Thread: Licensed Tari Tari
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Old 2012-09-28, 00:25   Link #1620
relentlessflame
 
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 41
Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple_R View Post
Ultimately, I do think Wakana is the main character in this show if anybody is, with the other four really straddling the line between strong supporting cast and true ensemble cast.
Honestly, it seems to me that "true ensemble cast" is incredibly rare in all entertainment. It's much more common for there to be a tier of character importance: the lead character (sometimes a shared-lead), the two secondary leads, and the one/two/three supporting leads. That's because you're trying to tie your narrative together around a common theme and developing five parallel narratives of equal weighting and tying them strongly together is difficult, both for the writer and also for the audience -- it can cause the focus to wonder and the central message to be diluted. Even writing five characters of equal significance to a single on-going plot is difficult. I'm honestly struggling now to think of any anime that does not follow that sort of pyramid pattern, particularly in a one-cour show. (Heck, this show even shows the pyramid point blank multiple times in the show. And if you want a really easy example of this pattern, look no further than sentai.)

(The only example of a "true ensemble show" I can think of right now is probably the American sitcom Friends, and that had a lot more narratives on the go and a lot more time to develop them. Plus, it was still fundamentally a sitcom, and less of a drama.)
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