.

Anyway, we'll see if the last two episodes turn things around. But in all likelihood, this season is going to end up a 3/10 for me. And even if you're a fan of the first season, I wouldn't recommend it, because basically everything that made the first season work is gone now.

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #tabw q+a #the devil is a part timer #hataraku maou sama!#2013 aniwatch #summer 2022 anime #summer 2022 sr

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quinnsqueries · 2 years

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Why Do We Think Realism Is Dark?

When we, as people, classify a story as "realism" it's always super dark. It's always dark gritty action, and TONS of pain and misery. And like, why do we do that? Overall life can be hard and full of that stuff, but there is also positive things in life too! Like seeing your best friend for the first time in ages. Hugging someone after a long day. The first bite of a delicious breakfast. A lick of ice cream on a hot summers day. So why do we classify realism as dark?

Short answer: Realism isn't reality.

Let me explain...

Realism is another way of saying "acknowledging generally ignored negative consequences." Usually a superhero won't have to face the consequences for damage inflicted upon a fight, but a villain going to jail seems normal for us. Neither is technically worse than the other, so when a superhero is put on trial for their actions why does it feel so much worse than when the villain gets their punishment?

Realism shows us these consequences in a medium that doesn't generally support them. That makes them off-putting. And since these consequences tend to be negative the feeling they provoke end up being negative as well.

In fiction the only consequences you want to exist are the ones that exist. This is why what we have dubbed as "realism" is really only things that we generally ignore for the sake of the plot. If a superhero destroyed a town in the middle of a fight I don't think this would just be ignored. And if said superhero went broke because of a lawsuit they probably wouldn't put on their supersuit ever again.

What makes this trope interesting is that realism didn't start out this way. It was a 19th century idea that was actually pretty realistic! It ignored all the supernatural wackiness stuff and just portrayed reality. It was reallyyyyy boring though, so the term evolved. So, now when a director or somebody says they're "striving for realism" they're actually just taking an unrealistic premise and putting on the lens of reality and examining it to see what consequences a situation would have if it happened in real life.

Let's break this down even more. Because the "lens of reality" isn't just a singular lens, there's actually three of them.

The first lens is in relation to our reality. Physics, genetics, etc. In superhero worlds this is generally ignored, because well, explaining how characters can fly would just...not work in our world. But in hard sci-fi they do look at it pretty closely.

The second lens is realism in-world. The world you are writing has its own physics and genetics and pretty much everything else. This lens will examine the consequences based on what naturally arises in this world. What is it really like to live in the world you made?

The third lens is in the terms of psychology. This is what causes your character to drift over time. Want to give a character realism? Give em PTSD. Before that, well, it was making them addicted to alcohol. Because fun.

Remember, when using realism you have to also have consistency. You can't just throw it around whenever you want because it can make the audience feel as though you're cheating. Be careful, don't avoid reality up until a certain point, and yeah! Go writers!

#aspiring writer #writing #writing tips #writing advice #writing help #writingtips #writblr #writerscommunity #writeblr #instawriters #realism #writingrealism

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jeanbo-kirschtein-blog · 3 years

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Man ODDTAXI is something else. It’s like a meeting of Durarara and BoJack Horseman, which imo are 2 of the best animated shows ever made (BoJack might actually be the best show I’ve ever seen full-stop, but that’s besides the point).

The first three episodes are fantastic but episode 4 was like an absolute gut-punch and I cannot wait to see where this show is going. Please please please if you have the time go watch it, it seems like it’s kind of going under the radar for the most part but it is fucking fantastic and deserves way more attention than it is getting.

#ODDTAXI #I get that the premise doesn't seem super interesting on its face #but it is absolutely worth your time #I'm actually begging you #please watch this show #shut up Jean

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oswald-privileges · 3 years

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ALL RIGHT BUT YOU ASKED FOR IT

Power of Three as a series is just. full of weaknesses, most of which come down to poor continuity and structure. I'm not gonna try and fix ALL of those, bc that'd be laborious as hell, but I will pick out things that I feel are the most egregious as case studies.

