Your grammar pisses me off. Why doesn’t anybody understand the difference between your and you’re? Why do i have to see this every day? I die a little on the inside every time i see it
Nononono, Uniquenameosaurus, you have completely misunderstood the context behind all these dislikes. The REAL mistake you made in your Beserk video is glaringly obvious. If we reference he timestamp 3:15 in your orignal video; you refer to Bazuso as 'Medieval Dunlop Mascot' while showing a picture of the Michelin Man. As a Food, household and cleaning item mascot expert this massively upset me. The Michelin Man not only deserves to be referred to by name, but you simultaneously missed out a perfect opportunity for alliteration with the phrase 'Medieval Michelin Man'. This along with miss-tyring him is quite abominable. The Michelin Man has been around for years. Longer than you and I have been on this floating rock. He has been a pioneer in tyre advertising since 1894 and he along with his brother changed and revolutionised the world of tyres - helping create the wonderful tyre industry we have today. I hope to never see this kind of mascot erasure in your videos again. (in all seriousness, good on you for clarifying your points/clearing up misunderstandings. Takes balls and you certainly have them dude)
Y'know... your point about engagement and missing something that was obvious to others is actually fascinating. Think about it, that really obviously does seem to apply to everyone, doesn't it? I just never thought about it until you went on this small journey of self-discovery and thought - hey, maybe people are just *completely missing what others see in a thing*. Explains a lot, really. Your cat is cute, hope they're doing well. :3 Love the little grasses around the pen.
Reminds me of an article I read about Aphantasia: "Wait, you mean to tell me other people actually SEE what they're thinking about, and they're not using the concept of visualizing your thoughts as a mindless figure of speech?"
Wow, I'm glad you had the guts to come out and make this video. I'm so sorry your fanbase went berserk. It really put you in a Griffitacult situation. To Puck it another way, I god hand it to you for dealing with this so well Ok, seriously. I still love how you deal with your fanbase in such a mature way. If I could critique one thing in this video, it's that the reasons I like One Punch man and Marvel movies aren't for those big action parts, but for character, world building and unique characters. The action is there, but I care more for the characters doing the fight than the actual fights themselves, hence why Genos has so many good fights despite losing them all
That's actually a question, if you dont really appreciate spectacle can you invest in a fight for the sake of beating the odds and overcoming? Because I wonder if stuff like the sea king fight might just be seen as boring filler without the investment in the action.
I love one punch man but it's easy to imagine someone finding it boring. I mean it's basically an action scene after another with intervals of talking in between, which you probs wouldn't care about quite as much if you didn't get the "spectacle". It'd still be entertaining bacause it's also funny but it's not like the dialogue is absolutely mind-blowing.
To be honest, I just love the satisfaction of watching characters I dislike getting punched in their smug-ugly faces. If it's awesome, that's just a bonus.
As someone with 0 investment in Berserk and who only really watched the video because I enjoy your theories, I really appreciate your speculation on Mother's Basements video about Goblin Slayer. I'm really enjoying Goblin Slayer, and watching his video I found myself in total disagreement with basically everything he said but I couldn't pin down why. Your theory however very neatly explains it, and also provides me with a really interesting perspective on what it might've been like watching that video if I wasn't invested. So, y'know, thanks for the insight. Also, really like your theories, they're fascinating to me as someone who wants to create things whenever I stop being lazy about it.
Some people are upset that you can enjoy a story literally only about killing goblins. Its like when people get mad when you say you like sports. It doesnt need to be overly complicated to be enjoyable.
@@nullakjg767 Yeah but the goblin killing isnt the only enjoyable thing about it, you have to look at what gets the most screen time, and thats the characters, which means one should enjoy watching the characters if they like the show
Im not saying thats the only good thing. But its not a complex story. Its about a man who only wants to kill goblins. And a lot of people give it shit for not being about something more. It doesnt need to be. Goblins are murderous rapists and monsters, they did it to his sister, and we may not be so different from them after all. But none of that matters, all that matters is killing goblins. At least for now. The story only just started and if it were to go on for as long as berserk im sure wed see its about him learning to open up and find a life outside of doing nothing but slaughtering goblins. Until then we cant say but I believe there is a lot of potential. The same potential I could see in the first episode of berserk which I guess went over a lot of peoples heads when they watched it. Although not really because most people like the first episode of berserk also.
If anything, I admire you and E;R for sticking to your guns completely. The only types I can't respect are those who half ass apologies or do backpedal excuses like "its my opinion"
I think you sometimes take youtube too seriously, whereas I see it as a complete joke. But I watch your stuff. You make interesting points sometimes. Plus, I thought the first episode of Berserk was superfluous.
@@EZPZ_SoBadItsGood That's fair. To me it's a combination of enjoying PR as a concept and it being useful for learning how audiences react. Also i'm just a little self absorbed and want people to like me. juuust a little bit.
Yeah thats the benefit of a television show. Its not something to be judged by its individual parts. Its about how that piece works into the jigsaw of its whole. A story is more than just the sum of its parts. It would be like saying the godfather sucks because you were bored during the first scene of the movie.
@@HCYoa Yeah honestly its pretty annoying the cut off for enjoying something has to end at 22 minutes. Most people who watch these series dont watch them week to week anyway. That kind of anaysis is only valid for the duration of when the show is airing. Its annoying we have to go by whether or not the series provides instant gratification. "Why I hate the first episode of goblin slayer" or "why I hate berserks first episode" or "why the first episode of fmab is bad". Its like an exercise in defining a book by its a cover. And thats just gross.
I was so tempted to be like "This is bullshit" when I read those. But its just cause people thought i was making a statement about the manga. It'd be the equivalent of criticising episode one even if i only watched half of the episode.
My favorite part of Goblin Slayer is actually the character interactions, not the action. I especially love the continuing gag of people reacting to Goblin Slayer's eccentricities.
Speaking as someone who actually liked the last video, could I suggest 2 other fuck ups that you may have missed. 1. You swatted a bee hive you didn't know was there. Berserk has a rather, shall we call it, unique fandom. It's one of those rare stories that's so well made and executed that it's almost impossible to find any serious criticism of it (I'm only referring to the story here. Animation, adaptions, and so forth is a different matter entirely). This lack of criticism is a testament to how good the story is, but it has also bred a rather sheltered fanbase, because on those few occasions when someone does actually criticize the show, hoo boy, they better tred lightly, or else star in a reenactment of the eclipse. 2. The shallow reasoning behind not reading the manga This is the more egregious fuck up and really the one big issue I had with that video. You say towards the end that the impression you got from the first episode put you off reading the manga, because you were scared that guts would somehow turn into this shallow version of him you saw in the first episode. You're basically letting what I would consider to be the worst part of the anime prevent you from reading some of the best parts of the manga, and I'm not saying that last bit lightly. Guts's character continues to grow much further after the golden age arc, and I think that you simply brushing off reading those chapters really got under people's skin.
Your second point was 100% my reasoning for disliking the last video. The episode as whole was fine, but that last point sounded to much like the series after the golden age wasn't worth it, because the first episode of the TV adaptation wasn't great. It comes across as absolutely bonkers hill to die on at the end of an other perfectly good video.
Yea, Manga is very well liked so saying that you dislike it would be bound to create conflict I personally dont like manga as a medium so yea kinda get the same backlash as he did.
You're so good at self reflection that I have never watched your Berserk video OR Berserk and I actually really enjoyed watching this the whole way through. Also I had to rewind the video so many times because my ADD couldn't handle the cat
Your second point reminds me of me and my wife, how I love action and spectacle while she finds it boring. I can forgive a dumb story if the action is well done but she will space out. On the other hand, I can get bored of stories that nothing physically is happening while she is really engaged. It's why I love Berserk, it blends spectical and brilliant writing into one.
