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the-anime-project · 1 year

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Top 5 anime series to watch as a new comer!

Anime, a Japanese animation form, has taken the world by storm with its unique storytelling style, visually stunning graphics, and fascinating characters. However, for those who are new to anime, it can be daunting to know where to start. Fortunately, there are plenty of anime series that are easy to watch and provide an excellent introduction to the world of anime. Here are the top 5 easy-to-watch anime for people who are newly introduced to it.

Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan is a popular action-packed anime that follows the story of humanity's struggle against giant humanoid creatures called Titans who are devouring humans. The anime is set in a dystopian world where humans live behind walls to protect themselves from Titans. The series has a strong plot, intense action scenes, and well-developed characters, making it an excellent choice for those who enjoy action, drama, and suspense.

One Punch Man

One Punch Man is a hilarious superhero anime that follows the story of Saitama, a hero who can defeat any enemy with a single punch. The anime has a unique sense of humor, and the animation style is visually stunning. One Punch Man is a perfect introduction to anime for those who are looking for something light-hearted, action-packed, and funny.

My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia is a popular anime that follows the story of a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, who is born without superpowers in a world where almost everyone has them. The anime follows Midoriya's journey to become a hero, and the challenges he faces along the way. The series has a compelling story, well-developed characters, and a lot of action, making it an excellent choice for those who enjoy superhero stories.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a classic anime that tells the story of two brothers who attempt to use alchemy to bring their deceased mother back to life. The series has a strong plot, well-developed characters, and a fantastic world-building that will immerse viewers in the story. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a perfect introduction to anime for those who enjoy fantasy, adventure, and mystery.

Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online is a popular anime that takes place in the near future, where virtual reality gaming has become a reality. The series follows the story of Kirito, a gamer who is trapped in a virtual reality game where death in the game means death in real life. Sword Art Online has a unique premise, well-developed characters, and plenty of action and drama, making it a perfect choice for those who enjoy science fiction and virtual reality gaming.

In conclusion, anime offers a diverse range of stories, genres, and characters, making it an excellent form of entertainment for those who are new to it. These top 5 easy-to-watch anime are a great starting point for those who are looking to dip their toes into the anime world. With their compelling stories, stunning animation, and engaging characters, these anime series are sure to provide a fantastic introduction to the world of anime.

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sz-amare · 3 years

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10. Creating Realistic Characters with Depth

For many people, characters are one of the most influential aspects of an anime. The same goes for me. There are many types of characters: the protagonist, the main cast, side characters, antagonists, villains, etc. Each contributes to the story in their own way. Making flat, bland, or boring characters can make them forgettable, and therefore, can cheapen the quality of the anime. It can also make it painfully difficult to continue watching the series. Here I will give several pointers on what I believe makes an excellent character and give examples from the One Piece-verse.

1. Flaws

When it comes to creating characters, I have noticed a general rule to make them great and likable. The audience needs to relate to them. The way you do that is by giving your character flaws. When I say flaws, I don’t mean random negatives about their characters, like when a shōnen protagonist can’t solve a simple math problem to save their lives. I mean flaws that can make them feel weak, directly or indirectly.

When I look at Luffy, many flaws end up making him a better character. The most fascinating one to me is Luffy’s childish nature. He is an extremely idealistic kid who dreams more than anyone. He, at first, doesn’t care nor understand the consequences of his actions. Luffy is also kind-hearted and always pushes his principles before his dream. He tends to scream a lot and wears all of his emotions on his face. Luffy is also a terrible liar. If I described this type of personality to anyone, they would undoubtedly think of a child.

This childish behavior is one of Luffy’s characteristics that make him flawed. There are also several times when acting like a child, particularly not thinking of the consequences of his actions, cost him severely. We have the time Luffy almost attacked the Drum Island civilians after they shot Vivi in the arm, meaning Nami wouldn’t get a doctor for her illness. The time Luffy punched the Celestial Dragon, resulting in him almost losing all of his crewmates (although in this case, I think most people would have punched Charlos. He deserved it).

