• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Toonami |MayJun17| WE ARE ROBOTS

Status
Not open for further replies.

Xe4

Banned
Occasionally it's fun to go back to old classics, and see how they hold up. I also think just because something doesn't hold up doesn't mean it wasn't good, it just means what we've expected of the genre has probably changed.

With that said, I can't play System Shock 2 people. I can't do it. I bounce right the hell off that game. Just moving around in that game feels off to me. Trying to fight enemies with a wrench in that game feels off to me. Everything about it feels off to me.
Shame. I fucking love System Shock 2. It's probably a top 10 game of all time for me, and totally blows something like Bioshock out of the water. Though I totally understand it's not easy to get into again. Those graphics and combat mechanics are pretty dated.
 
Yeah, but I always thought that was a general thing about aiming to be a pirate and living up to romantic pirate ideals. Stuff like Luffy totally ignoring his parentage and encouraging people like Chopper and Robin to escape the life they were born into went with that.

But
all the stuff about the Will of D, the voice of all things, and Joy Boy makes it clear that it's specifically​ Luffy who was always destined to find One Piece. Nobody else would've​ been able to do what he's done, which undermines the One Piece message of freedom and choosing your future with your own power. It's not Naruto bad, but I don't like it.

Not sure how you saw a parallel between romantic ideals and destiny. In Logue Town alone, we have: the lightning saving Luffy, the strong winds, rain wetting the marines' ammunition, Dragon showing up...
Luffy was miraculously lucky to the point where Smoker even comments that it's like divine intervention.

One Piece Manga Spoilers
- We don't know what Joy Boy's connection to the One Piece or Will of D is yet,
so it's very premature to draw conclusions from him. And for all we know, the prophecized person who is supposed to bring Fishman Island to the surface may not even be Luffy.
- The Voice of All Things has aided Luffy at all. He can only hear the voices. He can't communicate with giant creatures like Momonosuke can.
- And as far as we know, having the Will of D is seemingly not related to finding One Piece.
- I don't see how any of this undermines the general themes of One Piece. The freedom that Luffy wants and the destiny that awaits him are not mutually exclusive.
He chose to risk his life to become the Pirate King, he chose not to ask Rayleigh if the One Piece is real or not, he chose to train for two years, etc.
 

Morlas

Member
I just wanna see vivi again.....

MAcHYu.gif
 

cntr

Banned
Not sure how you saw a parallel between romantic ideals and destiny. In Logue Town alone, we have: the lightning saving Luffy, the strong winds, rain wetting the marines' ammunition, Dragon showing up...
Luffy was miraculously lucky to the point where Smoker even comments that it's like divine intervention.

One Piece Manga Spoilers
- We don't know what Joy Boy's connection to the One Piece or Will of D is yet,
so it's very premature to draw conclusions from him. And for all we know, the prophecized person who is supposed to bring Fishman Island to the surface may not even be Luffy.
- The Voice of All Things has aided Luffy at all. He can only hear the voices. He can't communicate with giant creatures like Momonosuke can.
- And as far as we know, having the Will of D is seemingly not related to finding One Piece.
- I don't see how any of this undermines the general themes of One Piece. The freedom that Luffy wants and the destiny that awaits him are not mutually exclusive.
He chose to risk his life to become the Pirate King, he chose not to ask Rayleigh if the One Piece is real or not, he chose to train for two years, etc.
Luck and destiny are different. Luck is something that just happens and can happen to anyone, from just being in the right place at the right time. It's funny, and luck is something the romantic ideal of pirates have always relied on. Destiny is something you have just by existing. Anybody can be lucky, but only one person can be destined.

It's heavily implied that
Joy Boy, the Will of D, and things like Luffy's ability to Hear the Voice of All things is meant to tie into him finding One Piece. It doesn't work for me because I always thought of Luffy as a lucky pirate, a guy who'll find One Piece and save the world through his determination and luck.
But giving him destiny instead of luck just makes him another special shounen protagonist. Pirates aren't supposed to be special, they're supposed to be lucky. It wasn't his decision, it's just something he has from being born. In retrospect, it probably was what Oda was intending all along, but it wasn't so explicit until recently, so I don't like it. Even in your example, it's pretty easy to infer that Dragon caused the bad weather and saved Luffy, and even if he didn't, it was luck that saved Luffy, not fate.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
Luffy's only BS power is the same cult of personality that most Shonen protagonists have. See Naruto Jesus for the other prime example where people just want to follow him sometimes not even for a particularly good reason.

Only this time there might be a decent in universe explanation for it.
 

cntr

Banned
I'm not complaining about powers to be clear, his moveset and abilities are fine. I'm complaining about how his place in the lore and story's turning out.
 

caliph95

Member
Oh yeah Domino and Longhsot two X-men characters powers are pretty much having good luck.
Code:
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/5XcW0Fy.png[/IMG][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/w8fEDxN.jpg[/IMG]
 
I think one of the details about HxH shocking deaths that doesn't mix with me is how death seems to mean so little to the scenes that come straight after. Basically, it's brutal in the fact it's happening, but not brutal in how the characters react.