I'm not even super into berserk. I didn't really mind your opinion, and I don't enjoy you getting a ton of dislikes, but at least I got some cute cat shots out of it...
I really appreciate this follow-up, as it provides some good insight into how important first impressions are when it comes to media. While there are certainly merits to not completely showing your hand at the start of a series, you don't want to alienate a previous audience in hopes of drawing one that wasn't already there from the beginning. If anything, the anime is even more at fault for not alluding to the stronger characterization in the manga since it was likely being produced after those things were already established in the manga. I think episode 1 of Berserk is a really good first episode, but not for Berserk itself.
Good of you to address this. I do believe a lot of the comments were rash responses, due to the level of emotional connection they have to Berserk. Berserk (the manga and the 1997 series) are amazing at hitting yoi at your core and affecting you as a person. So I'm not surprised if comments responded hastily instead of really listening to your argument. I love Berserk and I was really glad someone spoke about that first episode in detail, bc it wasn't a great representation of what the story is and not a great introduction either
But...you were talking about the anime tho'? Like, I WASN'T EVEN WATCHING THE VIDEO since I draw and listen to stuff and I got that? Look, not to white knight, but you guys need to pay a little more attention? I'm sure he could just hold your hand and screamed ''talking about the anime sweet baby'', which he sorta did, but, c'mon? I totally agree that the anime's first episode is pretty terrible, the manga's good, but not the anime. Tho you should read the manga, it's fun! It has this weird thing where it sorta gets less dark as Guts gets stronger, cause I sorta imagine he doesn't want to let people around him get hurt anymore, so it's less dark as in the sense, people around guts isn't getting fucked up cause he's not letting it, cause he can now. It's just my interpretation tho'. Also, I read berserk a looong time ago and the stupid scans called Guts Gats, so I'm still stuck at calling him Gats. I keep having to rewrite his name whenever I talk about him.
@@QMMarc Sorry, not much to be done about that. Pink and purple are high in demand these days. If you apply quickly enough you might get greenish-brown within the next few months though^^.
I had considered crazy plot twists that seem earthshattering in the moment but don't make too much sense when you think too hard about them to be a form of spectacle, like endings in the danganronpa games for example. I do get a lot out of those sorts of engagements but not so much out of the type of spectacle described in the video, based on extremes. They must be two seperate engagements right?
Really cool follow up to your video. I haven't seen or read Berzerk so I can't really speak to the show itself but you talking about spectacle was really interesting to me. I have come to realize for me that spectacle is a huge core engagement for me. It's one of the reasons why I love RWBY (at least the first three seasons), why I love the fate shows, and why I really liked Mad Max. I love good story too but if you give me a dope fight scene you have me hooked. Bonus points if the epic fight scene has solid character weight to it.
I absolutely adored your explanation regarding extremes and appeal. Not to sound dramatic, but you may be the first one (from my perspective) in recognizing it and explaining it clearly. I'm glad that personalities like you with this level of self awareness and consideration are still around. Thank you! Personally? I suffer form an alternative case of extremes appealing to me. I need stuff to be dynamic and inspiring, usually in the form of spectacular stimuli in order to grab me. Mostly in animated or visual media (like a comic as well). I usually find myself bored immediately if the story isn't presenting any sign of fantastic elements or quirks to it. That usually grabs me first. From specific aesthetics to interesting bizarre premises. Realistic mundane dramas are off for me.
I think you just really like the Golden Arc because there was so much character development and arguably the best part of berserk, and when you see future guts his development is about reaching peak and makes it less enjoyable from something like the golden arc. I came to this because i had the same thought until ive took the time to read the manga
The rest of Berserk from that point is a really really slow boil of his character development. He encounters new people and places and becomes better for it.
Ok seriously this video is actually very very good. It taught me to now ask the question "what is the core engagement" when looking at a scene which honestly i think itll help me enjoy and critically think more about the media i consume
This video made me really curious about my biases because I don't like a lot of spectacle but then there are many others I love. This episode has me really curious right now.
I figured I was done with this video after 5 minutes, point made. Then you went into engagement via spectacle and I couldn't leave. I've noticed this with a couple of people I know, who lean into spectacle more than any other quality and it was really neat to hear you talk about your perspective. Goblin Slayer is very well engineered to set up and pay off spectacle. One-Punch Man is spectacular because of the nature of its protagonist and because that spectacle is part of the dichotomy that its story revolves around. Thanks for putting a pin in this and naming a quality of storytelling that I can look for in the media I engage with.
I think spectacle has two major branches. On one hand there's the realistic-action spectacle, which is based on the audience suspending their disbelief in a setting being "real" and then taking that to an extreme, like big armies of orcs or intense fight scenes with big spectacular attacks that carry weight apart from their choreography. On the other hand you have the more fantastical-codified spectacle like in Dragon Ball, Bleach, Fairy Tail, Star Wars, Avatar (specifically the powers that characters have, obviously there are a lot of other engagements in Avatar), Undertale, etc. So on one hand you have these massive fantastical elements granting characters power (typically in a "soft magic" style but sometimes with rules), typically in a very colorful, flashy way, but more importantly it must be in a way that ties into some symbolic meaningfulness _behind_ the powers. When a Shounen character gets a huge power boost from the power of friendship or a raging erection, it makes _sense_ in universe because their powers are derived from something like emotions that would be hard to capture in an objective ruleset, particularly for a teenage audience that doesn't understand their own emotions very well yet. Part of this engagement I think derives from a desire to seek greater meaning in things that aren't fully understood, which is why you actually see a lot of this engagement in religion/mythology. And often, the reason it's so colorful is because colors themselves can be a really engaging form of symbolism, since colors evoke emotions and natural associations to basically everything. I think that's why things like Avatar and Star Wars are so engaging, because they take something symbolic like the four elements or light vs. dark, and then they explore the meaning of those things through plot and characters (that are engaging for other reasons) while also tying these symbols into the aesthetic to the point where it's basically color coded into the world as much as possible without being jarring.
It's really interesting how difference in kind of engagement affect perception of product leading to some people develop crazy ideas just because they can't comprehend what others like. For example, I noticed that I really like action scenes in my media because I've participated in creation of those and boy, you can really appreaciate a work well done once you've been on the other side and trully understand how hard it can be to make them. So I don't see the gore or violence sometimes, but just be thinking "wow, that blood splash has some great movement" while looking at scene cuts and camera frames. This led to several situations where I showed something to my friends or relatives that I really enjoyed only to have it dismissed by "that's all?" or "I don't get it", wich really made my emotions run all around the place.
I was going to say, you should worry less about the youtube algorithm and more about making videos you are passionate about....but if this is the result of worrying about the algorithm.....I am all for it xD
I didn't watch the original berserk video because I haven't seen the anime or read the manga yet, and still I got so much out of this from your discussion of perspectives and engagement. You are awesome my man!
I started watching your videos some time ago and I have to say I really respect the way that you work and interact with your audience. I hope you're going to achieve even bigger success here on UA-cam and outside :) thank you for interesting and informative content!
Hey, this theory of spectical might give an even better idea as to why people love Undertale so much! Obviously the uniqueness of it all is still the core. But I like to think the spectical of all the final bosses made the game REALLY stick in peoples minds. You have a giant plant flesh machine monster with five human souls killing you repeatedly by taking over your save file. A goat god of hyper death using rainbows, lightning, and stars to kill you while you use your hopes and dreams to stay alive while refusing to ever actually die. And finally you have the weakest character in the game putting up the biggest and hardest fight for what might be the longest battle in the game in really creative ways. And in all of them the universe dies in some way. If that stuff don't count as spectical, I don't know what does.
