kodial said: Saya was something like of a classic anime character to me. Because Blood: The Last Vampire was an anime I watched and liked as a movie, even before I got into anime.
I liked every about her in that anime movie: Her fighting abilities, she would slice a demon in half as soon as she would get a sword in her hand; her confidence, she would never second guess herself, she did not to let her target change into a demon before she would kill him; her attitude, she was not taking shit from anyone, be they her allies or enemies. No tears, no moral blocks, no need for sympathy from others, just a pure killing resolve to get the job done. I would have had her as one of my favorite characters now, if she did not have the same profile as the Saya from Blood+.
Then I got into anime, and I watched Blood+, only to witness my favorite Saya to be degraded into a shounen-esque character who would get so emo because she could not live a normal life and when the odds forced her to fight, she was all like "no... i must bear this burden alone...". Even after she found out who she really was, she did not turn back to the Saya from Blood: The Last Vampire but she became just another shounen character. Female, it doesn't matter; just one of the many. Call them Ichigo, Allen Walker, Albarn Maka, Shirou Emiya, Saya from Blood+, they're all the same character really.
And then the magnificent Clamp get their hands on her. Really, I could not make it past the intro. One look at Saya in the opening theme, was all I needed to drop the series before I began watching them. And from what I get from you people, my worst fears about this anime seem to be true too. She's klutz, shy, moe, stupid and oh so common. I'm just glad they call her Kisaragi, so I can say that idiot has no relation to Otonashi.
I have to agree with you. And it's not just Blood+ and Saya either, the anime industry does this to almost every single lead character in almost every single anime. They have it in their heads that giving the character some weaknesses makes them more human and more likeable. While it is true that a completely perfect character is difficult to relate to, almost every single anime goes overboard with this idea. Thinking that people can "relate" and "like" the characters, the writers make their characters incompetent, whiny, stupid, neurotic, and or klutzy. Then, the animators throw in pretty art and panty-flashes and expect us audience to fall in love with their content-free bag of stereotypical crap.
And you know what's the worst part of it all? It works! It really works. There are the few of us sitting on the outskirts of mainstream anime society who scoff at this stuff, but the rest of the audience are gorging themselves to Naruto acting like an idiot, Saya tripping over nothing, those girls from Yuruyuri existing, etc.. As an adult viewer (anyone in college and beyond) it's absolutely disgusting and disrespectful, but what can we do? Most anime was and still is intended for an younger audience (or at least stupider audience).
Finally, to keep myself from hating on the industry and the audience too much, I will list 5 anime lead characters from action/thriller animes who I feel are well-done, competent, engaging, or at least stand amongst the sea of dumb stereotypes:
1. Kusanagi Motoko (actually, the majority of the folks from Ghost in the Shell)
2. Haji
3. The doctor from Shiki (actually, Shiki was good show)
4. ... can't think of anymore |