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Teasers and suspense for anime are getting out of hand...


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taske



Joined: 03 Jan 2008
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:01 pm Reply with quote
Okay. I know that authors and animators try to make anime suspencful and cliff hangerish, but sometimes when the same people seem like they are about to die, you should let them die. If the some dies and they come back and themn they die again and come back and again and agin, it would become redondent. Please voice your opinions. Am I right or wrong?

=Anime smallmouth=
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Sanosuke_Inara



Joined: 23 Nov 2009
Posts: 1662
PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:12 pm Reply with quote
Could I have an example of what you mean?
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taske



Joined: 03 Jan 2008
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:16 pm Reply with quote
dragon ballz is an easy example, goku left and came back like four times. Also on there, the earth blew up like three times...
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Ggultra2764
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Joined: 21 Jan 2004
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 11:12 pm Reply with quote
In other words, you're referring to any anime that creates enough buildup on a major scene to pump up viewer interest yet when the major scene comes around, it can get ruined if there is a cop-out or deus ex machina to keep things in the status quo. The major shounen anime franchises (DBZ included) quite often like to pull off these bait-and-switch tactics to keep viewers glued to the tube. Some other notable examples:

-Whenever Inuyasha got a sword upgrade where he could finally trump Naraku, the baddie has the annoying habit of fleeing before a killing blow can be struck and Naraku later gives himself a power boost in response to said Inu power upgrade. The cycle repeats from there.
-spoiler[DBZ makes a big deal out of Goku's Super Saiyan transformation during the Frieza saga. In later arcs, any Saiyan or Saiyan hybrid can assume the form as well, making the big deal of Goku being "only one Saiyan in a millennium" to assume the form to be redundant.]
-Take a recent example from Naruto Shippuden: spoiler[The Pein arc had prominent characters like Shizune and Kakashi being killed off thanks to the major baddie. At the end of the arc, they are conveniently brought back to life from one final technique from said baddie before his death.]
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 11:43 pm Reply with quote
Code Geass did this a time or two (spoiler[Orange-kun and Mao]), but in Code Geass R2 it was just stupid. It seemed like everyone was dying and then coming back from the dead, which is why many fans believe spoiler[that Lelouch is still alive. Yeah yeah, Word of God says that he's dead, but then Nunnally was officially named as dead on the official website and look what happened to her. I'll give you a clue; she wasn't buried six-feet under.]
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kimbeey13



Joined: 25 Oct 2006
Posts: 290
Location: NH
PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 11:56 pm Reply with quote
This kind of happens in Shuffle! too spoiler[When Rin slashes his wrist to force Asa to use magic and when he's on the very brink of death she gets all shiny and tada, he's healed! ]

Let's not forget One Piece spoiler[with Pell and Igaram. I wouldn't be surprised if they brought Ace back either (even if it was just as one of Moria's zombies). Luffy himself also escapes certain death over and over again.]

At least in School Days spoiler[they all stay dead.]

I do sometimes get annoyed when they kill off a character just to bring the back in the next episode.
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LordRedhand



Joined: 04 Feb 2009
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Location: Middle of Nowhere, Indiana
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 12:01 am Reply with quote
It's a gimmick and a trope... an unfortunately common one.. I'd say it's inclusion isn't a bad trope or weakens the series per se but I don't watch a lot of shonen-type series where that occurs, so for me it doesn't happen as much.

That said if your going to have characters die in the story, there should be a reason (even if it's to show the chaotic or cruel fates of life.. All Quiet on The Western Front I include in this category) or that the resurrection or power gain have meaning to.. it's impact is lessened when it feels.. gimicky in a way.

Case in point I feel that Inuyasha for example was a great 26 episode series but then it just kept going, and going, and going to where I didn't really care about it anymore. So got a new sword power? whatever, show run on adult swim showing blood? whatever. It became background noise or something to play D&D or Dynasty Warriors through so that you could watch what came on after it.

