Welcome to the Fantasy Zone
This Zone is dedicated to the lesser known elements of anime hosted by the cast of Victory Script.
What weapon is the best?
Who will win in this Death Battle?
Is this costume practical?
You name it, it's all covered here in the Fantasy Zone!
Smell that burning? It's hot take time!
"Anything shonen does well, magical girl anime do better"
No it really doesn't, Magical Girl anime follows a different set of rules, the main difference is as Megamind calls it presentation, for example Sailor Moon's most memorable battles are usually the last episodes of the current season, in comparison Dragonballz have big long battles but some of the most iconic moments such as Goku and Vegeta's first beam clash wasn't even the finishing blow, some exceptions do exist but skew the line of the genre.
"I despise hearing Hiroshi Kamiya's voice"
Let's see a selection of his work.
Some decent performances there, not seeing why you hate him.
Real talk, It's difficult to judge a foreign language from the point of view of a non native speaker, I have plenty to say about the dub casts but the original Japanese voices not so much.
"Death Note would've been better through L's perspective"
Fairly convinced they've already done this but to answer the take, L isn't strong enough to hold Death Note together as a lead, the whole appeal of Light is that his practically childlike take on morality is what makes Death Note such a compelling story from his point of view because at no point does he consider that what he's doing is wrong.
"Most mecha shows would be better if they just removed the mechs considering how little they actually mattered"
I wouldn't say most but there are a few examples of mecha being added as an after thought, Rayearth, Code Geass, Nadesico and Escaflowne all spring to mind in this regard but at the same time, said shows would barely get off the ground without some thing that could be marketed as merch, like it or not it still has to make money.
"Infinite from Sonic Forces was a good character"
No, he was awful! It's the absolute culmination of god awful edgy 2000s and the absolute worst of fan character culture, how can anyone look at this jackal thing and not cringe from how hard he's trying at being an edgelord only to be humbled by Shadow the Hedgehog.
I wrote the following hot take on the YouTube channel Anime America Podcast for their Hot Take Video.
"Clamp are great artists but terrible writers"
My biggest surprise was that it got read on the actual video.
The host Robyn laughed at the hot take which was a better reaction than I expected followed by what I can assume good examples of Clamp's works.
Responding to the Examples
Robyn gave me the examples of Chobits, Card Captor Sakura, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and Wish, Robyn admitted herself that Wish was a guilty pleasure rather than a good story.
I found Chobits hard to follow, Card Captor Sakura never seems to do anything other than re-trace old steps every season, there's never a more grandiose reason for Sakura to keep obtaining Clow Cards.
Tsubasa is exactly what Nelvana wanted Card Captor Sakura to be but Li Syaoron is about as effective at leading a story as Goku is dieting, he's really not suited to the job, not helping is what they made Sakura into.
There is a Theme
One of the things I notice about Clamp's works is that they don't seem to flow well the later into the story nor do they seem to end in a good place.
Rayearth should've finished with season 1 but we all had to endure the melodrama of season 2, Angelic Layer had to change their plot and ending in the anime because the manga's plot and ending was so stupid.
Don't get me started on the whole X debacle or the Clampverse links.
I Don't Hate Clamp
To make it clear I don't hate Clamp, I'm just frustrated by how close they can come to a really great story but ultimately throw it all away, but I still love works like Card Captor Sakura, XXXHolic and Rayearth. They are supremely talented and really set a high standard for art that is distinctively theres and no one elses.
This post looks at characters of the past and where the old trends stand now, we start with female characters, males will get their own eventually.
1. Valkyrie Girls
Also known as the Valkyrie Bitch, these harlots are no nonsense action types, the best example being Black Lagoon's Revy.
They enjoyed a boom during the cyberpunk era of the late 80s and are still in demand today thanks to Chainsaw Man.
2. Wrestling Girls
Prominent in the 80s, wrestling girls influences can be found in shows like Dirty Pair, it's existence today is split between tag team partnerships between two females, also known as the Lovely Angels trope or literal wrestling sports anime with a twist like Keijo.
3. Tsundere Girls
Popularised by Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura and continuing long into the 00s the tsundere hot and cold personality was a core part of romance anime, they are a dying breed these days replaced by socially awkward girls and girls who just tease the male characters.
4. Magician Girls
This is a fascinating one that comes with a unique story of a particular Japanese Idol who managed to break the American market that I'll be tempted to talk about, in it's day, the magician girl commanded admiration but is now an embarrassing fetish.
5. Delinquent Girls
Credited with being the very first lead action girl in the medium, the Delinquent Girls starting from the mid 70s were an inspiration to all who followed after, it's also credited for making the Sailor Fuku uniform an anime staple, not Sailor Moon. Very rare to see nowadays but kept alive prominently by Vtuber Kson.
6. Idol Girls
The age of City Pop and the popular anime idol of Macross Lynn Minmay, gave rise to the idol singer along with magical idols Creamy Mami. These days it's based on collectable card games for girls but is still very much popular.
7. Mysterious Girls
Popularised by the now late Leiji Matsumoto, the mysterious girl has an aura of intense beauty and mystery about them, on a journey of self discovery with very little to go on, you can't help but follow them, hard these days for these types of characters to stay relevant when the internet knows everything.
