Just someone with a passion for all storytelling mediums. I use this blog to write about what I'm passionate about and share it with other people.
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Trishs Conflicting Viewpoints On Simpson And Jessica
Trish’s conflicting viewpoints on Simpson and Jessica
Jessica and Simpson near the end of the series are working toward a common goal, killing Kilgrave. It’s Trish’s reaction to them and their goal that shows us what type of people they are and their differing viewpoint on the job they “have” to do. For Jessica this job is essential and the whole reason Kilgrave is doing any of it is to get to Jessica. For Simpson It’s because he wants to be the knight in shining armor, the hero.
When Simpson tells Trish that Kilgrave isn’t someone you can capture and that he must be removed Trish responds by saying that he can’t be the one who decides that, that he is being judge, jury, and executioner. There are other people that need him alive like Hope. To her his crusade isn’t in alignment with her moral code because he isn’t seeing the entire picture, like the casualties of Kilgrave’s antics, he has laser focus on killing kilgrave no matter the sacrifices. This was perfectly displayed when he told Trish about his marines saving the barbies. They all burned, but the barbies were saved. He doesn’t really register the losses that come about due to his quest. When his war buddies get killed he is initially upset, but immediately brushes it off and agrees to be a test subject for the super soldier pills so he can go back to his quest as soon as possible. He even tries to remove Jessica so she can’t hinder his mission any more. He also places blame of everything, but himself when things go wrong or he does something deemed wrong by Trish. To him the ends justify the means. By the end he can’t even tell that he’s doing something immoral to achieve his goal.
When Jessica comes to the conclusion she has to kill Kilgrave it it under worse circumstances. Hope has just died in her arms and any illusion she had that she could stop him without becoming what Kilgrave made her, a murderer. Trish supports Jessica’s conclusion and does everything she can to support her. This is because Jessica understands the casualties that Kilgrave has cause and realized that there is no other way. When Jessica Kills Kilgrave he has become so powerful he cannot be contained. Throughout the season Jessica constantly puts the blame on herself for everything kilgrave does. She constantly tries to put just herself in harms way to reduce the casualties. The ends don’t justify the means. Jessica knows this and Trish knows this. Jessica believes the deaths that Kilgrave caused should have been avoided and due to her he has only grown more powerful and that is what eventually drives her to permanently stop him, not the illusions of heroism that drive Simpson.
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The Dark Tournament-My Favorite Shonen Tournament Arc
I recently rewatched Yu Yu Hakusho and upon seeing the dark tournament for the second time I was struck by just how well done Yoshihiro Togashi made this classic shonen arc. He uses all the traditional shonen tropes to their greatest strength and he creates his own twist on them. This arc used background elements to accentuate elements that play into the story and tournament itself. All of these elements create my favorite shonen tournament arc.
The setting of the tournament is fascinating in that it is used to increase your emotions inn regards to each fight. The entire arena, except for Botan, Keiko, and Shizuru, is against Yusuke and his friends as well as the tournament committee. This makes each win seem so much more hard fought and each loss even more crushing. When the crowd finally cheers for Yusuke it is out of self preservation and creates an atmosphere of desperation for the final battle with Toguro. I’ve never really seen this done in a shonen quite like it is here. Most series I’ve read just focus on the reactions of a select few characters the protagonist knows and everyone else is mostly irrelevant. When you think about sporting event or competitions in real life part of the intensity of it all is the crowd cheering when a goal is scored for their team or being frustrated when they think the referee made a bad call. When sitting in the stands if fans for your team are in the minority you’re usually more excited when the score and win the game because they overcame the odds and won in “enemy” territory. The fact that it utilized this aspect of competition when it could have been thrown away like it so often is was really refreshing.
This tournament firmly established the personalities of all of the major players within this arc and the series moving forward. This tournament is what made me love Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke. Whether it be Kuwabara’s big heart and empathy for others, Kurama’s calm calculation, Hiei’s confidence and quiet fury, or Yusuke’s confidence and determination I enjoyed how these characteristics played into each fight and their interactions between the fights. It wasn’t just the heroes either, but also the villains. Toguro is a deceivingly complex villain with a sadness underlying his cold and brutal facade. His final conversation with Genkai was cathartic and managed to incorporate themes of desire, love, and loss in a single two sentence exchange “Don’t ever regret what happened between us.” “No, but it would have been a beautiful life.” Toguro, when all was said and done, truly was a “man with a wounded heart and a broken dream.” The fact that after seeing all the awful things this character has done the story manages to make me empathize with this character is a testament to the character writing put into it.
