jellyfishhunter

Once you dabble with storytelling, dramaturgy and all tropes, you automatically start to dissect any media you consume, notice the patterns and wonder about it. You’ll notice what’s meant to be easy to digest, fast to setup and made to please the masses (like classic Shonen). You’ll notice when good authors try to make something new or take popular formulas to dissect them as a commentary or underline tropes.

Enjoyment is no science though. There’s more to a story than tropes and dramaturgical tools. You may like a certain theme or a system in its world building for example. I personally like well-written and deeply psychological characters with development. Or take one of the many slice of life things, that have nothing much going on, which are something like Zen for your mind. So even if the formula is bland and predictable, there can be other aspects that make one enjoy a story.

Ps: I love Higurashi, too. They established a pattern with deeply dark and psychological arcs, then they broke out of those patterns themselves by undermining their own patterns in ways I couldn’t predict. Also they layered their arcs in such a way that you always learn of a new, deeper aspect of the overarching story they were trying to tell.

Next ship: Invincible 2

Our enemies will tremble.

KC:D 2 was my GOTY of that year. E33 took away its spotlight, which I found pitiful. In my circles almost everyone knows E33 and follows the bandwagon of praise and most of them never heard of KC:D 2. Shameful, really.

I still have to try E33 though. I’m still curious what all the fuss is about.

I know them. They’re my neighbors. An interesting mix of cultures.