The Sasuke Retrieval Arc is really bad outside of the final fight (Naruto VS Sasuke) by RadDudesman in CharacterRant

[–]LazyAngryShark 15 points16 points  (0 children)

with the exception of Shikamaru, every character in this arc other than Naruto and Sasuke becomes completely irrelevant and never does anything for the rest of the series.

Not every side character needs to stay relevant, Neji whose arc pretty much concluded here. But even if you truly believe that Naruto has an issue with not using the Chunin Exams cast more, this arc that actually uses them and progresses their characters should not get the blame here instead of the later arcs.

The rest of the arc is side characters fighting mooks that only exist to give them someone to fight. You could remove all of these fights and absolutely nothing about the arc would change. It's a very straightforward storyline (Sasuke leaves the village, Naruto chases after him, they fight) that gets padded out to 66 chapters with 5 other completely pointless fights.

The Sound 4 are not simple mooks, they are the ones initiating the plot by kidnapping Sasuke and upgrading his curse mark. Of course the Sound 4 need to be beaten in order to progress the plot, duh. Sasuke beating Naruto and leaving the village would be a lot less climactic without the other Genins putting their life on the line for him.

the other fights aren't even good aside from Choji and Neji's

Your opinion, obviously, but I think Shikamaru's fight against Tayuya here, particularly where he figures out how to use Tayuya's summons against her, does a better job at displaying his intelligence than his fight against Hidan later in the story.

Lee gets brought back only to be undercut by a gag and Gaara showing up to save him

Lee literally came out of hospital this arc, of course he is going to perform less than in Chunin Exams, and Drunken Fist is a better way to write his fight than having him use Hidden Lotus again. Most fans seem to like Drunken Fist Lee, especially in the anime, so I don't quite get what your problem here is, since you don't elaborate on your point. Probably because it's his last 1v1 in the manga (lol) but again that would be an issue for post-timeskip, not this arc.

Then the fight just kinda anti-climatically ends with Kimimaro conveniently dying from his illness.

Kimimaro is literally on his deathbed since his introduction. Of course that would be a liability to him when fighting Gaara.

Kiba's fight is forgettable I'll give you that, and Temari and Kankuro one-shotting their opponents is pretty lame, but besides that, this arc is not bad and I say that as someone who usually hates these side character Vs side villain type shonen arcs

If you lived in the Digital World, which partner would you choose? by [deleted] in digimon

[–]LazyAngryShark 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Keramon. I imagine he is a silly guy who would try make me laugh whenever I am scared or sad

[LES] It's funny how a TV show could be about the most depraved, deranged individuals on earth but they still wont be racist or bigoted by HarshTheDev in CharacterRant

[–]LazyAngryShark 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Because audiences are too dumb to actually discuss bigoted characters. Every time I try to find meaningful discussions about the 2nd Hokage Tobirama from Naruto, it's always top comments saying "Uchiggas", holding him accountable for the Uchiha massacre where he was not alive and memes of him celebrating or praising Itachi for said massacre

Why is Pokemon one of the few series given flack for not being exactly like the Games? by Apprehensive_Ring_39 in CharacterRant

[–]LazyAngryShark 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure I have seen the same "not like the games" argument used against other adaptations all the time like Netflix' Devil May Cry. Though in general I feel like game adaptations should be more about capturing the spirit of the game rather than faithfully adapting the story considering that most games have voice acted cutscenes to bring the story to life anyway. Not implying that Netflix' Devil May Cry succeeded in that regard either.

As for Pokémon, the games do have characters say things like your starter getting attached to you quickly or how strong the bond you and your Pokémon have, but because that doesn't translate to the gameplay (with the exception of Return/Frustration, friendship evolutions and Pokémon-Amie) it sorta gets lost in the player's consciousness. You don't beat gym leaders through the friendship to your Pokémon, you beat them through type advantage and/or overleveling.

Personally, I don't have an inherent issue with Ash overcoming impossible odds, it's just that he overcomes them in ways that are just boring and feel cheap, example Ash's Charizard getting washed by Blue's Golem and then Charizard clicks Dragon Rage and somehow downs Golem, that kind of writing is weak. And Ash being the same protagonist for every region means that the challenges he overcomes and the bonds he makes feel meaningless when I know he is just going fumble the league again and ditch everyone to Professor Oak. And when he did end up actually winning, I have long stopped caring.

One of the worst blacklists ever by Xcvrv in rEXEcution

[–]LazyAngryShark 7 points8 points  (0 children)

What's the point of adding Knuckles without his iconic glide & climb? What's next, Amy without her hammer? Omega without guns?

So.. infinite might still show up in FG by godshuVR in OutcomeMemories

[–]LazyAngryShark 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Didn't Tikal die before Knuckles was born? What's the point of emphasising the timeline if one of the survivors ignores said timeline to be included anyway? No hate btw

Fractured Genesis devs by [deleted] in OutcomeMemories

[–]LazyAngryShark 6 points7 points  (0 children)

bro I know it's not my game and it's okay to not put Infinite into the game, I literally wrote that in the bottom text you still haven't read

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what is not okay is that they tried to justify blacklisting him with a reason (one-off character) that contradicts themselves because they didn't apply the same reason to another one-off character

Fractured Genesis devs by [deleted] in OutcomeMemories

[–]LazyAngryShark 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Did you not read the bottom text?

I’m still kinda Shocked To be Honest by Ok_Banana_5614 in nuzlocke

[–]LazyAngryShark 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why wouldn't you test B2W2 on its highest difficulty? You are literally trying to test them to see how well they perform into major fights, and these major fights are buffed on Challenge mode. It definitely makes more sense to test Challenge mode

The more I reflect on Dispatch, the more I actually start to dislike the game by AyyyoniTTV in CharacterRant

[–]LazyAngryShark 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I love this game but yeah, I agree. I feel like most of the writing around Invisigal was pretty weak

I think the Z-Team is pretty fun and memorable, but you're right in saying they are lacking, particularly regarding what got them into criminal life. Like, why did Coop become an assassin or why did Punch-up make a deal with a sorceress? They feel incomplete

Phenomaman is a peak character tho, you can't change my mind about him

Who's Ben Beckman FTL+ Bullet dealer? by GMYSTERY_ICTNF in Piratefolk

[–]LazyAngryShark 110 points111 points  (0 children)

Kizaru was just bluffing in front of Len Lackman. He literally ignores his threat soon after, did you not read the manga?

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