Since the bandwagon for this has appeared...

[Captain Cadaver]

Silat actually receives some decent development, going from a simple assassin of Kushan without any personality in his first appearance to become clearly aware not to fight Guts when he next appears in the Conviction arc. Whilst not much at that point, him making such a change in mindset and realistic decisions show at least far more logic than you'd expect of what seemed to be yet another mini-boss like Adon. It also helps highlight a key theme that would become present of Silat, being that all the ideals he held dear as a warrior of the Kushan would slowly be altered as he experienced more of the Kushan War such as Ganishka's true nature as well as Griffith's power. His decision to save Rickert leads for both great possibilities with both of their characters' development as well as some delightful irony that the person who once tried to kill all of the Band of the Hawk now protects one of it's members. For such a minor character, Silat has quite a nice arc and I expect him to be better used in the future.

6/10

Roderick has yet to fully develop, but his personality is very likeable from what we've seen thus far. His quick wit and awareness as a captain help display him as a very competent character, with him not caring about Farnese's past sins and overall being chivalrous towards women make his character Sanji done right in that department. His most interesting quality, however, is his lack of awe at the unordinary, not seeming to be bothered by Guts' appearance or like most. Whilst he still displays awe at things such as Guts' party's capabilities, him having one of the most calm approaches to viewing things such as Elfheim out of the major characters helps display him as an experienced man of the world with the composure to make him a worthy captain. We have yet to see his background fleshed out or him develop much beyond that, but his strong personality is enough for him to seem quite a promising support character thus far.

6/10

 

[Pocket-God]

I really enjoy reading these, thanks for writing them

And now for the last few characters I'd like to get your opinion on.

Serpico and Isidro.

Spoiler

And last but certainly not least

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Don't recall needing to do too many essays at school. The only times it was really required was for English and Philosophy exams, as well as a review of a play I had to watch as part of my Drama course. For the review as well as the English Literature exam focusing on Of Mice and Men I got an A*, though I don't recall my grades for the other essay based exams.

I also did Of Mice and Men in my GCSEs. I got a B. 2 2 2

I did do the exam in 2010 when I was 2 years into being in London and didn't really study until the day (or maybe 2) before, so I have an excuse.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

I really enjoy reading these, thanks for writing them

And now for the last few characters I'd like to get your opinion on.

Serpico and Isidro.

Spoiler

And last but certainly not least

Serpico is easily one of the best characters in the series, at least with his display in the Conviction Arc. This stems from an interesting dynamic not many seem to take note of; the parallels he has with Griffith. Both are displayed with handsome, somewhat effeminate (very much so for Griff) traits, both think tactically in battle and both favour a thin rapier as their weapon. However, there's a mountain of differences between the two that when compared makes for an interesting comparison. Griffith was born a peasant whilst Serpico was a noble, Griffith has a woman follow him wholeheartedly whilst Serpico follows a woman obediently. Griffith has Guts follow him whilst Serpico vicariously decides to follow Guts via Farnese's desires. Most importantly is their approach to battle and how their animal symbolism displays their key difference. Griffith is entirely about good presentation with his clean armour, glamorous appearance and graceful technique to the point many find his battles almost beautiful, all to hide the truth of his ugly traits that would come to light after Guts left the Band of the Hawk. Serpico, on the other hand fully displays he's fine to fight without any though of fairness or grace as long as it yields results and often playing the facade of a simpleton. As I eluded to, their association with animals helps encapsulate this traits. Griffith's association with Griffins after his rebirth is quite appropriate with them having the upper body of an eagle and the lower half of a lion, as Griffith likes to keep a beautiful appearance at face value whilst leaving the dirty work to further his desires to his strong allies, such as having Guts take part in two assassination missions and now has his apostle army. Serpico's name, on the other hand, can be roughly translated from Italian to mean snake/reptile, which along with his more fluid and situational fighting style gives a greater link when taking into account birds evolved from reptiles. Essentially, Serpico can be seen as a possibility of how Griffith may be seen if you were to strip away both his looks and influence.