And the most recent one where he attacked Kaido after “killing” his crewmates, which he ended up losing the fight with a single blow and ended up in prison. Luffy makes dumb mistakes. It plays perfectly with his character, but he is ultimately flawed.

Now I personally don’t relate to Luffy in the way that he is childish (I am the maturest), but seeing Luffy suffer from the consequences of his flaws and understanding that Luffy isn’t perfect is enough to understand that he is a human with struggles, similar to myself.

2. Personality, Psychology, and Philosophy

I think personality, psychology, and philosophy (PPP) are some of the most significant ways of distinguishing characters and are the source of a particular character’s general fascination. Every person in the real world has their own unique PPP. When you are in the world of anime, not only is everything overly exaggerated, but it is also unrealistic in all sorts of ways. With these two weapons, you can explore all types of themes, topics, and ideas. So when creating characters in an anime, understand that there are no limits to unique characters. Two characters can be very similar, but there should always be something to contrast.

Not only is PPP used to contrast characters, but it can make them feel more realistic if you can manage to connect all three along with their overall character. Let us look back at Luffy. First, we have Luffy’s personality. Luffy constantly yells, loves to mess around and laughs, loves food, is very dumb, is a terrible liar, always shouts out his dreams, loves to imitate his friends, and is a kind-hearted person.

Closely related to his personality, his psychology is that of a child’s perspective. Finally, we have his philosophies. Luffy believes that everyone should chase their own dreams and freedom, no matter how difficult it is to get there. He also believes that dreams should be achieved with the help of close friends. Luffy also believes that everyone is equal, seeing no one below or above anyone else. Once again, these views and ideals are somewhat childish.

Now that we have all the three major pieces of Luffy, we can fully understand his character’s greatness. All three of his PPP are connected with his childish nature. This makes his character seem cohesive, consistent, and more realistic. All of Luffy’s traits align with his character. Everything about Luffy is connected in a way that would make sense, like a real human being.

3. Contrasting, Paralleling, and Mirroring

This is one of my favorite techniques in creating characters. You can contrast, parallel, and mirror (CPM) many things in the series: themes, the plot itself, certain philosophies/ideals, characters, the list goes on. This one applies more to side characters, antagonists, and villains than the protagonist, but it can happen.

Now let us think of the antagonists and villains in One Piece that relate to Luffy and his beliefs and somehow align with one of the rules of CPM. Let’s start with my favorite, Charlotte Katakuri. Katakuri is similar to Luffy in terms of his devil fruit. But Katakuri is far superior in every way: his devil fruit is better and awakened, his haki is better, and he has more experience. Here we can see that Katakuri parallels Luffy a bit, but he completely contrasts in his ideologies and motivation.

Next we have Donquixote Doflamingo. Doflamingo believes that he is the ultimate king. He truly believes he is better than everyone, classifying everyone into three basic categories: kings, humans, and lesser beings. But even in this classification, Doflamingo believes he is on top of the kings as well: he thinks he’s a god. Therefore he believes he has the right to toy with the world, as symbolized by him making puppet gestures and physically controlling people, especially because he was mistreated after Doflamingo and his family left Mariejois. Doflamingo’s beliefs all contradict Luffy’s. First off, Luffy believes everyone is equal, no one above and no one below. This contradicts Doflamingo’s god complex. Luffy also believes that everyone should chase their own freedom, which Doflamingo believes he has the right to take away.

We also have Black Beard or Marshal D. Teach. Black Beard mirrors Luffy in a lot of ways when considering their ideologies. Black Beard, like Luffy, believes in the power of dreams and ideals. When we first see Teach, we see him acting like a child, arguing with Luffy about the food and drinks, and Luffy does the same. I think this is Oda showing us that Black Beard is practically and precisely like Luffy. Both of their dreams are to become the Pirate King. The only difference is their approach. As I mentioned earlier, Luffy wants to achieve his dream with the bonds he made with his friends. He doesn’t care if his crewmates are useless or not; a friend is a friend in Luffy’s eyes. On the other hand, Black Beard wouldn’t mind using money to hire strong “allies.” He even hires some of the most dangerous prison inmates. Black Beard is also crueler and is willing to do whatever it takes to reach his goal. If you pay attention, you might notice that Black Beard became a Yonko in a flash, simply because he obtained one of the most powerful devil fruits out there. However, we always hear Luffy saying that there are no shortcuts to become the Pirate King. In one perspective, they look almost identical. When you shift that view, you realize how much they contrast from each other.

