Don't ruin the awesomeness of Koichi with some Deku stench.
My Hero Academia II - A true Hero
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Yup, friendly neighborhood Glider-Man >>>> angsty Avatar
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That chapter was clunky as hell.
The randomly stumble into a very exposition heavy discussion in the forest is damn convenient I gotta wonder how that never happened before. And its so conflict free how invisible girl can just casually go get Deku to clear things out. Its weird.
Also I know people are probably happy to see him be the villain but I was more interested in invisible girl finally getting interesting. Or doing a similar plot with someone like Momo where the doubts in incredible ability and impostor syndrome felt more relevant to me. So it being Aoyoma is a big disappointment to me
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Considering how flashback heavy the last Season was, and how it wasted 2 episodes on filler, and not used Vigilantes Aizawa flashback for the Kurogiri episode I don't think we will ever see it animated. And seeing how thing are going, that's probably for the best.
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D'oh! I fell for the fake-out.
That said, I am glad that Aoyama isn't evil, just put in an impossible situation by his parents. Because so many children are fucked over by parents with good intentions.
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it's lame that the traitor isn't actually evil
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it'll be hilarious if this is the last important role for invisible girl in the manga though but I can see it happening, maybe she'll have a panel in the last war playing support and that's her entire arc
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Honestly, Aoyama being the traitor is far more preferable than Hagakure. For one, he's an actual developed character and not a walking nudity gag.
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I didn´t notice until someone pointed it out, but in the building close to where they are keeping Machia sedated someone wrote "Kill the beast" and "Not even human" on the walls, wondering what Hori wants to with him going foward.
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I liked Bakugo and Todoroki's training arcs this chapter.
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! I read the spoilers, so I knew it was coming… schmaltzy as it was...
! I actually cried at the end dammit... -
Latest chapter spoilers
! More or less repeat from the last chapter, a good story being undercut by rushed pacing. Why in the world did we spend more time on Stars and Stripes than the traitor reveal??
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! Likely because there's not much to really cover. The previous chapter and this one lays it all out pretty neatly: His parents wanted him to be "normal" by the standards of their society, they made a deal with the Devil in AFO, he gave Aoyama a power in exchange for being his mole, obviously he wasn't happy about it and well here er are: the main reveal. The only thing to really cover is just the blacklash from his friends in this discovery. But c'mon, its obvious they'll forgive him after hearing his story. They went through all the trouble of retrieving Deku after all. What more can you really get from it other then more details about the deal which the anime will likely do anyway. By this point I'm more worried what consequences are gonna follow from AFO.
Get nuts or go crazy trying.
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! Likely because there's not much to really cover. The previous chapter and this one lays it all out pretty neatly: His parents wanted him to be "normal" by the standards of their society, they made a deal with the Devil in AFO, he gave Aoyama a power in exchange for being his mole, obviously he wasn't happy about it and well here er are: the main reveal. The only thing to really cover is just the blacklash from his friends in this discovery. But c'mon, its obvious they'll forgive him after hearing his story. They went through all the trouble of retrieving Deku after all. What more can you really get from it other then more details about the deal which the anime will likely do anyway. By this point I'm more worried what consequences are gonna follow from AFO.
! We might have gotten all the information we need from these two chapters, but i feel the emotional impact was stunted because there was no time to let things simmer and build. I could easily see these two chapters fleshed out into a full volume, maybe even having this storyline combined with when Deku went rogue. Spend a chapter on the discovery, another on the reactions from the class and teachers, let Deku actually mull a bit over what it means when a close friend turns out to have been coerced into villainy against their will. It might be obvious he'll accept Aoyama in the end, but it undersells the believability and emotional impact when it happens in the span of twenty pages. Normally I'd advocate against dragging out the story, but in this case - being one of the biggest mysteries that's been present from the beginning and steadily hinted at throughout the series - it deserves a lot more attention.
