pairings_tcg | Discussion 34

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Discussion 34

Welcome to another discussion round! It is a pretty straightforward game where I give you a question that you'll answer in a new comment for two random cards. Since this is a discussion, don't be shy! Feel free to comment on other player's threads too~

This week's discussion is...

"What sort of things do you enjoy in a story? What are some of your favorite examples of series/games/books with these things? Maybe other people are into the same things, so this could be a good chance to learn about and try out new canons! Just please try to be mindful of potential spoilers."
(Example: I love stories that are mostly character-driven, and which sometimes consist of several different stories taking place at the same time and intertwining. I also love things like time-travel, world resets, and supernatural/mystery stuff in general! Some of my favorite canons that incorporate these elements are: Kara no Kyoukai, the When They Cry series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Pandora Hearts, etc!)

Have fun everybody! You've got until August 25, 2013 to comment!

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I love ensemble casts! You know, a team of colorful heroes fighting crime and dealing with inner-team drama and the power of friendship. Like magical girl series and Transformers and all that stuff. Bring on the sentai-themes!

I also like sappy shoujo romances. <3

Character driven stories! But I think my most favorite things are nakama, friendship, love, etc. Most magical girl shows fall into this kind of thing, along with some idol animes like AKB0048.

i've always edged more on the shounen side of animanga, especially with friendship casts fighting evil together (like d.gray-man or persona or sailor moon or i guess, to a stretch, attack on titan). i've never really had a dead set type of what i read and watch, though! i always find something new i like in a series

with that said, because of it, my knowledge on shoujo is little to none. i've never been into the romance genre, but i generally find shoujo's humor funnier than shounen so if anybody knows shoujo that they think is drop dead hilarious, then i'll read it. i've read fruits basket, hana kimi, and ouran for example, and i have probably never laughed so hard

Edited (typos everywhere) 2013-08-12 03:50 (UTC)

Character-driven stories, friendships and familial relationships, aidorus, queer characters, middle school girls dealing with Some Shit, espahs.

lol basically raildex, zkc, madomagi, brs, aikatsu, etc etc

/steeples fingers together and looks into your eyes

Let me tell you about my love for survival game series. Oh, do I love them. I think they're an excellent source of unforced drama -- there's no situation more stressful than being forced to kill someone to survive, after all. I love the relationships that spawn from them, as some truly unique alliances can bloom in the heat of the moment. To me, it's easy to get attached to a character that's fighting for their lives (and occasionally losing), haha! ~~Also they're a good breeding ground for yanderes and we all know how much I love my yans...~~

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I love parodies! Canon that recognize the trappings of their genre and play with them and poke fun at everything from their character designs to the other series that run in the magazine they do (coughs and looks at Binbougami ga!) really make me happy. I like seeing how far an author can bend their own rules and how broken the 4th wall can get. It's probably just a nice break from how super serious survival game series can get, haha.

I like character driven stories too, but these are probably the most major and biggest pings I have. Murder or stupid jokes about their genre? Count me in!

i like basically any series that most would consider 'melodramatic'. i also like really character driven stories with concrete themes! some of my favorite themes are the sheer power of willpower. BUT the thing that attracts me most to any series is the presence of strong female characters. I can't like a canon if there aren't really interesting girls that I can relate to. I'm also really partial to horror, especially if it's surrealist or some kind of allegory, or has psychological elements..

some of my favorite series that fit this criteria are final fantasy x and xiii, which have awesome ladies, are very character driven, and have great themes. x deals with human power and sacrifice, while xiii deals with the power of free will vs. fate. Persona 3 fits this theme as well! And persona 3 has really awesome ladies, all with a lot of agency. I think any female could find one to relate to in p3. I also love .hack, especially the GU series which people really find melodramatic but i love so much ughughugh

and on the horror side, i mostly prefer games! particularly the silent hill franchise. 3 is my favorite. Rule of rose is also a beautiful game. the zero escape series of visual novels is also really amazing, i think everyone should play them! Anime wise, I absolutely love higurashi (i'm reading the vn now for the first time, even if i've seen the anime like 3 times since i was 12), red garden (which has really amazing ladies. really amazing), and i recently finished aku no hana.