Finally, we have Akainu. Akainu is the exact opposite of Luffy. Luffy believes in absolute freedom, while Akainu believes in absolute justice and control. Akainu would kill his own when they showed fear or opposed what Akainu believed was “right.” There isn’t much to talk about Akainu, mainly because we haven’t seen much of him. But from what we have seen so far, it is clear that Akainu and Luffy are complete opposites.

All these different villains are excellent and make clear antagonistic forces against the protagonist simply by contrasting some of Luffy’s ideals. But remember, you can also use CPM with themes on other types of characters. Take one of the reoccurring or significant themes in your story and create a character that uses CPM on that theme.

4. Connecting Character Ideas to the Story

This is something I love to do when creating my characters. Basically, I grab an interesting theme or an aspect in a character I want to explore and find a way to connect it to my story. There are many cases when I think of a fascinating character, but it wouldn’t make sense if I randomly added them to my story. So I just connect an event that could likely happen in my story to the reason why my character is the way she is.

One time, I was listening to a song, and the interpretation I got out of it was fascinating to me. It had something to do with abuse, insanity, and OCD. I really wanted to add a character that explored the ideas of abuse, insanity, and OCD to my story, and luckily for me, it was pretty easy to add it into my story.

Now my character (let’s call her Miku for now) doesn’t seem out of place because I connected her character into the story by creating a backstory that was plausible in the world I had created. She suddenly became one of my favorite characters I had created.

5. Consistency

I think one of the most essential things in a lot of characters is that they remain consistent. Of course, you can pull a 180 and make an Eren Yeager, but if you don’t want to change your character that drastically, make sure they are consistent.

Once you have created your character, make sure you fully understand their flaws and PPP and make sure whatever type of significant actions they take, it perfectly fits their character.

There were many times in the past when I was able to accurately predict Luffy’s actions and words. I thought I was some sort of genius at first, but I realized soon after that many others could do the same. It was when Luffy rejected his grand fleet where Luffy’s consistency became clear. After fully understanding that Luffy wants to become the Pirate King, simply because he wants to chase the ultimate freedom, why would he accept the grand fleet?

He doesn’t want to become anyone important, and he wants everyone there to chase their own freedom. This is consistent with Luffy’s philosophy of freedom and his childish psychology.

In conclusion

Following any of these principles can help to add intrigue and quality to your character. A regular human is complex and deep, no matter who they are. By following these suggestions, you can create characters with the complexity and depth of real human beings. Make your characters like Pinocchio. Make them strive to be a real boy or girl.

#anime #animelove #otaku #animeblogpost #anime tumblr #one piece #anime characters #katakuri #doflamingo #marshall d teach #akainu

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nihui-223art · 5 years

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animeblogposts reposted one of your bakudeku drawings, just so you know! they did give credit but it seems weird they didn't just reblog?

Oh, thank you for telling me! Yeah I don’t approve reposts here on tumblr

#ask #Anonymous

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sz-amare · 3 years

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7. My Top 15 Anime List

I have watched a lot of anime in the past four years, but one thing that gives me great enjoyment is ranking my top anime. Here I will rank my top 15 favorite anime, along with some honorable mentions that couldn’t make it. However, I won’t be going too in-depth on the analyses; I just want to give you a general idea of why the particular anime is where it is on my list. In general, I rank my anime depending on a combination of factors: 1) how brilliant I find the anime to be written, 2) if the themes resonate with me, 3) if it is categorized in my favorite genres, and 4) my general enjoyment level. Anyway, to the list.

