Filler Arcs

I have nothing against the concepts of fillers at all. It doesn't affect the actual story...unless it's written to be part of the actual story and did little to actually help the plot or characters overall.

Filler, on its own, isn't supposed to be spectacular. Efforts can be made to create it to the best of creativity.

Written filler at the time of the actual story will detract from the actual goings in the plot and character. It would be fine if it was just something small and meant little in the long run.

Filler arcs were written to fill in time to either catch up, develop more, or just outright padding. Typically, the audience would react badly. Again, it wasn't meant to win awards a la the Oscars. Fanfiction put in more effort than canonical filler, anime or not.

Fillers, at its core, did little to help the actual story overall.

If you know it's written to be such.

For example, the canonical Davy Back arc, which is not bad overall. It's a fun arc that showcased teamwork and introduced Aokiji. I don't hate the Foxy Pirates. In fact, I find them amusing and would make it to the New World out of sheer will.

A magnificently well-done filler arc came from One Piece's G8 arc. It's wonderful to behold. With each character getting an important role in some fashion and the marines are just as good. The writing goes outside the box of the formula.

I also heard Oda outlined the Ice Hunters arc too. It wasn't a bad arc overall because it foreshadowed the Marineford arc pretty well.

The filler arcs developed Hinata and other characters that weren't important to Naruto. Which ironically Studio Pierrot took back due to their almost mandated ending that is in no way could have been the mangaka's intention. It's an unnatural ending. Like I am aware that the 2nd half of Naruto had been under fire from fans, from editors, from even Kishimoto itself and the internal war between SJ and Kishimoto. I could sense something was off in the narrative where things should have flowed better with the original intent. I heard from Kishimoto that Sasuke basically rebel against him and wrote himself essentially.

Unlike the Naruto's filler arcs that were gone by the ending, a filler arc like the Orange Islands arc could be considered as such good. It introduced a new character who still worked at Professor Oak's lab to this day and have the most Pokeshipping hints with the second movie in that time frame.

Filler that did little to help the story but dragged the characters along like a dog that doesn't want to walk in that direction. Just looking at VLD S4 makes the writer in me cry a lot in frustration. It's not even the good filler that I mention above. The Voltron Show literally did nothing to help the plot and characters, not to see Hunk actually becoming a diplomat and applying that to the actual story, not giving Coran something important to the plot and character. Again, it's not a good Day in the Limelight writing at all. I have seen better including LOK. At least filler arcs like Ice Hunters or G8 actually develop onto canon and used the characters right.

In slow build/burn, everything written must be important. Get rid of repetition. If you plan to write a story, fillers must not drag or slow the story. Even small fillers had to help at some point. Even if it meant little overall.

Everything must be important.

A bad kind of filler was that of Steven Universe. I felt the slice-of-life factor was getting in the way. Listen, Durarara and Persona could be considered slice-of-life but I didn't feel anything was neglected because I am raising up anything I need and/or integral. The slice-of-life had to matter.

If the slice-of-life is written out-of-order and the characters' reactions unclear/unanswered (for example, Lars' family and girlfriend grieved...when Steven had the tools to rescue him. But no, draw out the Steven and Connie conflict to over a month and we didn't even see Lars' side of things like how on earth he got his new clothes. I like Space Pirate Lars as much as the next person but I want to see his journey to become a notorious criminal in the domain of the Diamonds rather than he telling Steven about his month-long rise to infamy. Not to mention, Lars is undead now so why the heck are they grieving when he was alive and well? Undead certainly and in dangerous territory but he's alive and Steven had Lion), then it meant nothing. This was a major problem with Steven Universe. Other than the status quo. It's one thing that the people do not know or apathetic (for example, many people had no clue of the Phantom Thieves' presence among them other than reacting to their actions), but it's another when you have a whole town knowing in some form or way that aliens are living among them. It's not a secret the Crystal Gems are there and that the Diamond Authority reigns. It's not a secret that the war was still ongoing.

However, peace seemed unchanged.

