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Sunday, April 14, 2019

Shoumetsu Toshi Dropped:

It's important for heroes not to be overpowered when they take on challenges, but at the same time it's important they also not be underpowered.  In this show a group of five, a detective agency, is taking on an entire government.  Yes, they have a girl with magic powers, but the enemy government has an entire legion of magicians.  It's obviously hopeless.  By all rights our heroes should all be dead by now, but through some miracle they've lived to episode 3.  So what?  If they fight more enemies (and there's always more, they're up against the entire military and police force), they're bound to lose sooner or later.  And all for what?  Essentially a joyride.  They just want to go see what's in this off limits hole, for curiosity's sake.

Who struggles in vain against the government's anti-trespassing law this valiantly?  Even worse is if they succeed.  There's no realistic way that could happen so only bad writing could ever make it so.

A series about constant fighting should make both sides roughly parallel.  Like Gundam or Macross, you can have a state on state war where both sides have access to massive resources.  Or like in Fairy Tail, you had guild on guild battles.  In One Piece it's pirate crew on pirate crew.  In Naruto it was ninja village vs. ninja village.  Fair and square.  You never write 'the entire government versus a lone wolf.'  That's just stupid.  If the heroes are the government you end up with a stupid story like Fairy Gone, and if the heroes are the lone wolf you end up with Shoumetsu Toushi.  Nothing good can come from such unbalanced premises.

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