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#Source: Berserk - The Abridged Series
emperorsfoot · 2 years
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Classics-Line Mini-Comics, a Summary and Explanation: Issue # 2: "He-Ro Unleashed" 
The follow-up to "the Legend Begins". Unlike "the Legend Begins" this one is not a remake of a Vintage comic because no Vintage follow up to the 1987 "the Legend Begins" was ever made. This is all new content with a never-before-seen story! ...that picks up where the before-seen story leaves off.
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Adam is still in the past and still in disguise as "the Stranger", and he's still going around doing good deeds and helping people until he finds what he came to the past to fine.
Here he is protecting a Gar settlement from a villain from the Preternia Era:
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Note the Gar warriors are all dressed as Sy-Klone, cementing Sy-Klone as a Gar, not a human in this continuity.
Another important character in this continuity is Gar, so the mention of the Gar people (and their suffering) was not just some casual random encounter they threw in the demonstrate Adam's nobility (although it does also serve that purpose). The decision to include the Gar in the second issue of this run of the comics was planned.
Adam saving the Gar is the noble act that proves the good of his character and, after having been watching Adam from concealment for some time, Ro Littlegray (henceforth referred to as "He-Ro") reveals himself to Adam.
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And the first thing He-Ro does is bring Adam to meet King Grayskull and the rest of the Masters of the Universe of their time.
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Adam joins the Masters in their battles on two fronts against the Snakemen and the Horde. (And Skeletor is also there.)
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During the battle, Hordak proudly brandishes the tablet containing the Spell of Separation.
It is not explicitly explained in the comic, this is one of the things the audience just has to know, but the Spell of Separation is the thing that broke up the Preternia Continent and divided the planet into the Light Hemisphere and the Dark Hemisphere.
Upon seeing the tablet of Separation, Adam decides that's the thing he came to the past to find. The Spell of Separation is the key to defeating the Snakemen in his present.
Then a bunch of climactic things happen in quick succession.
Adam sees Skeletor among the battle and charges off to grapple with his arch nemesis.
Hordak kills He-Ro; and Grayskull and He-Ro have a very tender and heartfelt "goodbye" scene as He-Ro laying dying in Grayskull's arms.
Grayskull uses He-Ro's power sword and goes berserk on Hordak and chops off Hordak's arm
Eldor begins to sink the Three Towers.
Hordak retreats, maimed and defeated.
After He-Ro's funeral, Teela uses the power of Central Tower that once again stands in her and Adam's present to open a time portal for Adam to return to her, now that he knows what they need to defeat the Snakemen (and their other enemies, although no one actually made mention of them).
Also, this frame will be explained later:
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Explanation:
Since this is a follow-up to the previous issue, hopefully it needs less of an explanation. I feel most of the things that need explaining are details that will be explained as the comics progress. But, the Classics-Line comics can also feel more like an "abridged" version of a much larger series.
According to a comic from the Vintage line, Hordak actually built Central Tower. Because of this, he claims ownership of it. Viper Tower is attached to Snake Mountain and under the control of the Snakemen. Grayskull Tower is next to Castle Grayskull and under the protection of the Green Goddess and King Grayskull. The Three Towers are supposed to balance all the positive and negative magic on Eternia. With Grayskull Tower being the pole for all the positive energies, Viper Tower the pole for all the negative energies, and Central Tower is the fulcrum between.
The Three Towers were sunk when Eldor decided that the pursuit of power was the source of all the wars on Eternia. This comic is the first time that event is actually depicted.
You can read "He-Ro Unleashed" here:
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phyrexianphamily · 4 years
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Jace: (About Gideon) Such power and grace. I must have him.
Chandra: What was that, Jace?
Jace: In... the Gatewatch. I must have him in the Gatewatch. I covered that up well.
Chandra: Covered what?
Jace: Oh, nothing, nothing. (Thinking) Note to self: it there’s an echo, I’m thinking. Otherwise, I’m talking.
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incorrect-snkquotes · 4 years
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Iori: You can’t win, you know. Haven’t you ever seen a shōnen anime before? You’re the main character, and I’m your eternal rival…. That means I have to beat you now so it’ll be all the more impressive when you kick my ass later. Also, our fangirls will reread untold amounts of sexual tension into our relationship, whether it’s really there or not.