TBH, I really think that someone else (or maybe you yourself) should make a character analysis series on yourself XD *Making a 7-part documentary about how your tastes differ with from others* Or I could just be seeing something strange/abnormal in something absolutely not noteworthy X/
Could you make a video that solely elaborates and explains the second point that I can send to people to explain why I enjoy shit like sharknado or why I get giddy when I read the Orc/gate scroll fight in GS
Love your videos man. Your videos are always entertaining I hope you'll do great and if you are reading this keep doing what do cause it's quality content.
I liked your channel for the ideas you talked about, but it's videos like this that really cemented you as great for me. You're self aware enough to admit that you can be wrong, and rather than blindly defending yourself you show actual maturity and try to figure out why. Even when I disagree with you, you have my respect for that.
man, you are really awesome! finding faults in your own argument and actually taking a step back and learning something new about yourself. its something I hardly ever see in a youtuber especially a theory-argument youtuber. you are simply amazing when it comes to your ideas and learning from what you see and please keep this up. ps..thanks for showing me cheers i still find myself going back to it
I would like to see a more formally made and edited video about the latter half of your video, about lack of engagement with spectacle. I think visual aids and more elaboration could make for a really interesting watch
i actually really liked this video, not only does it serve as a good pr video, trying to understand what you did wrong and why it happened, but you managed to make a really interesting theory about differences in engagement. this is why i like your videos, you are able to see some aspect about something that most others dont, (or at least, i didnt and i didnt see others see)
Okay like, did anyone else get that feeling of adjacent epiphany and greatness with him figuring out his bias? cuz like that just gave me the warm fuzzies cuz its so awesome when people figure shit out.
I tend to agree with you about not getting into the spectacle, usually I want some kind of strategic/emotional investment in any given fight and fights lacking both of those things I generally have no interest in, I'm also far less willing to forgive plot holes/bad writing for the sake of cool spectacles than other people I know.
If you're looking for break downs of classic western action and specificly action scenes then I'd recommend the UA-cam channel Rossatron. [Edit]: Also, there is some plot related purpose to the first episode being there with the theme, that the opening to every episode hammers in, that being the idea of fate. Kind of like FMA 2003's "for what is the value of a human soul?" "Is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that no man has control, even over his own will." And you're supposed to wonder why Guts hates Griffith so much and what could have possibly caused that.
Dude, I just wanna say I have a great respect for you. I watch your videos since the start and I really like how you try to improve yourself as a critic and how open you are about the process. I'm also very analytical myself so I also really enjoy that side of yours.
I just realized why I was watching this kind of video I would normally just skip because I don't have any reason to watch it, I haven't read berserk, watched the video, and I don't have an opinion. So I thought, 'why am I so engaged in this?' It's the cat. The cat.
This is a fascinating video ! I love how you think about different engagements. This is what I love about this channel, you never discredit the reasons for why someone loves something. When you don't get it, you try to figure it out. That is a fantastic way to look at entertainment. Thanks for doing youtube man.
when you talk about the idea of spectacle and scale, it always reminds me of whenever i would leave my small town as a teenager, i didnt leave my town much as a kid and when i did it was mostly just going from being in my town, to falling a sleep in the back of a car to being in like a resort..or relatives hours in the middle of nowhere...but when i started to see bigger cities in the UK and the sheer scale of buildings and stuff, it made me double take, i had to take a moment to take it in, the tallest building i had ever seen was my towns hospital, its maybe 50-60 meters tall and most other buildings aside from a few in my town where even close to that height. So when i remember going to manchester and seeing the height of some buildings there or going to london my brain needed a few minutes to re-establish the bar for what a "tall" building is...its why i believe shonen anime have such a big issue with power creep, because they arnt trying to engage in story 100% of the time so when their focus is engaging with peoples interest in spectacle and scale, the caveman side of my brain that looks at a big building in london and goes 'holy shit' ONLY DOES IT SO MANY TIMES...eventualy they have to increase the scale, increase the spectacle, because i have already seen the big building in london now...i need something more for my brain to do that. Because the universe in the anime already setup that the biggest building was X power level. so when someone goes higher my dumb brain goes 'ITS EVEN BIGGER THAN X BUILDING' ... the first episode of berserk does the inverse of this, it sets up spectacle and has you react retroactively, you see how guts is just a normal dude with a quite big sword in episode 2 and think...wow he must end up going through alot of shit to get to episode 1 guts...so it stretched out the expirience of you seeing the big building to a full season, it doesnt waste it like some anime do.
SPOILERS FOR ATTACK ON TITAN: its why the reveal toward the end of season 3 works so well, because every episode has existed in this BIGGER LARGER universe and the entire series has been stretching this concept out for ages.
its important to tie spectacle to a thematic/narrative aspect. that what makes it impactful. its the difference between a log going going down a dangerous river and a character doing the same.
This vid helped me see my bias as well. It is hard to accept spectacle. But I guess that it was a flashy surface level fight episode in order to captivate a broader audience on the surface level.
I think episode 1 creates a sense of dramatic irony and curiosity for the rest of the golden age arc, you watch it with the question, How does it all go downhill?, Eventually you become distracted by griffith and casca and the plot but when griffith activates the behelit you are reminded and it all falls into place, re-affirming the idea of theme that is prevelant in the series as before the arc even begins it is set in stone who these characters will become.
Listening to you in this video makes me really glad that I can still find engagement in spectacle. Love me some character driven dramas and dense plots but it's also just as much fun for me to watch explosions and sword clanging and smut and other crazy shit happen on screen regardless of whether or not it serves a narrative purpose
My favorite thing about the BlackSwordsman arc, anime or manga, is that it's there as a draw to people who love the spectacle and becomes a show of Guts's peak. It's made better to me after seeing what he goes through and showing us what he's fighting for.
If people have to use the manga to deflect a criticism of an anime then all they're really doing is admitting that the anime is unable to stand on it's own. Any adaptation is meant to be it's own thing. If outside sources are needed to explain, justify, or defend it then it automatically fails as an adaptation.
They dont, the adaptation was good. People are just saying it is fairly accurate to the source material, despite cutting out a large part of the black swordsman arc.
On the idea of spectacle, I think it's worth looking into things like action sequences to see WHY the spectacle of it hooks people. I think disecting those moments will enhance your appreciation of when it is done well. Looking at moments from KLK, for example, and discovering the amount of effort/talent, the creativity, the meaning behind specific shots, and similar concepts to these greatly enhanced my experiences with other shows/movies.
I respect how you took your time to make your argument clearer, many people on this site just spew stuff and expect everyone to like what they said, glad someone cares to actually discuss.
Those battles are not just chaos or a spectacle. They're key points, chances that can turn the tide for one side, intersects that drastically change plans because one struggles.
Before I start I just have to say I have so much respect for you for making these analysies about your own work and it's really admirable. That being said I wanted to give some feedback on the points you made and my opinions. I have already read most of the manga, past the point the anime covers, and I was under the assumption everyone got that you liked manga Guts and that this argument was only for the anime as the manga doesn't start the same way (not including the little prototype). On the topic of spectacle, I feel that a small minority of people are unaffected by spectacle. I am exactly like that and I won't watch shounen anime much anymore because I saw DBZ as a kid and now when I see some dude fighting another dude without anything else being emphasized (plot, comedy, characters, etc.) it feels like I'm just watching that since I've already seen it all. I haven't even finished DBZ for that reason. I, like you, also have no interest in the action movies you mentioned. It's also important to remember that Berserk is not a shounen, a piece of media targeted towards teenage boys, but a seinen, a show at adults. Seinen generally focuses on deeper stories and character exploration so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a Seinen to start with it's core engagement, not a spectacle hook.
