I don't necessarily want characters to be "relatable", at least that isn't the exact right word for me. I want characters to be resonant. Even if a character is nothing like me and I can't relate my life experiences to them at all, I want their emotions and motivations to transcend the screen to make me understand and empathize with them anyway.
I _love_ this way of describing it! In fact, I'm totally going to use this in the future, if you don't mind. There are a lot of characters I've seen with similar personalities or life experiences to mine, and I don't relate to them at all because we don't share the same emotions about things, or the same _worldview._ Resonating with characters makes so much more sense.
Social awkwardness and obsessive interest doesn’t necessitate autism, but a character’s odd obsessions give us an odd view of their world for novelty and endearment.
When it came to it (at least for dungeon meshi), these characters feel not only relatable but Tangable as well. while I can relate to Laios- I can't relate to Marcile fear of outliving people she cares about, I can't relate to Shenshis trauma, or Chilchucks messy family life. but the way the navigate their life and interact with one another make them feel like they exist beyond the story. they are not in the story just so they can be Laios cheerleaders or love intrest- swooning and gawking at his knowledge of monster. they are people who have their own opinion on how Laios does things and Laios in turn has opinion of his own on them as well. their personality compliment and clash to make such a good character dynamic and a very clear progression of where their character arc is going. too many anime (especially fantasy ones because by default they have a large cast of character) fall in the pit of making the side character as just a prop, a power up tool or a cheerleader while the main character takes all the awes and glory. a lot of them feel like flat stock characters then got added some tragic backstory to carry their character instead of their present on screen personality. the pepy creaful girl, the stock brute, and so on (nothing wrong with stock characters of course). if not given a clear reason why these character are the way they are I just can't see my self enjoying or be invested in their screen time because I can't Imagend a typical person being that way 24/7, their need to be more than just that. Outside of a 1 character defining moment, the worst thing a character can do is make them self forgetable. also big part why I like a lot of these anime is completely written female character that not just there to be the main characters waifu and not just there to be a powerhouse but have actual agency and personality of their own is a BIG plus for me.
Exactly!!!! Kui did an incredible job making pretty much everyone in the story feel so real, she put so much backstory and character in all of the side characters, even people that aren't even named in the main story Even the two adventurers they save from the basilisk in episode 2 have interesting backstory and motives, or the Flokes and the twins Namari works with. And so much of that is shown from the amazing character designs.
What you call the “why” here I would rephrase as “who”, and this echos Jojo creator ARAKI Hirohiko’s observation in his book, Manga in Theory and Practice: compelling characters are the strongest element of an ongoing story, so much so that a compelling character dynamic can make up for a weak plot or setting more easily than a plot or setting can make up for weak characters.
@@TwoOh_ ain't no way Frieren isn't getting season 2 right? 😁 Far less successful projects get multiple seasons, it's hard to believe a series ranking at #1 won't be capitalised on.
Thankfully not an issue for Dungeon Meshi - S2 is confirmed, and will definitely finish the story as S1 ended about halfway through the manga, and the manga is completed.
@@alphanum001What? Dungeon meshi ended just short at 97 chapters. If anything it’s shorter than frieren and apocethary. Dunmeshi did not drag on whatsoever.
@@alphanum001should’ve just said One Piece. Frieren and AD aren’t meant to end because the goal isn’t about the quest, they’re about the journey. In Frieren the quest ended before the manga even begins and AD is about a persons daily life trying not to die because the said something out of turn, she just happens to be extraordinary in her field. Dungeon Meshi has a clear cut goal and does everything it can to achieve that goal in the shortest amount of time possible. If they turned back at any time they would lose Falin forever.
What makes it interesting is also timing. The manga was already released and completed before the show is released. Yet, the high popularity only happens after the show is broadcasted. This is evidence that we as anime audience also feel some dull with what are showing for quite some time and crave for something new and different.
I almost killed you when you said "frieren didn't get run over by a car" because Yuske from Yuyu hakusho stars like that, but then I realized you were talking about isekai anime
Frieren feels like such a real person to me despite being one of the least realistic characters here. The core of Frieren’s story is growth and change, experiences anyone can relate to. It’s only natural that people and the world change as time r passes. What makes Frieren special is the story’s commitment to showing us just how Frieren has changed bit by bit over her long life. It’s not a single moment that defines us as people. It is a long line of experiences that make us who we are, and Frieren illustrates that beautifully.
All three of these managed to bump up to my top ten anime/manga of all time, i don't think I ever had this many new favorite anime at once. Glad I'm born in the right time and place to enjoy these.
But dungeon meshi does start with the very clear goal - return to the depths of the dungeon to save Falin. And that goal established even before we know anything about the characters. So...
@EVGamerBeta The series has ended. The anime hasn’t caught up to the manga yet, but the manga has an official finale. Also, I would argue the OG goal towards Falin is simply a hook so the reader doesn’t put down the manga or get the wrong impression about its tone. If it just started with the characters, say, sitting around in a tavern, people might think the manga wasn’t going to contain much action or be about monsters, which it very much is. (spoiler warning for ppl who aren’t caught up) The ‘save Falin’ thing, as the other replier indicated, doesn’t have much connection to the themes and conclusion of the wider series outside of what it shows in the other characters, at least until Falin becomes a chimera. It makes plenty of sense to look at this the same as, say, Naruto’s hokage goal at first, especially for anime-onlies who don’t have the full context of the series, but I think that Ryoko Kui managed to pull off something much more interesting with it. Sorry for writing a whole essay lol, I just really love Dungeon Meshi and admire Kui as a master storyteller!
Very informative The only thing i disagree on is The Apothecary diaries Which is heavily different from the other two While it doesn't really have a goal It doesn't have a cast of colorful & well developed characters either The MC is the one doing all the hard work and everyone else is goofing around And that's the aspect that i hate so much about that show She's basically the perfect & flawless character And everyone else is stupid While in frieren & dungeon meshi, many side characters get to shine Heck the dungeon meshi doesn't even have a traditional MC & all party members get to shine equally
Also my guy, almost no one is taking about Viral Hit and it's a damn shame. As a connoisseur of fighting genre, I'll place it high in terms of story premise and realism, it's worth the watch or a review 😁
My first impression of the anime is that none of the character have the main character vibes and as i watch on, is felt like it was done on purpose and i like it.