What Po3 does have, tho, is an absolutely shining strength in the concept of its three main characters. After twelve books of Blandly Heroic Protagonist Syndrome, Jayfeather is an absolute godsend. He's angry! He's rude! He's unhappy! He's not nice. I Love Him And He's My Son. Lionblaze has his invincible pride (hah) and emergent bloodlust, and Hollyleaf has her moral absolutism and certainty. These are good starting points for characters. Sadly, the lack of continuity undermines what could have been three really good character arcs.

So! I present to you:

HOW TO MAKE "WARRIORS: THE POWER OF THREE" NOT COMPLETELY SUCK ACCORDING TO MY PERSONAL TASTE; A NON-EXHAUSTIVE, NON-CONSECUTIVE LIST BY ME

ONE

- Have there be a persistant, overarching series threat. Sol is a character with amazing villain potential who does literally nothing except hang around, and do exactly 2 Bad Things completely off-screen. This Is Not Good.

- Instead, have him be present from the second book onwards- initially introduced as a friendly but enigmatic outsider who is slowly revealed across the series to be a complete black hole of a personality, a social parasite quietly rearranging whatever community he's a part of to just-so-happen to benefit him as much as humanly possible. His "preach individualism not starclan" methods are not so much values as one strategy out of many. (to those who know me- yes i have a type. no i will not apologise.)

- Maybe his ultimate goal is to dissolve and centralise the clans or something so that he can live out his life as a political puppetmaster in all the cat-luxury he likes. idk it's hard to imagine overall stakes for this rewrite BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL DOESN'T HAVE ANY

TWO

- For gods sake you don't have a series based on the premise of "the main characters develop super powers" and then only have the second power confirmed by the end of the fourth book. I understand the first book mostly focusing on Jayfeather- his powers are obvious from the start, he's got the strongest personality of the three, he gets access to most of the prophecy plot stuff because of them. But you NEED to have the other two show an interest in something concrete happening to them beyond that, and you need to at least hint towards the other two having something unique to them even if nobody clocks it yet.

- Have Jayfeather tell his siblings about the prophecy by the end of book two at the latest. The amount of time he spends noodling around not sharing it with them is inexcusable. It's not that it's out of character for him to hang onto a secret for a bit, it's just that there's no point and it slows everything down. It would be equally in character for him to go to his siblings and be like "look, i'm SPECIAL. well you as well but ALSO ME". Boy starts off as desperate for recognition, what can I say

THREE

- Have Jayfeather discover that StarClan don't withhold signs or information on purpose for the sake of "building courage and faith" or whatever nonsense. Seeing and communicating the future is metaphysically very difficult, so interpreting signs and messages is a genuine skill, or even an art. The cats of StarClan, however, really are just ghosts, much more similar to living cats than the currently living believe. This is the impotus for Jayfeather's discarding of his reverence for StarClan, which remains consistent throughout the series.

- Have Hollyleaf and Jayfeather both still change their cat careers in the first book, but put place more attention on the fact that they basically switched jobs. Have a scene where they end up yelling at each other, because can't the other see how lucky they have it? The tension breaks when they realise they've both lost something important to them- Jayfeather his chance to prove he's as capable as a sighted cat, and Hollyleaf her path to helping her clan in the way she thinks is best. They commiserate together, and reluctantly promise to do the best they can with their lots, so they don't waste the path the other wishes they'd taken. This closeness is eroded over the series as they disagree more and more on the subject of StarClan and its role in their moral choices and obligations.

FOUR

- Speaking of Hollyleaf! I nearly threw my phone across the room when the first Omen of the Stars book claimed that Hollyleaf "worked so hard to discover her power to help her clan". Where, Ms Erins??? I would have LOVED to have seen that!! Hollyleaf expresses absolutely no concern over the details of what power she has/will develop, and only has a couple of scenes even touching on her ambitions to help her clan. She has some vague ideas about becoming leader and like one scene where she gets to do some leadery things, but that never gets followed up on. What does happen is that the whole "warrior code" thing becomes more and more a part of her personality (for no clear reason) until she snaps.