Seriously, I hoped to Godoka that the status quo and the same peace changed forever now the knowledge of Rose Diamond was acknowledged. Because it's stifling to see little change in Beach City when I have seen other works including the Persona series where the worlds are forever changed or acknowledged the change. Like Akihiko and Ken cannot bring back Shinjiro at all. Like new arrivals in Ikebukuro. Like All Might retire from the superhero scene and become a full-time teacher. Like the very fact, the arrest of Shido emerged a new wave. Like Sai disappearing. Like Apollo staying in another country altogether. Like Ema becoming a forensic scientist.

I could go fucking on but it just annoys me in Steven Universe. The slice-of-life factor isn't used well. Initially, it was great to use for character development but some time later, it became intrusive to the plot. I get the writers wanted to emphasize Steven's two sides but Holy Woman of the Beginning, the slice-of-life showed little tension in the overall plot. While I had a low opinion of VLD's writers, at least they can write tension. While I do think they had it all planned out, the writing is not that great. It could have been great but alas... At least they had great composition and made it as epic as they can because I love the beautiful animation that gave Keith, Shiro, Pidge, and Allura so very much.

I mean we could have seen Lars' side of things. It's one thing that it's unreliable and I seen unreliable narrator on TV. Teen Wolf and YOI come to mind. But there is little unreliable narrator because we are seeing things through Steven's eyes, not anyone else. Flashbacks were easily differentiated in the Revolutionary Girl Utena style animation. Which means that we wouldn't get the whole complete story of Pearl unless Steven literally went into her mind and we just did.

Even in games, we see other people's POV. In P5, we see Sae, Akechi, Makoto, and so many more without the protagonist in the scene. In One Piece, we are in the fucking Reverie arc for god's sake and we aren't returning to the Strawhats until it's over. We are instead seeing lots of important pirates and nobility in one place and literally, my heart cannot take the revelations we are getting. The Reverie arc would be close enough to Amazon Lily's arc chapters too so short but succinct and very revelatory about the current and future events. In My Hero Academia, we are now following the top ten pro heroes in Japan instead of the students of UA.

Okay, I'm complaining about that problem of Steven Universe like a lot of people. However, when I seen better narrator in other shows including a show that I had recently made clear I won't return to until the series ends (not One Piece, it's VLD), it's just distressing that Steven Universe was just drawn out way too long and unable to reach OP's level of writing. Even Kishimoto wouldn't reach this level because he planned stuff unless influenced. SU's idea of hints isn't as good as Oda's; it's more like drips than actual drops that Oda usually gives like for example, he made damn sure it's important that we know Sanji was called Mr. Prince and North Blue. He made damn sure we know Usopp's lies to the point people are expecting them to be true at this rate including me. SU was more ideas thrown and barely a consistent story. Art and little continuity was a problem. I still don't get the partying Amethyst does but it never made clear explicitly she made it up to sound more impressive. It's not like Beach City ostracized the Crystal Gems. Steven was still welcomed despite his heritage. There was little bullying overall too. Yes, the show dealt with PTSD and other stuff relating to war but Beach City is not affected by anyway when it should have, given how many people got involved accidentally or otherwise. Greg and Lars are involved, regardless. We don't get too crucial an examination. Even if VLD had troublesome missing scenes that would best put the show's emotional level better (for example, we don't even see the deal strike between Lotor and the Paladins at all. Only that Lotor was in jail and everyone was suspicious. We don't even get to see the reactions immediately after we learn of Keith's heritage in S2, just Allura's justified reactions and even then that's not a bit good because how wasted the writing ended up.).

Sorry, but it must be important. Unlike Horikoshi or Oda, the writing of VLD just stressed me out, not because of its unpredictability (I embrace unpredictability in writing), because of its less than impressive writing. There were times they could have shown great stuff and not show it at all. S6 was mixed for me. On one hand, it has tension and impressive writing for Keith, Shiro, Allura, and Pidge. On the other, Lance and Hunk did not receive better. One could argue Lance was getting negative character development and had yet to reach his personal arc until Earth. Show the important moments, forgoing things that will not be important. Show the emotional moments that are crucial instead of leaving it up to the imagination. Seriously, people were disgruntled we did not get immediate reactions. I like imagining reactions like any other person but I like to think of the people outside the fiasco, not the people who we should see since the very beginning.