Please do a video on Seven deadly sins. I think the core theme of redemption is really impact full, especially as someone who has read up the the current chapter of the manga and understands all the context of the reactions and interactions from earlier chapters. It all ties together well and I enjoy it immensely and getting a thorough analysis from you would be welcome. Seeing as how you are one of my all time favorite channels. Plus I think it would get views due to the community at large just begging for more sins content and it having a large audience. So it would benefit both of us, I get to see what you think of my favorite series, plus hopefully some criticism of it, and you get ad revenue. Have a great day!
Have you seen the first episode of Sacred Seven from a few years ago? I recall enjoying that episode far more than every episode in its first season until the finale more or less. I only ever knew why the series didn't engage me from episode 2 on; I attributed it to lack of character engagement and depth with regards to the main cast. The first episode however clearly does not have the character depth I was looking for, and all I remember specifically happening during the first episode is a shot looking over a lake with the equivalent of a firework. This brought to mind your suggestion that spectacle could be something people value distinct from character depth and story. The finale also featured a large-scale pseudo-mecha fight, as I recall.
I have dropped the Berserk manga, anime and movie pretty early on, but I got that you were solely talking about the first episode of the anime 1997. You nearly made me pick up the series again.
I was on bored with your idea. There are some shows and some Mangas that I'll start a few episodes/chapters in because the first 1 or 2 just don't get me in gaged. I'll usually go back and watch them later, I just need a different hook then the ones presented in episode 1.
As someone who has no investment in either version of Berserk, your arguements seemed pretty clear as to when you were talking about the anime and the manga.
I definitely think it was awesome that you did a follow-up video. I do think that a majority of westerners love the "spectacle". Almost all of the most popular anime in the west almost always includes fight scenes or leading up to some larger than the main character. When I try to suggest anime that are regarded as amazing and I also do love that does not include fight scenes to some friends they end up hating it. For example, I suggested Erased and Steins;Gate.
We love you, Unique!!! :) And we're learning right along with you. I'm one of those people who asks friends "why can't you just have fun" when they complain there wasn't enough story too - understanding that maybe I didn't see what kind of engagement they're looking for is a big insight for me.
I'm the same with not understanding spectacle...at least partially? I tend to be unengaged with it unless there's some other thing causing me to care, like said spectacle being a major character moment or something that has a major effect on a setting I already care about. Spectacle on it's own bores me, but spectacle being propped up by writing impresses me.
hi... um starting to like your vídeos mainly because of this reflection vídeo you made and i have an issue with your berserk vídeo that was not metioned here: you said at end that you coudn't pass the 20 chapter because you don't to pass through it if at end if you were gonna receive the teminator Guts(from the anime) afterwards and it just doeasn't make sense cause you said you like the manga Guts and it is confusing. that's all love your vídeos, please read world trigger bye.
So you watched Sword of the Stranger because you saw the final fight somewhere right? How did you originally engage with it? Was it just spectacle high level enough to breach your barrier, or did something different attract you to the scene? Did the overall engagement of the scene change for you after watching the movie itself? Btw, I love that even your goddamn PR vids evolve my understanding of how you analyse, especially in relation to core engagements. Getting an understanding of your biases and your ability to notice them makes your critiques have a greater context than most other analysts manage.
No worries man. I’m glad you made this follow up. Though I disagreed with the video, I can see where you’re coming from. Overlooking spectacle can definitely cause people to enjoy things less.
I thought you were talking about the anime until I saw the comments all talking about you disliking the manga, so I just assumed there was something I missed, lol
I will say the first episode got me to keep watching berserk waiting for when guts was going to go out and fight demons. Now of course about half way in to the series I realized guts wasn't probably going to get to that point in the 90s anime, but at that point I was enjoying the story for what it was and didn't care if guts ever got to that point. So looking back I could see your point on the first episode and yes the rest of the series was a lot better, but the first episode did capture me enough to watch the rest of the series. Anyways this was a great response video you did, and I love how you took criticism and recognized another element of storytelling which you call spectacle. That's awesome Dude!
Hmm, I didn't expect that sort of backlash either. Maybe it's because I haven't seen Berserk or that I have no strong feelings about the series as a whole, but maybe not. Your point about spectacle is something I relate to a lot. Most of the points you made were something that I find myself thinking as well. Somehow, the only superhero movies that I've actually cared about/seen in the first place are films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Infinity War. Somehow. As for Goblin Slayer, I guess I just dismissed it because, well y'know, "Oh boy another fantasy series." Overall, this video was great, both for the PR and for the theory-crafting. I love the way you theorise and write your video essays about different, you've changed my mind about so many things, I don't think I'd be able to count them all. I find myself rewatching your videos multiple times because I just love the way you analysed the subject, be it RWBY, Undertale, fanbases, or Boku No Pico (please do more shit like that). Love you and all your videos. Full homo. (P.S. Your cat is fantastic please do more videos with you cat in it)
Guess you could say your fans went _berserk_
*seinfeld theme plays*
That’s tough
@@reissharwood9362 That's rough (buddy)
@@enkidu1623 *curb your enthusiasm theme starts playing*
*Hai Yo Plays*
Your ability to talk about your mistakes makes you easily a top tier UA-camr lol
Your grammar pisses me off. Why doesn’t anybody understand the difference between your and you’re? Why do i have to see this every day? I die a little on the inside every time i see it
@@Greennoob2 That's how it is on the internet. Non native speakers find words like that confusing. Another example would be "would have / would of".
*your
@@Greennoob2 You can't really complain about someone else's grammar when you leave out punctuation in your sentences.
Moony my punctuation was fine. The only things i didn’t add were quotation marks because they don’t affect the meaning enough for me to care
Thank you for the footage of cats. It helped me not feel triggered while watching the video.
no replies? you fell off
Nononono,
Uniquenameosaurus, you have completely misunderstood the context behind all these dislikes.
The REAL mistake you made in your Beserk video is glaringly obvious. If we reference he timestamp 3:15 in your orignal video; you refer to Bazuso as 'Medieval Dunlop Mascot' while showing a picture of the Michelin Man.
As a Food, household and cleaning item mascot expert this massively upset me. The Michelin Man not only deserves to be referred to by name, but you simultaneously missed out a perfect opportunity for alliteration with the phrase 'Medieval Michelin Man'. This along with miss-tyring him is quite abominable. The Michelin Man has been around for years. Longer than you and I have been on this floating rock. He has been a pioneer in tyre advertising since 1894 and he along with his brother changed and revolutionised the world of tyres - helping create the wonderful tyre industry we have today.
I hope to never see this kind of mascot erasure in your videos again.
(in all seriousness, good on you for clarifying your points/clearing up misunderstandings. Takes balls and you certainly have them dude)
You could say it took GUTS :D
Kill me
Now if only a certain dude living in my mom's basement could be this wholesome about admitting when he messes up.
Y'know... your point about engagement and missing something that was obvious to others is actually fascinating. Think about it, that really obviously does seem to apply to everyone, doesn't it? I just never thought about it until you went on this small journey of self-discovery and thought - hey, maybe people are just *completely missing what others see in a thing*. Explains a lot, really. Your cat is cute, hope they're doing well. :3 Love the little grasses around the pen.
Reminds me of an article I read about Aphantasia: "Wait, you mean to tell me other people actually SEE what they're thinking about, and they're not using the concept of visualizing your thoughts as a mindless figure of speech?"
@@roadent217 Your comment led me to an interesting article, thanks for that.
Talking about *Berserk* and showing a 15:23 video about a cat....................GENIUS !!!!!
Wow, I'm glad you had the guts to come out and make this video. I'm so sorry your fanbase went berserk. It really put you in a Griffitacult situation. To Puck it another way, I god hand it to you for dealing with this so well
Ok, seriously. I still love how you deal with your fanbase in such a mature way.