- Hollyleaf going off the deep end is something I wanted so badly to get into and be moved by, because I could see where it comes from! Her moral certainty is fascinating, especially since it's based in something as abstract as the warrior code- which, when you think about it, isn't really... anything. There's no concrete set of rules that make it up, no traditional wording or cat philosophers, not even any fables. It's a handful of agreed-upon, common sense rules- don't cross boundaries, don't take prey that isn't yours, respect your ancestors, and don't murder. That's it!

- So, combining the above points, I think Hollyleaf not being one of the Three should stay, but both the audience and the characters are given good reason to believe she is. By around the third volume, make it so that Hollyleaf has found that her power is to get cats to "Do The Right Thing"- i.e. what she wants them to do. She sneaks off often to see Sol, who teachs her how to use this power. Her siblings are concerned about this new power, having already gotten a glimpse at what Sol can do, but she's confident that she can only use this power for good. Volume-specific plot happens, Sol manipulates her into causing him to win, she is shocked and horrified, and vows to stick ridgedly to what she knows is right i.e. The Warrior Code

- However, the more fervently she tries to stick to this abstract idea, the less it gives her results, the more her power seems to be failing. Believing that StarClan is taking her power away from her, she becomes caught up in a faith-guilt spiral that puts her in the position to snap at the end of the series. By that point it's clear to her siblings that Hollyleaf has no power- she was just very, very good at persuading people to do what she wanted.

FIVE

- Lionblaze is a girl now because I Said So. This Cat Is Trans And There's Nothing You Can Do About It.

- Her relationship with Heathertail stays the same- childhood sweethearts who are torn apart as they begin to understand the nature of the societal divides that exist between them.

- This can be used to contextualise the whole "half clan/outsider blood" thing as a cultural contradiction. In reality, inter- and outer- clan relationships aren't at all rare. They can't be, otherwise the whole society would be inbred out of existence in like five generations. But if at least one society of humans can spend a good 200 years pretending Sex Is Bad And Sinful Actually then cats can have persistant cat-racism in the face of all logic. Heathertail clocks this contradiction, Lionblaze doesn't.

- Her relationship-to-power arc doesn't need changing all that much either, other than starting much sooner and being more consistent. At first, she's completely overjoyed by her power, since unlike her siblings, it lines up so well with her ambition- become the finest warrior any of the clans have to offer. As the berserker rage aspect becomes more prevelent, she becomes more and more disturbed by the fact that she isn't disturbed by what she can do, and that she doesn't want the escalation of her power to stop.

- Tigerstar still does his thing, but Brambleclaw knows about it. He recognises the signs from when his father used to visit him, and tries to train Lionblaze in his own way. She ends up caught between wanting to be a good warrior, and testing the limits of her power.

SIX

- Jayfeather can stay basically the same because he's my perfect little angy boy and nothing needs to change. His arcs can be strengthened by having a more robust relationship with Yellowfang where they try to out-bitch each other, and coming to terms with his internalised ablism. Maybe he has a chat with Mothwing about faith a couple of times. Him furiously lashing out at being offered help transitions into an acceptence and understanding of his abilities more naturally. He never stops being A Grumpy Old Man.

- All fucking past-lives unexplained time travel goes in the BIN. Doesn't fucking happen. You can have that lore dump sprinkled across the books, or come from going deep into the tunnels and having a surreal meeting. Make it properly eldritch-level scary, shake Jayfeather's confidence in the idea of them being just a bunch of ghosts.

SEVEN

- Have the way Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight present very clearly as parents to the Three be explicitly, textually unusual. One of the things I liked so much about the first series was an almost total lack of emphasis on who was mated with who, and who was related or not. It felt very real to how feral cat colonies form, where raising kittens is a communal job. This gets completely dropped the moment series 2 starts and now the cats have monogamy.