Number 15

One Punch Man

When I first watched One Punch Man, it seemed nothing more than a mindless comedy anime. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed it and laughed a lot, but I found it to be forgettable. But one day, I heard that the genre of One Punch Man was seinen, which made no sense to me. It had no dark and mature themes, and as I mentioned, it was nothing more than a senseless comedy. But then one day, on a whim, I watched One Punch Man again. And I REALLY enjoyed it. I still laughed a lot, but something felt different to me this time. I actually felt like I had a deep connection with each of the characters. The story seemed to be more structured and enjoyable this time, and finally, I could actually see the themes that One Punch Man was trying to explore. It made sudden sense to me that One Punch Man is indeed a seinen and that it had a lot more to it than on the surface. Of course, the difference in experience is because of my new understanding of anime and the experience I gained.

Number 14

Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple

Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple is probably one of the most unknown, underappreciated, and underrated anime on this list. Someone recommended it to me, and I had never heard of it, so I assumed it was a mediocre anime. But when I watched it, I had so much fun which I hadn’t felt in many months. It is a training shōnen anime where the main character tries to learn martial arts. That is all I want to say for now because I don’t want to spoil anything, so go watch it. I highly recommend it.

Number 13

A Place Further than the Universe

I don’t see many people talking much about A Place Further than the Universe. But, I must say, it is absolutely phenomenal. It is, hands down, the most inspiring anime in existence. The basic premise is a high school girl wanting to do something significant in her high school life. I won’t say anymore because, again, I don’t want to spoil this anime, and I recommend you check it out if you need inspiration in your life. Let me just say that it is now an aspiring goal of mine to visit Antarctica.

Number 12

Plastic Memories

I made a whole analysis on the previous post so go check it out. But for a quick recap, the life lesson I learned from Plastic Memories has permanently changed my behavior for the better. I found it to be the saddest anime I have ever watched.

Number 11

Steins; Gate

Once again, I have already made an analysis on Steins; Gate, but this time I only covered the first episode. I also ranked Steins; Gate a 10/10 so that must mean that the rest of this list must contain masterpieces. But to be honest, that is not really the case. You see, to me, even if I consider something a masterpiece, the enjoyment factor plays the most significant role in ranking high on my list. For example, I found Death Note to be brilliant, but I really struggled to enjoy it and therefore, it is not ranked that highly. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed Steins; Gate, but I just enjoyed the rest of these anime way more. Anyway, if you want to see why I loved Steins; Gate so much and why I find it so brilliant, check out blog post 4.

Number 10

Berserk (Manga)

Almost everything I found In Berserk is brilliant (except its adaptations, that’s gas station toilet). Guts is a 10/10 protagonist, Griffith is a 10/10 antagonist, the cast is a 10/10, the story is a 10/10, AND THE ART!!! Holy shit!!! I can actually picture an entire museum dedicated to each panel of Berserk.

Again, the only reason this anime is not any higher is simply because I enjoyed the others on this list so much more. However, I am yet to review any analyses on it so there is a possibility that it will bump-up several places higher when I truly understand the brilliance behind it. Great read though!

Number 9

Haikyuu

I LOVE Haikyuu. Each season gets progressively better and better. It has a lot of controversy around it because of its fan base and because it’s a sports anime. But to be honest, I find Haikyuu to be a better shōnen than My Hero Academia, Black Clover, Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, and most other modern shōnen anime. It has its amazing moments, its cast is amazing, the character development is amazing, the themes are amazing, and the antagonists are amazing. I am not bluffing when I say that the antagonists in a Volleyball anime are better than the antagonists in many shōnen anime (I’m going to develop haters before I can even develop fans). I plan on making an essay on what most shōnen strive for yet fail to achieve, and Haikyuu somehow delivers.

Number 8

Oregairu

Best romance. Hands down. Oregairu, or SNAFU, or My Teen Rom-Com is Not What I Expected (yes, so many titles) is a masterpiece in its own right. If you are a guy and you watched Oregairu, don’t act like you didn’t imitate Hachiman a couple times. He is a beautiful protagonist, which most of us guys relate to. His inner monologues result in us treating them as gospel. The sub-text is confusing as fuck, but end up making sense in all sorts of ways once decoded. Yukino is best girl, but man I love Yuigahama almost just as much. The general enjoyment I got out of Oregairu is so far through the roof that I once forced myself to stop watching it so that I could savor the show a little more. It is a little difficult to get into at first, but you will most likely end up enjoying it.