If you want to elevate your writing to the greatest it can be, be sure to make it important to the damn story, emotional and crucial moments included. If you were writing from one person POV, then you are detracting from other POVs that are fun and crucial on its own. There was a reason why Zuko's story was so effective when we get to see Zuko Alone and so forth. Hell, Tales of Ba Sing Se was so popular because it showed Iroh, Sokka, and everyone else on their own mini-adventure, some more tearjerking.

First Impressions: Life Is Beautiful

Korean dramas and music were not my things. I can like certain beats and rhythm. I can like the execution of plots. I wouldn't put myself in a spot where I would know Korean knowledge beyond what I gleaned from the Korean idol industry.

I think this drama title is appropriate.

Just as a warning. I only saw clips such as the above video series detailing the homosexual love story with families' reactions. I only saw the clips and watched the first and the coming-out episodes. I'm actually in the second episode because Kdramas takes over an hour each episode.

Think of this drama as more of a family slice-of-life. There's no backstabbing, misunderstandings to a ridiculous degree, and soap opera drama. Even one of my favorites My Love From Another Star had an additional drama of a murder mystery with the main girl framed for murder. Thankfully, the girl's character development began in full-force, beginning to sell her stuff and rebuilding her career despite people calling her a murderer. She's not the murderer, by the way; that would be the current boyfriend of the girl she had a feud with. What's worse was that girl was pregnant.

I'm getting off-topic.

The family did get into tiffs, justified, or not. Regardless, they were close and genial to outsiders. Even to their would-be in-laws and outsiders. This is a family that sticks to their guns unless moved by reason. The grandmother took awhile for her to accept her ex-husband living with her. Technically, the two never divorced and she was still counted among the multiple wives.

Each family member was not perfect. They had their own individual issues like insecurities and stuff like that. Their decisions might seem selfish as sometimes the show painted it like that. Nobody was in the right when the family spilled out hurtful words. Although both had legit reasons for their behavior, none of them were painted in the wrong. There were lots of guilt-tripping though on the parents' end. Yes, even the homophobic mother who was pushing her son to break up with Tae Sub and come back to 'normality'. Her callousness of homosexuality was still there because that was still painted as wrong and still wrong. Even the homophobic uncle was almost kicked out if it weren't for the fact the guy was doing better. They do hurt each other and apologize for their mistakes.

I heard this series had been extended so plotlines were resolved but dragged on. The extension might be a detriment. It will just end up getting filler/padding to storylines that would already be finished in its original fifty.

Tae Sub's previous girlfriend was nice enough and Japanese too. Now, Japan is just as conservative as Korea. And the two nations still have a fractured relationship. I will not deny Japan's war crimes. Like many people, I want them to admit their faults in the wars. It would lead to a healing process that the world desperately needs. Germany was doing everything possible to say sorry including revealing people in the pro-Nazi movement and blowing up Nazi monuments. I would not deny the artists are just as capable of faults. I don't want to be consumed by hate and cynicism and disillusioned with life. Anyway, seeing a Japanese person albeit an immigrant treated with respect in-universe was good. Despite the hostilities, there are people who are trying to move forward. I just hoped to God that countries who had not yet admitted to their crimes come forward, apologize, and do everything in their power to make it up to their ancestor's victims. Yes, it's not just Japan in this factor, there's also Turkey who was much worse in this.

Not because of any complaints I got but I cringe that Tae Sub actually caught two people's eyes and an unwitting love triangle. He only goes out with Chae Young for a beard. He likes her but never quite attracted to her sexually. Now we were explicitly given that Tae Sub and Kyung Soo were gay. How about bisexual? However, there is also the fact they were beards and Kyung Soo stated as much he likes his ex-wife and loves his child, he felt like living a lie, making him gay.

