The common complaint I see about Inuyasha is that the main antagonist, Naraku, has too much of plot armor and good guys are never able to finish him off for good
up untill the very end
. But in that case, why don't Aizen and Madara receive a similiar backlash from fans for having a strong plot armor?
I mean, let's start with Aizen.
1. He is ridiculously overpowered. Not only he is very smart, strong and immortal, but he can also hypnotise and trap you under a spelll which causes you to become a victim of his illusion. Ichigo was the only character in Bleach who was strong enough to fight with Aizen on equal ground, and even then it's implied that the main reason Aizen lost is because he subconsciously wanted to lose.
2. Aizen was the first main antagonist in Bleach. He was introduced in Soul Society Arc and he was the mastermind behind the three story arcs. Even after his defeat, he still gets to play an important part in the story.
3. Even through he is the Big Bad, Aizen gets what he wanted. He becomes immortal and he starts the chain of events which results in Soul Society becoming less stagnant. He even gets to help the good guys defeat another villain and it's implied that he allowed himself to be "arrested" again in the end.
Don't forget Madara:
1. He is so powerful that it took Black Zetsu backstabbing him to defeat him for good. Dude almost killed Naruto and Sasuke without sweating, managed to cheat death twice, played Obito like a fiddle and he did in fact win, even if only for few hours.
2. Madara's impact on the story is even bigger than Aizen. He is the one who helped create Konoha. He is the one who manipulated Obito into becoming a villain. He is the one who gave Nagato his Rinnengan. At first, it seems like he is just an obscure figure from the ancient past, but actually, he is the true mastermind whose actions and goals have been shaping the story for many decades, well into the present day. He is the most powerful enemy Naruto has ever faced, the only one who was resistant to TNJ and who managed to nearly kill Naruto and he is responsible for everything bad that happened in the manga. There is a reason why many people were disappointed that he got tossed aside in favour of Kaguya.
3. Madara manages to achieve his goal and although he gets backstabbed and killed, he still gets to die peacifully, reconciling with Hashirama. And considering that Konoha
gets destroyed in Boruto
, you can say that perhaps Madara should have won.
Compare this with Naraku:
1. While Naraku is a cunning shapeshifter, he is not invincible. Main characters were able to defeat him plenty of times and the only reason he lasted so long is because he kept running away like a coward whenever it was clear to him he was going to lose.
2. While Naraku is the most important villain in Inuyasha, he doesn't appear as often as Aizen or Madara. He doesn't appear for the first time untill long after Kagome ends up in Feudal Japan and for most of the time, he is too busy hiding in his castle or letting his lackeys do the dirty work for him to personally mess with the good guys. He is like Sauron from LOTR-he may be the main antagonist, but he is less of actual character and more of plot device to move the story forward. Even Kaguya from second movie felt more like an actual person rather than just the boss and she played more important role as the villain of her movie despite having less screentime.
3. In the end, Naraku gets
killed off by Inuyasha
. It's also revealed that he was a pawn of Shikon Jewel as much as everyone else and his soul is erased from existence by Kagome. I think only Father from FMA: Brotherhood got a more humiliating defeat. Naraku was able to get away with his crimes for a long time (especially considering that Inuyasha is not like Dragon Ball, with one final boss replacing another final boss with the beginning of every arc), but in the end he got punished and his punishment was harsh. He did not get to live, he did not get to have a long monologue about how he was right, he got slashed by Inuyasha and faded into nothingness.
If anything, I would say Aizen and Madara had more of plot armor than Naraku. BUt why aren't they hated and accused of having a plot armor like Naraku?
My guess is because they almost beat Naraku multiple times and let him slip between their figures, where as the other characters either don’t lose till the very end, or just make a come back mid fight.
imo because they had another good villains also
in naruto: madara comes way later , and we had itachi and tobi
in bleach : despite we had aizen for the main but he didn't fight except for last battle with ichigo
while in the whole inuyasha
naraku was always fighting>losing>hiding>recovering>powerup
If I had to guess, it’s because he actually fought the protagonists and constantly got away. It’s been a hot minute since I watched Inuyasha and as much as I love that show, thinking back on it, there do seem to be a lot of moments where he shouldn’t have been able to escape. Personally, I never considered it plot armor. Self preservation was always top priority for him so it would make sense for him to have some way of escaping prepared. I think the only time he didn’t was the first time they really fought. IIRC, it’s when Kagome destroyed his body with her sacred arrow. After that, he made sure to have escape plans set.
Naraku has plans set and failed multiple times, Madara and Aizen carried out their great masterplan but failed in the end. I think it would be fine if Naraku failed once and then defeated next time. the problem was multiple retreats
0__Dante__0 said: I watched this show like 13 years ago when I was in 4 or 5 grade and loved it
and then i rewatched 3 years ago again
dmn so nostalgic
Fr Inuyasha is seriously one of the most nostalgic things in my life such a special place in my heart (the English dub version ofc)
To jest naprawdę ciekawe i dobrze sformułowane pytanie, i można na nie odpowiedzieć z kilku różnych stron. Oto moja analiza:
🔥 Dlaczego Naraku dostaje więcej hejtu za „plot armor” niż Aizen czy Madara?
1. Styl opowiadania historii i ekspozycja
Naraku działał bardziej z ukrycia, manipulując zza kulis, rzadko angażując się osobiście. Przez to widzowie często odczuwali jego obecność jako frustrujące przeciąganie historii – niby już mogli go pokonać, ale znowu uciekł albo posłał sługę.
Aizen i Madara to bossowie „z przytupem” – pojawiają się na scenie, rozwalają pół świata i robią to z charyzmą. Nawet jeśli mają „plot armor”, to są tak widowiskowi i epicko przedstawieni, że trudno się ich czepiać.
2. Charakter i prezencja
Aizen to mistrz manipulacji z kompleksem boga, który kontroluje wszystko z zimną pewnością siebie.
Madara to wojownik-legenda, bóg ninja, który jednym skinieniem palca miażdży armię.
Naraku natomiast często był przedstawiany jako tchórzliwy, wiecznie uciekający, działający przez pośredników – co może sprawiać wrażenie, że „nie zasłużył” na swoją długowieczność jako główny antagonista.
3. Sposób zakończenia
Aizen przegrał, ale z klasą. Nadal miał wpływ na wydarzenia.
Madara – zginął przez zdradę, ale po drodze osiągnął prawie wszystko. Do dziś wielu fanów uważa, że to on powinien był być finalnym bossem.
Naraku – przegrał dosłownie wszystkim. Żadnego epickiego zakończenia, żadnej większej refleksji. Po prostu... pyk i go nie ma.
4. Rodzaj serii i oczekiwania widzów
Bleach i Naruto to shouneny akcji – tam przeciągające się walki i OP przeciwnicy to standard.
InuYasha to bardziej fantasy-drama z elementami romansu – widzowie mogli oczekiwać szybszego rozwoju głównego konfliktu, przez co Naraku wydawał się sztucznie wydłużać fabułę.
💬 Podsumowanie:
Naraku nie miał aż tak dużej scenicznej charyzmy jak Aizen czy Madara, a do tego jego rola była bardziej pasywna. Choć technicznie jego „plot armor” może być słabszy niż tych dwóch, to sposób, w jaki był przedstawiany w fabule, sprawiał, że bardziej rzucał się w oczy jako „ten, którego nic nie rusza bez powodu”.
Niektórzy widzowie po prostu bardziej akceptują „boskiego bossa”, który niszczy wszystko, niż „podłego manipulanta”, który ciągle znika.