Kyo: But it’s, uh, not, right?
Iori: Of course not.
*The Setting Sun and Moon starts playing in the background*
Iori: Now, sing this duet with me.
Kyo: Oh, okay.
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How Turning Jim Into A Troll Disempowered Jim As A Character 
or, Why Some Of The Audience Found That Sequence Distasteful And Are Still Bitter 
(Screenshots are sourced and abridged from the springhole.net article ‘On Writing Empowered & Empowering Characters’ - this website offers advice for structuring and analyzing narratives, characterization, setting, and themes, and also a bunch of fun generators for those things.)
Jim did not consent to being turning part-troll. Consent gained through coercion is not consent, and “everyone you care about will probably die horribly if you don’t do as I say” is coercive. 
Jim gets a strength and agility boost from being shape-shifted, which, yes, did give him an advantage when fighting Gunmar in single combat, but 
fighting Gunmar in single combat went against the show’s ongoing theme about how Jim’s capacity for teamwork gave him an advantage that past Trollhunters did not have, and 
in a coordinated group attack, either Claire’s teleportation or Toby’s flying hammer could have let them get Jim into a position to land the kill strike against Gunmar without Jim needing to change species. 
Jim lost his abilities to 
eat food of the sort to which he is accustomed, 
be in sunlight, and 
be in human-occupied spaces without a disguise, unless the humans are either already aware of and cool with trolls or believe he is in costume. 
His freedom of movement and who he can interact with socially and under what circumstances has thus been severely curtailed. Furthermore, the loss of familiar things, such as any old favourite comfort foods, is not good for emotional health. 
Jim has to adjust to completely new instincts and a completely new body. I have commented in the past that, logically, the changes to his height, weight, limb length, center of gravity, and reflex speed, could have added up to Jim being completely uncoordinated and needing to relearn how to fight from scratch after his transformation, defeating the stated purpose of said transformation as a means to defeat Gunmar quickly. 
Jim’s personality has also been changed by his transformation. In his sparring match with AAARRRGGHH and Claire, he was more confident and playful, and in the final battle he demonstrated more aggression than he usually does. 
Neither of those developments are bad, but having those changes come about abruptly, as a side-effect of a magical transformation, is unpalatable compared to a gradual shift in personality over time. It feels like a cop-out from writing character development. 
Furthermore, if Jim notices his personality is different post-transformation, this will exacerbate the identity crisis that he still hasn’t finished resolving. 
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Jim being turned into a troll has been speculated about since the first season, and I think the fan theories about it may also have influenced the negative reaction from some sections of the audience. The fan theories and related fanfics posited three broad categories of ways Jim might become a troll: 
1) Troll Magic Overexposure. Jim’s transformation would occur by accident, akin to Blinky’s transformation into a human, probably due to exposure to some trollish artifact or potion, or possibly as a cumulative response to all the trollish magic Jim has been exposed to over the series. 
2) Changeling Heritage. Jim’s transformation was something he was always hypothetically capable of, or a natural part of his puberty, due to trollish ancestry of which Jim had been unaware prior to that point; usually James Lake Senior being a Changeling. This could and often did cross over with the first idea, with troll magic being the catalyst which activated Jim’s troll genes. 
3) Enemy Action. Jim’s transformation would be forced on him by an enemy, usually crossing over with one or both of the previous theories. I believe I recall a couple of stories where Gunmar’s attempted use of the Decimaar Blade on Jim was the catalyst to activate Jim’s previously-unknown Changeling genes. 
Because expectations existed, there is a natural inclination to try and make the data fit that pattern. 
Considering Merlin’s treatment of Jim in the episode in question, it is easy to file Jim’s canonical transformation under the ‘Enemy Action’ theory. The fact it was done by a supposed ally clashes with the theory’s premise, encouraging anyone who considers this theory canon to emphasize Merlin’s cruel and abusive behaviour towards Jim in the pre-transformation scenes, and to consider other instances of Merlin’s callousness towards various characters as evidence Merlin was an antagonist masquerading as an ally all along. 
