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!
Welcome back to the show that looks at some Hot Takes and see where I stand on them.
"Bleach gets too much hate"
This take is a bit dated as Bleach was out of the spotlight for quite some time, in fact the idea that we have anime fans now who haven't seen the first Bleach anime is plausible while old fans don't really care anymore; back in Bleach's prime it was a narrative mess and the hate was mostly justified but it wasn't as overhated as Naruto was.
"I'm getting tired of 12 episode slice of life anime"
I'm probably more sick of the 12 episode seasonal format rather than any genre specifically, there are way too many mediocre anime that out stay their welcome by episode 6 but it's not usually the Slice of Life ones that fail.
"The anime industry overuses fan service"
Funny how most people when they bring this up never mention Free when it's more fan service than quite a high number of tamer shows.
Real talk, fan service shows have been more clever in recent years in how they flaunt the goods, normally using the one gender rule to avoid any pitfalls of being sexist, Keijo and Free popularised that, it's not gone completely and the 00s were particularly bad for fan service, it really isn't as big as it used to be, in fact the audience for it are all Gacha gamers now.
"The longer the title the more likely the anime is going to be bad"
I don't think the length of the title has anything to do with quality, but having titles that literally tell you the plot of the show is off putting, so I can see the grievance in that.
"The anime industry wouldn't be where it is today without 4Kids Entertainment"
Bull shit! 4Kids were fortunate as they were the ones who had licensed Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh for the States but they mishandled both properties and were left bankrupt as a result. The western side owes more to Akira for taking a chance on the States and succeeding followed by ADVFilms and Central Park Media taking a risk on other early anime. If we include Japan, Osamu Tezuka, Go Nagai, Yoshiyuki Tomino and Monkey Punch were the true Elite Four of anime that made modern anime what it is.
Considering I'm taking alot of these takes from today's fans the well will dry up quick so if you got a few Hot Takes of your own, I shall give you my two cents.
"Misty's still the best Pokemon girl"
That's a funny way of spelling Dawn. Dawn is the only female character in Pokemon history to have equal billing with Ash and the only former female companion to actually turn up in person to his Championship match, Misty was memorable but has very limited appeal.
"Gundam Wing is the best Gundam"
Even Heero thinks your statement is a load of bull.
Real talk, there is no definitive best Gundam series as each series brings something to the table that it's contemporaries don't have, looking at the latest series Witch from Mercury has Utena vibes for instance, anyone who does name a best Gundam series is likely to have only seen that Gundam series, another issue the franchise has, is that it's very difficult to like more than one Gundam series because of how wildly different the content can be each series.
"Goku is not a good character"
I've seen this alot, in fact it's the most common hot take next to the argument on fan service and subs vs dubs, don't think we'll be seeing the last of it anytime soon. Goku's status is usually helped by the fact that funimation made him act more heroic but he's still raised in the boonies and taught martial arts by a known pervert and it's pretty obvious when Toriyama has more input as his sense of humour is utterly juvenile, I can see where the argument is coming from, at the same time like the grandmother that voices him in Japan, it's a familiar face that reassures you that the world is okay, not every hero is written to be perfect but can still be a symbol of peace.
"Modern Isekai is the worst anime genre ever created"
It's not, you're just sick of the over saturation of the genre in recent years, the actual worst genre is surreal comedy, if you don't believe me, watch the Super Milk Chan Show and you'll be begging Truck-Kun to send you to another world.
"Sailor Moon has aged like milk, and there's nothing it did well that Nanoha and Precure haven't done significantly better since"
Precure's existence relies on homaging previous ideas from older magical girl shows, even the original referenced the Dirty Pair; Precure even had the director of the Sailor Moon anime direct Hugtto Precure.
Nanoha is just a trashy magical girl show that's trying way too hard.
While the content of the 90s Sailor Moon anime is a little dated, it still has a charm that keeps people invested, most anime fans when asked to name a magical girl show, the same three shows will turn up, Sailor Moon, Madoka Magica and Card Captor Sakura, it has the strongest staying power in all of anime along with Evangelion and the Dragonball franchise.
Yeah I couldn't think of a better title.
Hot Take Review is where I gather different hot takes on anime all over the internet and give my two cents on each opinion, there will be five per episode.
"Sasuke Uchiha is Overhated"
In the past, I've made my hatred well known for Sasuke mostly for the fact that his development was stunted when he left Konoha and after tons of filler his moping turned into a bad DC vengeance story but in Boruto he actually did grow out of it and I can't really hate him anymore and by the looks of it the fans agree.
"I don't think Sakura Haruno is useless"
Kishimoto in general is not good at writing female characters so she was always going to be the third wheel in a team with Sasuke and Naruto, but she's backed up with insane physical strength and potent healing abilities and her battle against Sasori is easily top ten battles. I agree, Sakura is not useless.
"Nana is the worst romance anime"
Nope, not even top ten, it's overly dramatic and very soap opera like but far from the worst, it's stylized animation gives the impression that it will be a Seinen drama so you'll know instantly whether you're in to that genre or not.
"My Hero Academia is the best constructed shounen"
Would you believe that statement looking at that face?
Real talk, My Hero Academia does have a phenomenally well constructed world for a hero story and can create some fantastic narratives but it's got a long way to go to best One Piece and Dragonballz. My Hero has a rather underwhelming cast and has a few bad habits of not really taking on the narratives it creates.
