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Old 2009-08-15, 21:20   Link #1
Timdog
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Is using willpower/guts a bit of a copout?

When I first started anime, I loved shows where guts and toughness won the day, things like TTGL and Hajime no Ippo. The biggest example that anyone can relate to (if you're an American) is the Rocky series of movies. It's all about having the willpower to continue that lets the main character win the day.

I LOVED these type of stories. But I'm starting to wonder if using the old willpower/courage concept is just an easy way for writers to finish a story. It just seems like it would be much more interesting if things were solved in a creative way instead of just whoever has more will wins. Plus, the concept of will winning out over everything else isn't very realistic at all. Obviously a lot of anime are not realistic with mecha, sci-fi and fantasy being common but it just seems like using willpower is such an easy way to solve the conflicts in the story.

When I looked at both TTGL and Ippo, most of the fights just boiled down to the main character having more will than the enemy and thus, they won. There were technical aspects thrown in (moreso in Ippo), but the one thing that won was willpower.

Am I wrong in thinking this? Is using willpower just an easy way for writers to conclude their story without attempting to have another, more creative way of finishing it?
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