The majority of pre-Season Three Troll!Jim stories also had the transformation reverse, wear off, or (in the Changeling!Jim stories) Jim’s human and troll forms become shapes he could shift between, so having a supposedly permanent transformation occur drew backlash from those invested in this possibility. 
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Having Jim transform only three episodes before the end of the series was a poor decision on the writers’ part. The audience was not given enough time to bond with Troll!Jim before he entered the Big Final Battle that the audience had spent three seasons anticipating finding out how Human!Jim was going to win. 
Just as Jim fighting Gunmar alone went against the series’ emphasis on the importance of teamwork, Jim becoming a troll to fight Gunmar went against the series’ emphasis on how Jim being human - physically human, with the squishiness and ability to survive in sunlight that this implies - could give him an advantage against troll opponents, who aren’t used to fighting humans who have sufficient armour, weaponry, and training to not be immediately overrun. 
Jim’s strategic thinking and the different culture of his upbringing still allows him to come up with strategies that a troll raised among trolls wouldn’t think of, but the physical advantages and disadvantages of being a human fighting a troll have been cast aside, and now he’s just a smaller troll fighting a bigger troll. 
This can still result in cool fight scenes, but when opponents start out with extreme differences in size, strength, and fighting style, reducing the contrast between them makes their fights less visually and narratively interesting than they could have been if the original extreme contrast was left alone. 
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In case it is not visible, the clipped article from Springhole in the screenshots above reads as follows. 
[begin screenshot 1 of 2, medium-blue text on pale blue background] 
What can undermine a character’s perceived empowerment: 
These are some tropes and traits that can potentially undermine this character being perceived as empowered or empowering by audiences. Some issues to watch out for include: 
The “empowering” traits come from something that happened without the character’s consent. 
For example, by being forced to undergo experimentation or training that gives the character new powers or skills. It’s important to note that this isn’t always bad, especially if the character uses these traits to gain freedom. However, it can still leave a bad taste in some people’s mouths, especially if what happened to the character was especially brutal or torturous, or if the character isn’t actually responsible for getting free. 
[end screenshot 1 of 2] [begin screenshot 2 of 2, same colour scheme, medium-blue text on pale blue background]
The “empowering” traits are not actually within the character’s control, or they even cause the character to lose agency.
For example, if the character’s powers only manifest under high stress whether the character likes it or not, or only manifest at random or at the whim of another*, or if they force the character into a mindless berserker-like state**, or are just generally too unstable to have proper control over.
The empowering traits come packed along with significantly disempowering ones.
For example, a procedure that gave a character awesome powers also caused such severe mental damage that near-constant supervision is required to prevent the character from doing something disastrous, or the character’s powers often end up causing severe weakness or a loss of consciousness.
[end screenshot 2 of 2]
*The Amulet of Daylight and Merlin’s ability to manipulate it also come to mind. Although Jim does develop skill in controlling the Amulet after its erratic behaviour in the early episodes, the way that Merlin wrested control away from Jim was similar in tone to the moment in various superhero shows where a character’s power suit is ‘hacked’. 
** This is why Strickler dosing Jim with Grave Sand wasn’t an empowering scene. (To my knowledge, no one’s been arguing that it was; I’m just giving an example.) Jim had little control of the situation even before he was drugged, and less afterwards. This was presented in the show as a bad thing, so having Merlin later do something similar and trying to present it as a good thing is jarring.
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On a tangentially related note, I noted in Jim’s one appearance in 3Below Season Two that he’s still wearing the Eclipse Armour, even though Gunmar is dead and Jim doesn’t need the Triumbric Stones anymore. 
Palette swaps are one of the cheapest ways to change an animation model, so unless the studio was already over-budget, this suggests there was a narrative reason why Daylight wasn’t in use instead. 
I posit that Jim has decided to keep using the ‘for the doom of Gunmar’ incantation because he doesn’t really feel like saying ‘for the glory of Merlin’ anymore. 
Or he still hasn’t managed to get the armour off since the Eternal Night, but I like this other idea better.
