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REVIEW: Failure Frame: How I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells A


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egozi14



Joined: 26 Nov 2009
Posts: 116
PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 6:33 pm Reply with quote
I feel like you're reading too much into this,
I didn't even saw or once thought that any of the actions that were done there were "homophobic" and only saw it being mentioned for the first time in this review and had to think hard where there were such scenes that could potentially make me as a viewer feel negatively towards LGBT,
and re-rolling the scenes in my head, I still couldn't find what you were talking about till I've read what you referred to, which imo again, is overthinking and actually could potentally create the opposite effect by putting LGBT in the spotlight for no reason as a group of people thaqt would have zero tolerance towards Japanese (again Japanese) anime and manga culture.
pointing out every scene that could potentially piss someone from western or a different culture just means one thing, and that's that they're viewing the wrong genre for them to begin with,

I won't say they weren't sexual harassments there, but that's how this culture goes, and if you ask me, for dark midevil-like world with not many rules, it portrait these dark times quite fine even if it seems exaggerated most of the times, though it may actually help cause if a show make you hate a villain character, that means they did a good (even though cheap) job in making you see said chara as one,

People come to these shows to watch certain type of shows that you can only see on Japanese culture these days, Keep telling them to cut or alter sensetive parts will just change it from what it's to fit for other cultures that for the most part, are just anime tourists that seem to not even know what they're viewing.


TL;DR
You can crit the author's bland choice of story-telling as much as you want.
But if you don't like it to the point you want stuff to change just so they could work with different cultures or groups of people, which you claim to be offended by it,
Then this is definitely not the show for you or them, rather than start culture war try look for something else that you might like more or work toward making the industry making such genres rather than delete an existing one that you can't stand.
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FilthyCasual



Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Posts: 2449
PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 7:00 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Watching the first episode also does little to separate it from other revenge isekai series like Arifureta.
Arifureta's better categorized as betrayal than revenge because Hajime has no interest in the goons who shoved him into the abyss, even when meeting them face to face.
Quote:
Just as every male villain is a rapist
Hey now, Civit just wanted to fight and kill Seras! That's one whole less shot to take for the drinking game!

I finished this anime, but boy did it disappoint. The direction was not there to give Touka's manipulations and edgy monologues the gravitas they needed to be properly compelling.
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 14853
PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 9:16 pm Reply with quote
I'll always remember the show for all the jarring transitions to CG.

Eventually I got pretty bored with Touka just casually streamrolling through everything and copious amounts of CG enemies with the most basic and uninteresting powerset of all time. I mean, Hajime isn't totally different but at least when he's flexing he makes it look cool and isn't just waving his arms around an yelling all the time.

Seras...I mean, she's basically just there for eye candy (her main outfit alone) and to lust after Touka in the most polite way possible. Which, sure, I can appreciate that to some extent but it also means her character is mostly just a lust object by nearly every male character except the MC most of the time. She never gets a single cool action scene despite all appearances that she could and should. She gets more action with her CG sword dance in the OP than she does in the actual show.

Eve deserved to be in a better show.

We didn't even get the satisfaction of watching him finally take on his classmates or Vicious. At least Arifureta and My Instant Death Ability got to that point.

I feel like all the messed up lesbian moments were just a matter of "girl on girl is hot and let's twist it like everything else in the show." Pretty problematic, but it fit the vibe.
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strawberry_milk



Joined: 28 Feb 2020
Posts: 95
PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 9:46 pm Reply with quote
Is this the longest title for an anime?
It's gotta be up there.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2751
PostPosted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 11:29 pm Reply with quote
MFrontier wrote:
...We didn't even get the satisfaction of watching him finally take on his classmates or Vicious. At least Arifureta and My Instant Death Ability got to that point...
It was fairly obvious a few episodes in that the show was being paced to set up for an S2, so to those who haven't been watching yet, you might want to wait to see if there is an announcement to that effect before checking this out. While I didn't mind what we got, without S2 it would be a disappointment and there are better shows to spend time with...
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2936
PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2025 6:02 am Reply with quote
The LGBT take was weird, especially because the goddess one is not sexual but obviously a power play, it says more about the reviewer than the anime that they saw LGBT issues there.
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18584
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2025 9:36 am Reply with quote
Totally agreed that the introduction of Eve was largely responsible for making the the back half of the series more tolerable. Otherwise I felt the series mostly lived down to its name and so can't dispute Caitlin's ratings. It was, at best, in my bottom 5 for 2024 series I finished.
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LR.Skyrabbit



Joined: 19 Aug 2024
Posts: 10
PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2025 10:28 am Reply with quote
The last graph of this review is very transparently a recap list of the anime's discussed problems and graces, which strikes me as weird because... isn't that already what the + - section right below it is?
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Shadowmist909



Joined: 28 Dec 2023
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2025 12:02 pm Reply with quote
Eve Speed and Civit Gartlands scenes were my personal high points of the show. So I have to agree with the article author about the first character.
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 02 May 2011
Posts: 3086
Location: Email for assistance only
PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2025 2:42 pm Reply with quote
egozi14 wrote:
Etc.