I could imagine this has something to do with the rating and perceived audience of the show. But one of the joys of a quick kill is that a character was hurt so fast, they still carry through their actions... but the parts that DO notice are busy reacting to the horror. Case in point, something like this:

tumblr_inline_ni0wzi2c6r1smbrwx.gif

Rest In Peace Toshikazu Shiozawa, still enjoying his voice in older shows

Well keep in mind the Troupe characters move so fast that by the time the mobsters react to it they're pretty much already dead so there is no point of running away
 

mas8705

Member
115


One hell of a note to go out on before the finale. To think that if the Rick and Morty April Fools joke didn't pop in, we'd probably be talking about how Samurai Jack came to a close.

Definitely is going to be fun to see how things wrap up next Saturday.
 
Luck and destiny are different. Luck is something that just happens and can happen to anyone, from just being in the right place at the right time. It's funny, and luck is something the romantic ideal of pirates have always relied on. Destiny is something you have just by existing. Anybody can be lucky, but only one person can be destined.

It's heavily implied that
Joy Boy, the Will of D, and things like Luffy's ability to Hear the Voice of All things is meant to tie into him finding One Piece. It doesn't work for me because I always thought of Luffy as a lucky pirate, a guy who'll find One Piece and save the world through his determination and luck.
But giving him destiny instead of luck just makes him another special shounen protagonist. Pirates aren't supposed to be special, they're supposed to be lucky. It wasn't his decision, it's just something he has from being born. In retrospect, it probably was what Oda was intending all along, but it wasn't so explicit until recently, so I don't like it. Even in your example, it's pretty easy to infer that Dragon caused the bad weather and saved Luffy, and even if he didn't, it was luck that saved Luffy, not fate.

Far enough. I will say that at a certain point, if a character experiences incredible luck way too frequently, then it's spilling over into "blessed by fate" territory.
Unless they already have a superpower that manipulates causality and probability, like the two characters Caliph mentioned.
 

Mizerman

Member
Then again Hercule did won a Martial Arts Tournament with pure skill so by normal human standards he is a good combatant. I wonder how good he would fare against kid goku

Goku as a kid was a monster, so I don't think Hercule would do any better. Though it would be funny to see his reactions back then.
 

cntr

Banned
Mr. Satan's top-tier for a normal human. Chi-Chi and Krillin and all the other ki-using humans are better, though.
 

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
I think One Piece is kinda interesting, in that there might be a destiny that's driving the characters... but there's no way the show doesn't go out of it's way to let you know that it's the characters personal determination and never-say-die attitude that's put them into the path of their destiny.

I feel like One Piece sets itself up in a way that makes it feel like there are always multiple candidates to take a destined position. If one character can't make it for some reason, then they've inspired enough people to make someone who'll take on their charge, and live out their life's goals for them.

And with the way there's ALWAYS a choir of impressed underlings to sing a bosses praises, I really feel like the show pushed forth the idea that great people are worthy of (ridiculous levels of) praise, and that things will fall into place based primarily on your ambitions and determination.

Well keep in mind the Troupe characters move so fast that by the time the mobsters react to it they're pretty much already dead so there is no point of running away

Yeah, I get that. That's the root of impressive fighters in battle shonen. Heck, Fist of the North Star is the series that coined "You don't even know, you're ALREADY DEAD!". It's littered with non-fights with a GAWDLIKE lead, the very Savior of the Century's end, who'se got a brother than is an actual anime design parallel to Jesus, and yet it still sold it's cause and effect well. Kenshiro and Co. let people try their best, because they knew crushing them after they exhausted their options, had much more impact than just murdering on sight.

In HxH it's just... bad bits of direction, more than anything. The situations, cast, music, and world exist to tell a more rounded account of events. But much is plainly, 100 percent one sided, and it really feels like the point of anything that's NOT the main cast is simply to make a select few look beyond amazing. Which spits in the face of a world that is so casual about death, that you have a school that trains the best of the best of the best, with only the survivors making it.

We have a 13 villain group, and beyond differences in Nen and silhouettes, they blend into one wad of "overwhelming superiority".

ngbbs426e92726430e.gif


Even minor things like killing stragglers as they manage to escape for mere moments, or having the weakest troupe member incur injuries during this chaos, would have more cause-and-effect to it than what they've presented with these slaughters, or in this show in general.

Therefore it comes off like less of a full story, and more a collection of well animated / drawn / scored shocking moments. What could be excellent, feels middling, IMHO.

Unova was killed by Kurapika, and Gon and Kil escaped Nobunaga. But those things feel so insignificant, compared to the huge wall of perfection via body counts and lack of ANYTHING shaking them. Even their tearful mourning for the death of a friend is answered by little more than "MORE EXCUSES TO KILL!"