! It's like if Oda took Nami and had her betrayal, backstory and reunification with the Strawhats crammed into two chapters. It could certainly be done, but where's the fun in that? Horikoshi could've done something similar here, build up Aoyama as a real villain and have the class react negatively and chase him down, and only then drop the info that he was coerced into it by his parents. Give Deku and Aoyama a little showdown, have Deku realize how similar he is to him and end on a heart-warming note as he tells Aoyama that it's okay. Maybe even have it so that he'll actually blow up like the lady but the class manages to save him at the last second (after all they have a Teacher whose whole deal is negating quirks, he could certainly help). Showing that together, they can defeat AfO. -
vigilante talk
! Oh boy, I sure hope Pop doesn't become a widow just now.
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! I was thinking the same at first but Koichi can't actually die.
! Can he? I'm really not sure -
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! Agreed X 1,000,000.
Thank you.
! That's why I hope Nagant can be released one day after the system is reformed.
She was child soldiered and told to kill by the government,
and the only kill she inflicted without permission was done in self defence (since she was about to be erased for quitting).
It won't feel right if I don't see her out of jail before the series ends.
! If Hori remembers them, I also want to see what Gentle and La Brava did with themselves.
They were only small time, and the officer interviewing Gentle seemed sympathetic. -
LOL AFO being an absolute dick and giving him a shitty quirk is amazing.
I wonder how he got into UA though. Isn't it supposed to be a prestigious school, open only to the elite.
Or did his parents somehow bribe the school admins.
Also, how did his parents even find AFO? he was pretty much in hiding for a long time.
Like, how do random citizens even go around getting a meeting with the biggest and most wanted villain in the world? And if the could, then the cops could also find him, give Toshinori the info, and he goes to take care of him.
I kind of like that AFO talks to his subordinates. Like the man truly is charismatic and I can see why people would follow him. So far, we haven't seen him lead by fear. He responds to Dabi honestly, and explains his thought process to him.
Its genuinely refreshing to see that.
HOW COME LUFFY NEVER KILLS AN ENEMY?
ODA:ITS BECAUSE IN THAT ERA EVERYONE USES THEIR LIVES TO FIGHT FOR THEIR DREAMS. FOR AN ENEMY WHEN THEIR DREAM HAS BEEN SHATTERED,IT IS AS PAINFUL AS DEATH,I BELIEVE FOR A PIRATE NOT TO KILL AN ENEMY , IT'S GIVING THEM A SECOND CHANCE TO FIGHT FOR THEIR DREAMS.
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Its genuinely refreshing to see that.
I remember feeling refreshed extremely early on.
After Shiggy failed at the USJ, lost his super nomu and got shot in all four limbs,
I expected the big boss to give him the typical "pathetic. How dare you fail?" attitude, and maybe even threaten him.But instead he was like "we have a long time to work with. Dust yourself off and try again. Better luck next time okay? :)"
and gave encouragement rather than criticism.That's when my brow raised up and I realized this guy was something different/cool to deal with.
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Vigilante continues to be awesome. Koichi is the best. The end is near it seems…
I would be far more hyped by a Vigilante anime adaptation than any of the main series seasons/movies.
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Same. A Vigilante anime adaptation would be so good.
Also I'm going to assume that All Might will make his appearance in the next chapter, right? He has to show up at some point.
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Hagakure looked . . . pretty much what I always thought she looked like.
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Oh sure Belly Laser gets forgiven, and they still tolerate Mineta for some reason, but Gentle has to go to jail. WHy can't HE be forgiven for past misdeeds and still become a hero?
Also we could have seen invisible girl all along and he's just… opted to never show her?
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How Kanjuro was handled Vs how Aoyama was handled should be a masterclass on how to and how not to write your traitor characters.
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By this point he is just filling checkboxes.
He's is trying to out do Ohtaka in how fast can one undone everything good the series once had in the final arc the fastest. -
I just want to see Gentle again, man.
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This chapter was a lot better, interesting how Aoyama said that he thought that his parents cared more about him being quirkless that he himself did. That said, the whole reveal really needed a couple more chapters for it to land better, but I enjoyed the chapter nonetheless.
Also, even though if was just a single scene, I really like how much Spinner cares for Shigaraki, hoping that he makes it out alive at the end of the series.
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Chapter was good but needed more buildup to earn the emotional beats it's hitting.
