Categories
May 1st, 2018
Hot to Handle: Isekai Protagonists
Anime Relations: No Game No Life, Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu, Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2
The last few years, as a result of Sword Art Online's success, have seen a flood of isekai shows that follow near identical story beats. However, three that stand out for many people are Re:Zero, No Game No Life and Konosuba, for varying reasons. It's possible these stories carry as much as weight as they do because of the impact of their characters, notably their protagonists. While most other isekai shows work as great wish-fulfillment power fantasies, these protagonists pack a real punch, because put simply: they don't.
Re:Zero is arguably the best of the three musketeers, which I believe can be credited to it's story, premise and characters. I'll likely further analyse Re:Zero at a later point, but one of the best aspects of the show is the protagonist, Natsuki Subaru. His role in the story works as his power functions as an oxymoron: with the power to come back to life and undo tragedy, while also having very little as a means of preventing it. It's this principle (similar in fashion to Steins;Gate, which funnily enough was also made by White Fox, but whatever) that haunts Subaru, but despite everything endures and sees momentary hope as result of his persistent and well-meaning character. In having to rely on quick wits and strategy, it's his weakness that serves as his strength.
Which brings me to No Game No Life. Despite the fact that a big theme of the show being weakness=strength, the MCs, I believe, are the strongest out of the three shows. In the process to fulfill their claim that 'Blank never loses', you almost ensure to a viewer/reader that Sora and Shiro are fundamentally unbeatable. Nonetheless, the show creates fun and tense moments in the form of it's 'games', which are mechanically similar to real-world games with a magic twist. This is quite complementary to the nature of Sora and Shiro, as their better attributes relies on their intelligence. My favorite event of the show by far is the game of Materialization Shiritori, in which Sora and Shiro implement a scientific understanding to trump the Flugel Jibril. But hey, no one man should have all that power, so share it with your mates/harem/emotionally detached younger sister.
Speaking of mates, we come to Kazuma of the show Konosuba, who is a bit of a split between Subaru and Sora: a character with some semblance of power, bolstered by strategic thinking and application of his/others powers. I've heard some people say that Kazuma is a little OP, particularly in the latter parts of the second season, and I can agree to an extent. To be fair, by it's nature as a comedy, it isn't reliant on character power levels, favoring relationships between characters and writing/gags. Kazuma, in my opinion, is more of utility/commanding role than a power house, working around his party's limitations and applying strength against an opponent. He even understands that it may take a death of his or two to help achieve, as seen in the toxic slime fight at the end.
And no, that isn't another segue into Re:Zero. Those are just my thoughts on the isekai protagonists and their OP-ish nature.
Re:Zero is arguably the best of the three musketeers, which I believe can be credited to it's story, premise and characters. I'll likely further analyse Re:Zero at a later point, but one of the best aspects of the show is the protagonist, Natsuki Subaru. His role in the story works as his power functions as an oxymoron: with the power to come back to life and undo tragedy, while also having very little as a means of preventing it. It's this principle (similar in fashion to Steins;Gate, which funnily enough was also made by White Fox, but whatever) that haunts Subaru, but despite everything endures and sees momentary hope as result of his persistent and well-meaning character. In having to rely on quick wits and strategy, it's his weakness that serves as his strength.
Which brings me to No Game No Life. Despite the fact that a big theme of the show being weakness=strength, the MCs, I believe, are the strongest out of the three shows. In the process to fulfill their claim that 'Blank never loses', you almost ensure to a viewer/reader that Sora and Shiro are fundamentally unbeatable. Nonetheless, the show creates fun and tense moments in the form of it's 'games', which are mechanically similar to real-world games with a magic twist. This is quite complementary to the nature of Sora and Shiro, as their better attributes relies on their intelligence. My favorite event of the show by far is the game of Materialization Shiritori, in which Sora and Shiro implement a scientific understanding to trump the Flugel Jibril. But hey, no one man should have all that power, so share it with your mates/harem/emotionally detached younger sister.
Speaking of mates, we come to Kazuma of the show Konosuba, who is a bit of a split between Subaru and Sora: a character with some semblance of power, bolstered by strategic thinking and application of his/others powers. I've heard some people say that Kazuma is a little OP, particularly in the latter parts of the second season, and I can agree to an extent. To be fair, by it's nature as a comedy, it isn't reliant on character power levels, favoring relationships between characters and writing/gags. Kazuma, in my opinion, is more of utility/commanding role than a power house, working around his party's limitations and applying strength against an opponent. He even understands that it may take a death of his or two to help achieve, as seen in the toxic slime fight at the end.
And no, that isn't another segue into Re:Zero. Those are just my thoughts on the isekai protagonists and their OP-ish nature.
Posted by YeOldeGamer1 | May 1, 2018 7:57 AM | 0 comments