- This emphasis on the family unit and fostering close relationships between parents and kittens is deliberate on the part of both Leafpool and Squirrelflight. Their aim is to cover for Leafpool so she doesn't lose her role as medicine cat- something she already gave up Crowfeather for before she was pregnant.

- In that little bit of backstory, have a robust reason for both Leafpool and Squirrelflight to leave the camp while Leafpool is pregnant and giving birth, possibly one that ties into the present day story in some minor way. I don't know how, it would just make that element of the story a lot more ground than "we left, the kits were born, then we came back and everyone was cool with it"

- When it comes to the "I am Not your mother" reveal, Jayfeather and Lionblaze are confused and hurt that they were lied to, but come to the reasonable conclusion that well, since they were raised mostly by Squirrelflight, saw Leafpool often, and are loved by both, they don't hate her. Lionblaze has something of a crisis over being half-clan, possibly initiating an attempted reunion with Heathertail. Jayfeather is more concerned with how other cats will think it makes him lesser, something he's still sensitive too.

- Hollyleaf, meanwhile, completely fucking snaps at the way her mother Violated Part Of The Code. It's a completely irrational reaction, but expected because she's been growing more and more reliant on The Code for the whole series, and less and less stable in her attempts to aid her clan and train to be its new leader.

- Squirrelflight is the one to murder Ashfur. This is easy to work out while reading- she's literally the only one of the four with a motive who isn't a perspective character. The mystery is less around finding out who did it, and more about why she did it (it's very ambiguous as to whether it was an accident or not). The main tension comes from who finds out when.

- Lionblaze is shocked, awed by how far she'd go to protect the three of them, and reassures her she did the right thing (as a way to salve her own uncertainty over her own longing for violence). Jayfeather makes it all about himself because he's Jayfeather- upset that he didn't know immediately, instead of, you know, figuring it out in a few hours because he can basically read minds. They try their best to hide it from Hollyleaf, who is already rattling around the final volume as a full-on antagonist, but are unsuccessful. This almost costs them something incredibly important- possibly Squirrelflight's life.

EIGHT

- the whole plot with the Tribe Of Rushing Water is a MASSIVE can of worms that could be removed from the series without issue. As it is:

- Characterize the Tribe as uncertain of how to fight other cats, because yes, they haven't had to do this before. DON'T characterise them as pathetic, doing whatever their leader says without thinking, and with ancestors who have Given Up

- Have some of the Tribe be really good at the violence. Worryingly good. Have others be sickened by what they're being asked to do.

- Have some of the clan cats reflect on what they've done. Hollyleaf would be all for introducing this society to jesus The Code, but even she might be horrified at being thanked by a tribe cat who can't wait to get out there and win themselves glory, only to be killed a few hours later

- The Tribe begin a new tradition of marking the walls in the mud they use as camoflage in order to commemorate their battles, and memorialise the fallen. One of the characters reflects on the fact that in a generation or two, the Tribe will feel like it's always been this way. How many of their own traditions- those that feel almost like natural law- started out the same way?

- Have Sol as the leader of the invaders, or maybe having insinuated himself into the tribe as a "mediator" and doing his charismatic cult leader thing.

NINE

- Cinderheart isn't a reincarnation of Cinderpelt. She's just named after her bc Cinderpelt saved her mother from a badger. this is because I think the reincanation thing is stupid and I can't think of a way to make it good.

TEN

- No more using tails as hand gestures like covering people's mouths. Never. None of it. It's expunged from existence.

Disclaimer: I haven't read Omen of the Stars yet, so I can't account for anything that might happen in that series that's grounded in Po3. I'm like... two thirds of the way through the first volume. I'm Not Impressed.

#Warrior Cats #warriors #The Power of Three #Jayfeather #Hollyleaf #Lionblaze #long post

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