All of the fights were well animated and had something that kept my watching. In Kurama’s fights it was his intellect and seeing how he gets out of the situation at hand even with handicaps. Yoko Kurama’s first appearance was incredibly memorable and had me in awe of his overwhelming power and control of plants. In Hiei’s fights it was his ingenious uses of the dragon of the darkness flame. In Kuwabara’s fights I was interested in seeing how his empathy interacted with his actions and how he competes against the odds. In Yusuke’s fights it was interesting to see him grow through the obstacles until he couldn’t grow through just physical means and had to accept and grow emotionally through learning how to be outwardly genuine by embracing his emotions.
This is why I found this to be my favorite tournament arc in anime. I understand if others have a different opinion. I know of many anime that have a great tournament that uses conventional and unconventional methods to create a compelling arc.
The Brilliance of the Battle of the Labyrinth
My favorite thing about the battle of the labyrinth is that it shows the effects of past events on demigods in the present. We see the Worst parts of Annabeth, Nico, and Percy. This is where Rick Riordan best shows the negative effects that come with what these demigods have been through.
For Annabeth this is where her abandonment issues come to a head. We saw glimpses of it in the past, but it was never as apparent as it is in this book. Annabeth feels threatened by Rachel and Calypso. Percy is the only person that has truly stayed by her side through thick and thin and she is terrified of losing that. It was always just Percy and her when it came to the demigod part of their lives and both Calypso and Rachel threaten that. Calypso because he can offer Percy freedom from the great prophecy and a dangerous life and Rachel because she can be a part of his mortal and demigod lives while giving him a taste of normalcy. This doesn’t excuse her actions, but it adds a sense of realism. She’s 15 and had to deal with people leaving her for her whole life to this point she isn’t going to take what she sees as possibly losing the only one who stayed very well.
Nico lost his sister and discovers he is lost in time. He does not take either very well. He tries to bring Bianca back from the dead and is manipulated by king Minos due to his fatal flaw and inability to cope with his sudden loss. He doesn’t know where to direct his anger at Bianca and himself so he projects it onto Percy as well as Percy’s friends. Nico didn’t just get over his problems even by the end of the story. This book has him struggle with all of this, come to terms with it, and start to move forward. His road to acceptance isn’t over, but he’s taken steps in the right direction.
Percy’s problems don’t truly come to a forefront in this book, but during his stay on Calypso’s island we see his stress about the coming prophecy and war. He considers staying on the island and for a moment forgets about everything else except Calypso and escaping the prophecy. The stress of everything that has happened to him and the terrible possibilities for his future have really weighed on him. This provides buildup for the war and to see how this stress effects him moving forward and how it will effect his decisions.
All of these characters acted questionably and made choices that we may not agree with, but that brought a layer of realism. People don’t work out their problems right away and not everything resolves in a short period of time. Things that happen in the past can effect someone moving forward and it takes time to accept and move forward. Sometimes someone can’t move past what happened. This is what the Battle of the labyrinth does well and what I like most about it.
The Incredibles 2 Review
Very minor spoilers ahead
I just saw the Incredibles 2 and loved it. It doesn’t cover as many mature themes as the initial movie, but it still brings the heart and Parr family that we know and love. Bob and Helen continue to be one of the most realistic animated couples and the family is still relatable despite all the new developments within the film. The characters are the reason for watching both this film and the original. The family still fights, but at the end of the day they care about each other and wouldn’t give it up for the world
The family is taken in a new direction from the original; Helen gets a job trying to legalize supers again, Bob is staying at home taking care of the kids, Violet goes through boy troubles, Dash doesn’t understand his homework, and Jack-Jack develops a whole slew of powers. Their problems are things everyday people struggle with and Violet, Dash, and Jack-jack’s problems helped move Bob’s storyline forward. He is now the hands-on parent who isn’t gone all day for work. He’s trying his best to be there for the kids and gets frustrated when he has trouble. He works to understand Dash’s homework so he can teach Dash, He tries to help Violet’s boy problems, and he brings Jack-Jack to Edna for help with all of his burgeoning powers. Unlike most cartoon fathers he is competent at being a stay at home parent. Helen’s new job is a fun part of the film that shows just how good she was at being a superhero before having to retire. The villain she has to face is interesting and brings up a different viewpoint on superheroes as a whole. The screenslaver believes that superheroes made the people complacent and neglect protecting themselves which leads to tragedy.
All in all this was a great addition to the Incredibles franchise and I’m glad we got it even if it is fourteen years later. This is the type of movie I would go to see in the theaters twice. I appreciate all the hard work Brad Bird, the animators, and voice actors put into this film and encourage everyone to go see it with their own eyes.