It'd have been nice to have seen them be sloppy and emotional due to mourning, but we (so far) didn't even get that. (Is this something that will happen? It'd mellow things out a bit if it does.)

The show / story would be so much better if it just chilled a bit, curbed the HUGE kill counts and beheadings and twisted heads, (even before the increased violence, it was still bad about how it treated death), and let us (and the in-show world) come to natural conclusions about things, instead of pushing the desired answer with absolute, brutal clarity. We're 51 episodes in (!!!), and I'm just... shocked at the fact they haven't gotten more relaxed about this.
 

cntr

Banned
You know, I wonder if there's anybody out there whose favorite manga are Berserk, Nana, and HxH, and whose favorite band are the Avalanches.

What an awful life they must've had.
 

caliph95

Member
Need to watch Yuyu hakuso one of these days

Also i keep always having to remind myself
(partially for my boner)
that he is a dude partially because his english va is stuck in my head which is very feminine
You know, I wonder if there's anybody out there whose favorite manga are Berserk, Nana, and HxH, and whose favorite band are the Avalanches.

What an awful life they must've had.
Wait Nana has a manga that is still going on i just started the anime and it's really good
 
Need to watch Yuyu hakuso one of these days

Also i keep always having to remind myself
(partially for my boner)
that he is a dude partially because his english va is stuck in my head which is very feminine
How have you not watched YYH yet? Prototype Togashi is still better than a lot of current Shonen's.
 
Need to watch Yuyu hakuso one of these days

Also i keep always having to remind myself
(partially for my boner)
that he is a dude partially because his english va is stuck in my head which is very feminine

Wait Nana has a manga that is still going on i just started the anime and it's really good

The manga is on permanent hiatus due the mangaka's health issues.
 

caliph95

Member
Well damn hope the dude or gal is ok.
YYH is what a hundred episodes and watching Nana is it a slow burn (not a good phrase tbh) like HxH how long does it take to get "good"
 
Well damn hope the dude or gal is ok.
YYH is what a hundred episodes and watching Nana is it a slow burn (not a good phrase tbh) like HxH how long does it take to get "good"
YYH is about 113 eps, takes a good...20 to get really good. Pretty much when a muscle man wearing shades shows up get hyped.
 
Yeah, I get that. That's the root of impressive fighters in battle shonen. Heck, Fist of the North Star is the series that coined "You don't even know, you're ALREADY DEAD!". It's littered with non-fights with a GAWDLIKE lead, the very Savior of the Century's end, who'se got a brother than is an actual anime design parallel to Jesus, and yet it still sold it's cause and effect well. Kenshiro and Co. let people try their best, because they knew crushing them after they exhausted their options, had much more impact than just murdering on sight.

In HxH it's just... bad bits of direction, more than anything. The situations, cast, music, and world exist to tell a more rounded account of events. But much is plainly, 100 percent one sided, and it really feels like the point of anything that's NOT the main cast is simply to make a select few look beyond amazing. Which spits in the face of a world that is so casual about death, that you have a school that trains the best of the best of the best, with only the survivors making it.

We have a 13 villain group, and beyond differences in Nen and silhouettes, they blend into one wad of "overwhelming superiority".

ngbbs426e92726430e.gif


Even minor things like killing stragglers as they manage to escape for mere moments, or having the weakest troupe member incur injuries during this chaos, would have more cause-and-effect to it than what they've presented with these slaughters, or in this show in general.

Therefore it comes off like less of a full story, and more a collection of well animated / drawn / scored shocking moments. What could be excellent, feels middling, IMHO.

Unova was killed by Kurapika, and Gon and Kil escaped Nobunaga. But those things feel so insignificant, compared to the huge wall of perfection via body counts and lack of ANYTHING shaking them. Even their tearful mourning for the death of a friend is answered by little more than "MORE EXCUSES TO KILL!"

It'd have been nice to have seen them be sloppy and emotional due to mourning, but we (so far) didn't even get that. (Is this something that will happen? It'd mellow things out a bit if it does.)

The show / story would be so much better if it just chilled a bit, curbed the HUGE kill counts and beheadings and twisted heads, (even before the increased violence, it was still bad about how it treated death), and let us (and the in-show world) come to natural conclusions about things, instead of pushing the desired answer with absolute, brutal clarity. We're 51 episodes in (!!!), and I'm just... shocked at the fact they haven't gotten more relaxed about this.


I don't see why it spits in the face to a world that is casual about death and keep in mind our main characters aren't a bunch of nobodies, Killua comes from a family of assassins ,Gon is a world class hunter and Kurapika comes from a clan that gave the Phantom Troupe a good workout, as for the Phantom Troupe's reaction to Uvogin's death keep in mind we did see them get emotional with scenes of Shalnark and Nobunaga. Also it doesn't really make sense for them to be sloppy since while the death of their partner is tragic(to them) most of them come from horrible backgrounds so they are pretty much used to it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom