The Greatest Anime/Manga Protagonist Ever Tournament

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh, now this is a tough match:

Kurapika
Steiner
Bernie
Kyoko

I gave extra points to Kurapika for basically being the perfect example of how to do a character like Sasuke the RIGHT way, in that he's both legitimately bad-ass and sympathetic at the same time.

[gunswordfist]

funny how killua is a character like sasuke but much better as well.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm not quite sure that I could draw the parallel between Killua and Sasuke quite as much. They both kill without any regard for human life....but then Killua actually has character development and becomes far more nuanced than that, kind of making it hard to compare him to Sasuke even in that regard. However, his general role in the story is quite different from Sasuke's, being that he essentially follows the opposite circumstances. Despite having a family, he actively wants to detach himself from that life, and willingly wants to support Gon who was his first true friend, and didn't look at him with fear or loathing in his judgement of Killua. Also, this was something established in the very beginning of the series, not something lazily retconned like it was for Sasuke and Naruto, who never truly acted as friends. They were rivals, which was fine, but then Kishimoto saw fit to insist that they were also "buddies," even if we never saw them interact as friends in any real way throughout the series.

In the case of Kurapika, though, you can really draw a direct parallel between his story-line and Sasuke's, and it really does highlight just how exactly Sasuke's character arc went wrong. I could probably write an essay on it, but in essence, Kurapika's obsession with revenge doesn't make him an utter idiot who hates on everyone for no reason (and yes, Sasuke was willing to kill people from Konoha even before he had a reason to actually hate them, so basically he was always just a douche for no reason), but instead someone who sets forth to claim his revenge, but doesn't choose to involve his friends BECAUSE they are his friends. He doesn't want others to have to bear his burden. It's not like he just left everyone for no reason and decided that they were his enemies if he ever saw them again. He actually legitimately gave a shit and didn't want them in harms way on his account.

The bottom line to all of this, of course, being that Sasuke is a fucking dick and a terribly written character. It almost makes me want a dubious competition thread of the most detestable characters of all time. Sasuke would even manage to beat out characters like Joffrey in that scenario.

On a side note, this makes me realize how much more disappointed I am in Magi for Hakuryuu's Sasuke-like character arc, when a much better example of the archetype already existed to draw influence from.

[gunswordfist]

that just reminds me how much of naruto i haven't seen. honestly, the last few episodes on toonami are the most i've seen of the show uncut. i just thought they were similar because they are the "cool guy" on the team.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, from a fan perspective they are both clearly meant to be seen as cool. That said, within their own universes, while Sasuke is generally thought of as cool by others, Killua is seen as just a good friend by his allies, and a legitimate threat by others. The concept of the cool dude who all of the women fawn over doesn't really exist in Hunter X Hunter, at least as far as we've seen from the series.

[gunswordfist]

It is true that no one in-universe thinks of killua as a cool guy. i've never thought about that.

[Avaitor]

Steiner
Bernie
Kurapika
Kyoko

[LumRanmaYasha]

Results:

Kurapika (Hunter X Hunter) - 13
Bernard "Bernie" Wiseman (Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket) - 11
Steiner Hardie (Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket) - 10
Kyoko Sakura (Puella Magi Madoka Magica) - 6

Kurapika and Bernie move on to round 4.

Round 3: Match 9


Yugo Hachiken (Silver Spoon)

VS.


Excel (Excel Saga)

VS.


Jolyne Kujo (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

VS.


Conan Edogawa/Shinichi Kudo (Detective Conan)

My Picks:

Excel
Yugo Hachiken
Jolyne Kujo
Conan Edogawa

[gunswordfist]

Conan, kujo, excel and yugo

[VLordGTZ]

Yugo Hachiken
Jolyne Kujo
Excel
Conan Edogawa

[LumRanmaYasha]

Results:

Yugo Hachiken (Silver Spoon) - 8
Excel (Excel Saga) - 8
Jolyne Kujo (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) - 8
Conan Edogawa/Shinichi Kudo (Detective Conan) - 6

Three-way tie. You guys know what to do.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Well fine then, I'll just do it.   

Excel and Hachiken move on.


Round 3: Match 10


Carlos Rivera (Ashita no Joe)

VS.


Hiei (Yu Yu Hakusho)

VS.


Killua Zoldyck (Hunter X Hunter)

VS.


Ai Haibara (Detective Conan)

My Picks:

Killua Zoldyck
Ai Haibara
Carlos Rivera
Hiei

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Killua
Hiei
Carlos
Ai

[Avaitor]

Hiei
Killua
Carlos
Ai

[VLordGTZ]

Killua
Hiei
Haibara
Carlos