Forum - View topicMost Improved Character Tournament: Participants/Minigame
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Thing is, you're supposed to hate him at the start of the show. He really was a prick, a guy who needed to be punched in the face. But that just means that his character development was very obvious, and by the end of the show he is a massively better person than he originally was. That's why I think he is a very strong candidate, because his growth is undeniably very clear and obvious. |
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MorwenLaicoriel
 Posts: 1617 Location: Colorado |
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Haha, I considered nominating Ayato Naoi from the same series, but eventually decided that his switch from spoiler[antagonist to protagonist] was way too sudden to count for the tournament. I hadn't considered Yuri, but I don't remember if her change was impressive enough for me to root for her too much. (I know in the manga prequel she's pretty extreme at points, but we're only supposed to take anime into consideration, right?) |
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Keichitsu0305
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Yeah, I agree. I honestly didn't think the show was going to give Ryouta (or Himiko) any depth. I figured they were going to have him be an unlikable jerk throughout the show. But, around episode 4, I started to understand the position that he's in. He utilizes his skills from playing at home and manages to survive while gaining allies. Sure, I didn't like how he almost look at spoiler[an unconscious girl's panties] or spoiler[trusted the very shady doctor] but, around the end, I honestly wanted to watch more. Reading Hibiki's nomination makes me want to try watching Vandread again. Last edited by Keichitsu0305 on Mon Jan 07, 2013 11:48 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18460 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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AB's Yuri would, I think, be a stretch, as she doesn't change that much over the course of the series and her personality and strength are intact from the beginning. I can't see her qualifying for a field of 64 and think she would be cannon fodder in a field of 128.
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ChibiKangaroo
 Posts: 2941 |
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Like the first person who responded, there is little doubt for me that Youko Nakajima is the most improved character I have ever seen in an anime. The writing of her evolution was just so smart too. I was fascinated by how the writer used her sword, which is often her protector throughout the series, as a representation of her dark side as well. Early on, when she is still "lost" and struggling with her own demons, the sword/monkey keeps tricking her and telling her to kill the only friend she's made in the new world. In part due to the sword's trickery, she betrays him at one point, but then she's self-aware enough to understand her mistake and come clean later on when she is re-united with him in a very emotional scene. She grows consistently through out the story, mostly by slogging through struggle after struggle and setback after setback, learning from what she sees and experiences. In many anime, such growth might instead be cheaply done in a quick manner where the protagonist has some kind of sudden epiphany and figures it all out. I am amazed time and again by how much I enjoy watching her story. There is so much more about Twelve Kingdoms and I could go on and on, but yes, I definitely vote in favor of Youko Nakajima from Twelve Kingdoms.
I was a little surprised to see only a few votes for Inuyasha. Although his growth as a character isn't as steady as Youko's, he still undergoes a very memorable transition from "jerk" to "sorta-kinda jerk who is really caring and loyal." I'm a big Inuyasha fan so I definitely have to cast at least one vote for Inuyasha. |
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Aylinn
 Posts: 1684 |
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Inuyasha is never portrayed as a total jerk, even at the beginning of the story he shows his better side. Besides, the time it took him to 'decide' whether he wants to be with Kagome or Kikyo was 'slightly' too long, and it counts against him. |
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Tris8
 Posts: 2114 Location: Where the rain is. |
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NOMINATING:
Rikuo Sakisaka, Time of Eve Who He Is: Rikuo is a high school student in a world where robots are common and almost every family has a household android. He is very talented at the piano, but has stopped playing because of a robot whose performance moved him, even though they are supposedly emotionless. One day when Rikuo is reviewing his household's android's (named Sammy) activity log, he finds a strange entry that he didn't order Sammy to do. Rikuo and his best friend Masaki trace the entry to a cafe that Sammy seems to be visiting with a strange rule: no discriminating between humans and androids. How He Improves: In the beginning, Rikuo treats robots and androids like appliances, as most people do. When he discovers Sammy has developed the initiative to go places on her own decisions, he asks Sammy about it but she lies. The thought of an android being able to lie to him and secretly go places scares Rikuo and he gets mad at her. As he explores the Time of Eve cafe where you can't be sure who is robot and who is human, he slowly comes to accept that it does not matter. Knowing robots can feel and have their own personalities, he is able to take up the piano again. Picture Can't believe nobody's nominated her yet. I kept it spoiler-free, but had to omit information that's really important to her development =/ NOMINATING: Kyōko Sakura, Puella Magi Madoka Magica Who She Is: Kyoko is a powerful magical girl who believes that power should be used for your own gain. When she meets Sayaka, their ideals clash as Sayaka thinks power should be used to help and protect those around you. How She Improves: Kyoko starts out extremely selfish and cynical. She purposefully lets witch's servants devour people unchecked so that they can grow to be full witches, so that when she kills them she can get a Grief Seed. Meeting Sayaka angers her at first, because Kyoko used to fight for justice as Sayaka preaches, but it ended in tragedy for Kyoko. After discovering a certain secret, Kyoko and Sayaka are able to see eye-to-eye. Kyoko is sad but impressed that Sayaka still wants to help others even after they learn that horrible secret, and begins to change. When a horrible thing happens to Sayaka, Kyoko fights for her new friend, putting her life on the line. Picture VOTING FOR: Ryouta Sakamoto, BTOOOM! |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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Eh, I really don't think Kyoko really has enough to her to warrant a nomination. It's another case where I won't vote against her because I can sort of see how she fits but the only character in PMMM I can really get behind for this tourney is Madoka. |
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13240 |
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Kyoko's change was too sudden if you ask me.