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~Vig Talk~
I don't see anyone but All Might or Aizawa (and friends) dealing with No. 6 now. Scratch that, it has to be All Might. Number 6, the AFO lackey VS The Crawler, inspired by All Might. And if AFO is "there", All Might has to show up too. Plus, I'd like to see All Might congratulate Koichi on protecting Naruhata. Now that I think about it, Koichi fighting No. 6 on camera could have some interesting consequences, both good and bad.
~MHA~
Hagakure's face reveal was nice. Again it was a good chapter but everything has been set up for Aoyama to be forgiven so there's no stakes. I wanna see Aizawa's reaction to all this. -
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Oh sure Belly Laser gets forgiven, and they still tolerate Mineta for some reason, but Gentle has to go to jail. WHy can't HE be forgiven for past misdeeds and still become a hero?
We still haven't seen Aoyama's consequences. He'll definitely be used as a double agent, but that doesn't mean he won't have to atone later. Gentle committed actual crimes, but he was still told by the police that he had the chance to reform. Don't see how it's that different.
How Kanjuro was handled Vs how Aoyama was handled should be a masterclass on how to and how not to write your traitor characters.
Kanjuro was handled lamely too so I wouldn't go around propping him as a beacon personally…
Legend of the Strongest Onani Master Kurosawa
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But could she choose to show herself or was that just a "side effect" of reflecting Aoyama's laser?
Considering that invisibility on a scientific sense revolves around the idea of light reflection, I don't see how this is anything BUT a side effect of being exposed to Aoyamas light beam.
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We still haven't seen Aoyama's consequences. He'll definitely be used as a double agent, but that doesn't mean he won't have to atone later. Gentle committed actual crimes, but he was still told by the police that he had the chance to reform. Don't see how it's that different.
Kanjuro was handled lamely too so I wouldn't go around propping him as a beacon personally…
Kanjuro post-reveal wasn't perfect (though the anime did a much better job so far like with him fighting Kiku), but it's undeniable that the buildup to the reveal was far better than how MHA did it, where it felt like an afterthought. And I'll definitely take an actual malicious traitor over someone who got blackmailed into doing it and doesn't want to follow AfO at all. As a result now there's no stakes, which this chapter is already proving, as we already know that his classmates and Deku are going to ultimately be sympathetic towards him.
Aoyama makes more sense writing-wise, but if there's really no swerve here I might actually end up wishing we got evil Hagakure instead lol
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Kanjuro post-reveal wasn't perfect (though the anime did a much better job so far like with him fighting Kiku), but it's undeniable that the buildup to the reveal was far better than how MHA did it, where it felt like an afterthought. And I'll definitely take an actual malicious traitor over someone who got blackmailed into doing it and doesn't want to follow AfO at all. As a result now there's no stakes, which this chapter is already proving, as we already know that his classmates and Deku are going to ultimately be sympathetic towards him.
Aoyama makes more sense writing-wise, but if there's really no swerve here I might actually end up wishing we got evil Hagakure instead lol
Don't get me wrong, I ain't defending this reveal. The writing in MHA has been a bit of a mess for over a year now. But Kanjuro certainly ain't no master class either.
Legend of the Strongest Onani Master Kurosawa
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But could she choose to show herself or was that just a "side effect" of reflecting Aoyama's laser?
It's not about the logistics of it, its about that the artist could have done that to imply stuff from time to time so the character could have an actual personality and emote… and then switch back to invisible for pull out shots.
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
We still haven't seen Aoyama's consequences.
He's already been completely forgiven. He's not going to carry any real consequences.
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It's not about the logistics of it, its about that the artist could have done that to imply stuff from time to time so the character could have an actual personality and emote… and then switch back to invisible for pull out shots.
One weakness this series has is in that having so many students it's hard to give them all enough screen time. Like, I don't even remember what Big-Tail Kid's name is. Or Sugar-Eating Kid. They barely do anything.
That said one thing I do like about Hagakure is that in making her invisible the artist has to get more creative in how her clothing and sounds effects are drawn to get her reactions and movements across.
