Black Clover is now Less Formulaic and Treats Women Better than Shonen Saint My Hero Academia

[ben0119]

I really love Black Clover now.  It's probably one of my favorite anime series.  I don't know why people talked so much shit about it.  Besides the obvious semi-parody aspects, the characters and storyline have really been great, and only improving as the story goes on. 

It was recently revealed that Noelle isn't bad at aiming, she simply subconsciously doesn't want to hurt people.  She can aim just fine and is very powerful, and took out the arm and torso of a villain in one shot that the entire cast couldn't lay a scratch on.  Vanessa is a very competent mage with useful ability, thread magic, that can be used to aid others in addition to fighting on her own, for great combo attacks.  ALSO COMBO AND TEAM ATTACKS.  YOU NEVER SEE THAT ENOUGH IN SHONEN!  Gray turned out to be a shy, timid girl all along, and with different ways of using her transformation magic, even on other objects besides herself, and was instrumental in helping Gauche defeat the Eye of the Midnight Sun member he came across.  Charmy showed an unexpected badass side which I can't wait to see more of.

Right now, the Black Bulls and the Magic Knights have already defeated the leader, main villain, essentially, of the series, or at least current arc, and he's laid up in a magic bacta tank.  Not only did they fight the big bad first, but he is weaker, and now they're fighting Vetto, his henchmen.  With the voice of Fat Cat, troll powers of Aizen, and character design of a He-man villain, he is truly a worthy opponent!  You'd never see this happen in One Piece, maybe Naruto or Bleach at times, had strong villains besides the main enemy, but they usually weren't fought after the main boss.  Imagine if the Arrancar Arc ended with Aizen already beaten and the Soul Society having to take out Yammy's straggling troll-ass.  Would Luffy ever fight the main boss, beat him, then take on a henchman?  Would someone BESIDES Luffy ever land a crippling blow, much less defeat him?  Nope.  At least things changed up with the last 3 arcs on the bubble island, prison, and navy HQ, but still... we'll see if this continues or it goes back to comfort zone after the time skip.  I still haven't gotten around to watching that far.

The women in My Hero Academia have been irrelevant and weak, and done fuck all to contribute to the plot.  Deku's mother's character design and personality did a 180, during the time skip from the childhood flashbacks, with no explanation, and is now an annoying obese joke character and second worst character in the series behind Mineta, who is completely pointless himself and only exists to annoy.  Numo is stronger than Evil Idle Hands L, but Handsy L still isn't beaten.  

The art, animation, and production values, music, and comedy have all been top notch as well.

For me, Black Clover is up there with Robotech/Macross, Dragon Ball, Bleach, Fairy Tail, SAO, Monster, Moribito, Kekkaishi, Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist 03 and B, Ghost in the Shell, The Big O, Rave Master, as one of my favorite manga/anime series.  I really hope Toonami renews it and continues it for the rest of its run.  If they don't, I'll watch on FuniNow and then start reading the manga.

Edited November 27, 2018 by ben0119

[Ginguy]

It was never as bad as some people claimed.

I would suspect it would do better in terms of ratings if moved towards the front of the block.

The beginning with the screaming is pretty awful, but also pretty short. It is actually quite good now and one of the few shows I DVR anymore from the block.

 

[ben0119]

It's why I never listen to what reviews or other viewers say, and form my own opinions based on my own experiences and how I receive something.  I don't let myself have any expectations.

Indeed. 

I greatly prefer it over Hiatus as well.  The world actually makes sense in Black Clover, and the characters aren't all semi-sociopathic unlikable scumbags.

Edited November 27, 2018 by ben0119

[PokeNirvash]

My Hero Academia has Mt. Lady and Midnight, so clearly its women are superior.

But I do see your points about Black Clover, and won't even attempt to argue it. That's for the haters to do.

[Daos]

Nope sorry you lose

[PokeNirvash]

An OTN mask-wearing yangire is fine too.

[Top Gun]

Ben you have the worst fucking takes on the goddamn planet.  Like, you don't have a single ounce of critical credibility left at this point.