If I could critique one thing in this video, it's that the reasons I like One Punch man and Marvel movies aren't for those big action parts, but for character, world building and unique characters. The action is there, but I care more for the characters doing the fight than the actual fights themselves, hence why Genos has so many good fights despite losing them all
That's actually a question, if you dont really appreciate spectacle can you invest in a fight for the sake of beating the odds and overcoming? Because I wonder if stuff like the sea king fight might just be seen as boring filler without the investment in the action.
I love one punch man but it's easy to imagine someone finding it boring. I mean it's basically an action scene after another with intervals of talking in between, which you probs wouldn't care about quite as much if you didn't get the "spectacle". It'd still be entertaining bacause it's also funny but it's not like the dialogue is absolutely mind-blowing.
'Wow, I'm glad you had the *guts* to come out and make this video.'
Dat pun...
This should be the top comment. So badly.
To be honest, I just love the satisfaction of watching characters I dislike getting punched in their smug-ugly faces. If it's awesome, that's just a bonus.
This video if done by Blizzard
*"you didn't like this video what? you have youtube dont you??"*
liking the video gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment....
Could you elaborate? I'm very confused.
Rip diablo fans...
Blizzard was devoured by Activision
As someone with 0 investment in Berserk and who only really watched the video because I enjoy your theories, I really appreciate your speculation on Mother's Basements video about Goblin Slayer. I'm really enjoying Goblin Slayer, and watching his video I found myself in total disagreement with basically everything he said but I couldn't pin down why. Your theory however very neatly explains it, and also provides me with a really interesting perspective on what it might've been like watching that video if I wasn't invested. So, y'know, thanks for the insight. Also, really like your theories, they're fascinating to me as someone who wants to create things whenever I stop being lazy about it.
Some people are upset that you can enjoy a story literally only about killing goblins. Its like when people get mad when you say you like sports. It doesnt need to be overly complicated to be enjoyable.
@@nullakjg767 Yeah but the goblin killing isnt the only enjoyable thing about it, you have to look at what gets the most screen time, and thats the characters, which means one should enjoy watching the characters if they like the show
Im not saying thats the only good thing. But its not a complex story. Its about a man who only wants to kill goblins. And a lot of people give it shit for not being about something more. It doesnt need to be. Goblins are murderous rapists and monsters, they did it to his sister, and we may not be so different from them after all. But none of that matters, all that matters is killing goblins. At least for now. The story only just started and if it were to go on for as long as berserk im sure wed see its about him learning to open up and find a life outside of doing nothing but slaughtering goblins. Until then we cant say but I believe there is a lot of potential. The same potential I could see in the first episode of berserk which I guess went over a lot of peoples heads when they watched it. Although not really because most people like the first episode of berserk also.
Well this is a cool comment. Do you mind if I smugly tweet this at Mother's Basement and brag about how i'm doing his public relations for him?
@@Uniquenameosaurus Only if it's EXTRA smug. I ain't gonna accept no semi-smug tweeting of my praise.
backing down after a mere 40% dislike rate! WEAKLING!
If anything, I admire you and E;R for sticking to your guns completely.
The only types I can't respect are those who half ass apologies or do backpedal excuses like "its my opinion"
I think you sometimes take youtube too seriously, whereas I see it as a complete joke. But I watch your stuff. You make interesting points sometimes. Plus, I thought the first episode of Berserk was superfluous.
@@EZPZ_SoBadItsGood That's fair. To me it's a combination of enjoying PR as a concept and it being useful for learning how audiences react.
Also i'm just a little self absorbed and want people to like me. juuust a little bit.
@@Uniquenameosaurus I sure do like SPAGGET
Real men make videos with *100%* dislike ratios! *And they laugh about it!*
Made in Abyss video when?
Asking the real questions
I didn’t like the first episode of FMA Brotherhood, still gave it a 10/10
Yeah thats the benefit of a television show. Its not something to be judged by its individual parts. Its about how that piece works into the jigsaw of its whole. A story is more than just the sum of its parts. It would be like saying the godfather sucks because you were bored during the first scene of the movie.
Same
@@HCYoa Yeah honestly its pretty annoying the cut off for enjoying something has to end at 22 minutes. Most people who watch these series dont watch them week to week anyway. That kind of anaysis is only valid for the duration of when the show is airing. Its annoying we have to go by whether or not the series provides instant gratification. "Why I hate the first episode of goblin slayer" or "why I hate berserks first episode" or "why the first episode of fmab is bad". Its like an exercise in defining a book by its a cover. And thats just gross.
Lol same finally got GF to watch fmab and holy hell I'd forgotten how slow the first 3 episodes are... Still a awesome show tho
That is understandable because that episode was basically fan-service for fans of the previous show.
Also, no you shouldn't HAVE to read the manga. An Anime should stand on its own two feet and not use the Manga as a crutch to deflect criticism.
Diceman82 You’re a 100% right
Good thing berserk 1997 is the considered one of the greatest anime ofthe 90s.
I was so tempted to be like "This is bullshit" when I read those.
But its just cause people thought i was making a statement about the manga.
It'd be the equivalent of criticising episode one even if i only watched half of the episode.
Finally, someone fucking gets it
Diceman82 I mean it’s like criticising a sequel’s plot because you didn’t read the precursor.
My favorite part of Goblin Slayer is actually the character interactions, not the action. I especially love the continuing gag of people reacting to Goblin Slayer's eccentricities.
𝕋ℍ𝕀ℂℂ ℕ𝔸𝕂𝔼𝔻 ℂ𝔸𝕋 𝕋ℍ𝕀𝔾ℍ𝕊
Oh god no, not the CAT
A cat is fine too
based and fluffypilled
Just lost "No Nut November"
NO
This is why you are easily one of my favorite UA-camrs and why I immediately watch your videos as soon as they come up. Keep up the amazing work.
At least you aren't Mother's Basement, refusing to take criticism online and calling any critiques alt right trolls. 100% hespect for you
At least?
MB is way too overrated
lol mothers basement seems like hes alt right.
i can't believe you'd define spectacle as a phone running out of charge.
disliked.
I know right, its more of a nightmare then a spectacle
@@tardigrade8019 A horror
Speaking as someone who actually liked the last video, could I suggest 2 other fuck ups that you may have missed.
1. You swatted a bee hive you didn't know was there.
Berserk has a rather, shall we call it, unique fandom. It's one of those rare stories that's so well made and executed that it's almost impossible to find any serious criticism of it (I'm only referring to the story here. Animation, adaptions, and so forth is a different matter entirely). This lack of criticism is a testament to how good the story is, but it has also bred a rather sheltered fanbase, because on those few occasions when someone does actually criticize the show, hoo boy, they better tred lightly, or else star in a reenactment of the eclipse.
2. The shallow reasoning behind not reading the manga
This is the more egregious fuck up and really the one big issue I had with that video. You say towards the end that the impression you got from the first episode put you off reading the manga, because you were scared that guts would somehow turn into this shallow version of him you saw in the first episode. You're basically letting what I would consider to be the worst part of the anime prevent you from reading some of the best parts of the manga, and I'm not saying that last bit lightly. Guts's character continues to grow much further after the golden age arc, and I think that you simply brushing off reading those chapters really got under people's skin.
Your second point was 100% my reasoning for disliking the last video.
The episode as whole was fine, but that last point sounded to much like the series after the golden age wasn't worth it, because the first episode of the TV adaptation wasn't great. It comes across as absolutely bonkers hill to die on at the end of an other perfectly good video.
Yea, Manga is very well liked so saying that you dislike it would be bound to create conflict
I personally dont like manga as a medium so yea kinda get the same backlash as he did.
“Think of a clickable title, boom- OH DEAR GOD!”
I relate to the mood of this line way too much.
"People say it's just my opinion then criticize other people's opinions"
Me: Yes, someone actually called it out!!!
