Just Things I Like!

Conversely, if you understand TADC as a story to take every single aspect, moment, outcome, and detail totally literally rather than in tandem with the thematic signficance it communicates. Or were looking for a more lore-driven story. Or were hoping for a more rounded exploration of its world and characters, a hollistic dive into the premise it sets up rather than a story barreling towards a specific end goal/a very pointed thematic stance. You're gonna end up disappointed with what you got.

And this is not a moral judgement, I don't think any expectation is at all more correct than another. I actually think my last point is probably even the most fair stance to have. Especially if you don't engage with any secondary material and just look at the show itself, since it doesn't totally establish Jax as a core focus until later in its run. Some storylines do feel very sidelined.

This is one of Ichika’s 4 star cards, The Beginning of Something New!

Like take this whole conversation.... it charmed me the first time, and even on a reread, it still made me smile. As bite-sized as it is, it's so full of N25-isms. Though both Mizuki and Ena have their upcoming talk hanging over them, they’re both attempting to be as “normal” as possible. Neither Kanade nor Mafuyu have been made privy to Mizuki and Ena’s promise, so they carry on as normal, with Kanade complimenting Ena and Mafuyu bluntly describing Ena's reaction. It really embodies what their regular dynamic is.

“Grace says he would like half of dome to be water.”

“Oh, is necessary for humans to have large amounts of water question?”

Small Eridian equivalent of a sigh. “No. Not needed for life. In fact Grace will die if he falls in water and does not get out.”

“Tell him we give him water in containers that won't kill him. Lots lots lots of water on Erid for Grace to drink.”

“No. Grace say he want water on ground. Also want it with excess sodium chloride compound so it will be unhealthy for drink.”

“Grace want this liquid for celebration.”

“Of course.” They scan it. “You have wrong liquid. This contain compounds which are poisonous for humans.”

“Yes yes yes. Grace say humans like feeling of being slightly poisoned.”

if the narrative and even Shiho herself seems to dehumanize Mizuki, I need more to balance that out that just the universe itself validating her. Minori specifically, needs to be shown validating her.

I was a year above most of them at school so they threw a "goodbye" murder mystery for me just before graduation, and about 2/3 of the way through the game we all realized that everyone had at least attempted to kill the victim. The game then shifted from "whodunnit" to "who succeeded in dunninit" which we all felt was not only super fun but above the usual level of narrative complexity for those games.

With the finale out now I think a central theme that I've recognized and really adore is "all of these characters are more complex than an audience would appreciate." They are all being squished into a child-friendly set of archetypes, be that by Caine, Jax, or metatextually, the fandom. Caine doesn't want them complaining, swearing or having sex, they just have to go on endless, mindless, youtube-monetizable adventures. He's the ringmaster, he puts them in a bright poppy's playtime ass stage and demands for funny to happen. Meanwhile, Jax doesn't want to address the dire reality of their situation and copes by playing along, treating himself and all the characters as flat archetypes with no internality, so that the elephants in the room can safely be ignored. The fandom, meanwhile, is quietly guilty of all the same things. "Why isn't my favorite character acting in accordance with my headcanon? Which characters are flatly evil so we can hate them? Will they achieve my perfect happy ending? Because if not I'll be mad about it."

It doesn't work. Because they're more complex than that. They're people, they need more, they have emotions and traumas and wants and needs. Ragatha isn't always cheerful, she's not just the mom friend, and she's not some manipulator either. She's a person, trying her best, and very often failing. Pomni isn't always anxious, she's a natural leader and she wants the best for everyone, but she's not perfect either. She's a person, trying her best, and very often failing. And Jax isn't just a villain, he's a very complicated ball of traumas whose consistent first instinct is to push everyone away, hurting others so that he won't get hurt himself. He's a person, trying his best, and very often failing. She might even be a girl. Zooble isn't just a grump, Gangle isn't just a wimp, Kinger isn't just crazy. They're humans. And humans aren't always good. They're messy, screwed up, complicated things. They're things that can't be flattened down to archetypes, no matter how much Caine, Jax, or the fandom wants it.

The fandom wanted a bunch of cookie cutter adventures with good guys and bad guys, but what we got is just a bunch of people, stuck together, their traumas rubbing up against eachother until something catches fire and explodes. And I think that's way more interesting. I'm glad the show is that. I understand not everyone feels that way, though. A lot of people wanted something less nuanced. But I don't think the show not matching your expectations is the show's fault. I think people just need to come at it with the right mindset. Meet the story where it's at.

A knock on the door, saying, “Are you in there, miss?" I stay quiet as can be