IcedEarth's Blog

Anime Relations: Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku, Shikabane Hime: Aka, Shikabane Hime: Kuro, Shikabane Hime: Kuro – Soredemo, Hito to Shite, Shikabane Hime: Puchitto

The Reluctant Hero of mythology, and animie has been typically portrayed either as an ordinary person thrust into extraordinary circumstances which require him to rise to heroism, or as a person with extraordinary abilities who nonetheless evinces a desire to avoid using those abilities for the benefit of others. Unfortunately I am finding more and more of these individuals in modern stories and anime being not just reluctant but more of the crybaby types. Such as in Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku (Now and Then, Here and There). In this series I feel the Reluctant Hero was way over done.
It seems to me, the males that portray this role are often the ones crying over their role or finding it hard to preform the duty for whatever reason. While the female (and don't get me wrong I love a strong woman) has a better understanding of her role and abilities. The series Shikabane Hime (Corpse Princess) is a great example of this. This series is one of my favorites and the story was excellent, for the strong feminine hero. Although the male Ouri was very inept, with the heart to do what is needed.
I am finding it more tiring to sit through the over exaggerated stories of this. Once the Hero is recognized there is no need to carry into that part of the story so far that the watcher ends up hoping that something happens to him/her and it ends sooner then the story should. All in all this does not happen to often but when it does it is bad for any good story line.