You're so good at self reflection that I have never watched your Berserk video OR Berserk and I actually really enjoyed watching this the whole way through.
Also I had to rewind the video so many times because my ADD couldn't handle the cat
Your second point reminds me of me and my wife, how I love action and spectacle while she finds it boring. I can forgive a dumb story if the action is well done but she will space out.
On the other hand, I can get bored of stories that nothing physically is happening while she is really engaged.
It's why I love Berserk, it blends spectical and brilliant writing into one.
I'm not even super into berserk. I didn't really mind your opinion, and I don't enjoy you getting a ton of dislikes, but at least I got some cute cat shots out of it...
I really appreciate this follow-up, as it provides some good insight into how important first impressions are when it comes to media. While there are certainly merits to not completely showing your hand at the start of a series, you don't want to alienate a previous audience in hopes of drawing one that wasn't already there from the beginning. If anything, the anime is even more at fault for not alluding to the stronger characterization in the manga since it was likely being produced after those things were already established in the manga. I think episode 1 of Berserk is a really good first episode, but not for Berserk itself.
I got to say it because of videos like this that I think I feel in love with this channel
Good of you to address this. I do believe a lot of the comments were rash responses, due to the level of emotional connection they have to Berserk.
Berserk (the manga and the 1997 series) are amazing at hitting yoi at your core and affecting you as a person. So I'm not surprised if comments responded hastily instead of really listening to your argument.
I love Berserk and I was really glad someone spoke about that first episode in detail, bc it wasn't a great representation of what the story is and not a great introduction either
What is wrong with your cats leg?
I don't know shit about cats but it looks like the leg was operated on.
Yeah that makes scene :)
He said a while back that his cat had a condition that 'his kneecap was falling off' or something to that affect.
@@Tronplex Lololol, nah its "floating knee cap surgery"
It's where her kneecaps slip out and go to the side of her leg
@@Uniquenameosaurus oh, my bad, thanks for clarifying. Hope the surgery went well if that's what it was.
But...you were talking about the anime tho'? Like, I WASN'T EVEN WATCHING THE VIDEO since I draw and listen to stuff and I got that? Look, not to white knight, but you guys need to pay a little more attention? I'm sure he could just hold your hand and screamed ''talking about the anime sweet baby'', which he sorta did, but, c'mon? I totally agree that the anime's first episode is pretty terrible, the manga's good, but not the anime.
Tho you should read the manga, it's fun! It has this weird thing where it sorta gets less dark as Guts gets stronger, cause I sorta imagine he doesn't want to let people around him get hurt anymore, so it's less dark as in the sense, people around guts isn't getting fucked up cause he's not letting it, cause he can now. It's just my interpretation tho'.
Also, I read berserk a looong time ago and the stupid scans called Guts Gats, so I'm still stuck at calling him Gats. I keep having to rewrite his name whenever I talk about him.
White knight
But I agree
The knight of light skin-color has spoken. Shall his/her words be heard.
@@Rosmarus_Odobenus I...Can I be a pink Knight? or purple? I like that hue of colours better T^T
@@QMMarc no you take the damn color or you aint a damn white knight! Yeesh, ungrateful nobles... grumble grumble
@@QMMarc Sorry, not much to be done about that. Pink and purple are high in demand these days. If you apply quickly enough you might get greenish-brown within the next few months though^^.
I had considered crazy plot twists that seem earthshattering in the moment but don't make too much sense when you think too hard about them to be a form of spectacle, like endings in the danganronpa games for example. I do get a lot out of those sorts of engagements but not so much out of the type of spectacle described in the video, based on extremes. They must be two seperate engagements right?
Really cool follow up to your video. I haven't seen or read Berzerk so I can't really speak to the show itself but you talking about spectacle was really interesting to me. I have come to realize for me that spectacle is a huge core engagement for me. It's one of the reasons why I love RWBY (at least the first three seasons), why I love the fate shows, and why I really liked Mad Max. I love good story too but if you give me a dope fight scene you have me hooked. Bonus points if the epic fight scene has solid character weight to it.
I absolutely adored your explanation regarding extremes and appeal. Not to sound dramatic, but you may be the first one (from my perspective) in recognizing it and explaining it clearly. I'm glad that personalities like you with this level of self awareness and consideration are still around. Thank you! Personally? I suffer form an alternative case of extremes appealing to me. I need stuff to be dynamic and inspiring, usually in the form of spectacular stimuli in order to grab me. Mostly in animated or visual media (like a comic as well). I usually find myself bored immediately if the story isn't presenting any sign of fantastic elements or quirks to it. That usually grabs me first. From specific aesthetics to interesting bizarre premises. Realistic mundane dramas are off for me.
Uhhhhh, lets talk about this cat video
I think you just really like the Golden Arc because there was so much character development and arguably the best part of berserk, and when you see future guts his development is about reaching peak and makes it less enjoyable from something like the golden arc. I came to this because i had the same thought until ive took the time to read the manga
The rest of Berserk from that point is a really really slow boil of his character development. He encounters new people and places and becomes better for it.
As an avid consumer of spectacle myself, this explains a lot of the times when I've disagreed with critics as a whole.
The reason why I like OPM is because of its humour, not the action. Interesting video. Made me think a bit more about that.
Ok seriously this video is actually very very good. It taught me to now ask the question "what is the core engagement" when looking at a scene which honestly i think itll help me enjoy and critically think more about the media i consume
This video made me really curious about my biases because I don't like a lot of spectacle but then there are many others I love. This episode has me really curious right now.
I figured I was done with this video after 5 minutes, point made. Then you went into engagement via spectacle and I couldn't leave.
I've noticed this with a couple of people I know, who lean into spectacle more than any other quality and it was really neat to hear you talk about your perspective.
Goblin Slayer is very well engineered to set up and pay off spectacle. One-Punch Man is spectacular because of the nature of its protagonist and because that spectacle is part of the dichotomy that its story revolves around.
Thanks for putting a pin in this and naming a quality of storytelling that I can look for in the media I engage with.
Great video, it's always fun to see how your mind works on these things.
I think spectacle has two major branches. On one hand there's the realistic-action spectacle, which is based on the audience suspending their disbelief in a setting being "real" and then taking that to an extreme, like big armies of orcs or intense fight scenes with big spectacular attacks that carry weight apart from their choreography. On the other hand you have the more fantastical-codified spectacle like in Dragon Ball, Bleach, Fairy Tail, Star Wars, Avatar (specifically the powers that characters have, obviously there are a lot of other engagements in Avatar), Undertale, etc. So on one hand you have these massive fantastical elements granting characters power (typically in a "soft magic" style but sometimes with rules), typically in a very colorful, flashy way, but more importantly it must be in a way that ties into some symbolic meaningfulness _behind_ the powers. When a Shounen character gets a huge power boost from the power of friendship or a raging erection, it makes _sense_ in universe because their powers are derived from something like emotions that would be hard to capture in an objective ruleset, particularly for a teenage audience that doesn't understand their own emotions very well yet. Part of this engagement I think derives from a desire to seek greater meaning in things that aren't fully understood, which is why you actually see a lot of this engagement in religion/mythology. And often, the reason it's so colorful is because colors themselves can be a really engaging form of symbolism, since colors evoke emotions and natural associations to basically everything. I think that's why things like Avatar and Star Wars are so engaging, because they take something symbolic like the four elements or light vs. dark, and then they explore the meaning of those things through plot and characters (that are engaging for other reasons) while also tying these symbols into the aesthetic to the point where it's basically color coded into the world as much as possible without being jarring.
It's really interesting how difference in kind of engagement affect perception of product leading to some people develop crazy ideas just because they can't comprehend what others like.