Seriously, name me a single character in Black Clover who has even the barest shred of complexity.  Calling them one-dimensional is an insult to lines.  Fuck, they aren't even characters.  They're Single Running Gags, beaten to death over and over until the only escape is death's sweet release.  Asta is the most insufferable sack of shit I've ever seen in a protagonist, and he's just the tip of the iceberg.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Top Gun

[EmpressAngel]

4 hours ago, ben0119 said:

Deku's mother's character design and personality did a 180, during the time skip from the childhood flashbacks, with no explanation, and is now an annoying obese joke character

You are literally the only person who feels that way. Seriously, the entire fandom adores her for being a realistic and good parent, and the show never makes a single joke or comment about her weight. I know you're gonna scream at me about spoilers, but at one point All Might tells Deku she reminds him of a specific hero that he's always respected and admired.

You think the women do nothing? Recovery Girl is a one-woman hospital and is revered as a top hero by everyone. Midnight's a fucking Art History teacher of all things and joined UA's staff out of a desire to teach kids how to work through their emotions so they don't fall into becoming villains (Neither of those things is a spoiler, btw. They're revealed in supplementary material). The female students, with the possible exception of the invisible girl, are all on par with most of their male classmates and even the most fanservice-friendly one, Momo, is still considered an extremely competent and talented individual. Hell, we just met May in the sports festival and it's obvious that she's an absolute prodigy with inventing support items.

Black Clover has no idea what the fuck it's doing. Its jokes land flat, every single arc drags on well past the point it should have ended, and basically every single character is an unlikable anime cliche. You've got the haughty tsundere love interest, the loli/siscon fetishist, the flirty drunk woman with huge knockers, the main character who should probably just give up but somehow succeeds through sheer determination alone. Pretty much the only character that's actually interesting to watch is Yami, and that's because he's the only person in this show capable to delivering an entertaining fight scene.

It's interesting that we have two shows on the block based on Shounen Jump properties that involve a powerless teenage boy who wants to be the best, gets a crazy-strong powerup at the start of the show, and is trained by a buff as fuck mentor voiced by Sabat; and reaction to them is completely different. Black Clover seems like a slap-dash copy and paste job ripped off of the more successful manga that  came before it. Hero Academia feels like genuine care and consideration is poured into it; the characters come off as fleshed out people that are actually interesting to watch.

[EmpressAngel]

5 hours ago, ben0119 said:

Would someone BESIDES Luffy ever land a crippling blow, much less defeat him?  Nope.

Zoro damn near wrecks the main villain from the Fishman Island arc on his own. The only reason he didn't end it right there is because they were fighting underwater, where the dude who's literally a fish has the advantage, and also he was on a shitload of steroids.

[PokeNirvash]

I'm not nearly as hateful of Black Clover as the rest of you upstanding people, but hey, any opportunity to vent.

9 hours ago, Top Gun said:

Seriously, name me a single character in Black Clover who has even the barest shred of complexity...  Fuck, they aren't even characters.  They're Single Running Gags, beaten to death over and over...

The Black Bulls are definitely the worst example of this. Now, on their own, I have no problem with them - [dodges thrown objects] - but when they're all together in a room... Eugh.

Angel wasn't exaggerating when she called them "exhausting" a couple months ago. Every time they have an ensemble appearance, I always find myself checking items off a mental list of the aforementioned one-note gags. Luck itching to fight someone strong? Check. Charmy stuffing her face? Check. Gauche nosebleeding over his little sister? Check. Vanessa acting drunk, sexy, or both? Check. Finral hitting on women who aren't even there? Check. Gordon whisper-speaking something innocuous and Grey billowing out smoke with that same groan? Double-check. Even when the show finds the opportunity to insert extra jokes to make it less boring - the best example being #30, with such variations as Gauche asking to extend his one-day vacation by an entire year to celebrate his sister's birthday and Vanessa saying that pot-potatoes would make a decent bar snack - it's still depressingly basic. Hell, the only member I don't dread partaking in these festivities is Magna, because having your gimmick be "wannabe cool guy" leaves you open for a lot more to do than the rest. Plus it's Ian Sinclair chewing on the scenery, which I always welcome.

8 hours ago, EmpressAngel said:

Pretty much the only character that's actually interesting to watch is Yami, and that's because he's the only person in this show capable to delivering an entertaining fight scene.

That and he has the best lines.

"Eh, it's Future Yami's problem."

