death, for whatever reason, much as I love his character (despite having had Light as my avatar at the original time of this post, he's my favorite), it didn't get to me much.
And about the Naruto crowd I listed....the thing that gets to me the most is he just basically throws realism out the window when killing them. The coolest guys get killed by a bunch of people in their early teens. It's a wonder Sasuke hasn't died, especially after
Princess Euphemia. Her death happened because of the most random thing ever (Lelouch couldn't control his Geass and gave Euphemia a "mass genocide" command that he didn't seriously mean to give her!) and then she dies with all the Japanese people hating her. And then Lelouch just uses her death to his advantage like it was no big deal. And in R2, she's barely spoken of again. That is Dropping a Bridge on someone if I ever saw it.
How is Shirley a brat? She's the complete opposite of a brat. She never has a bad word to say about anybody and she even forgave Lelouch for killing her father.
while it was a bit contrived as well as a pretty close example of Dropping a Bridge on someone, I think it was to show just how very uncontrollable Geass is and how it can very clearly backfire. Up until that point, Geass didn't really have any major repurcusions for Lelouch. I mean, it's not like it wasn't said at the beginning of the series that he would eventually lose control of it. What better way to show the evils of Geass by having something like that happen.
Also, of course he was going to treat her death like it was no big deal. At least, as Zero. I think he was pretty blown as Lelouch.
And as for not being mentioned during R2, wasn't like nearly half of Suzaku's dialogue involving Euphemia?
No, half of it involved Lelouch. Euphemia just got mentioned in connection to him and his killing of her. It seemed like that psycho [censored] Nina talked most about Euphemia in R2.
Really? I mean... You had him striking the jesus pose on a crucifix of roses... That's pretty much beating the audience about the head with the foreshadowing mallet if you ask me. Then there was that whole scene where Alex gives Sophia the mysterion in the first place and what with the chess motifs, he's already played the game through in his head to where he sacrifices himself to kill Delphine... PLUS there was the fact that the only thing keeping him alive is the thought of revenge... Meh, I saw it coming a lightyear away, granted, I didn't forsee that it would actually be Sophia's command, if unwittingly, that would do it. That was a nice little bitter twist, certainly.
It's fairly rare for a death to actually anger me, particularly in a lasting manner, as opposed to making me at least slightly sad or simply leaving me in an indifferent state. Either of those reactions are far more common than wanting to shake my fist at the TV screen.
Probably because by this point in my life I can usually rationalize that fiction isn't always made to suit my personal preferences.
Meaning: characters I dislike may live and those I like may die. Getting absolute satisfaction and seeing karmic judgment at work may be enjoyable when it happens, certainly, but the opposite doesn't necessarily strike me as an unforgivable sin leading to wrath.
Following that line of thought...I can still disagree with some of those decisions, from a critical and less passionate perspective.
I will, nevertheless, go through a few examples.
Area 88 OVA
My initial reaction was to rage at the fact Shin decided to return to Area 88 and to his implied death, because I still think it was stupid of him to not even try to seek help in order to control his aggressive impulses, but I can also understand it as a valid thematic outcome that is appropriate enough for this kind of story and for the person he had become. I've accepted it.
Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom
Spoilers for the final episode (26).
I wasn't expecting them to kill off Reiji in the very last minute of the show. This was very annoying, by all means, but after thinking about the issue I feel it didn't ruin the series or anything like that. It was always a possibility. Inferno wasn't simply going to let somebody like him go free and enjoy a happy life. The specific way it was pulled off still feels contrived though.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Yang Wen-li's death was fairly realistic, but at the time I did feel that the audience had been robbed of the chance to see him and Reinhard fight one last time, by killing him off in a way that probably could have been easily prevented. Without Yang the rest of the series seemed to be less interesting but, in the end, I think it was a garable that actually paid off.
Code Geass
The world would be a terribly boring place if I were to silently nod in agreement, but still...let's keep things simple this time around.
Shirley had already been marked for death. I just regret that she could have used more development beforehand.
I don't have any complaints about Euphemia's death.
Cornelia's and Guilford's non-deaths made me roll my eyes. They still do.
Everything involving Ougi bores me.
What about the others then? No, not really worth mentioning here.
If I didn't already understand or even appreciate their death / survival, then I just didn't care either way.
Gundam 00
Pending rewatch, I'll just mention a couple.
Kinue's death made me hate Ali and Sergei's death made me hate Andrei, but I can understand why both happened.
The same thing goes for Andrei's survival, even if it didn't exactly make me happy either.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
I didn't even like Nia that much, not even after the time skip, but killing her off in the middle of her wedding was still rather merciless in my book. It was only after a fairly long time that I was able to truly understand Simon's reaction in context.
So does it still anger you even though you think it paid off.
and wow, i thought that guy was like the co-lead with Reinhard or something (im only up to episode 14 of LOTGH, so i guess it was too early for me to assume that), that's a surprise right there.
Nuriko's death was one of the saddest moments in the series. I still cry when I watched it, even though I heard about it before I watched the series. It also marked when the series started to become more serious. Although, in retrospect, I think the second half of the series is quite darker than the first half. It probably help that the first half was just introducing the world of the Universe of the Four GoRAB and all of its characters.
The other death in Fushigi Yugi I feel bad about, not perhaps anger at it though, is
Hotohori's death. It was just so sad that he died after finally having a wife he loved and with her being pregnant. His death seems more tragic and unfair in the second OVA when he couldn't even hold his son.
As for the other deaths in the series,
I felt bad for Chiriko and Mitsukake when they died and I loved the bond they all shared as merabers of the Suzaku Seven, but I didn't think that they stood out nearly as much as the five warriors. Mitsukake had an interesting arc for when he was introduced to the group, but I didn't think he stood out other than being a healer up until his death.
I didn't think Chiriko stood out either since we only saw him as a smart little boy. It would have been nicer if Amiboshi had been the final Suzaku Warrior instead since I thought that he was more interesting than Chiriko. At least he did manage to be the only surviving meraber of the Seiryu Seven at the end, even though he has no memory of that life. I thought that the way he died was really sad though.
It's more the fact that I just hated his replacements and how the cycle repeated itself after his death. It's the one gripe I have with the series, but it didn't stop me from enjoying the rest of the series. I know that the 2 he got replaced with represented a half of who he was, but the fact that I didn't care much for them.
Jean. She was only in about the last half of the series but she quickly became my favorite of the Claymores. She was so loyal to and fought so hard for her fellow Claymore, especially Clare. I take some comfort that her death wasn't in vein. .
Isley's death was just durab. Up till that point it was made to believe he would be a major character... well he wasn't, he gets killed by fodder walking in a city, the end. That angers me.
Euphie's death was upsetting to me, but more that it's saddening. The entire situation was just sad--that Lelouch and Euphie were agreeing to get along, that he made the command without meaning it, and that the Geass chose that moment of all moments to go nuts. For the plot it was obviously necessary, but I was rather invested in the budding SuzakexEuphie relationship. I don't really get angry at a character death if it seems necessary for the plot to move along, and her's did. It's just absolutely depressing for me. But you all know how I adore Suzaku and all
I have to agree with you there my friend. By the end of that anime I was so ready for him to die I was almost beside myself. I do not think there are very many characters in all of anime that I have wanted to see die as much as Light.
Same here. His death was definitely the most upsetting, and I also thought it to be very cruel.
Sure, being a robot he wouldn't have felt being melted, but it is just painful to watch. Especially with the girls saving him right before.
I'm guessing the story team had to go with the same deaths Kurosawa had in the movie. Being a Mifune fan I didn't like his death in the movie either, but oh well...
