Because Oi, Hayaku! has gone down, I have taken my posts from OH! and brought them to MANiME for the sake of completion. This was the third official post in the blog, titled “Simple is Best”. I hope you enjoy.
Warning: The following post contains spoilers that aren’t really new anymore, so if you really don’t know the stuff in here, then you haven’t been keeping up with stuff. I mean, I’m out of the loop, and if you don’t know stuff that even I know, then you must be REALLY out of the loop.
A few days ago – though by the time this post is posted, it’ll have been two weeks ago – I had the pleasure of watching Forbidden Kingdom, starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li. In short, it was an awesome movie. But then again, that’s not why I’m bringing this up. No, I’m bringing this up to talk about simplicity.
Why Forbidden Kingdom is Awesome
One of the reasons why Forbidden Kingdom was, in my eyes, so awesome, was because the plot was quite simple. Of course, that’s not the only reason. There’s the fact that Jackie Chan is in it, the awesomely choreographed fights, a white kid as the main character (wow, who’d have guessed?) and some other stuff, but its simplicity was what I found so amazing. By simple, I don’t mean the movie itself was simple, but rather that the plot, the story, was simple. There were no secret sudden betrayals. No sudden plot twists that made no sense. There were the protagonists, and there were the antagonists. It was clear who was on who’s side. Nobody changed sides, there was no backstabbing and when people died, they actually died.
And when I watched this amazingly simple movie, the only thing I could think about was how refreshingly innovative it was.
The Point
Because, face it. We’re living in an era where a movie that doesn’t have some half-dozen plot twists doesn’t do very well. Virtually every movie has to have a plot that takes you halfway somewhere, then turns around and goes, “Oh, sorry dude, you’ve been going the wrong way,” and then completely overhauls the entire fucking process. Every character has a secret agenda, because the producers want to make a sequel, and the secret agenda helps pave the way. I’m not saying that multiple plot twists are always bad, of course. I enjoyed the constant side-changes, dues ex machina revivals and so on in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie, though I am aware that plenty of people had problems with the fact that they found the plot to be complicated. But I’m just saying, there’s just too much of it these days.
Take horror and / or thriller movies. It seems like at least 90% of them have a twist ending, one way or another. Oh, wait, Jigsaw is the old man? Wait, there’s another Jigsaw? Wait, the monster survived? Wait, this is all the main character’s delusion? Wait, the kid was the actual killer personality? Wait, the hero became the monster? Wait, Bill Clinton did not have sex with that woman?
Differentiating Between Plot Twists and Revelations
Now, let’s take this from a manga and anime point of view. We see plot twists quite often, whether it be seinen, shounen, shoujo or whatever other categories there might be. Let’s take a look at a few of them. Cause I’m too lazy to list more than three.
- Betrayal: So, the heroes are in a journey, nearly there to the boss of the season, when suddenly, one of them goes and stabs them in the back. Sometimes, literally.
- Betrayal-Betrayal: So, as it turns out, the guy that betrayed them didn’t really betray them. He was just being a good friend by being a double-double-double-triple-agent.
- Death and Revival: There is a saying in the anime community, “People die when they are killed.” This is sometimes followed by the saying, “In Sunrise, no one’s dead until you see the body.”
Granted, there is a difference between a plot twist and a revelation. A revelation is something along the lines of…
- “Wait, Haruhi is a girl?”
- “Wait, Haruhi is God, and you’re an esper, and she’s an alien, and she’s a time traveler?”
- “Jon… this child is yours.”
A revelation is something that’s quite clear. It’s the kind of information you might see on the back of the DVD box. Want some proof?
I thought that when I entered high school, my days of believing in aliens, time travelers and ESPers were going to be over. That is until she introduced herself. Claiming to be interested in only aliens, time travelers, and ESPers, Haruhi Suzumiya was the strangest girl I’ve met in a long time. Before I knew what s going on, I’ve been dragged into her weird club, and it looks like I’m not the only one who has been drafted into this SOS Brigade of hers, because there are three other students who don’t seem to be so ordinary themselves. Either way we’ve all found ourselves caught up in Haruhi’s quest to search for all things extraordinary. And what’s this I hear about us making a movie?
Basically, a plot twist is called a spoiler, while a revelation is considered obvious knowledge in the community. The timing is also important. Haruhi being a girl is not a plot twist cause you find out in the first episode, and because the DVD box tells you outright. Angela (from Sleepaway Camp) being a boy is a plot twist, cause it happens at the end and is designed to make you go, “MOTHERFUCK! SHIT! WHAT THE HELL, MAN?” and such. Both surprise you, but a plot twist seems purely designed to shock, while a revelation helps the plot go along.
Notorious Examples
The most obvious example to come to mind when dealing with plot twists is, of course, Code Geass. Or, to be precise, Code Geass R2. Code Geass, not as much. Code Geass was kind of like LOST, except LOST didn’t make sense. Virtually every episode ended with a plot twist in one way or another, which gave it the notorious status as a trainwreck series. Let’s show you some of them.