Number 7

Re Zero

This is the most recent addition to the list. I often don’t add anything new to my list; I just switch the places between some of them. But ever since season 2, Re Zero jumped significantly in rank. It is the best anime of 2020 (including sequels), and I enjoyed each episode to the max. I was considering adding Re Zero to my top 10 since the first half of the second season finished, but I was a bit hesitant because I am easily affected by recency bias. But my love for Re Zero would just not die down: my love for it grows after each episode airs. It is the only anime on this list that I watched weekly other than One Piece. I actually prefer watching a series I love weekly rather than binging it all, except for One Piece, pacing is constipation (slow and painful). Other than the vast enjoyment I got out of Re Zero, the main reason it made it to this list is because of the light novel comparisons I watch. Aninews is my favorite source. He compares the episode to the light novels, mentioning what was left out and further describing the emotions and thoughts of the characters. He tends to release the “Cut Content” videos a week after the episode airs, but the content and quality are incomparable. I found the videos to be so amazing I am basically just as excited for the weekly videos as the Re Zero episodes themselves. If you love Re Zero, the Cut Content series is a must watch.

The fantastic details and emotions the light novels are able to portray are stunning. I decided to read the light novels recently, but the only issue is that I am very short on time. But for each novel I complete, I will release a post on it.

Number 6

Mob Psycho

Although I said I found Haikyuu to be better than most modern shōnen, Mob Psycho is hands down the king. Its quality far surpasses all modern shōnen and a lot of older generation shōnen too. Funny thing is, I believe Mob Psycho’s primary genre is slice of life, not shōnen. I also believe it to be the best take on an overpowered protagonist. One of my favorite things is that Mob, who is the strongest esper we have seen, seems to be so weak. That is exactly how he should be portrayed; he is still a child with mental challenges that he is constantly trying to overcome. The themes that Mob Psycho explores are some of my favorites. The animation is a bit weird at first, but after watching it, you suddenly realize how brilliant it is.

(Honorable Mentions)

Attack on Titan

I am going to get a lot of hate for not including this in my top 5, let alone my top 15. Attack on Titan is still releasing episodes, so that opinion may change soon but let me be clear about one thing: Attack on Titan is a masterpiece. It is absolute greatness. The hype and enjoyment I get out of Attack on Titan are out of this world. But, a) the enjoyment feels a bit short-lived for me personally. It is a fantastic week after airing, but I tend to forget about it the next. b) Attack on Titan is simply not my type of show. Again, I do love Attack on Titan. Again, it is a masterpiece. And again, it may bump up a bit after a few episodes release, but as of now, Attack on Titan isn’t in my top 15.

(Honorable Mentions)

No Game No Life

Similar to One Punch Man, I thought No Game No Life was an anime for senseless fun and enjoyment. But then I watched the movie. The movie is canon to the light novels, but it is irrelevant to the plot and only contributes to the understanding of the world. However, since I watched that movie, I felt the world of No Game No Life to be more realistic. Of course, a world where games resolve all sorts of conflicts like war is ridiculous. But after watching the movie, that ridiculousness somehow turned to reality. The world of No Game No Life became fascinating to me, and what seemed like dumb games began to turn into political machinations.

(Honorable Mention)

Magi & Yona of the Dawn

All I have to say about these two anime is that they seemed to be very fascinating premises and concepts, but the anime sadly stops for both. I am considering reading the manga for both of them sometime soon, so this list may change once I do.

Number 5

Hunter x Hunter

If you like shōnen, I don’t see why you would hate Hiatus x Hai—I mean Hunter x Hunter. The only thing it slightly lacks is a strong main cast, which many people like anyway. Otherwise, absolute perfection. They have most of the best villains in all of anime: Hisoka, Chrollo, Meruem… How can you not love Meruem? And the way he parallels with Gon but in the opposite direction: just perfection. The arcs are hard to rank because they are all perfection in their own right. The best power system in anime is nothing short but perfection. If it weren’t for the Hiatus, it would be ranked fourth. I doubt it would scratch my top three.

