3.2 KiB
[RT] The Promised Neverland 064
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Author: u/gbear605 history’s greatest story*
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Score: 22
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Created: 2017-11-18T16:02:35
Post:
Comments:
u/Kishoto [+4] (8 hours later)
Hmm. Can't help but be a bit annoyed at the classic "talking no jutsu" we see so often in media.
If you can't tell by its name, I call it that because Naruto does it. A. Lot. To the point where it's canon that he's uncannily good at converting enemies on the fly. He's not unique in this aspect though. In several forms of fiction (though anime is particularly fond of this trope) good guys often bring bad guys to their side (or at least convince them to make a Heroic sacrifice) by talking to them in a brief, intense conversation. Maybe even two or three over the course of a few seperate meetings/fights.
And I just can't help but rebel mentally at that thought. Don't get me wrong; people changing/defecting is entirely possible and can happen and be both well executed and driven mainly by the protagonist. I just don't think these intense, brief, argumentative bursts of emotional appeal should have nearly the success rate they do.
Normally, I don't complain about this but in a work that makes an effort to hold itself to higher realistic/rational standards, I adjust my metrics accordingly.
u/Dwood15 [+5] (23 hours later)
I think with the current situation, the guy himself doesn't actually want to kill the kids. He wants to be rid of what they mean to him, so being able to talk him down isn't as big of an issue, imo, than talking down a guy who just murdered basically all of Konoha.
u/Kishoto [+1] (a day later)
That's a fair point; I'm just thinking about the time scale here. This dude has been on his own for years now; these notions have had time to embed themselves psychologically and I just think it would take more time for him to be convinced considering he has a pretty strong sense of (at least) apathy
u/callmesalticidae [+1] writes worldbuilding books (a day later)
I’m not sure that he’s apathetic. Whenever we get a glimpse into his head, I’ve always gotten the impression that he’s conflicted but trying to convince himself that he isn’t.
u/Fresh_C [+4] (10 hours later)
I'm sort of reserving judgement until we see the full results of the conversation.
If it instantly changed his mind and now he's onboard with the kids, I'd say that's a misstep. Though we were at least given enough hints that this man wasn't entirely commited to killing them even before this talk, that it sort of works in this situation.
It's still not really the most elegant solution, of course. I would have preferred to see them either overcome his plots, or impress him so much that he began to have faith that things might turn out differently this time, or simply have him continue to fight them every step of the way, until he finally got his wish and the kids left for one reason or another.
But as long as this talk doesn't completely cause his character to 180, I'll consider it not a complete failure. Just a bit of a missed opportunity.