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Kanjuro post-reveal wasn't perfect (though the anime did a much better job so far like with him fighting Kiku), but it's undeniable that the buildup to the reveal was far better than how MHA did it, where it felt like an afterthought. And I'll definitely take an actual malicious traitor over someone who got blackmailed into doing it and doesn't want to follow AfO at all. As a result now there's no stakes, which this chapter is already proving, as we already know that his classmates and Deku are going to ultimately be sympathetic towards him.
Aoyama makes more sense writing-wise, but if there's really no swerve here I might actually end up wishing we got evil Hagakure instead lol
I really dont think Oda has lessons to give on traitor reveals.
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He's already been completely forgiven. He's not going to carry any real consequences.
To be fair Aoyama is underage and it's pretty clear to everyone present he was forced into working for All for One by his parents. Not that Gentle deserved the treatment he got, but he was an adult who had full control over his own actions.
I really dont think Oda has lessons to give on traitor reveals.
I think the reveal was pretty great, but everything that came before and after it… yeah. Aoyama at least got his own mini-arc to set things up, he's a likeable character. Kanjuro did nothing for hundreds of chapters, had the reveal and then died off-screen only to not actually die three times in a row.
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Like, I don't even remember what Big-Tail Kid's name is. Or Sugar-Eating Kid.
Maybe Robby's right.
Maybe my ability to remember everyone's name really is a quirk in itself lolRobby suggested it to me when I mentioned I didn't have trouble remembering side character names in manga,
since I could remember about 100 names from my school days, 95% of whom I haven't seen for 13 years.As an experiment, I just spent 10-15 minutes trying to remember as many names from school as I could,
tapping out when it was becoming "brow furrowed" levels of difficult.
Incredibly, I remembered 100 names exactly. Super dope coincidence.The names I remembered:
! Abigail Turner
Adam Clarke
Adlai Dalligos
Aiden Tagg
Alex Barret
Alexandra Birkinshaw
Amy Dennet
Amy Mason
Annie Black
Ashley Sims
Ben Clay
Ben White
Brad Toghill
Briony Fletcher
Callum Pye
Charlotte Woodward
Chloe Hall
Christopher Houseman
Connor Birkin
Cormack Clarke
Danielle Roberts
Daniel Heathcoate
Daniel Wills
David Moore
David Stirland
David Taylor
Dean Tebbits
Dominic Wozny
Elliot Jones
Ellis Scott
Farrel Vincent
Grant Hackett
Jacob Moles
Jacob Kemp
James Casey
James Ferne
James Starling
Jamie Gittins
Jamie Neale
Jake Phoenix
Jake Sweeting
Jessica Besswick
Jessica Mulford
Jessica Smith
Jimmy Adcock
Joe Pattison
Joe Wells
Jonathan Hotson
Jordan Bullock
Jordan Pettifer
Joseph Shepherd
Josh Mousley
Kelvin Swindell
Kirsty Smith
Kirsty Straw
Laura Pounder
Leanne Fairhurst
Liam Harvey
Liam Mcgrath
Lindsey Tebbits
Louise Thompson
Louise Warraner
Luke Andrews
Luke Burgin
Luke Suggit
Matt Armin
Matt Clarke
Matt Oates
Matt Sparrow
Matt Stones
Natalie Simpson
Natasha Bird
Natasha Bishton
Natasha Cusworth
Nathan Byrne
Nathan Dodds
Naiomi Haslam
Nial Trengrove
Owen Wilkins
Paige Broome
Paris Birkin
Pete Hewes
Rebecca Asher
Rebecca England
Reece Jones
Ricky Oates
Ryan Armin
Ryan Read
Sally Burrows
Sarah Farnsworth
Shaun Cockayne
Shauna Prosser
Sophie Copeland
Sophie Green
Tamlyn Severn
Tammy Carter
Thomas Clarke
Thomas Dudley
Thomas Rutherford
Vicky HancockBut anyways yeah, reading your post I was like "aw, poor Ojiro and Satou"
I remember Ojiro fending for himself in the fire zone at USJ,
which caused him to complain that everyone else got the chance to team up for better odds.I remember him forfeiting the Sports Festival due to feeling like his place in the next round was unearned,
due to being mind controlled by Shinso in the previous round. This got him a lot of respect.
