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!
Whether you like it or not, time is a constant and things change as does taste and needless to say these characters haven't aged well.
There's no set order either.
1. Gourry Gabriev from Slayers
Slayers is a fantastic series of very capable characters, pity Gourry isn't one of them, the sheer gap between Lina Inverse and Gourry in power and abilities make for grim reading for the blonde swordsman, not helping his case is trying to be chivalrous to a character that doesn't need help and spending way too much time being the butt monkey.
2. Chang Wufei from Gundam Wing
I was surprised how well Gundam Wing aged but then lose it when you see how much of a misogynist Chang Wufei is, while the franchise isn't short on dramatic fighting types and you can make a decent case for the G Gundam cast to appear on this list also, at least G Gundam wasn't belittling the female characters it did have.
3. Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière from Familiar of Zero
Flaunts her title as an excuse to abuse the lead character, need I say more.
4. Kagome Igarashi from Inuyasha
You could make a case for Akane Tendo but some of her tsundere outbursts are justified considering the company she's around, Kagome doesn't have that excuse, at first Inuyasha did need keeping on a leash but when Kagome practically abuses it for the whole run of Inuyasha it doesn't leave me with much to like.
5. Naru Narusegawa from Love Hina
Get used to the tsunderes, they're usually my first target for these lists.
Naru after a while was really only abusing Keitaro to hide her own insecurities, it's hard to watch at times.
6. Lynn Minmay from Macross
She is literally just eye candy and every sci-fi idol has surpassed her even within her own franchise.
7. Belldandy from Ah My Goddess
Has all the personality of a domestic doormat and easily one of the most beautiful female characters of her era, yet I hate every story that focuses on her.
8. Ryo Saeba from City Hunter
Bad ass or not, you can't get away with Johnny Bravo womanizer behaviour even in anime, Ryo is a frustrating character to watch at times.
9. Haruhi Suzumiya from Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
I haven't really forgiven her for some of the worst aspects of anime fandom, that will require it's own list in the future.
10. Hilary Tachibana from Beyblade
It's thanks to Hilary that Beyblade never really evolved beyond a boys club. It basically boils down to toy anime not being very inclusive, something that hasn't changed much even today.
To continue this mini series of eras and Generations lets look at the Pokemon anime
To clarify were looking at Ash Ketchum, his companions, the defining moments and the what worked and what didn't.
Updated: Re-done the current anime season.
Kanto
Looking back, Kanto is kind of goofy, but among all the seasons you can pick more memorable episodes from this over the other seasons any day.
It is to the detriment of Ash who is woefully amateur as a trainer and gets away with way too much.
Brock and Misty are fairly down to Earth but I say Brock has the better personality while Misty more often than not feels like she is just "the girl" in the group.
Orange Islands
I found it interesting to go off on a non game world as it built in some fun battle dynamics that are now part of canon game mechanics and explored some of the more interesting parts of Pokemon history.
Ash is actually getting better showing that he is learning from his mistakes.
Misty barely improves while Tracy is so one dimensional that any character of the day could replace him.
Johto
Like Kanto but not as memorable, mostly because it fixed many of Kanto's short comings losing it's cheesy edge but the Pokemon league was something to behold finally settling the score with Gary.
Ash has kept steady progress but gave away wayyyyy too many pokemon.
Misty is still the same while Brock returning was very much welcomed and he came new and improved.
Hoenn
Hoenn felt like it hadn't learned much from Johto, it kept the same dynamics as Johto but it did give a more defined goal to the female lead, again the later part of the season was the strongest.
Ash leaving his Pokemon behind with Professor Oak was a much smarter decision than you think as he got to grips with newer Pokemon, Ash was starting to look like a better trainer.
Brock sticking around was welcomed and continued his goofy big brother role for Ash while we have a new female in May who I like for being on Ash's level as a second protagonist but I dislike walking dictionary Max for just being an annoying kid brother. This is also the first season where Team Rocket finally gets something other than incompetent villains.
Sinnoh
Sinnoh was incredible, it massively improved in quality and gave Ash and Dawn both top billing. This is Pokemon at it's best.
This is the strongest Ash will ever be as a Pokemon trainer.
Dawn's arrival is very much welcomed and something the series needed, a solid multi dimensional female lead. Misty was one note while May was copying notes from Ash, Dawn gave us the best girl. Brock is still there but was running out of steam by end of season and again I welcome Team Rocket being more than incompetent villains.
Unova
Oh no, ohhhhh noooooo, what happened? Quality just dive bombed and never recovered and it's mostly down to characters.
To be fair on Ash, this is the closest he will get to acting like his game counterpart as his training style reflects how the game is played.