Oh, god, but the problem is I like too many different kinds of things, and even if I like an aspect of something, it doesn't mean I'm going to like how it's executed by the series! And even if I don't normally like something, if the execution is done just so maybe I will! So you know what, Floor, I am going to ramble, just to make you suffer.

Some of my favorite things in a cast are moral ambiguity-- protagonists who do shitty things, antagonists who do genuinely decent things-- characters who are really fucked up on some level, and banter. Preferably combined. Tales of tends to be my go-to for some of this; the earlier games are heavier on the protagonists being really decent people, but as it progresses there tends to be a lot of fucking up and a lot of the cast having moments when they're tired or snappish or say the wrong thing or DO the wrong thing. And there's the bonus of lots of banter/downtime thanks to the skit system.

In terms of watching things rather than playing them, I tend to like quieter shows, or shows with a quieter, more character-driven feel-- where there are a lot of intimate moments that show us what the characters are like in a variety of situations that tie into the plot but aren't being driven by it. I tend to find a lot of overlap between that kind of hard-to-describe character moment and episodic series-- UN-GO, Petshop of Horrors, and Natsume Yuujinchou are the things that immediately come to mind for me, even though they all have a very different pace and focus. (But they also all deal with the supernatural and nonhumans to some extent, which is another huge plus for me, especially with the examining humanity through the lens of inhumanity.)

I also really like shows that just have a decent sense of humor-- whether it's meta (laughing at themselves while still taking themselves seriously enough that I can get emotionally invested) or through things like character banter, or something else entirely. Series that are all grimdark all the time I just can't enjoy most of the time because I end up feeling terrible if I get emotionally invested! Humor and a sense of hope/optimism even if everything is terrible helps keep me watching/playing/reading something. (It's how I stay invested in Amatsuki through a constant slew of OH GOD EVERYONE'S LIVES ARE TERRIBLE-- there's so much humor and friendship and a sense of determination to make things work out somehow. It's also how I can get through Suikoden II, which is one of my favorite games ever but has a whole lot of WAR IS TERRIBLE AND AWFUL FOR SO MANY REASONS packed in there.)

And… you know what, I have rambled enough, so I'm going to leave it there. If you're not Floor and you're reading this, I'm sorry. If you are Floor and are reading this, I'm not sorry at all.

Honestly, my favorite thing in a story is a character (main or not!) who has really close relationships with their friends and/or family! That's not to say that I won't enjoy a series without that element; I just really like it when it happens. It's kind of why I'm drawn to series like Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy XIII, and Tales of Graces (just to name a few that come off the top of my head)—those games pretty much revolve around friendship and near-familial bonds, and it's just always so heartwarming to see the characters in such relationships interact with each other. Basically I like cute and happy things.

Hmmm... I don't really have any fixed genres I like. I'm mostly first drawn by character design then I'll give the anime or manga 2-3 episode or chapters and if there's a character I'm still drawn to by then or if I find the story interesting, I'll continue it... XD;;

Though, I do tend to like stories with all kinds of twists and turns, and also parodies. Some of my favourites are 07-Ghost, Dangan Ronpa, Pitaten (the manga, not the anime. The manga gets quite dark in the 2nd half! The anime is cute but it dumbed down the story a lot and doesn't include the 2nd half! >_<), Ludwig Revolution, Code Geass, Kodocha, Zetsuen no Tempest and lots and lots more.

One thing I don't really like though is anime/manga that just go on forever... I don't really have the patience to chase something that just never ends!

NAKAMA and dreams, especially dreams! characters with a dream to do something--but it has to be stated as a dream rather than a goal cause idk goal is just?? something?? it's just really nice and ~inspiring for a character to keep moving forward and pushing themselves for that dream!!! basically shounen manga

i wrote my college essay on gintoki THIS IS HOW MUCH I LIKE

character motivations are really good too (which is why i just cant really like anyone in snk don't talk to me about snk)

I like action and comedy, I can get really annoyed when nothing really happens just talking characters wont do

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Let's see.

I am a sucker for good worldbuilding. I love fantasy and SF anime that goes somewhere new and different or puts a spin on the familiar. Something that treats the setting as just as much a part of the story as the cast.

