SBLP Kyoichiro route

[waterscroll]

I see alias_sqbr is starting this route and will likely post one of their excellent and detailed reviews soon, so only a few notes from me.


The main problem that I had with it is that Kyoichiro doesn't really have a character arc, or at least not a very interesting or pleasant one. When we meet him he's a dastardly gentleman thief, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, while making lots of money from his day job selling European wares to nobles. At the end he's still doing exactly that, except also working for Nobunaga robbing rich monks and giving their ill-gotten goods to the poor and in the process making them look ridiculous.

Which I didn't love. I am Team Monks in every version of this universe, even when they are terrible, and am not inclined to cheer for them being shown up. Kyoichiro also had no particular internal conflict about it, so it didn't mean anything to his character development that he decided to do it.

MC, on the other hand, had a pretty decent character arc. She learns how to be a merchant and to negotiate from a position of strength, and she also has a chance to try robbing and redistributing. There's a fun scene where she tries to bluff Hideyoshi by saying that she is the thief Goemon, it doesn't work but it is fun to watch.

Mostly the story was worth it for MC/Hideyoshi. They keep trying to manipulate and use each other and end up in a fairly mutually satisfactory arrangement where he is helping her sell her medicines to the Oda forces. Along the way he manipulates her into robbing him and she uses him (and his armies) to help Kyoichiro get out of trouble with Saizo and Iga.

So it was pretty fun but I didn't end up that invested in Kyoichiro or the romance,

Not sure which I'll do next. Maybe Koujiro? Shigezane? Nobuyuki? Ieyasu? Or maybe I'll replay Nobunaga's act 3 to see the other ending?

Meanwhile in other fannishness I stayed up all night last night reading the Guardian webnovel, and damn. It definitely met my needs in terms of worldbuilding, lots of religion and myth and supernatural and epic world-transforming love. I can't imagine writing fic for it because the worldbuilding might be too intricate for me to really get a full handle on it through the translation, the tv show simplifies things enough to be more manageable. It's also more of an ensemble story, so more points of entry for fic. But I might not need to write fic, this show is so remarkably labor-saving in the way that it shows onscreen the emotional beats that I want to see, plus the fandom already has so many great stories in it.

Comments

[alias_sqbr]

Aw, I'm sorry to hear that, but sounds like it'll still be moderately interesting.

[waterscroll]

The MC is definitely interesting and worth getting to know.

[scytale]

MC sounds lovely, and so does MC/Hideyoshi! And the fact that she pretends to be Goemon in the route and it doesn't work makes me understand more the event story where she has to pretend to be Goemon.

*quietly ships Hideyoshi/totally-going-to-be-Goemon-sometimes-MC*

When we meet him he's a dastardly gentleman thief, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, while making lots of money from his day job selling European wares to nobles. At the end he's still doing exactly that, except also working for Nobunaga robbing rich monks and giving their ill-gotten goods to the poor and in the process making them look ridiculous.

Oh, darn.

I do wonder if the lack of character development is more common in the Shadow routes, where it (plausibly?) seems like the story is more about the MC deciding what to do with her life and coming to an arrangement with her LI.

And aww, I'm glad the Guardian webnovel was good! :D

It's also more of an ensemble story, so more points of entry for fic.

Oh, interesting. I didn't realize that would be a point of divergence.

But I might not need to write fic, this show is so remarkably labor-saving in the way that it shows onscreen the emotional beats that I want to see

Oh, yeah. I definitely empathize with this.

[waterscroll]

And the fact that she pretends to be Goemon in the route and it doesn't work makes me understand more the event story where she has to pretend to be Goemon.

Yes! The event story felt like it was payoff for that part of the route. I'm going to assume that eventually they are both Goemon and it's a fun game that they share.

Re: Guardian and ensemble: In the novel the other characters are there but I didn't find them as engaging. I thought the actors did a lot to bring them to life. I also liked the drama version of Ge Lan's backstory better. And I think the tragic interspecies lesbian couple wasn't even in the novel, or if they were I missed them.

The other thing is, Zhao Yunlan is a very different person in the novel and he didn't seem to care about his team as much. He was also a lot meaner in a way that I found a little offputting. And in the novel, as far as I could tell, Shen Wei doesn't have any friends or any other significant relationships at all.

He's also a very different character. Remember when I said that in the drama he seemed like he was either too good or too evil for this world or both? In the drama they seem to be going with him being good, but in the novel you definitely see the ways in which he is or was too evil for this world, and he gets one hell of a redemption arc. I ended up loving that version of him too, I can't say which one I prefer and I'm glad that both exist.

I should probably write a proper meta post about all of this, but to do that I'd have to read the novel more carefully and not in the middle of the night.

[scytale]

Ah, interesting. I really love the ensemble in the drama -- Da Qing and Zhu Hong and, uh, Shen Wei's fanboy whose name I'm blanking on. I really love Zhu Hong in particular, I'm hoping she'll have an interesting arc with the snake clan and her powers (and we'll drop her crush on Zhao Yunlan entirely D:).

I also liked the drama version of Ge Lan's backstory better.The other thing is, Zhao Yunlan is a very different person in the novel and he didn't seem to care about his team as much. He was also a lot meaner in a way that I found a little offputting.

I am so intrigued by those differences! I've heard that the novel has grayer morality, but Zhao Yunlan not caring about his team is completely unexpected to me. His protectiveness seems such a big part of his character in the drama.

But at the same time, I can also see a version of Zhao Yunlan that is meaner and less empathetic -- we sort of see hints of that when Shen Wei tells Zhao Yunlan he never expected to see Zhao Yunlan sympathize with a Dixing person (which I assume was a scene in the book too.)

Shen Wei not having any other significant relationships... that's sad, but I can also buy it.

[waterscroll]

I could so do without the unrequited crushing. I'm not even sure why it exists, thematically. Or character-wise, since although Yunlan is of course lovely we haven't anything special between him and Zhu Hong that would naturally lead to crushing. I am usually all about unrequited crushing but I feel like we have enough pining onscreen already thanks and I'd really rather watch Zhu Hong do something else. Like deal with her uncle, that was pretty cool.

[scytale]

I would have been okay with a platonic jealousy plot -- I think Zhu Hong values her seniority and her position very highly, and she can't lord it over Shen Wei the way she does over the real newbie and...everyone else. And she has enough insecurities about her own powers that I can see the department being tied to her self-worth. I think that some of her crushing is really platonic jealousy over who the boss trusts and favors...but I don't want the unrequited pining bit of it. D: Her character is much more interesting when she's scheming and being aggressive.