- Episode 2: Rollo is the pilot of the Vincent?
- Episode 4: Lelouch mindfucks Rollo?
- Episode 5: Nunally is the new Governor-General?
- Episode 7: The Black Knights are going to join the Japan Special Zone?
- Episode 8: There are so many Zeros?
- Episode 9: Zero captures the Tenshi? AND ORANGE IS STILL ALIVE?
- Episode 10: Lelouch is at two places at once?
- Episode 11: Gino and Anya join Ashford Academy?
- Episode 12: Shirley gets her memories back?
- Episode 13: PEOPLE DIE IN SUNRISE?
- Episode 15: C.C. loses her memories?
- Episode 18: Nunally got FLEIJ’d?
- Episode 19: The Kuro no Kishidan are a bunch of weak-willed easily-manipulated pussies?
- Episode 21: Lelouch is the emperor?
- Episode 22: Nunally is alive?
- Episode 24: Nunally can see?
- Episode 25: This series had a plot?
Okay, I admit. Not all of them were plot twists. Some of them actually… um… made sense? Plus, I only added in the plot twists at the end of the episode, or near the end, at least. Cause face it, Code Geass R2 had WAY too many to list. Besides, that’s not to say that I didn’t like Code Geass R2. The Code Geass series is my favorite anime series. Though I guess that says more about me than the series, really.
Really, nothing matches up to Code Geass in sheer plot twistage, but I’ll just list a few more anyways.
- Zero no Tsukaima ~ Futatsuki no Kishi: Satoshi gets Phoenix Down’d?
- Tower of Druaga: ANOTHER TOWER? Sudden betrayal?
- Bleach: Aizen is alive? BLEACH IS A POPULAR SERIES?
- Naruto: Itachi was a good guy? Tobi is Uchiha Madara? NARUTO IS A POPULAR SERIES?
- One Piece: ONE PIECE GETS LESS RECOGNITION THAN BLEACH OR NARUTO DESPITE BEING INFINITELY SUPERIOR TO THEM?
You’d think I’d list some more… but if you did, then you don’t know how I think. AND FUCK YOU IF YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD PREDICT MY THOUGHT PATTERNS. I’M NOT SOME KIND OF PREDICTABLE BITCH, DAMN IT.
The Biggest Plot Twist
Returning to the subject of Forbidden Kingdom, the movie had virtually no plot twists, which might explain why Rotten Tomatoes gave it a mediocre rating. Or it could be that the community of Rotten Tomatoes are a bunch of fucking morons who don’t know something fun when they see it, and deserve to be hung from a string and prodded with blazing-hot iron rods for 72 hours, and then another 72 hours. I support the latter, or would, if I didn’t have problems with this entire former and latter business. Yes, I know. I should be ashamed of myself.
So, in this day and age, what might the biggest plot twist be? Snape kills Dumbledore? Rosebud is the sled? Nunally is alive?
No, the biggest plot twist you can hope for in an anime is this… A LACK OF ANY PLOT TWISTS. Hence, Forbidden Kingdom was, in my opinion, a movie with the biggest plot twist. And it achieved that by not having any.
Why the crap can’t we have something like that these days?
Plot Twists and Your Mother
Plot twists did your mother. That’s how you were born.
DUN DUN DUN!
Conclusion
A personal opinion of mine is that an anime that is designed to shock, to surprise without any relevant plot is something that’s only good for one watch. Once you’ve seen the shocking secret behind an episode, what fun is there in watching it again? A series that is created simply with the purpose of making you go, “NO WAY!” It’s a one-trick pony and a one-shot puppy. For those of you wondering what a one-shot puppy is, it’s a puppy that gets shot once in the head. That often kills puppies, you know?
This age of plot twists is not one that is particularly beneficial. Nowadays, we’ve become far too accustomed with seeing things that have them that we’re uncomfortable when dealing with things that don’t have some kind of plot device that doesn’t make sense. Back to the example of Forbidden Kingdom, I couldn’t fully enjoy the movie on my first watch because I was constantly apprehensive. The thoughts that went through my mind as I watched weren’t “Oh, this movie is awesome!” but rather along the lines of “Who’s going to betray them? It’s not the main character. and it’s not Jackie Chan, cause Jackie Chan doesn’t play bad guys. I bet it’s Sparrow. Sparrow’s gonna betray them!” This, as you would guess, kept me from being able to view the finer aspects of the movie,such as the awesomely choreographed fights and the awesomeness that is Jackie Chan. The second time I watched it? I wept tears of joy. Or it might have been my eyes stinging from having stared at a computer screen for so long.
Really, this doesn’t apply just to Forbidden Kingdom. When I watch or read anything, the first thing that comes to mind is, “Who’s the traitor?” I’ve come to a point where I cannot imagine a manga, a movie or a book that doesn’t have someone betraying another person and a dead guy coming back for some unreasonable reason. And yet, I can’t imagine life without it.
The point I’m trying to get to is this. If you hated Code Geass R2 because of the continuous plot changes, chances are… IT’S YOUR FAULT.