8. Fantasy Girls
Prominent lead females in fantasy anime everything from the Magic Knights of Rayearth to Lina Inverse, they dominated much of the 80s and 90s. These days they are harem bait for isekai protagonists.
9. Space Girls
Also known as bridge bunnies, these girls are seen as supporting roles on a larger more prominent battle ship, sometimes piloting mechs. Sci-Fi isn't much of a thing anymore but Gundam finally gave a female character top billing.
10. Drama Girls
The mature girls who engage in sometimes forbidden romances, all the rage in 80s shojo, largely forgotten these days as it just doesn't sell well.
11. Thief Girls
Since Fujiko Mine and the girls of Cat's Eye gave thief girls a place, they've always managed to keep a real sex appeal, ironically Lupin and Cat's Eye will crossover later this year keeping the honour among thieves alive.
12. Classic Girls
And finally we have classic girls or European girls. Take a popular piece of literature from Europe and turn it into an anime. Not a big deal anymore and Magus Bride only barely qualifies for the same genre.
If you want me to expand on any of these posts, drop a comment.
I really didn't want to write this but it's absolutely everywhere and there's a lot about it that makes me uncomfortable.
I think it's about time everyone grows up, while I understand that people will be upset that the creator of their favourite thing is really a bad person, the things they created are fiction, it's a story, it's irrelevant in the bigger picture.
The success of every creation is not entirely down to one person either, it's a pyramid of succession that goes through everything from TV series to merchandising made by a couple thousand people, it's a million dollar, sometimes billion dollar business that's already made it's mark before these horrible things about the creators came out, there's enough fans of each property who are oblivious to the controversies and they will still buy said product, this doesn't mean they are against some movement, they just want to read about a bespectled wizard boy going to a wizard school, a wandering samurai hoping for redemption or a drunk grandfather and his grandson hopping through the multiverse.
They couldn't care less about the creator.
What do I think of the three creations in question?
Harry Potter is fine nothing special, I wouldn't go out my way to buy an $80 video game about it when my money can be better spent on feeding myself decent food for two weeks.
Rick and Morty is just a slightly smarter Adult Swim show, the humour gets old very quickly and it's not as smart as it pretends to be.
While I do like Rurouni Kenshin, the anime was a mess, the prequels were beautiful but the TV series was messy, the motion picture was bad and the sequel was cringy, as for Busou Renkin....
The less said about that monstrosity the better.
One thing that does make my blood boil is harassment of any kind against people who consume these media pieces without fuss.
Someone actually made a program to track down people who streamed Hogwarts Legacy and streamers have been bullied for daring to play it, it's a disgusting practice that I'm pretty sure is also illegal.
I speak as someone who spent their teens and twenties being bullied out of 90% of my interests.
If you can separate art from the artist, that's great.
If you can't separate art from the artist, that's fine but don't harrass those who can or take a neutral stance or are oblivious to the issues.
If you really want to bring attention to the issues you feel so strongly about then turn that energy into something more positive, give to a charity that helps victims of vile crimes, go comfort a friend who needs you, volunteer at a soup kitchen, plant some trees, do literally anything else other than hide behind a keyboard and Twitter just to get angry over a piece of fiction!
As a New Zealander once said.
"Be respectful, be wholesome, don't be a manus and I'll see you next post"
Tenth episode now, let's go.
"Violet Evergarden feels like Oscar bait"
It kinda is, Kyoto Animation have a history of emotional story telling and Violet Evergarden is no exception, with the added disaster of the KyoAni studios fire it adds some weight to the emotion on screen knowing that some of the people who worked on it are sadly no longer with us.
"Makoto Shinkai Films Are Getting Kinda Old"
Looking at his works, they kinda start feeling the same, absolutely incredible scenery but storytelling is a bit convoluted, his works were already feeling old by 2013 let along ten years later in 2023.
"Character designs peaked with Juvia"
How can you say no to such a sweet girl.
Real talk, Juvia is a better made character than many people think, she's more than just a stalker with a crush, her increasing beauty is a subtle way of showing that she is stepping out of the gloomy melancholy rain and accepting the love and compassion in her new home of Fairy Tail, not to mention she has some pretty intense battles and has shown incredible loyalty, it is a testament to Hiro Mashima's work but to answer the other part, there's still room for great characters to come out, so it's not even close to peaking.
"Slice-of-Life Anime is boring and I don't understand the appeal at all"
Might be because you've never grown up in a country with such strict values and work ethics, it's worth noting that anime has foundations in escapism whether it be in another world or grounded in a simpler reality, Japan just sees more value in watching characters do simpler things whether it be about a Diving Club, a Little Market town or working in a Restaurant in Another World, there's a lot to offer. Remember that the longest running anime in history is about a housewife and her family, you can't get more slice for your life than that.
"Most romantic female characters these days aren't as attractive as the ones back in the 80s and 90s, by virtue of them looking like actual grown women and having the wisdom to match"
This is more aesthetic, the old art styles gives them a more mature look but in most cases the average age of female characters is really no different to today, mid to late teens usually. As for the wisdom part, I wouldn't be looking in the Sailor Moon cast or Tenchi Muyo for a girlfriend and certainly not Gundam, this is also why I always preferred adult female characters even when I was a teen myself. Adult females in the 80s and 90s did at least have the wisdom back then but over the last couple of decades more often than not they act like grown up womanchilden.