Writing Tips and Reviews

Super Heroes and Magical Girls

I'm not much of a fan of either topic due to how over done they are. I tend to like heroes who aren't dressed up to hide a secret identity because they're meant to be recognizable so the audience and other characters can see how they grow.

Hidden Identity:

Every superhero show or movie has the characters have a secret identity. Some hide it well, like Marvel and some fall on their faces pretty hard like Ladybug and Chat Noir. If you want to hide identity, you're going to need to cover up traits that are easily Identifiable. Voice, hair style, face, and other physical traits.

This is where Ladybug and Chat Noir fail. They have the same voice and hairstyle and it doesn't help both use the same type of language as when they're in civilian form. IE Marinette saying "this is a disaster" then Ladybug saying it. Also Sailor Moon does this, changing outfits is not going to make your character unidentifiable.

That's why Madoka Magica is so good. You're supposed to know who is who and they don't try to hide it. From the first episode you know what Homura looks like, then when you see her in magical girl form, the characters say "Isn't that Homura? What's she doing here?" The creators didn't stick on a cute outfit with a mask and say "Now no one can identify this character," because that's stupid.

Transformation Sequence:

More a magical girl problem.

I hate watching these sequences over and over again, it started with Sailor Moon and now every magical girl and rip off show does it. Almost a minute wasted for each character and it happens way too often. That's why Madoka Magica said "screw it, show it once then just make their clothes sparkle and transform in two seconds after that."

Ladybug and Chat Noir do this a few times. In serious situations they have the "transform with sparkles in two seconds" but when it's not serious, they spend twenty seconds on transformation. Why can't we have a cool transformation like when Saber Artoria had her rain jacket on and it changed to her armor? That was cool and happened once.

Bringing that up, every time Fate servants are in their civilian form and change to the armor, they take a mere two to three seconds changing. And every time it's glorious. How can you go wrong when Arthur and Gilgamesh were at the train station and the train went by? The camera was in the windows and it quickly showed the change of outfits in a second.

Basically, show the sequence once, then never again. I don't want to watch Ladybug transform then de-transform and transform back AND have to watch the sequence again. That's two minutes of time wasted where she can beat up the bad guys. And why are the villains unrecognizable but not the heroes?

Anti-Heroes:

The ones who have bad actions but mean good. Yuri Lowell thank you very much. Not much I can say about this since people on YouTube could do better. Just don't make them a psychopathic murder who says "my soul is shatter and my mind is broken" every second because a sister said something mean to them. That's not an anti hero, that just bad writing.

Girl Power:

As a Japanese person, girl before guy now, I don't care. Let me say it again, I don't care. Whatever America thinks is "in and cool" I couldn't give less of a shit. Do you think I'm going around using my transgender to say I'm cool? The answer is no.

This has sub sections so I'll go into them.

-Romance

Romance is started when one person likes something about another then they get to know each other. But damn it stop doing the "girl is control now" thing cause it's stupid. The one who wants to go the slowest is the one who leads the relationship.

-Saving the Girl

Trope as old as time itself, the heroic big saves the damsel in distress has turned into the heroic girl saves herself without the boy. Sigh. Do you know what I would rather see? I would rather see the girl get into trouble, then have support from the boy and get herself out that way.

I'm done with flipping the coin to the other side, if you get what I mean, and would rather new concepts be explored.

-No Boy Rule

Apparently guys can't be big shots anymore, it's all about the girls. Cough Captain Marvel cough. People have forgotten about the balance of cast and solely focus on the girls. Ladybug and Chat Noir throw that in the trash, while Ladybug is the main hero, she can't do things without Chat. They're a team, not a girl dominates boy so that boy is irrelevant.

-Overpowered

Not the same as girl power, that one is about portrayal instead of actual abilities.

Girls are now given all the cool powers while boys are on the sidelines. Remember what I said about balancing teams? Not overshadowing anyone or pushing anyone out of the cast because of gender. If they're a shit human being kick them out or watch tensions rise, but that would be because of their personality.

Conclusion:

I don't get into these types of media. Ladybug and Chat Noir And Madoka Magica are the only two I've watched lately. Madoka Magic, you should know why, and the other one because it's fun to listen to when I'm working and have SIX HOUR day shifts. I just noticed these problems and people talking about their opinions every so often.