Going on to Serpico's actual role and development, his past makes him a sympathetic character with instances such as being forced to burn his mother, helping make him hiding behind a stoic appearance all the more believable. His observant nature makes for him not falling prey to becoming a reactionary character, such as being able to see when Farnese wanted him to kill Guts after the Rape Horse ordeal that Guts wasn't at fault. After leaving the Holy Iron Chain Knights, Serpico sadly hasn't gained much development, beyond his antagonism towards Guts lessening more and more through each battle they face. However, he's well characterised and interesting enough that I'd say his character is saved in that regard.

8/10

As for Isidro, there's not much to say about him. Whilst it's nice to see how Guts is reminded of his younger self through him and Isidro does have quite a few surprisingly badass wins under his belt, there's not much to separate him from other similar child prodigy characters as Bat from Hokuto no Ken or Yahiko from Rurouni Kenshin. It also doesn't help that he's been misused as a constant comic relief to the point of seeming asinine, much like Puck being stuck in chestnut mode 24/7 nowadays. I have hopes Isidro will get more shine in later events, but his display in characterisation and focus thus far has been pretty hit or miss.

5/10

can't be truly talked about to completion in words. It would break the universe asunder if I were to even muse about rating the Lord.

 

[Pocket-God]

Does how much you like a character factor in at all to how high you rate them?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

It does have some leaning towards the overall ranking, but I try to lack as much bias as possible when rating them. Consistent and well done writing/development and their overall personality is what defines how much I like a character in the first place, so favouritism and critical analysis are somewhat intertwined to an extent.

 

[Pocket-God]

Have you ever rated a character or anime 10/10?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Anime - Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Characters - Oskar von Reuental, Paul von Oberstein, Reinhard von Lohengramm and Yang Wenli (all from Legend of the Galactic Heroes)

 

[Gin]

Opinion on Boondocks?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Boondocks was a great comedy, satirising many aspects of black culture and stereotypes whilst having an entertaining plot for each episode and a truckload of hilarious, quotable lines. All the characters within it were memorable and well written in terms of their service to the narrative. That was, until Season 4 ruined things by having a significant decline in quality of episode plots, it's overarching plot seeming very bland and being completely inconclusive of which it shall remain due to the decision to conclude the series with it.

7/10. Would've been a 7.5 if not for Season 4.

 

[Gin]

Opinion on Metalocalypse?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Haven't seen it, though it seems like the kind've series that'd appeal to me. I've heard the last season was a big drop in quality though.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Thoughts on Anakin's development into Vader? Movies only.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Absolutely terrible. I can barely even class it as development when him going from preaching about the Jedi way to slaughtering Younglings in the span of 5 minutes is more akin to inconsistent character rewriting. This is what pushes Revenge of the Sith below The Phantom Menace for me, despite it having the most potential out of all the prequels.

Expanded Universe material salvages it though.

 

[Keedounan]

Any opinion on Young Justice if you've watched it ?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Haven't seen it, though heard it's good by the standard of modern superhero cartoons.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Why you think AotC is worse than TPM?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Easily. The acting and dialogue is easily the worst of the prequels (eg. "I don't like sand. It's coarse, rough and irritating...and it gets everywhere."), features as much idiocy in one scene as most of TPM (Zam Wessel's actions in general being utterly incompetent) and both Anakin's dumb, whiney nature and Yoda wielding a Lightsaber being far more detrimental to the themes of the original trilogy than rationalising the Force through Midichlorians. Anakin and Padme's romance is so poorly written that it's the only case where you can't say "Still a better love story than Twilight", with Anakin coming off as an obsessive stalker and Padme coming off as dumb for choosing him. It doesn't help that like the Phantom Menace, it does little in connecting itself to the original trilogy beyond the Clone Wars, which only starts in the last ~20 minutes or so.
Only thing that I vaguely liked about the film was how hilarious the poor acting and script was, making it perfect for picking apart or laughing at with a friend.

1.5/10

 

[Future Warrior]

Any anime recommendations?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Depends what kind of series you're looking for in specific.