"Good Characters are way more important than a good story"
You need both, you can create the best characters ever but they need a story to make me care what happens to them otherwise they are just nice looking pictures, equally you can write works more inspirational than Shakespeare but you still need a good character to pilot the story. Using Fairy Tail as an example, they have some of the best characters in shonen but what stops them being S tier is the fact that each arc is just the same plot with stronger enemies each season and they tend to write too many ass pulls to bail themselves out of writing into a corner.
Like it or not, I'm old, but as I sit in my lounge recovering from a cold while Retrowave plays in the background, I can't help but reminisce of the Halcyon Otaku Days.
10. Dub Acting
Yes it was raw in places but I found the mix of dubbing teams across America, Canada and even my own UK fascinating, these days it's just crunchyroll and while the quality is better it's not exactly memorable anymore. Also I liked it when it was just acting and no baggage.
9. OVAs
I find too many mediocre anime undeserving of getting 12 episode runs all the time, those are the shows that needed the three episodes at most treatment, they are generally better quality and make more of an effort to cram in the best it has to offer.
8. Advertisement
Above is an image from a magazine promoting ADVFilms releases, this is back in the day where everything was advertised no matter how obscure it seemed.
(I don't miss the absurdity of being charged more for the sub)
7. Trailers
ADV used to put trailers on before every anime showing, I would not have discovered anime without it.
6. Discovery Stories
Gone are the days where you can discover anime on your own and have a story to go along with it, these days you just find out because it appeared in Fortnite.
5. Variety
You'd think it would get better but the variety has actually gotten worse in recent years, another look at the picture, you see a Sci-Fi, a Historical Drama and a Fantasy. These days it's Isekai, a slightly different Isekai or a no this is actually a good Isekai along with a host of other shows with an outstanding waifu as it's main selling point, along with a show just to keep Twitter busy for the season, what ever is still airing despite it being years old and a major anime revived from the dead.
4. Less Long Series
Remember the days you thought nothing could be as long as Inuyasha? Long series are nothing new, they hold the record for it but there are way too many these days, no one asked for a fight to take nearly half a year to finish!
3. TV Channels Playing Anime
I'm a Toonami viewer and a FoxKids viewer, I also lived through the 4Kids era, dodgy censorship aside, I wouldn't know half of the most legendary anime without it having a TV spot.
2. Old Anime Style
I still miss the old styles of anime, it was striking, sharp and felt more adult.
1. Missing the Wow Factor
Anime rarely wows me these days, this plays into why so many modern anime are missing from my top lists.
Notes: Age, changing tastes and how much anime I've consumed has played a role in my recent slumps in watching anime, there are things I don't miss about the past as well. Call it rose tinted glasses but I can't help but miss the old days of anime.
Little back story, have you ever seen a character act in such a way that you could feel the cringe a mile away, that's a character clearly trying too hard by design or personality, these characters are villains and seem to follow a pattern, no order for this and a separate list for heroes will follow.
1. Alois Trancy and Claude from Black Butler
I'll get the worst offenders out the way first, Alois and Claude were the worst substitutes for Ciel and Sebastian period, it just hurts watching them trying to be characters let alone poor imitations.
2. Seiji Noumi from Accel World
Considering that the bullies in Accel World are usually the typical bruts several times the size of lead character Haruyuki, the fact that Noumi is doing pretty much the same thing but could just as easily be beaten up by same bruts is just laughable.
3. Garou from One Punch Man
I'm pretty certain Garou has improved recently but he's the wrong villain for a show like One Punch Man especially when he's already been defeated by Saitama and I doubt Garou could defeat Boros anyway.
4. Infinite from Sonic Forces
Cheating a bit with a video game but my god! Say what you like about Shadow, he at least had the right amount of edge and can laugh about it these days but Infinite in a 2017 Sonic game is the most cringe character ever created in Sonic media and that's a well contested spot.
5. Ulquiorra from Bleach
Look at the picture, he looks like Sephiroth after being forced to listen to My Chemical Romance for a week non stop, he's the most emo looking character in anime history.
6. Pain from Naruto
This was a hotly contested spot, I was looking at Kabuto for a while but then I remembered the character who is literally called Pain, painful looks, painful dialogue, painful actions, you picked to lead the Akatsuki, every obsessed fan of the Akatsuki, the Naruto era was a testing one.
7. Mello from Death Note
Look at me, I'm as smart as L and Near, I eat chocolate as well but I'm actually a colossal prick with an inferiority complex, when Near is looking like a better character you know you've failed.
8. Gladion from Pokemon
Thankfully toned down in the anime, Gladion with those stupid arm poses was so off brand for Pokemon it gave me bad 00s flashbacks.
9. Tomura Shigaraki from My Hero Academia
If Gladion had more hands he'd happily copy the most ridiculous looking villain in anime history, why the disembodied hands? You already look intimidating without them.
10. Zeo Zagart and Brooklyn from Beyblade
Beyblade really struggles with villains, the only successful one has been Tala who looks genuinely terrifying in battle.
Brooklyn is trying too hard to be Kai.
Zeo is just trying too hard to be anything, he didn't work as a Pinocchio like character nor does he work as a cyber newtype mind controlled puppet, it's a toy anime I guess.
