Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4444715-20190406160119/@comment-43757330-20191113032209

ChishioKunrin wrote:

Actually... I wouldn't be surprised if Bumbleby and Adam's death were already planned to happen from the beginning.

Well, to be fair, they do tend to cover their bases when it comes to shipping. They like to drop subtle hints of chemistry between multiple pairs of characters, without ever creating romantic ties. I think that's both to satisfy fans of different ships, while not ostrasizing others, and to keep their options open for future volumes.

The thing with the BB stuff in V6 was that it was both abrupt and cut off some good development that was happening between Blake and Sun. Which, combined with the fact that the fans were clamoring for BB for the few volumes preceding it, gives it the appearance of being forced, rather than planned.

I don't know whether or not BB was planned from the beginning, but the execution, timing, and circumstances of it all seem very 'fanservice-y' to me. Maybe you're right, and it's just bad optics.

As for Adam, I would hope that they hadn't planned his arc to play out the way it did. Adam always seemed like a character they had no idea what to do with. Y'know, like how they'd introduce him at the beginning (or end) of a volume, and then not follow up with him until way later? It's like they had plans for him, but couldn't figure out how to integrate him into the plot, so they shelved him, put off his character development, and haphazardly just threw him back into the plot for the express purpose of reminding us that he existed.

His appearances on the show always seemed to come out of nowhere. He'd just randomly appear, serve as some minor plot device, and the swiftly disappear again. When he was killed off, my first honest reaction was, "what was the point of this character other than to periodically traumatize Yang and Blake?" And to this day, I still can't answer that question.

ChishioKunrin wrote:

They never intended for the show to stay dark, so take that how you will. They said in a pre-Volume 4 Q&A that the show will have its light and dark "just like real life".

I don't think it needs to be dark all the time. I just, well, to be more specific, I wish they'd take more risks like they did in V3. They don't seem to be willing to hurl stones at the protagonists anymore. It's just going a bit too smoothly at the moment for my tastes. I personally think that calamity is what makes storytelling great, and I haven't seen much of it since the V3 finale. And when there is calamity, it usually just gets directed at background characters (like Ren's parents, Ozma's kids, and Sienna Khan). The main characters have a bit too much plot armor at the moment.

I find myself asking: Was V3 meant to emphasize that the world is darker than we had imagined, or was it just a shocking outlier that's never going to happen again?