He also gave Deku some tips for dealing with Shinso, though Deku still ended up getting baited lmao!Ojiro also worried about what he could possibly come up with when they were told to develop big moves/techniques.
The anime showed him working well with Iida to pass the student VS teachers exam.
He also has a sort of background ship going on with Hagakure.Satou definitely has less to remember, but I do recall the student VS teacher exam that he lost alongside Kirishima,
and the way he dominated the "best dorm" contest vote by wooing the girls (unintentionally) with his pet rabbit and cake baking skills.All of this remembered without looking anything up.
Edit: For the record I also don't need reminding of the names of Sero, Koda, Shoji, etc
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I really dont think Oda has lessons to give on traitor reveals.
He has plenty based on how badly Horikoshi fumbled the setup and actual reveal itself (Hagakure just randomly finding him talking to his parents, really?)
This subplot like a lot of things since the War arc ended has fallen victim to weirdly rushed pacing. Except it's worse, because we've been waiting over 300 chapters for an answer to who the traitor was, with most of that time was the fandom joking (or sincerely feel) that Horikoshi had completely forgotten about it. It was always the most strangely handled subplot, even the Dabi/Touya stuff despite being super predictable at least had consistent build up on Hori's part.
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I cannot believe the number of people who hate the Kanjuro traitor plotline. I will be the first to admit the follow up to his character has been very frustrating with the constant fake out deaths ( a consequence of Oda rushing the story for the 1000 chapter mark) but the actual execution of the reveal was objectively brilliant.
It's refreshing to have the trope where the traitor reveals himself and wants to be redeemed turned on its head with the traitor being an unrepentant monster.
You would think given how much time passed and given the traitor almost died in the boiling pot, that after all that time who the traitor was wouldn't mattered, that their bonds with the other Samurai would have grown so strong or that they were being forced to betray their friends. The fact that he out and revealed himself that no, he was a scumbag to the core, the bonds of friendship were a lie from the start, and that no matter how much time passed, he held on to that grudge with a fiery passion. It adds all these interesting layers of tragedy for the samurai to have to deal with basically one of the deaths of their friends in real time. It also acts as an interesting character exploration when you can have a character so absolutely empty in his heart and soul, he would commit to to his "performance" to the point of dying. It really hammers in the point how absolutely petty and soulless the members of the Kurozomi clan are to the point that they will literally burn everything away in their path for the sake of their revenge.
You can not like Kanjuro for a multiple of reasons and like I said earlier, the actual follow up of the the character could have been done better, but the actual concept of the character himself is fascinating and what it contributed to the story is leagues better than what Horikoshi did with laser navel guy lol. That's not even getting into the actual plot details and how Kanjuro drastically changed the direction of the story.
Kanjuro: Recontextualizes Oden's death, kidnapped Momonosuke, "killed" 2 samurai, unleashed a fiery hellbeast which will be the non Luffy portion of the climax.
Aoyama: We cry a little, more meaningless platitudes on what it means to be a hero we've seen a billion times before, uhhh I guess he got Bakugo kidnapped for all that story arc mattered lol
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@Zar:
I think the reveal was pretty great, but everything that came before and after it… yeah. Aoyama at least got his own mini-arc to set things up, he's a likeable character. Kanjuro did nothing for hundreds of chapters, had the reveal and then died off-screen only to not actually die three times in a row.
Kanjuro gave us Ryonosuke which is a lot more memorable than anything Aoyama has ever done or ever will do lol
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That's all well and good, but One Piece is One Piece and Kanjuro is almost certainly going to get back up and be redeemed when this is all said and done. He ain't going to STAY dead and unrepentant.
I still think taking off his wig and removing the face paint will be the easy signifier of a transformation.
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Don't get me wrong, I ain't defending this reveal. The writing in MHA has been a bit of a mess for over a year now. But Kanjuro certainly ain't no master class either.