Edited November 28, 2018 by PokeNirvash

[The1gairon]

Deku's mom's design became fat and comedic because guess what, that's what happens to people who age! 

Black Clover will forever be overrated as hell, and I will NOT be watching it.

Edited November 28, 2018 by elfie

[The1gairon]

11 hours ago, Top Gun said:

Ben you have the worst fucking takes on the goddamn planet.  Like, you don't have a single ounce of critical credibility left at this point.

Seriously, name me a single character in Black Clover who has even the barest shred of complexity.  Calling them one-dimensional is an insult to lines.  Fuck, they aren't even characters.  They're Single Running Gags, beaten to death over and over until the only escape is death's sweet release.  Asta is the most insufferable sack of shit I've ever seen in a protagonist, and he's just the tip of the iceberg.

Thank you.

Really. Comparing Black Clover to Robotech!??

[Daos]

I haven't seen the show since episode 4 so I can't really speak on this. But what always surprises me is that he lists Kekkaishi as one of his favorites. I've never seen anyone else have strong feelings towards that anime one way or the other.

[Jman]

16 hours ago, Daos said:

I haven't seen the show since episode 4 so I can't really speak on this. But what always surprises me is that he lists Kekkaishi as one of his favorites. I've never seen anyone else have strong feelings towards that anime one way or the other.

Literally the only time people had feelings about it was when Adult Swim Action picked it up in its death throes, and everyone was trying to convince themselves it was a good idea.

It was telling when Toonami started they began by airing all the stuff ASA didn’t pick up, like Soul Eater.

Edited November 29, 2018 by Jman

[PokeNirvash]

1 hour ago, Jman said:

Literally the only time people had feelings about it was when Adult Swim Action picked it up in its death throes, and everyone was trying to convince themselves it was a good idea.

This one guy who was my arch-nemesis on the ASMB at that time kept calling Kekkaishi "Y7 drivel", despite several episodes being TV-14. In a way, I was sort of relieved when, after you took his place, you simply called it crap.

Edited November 29, 2018 by PokeNirvash

[Jman]

1 hour ago, PokeNirvash said:

This one guy who was my arch-nemesis on the ASMB at that time kept calling Kekkaishi "Y7 drivel", despite several episodes being TV-14. In a way, I was sort of relieved when, after you took his place, you simply called it crap.

It’s one of those shows that if you aren’t directly in front of it, you have no real feelings on it.

Not to mention this was what, 2009, 2011?  This was before pretty much EVERYTHING was On Demand.  I mean these days, Kekkaishi on say, Hulu, is something you scroll past to watch Goblin Slayer, not a good chunk of the only anime premiering on US TV that week not selling children’s card games.

Come to think of it, the reaction to Kekkaishi in a pre and post On Demand world is a rather fascinating microcosm of what choice does for the consumer and how it lets people ignore shows they otherwise would have to acknowledge.

[The1gairon]

Kekkeishi to me is a thing that Exists.   I been following anime blogs for years and have been looking at those images of seasonal anime lists for almost that long... and NOT ONCE! Not ONCE! Did I ever know about Kekkeishi!  The first time I heard of it was when ASA picked it up as if it was this ONE anime that was worthy of being cherry-picked over all others because of "how awesome and fitting and in-demand it is", and i was just like ..... "HUH???? There are literally countless anime titles you could've gone with and you pick a show I never heard about!?"

[Dark_Cloud_Overhead]

On 11/27/2018 at 9:51 PM, Top Gun said:

Seriously, name me a single character in Black Clover who has even the barest shred of complexity.  Calling them one-dimensional is an insult to lines.  Fuck, they aren't even characters.  They're Single Running Gags, beaten to death over and over until the only escape is death's sweet release.  Asta is the most insufferable sack of shit I've ever seen in a protagonist, and he's just the tip of the iceberg.

Yami. He started off seeming to be an indifferent hardass who didn't take his squad or anything all that seriously, but this season he's been shown to be an incredibly disciplined fighter who actually cares very deeply about them all,  like they're family, because as we now know he no longer has any of his own being a foreign castaway there.