Iris is trying to be Misty and fails, this would've been fine if she was only in a couple of episodes but no were stuck with her for a whole season. Don't get me started on Cilan, his deal is that he's a Pokemon Connoisseur which means he can identify how compatible Pokemon are with their trainers, so in short they made him the walking friendship rater from the games. It's a stupid idea, this is the worst season and I wish it never happened.
Kalos
Oh thank god you learned some lessons from the previous season; probably the best in quality animation and has a lot of set pieces and moments that create some spectacular scenes like in the finale.
Ash brought back some bad habits of freeing Pokemon and his team is unconventional to say the least.
Clemont is a welcome replacement to Cilan being a goofy inventor and works really well with little sister Bonnie as a foil who isn't annoying but the Zygarde plot dragged out too long and made Bonnie into a babysitter. Serena is at least better than Iris and Misty but somehow stands out even less than May and Dawn despite her contests being more about being an Idol which is about standing out. I also feel that her storyline is not terrible but I feel that her crush on Ash came to nothing.
Alola
Ummm, okay, that's a different approach. Let's be real the animation is really distracting as it seems more suited to slap stick, but I do give it props for using self aware humour and throwing in scenes that older seasons not even Kanto dare not try, so it's at least ambitious.
Ash kept much of his Kalos traits but seems to grow younger when entering the region and seems to forget all he learned previously.
There is now a group as opposed to two or three companions so to list.
I like Kiawe for his comically serious routine.
I find Sophocles okay, at least it's better than the game.
I like Lana, I feel she's the Misty we deserved.
I like Lillie as well as her character seems more believable than the game.
I never liked Mallow, I felt like I was watching Iris again.
Brief mention on Team Rocket, the whole Bewear adopting them was just weird.
Galar
Now the season is reaching it's climax I have to say that it's the weakest season.
A lot of good characters from the Galar region were done dirty in favour of a more open world narrative with the idea of the world championships.
It's great if you're Ash Ketchum as he finally got to show his full strength but not so good for anyone else.
Team Rocket were left with not much to do.
Chloe had nothing to do but watch an Eevee and take notes from previous female protagonists.
Goh can f**k right off, as his story about finding Mew and just randomly catching Pokemon didn't make for a good narrative in an anime adaption, I think I only remember four out of around 100 or so he captured.
I'm glad Ash is now a Pokemon master, I just wish the season reflected that achievement more.
Paldea
Nothing announced yet.
The game follows a three story structure.
The only way I see Ash going to Paldea is if he's personally invited by the Paldea Region's Chairwoman and Champion to compete in the Gym challenge.
There is room for Chloe to redeem herself should they choose to.
Go should never come back.
A different scenario is Ash goes it alone with Nemona, Arven and Penny in tow.
In a recent discussion on Orihime Inoue, I mentioned that her design didn't support the powers she had, I also singled out the early Hinata Hyuuga as being out of place in a Shonen series.
While good writing can save a character it can ruin it just as well, ask Sakura why no one cared when she was left behind by Naruto and Sasuke.
There are ways to avoid problems later on by just getting it right first time and even on their bad days you still support them, so I'm going to tell you how to identify a good character by just a simple character picture.
With every character ever designed there is a default look to them that offers an insight into what type of character you can expect from them, a first impression is only 7 seconds so a good character design can give you everything in that time.
Using the strawhats above as an example, each expression, each pose is carefully selected with every piece of promotional art to make sure you know everything about these ten characters before you even open the book.
This is especially easy with male characters as their character traits are easy to read from a simple pose, female characters are more difficult to read as there is a good percentage of female characters that give off the same trait "there's a full length mirror in front of them and they are checking themselves out"
This isn't as bad as it used to be but it's still noticeable the higher up the sexy spectrum the show is.
Once you cross that bridge, the next one is compatibility with the world and it's universal laws, the question being, do you see any of these characters being in anything other than One Piece?
This usually makes or breaks an anime character, too many 12 episode series have this weekness where you feel that the character would turn up in a better anime or you see a different character instead.
Afterwards it really boils down to the plot to see if you still care about the anime once you see these characters in action. I've got four characters to bring up over this week to showcase some of these points.
I've been around the anime scene for a while now and I probably should give a few of my starter anime another look from a different perspective starting with Gundam Wing.
Rules are simple, I compare the sub and dub actors in regards to the regular characters to see which one is better, let's begin.
Heero Yuy
Hikaru Midorikawa vs Mark Hildreth
Heero Yuy is meant to be the perfect soldier but is also a teenager, Hikaru makes him sound more boy band, standard shonen protagonist, Mark nails the tone of someone who's been setup to take orders without question, prefer the dub voice.