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Veers
 Posts: 1197 Location: Texas |
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I don't really think Kyoko's change was "too sudden" in the sense of feeling unrealistic or anything, but as she is not the focus of the story, it's also true that not many episodes are devoted to developing her character, so it's not like I don't understand the opinion. I even mentioned I was considering nominating her early in the thread, but it kind of seemed like she'd be so overshadowed by Madoka that it would kind of be a waste. I think that Kyoko's character development was believable, but the thing about Kyoko is that she's sort of only quasi-improved in a sense because her antagonistic behavior even from the beginning when she is introduced into the story is born of a combination of her compassion and semi-twisted sense of duty, not out of malevolence. You'll note that it's actually Sayaka that escalates just about everything, not really Kyoko (though she does instigate a bit). Kyoko has a change of heart but I don't think she ever has a change of character, so to speak; it's more like a return to form sparked by her interaction with Sayaka and Madoka...which is a kind of improvement, yes, even if it's only in the course of one arc of the show, rather than a whole show (or whole franchise). Her dialog with Sayaka (and Madoka) pretty much outright says as much, which makes it kind of feel like cheating to qualify Kyoko for the "villain who sees the light" category; even though it kind of fits, she wasn't very villainous to begin with. I think for the sake of completeness this should be contrasted against Sayaka, who only gets more stubborn as the story goes on, and Homura, who as we already went over does become more likable mostly as a result of the audience learning about what drives her combined with the fact that she is literally at the end of her rope, but doesn't really have much change in character. Also, considering some of the other candidates being listed, I'd say Kyoko could at least make the nomination list, but, Kyoko fan though I am, I don't harbor any delusions of her actually winning considering some of the other (stronger) candidates. Still, if we were only picking one Madoka character, it would be Madoka herself, because she's more qualified than all the other girls combined. I would put Kyoko in second place in that line, but it's not a close second place. I can't really vote against her, and I guess if we needed more candidates I'd give her a bump, but as it is it kind of feels superfluous in Madoka's shadow, so I'll hold off for now. |
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MorwenLaicoriel
Posts: 1617 Location: Colorado |
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Yeah, I totally see how Kyouko qualifies, but she IS a pretty weak candidate compared to Madoka (not to mention some of the other characters getting a ton of votes, like Fakir). If anything, I tend to see her change being more of her going BACK to her originally more idealistic beliefs she had as a kid.
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Tris8
Posts: 2114 Location: Where the rain is. |
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It's true she was good and idealistic at the start of the flashbacks, but the point at which we are introduced to her she is cynical and spoiler[indirectly a murderer, for letting people get eaten by witches' servants.] She is reverting back to her original self, and although that can seem like she hasn't changed, I still view it as a marked improvement. On another note, I think I'm done with nominations. There were a couple others I was thinking about (Porco of Porco Rosso, Miyori of Miyori no Mori), but it looks like we won't reach a field of 128 and those aren't strong competitors. |
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Vaisaga
Posts: 13240 |
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How close are we to 128? If we don't need that many I could think up enough.
Wait, I'm an idiot. We're at 111. Hm... 17 is a bit much... Though I'd hate to have so many candidates eliminated right out of the gate because we're a few short. |
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Veers
Posts: 1197 Location: Texas |
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Oh, I do, too, and said as much. I'm not disagreeing with your assessment, just saying I'm not sure it's the kind of change that can really compete with stronger candidates that have been listed here who go through richer, more fundamental, or more detailed growth/improvement. Kyoko's not the only one of whom this can be said. |
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Tris8
Posts: 2114 Location: Where the rain is. |
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