Number 4

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

I know I kept saying perfection when talking about Hunter x Hunter, but I actually believe that Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the perfect series (Note: I am not saying that no one can love it and that it has to be your #1; obviously there are preferences. I’m merely saying that it perfectly crafts what it is trying to portray). The only two arguments you can bring is that the beginning is weak. But if you watch the 03 version, there are no issues whatsoever, in my eyes. Keep in mind, when I say it is the best, I mean from a narrative standpoint. Yes, the animation isn’t the greatest, and the gags are kind of bad, but from a general narrative standpoint, it is the best writing I have ever seen. The plot was brilliant and well-crafted. The world is beautifully bound by their power system: alchemy. The philosophical discussions and themes it explores always have you thinking. The characters are very likable and are all top tier characters. The mysteries keep you in a cycle of confusion and excitement. Since I love science and chemistry, alchemy was so fascinating to me. This show is definitely well-deserving of the number one rank in My Anime List.

Number 3

Kill la Kill

After listing a lot of the best anime/manga with the best stories and narratives, I can see why someone would be upset that I brought up Kill la Kill. This one is certainly the odd one out. However, remember me mentioning that the enjoyment factor is the biggest decision maker in my list placement? Kill la Kill gave me the most enjoyment out of all the anime on this list, even more significant than the obvious #1. I didn’t find anything to be all that brilliant in Kill la Kill, and I can completely understand if someone hated this particular show. But there was something about Kill la Kill that made me feel nostalgic in a weird way. It also gave me one of the weirdest yet most immense feeling of satisfaction I have ever felt. I love Kill la Kill.

Number 2

Konosuba

Okay yeah, this one is also the odd one out, but it is a little more acceptable. I find Konosuba to be the best comedy anime of all time. Not necessarily because it is the funniest anime (I think it is the funniest but comedy is subjective), but instead because, unlike most comedies, like Nichijo, the characters in Konosuba are absolutely brilliant. Kazuma is one of my favorite characters of all time, Megumi is best girl, but I still love both Darkness and Aqua. Their interactions are absolutely entertaining on both a comedic scale and a general enjoyment scale. Their assholeish-type relationship reflects my relationship with my friends (we are complete assholes to each other, but we also love one another).

Not only that but from the comedy focused anime that I have watched, the plot in this one is actually delightful. The Konosuba movie is my favorite movie of all time, right after A Silent Voice.

Number 1

One Piece

If you read a couple of my previous posts or recognized my profile picture, you probably knew that One Piece is my favorite anime of all time. My love for One Piece is so extensive that I would rather forget all my experiences with anime than forget my experience with One Piece. One Piece inspired me and changed my life. Not in the typical way where I learned a life lesson from the story like Plastic Memories, but simply because I found the writing to be so brilliant. So it was more that Eiichiro Oda, the author of One Piece, inspired me. The characters are the best I have ever seen, the villains are well crafted, the world-building is literally the best in all of fiction, the build-up is fascinating, the questions from the mysteries somehow keep piling over, the symbolism fleshes out aspects of the anime even more, the backstories make characters more relatable and understandable, the general dynamic flow of the world feels like reality, the themes it explores are great learning experiences, the originality never ends, the hype moments keep you energetic for more, the foreshadowing is so phenomenal to the extent where it shouldn’t exist, and the general planning of the story makes it obvious how amazing of an author Eiichiro Oda is.

This series has been airing weekly for nearly 22 years now, the manga for 25. How in the world is Oda able to create this monster of a story, planning certain elements a decade or two in advance? This is brilliance. This is beauty in writing. And I want nothing more than to create a masterpiece of my own.

Final Notes

Emotional, I know. I believe my list here is a bit diverse in terms of genre: shōnen, seinen, romance, comedy, sports, slice-of-life, and mystery. I think it’s a great thing to widen your horizons a bit by exploring various types of genres. Anyway, there are many anime I haven’t watched that could easily replace and dethrone some of the anime on this list. I plan on watching and reading Hajime no Ippo, Gintama, Vagabond, Oyasumi Pun Pun, I”s, etc. I heard these anime/manga are considered the best for their respective genres by many people, and I will probably finish reading and watching these anime/manga in about six months. So I will make a top 15 anime list once again around that time.