Dub wins.
Duo Maxwell
Toshihiko Seki vs Scott McNeil
Duo is meant to be happier and upbeat and Toshihiko is just a constant pro, Scott meanwhile is using his comic relief cartoon voice, obvious win for sub.
Sub wins.
Trowa Barton
Shigeru Nakahara vs Kirby Morrow
Trowa is naturally quiet so comparing is difficult, I'd say they're both fairly even.
Draw.
Quatre Rabarba Winner
Ai Orikasa vs Brad Swaile
Quatre had a female VA in the sub and it makes his ordeal alot more sympathetic compared to Brad's voice that's channeling Amuro Ray and Light Yagami.
Sub wins.
Chang Wufei
Ryuuzou Ishino vs Ted Cole
They sound relatively similar but I tolerate the sub more than his dub voice.
Sub wins.
Relena Peacecraft
Akiko Yajima vs Lisa Ann Beley
This is actually the main reason why Relena is hated, Lisa Ann Beley was horribly miscast as Relena, her portrayal makes her sound bored most of the time and when she has to act more emotive she falls short, she also sounds 30 not 16, Akiko suits the role better as she sounds her age and maintains a better demeanour.
Sub wins.
Zechs Merquise
Takehito Koyasu vs Brian Drummond
Brian's performance is memorable as he really does well to ham up his voice as the brooding wandering soldier but he's got tough competition in Takehito who also voices Dio Brando.
Draw.
Treize Kushrenada
Ryotaro Okiayu vs David Kaye
Really tough to decide, David Kaye did a fantastic job but Ryotaro is renowned for his villains and has voiced my favourites.
Draw.
Welcome to a new feature called Trending Now, a look back at the history of anime trends throughout the years, we start with one of the earliest trends, Masterpieces.
What is a Masterpiece?
A masterpiece in anime terms is an adaptation of a popular world renowned story, anything from Fairytales, Folklore, Fables, Myths and Legends. The Japanese have Momotaro, Princess Kaguya and Taro Urashima as popular examples, Journey to the West being another popular Masterpiece around that territory, but the most popular adaptations throughout the 60s and 70s were often fairy tales.
Some Highlights
The picture above is Puss in Boots, if this version seems familiar, then you'd be right, Puss here has been Toei's Mascot since day one.
Popular Finnish story, the Moomins didn't have the best transition into anime but over time managed to become what the original author wanted.
Jack and the Beanstalk gained a bit of a cult following as one of the most bizarre adaptions going.
Cinderella managed a full 26 episode anime expanding a ten minute story into a full series.
If you remember the Tom Sawyer cartoon, it's actually an anime as well.
A common feature with these series is that you couldn't tell they were anime as the style hadn't really been popularised yet.
Heidi Created a Sub Genre
Swiss story Heidi lays claim to being one of the best selling anime of it's era, the result formed the basis of a new sub genre that saw young girls go on coming of age stories to discover their destiny or birthright creating the likes of Candy Candy, Lady Georgie as well as attempts on other masterpiece stories including Anne of Green Gables and My Daddy Long Legs.
The Miyazaki Touch
While the Masterpieces weren't as prevalent in the 80s and 90s, Hayao Miyazaki was quietly keeping them going, adapting stories such as the Borrowers and Howl's Moving Castle as well as creating new masterpieces with legendary status such as Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro; Miyazaki's breathtaking style giving each movie an epic feel that could easily rival Disney and Pixar.
The Final Years
Masterpieces struggled to stay relevant as the 2000s rolled into the 2010s, odd hits like Gankotsuou Count of Monte Cristo and the last real coming of age shojo Ashita no Nadja were good but the competition made them irrelevant, even Studio Ghibli's attempt at the Princess Kaguya story didn't bare much fruit.
Replaced by Historical Set Anime
The best thing to come out of this was that the historical settings of these masterpieces gave life to anime that weren't really based on any story but still used elements associated with them.
Earl & Fairy, Victorian Romance Emma and Black Butler fall into this category as well as Gosick and the Kyoto anime masterpiece Violet Evergarden.
Remembered Through Sketch Comedy
Masterpieces started as one of the founding anime genres and has matured into a genre where there isn't a need to adapt these old stories anymore as there is enough to create new masterpieces.
Today, the names of Cinderella, Momotaro, Pinocchio and Puss in Boots are remembered through the sketch series Aware Meisaku-kun about a Masterpiece loving boy going to school with kids each based on a Masterpiece. It's unclear if Masterpieces still have a place in the future but it remains one of the big three founding trends that formed the basis of anime as we know it alongside Mecha and Ecchi.