For example, I noticed that I really like action scenes in my media because I've participated in creation of those and boy, you can really appreaciate a work well done once you've been on the other side and trully understand how hard it can be to make them. So I don't see the gore or violence sometimes, but just be thinking "wow, that blood splash has some great movement" while looking at scene cuts and camera frames. This led to several situations where I showed something to my friends or relatives that I really enjoyed only to have it dismissed by "that's all?" or "I don't get it", wich really made my emotions run all around the place.
I was going to say, you should worry less about the youtube algorithm and more about making videos you are passionate about....but if this is the result of worrying about the algorithm.....I am all for it xD
I didn't watch the original berserk video because I haven't seen the anime or read the manga yet, and still I got so much out of this from your discussion of perspectives and engagement. You are awesome my man!
I started watching your videos some time ago and I have to say I really respect the way that you work and interact with your audience. I hope you're going to achieve even bigger success here on UA-cam and outside :) thank you for interesting and informative content!
Hey, this theory of spectical might give an even better idea as to why people love Undertale so much! Obviously the uniqueness of it all is still the core. But I like to think the spectical of all the final bosses made the game REALLY stick in peoples minds. You have a giant plant flesh machine monster with five human souls killing you repeatedly by taking over your save file. A goat god of hyper death using rainbows, lightning, and stars to kill you while you use your hopes and dreams to stay alive while refusing to ever actually die. And finally you have the weakest character in the game putting up the biggest and hardest fight for what might be the longest battle in the game in really creative ways. And in all of them the universe dies in some way. If that stuff don't count as spectical, I don't know what does.
TBH, I really think that someone else (or maybe you yourself) should make a character analysis series on yourself XD
*Making a 7-part documentary about how your tastes differ with from others*
Or I could just be seeing something strange/abnormal in something absolutely not noteworthy X/
I haven't gotten any of your latest videos in my sub box for a couple of months
Action shows the personality of a characters really fast and the things you can expect in the rest of the world.
Could you make a video that solely elaborates and explains the second point that I can send to people to explain why I enjoy shit like sharknado or why I get giddy when I read the Orc/gate scroll fight in GS
Seeing you come to new realizations like this makes me so happy. Your channel is great.
Love your videos man. Your videos are always entertaining I hope you'll do great and if you are reading this keep doing what do cause it's quality content.
I liked your channel for the ideas you talked about, but it's videos like this that really cemented you as great for me. You're self aware enough to admit that you can be wrong, and rather than blindly defending yourself you show actual maturity and try to figure out why. Even when I disagree with you, you have my respect for that.
man, you are really awesome! finding faults in your own argument and actually taking a step back and learning something new about yourself. its something I hardly ever see in a youtuber especially a theory-argument youtuber. you are simply amazing when it comes to your ideas and learning from what you see and please keep this up. ps..thanks for showing me cheers i still find myself going back to it
I would like to see a more formally made and edited video about the latter half of your video, about lack of engagement with spectacle. I think visual aids and more elaboration could make for a really interesting watch
i actually really liked this video, not only does it serve as a good pr video, trying to understand what you did wrong and why it happened, but you managed to make a really interesting theory about differences in engagement. this is why i like your videos, you are able to see some aspect about something that most others dont, (or at least, i didnt and i didnt see others see)
Okay like, did anyone else get that feeling of adjacent epiphany and greatness with him figuring out his bias? cuz like that just gave me the warm fuzzies cuz its so awesome when people figure shit out.
I tend to agree with you about not getting into the spectacle, usually I want some kind of strategic/emotional investment in any given fight and fights lacking both of those things I generally have no interest in, I'm also far less willing to forgive plot holes/bad writing for the sake of cool spectacles than other people I know.
If you're looking for break downs of classic western action and specificly action scenes then I'd recommend the UA-cam channel Rossatron.
[Edit]: Also, there is some plot related purpose to the first episode being there with the theme, that the opening to every episode hammers in, that being the idea of fate. Kind of like FMA 2003's "for what is the value of a human soul?"
"Is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that no man has control, even over his own will."
And you're supposed to wonder why Guts hates Griffith so much and what could have possibly caused that.
Dude, I just wanna say I have a great respect for you. I watch your videos since the start and I really like how you try to improve yourself as a critic and how open you are about the process. I'm also very analytical myself so I also really enjoy that side of yours.
I just realized why I was watching this kind of video I would normally just skip because I don't have any reason to watch it, I haven't read berserk, watched the video, and I don't have an opinion. So I thought, 'why am I so engaged in this?'
It's the cat.
The cat.
This is a fascinating video ! I love how you think about different engagements. This is what I love about this channel, you never discredit the reasons for why someone loves something. When you don't get it, you try to figure it out. That is a fantastic way to look at entertainment. Thanks for doing youtube man.
when you talk about the idea of spectacle and scale, it always reminds me of whenever i would leave my small town as a teenager, i didnt leave my town much as a kid and when i did it was mostly just going from being in my town, to falling a sleep in the back of a car to being in like a resort..or relatives hours in the middle of nowhere...but when i started to see bigger cities in the UK and the sheer scale of buildings and stuff, it made me double take, i had to take a moment to take it in, the tallest building i had ever seen was my towns hospital, its maybe 50-60 meters tall and most other buildings aside from a few in my town where even close to that height. So when i remember going to manchester and seeing the height of some buildings there or going to london my brain needed a few minutes to re-establish the bar for what a "tall" building is...its why i believe shonen anime have such a big issue with power creep, because they arnt trying to engage in story 100% of the time so when their focus is engaging with peoples interest in spectacle and scale, the caveman side of my brain that looks at a big building in london and goes 'holy shit' ONLY DOES IT SO MANY TIMES...eventualy they have to increase the scale, increase the spectacle, because i have already seen the big building in london now...i need something more for my brain to do that. Because the universe in the anime already setup that the biggest building was X power level. so when someone goes higher my dumb brain goes 'ITS EVEN BIGGER THAN X BUILDING' ... the first episode of berserk does the inverse of this, it sets up spectacle and has you react retroactively, you see how guts is just a normal dude with a quite big sword in episode 2 and think...wow he must end up going through alot of shit to get to episode 1 guts...so it stretched out the expirience of you seeing the big building to a full season, it doesnt waste it like some anime do.
SPOILERS FOR ATTACK ON TITAN:
its why the reveal toward the end of season 3 works so well, because every episode has existed in this BIGGER LARGER universe and the entire series has been stretching this concept out for ages.
its important to tie spectacle to a thematic/narrative aspect. that what makes it impactful. its the difference between a log going going down a dangerous river and a character doing the same.
THIS! this is what I like in a person and creator; the ability to admit when you've fucked up. Good on ya. I hope this goes well too
This vid helped me see my bias as well. It is hard to accept spectacle. But I guess that it was a flashy surface level fight episode in order to captivate a broader audience on the surface level.
I think episode 1 creates a sense of dramatic irony and curiosity for the rest of the golden age arc, you watch it with the question, How does it all go downhill?, Eventually you become distracted by griffith and casca and the plot but when griffith activates the behelit you are reminded and it all falls into place, re-affirming the idea of theme that is prevelant in the series as before the arc even begins it is set in stone who these characters will become.
Listening to you in this video makes me really glad that I can still find engagement in spectacle. Love me some character driven dramas and dense plots but it's also just as much fun for me to watch explosions and sword clanging and smut and other crazy shit happen on screen regardless of whether or not it serves a narrative purpose
My favorite thing about the BlackSwordsman arc, anime or manga, is that it's there as a draw to people who love the spectacle and becomes a show of Guts's peak. It's made better to me after seeing what he goes through and showing us what he's fighting for.
The one "apology video" I will always cherish because you honestly recognized the issue and it's not an actual apology.