Noelle, too, in a way with her family issues. I'd say there's some complexity there. Still, it's true they're kind of the exceptions. Doesn't really matter to me though; the show's mindless fun, and there's enough complexity in the block already. The part of Toonami I honestly look most forward to every night is the tail end of the premieres with Jo Jo, Black Clover, and Hunter Hunter. Kind of a shame they're buried a little, but at least with the recent expansion of the block they're on a little earlier than they used to be.

[mochi]

this thread must be a troll

 

I'll admit I so actually like Black Clover but ONLY when I take it as a parody,

and all things considered MHA STILL treats it's female characters better than most Shonen, though you do have somewhat of a point since BC Actually lets the female characters fight, and doesn't require their fights to be "Sexy" unlike literally every other Shonen series, INCLUDING MHA which generally only let the female characters get involved in combat if they can make it be fetishy somehow

since even MHA had to give all the girl heroes slutty outfits

 

well except for Ochako who's supersuit is completely reasonable looking

Edited November 29, 2018 by mochi

[mochi]

On 11/27/2018 at 3:58 PM, PokeNirvash said:

My Hero Academia has Mt. Lady and Midnight, so clearly its women are superior.

But I do see your points about Black Clover, and won't even attempt to argue it. That's for the haters to do.

Midnight's outfit kinda proves him right since her suit is porny and her entire hero gimmick is being a dominatrix

[Daos]

Pretty much the only thing you can say MHA hasn't done well is make a female character plot relevant. 

So I guess BC is better in this one... tiny... area?

[EmpressAngel]

19 minutes ago, mochi said:

which generally only let the female characters get involved in combat if they can make it be fetishy somehow

Who's fetish was Ochaco levitating rocks??? Or Headphones Girl blasting sound through the ground?

 

20 minutes ago, mochi said:

since even MHA had to give all the girl heroes slutty outfits

What the entire fuck are you talking about?

[mochi]

3 hours ago, EmpressAngel said:

 

 

 

What the entire fuck are you talking about?

[PokeNirvash]

You said all the girl heroes. Not just the one-plus.

[Daos]

At least Deku doesn't have every girl trying to bone him like every other MC. Doesn't Asta have a harem thing going on in BC?

[Jman]

Deku has just the one.  Two depending on certain filler.

Edited November 30, 2018 by Jman

[EmpressAngel]

3 hours ago, mochi said:

You explicitly said that all the girls besides Uraraka were dressed like sluts. This is exactly one girl, wearing a costume that's no more revealing than an average bathing suit.

Compare that with Black Clover, when our first sight of Unlikable Tsundere Love Interest was in the OP, where they made sure to give her noticeably jiggling tits for no goddamn reason.

[Top Gun]

5 hours ago, Daos said:

At least Deku doesn't have every girl trying to bone him like every other MC. Doesn't Asta have a harem thing going on in BC?

Oh holy fuck yes.  Every.  Goddamn. Female. He. Meets.  And it's not just him, there's shit like Charlotte's secret tsundere act over Yami.  It's fucking insufferable.

I will grant DCO that Yami is the sole tolerable character, but that's mostly because he seems to be taking the piss out of just about everyone else in the cast.  Also because Sabat is having waaaay too much fun with him.

[Daos]

31 minutes ago, Top Gun said:

Oh holy fuck yes.  Every.  Goddamn. Female. He. Meets.  And it's not just him, there's shit like Charlotte's secret tsundere act over Yami.  It's fucking insufferable.

I will grant DCO that Yami is the sole tolerable character, but that's mostly because he seems to be taking the piss out of just about everyone else in the cast.  Also because Sabat is having waaaay too much fun with him.

Well that figures. I don't really like the art style either. The girls all come out looking... I dunno.. off somehow. Is that faithful to the manga or just how it was adapted?

[Winter_Rain]

On 11/29/2018 at 9:26 AM, Jman said:

It’s one of those shows that if you aren’t directly in front of it, you have no real feelings on it.

Not to mention this was what, 2009, 2011?  This was before pretty much EVERYTHING was On Demand.  I mean these days, Kekkaishi on say, Hulu, is something you scroll past to watch Goblin Slayer, not a good chunk of the only anime premiering on US TV that week not selling children’s card games.

Come to think of it, the reaction to Kekkaishi in a pre and post On Demand world is a rather fascinating microcosm of what choice does for the consumer and how it lets people ignore shows they otherwise would have to acknowledge.