I like shows with ensemble casts, especially ones with lots of female friendships. Partially because it often seems like anime with male main characters push the women into support roles, rather than giving them the chance to be awesome too. Anime and manga about women or about groups that include women tend to do better. This isn't a deal-breaker -- I am so fond of Digimon, despite the fact there are seasons where the show gets to be Hero + Rival + those other people -- but it's something I appreciate.

... This is also why I probably gravitate towards magical girl anime. And shoujo with action, if the female lead gets to be a heroine of her own story, rather than be guarded by her harem of potential love interests.

I like romance, but only if it's done well. I'm not too much of a fan of 'will they or won't they' if the obstacles feel forced or like they could be solved by a ten minute conversation between people who trust one another.

A good mix of comedy and drama is also appreciated -- I like an ongoing plot with important stakes, but I won't say no to the occasional silly filler episode when it's not interrupting the pacing. Not that I don't mind the occasional episodic show if the show is more about the characters and world. (See, things like Mushishi or Kino's Journey... or even some of the Slayers episodes -- both do a lot of one or two episode stories that don't require much canon knowledge, but which are entertaining.)

"Hey Tot read/watch/play the thing." "What fine okay."

I love snappy characters and huge casts, but I also love no holds barred fights and epic journeys, adventure and romance and everything in between. In short, I am easy to please, and if there is someone watching with me the chances of me enjoying it are multiplied a thousandfold.

i'm a sucker for romantic subtext, or just plain romance! oddly enough, i'm not much of a fan of pure shoujo stuff most of the time; i prefer having the romance simply be part of the story rather than have it be the main focus. a good example of it is in uzumaki, where shuichi and kirie's relationship is important, but it doesn't overwhelm the plot!

My favorite narratives tend to be ones where the main character or characters have to overcome INCREDIBLE ODDS for victory. And they might go through a lot of really horrible things beforehand, but despite the horribleness they never give up hope and they shounen through their difficult situation as best as possible. It's just nice to see, after a million chapters of terrible things, characters finally achieving victory after working so hard! Higurashi is like, the best example of this.

I also love detective stories and mysteries (a la Umineko and Detective Conan, though Higurashi also falls into this category), and any series that manages to mix these themes with good slapstick comedy or witty banter to lighten the mood are ace in my book.

I enjoy romance, but tbh only as a spice to character development, haha. I'm no good with romances that take up the ENTIRE PLOT or are the main focus of the story. I love it when a pair's focus is fighting first and kissing later. I'm weird like that.

back in my baby weaboo days, I read shoujo almost exclusively. these days... I don't like Japanese stories much (anime or games, though Free! and AOT have me warming back up to anime).

I really love...a rich world, whether a lot of explanation or attention is given to it or not, witty banter, CHARACTER INTERACTION oh my god I love friendships so much AUGH and I also love like...fridge horror and psychological fuckery over physical violence and stories that have equal measures of awesome light-hearted stuff and really fucked up shit

i'm also a hideous sucker for courage/redemption stories and care very little for love stories

I like more serious series but when it comes to genres, I am more or less flexible and will try to give anything a try, if it seems interesting enough. I prefer psychological/horror/mystery series but I will appreciate anything with good story and/or awesome character development or seems just fun so I can relax. What I find most interesting is when stories shows conflicts, politics, human psychology and the like, though those can be handled pretty badly, too, since they can differ a lot from how I view things so it's really a hit or miss for me.

For me, it's also important that the characters have a lot of depth, aren't stereotypical and have flaws/problems, it makes them much more realistic. If I see a character is a walking stereotypes, chances are I won't be able to stand them. Character development and nice character interactions are also important thing to me.

I like more negative/cynical themes as I think I tend to relate/agree with the series more then. I also love themes about characters proving the impossible with their determination and will -- I think it's one of the few themes I can relate to. I don't mind a bit more happier stories but I often just don't agree with them as much and thus they're rarely my favorite series, they still can be pretty good, though. As long as you don't throw a super cheesy story at me that has nothing aside from cheese in it, I will give it a try. (Some cheese is good, but too much is too much).

I have to be attached to at least one character to enjoy a story. In fact, I've read otherwise terrible books just because I loved a single character out of them. Because of this, I tend to pick up only parts of series that involve select characters.

