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What is the proper way to kill off a character in your opinion?


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FenixFiesta



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 11:33 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Anime has very few main character deaths. Main characters generally either just don't die or they are resurrected. I think a main character dying - actually dying and not coming back - that's the first step in the right direction of having deaths that mean something in anime.

Because for better or worst most writer's aren't "that great" to firmly establish a main character in a given series and not raise death flags.
It would be a daunting task to kill off a main character without in the long run said character becomes simply an "important secondary character that died" unless the death happens in the last episode (which in a way is different type of cheat as then there is no time for characters in universe to respond to the death)

In spoiler[Madoka Magica] spoiler[Homura observes Madoka's death endlessly, even if the audience does not "feel her death" the effects on Homura's psyche are pretty apparent and that only takes a single episode's run length to establish such a tale.
Madoka's Death "means something" in the narrative but probably not in the way you are expressing on how "death should mean".]
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TsunaReborn!



Joined: 08 Sep 2012
Posts: 4713
Location: Cheltenham UK
PostPosted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:19 pm Reply with quote
I agree that it's all about the context of the death and the effect it has on the rest of the show and the characters within it. A good example of this and of a main character death (unexpectedly) would be spoiler[Kamina] from Gurren Lagann.
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yuna49



Joined: 27 Aug 2008
Posts: 3804
PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 12:48 pm Reply with quote
leatherhead333 wrote:
But something that's bothered me recently is when I see characters introduced for roughly one or many two episodes only for them to end up dead before we even began to care about them.

One of the most profoundly moving deaths in anime occurs in spoiler[Cross Game], yet the character who dies is only present in one episode.
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar


Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 16935
PostPosted: Thu Nov 27, 2014 4:34 pm Reply with quote
yuna49 wrote:
leatherhead333 wrote:
But something that's bothered me recently is when I see characters introduced for roughly one or many two episodes only for them to end up dead before we even began to care about them.

One of the most profoundly moving deaths in anime occurs in spoiler[Cross Game], yet the character who dies is only present in one episode.

That is true but those sort of situations are few and far between compared to those deaths of well drawn out characters that had larger impacts on their shows.
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Fri Nov 28, 2014 5:59 am Reply with quote
That death also sets up the entire rest of the series. I remember going into that show not knowing about it, and I watched the first episode and was completely floored by it.
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Aylinn



Joined: 18 Nov 2006
Posts: 1684
PostPosted: Fri Nov 28, 2014 7:27 am Reply with quote
Cross Game does a good job at showing aftermath of this death, so even though this character appears later only in flashbacks or is just mentioned, one can see that this character's death has had a big impact on the remaining cast. It is also interesting that memories of this character inspire others rather than make them overly angsty.
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