You've really mellowed out over the years.  You used to be really relentless with your hateboners at every possible opportunity, but maybe that was just an inevitability of the more toxic environment of the old boards.  

It's a good thing.

[Daos]

25 minutes ago, Winter_Rain said:

You've really mellowed out over the years.  You used to be really relentless with your hateboners at every possible opportunity, but maybe that was just an inevitability of the more toxic environment of the old boards.  

It's a good thing.

It was all an act and you fell for it. He's burning your village as we speak.

[Winter_Rain]

57 minutes ago, Daos said:

It was all an act and you fell for it. He's burning your village as we speak.

 

[DragonSinger]

On 11/28/2018 at 4:03 PM, Daos said:

I haven't seen the show since episode 4 so I can't really speak on this. But what always surprises me is that he lists Kekkaishi as one of his favorites. I've never seen anyone else have strong feelings towards that anime one way or the other.

I liked the show because the powers were creative with character dynamics that I could sense held future potential for great storytelling. My instincts were proven correct when I read the manga and Kekkaishi turned out to be one of the best shonen I had ever read. The reason why the first arc seems sort of generic is because the mangaka's style skews dark, but the magazine wanted her to tone it down until she built a strong fanbase. Once her readership grew, she was given more freedom to write Kekkaishi how she wanted. It's the one manga that really deserves a continuation of the anime just to see the awesome battles.

[ben0119]

On 11/27/2018 at 5:58 PM, PokeNirvash said:

My Hero Academia has Mt. Lady and Midnight, so clearly its women are superior.

But I do see your points about Black Clover, and won't even attempt to argue it. That's for the haters to do.

And what have they done again?  Besides provide fap fodder?  Mt. Lady was going to be the female lead, but was changed to Uraraka for some stupid reason I can't remember.   Something about the limitations of her power.  Imagine not being creative enough to figure out how to use Ant-man/Giant-man as a main character.

[ben0119]

On 11/27/2018 at 6:46 PM, PokeNirvash said:

An OTN mask-wearing yangire is fine too.

No one cares about your weirdo fetishes.

[ben0119]

On 11/27/2018 at 9:51 PM, Top Gun said:

Ben you have the worst fucking takes on the goddamn planet.  Like, you don't have a single ounce of critical credibility left at this point.

Seriously, name me a single character in Black Clover who has even the barest shred of complexity.  Calling them one-dimensional is an insult to lines.  Fuck, they aren't even characters.  They're Single Running Gags, beaten to death over and over until the only escape is death's sweet release.  Asta is the most insufferable sack of shit I've ever seen in a protagonist, and he's just the tip of the iceberg.

Says the guy who claimed Gundam Unicorn was "fantastic" and that Audrey was a "fascinating" character.  Lolololol.

It was mentioned, but Yami, Noelle, some of the nobles have even shown to be more than one-dimensional cartoonish assholes.  Solid wants to avenge Fuegolian.  Before he just seemed like a snobby asshole.  You say this... as a fan of One Piece.  You're going to tell me the running gags their never get old?  How about the time Oda actually had the chance to develop Sanji's personality and character, but instead had him lose the fight to bubble girl because he wouldn't hit a girl.  How about how he and Zoro are STILL being douches to each other even after all this time?  Or the panties and fart jokes with the skeleton guy... Talk about brilliant comedy that never gets old and not the least bit one-note.  Sanji's whole personality is basically "FUCK WOMEN, DON'T WASTE FOOD!"  And if you like Attack on Titan, those characters are all thin and one-dimensional as well.

You're also forgetting the fact that it's almost certain that Black Clover is semi-parody.  This means that you can still have serious moments, good character moments, but a good chunk of the show is parody and not meant to be taken serious.  Hell, there was a whole episode where Yami made fun of all the Captains looks and their personalities and quirks, etc.  These characters were deliberately designed and created, knowing they looked and acted silly and over-the-top, for Yami, a character the mangaka also created, in part, to make fun of.  And I mean, this same thing goes in One Piece, too, people making fun of goofy looking and acting characters.  Yami will sit there and make 4th wall breaking jokes all day, and they're hilarious.