Final Fantasy XIII is currently pleasing me as I like almost all of the characters (Sazh and Hope are my favorites, but I haven't warmed up to Snow yet).

I don't really have a particular favorite when it comes to genre, though I usually prefer series that have a lot of action-packed moments with a mix of comedy and drama in between. That's not to say I won't try out slice of life; I happen to like a few, such as Free! While my current favorite series happen to have mecha in them, they are never the main reason; I just like the characters.

As for the cast, they have to be compelling and fleshed out. In other words, no generic goodie-two-shoes knights, no stock generic smug snakes, no damsels in distress as leading ladies, or the typical one-note villain who only wants world domination. I LOVE the following tropes: badass heroines, anti-heroes with a soft spot for a family member or a significant other, sympathetic villains, tsunderes that aren't the typical "beat the guy into submission for the sake of comedy", charismatic ladies, and a cast with shades of gray in terms of morality.

I love stories that have characters dealing in a war setting, and usually includes a strong bond or two plus a serious dilemma that they eventually overcome. Both Macross Frontier and Code Geass have what I described and my favorite characters are in them; Lelouch vi Britannia as the manipulative anti-hero who's willing to kill people to form a better world for his sister, and Sheryl Nome as the confident idol singer who wants to continue singing so people can remember her and be uplifted by her songs at a time of war. Lelouch and Sheryl are from Code Geass and Macross Frontier, respectively.

Haha, well, my number one lame ping is vampires, and I'm willing to give pretty much anything with vampires a chance, honestly. There's something about the issues and symbolism behind vampirism that just really appeal to me, so I'll sit through really shitty vampire series for them...

But on a less indulgent (??) note, I'm guaranteed to watch a show if there's a female character in it who has questionable morals and a tragic past, more or less. It's not really that I like yanderes, but rather, I like series with sympathetic female villains, and especially those that use their sexuality to their benefit. It interests me a lot!

OH WHOOPS I forgot examples, but a nice combination of the two is Blood+ for Diva alone (I don't care for much else...), but for the latter, I really love Eureka Seven (Anemone ♥) and TYPE-MOON as a whole.

Edited 2013-08-12 22:27 (UTC)

There isn't really a lot of consistency to the series i enjoy... at least i don't think there is? I really like cute, shoujo series with magical girls and sparkle effects but I also love violent shonen series with a lot of fighting and man-pain. I guess some of my favorite series are Hunter x Hunter, Precure, Shingeki no Kyojin, Cardcaptor Sakura, Princess Jellyfish, Dangan Ronpa, Fulmetal Alchemist, and Princess Tutu!

I honestly don't have any one thing that I enjoy in a series, though I love horror as a whole--especially horror games, such as the Fatal Frame series, Haunting Ground and Rule of Rose. I also adore character driven series such as Baccano! and Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

I am hella picky. Like so picky I don't know if I'll like something until I see it. And half the time I can't pick it up unless I've been spoiled since the first few chapters/episodes rarely grab my attention.

The main theme I've noticed in the things I like tend to be an element of what I like to call 'surrealistic realism.' Basically, the story itself has to have a surreal and almost dreamlike quality to it, but the characters have to be people. A lot of animanga, video games, and short stories you'd typically find in anthologies tend to manage this pretty well. Urban fantasy rarely manages to strike the balance just right between surreal setting and realistic characters so a lot of urban fantasy hits me wrong.

But it's things like Fullmetal Alchemist, the Fate/franchise, Uzumaki, Pacific Rim, Three Worlds Collide, the works of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, and so on that manage to hit the right notes to me. The characters read like people, while the setting they're in is very fantastic and surrealistic. I don't know what it is, but stories setting in the 'real world' tend to bore me. If I want real life, I'll go live it. If I'm looking into something to entertain me, reality can go out to lunch.

I love love love character-driven things. If something has characters that I like, I can watch just about anything. Honestly though, it's a really good story that keeps me watching, having a lot of characters just helps. I really can't think of things that have a pattern with the things I watch? Other than like... I love most Gainax shows. XD That's pretty much it though.

I watched Fate/Zero recently and really liked that, and I'll always love The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The Monogatari series is really good too, and since I just got into it a year or so ago I think I'm allowed to say I love Neon Genesis Evangelion.

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