Hey, I corrected it for you, but for the record it's LGBT; not sure what you thought the "P" stood for, but it's a "B."

Also very short version:

-This review does not recommend or argue that anything should be "deleted." It's criticism, not proposed legislation.

-Homophobia and sexual harassment, whether existing in the anime in question or not, isn't a part of "Japanese culture."
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Shay Guy



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 2443
PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2025 2:46 pm Reply with quote
ANN_Lynzee wrote:
-Homophobia and sexual harassment, whether existing in the anime in question or not, isn't a part of "Japanese culture."


You don't think so? Certainly they're part of American culture.

(…Yeah, I get what you mean.)
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Takkun4343



Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 1609
Location: Englewood, Ohio
PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2025 5:00 pm Reply with quote
ANN_Lynzee wrote:
....but for the record it's LGBT; not sure what you thought the "P" stood for...

Probably "pansexual".
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a_Bear_in_Bearcave
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Joined: 14 Jan 2019
Posts: 562
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2025 11:26 pm Reply with quote
It seems to me not so much homophobia as author not knowing how to present a villain character without them assaulting a cute girl. IIRC, the only time a male character was assaulted was when Seras basically roofied MC in hope of getting in his pants, which was just brushed away as cute scene by making MC disappoint her by resisting it.

The one way I will remember this show though is for the amount of male characters trying or talking about assaulting main girl. Felt like almost every male character apart from MC was trying to rape her, as mentioned in the review, and we could count on it happening in every episode. If the show is homophobic, then it's also quite misandrist by the same rule.

Also I genuinely thought that the weird sexualized outfit of evil goddess suited her. Sute, it looked impractical as hell, but wearing nothing but few fancifully bent bands of metal shaped like modern art piece, that threatens to stab anyone daring to stand next to you is kind of power move fitting for evil goddess. And it did look kind of cool to me.
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Melicans



Joined: 01 Feb 2012
Posts: 638
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2025 10:19 am Reply with quote
Hiroki not Takuya wrote:
MFrontier wrote:
...We didn't even get the satisfaction of watching him finally take on his classmates or Vicious. At least Arifureta and My Instant Death Ability got to that point...
It was fairly obvious a few episodes in that the show was being paced to set up for an S2, so to those who haven't been watching yet, you might want to wait to see if there is an announcement to that effect before checking this out.


I agree, and this is something I always kind of shake my head at. Sure, in some cases the MC will challenge the perceived antagonist by series end, but that is almost never the actual 'Big Bad' - and if it is, it usually ends with the protagonist losing quite badly. It's a big (and understandable) complaint with anime series - the resolution is set up for the second season and then that is never greenlit - but ending a series by clashing with the primary antagonist means there is nowhere to go afterwards.

It would be one thing if it was a series without a main antagonist, or one where there is a series of stronger enemies showing up after the last one is defeated (My Instant Death Ability falls into this category), but when you have one primary villain established at the beginning this criticism makes no sense.

As a corollary, imagine criticism of The Fellowship of the Ring including that Frodo doesn't face off against Sauron at the movie's end. Your adaptation is so densely cut down that it is almost unwatchable and it leaves so much on the floor.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2751
PostPosted: Sat Feb 15, 2025 12:34 am Reply with quote
Melicans wrote:
Hiroki not Takuya wrote:
It was fairly obvious a few episodes in that the show was being paced to set up for an S2, so to those who haven't been watching yet, you might want to wait to see if there is an announcement to that effect before checking this out.
... It's a big (and understandable) complaint with anime series - the resolution is set up for the second season and then that is never greenlit - but ending a series by clashing with the primary antagonist means there is nowhere to go afterwards... imagine criticism of The Fellowship of the Ring including that Frodo doesn't face off against Sauron at the movie's end. Your adaptation is so densely cut down that it is almost unwatchable ...
Contrasting with FotR, maybe I should say that Failure Frame doesn't set clear stakes or build a compelling story outside Touka getting revenge to hold or build interest for S2 and instead spends it's time after the initial setup with the "side stories" settling Seras' and Eve's situations before joining him, which is why I suggest waiting for an S2 announcement. If you ask me, those aren't interesting enough on their own to satisfy a viewer. Imagine if FotR had the Company setting out, having a few encounters and staying at the "five homely houses" and then The End, nothing more.

There are a number of outcomes between protag and antagonist that could be made at the end of a season that could build interest for an S2 without completely ending the motive conflict, the notorious "cliffhanger" being one. If Touka's party engaged the classmates in some capacity with the result of Vicious vowing to punish him in S2 would also have worked nicely. But instead, we only have extended set up and the classmates and Vicious just going about thier nefarious way completely unaware of Touka...
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