Then there's Asta.  He screams all the time, has no magic, so had to train his body physically way more than anyone else to match up, he wants to be the wizard king, and he wants to try to marry a fucking nun of all people.  Then he has multiple women with crushes around him that he is either oblivious to or not acknowledging.  I think he at least must have a clue about Noelle.  But, are you really going to tell me a character like this is meant to be taken 100% seriously?  That is the most cartoonish shonen cliche of a main character I could ever think of.  HE WANTS TO MARRY A NUN.   And think back to Sanji... the jokes with him have wore thin as it is, but then when they start to affect serious character moments, and the plot... it's about as welcome as the out of place shitty art shifting comedy in FMA Brotherhood.

Charmy fell in love with Yuno after HE SAVED HER FOOD FROM FALLING.  Come the fuck on.  No way that is meant to be serious.

So yeah you either got a stick up yer ass, or you're clearly unable to perceive that Black Clover is a brilliant parody of the shonen genre, just like "Hunter x Hunter is a brilliant subversion of the shonen genre." =3 

Edited December 1, 2018 by ben0119

[ben0119]

On 11/27/2018 at 10:38 PM, EmpressAngel said:

You are literally the only person who feels that way. Seriously, the entire fandom adores her for being a realistic and good parent, and the show never makes a single joke or comment about her weight. I know you're gonna scream at me about spoilers, but at one point All Might tells Deku she reminds him of a specific hero that he's always respected and admired.

You think the women do nothing? Recovery Girl is a one-woman hospital and is revered as a top hero by everyone. Midnight's a fucking Art History teacher of all things and joined UA's staff out of a desire to teach kids how to work through their emotions so they don't fall into becoming villains (Neither of those things is a spoiler, btw. They're revealed in supplementary material). The female students, with the possible exception of the invisible girl, are all on par with most of their male classmates and even the most fanservice-friendly one, Momo, is still considered an extremely competent and talented individual. Hell, we just met May in the sports festival and it's obvious that she's an absolute prodigy with inventing support items.

Black Clover has no idea what the fuck it's doing. Its jokes land flat, every single arc drags on well past the point it should have ended, and basically every single character is an unlikable anime cliche. You've got the haughty tsundere love interest, the loli/siscon fetishist, the flirty drunk woman with huge knockers, the main character who should probably just give up but somehow succeeds through sheer determination alone. Pretty much the only character that's actually interesting to watch is Yami, and that's because he's the only person in this show capable to delivering an entertaining fight scene.

It's interesting that we have two shows on the block based on Shounen Jump properties that involve a powerless teenage boy who wants to be the best, gets a crazy-strong powerup at the start of the show, and is trained by a buff as fuck mentor voiced by Sabat; and reaction to them is completely different. Black Clover seems like a slap-dash copy and paste job ripped off of the more successful manga that  came before it. Hero Academia feels like genuine care and consideration is poured into it; the characters come off as fleshed out people that are actually interesting to watch.

But what was the point of making her fat?  And why did her personality do a 180 with no explanation?  She's annoying and acts annoying.  And remember how she reacted to Deku not having powers or whatever?  Ryuko and Satsuki had a better mother LOL.

Orihime can heal everyone and she was used less than ideally at times.  Remember how she was going to reject the Hoyoku from existence?  Oh and Sakura the invaluable medical ninja.  So... not revealed in the main story.  That's how important it is and how much we can expect it to feature in the show.  They didn't go far in the tournament at all.  Invisibility should make that girl one of the most formidable heroes in the series.  May I will give you.  She did great, but for some reason chose to eliminate herself.  Guess she figured she had made enough of a splash already.

The jokes don't land flat for me.  Humor is subjective.  Hmm these arcs have been downright brisk compared to other shonens.  Would any other series have dispensed with Licht that quickly?  Most of those are meant to be jokes.  The siscon thing is a joke/parody, though still creepy. I was hoping he'd move past that schthick after he got some development in the last arc.  It's too bad he went back to it, mistake by the mangaka there.  Though, I never would have made him that creepy to begin with.  Which, by the way, Gauche, no longer one-dimensional.  Basically none of the Black Bulls have been one-dimensional since they got developed and/or we learned their backstories etc.  And we just learned the flirty drunk woman is a very competent mage when not nearly drunk to death all the time.  Asta can be corny, but no cornier than Luffy, Goku, Deku, or tons of other shonen protagonists, and everyone loves them.  Most of the fight scenes have been great, though Yami's are some of the best, I'll agree with you there.