Well TLC pretty much brought up the points I was about to make so in addition to that, I am genuinely curious what then you would consider a master class in "traitor writing". Kanjuro was logical and could have been guessed from an observant reader, his role as a traitor was so significant that every character involved was affected and his role was deeply consequential. Orochi who planted him actually see the importance in him and utilized him pretty well, doing stuff that manipulates and further his hatred. AfO literally just sees Aoyama as a broken lighter and it's actually kind of stupid that he wasted such a good chance to actually plant someone that shares his views or at least attempt to manipulate and shape Aoyama, but he straight up didn't just so he can pull off that cool one liner this chapter.
Maybe Kanjuro is no masterclass, which now I'm curious to hear who is, but he is certainly a lot better written than Aoyama.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
That's all well and good, but One Piece is One Piece and Kanjuro is almost certainly going to get back up and be redeemed when this is all said and done. He ain't going to STAY dead and unrepentant.
I really doubt this. Kanjuro is not a Usopp character or a Bon Clay or anyone of those Coliseum fighters, he's more akin to Spandam or Wapol or even Lucci. There's no redemption and precisely because this is One Piece, the villains are going to be around and do their things instead of being repentant.
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I really doubt this. Kanjuro is not a Usopp character or a Bon Clay or anyone of those Coliseum fighters, he's more akin to Spandam or Wapol or even Lucci. There's no redemption and precisely because this is One Piece, the villains are going to be around and do their things instead of being repentant.
Buggy, Mr. 3, Gaddatsu, Helmeppo, Jango, most of Boroque Works and Cp9 (even Crocodile), Caribou, Hachi, Bellamy…. unless someone is a parent killer Oda is usually willing to let them have a second chance once their initial evil dream is broken and the plot has been stopped.
Even Croc, lead to the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, but was still allowed to go free and be an anti-hero that respects Luffy.
villains that have stayed unrepentant villains after crossing Luffy are much rarer than those given a second chance.
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@TLC:
I cannot believe the number of people who hate the Kanjuro traitor plotline. I will be the first to admit the follow up to his character has been very frustrating with the constant fake out deaths ( a consequence of Oda rushing the story for the 1000 chapter mark) but the actual execution of the reveal was objectively brilliant.
I'm dont hate it. I'm fairly indifferent to it. But Kanjuro plot involved Orochi having a traitor so committed he would be willing to kill himself in boiling oil for no real advantage but also would just give up their identity just to gloat about it. And both plot pretty much involve a strong mention about the possibility of a traitor followed by not bringing it up again until the villain suddely feel in an exposition mood.
I dont think either did their traitor mystery/reveal particularly well or interesting. But one piece is mining the drama of the reveal with Kanjuro as an antagonist for a bit where my hero jumped straight to the resolution.
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@TLC:
I cannot believe the number of people who hate the Kanjuro traitor plotline. I will be the first to admit the follow up to his character has been very frustrating with the constant fake out deaths ( a consequence of Oda rushing the story for the 1000 chapter mark) but the actual execution of the reveal was objectively brilliant.
I think we have different definitions of refreshing considering this is basically the default implementation of traitor plotlines. And obviously very different definitions of "objectively". Anyway, I'd like to respond to everything else you said in more depth, but since this is not a One Piece thread I'll refrain. I'm just gonna elaborate a bit more in my reply below and probably leave it at that, as least as far as One Piece is concerned.
Well TLC pretty much brought up the points I was about to make so in addition to that, I am genuinely curious what then you would consider a master class in "traitor writing". Kanjuro was logical and could have been guessed from an observant reader, his role as a traitor was so significant that every character involved was affected and his role was deeply consequential. Orochi who planted him actually see the importance in him and utilized him pretty well, doing stuff that manipulates and further his hatred. AfO literally just sees Aoyama as a broken lighter and it's actually kind of stupid that he wasted such a good chance to actually plant someone that shares his views or at least attempt to manipulate and shape Aoyama, but he straight up didn't just so he can pull off that cool one liner this chapter.
Maybe Kanjuro is no masterclass, which now I'm curious to hear who is, but he is certainly a lot better written than Aoyama.
