Back to clonex10100's Profile clonex10100's Profile

Short spoiller filled rant:

The main problem with this show is that it baits you into thinking it will talk about interesting things. Most characters have obvious ideals and are very true to them. What makes ideals interesting is the exploration that is brought about by internal contradictions within the ideal itself, friction between the ideal and reality, or friction between different characters ideals. This results in the characters grappling with their ideals and understanding more about their ideals and themselves, coming to realizations and potentially changing and growing. This is interesting to watch and it can also help us, the viewers, realize things, even if ... we don't come to the same conclusion as the characters. Lycoris recoil superficially sets up potential conflicts, and then does nothing to develop them at all, and ends without saying anything interesting about them at all.

Surely being a secret assassin police and refusing to kill will raise some interesting questions right? Nope! Not if you're just so cool that you can defeat the enemy 100% of the time without putting yourself or your allies in any danger. Even that villain that she let live 3? 4? 5? times (i can't even remember). She never once thinks "Hmmm, maybe I should have killed him, maybe I should consider all the lives he's putting in danger in my idealism". Even if she comes to the conclusion that it's worth risking innocent lives to not kill him, at least show a conflict and have her think about it. It never once shows her being uncomfortable with it at all, because every time he comes back she saves everyone again. Nobody has ever had to die for her ideal which really makes it incredibly boring and meaningless for something with an interesting concept.

Oh wait she had a few conflicts, I remember now. A guy said "Shoot this person" and she said "No".

What about the crazy cultist who apparently has feelings for his family? Does he ever have to think about whether killing his daughter for his cult is right? Of course not! He's the crazy cultist dude, duh. Why would he care? Oh but we know he cares because he makes superficial gestures sometimes. Surely portraying him as an evil cultist that maybe feels love for his family is interesting right! He's not pure evil because pure evil only exists in movies! Look how interesting his superficial gestures accompanied with no trace of actual internal conflict is!

Cafe owner who loves the evil cultist dude! At the end he kills him while crying. If the things that came before weren't conflicts of ideals surely this is! I mean it's about whether you should kill your evil boyfriend! They're still your boyfriend even if they're evil right! And this time the conflict isn't being brushed over because he's *crying*. What more could you ask for to represent an internal struggle? Actually developing his relationship with the cultist dude so you know why he loves him in the first place? Nah we don't need any of that. He said he loved him and he's crying. Fully developed. Very sad. Cry and be interested.

What about the main terrorist dude. He just says "He wants to balance the scales" over and over and over and over again. He never explains why or moves beyond it. But it sounds like a cool motive right? He's definitely not just an evil terrorist. This one is especially sad because there are definitely arguments to be made for becoming a terrorist against a totalitarian secret assassin police state. But is he going to attempt to make *any* of them? Nope! Balance the scales!

And that at the end the have the fucking nerve to throw in the line "You really think you're right, I guess pure evil only exists in movies after all". Lmao. I'm fucking done.

The fact that i've read fate probably contributes to my dislike a lot. Chisato and Shirou are very similar characters in concept. They both were miraculously saved from the brink of death and misunderstand their saviors motivations, long for their savoir and want to become that for other people, and have a ton of survivors guilt. But Shirou actually is made to grapple with whether his ideal is right or not, come to compromises and conclusions, and fight for it. Chisato just has magical powers so she doesn't have to do any of that.

The thing is end the end even thought it doesn't have anything interesting to say, it could still be a good show. I'd be happy watching meaningless cute yuri romance, slice of life, assassin murder. But when it tries to put in this superficially deep part I'm constantly distracted by how dumb it is and can't just enjoy the fun fights.