Well Deku was supposed to be powerless and use gadgets and cunning like Batman or Ironman, but the meddling editors at Jump fucked that up.  It's not, though.  Are you still watching it?  I've yet to see many other shonens pull things off and handle things the way this series has.  Beat the main boss first, who is weaker than three of his own henchmen??  Actual combo and team moves??  Women that don't suck??  How often do we get to see that?  They are indeed good characers, some of them (there's plenty annoying as fuck ones like Mineta), but My Hero Academia not free from the shonen trappings, as we can see many of the tropes still in play and not the least bit subverted, not that they have to be, but it's worth some points at this point to see something done differently, and the women are still on the backburner (in the kitchen, lul.)  Not saying that MHA is a bad show.  Far from.  But Black Clover isn't a bad show, either.  It's underrated and over-heated, and excelling in areas MHA is not, and it's been a pleasant and entertaining surprise for me.  I'm sorry you can't see it, or don't want to see it.

[ben0119]

On 11/29/2018 at 6:35 PM, Daos said:

At least Deku doesn't have every girl trying to bone him like every other MC. Doesn't Asta have a harem thing going on in BC?

With Asta I think that is meant to be a parody of that cliche, especially since the woman he wants to marry is a fucking nun.  Like, there is no more clueless and oblivious shonen protagonist than Asta when it comes to romance.

Also, Code Geass and Bleach are both harem animes going by y'all's standards.  Bleach's female lead, Rukia, even has a harem of her own.

[ben0119]

On 11/29/2018 at 7:15 AM, Jman said:

Literally the only time people had feelings about it was when Adult Swim Action picked it up in its death throes, and everyone was trying to convince themselves it was a good idea.

It was telling when Toonami started they began by airing all the stuff ASA didn’t pick up, like Soul Eater.

Umm people were throwing FITS that ASA got Kekkiashi and not Soul Eater, Eden of the East, and not sure what else.  This lead to people hating on the show because they didn't get the show they wanted, which is no fault of Kekkaishi itself.

[ben0119]

On 11/28/2018 at 9:43 AM, elfie said:

Thank you.

Really. Comparing Black Clover to Robotech!??

Putting a show in a list of favorites =/= comparing.  It just means I really like both shows.  Or do you think I was comparing One Piece to Monster too??

[ben0119]

On 11/29/2018 at 5:27 PM, EmpressAngel said:

Who's fetish was Ochaco levitating rocks??? Or Headphones Girl blasting sound through the ground?

 

What the entire fuck are you talking about?

I like the headphones girl.  She reminds me of Jubilee.

[ben0119]

On 11/28/2018 at 9:41 AM, elfie said:

Deku's mom's design became fat and comedic because guess what, that's what happens to people who age! 

Black Clover will forever be overrated as hell, and I will NOT be watching it.

People become fat and comedic when they age?  Ok elfie lol.

No one cares what you watch, elfie.

[ben0119]

6 hours ago, SorceressPol said:

I liked the show because the powers were creative with character dynamics that I could sense held future potential for great storytelling. My instincts were proven correct when I read the manga and Kekkaishi turned out to be one of the best shonen I had ever read. The reason why the first arc seems sort of generic is because the mangaka's style skews dark, but the magazine wanted her to tone it down until she built a strong fanbase. Once her readership grew, she was given more freedom to write Kekkaishi how she wanted. It's the one manga that really deserves a continuation of the anime just to see the awesome battles.

This.  It's creative and fights are based more on strategy and tactics than brute strength.  The characters and their relationships are great.  This all only gets better in the manga.  Which I agree the rest of really needs to be animated.

As for one character in particular, I really related to Gen.  His demonic powers that he had trouble controlling reminded me of my anger management issues.  He loses control of his powers and hurts people who he doesn't mean to.  When Yoshimori told Gen that he isn't a monster, that was when I let go of all the guilt and self-hatred I had for years, I got over my depression, and began to love myself.  I no longer got depressed after that. I did make a thread about this at the time back then.  So, I don't really get depressed anymore.  Still angry at times, but I control it better now, or at least try to, and I've learned to de-escalate situations, and not be so self-critical and hard on myself.  Some of this is with the help psychiatrists and therapists, friends, family.  Not going to credit this all to Kekkaishi, lol, but it was definitely a turning point for me.