If you have any questions or you want to discuss something, feel free to ask in the “Ask Me Anything” tab on my Tumblr page.

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sz-amare · 3 years

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8. Black Clover Disappointment

Why I Found Ep. 162 of Black Clover to be a Disappointment

(Spoiler Warning) This post contains spoilers for the latest episodes of Black Clover. Tread with caution.

I am going to say it now. I find the Spade arc to be a disappointment, or at least so far. I love Black Clover. And every arc has been getting progressively better. But to me, the Spade arc fell far from my expectations, severely disappointing me. Don’t get me wrong, seeing the development of the world after the time skip was really exciting to me, but they are the build-up to the upcoming episodes.

Episodes 161 and 162 are the primary reasons for the downfall of my enjoyment. Funnily enough, the day before airing, I heard that Ep. 162 would be the best episode in Black Clover history. Not just from a couple of random people, but from friends, YouTubers, and social media channels. Dozens of people.

With high expectations and quaking excitement, I made myself my favorite comfort food and sat through Ep. 162. And I was not happy. However, the major disappointment I felt from watching Ep. 162 was caused by the previous episode, Ep. 161.

For a quick recap, Ep. 161 was when some Spade kingdom soldiers and one of the three dark triad members invaded the Golden Dawn headquarters and killed half the squad. Now I personally think character deaths are a great way to develop certain characters and, if done right, can hook the audience to the series. Now, after we figure half the squad was wiped out, Yuno becomes disappointed with himself and will probably strive to become stronger in the near future. So now there are many character deaths, and one of the characters wants to strive for change, so all good, right? NO! Why? Quick question: Can you name a single character that died? Do you remember any of their names? If you do, did you like that character? If you did, then you have no good taste in characters. My point is that the only characters they killed-off in the Golden Dawn are nameless, forgettable, or completely unimportant characters, for which I could care less. Not only that but the one character that should have died ended up surviving – the glasses dude with the metal magic, Klaus.

Although Klaus loses almost all of his importance in the anime as time progresses, many of us end up loving him. He also has a very close connection to both Yuno and Asta. Now imagine if he died. Although I don’t feel all that connected with Klaus, I would feel like a piece of myself has fallen off. This would allow us to relate to Yuno’s, and in this case, Asta’s rage towards their own weakness and the Spade Kingdom. Their need to change and to become stronger would be understandable. But looking at the reality of what happened, Yuno’s emotional breakdown doesn’t feel warranted. I did not feel that sadness that i should be feeling.

But there is one more issue that killing only nameless characters has caused.

Looking at the end of the next episode, Ep. 162, Gouche is fatally wounded by the leader of the dark triad and thus sparking Asta’s rage. Because of the stunt they pulled in the previous episode, not killing any significant characters, I immediately knew that Gauche wasn’t going to die. Now, he hasn’t been healed yet, but my friend and I predicted that the feeling of uselessness that Grey was feeling would cause her to develop and heal Gauche. If the author was too afraid to kill-off characters with any slight significance, then what would make me believe that he would kill one of the main characters of the series. And even if he does end up dying, the emotional high I was supposed to feel in the moment of him being stabbed has already been ruined. So when I saw Asta become enraged and started losing himself, I saw nothing more than a generic moment I have seen many times before but with no emotional highs. One of the best moments in Black Clover was ruined because Yuki Tabata was too afraid to kill-off his good characters.

Please know, I don’t want to send hate to Tabata. I love the man. I am very grateful for the series, Black Clover, which has brought me and many others abundant joy. However, I will give criticism where criticism is due. I am mainly pointing out these flaws simply because I want others to learn from these posts of what to do and what not to do when crafting a story.

If you have any questions or you want to discuss something, feel free to ask in the “Ask Me Anything” tab on my Tumblr page.

#anime #animelove #otaku #animeblogpost #anime tumblr #blackclover #spade arc

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