AnimeSuki Forums

Register Forum Rules FAQ Members List Social Groups Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   AnimeSuki Forum > Anime Related Topics > Reviews & Recommendations

Notices

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 2010-06-06, 09:22   Link #1
Seiryuu
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Stories where the Enemy is within

OK, basically I'm wondering what good quest stories have a party journeying to face some great evil, and at the very end they find out that one of their comrades was the ultimate enemy all along, and had just been deceiving them. Note that the enemy deceived them, I don't want something like Hamelin where, if I understand right...
Spoiler:

Naturally, the term "villain" can be somewhat loose. One of the things I love most about anime and manga is that they generally recognize better than many that no party is truly and completely "evil", but that all sides have reasons to fight, even if their reasons are wrong or based on a lie or mistake. The person can have plenty of reason to trick his comrades and pretend to be on their side.

One setup I'd thought of, though I don't know of it ever happening in any work, has the party enter the enemy's home base, castle, etc. only to find that their enemy isn't there. Suddenly, a dear friend and comrade of the hero's, the party member he trusts most, thrusts his sword straight through the hero's back.
Seiryuu is offline  
Old 2010-06-06, 09:38   Link #2
Haak
Me, An Intellectual
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: UK
Age: 33
Doesn't going into a story expecting it kind of ruin the moment?

Well, I can only think of a book example. It's the first book of the Soldier's Son Trilogy by Robin Hobb, and to a certain extent the second book, aswell. But not the third book.

I think what you're looking for is The Mole.
Haak is offline  
Old 2010-06-06, 09:43   Link #3
Kafriel
Senior Guest
 
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Athens (GMT+2)
Age: 35
Mirai Nikki
BLEACH
Code GEASS
Kafriel is offline  
Old 2010-06-06, 09:53   Link #4
Haak
Me, An Intellectual
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: UK
Age: 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kafriel View Post
BLEACH
Code GEASS
Well that's kind of embarrassing. I completely forgot about them. Yeah i second them.
Haak is offline  
Old 2010-06-06, 10:23   Link #5
NoLongerSane
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Texas
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kafriel View Post
BLEACH
Code GEASS
I third these two series. Especially Bleach in what happens during the Soul Society arc.

I would probably throw in Betterman. The protagonists spend the entire series trying to try the spread of a deadly virus and what caused it in the first place.
Spoiler for Spoiler:
NoLongerSane is offline  
Old 2010-06-06, 10:43   Link #6
Repelsteeltju
DRRR!!
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: The Netherlands
Ga-Rei -Zero-
Yomi. ;_;

The Skull Man

In neither series the main character becomes the big bad or is actually defeated - for good. But both leads become powerful villains and are the big bad's of one arc at least. The Skull man doesn't have the main lead becoming the bad guy until the end though, since it's a prequal of sorts (to cyborg 009).
Repelsteeltju is offline  
Old 2010-06-06, 11:36   Link #7
SNT
Special
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Age: 34
Definitely Death Note.



------------------------------------ SPOILER ALERT! ----------------------------------------------





The main protagonist is evil (even though he thinks what he's doing is justice), and nobody knows of it. Oh, and he even 'joins' forces with the ones trying to catch the unknown criminal , just to backstab them ultimately.




I'd also second, of course, Bleach and Code Geass. Another suggestion would be Berserk, it fits your criteria, with on exception: the 'enemy' is actually part of a gang, until the last episode, when he does some very bad stuff to the others .
Unfortunately that is all that comes to my mind, if I remember anything else I'll let you know.
SNT is offline  
Old 2010-06-06, 12:11   Link #8
CeDeR
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Usa
Send a message via ICQ to CeDeR Send a message via AIM to CeDeR Send a message via Yahoo to CeDeR
Heat Guy J If i tell you anything else it will be completely spoiled but it fits your criteria.
CeDeR is offline  
Old 2010-06-06, 12:24   Link #9
CeDeR
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Usa
Send a message via ICQ to CeDeR Send a message via AIM to CeDeR Send a message via Yahoo to CeDeR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Repelsteeltju View Post
Ga-Rei -Zero-
Yomi. ;_;

The Skull Man

In neither series the main character becomes the big bad or is actually defeated - for good. But both leads become powerful villains and are the big bad's of one arc at least. The Skull man doesn't have the main lead becoming the bad guy until the end though, since it's a prequal of sorts (to cyborg 009).
skullman its a prequel to cyborg 009? didnt know that...dropped skull man maybe i will resume watching it.
CeDeR is offline  
Old 2010-06-06, 23:09   Link #10
Seiryuu
Senior Member
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haak View Post
Doesn't going into a story expecting it kind of ruin the moment?

Well, I can only think of a book example. It's the first book of the Soldier's Son Trilogy by Robin Hobb, and to a certain extent the second book, aswell. But not the third book.

I think what you're looking for is The Mole.
Yes, I think the Mole fits rather well, though it only specifies that one of the "good guys" is actually a "bad guy" spy or traitor. I feel the higher the character's rank in the enemy forces is, the better. I've seen one work where a party journeys to fight an evil emperor (or something like that), only to find an empty throne room and one of their party steps forward, welcomed by his servants. It wasn't a very good anime in total, with all sorts of problems, but the basic idea has potential.
I suppose that knowing that something is going to happen can take away from the moment. This doesn't diminish my appreciation of the work though. I've had enough cases where I'd reach the midpoint or end of a story to find its conclusion dull or offensive, however, that I don't generally mind knowing something's coming. In some cases, if the story is risky, I deliberately jump forward and glance through the last chapter to be sure (unfortunately "risky" often includes both "brilliantly good" and "burn-author's-house-to-ground bad"). Anyway, a lot of great stories are based on other works, and hold faithful to them, so it's not that big a deal to come in knowing what's waiting at the finish.

Last edited by Seiryuu; 2010-06-07 at 22:06.
Seiryuu is offline  
Closed Thread

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:27.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
We use Silk.