I don't have an example off the top of my head, but I can at least tell you what I didn't like about Kanjuro. Outside of his awful handling after the revelation, which I guess you can argue is a separate issue, what I didn't like about the buildup and reveal itself is that it was basically treated like an afterthought. Like desa said, it basically amounted to someone bringing up a hunch once and then barely ever talking about again. Were literally any of the Strawhats aware of this traitor's supposed existence?
Additionally, the reveal happening just because Kanjuro decided, for some reason, to give himself away is dumb. It would be much more impactful if we found out he was the traitor in action, i.e. actually getting caught off guard by him sabotaging the group at a critical moment, like stabbing Kiku or something. You know, like Squard, in the very same series?
Furthermore, his characterization and motive are lame and generic and could basically be used for anyone. Oh he doesn't have his own ambitions, informed by his own relationships and emotions, but is just following orders? And his reason for doing so is because he is suddenly related to the villain, something which wasn't foreshadowed at all? Great, you could literally paste this template onto any character and have it work just as well, because it's so detached and impersonal.
Lastly, but frankly most importantly, I don't give a flying fuck about Kanjuro. How could I? This issue permeates the entirety of the scabbards with exception of Kinemon and Kiku, but they are just extremely poorly developed characters and I don't feel endeared to them at all. Further casualties of Oda's increasingly bloated arc casts. I suppose I do care that Kinemon is distraught about it then, but it's not like his relationship with Kanjuro was given any special attention. So the scabbards feel betrayed, but why should I?
So let's see how this compares to Aoyama (which for the record, I still agree is worse). First things first, people predicted Aoyama too. The hints were there, so I'm not sure why we'd count that as a point in Oda's favor. And while I agree that his actions weren't as impactful as they should've been, they still led directly to Bakugo's kidnapping, the Kamino fight, All Might's subsequent retirement and the crumbling of the symbol of peace. About as impactful as Kanjuro in the grand scheme of things.
But notice how all the other points I mentioned reflect in MHA's reveal too? Plotline that's barely given passing acknowledgement - check. Giving themselves away in low stakes casual convo - check. Generic circumstances that could literally be lifted onto any character, rather than being motivated by their established backstory, personality and relations - check. Nobody side character with barely any development that I don't care about - actually, I'd give this one to Aoyama! At least he's the main character's friend and we spent a chapter establishing that. And his situation is more tragic to me because he was forced into it and can actually explain how that makes him feel and why, rather than being some perfect boring emotionless actor.
So really these two cases are not so different after all. Certainly not to the point where one could be giving tips and pointers to the other.
Legend of the Strongest Onani Master Kurosawa
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Who cares about that dumb traitor plot ?! Give me next Vigilante chapter now!
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Lastly, but frankly most importantly, I don't give a flying fuck about Kanjuro. How could I? This issue permeates the entirety of the scabbards with exception of Kinemon and Kiku, but they are just extremely poorly developed characters and I don't feel endeared to them at all. Further casualties of Oda's increasingly bloated arc casts. I suppose I do care that Kinemon is distraught about it then, but it's not like his relationship with Kanjuro was given any special attention. So the scabbards feel betrayed, but why should I?
Nobody side character with barely any development that I don't care about - actually, I'd give this one to Aoyama! At least he's the main character's friend and we spent a chapter establishing that.
Your entire post was really nice and summed up my own opinions as well. I wanted to highlight these two points as reasons I personally prefer Aoyama being a traitor over Kanjuro; while we only got two chapters with him, they were enough to turn him from a gag character to a student who could stand on his own. Kanjuro on the other hand never got away from being a joke character with no depth (which in itself is unusual for One Piece - even characters like Gyatz left a better impression). The only part I'd disagree on is Kanjuro's past which I liked, but that's more personal opinion - I can definitely see why that'd fall flat for a lot of people (and it's going to fall flat for me if Kanjuro gets no form of redemption or understanding in the end).
As for better betrayals… honestly, I'd say the CP9. While they still suffered from lack of personality after the reveal, everything leading up to it was pretty great. Robin and Nami could also count.
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Guess I'll be less surprised than I normally would be once I get to reading REDACTED