(Queued/posted before Wizards aired and potentially confirmed or refuted this.)
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If I recall correctly, and if this information is still accurate, tumblr only shows Original Posts on the main page of the first five tags listed, to prevent people from tag-spamming to get on as many pages as possible. 
As such, I have put the #Troll Jim tag low in the list, so it will still be searchable on my blog - I file reblogs of content both for and against Jim’s transformation under that tag - but this post should not be hassling the pro-Troll!Jim contingent by showing up in the main tag. 
Let me know if I need to rearrange things, or take that tag off long enough to let this post get off the tag’s first page.
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sillyfudgemonkeys · 4 years
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didn't Chie trip Yosuke in the anime though? (Granted it's a different adaptation and all but that did happen and I knew some folks who watched the anime instead of the game)
And this is the biggest downside to just watching or reading the adaptations, even if they are good they get things wrong and this is also why they aren’t canon. (heck P4GA doesn’t even include the DVD scene in the first ep XP tho that’s even more abridged than the other adaptations, they did alter stuff a helluva lot in that ep). 
Always keep in mind the game is the true canon, it came first, it’s what really matters, it’s the original character/plot/everything. Adaptations are fun, and nice, and a good way to get into the series or experience it, but it’s not the complete or most accurate experience (which is fine as long as people don’t start arguing over whatever stuff....*sudden war flashbacks to when the P4 anime first aired* orz). This is why, when I personally consume an adaptation I keep it at arms length, there are some I really like (P3 movies, P4 manga, P1 manga), but even they have issues. They should be thought of their own thing, but at the same time something that doesn’t replace the source material. So hypothetically, Anime!Chie might be more of an asshole, and you can hate her, but there’s a VERY good chance that what makes Anime!Chie an asshole isn’t there in the original source, and thus it’s not fair to say Chie/Game!Chie (the original Chie) is an asshole because of her anime counterparts actions/writing.....because that’s now what Chie originally had (vice versa if you like an adaptation more vs the game, like I like what they did with Yukari in the movies vs the game but sadly it’s not canon, and all I can do is be sad in a corner ;w;)
But to get to your question, yes, she trips him in the anime to keep him from getting away, probably the most violent Chie is in this scene tbh (as for the game, the most violent is the camping trip and that’s pretty much it I think, but I wanted to make these posts after I replayed P4 one more time to make sure I got everything, so don’t hold this statement against me). Well most violent in a work endorsed by Atlus, the most violent adaptation is def the fanon one below. 
In the manga she comically jumps over a desk to cut him off but she lands on him (not violence per-se, cause it’s not a tackle more like a run in, but def better slap stick and would’ve chosen this over a straight up trip). Chie does however, well her berserk Shadow does, kick Jiraiya in the balls (which Yosuke feels for comedic effect), but that’s not Chie-Chie (just a shadow being an asshole boss, and the intended target was not Yosuke but his Persona who was attacking.....and we learned in at least the manga lore that Users can feel what their Personas feel so that’s cool), and also not canon. 
Only in the Hiimdaisy comic she kicks him, but Hiimdaisy isn’t accurate because 1) it’s a comedical over exaggeration (and that’s the point), and 2) def not canon it’s 100% fanon. (even tho it’s one of the best things in the Persona fandom tbh 8U)
But the OG/True/Canon Chie did not kick Yosuke, he ran into a desk, he was already running before she chased after him (which she only ran after him cause he ran away and was being shady), and Yosuke was clumsy (heck you can hear desk/chair rattling noises in the background of that scene). Chie isn’t a physically abusive asshole. She never was. If the anime gave people that idea, then it did a bad job. 
Btw since I’m at my computer now, here’s evidence of the scene in the original Japanese (in case people wanted/needed it):
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机 means “desk” and “kado” (got lazy with typing srry) means “corner.” Which is missing from english version. I’ll say it again, Chie didnt do nothin to nobody. 8U
Hope that clears stuff up. ;w; (btw I don’t have access to the stage play anymore I don’t think, so I dunno if the DVD scene appears in that either so that’s why I kept it out of this comparison post but yeah..... ;w;)
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