I get the issue with the homophobia atmosphere and the familial support. I love Mae Jin so much. Her relationship with Tae Sub was more moving than the actual sweet relationship between Tae Sub and Kyung Soo.

Speaking of, this relationship just from the few scenes I seen on youtube alone was sweet. No kissing, just off-screen lovemaking and macking. Thankfully, it's a positive portrayal of an LGBT relationship and interactions with an open-minded family. Even the homophobic uncle got over it because he loves his family that much. Yes, there was no actual depictions of sex or on-screen kissing - I'm pretty sure the Koreans were not in the place to see it, unlike the Americans. LiB was made for a Korean audience just as much as MF was made for an American audience. That is the first thing you need to understand if you want to review a foreign piece of media.

Speaking of Modern Family, we didn't get gay kiss scenes for a while. In Korea, onscreen LGBT kisses would not be good for the public. Like they were getting better but not that fast. I don't think people would get the level of blase with LGBT yet. Japan had an issue with sexualizing LGBT relationships but at least they acknowledge they exist however bad the depiction goes. Certain, there are LGBT individuals who do have sex and all kinds of sex just like heterosexuals. Like it's fine for them to have sex. And it's fine to ship two fictional guys together; I don't ever think that shipping would ever go away. EVER. The problem with modern-day shipping is that canon material must be there for it to be shipping. Uh, no! There are ships for people who barely knew each other in-universe and others that are completely inanimate. Shipping two guys together are normal. Trying to take away shipping is like trying to take away food from another. Shipping is supposed to be fun, not activism. As long as you keep away from harassing and pushing it down people's throats, then it's all good.

The topic of homosexuality was that they were born with it. I honestly don't care if LGBTQ+ was born with it or not. Seriously why even debate where it came from? Why even debate on love? It's not like they can explain the twin gene or something like that.

Sure we got similar issues like a homophobic relative with a generally accepting family. However, these homophobic chose to do the right thing. These series both primarily focused on familial issues albeit in their cultural domains.

The other characters in the family had their own character arcs like the daughters and the uncles, not just the eldest son who was a closeted homosexual and trying to be a good son for society and family. Some of them romantics like the second son who was wooing his mom's assistant. A young mother's insecurities came to light as she struggled so much in her married life, keeping her husband on a short leash in the hopes of no divorcing because her mother divorced and her father never visited her.

I get the guy's reasoning to hide his homosexuality and his relationship even if it will cause great pain to their families and the society's view on them. The guys even had beards before they came out of the closet. I totally get Kyung Soo's previous relationship because that was what some closeted people did too; I totally get it. I heard stories. The relationship was handled tastefully, even the homophobia going on both families. I'm pretty sure there will be homophobia despite general acceptance. People can learn to get over it or not, taking longer or never.

From what I heard, Tae Sub's ex-girlfriend was homophobic - she blamed him too! - but quickly became support for him. SHE was able to get over it and it's nice to see that she wasn't too cruel or harsh on someone she knew now who couldn't love her back.

It's very bad since there was a possibility of Bury Your Gays had the story not written the acceptance of the Yangs towards the KyungTae coupling. The two planned to commit suicide if their families did not accept them. Tae Sub explicitly stated his intention towards his stepmom for god's sake.

Kyung Soo's actor is definitely handsome. I have to say that. Also, I found the brother CEO's love interest good-looking as hell. Also, Chae Young's actress is cute. They were the people who I find the most physically attractive of the lot. Perhaps add the silver fox of the brother CEO too.

On a side note, there is a bit of an abortion argument in this. I'm not even going to touch this because as much as I am pro-choice, I am stepping away from this with a major distance between me. I am not equipped to talk about this delicately, no matter how much research I took. Especially in a foreign country too. So I am not talking about this delicate topic.

Not every episode ends with a character tripping. Sometimes, they'll trip within the episode rather than at the end. The person is usually the one who has bad luck in that episode.

And this post was released during Pride Month too.