Quote:
Originally Posted by Archon_Wing
Perhaps, complete is too much. But what about bad traits overwhelming the good so that it's hard to really take the redeeming qualities seriously like our poor Einshi before this episode?
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Well, for me, this is what it comes down to: A protagonist should be either likable or entertaining or interesting or some combination thereof. For me, a protagonist that lacks
any redeeming traits *and stays that way* will fail to be any of those three things.
Now, can you take a guy from total zero to somebody with redeeming qualities, and have
that work? Sure you can. Actually, that can be pretty effective, and even a bit uplifting. I've heard other anime fans say that (harem comedy notwithstanding) this is basically what
Love Hina! is all about, and on that level, Love Hina! works really well.
And to tie this back into Hanasaku Iroha, this is why I would have much preferred to see Enishi succeed here. He's a character that desperately needs to be built up a bit (in that Love Hina! way). I actually
liked Enishi and Takako last episode, which is why this episode was such a downer to me in some ways. Just when Hanasaku came so close to successfully rehabilitating two of their most widely disliked characters, they tear them right back down again. It's like capturing defeat from the jaws of victory.
0utf0xZer0 - I see some of your points. Should Enishi eventually bounce back, I'll go back to those points, and give them more thought. But as is, this episode leaves him in a pretty bad place, imo. And I'm not sure if he's enough of a focal point character to get a real chance to be built up from that.
Short version - It'll depend on how his character is handled going forward. Honestly, I'm skeptical here, but I hope that you're right.