Not at my best right now, though, as my bi-polar meds are seemingly losing their effectiveness, but hopefully that will be sorted out at my next psychiatrist appointment.  Doesn't help my old one retired and then my new one moved to California after I saw her just one time.  I gotta go way out of my town now as the next closest one I could see is no longer taking new patients.

Edited December 1, 2018 by ben0119

[EmpressAngel]

Ben you think Sword Art is a fair representation of women. You have literally no business calling other shows out on their treatment of female characters.

[ben0119]

1 minute ago, EmpressAngel said:

Ben you think Sword Art is a fair representation of women. You have literally no business calling other shows out on their treatment of female characters.

Does it have issues?  Sure, but the women are handled far better than people give it credit for.  But because there's some fan service and more than one woman is interested in a guy (EGADS!) that somehow means nothing else counts and the women are treated terribly.  You're just following the rest of the sheople when it comes to SAO.  You should learn to evaluate things for yourself instead of just parroting what everyone else says.  Remember, Asuna BROKE THE GAME running to save Kirito that one time.

[ben0119]

On 11/29/2018 at 9:31 AM, elfie said:

Kekkeishi to me is a thing that Exists.   I been following anime blogs for years and have been looking at those images of seasonal anime lists for almost that long... and NOT ONCE! Not ONCE! Did I ever know about Kekkeishi!  The first time I heard of it was when ASA picked it up as if it was this ONE anime that was worthy of being cherry-picked over all others because of "how awesome and fitting and in-demand it is", and i was just like ..... "HUH???? There are literally countless anime titles you could've gone with and you pick a show I never heard about!?"

ASA and Toonami too once in a blue moon would get little known dark horses, sleepers, diamonds in the rough, if you will.  Many of these shows weren't anything til Toonami or ASA showed them.  So they saw Kekkaishi and liked it and decided to air it.  But since other shows like Soul Eater or Eden of the East weren't picked, people lost their ever-loving shit.  Which, I mean, ASA really should have gotten Soul Eater at some point.  Toonami aired almost to say "sorry ASA fucked up, making up for unfinished business." and with several other shows as well.  But I sure as hell don't regret ASA introducing me to the series.

[The1gairon]

1 hour ago, ben0119 said:

And what have they done again?  Besides provide fap fodder?  Mt. Lady was going to be the female lead, but was changed to Uraraka for some stupid reason I can't remember.   Something about the limitations of her power.  Imagine not being creative enough to figure out how to use Ant-man/Giant-man as a main character.

Midnight is the History teacher at UA, is the referee at the tournament, and even mans the hero naming class.

[ben0119]

On 11/30/2018 at 12:23 AM, Daos said:

Well that figures. I don't really like the art style either. The girls all come out looking... I dunno.. off somehow. Is that faithful to the manga or just how it was adapted?

It's basically the art style of the manga.  Though they made the women less curvy in the anime, which I'm disappointed to learn.  And before anyone says anything, women can be strong, smart, and sexy!  And what's wrong with women looking like women, huh?  Women, most of them, are curvy!

[ben0119]

6 minutes ago, elfie said:

Midnight is the History teacher at UA, is the referee at the tournament, and even mans the hero naming class.

Whoopty-doo.  It's like saying the old lady is the school nurse is significant.  Orihime and Sakura can heal everyone, but does that make them the best, most well-handled characters?

None of the women have yet to figure importantly into the plot or fight anyone powerful of note.

[Daos]

42 minutes ago, ben0119 said:

Like, there is no more clueless and oblivious shonen protagonist than Asta when it comes to romance.

 

WUT.

Luffy, Naruto, Goku, Natsu and about 90 percent of Shonen MC's are the same. Little to no interest in the opposite sex, and then some wife is forced on them at the end of their adventure.

BC isn't a parody though. It just copies stuff. Copying isn't parody. That's why so many people hate it. They saw a lazy show that lazily copied better Shonen and formed a gigantic blob of tropes.