Rock Lee vs Gaara is about more than hard work vs natural talent
Rock Lee vs Gaara is about more than hard work vs talent. On the first watch that may be what is taken away from it. Upon a second viewing after watching these characters grow and change and learning about Gaara’s past it takes on a whole different clash. One of views on the society as a whole.
Both of these characters are products of their society. They were shunned by the people in their society for two completely different reasons and thus grew to have two completely different view points on society as a whole.
Rock Lee was condemned by society for his lack of ability and therefore was considered an ineffective and useless “weapon” for the society to call upon in a time of need. He was considered worthless, so he worked his way up to prove himself to that society that believed that. He thrived off the atmosphere that society created. He was condemned for weakness and thus strove for strength. Rock Lee condones the society that ninja lived in.
Gaara is the exact opposite. He condemns society for what it did to him. It condoned creating him into a living weapon, but then condemned him for being what they created. He was crushed and twisted under the conflicting ideals society had about his birth and life. He was told his initial purpose in life was to protect the sand, but once he was deemed unnecessary because of the negative atmosphere society created around him his purpose was considered lost. His life was deemed worthless.
Annabeth Chase - Character Growth at its Finest
I’m writing this because recently I have seen many people say that they really dislike or hate Annabeth and don’t know why people like her. I want to explain why people like Annabeth and why I personally find Annabeth a compelling character who I can relate to.
Annabeth starts out the series as a jaded young girl who has lead a rough life. She has been experiencing monster attacks since she was five or six. She ran away from home at the age of seven because of the emotional abuse her stepmother put her through due to the near constant monster attacks. She had terrible nightmares and her father neglected her. She would have died from either monsters or starvation if she wasn’t found by Thalia and Luke. They quickly became her new family. Annabeth loses this newfound family Thalia through sacrifice and Luke through betrayal. Due to these events she doesn’t trust others easily and avoids attachment because anyone she does get attached to leaves by either their own free will or force. Annabeth tries to solve her own problems and doesn’t trust others to solve her problems. This is partially due to her hubris, her fatal flaw, and her negative experiences with her father and step mother in her early life. All of these flaws come from an understandable place and they grow and change as the series goes on.
Annabeth’s inability to easily trust others and fear of being left by her loved ones is a large part of her character in the Percy Jackson series and even affects her in the heroes of olympus series. She initially treats Percy with indifference and even uses him as a distraction, so she can capture the opposing team’s flag. It’s only when she goes on a life threatening quest with him that he gains her trust fully. In the sea of monsters she is wary of Tyson because he is a cyclops one of the monsters that almost killed her and her makeshift family. She grows to realize that he isn’t like most cyclopes. Then later there is Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Annabeth feels that Rachel threatens her place in her new “family”. Rachel can see through the mist and likes Percy. This essentially makes Annabeth useless in her own eyes. Rachel can lead them through the labyrinth and all of Annabeth’s research was for naught. Rachel also has the guts to admit to Percy that she likes him, something that Annabeth herself hasn’t been able to do. She feels as though she is losing her place in the group as well as Percy. Annabeth later comes to terms with Rachel and they become good friends. Later Annabeth is put into a similar situation with Reyna. Reyna developed feelings for Percy and made a move on him. She doesn’t dote on that fact and has grown enough to where she knows that Percy won’t leave her like others in her life. She also comes around to trusting Reyna much quicker than Rachel. Annabeth trusts her enough to ask her to take the Athena Parthenos to camp half blood and solidify the bond between the greek and roman demigods. This is also why she desperately wants to prevent losing Percy in Tartarus. She has already lost her family twice and she doesn’t want it to happen a third time. Percy is the only person who hasn’t left her at any point and been with her through both her highest highs and lowest lows and vice versa.
Annabeth’s fatal flaw causes her a lot of problems throughout the Percy Jackson and heroes of olympus series, but in the Magnus Chase series she understands she can’t solve every problem by herself and sometimes she needs to let others sort out their own problems. In the Percy Jackson series her hubris causes her problems when it comes to Luke Castellan. She believes that Luke’s betrayal is her problem and that she should be the one to solve it. This backfires for her until the final book. In the last olympian she talks to Luke and tries to convince him to see the error of his ways, but she ultimately lets Percy and Luke make their own choices. In the mark of Athena she realizes there is a time and place to rely on others and do things herself. While it may not seem that significant, but this is a turning point where she realizes that just like how she needed to follow the mark of Athena on her own others have things they need to do on their own separate from her.
This is an overview of her growth as a character and her reasoning behind her actions. It is because of these changes and actions that she is one of my favorite characters throughout Rick Riordan’s mythological world.