Ok let me put it another way. Lets just forget that Aila is female and focus on what ultimately ruined the fight.
You take this machine and pilot who have been built up as this unstoppable force, one who has easily and effortlessly defeated the heroes.
You add that the character in this case is psychic and can see attacks coming before they happen.
So there you have it our heroes are in a bind, they have defeated the invisible funnels but are surprised by the onslaught before them. They lack jets, weapons, and are down to one arm. What can they do?
Ohhh... the enemy machine... just... stopped. But that is ok it was a character moment I am sure once the pilot recovered we can get the rest of this... and... The enemy machine is chosing to fight hand to hand instead of using any of the funnels it still has or the ones on the ground (Yes it still had funnels left). You can still fly... no? Your just relying on a dodge that won't win you the fight anyhow?
So... the enemy is just allowing our heroes to win. There is no epic last fight... fine
Even that would have been fine if the battle or internal battle was more developed so it seemed more desperate.
So all this build up. For an anti-climax. Which is supposed to be the point mind you... Because Aila is a weapon created for war but is actually not meant to for it which is symbolized by the fact that she is a woman (no, not joking)... with the final move meant to represent love.
It HONESTLY feels like the writers actually wrote themselves into a corner both character AND fight wise. Since they had to rush both (but that is to be expected. They are trying to cram character progression into 10 minutes)
Character wise it is MOSTLY fine except that it was rushed. The manager went from someone controlling yet caring to heartless (in order to force the issue) too quickly. Aila went from someone independent yet controlled to someone who feels entirely dependent in a 2 minute span.
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Actually I should have saw it coming. But I just don't see women as "pure white flowers on a bed of virgin snow that should be kept from the bloodshed of war" so I honestly was rooting for Aila not seeing what they were going to pull because I kept thinking she was going to be a serious character.
It honestly fools me every single time. "awesome! She is amazing!" "We must keep her from battle, she is just a little girl" "Wait what? but... they are small boys and she is the fourth most powerful person on this team... Wait what is going on here?" "She might be putting on a brave face but inside her head she is screaming" "Ohh no... PLEASE no! She is my favorite character don't bench her PLEASE! PLEASE stop!" "Sorry, but we don't want you fighting anymore" "NOOO!!!" (also yes, the entire reason I can never get over it is because an anime I watched benched my favorite character because she was a woman... twice!)
Actually I think that is probably it. I mean I can think of other animes where the main character was female such as gunslinger girls, and the theme of "they shouldn't be fighting" is very present (though in that case it was because they were little girls).
I noticed last time we had this discussion all your examples came from a handful of shonen series
Ohh no, I fully believe that is true. I am sure if I expanded out it would change.
I mean in Ninja Scrolls the exact opposite occurred with the female ninja becoming more competent and her arc being on her shoulders for the most part (kinda). As well her "womanliness" was used more about her being isolated because of how deadly she is, rather then her being "unsuited" for it. Mind you there are other aspects I COULD talk about... but I mostly only care about competence and their ability to solve their own arcs. (If I remember correctly)
As well Fairy Tale is a FREEK when it comes to this as well. Lucy solved her own dang arc. (but then again, that is why I like Fairytale so much. I can actually be invested in both the male and female characters... and the female characters tend to be more interesting in this case... I find Natsu and Grey rather boring)
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Topic: I like anime, do you like anime? (Read 3147483 times)