But suspense building is a proper tool to use it just with shonen-style shows like DBZ or Naruto etc. it's method of suspense doesn't grip me like say Paranoia Agent or Le Chevalier D'Eon where I wanted to know what happened next, and was bouncing off walls at times.
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kimbeey13



Joined: 25 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 12:08 am Reply with quote
Now that I think of it I did like when spoiler[the old lady had to sacrifice her own life in order to bring back Gaara from the dead.] in Naruto. However, I didn't like when they spoiler[brought basically everyone who died during the Pein battle] it didn't make much since to me. So, I guess if there is a good enough sacrifice from another character or reason bringing a dead character back is okay with me; however, the what the f*** moments might bring the quality of the series down slightly.
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Epsilon18



Joined: 15 Jul 2010
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 3:10 am Reply with quote
Although I agree its ridiculous that people come back to life for silly reasons- spoiler["Oh I conveniently have jutsu that will resurrect everyone I killed for you."]- I understand why they do it. There are some serious fan-bases around certain characters, and if one of them were to die off, then you lose a portion of your fan base.
Since in the big RW everything is about $$$, it makes sense they bring back people from the dead.
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Ggultra2764
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:04 am Reply with quote
Epsilon18 wrote:
There are some serious fan-bases around certain characters, and if one of them were to die off, then you lose a portion of your fan base.


I wouldn't exactly say that. When the events from the Pein arc were taking place in the manga, folks were thinking that Naruto was now different from the other shounen franchises because the manga-ka was willing to spoiler[kill off prominent characters on both good and evil sides considering Asuma and Jiraiya were killed before the Pein Arc.] But when the resolution to the arc came about, fans weren't exactly thrilled with the outcome and thoughts on the series have been a bit mixed since, especially as some have complained spoiler[about the greater focus on Sasuke during a number of points before and after the Pein Arc.]
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:29 am Reply with quote
Let's also keep in mind, people, that the problem being talked about here is hardly unique to anime. It's been an issue in American comic books for longer than TV series anime has existed. Very few heroes or significant villains who have ever been killed off in comic books have never been brought back to life through some machination. (Marvel Comics' Thunderbird is one of the rare exceptions, although to my knowledge they haven't brought back Jean Grey after her latest death.)
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:57 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Let's also keep in mind, people, that the problem being talked about here is hardly unique to anime. It's been an issue in American comic books for longer than TV series anime has existed.


But comic books are rebooted every so often. It is implicit that even if a character did die for real in one writer's timeline, DC or Marvel could simply greenlight another author to make a new version. Therefore, characters constantly being resurrected isn't an issue so much as a condition that everyone knows about (or should know about) and accepts when they get into that fandom.

Anime and Manga, on the other hand, are usually one-off stories. That is to say, they will never remake Cowboy Bebop and spoiler[have Spike alive, nor will they make a sequel and resurrect him.] Fans haven't agreed to the sort of "contract" that comic book fans accepted long ago, so there would be bloody murder if Sunrise tried to pull that stunt. I'm sure you could name a number of exceptions, where companies have resurrected characters in new sequels and new timelines, but as a general rule once something is done they generally leave it alone.
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Guren Alchemist4



Joined: 22 Aug 2010
Posts: 347
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 3:17 pm Reply with quote
This happened recently in Naruto Shippuden during the Pain arc. Pain spoiler[killed off a lot of the ninja from the hidden leaf including Kakashi, and when Pain is finally defeated, he brings everyone back to life after a long speech from Naruto assuring him he will bring peace to everyone. ] It would be nice if death was more final in anime cause it kind of cheapens a series of events.
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ArsenicSteel



Joined: 12 Jan 2010
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 3:40 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
But comic books are rebooted every so often. It is implicit that even if a character did die for real in one writer's timeline, DC or Marvel could simply greenlight another author to make a new version. Therefore, characters constantly being resurrected isn't an issue so much as a condition that everyone knows about (or should know about) and accepts when they get into that fandom.


There are plenty of Lazarus moments in comics that take place in the same timeline as a characters death, not just reboots. Retcon or plot devices comic book death is the bigger joke.
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LordRedhand



Joined: 04 Feb 2009
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Location: Middle of Nowhere, Indiana
PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 3:44 pm Reply with quote
But both comics and to an extent anime and manga call upon our ancient myths and heroes.. so having a villain or hero overcome death isn't unusual or weird it's as I said if it feels like a gimmick, a cop out it probably is if it is something that can move the story forward than it will happen...
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