If people have to use the manga to deflect a criticism of an anime then all they're really doing is admitting that the anime is unable to stand on it's own. Any adaptation is meant to be it's own thing. If outside sources are needed to explain, justify, or defend it then it automatically fails as an adaptation.
They dont, the adaptation was good. People are just saying it is fairly accurate to the source material, despite cutting out a large part of the black swordsman arc.
Except the adaptation is only meant to get you into the manga so you can find out more.
On the idea of spectacle, I think it's worth looking into things like action sequences to see WHY the spectacle of it hooks people. I think disecting those moments will enhance your appreciation of when it is done well. Looking at moments from KLK, for example, and discovering the amount of effort/talent, the creativity, the meaning behind specific shots, and similar concepts to these greatly enhanced my experiences with other shows/movies.
The eclipse is spectacular. The first episode is just a strong dude slashing a sword at some bad guys and a monster.
I respect how you took your time to make your argument clearer, many people on this site just spew stuff and expect everyone to like what they said, glad someone cares to actually discuss.
Those battles are not just chaos or a spectacle. They're key points, chances that can turn the tide for one side, intersects that drastically change plans because one struggles.
Before I start I just have to say I have so much respect for you for making these analysies about your own work and it's really admirable.
That being said I wanted to give some feedback on the points you made and my opinions.
I have already read most of the manga, past the point the anime covers, and I was under the assumption everyone got that you liked manga Guts and that this argument was only for the anime as the manga doesn't start the same way (not including the little prototype).
On the topic of spectacle, I feel that a small minority of people are unaffected by spectacle. I am exactly like that and I won't watch shounen anime much anymore because I saw DBZ as a kid and now when I see some dude fighting another dude without anything else being emphasized (plot, comedy, characters, etc.) it feels like I'm just watching that since I've already seen it all. I haven't even finished DBZ for that reason. I, like you, also have no interest in the action movies you mentioned.
It's also important to remember that Berserk is not a shounen, a piece of media targeted towards teenage boys, but a seinen, a show at adults. Seinen generally focuses on deeper stories and character exploration so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a Seinen to start with it's core engagement, not a spectacle hook.
Please do a video on Seven deadly sins. I think the core theme of redemption is really impact full, especially as someone who has read up the the current chapter of the manga and understands all the context of the reactions and interactions from earlier chapters. It all ties together well and I enjoy it immensely and getting a thorough analysis from you would be welcome. Seeing as how you are one of my all time favorite channels. Plus I think it would get views due to the community at large just begging for more sins content and it having a large audience. So it would benefit both of us, I get to see what you think of my favorite series, plus hopefully some criticism of it, and you get ad revenue. Have a great day!
Have you seen the first episode of Sacred Seven from a few years ago?
I recall enjoying that episode far more than every episode in its first season until the finale more or less. I only ever knew why the series didn't engage me from episode 2 on; I attributed it to lack of character engagement and depth with regards to the main cast.
The first episode however clearly does not have the character depth I was looking for, and all I remember specifically happening during the first episode is a shot looking over a lake with the equivalent of a firework.
This brought to mind your suggestion that spectacle could be something people value distinct from character depth and story. The finale also featured a large-scale pseudo-mecha fight, as I recall.
I have dropped the Berserk manga, anime and movie pretty early on, but I got that you were solely talking about the first episode of the anime 1997.
You nearly made me pick up the series again.
I was on bored with your idea. There are some shows and some Mangas that I'll start a few episodes/chapters in because the first 1 or 2 just don't get me in gaged. I'll usually go back and watch them later, I just need a different hook then the ones presented in episode 1.
As someone who has no investment in either version of Berserk, your arguements seemed pretty clear as to when you were talking about the anime and the manga.
Whatever’s up with your cats leg hope it gets better
Also I just figured you were mostly talking about episode 1
What I find a bit weird is that I think I fell in to the group that got what you meant in the original video
I definitely think it was awesome that you did a follow-up video. I do think that a majority of westerners love the "spectacle". Almost all of the most popular anime in the west almost always includes fight scenes or leading up to some larger than the main character. When I try to suggest anime that are regarded as amazing and I also do love that does not include fight scenes to some friends they end up hating it. For example, I suggested Erased and Steins;Gate.
We love you, Unique!!! :)
And we're learning right along with you. I'm one of those people who asks friends "why can't you just have fun" when they complain there wasn't enough story too - understanding that maybe I didn't see what kind of engagement they're looking for is a big insight for me.
I think I should try and create a matrix of engagement, and define engagement types.
I'm the same with not understanding spectacle...at least partially? I tend to be unengaged with it unless there's some other thing causing me to care, like said spectacle being a major character moment or something that has a major effect on a setting I already care about. Spectacle on it's own bores me, but spectacle being propped up by writing impresses me.
Speaking as someone who disliked the previous video, thank you for explaining your position. I (and I'm sure a lot of other people) appreciate it.
Wow I did not expect this. It shows a lot of character of your part :) Good job man!
Holy Crap, I have this exact same spectacle bias! I'm so glad you identified this. It feels like it could be its own video.
hi... um starting to like your vídeos mainly because of this reflection vídeo you made and i have an issue with your berserk vídeo that was not metioned here: you said at end that you coudn't pass the 20 chapter because you don't to pass through it if at end if you were gonna receive the teminator Guts(from the anime) afterwards and it just doeasn't make sense cause you said you like the manga Guts and it is confusing. that's all love your vídeos, please read world trigger bye.
you are my favorite youtuber because you are really honest and insightful
So you watched Sword of the Stranger because you saw the final fight somewhere right? How did you originally engage with it? Was it just spectacle high level enough to breach your barrier, or did something different attract you to the scene? Did the overall engagement of the scene change for you after watching the movie itself?
Btw, I love that even your goddamn PR vids evolve my understanding of how you analyse, especially in relation to core engagements. Getting an understanding of your biases and your ability to notice them makes your critiques have a greater context than most other analysts manage.
No worries man. I’m glad you made this follow up. Though I disagreed with the video, I can see where you’re coming from. Overlooking spectacle can definitely cause people to enjoy things less.
I thought you were talking about the anime until I saw the comments all talking about you disliking the manga, so I just assumed there was something I missed, lol
I will say the first episode got me to keep watching berserk waiting for when guts was going to go out and fight demons. Now of course about half way in to the series I realized guts wasn't probably going to get to that point in the 90s anime, but at that point I was enjoying the story for what it was and didn't care if guts ever got to that point. So looking back I could see your point on the first episode and yes the rest of the series was a lot better, but the first episode did capture me enough to watch the rest of the series.
Anyways this was a great response video you did, and I love how you took criticism and recognized another element of storytelling which you call spectacle. That's awesome Dude!
There is intrigued in how a man got to that point. What they didn't show us can be just as intriguing as what they could have.
Hmm, I didn't expect that sort of backlash either. Maybe it's because I haven't seen Berserk or that I have no strong feelings about the series as a whole, but maybe not. Your point about spectacle is something I relate to a lot. Most of the points you made were something that I find myself thinking as well. Somehow, the only superhero movies that I've actually cared about/seen in the first place are films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Infinity War. Somehow. As for Goblin Slayer, I guess I just dismissed it because, well y'know, "Oh boy another fantasy series." Overall, this video was great, both for the PR and for the theory-crafting. I love the way you theorise and write your video essays about different, you've changed my mind about so many things, I don't think I'd be able to count them all. I find myself rewatching your videos multiple times because I just love the way you analysed the subject, be it RWBY, Undertale, fanbases, or Boku No Pico (please do more shit like that). Love you and all your videos. Full homo.
(P.S. Your cat is fantastic please do more videos with you cat in it)
Aww poor kitty! What happened to them? And I fully understood your video, it's nice that you're explaining to people who don't though.