Character development is the change in characterization of a dynamic character, who changes over the course of a narrative.

After reading a post about character development, I started thinking about all the different types of character development I have seen in Anime and Wuxia. After putting some thought into this, I’ve noticed there are four types of character development, in two main categories.

Positive Development

Positive development is when a character changes in a positive way by either positive or negative influence. Usually, the character would have become stronger, more confident, understanding, wiser, kinder and so forth by the end of the series.

Negative Example

These characters at one stage, had something bad done to them. However, the character takes this negative experience and turns it positive. Characters may have been beaten up when they were young, or hated by his villagers, or suffered something huge. However, instead of seeking revenge or turn and around and doing the same thing to others, they want to make sure people never experience this again. Usually, these characters want to protect others from going through what they did or what they saw, and are not particularly interested in revenge.

An example of this would be Naruto. Although suffered at a young age and had to deal with people in his village hating him and looking down on him, yet he still vows to become Hokage, so he can be respected, and that nobody else had to go through what he did.

Another example would be in Bleach, Ichigo’s mother was killed by a monster which he saw when he was a child, and that inspired him to want to protect people.

Positive Example

A positive positive is when a character is inspired by the good that other characters have done to be good or better themselves. An example of that would be receiving an act of kindness, who then had a positive effect on them. Perhaps the hero would have saved the bad guy at one stage, which made him come to a realization and then at the end, he ended up helping the hero and sacrificing himself. These characters, sometimes may start off evil/unkind, are influenced by others and change for the better.

An example would be Vejeta from Dragonball Z who was inspired by all the good Goku has done, to the point where he wants to make up for all the things he’s done. He also learned through having a family about things that he should truly care about.

Another example would be Gaara from Naruto, who was a ruthless killer who existed solely to cause others misery and pain, but through fighting with Naruto and seeing how Naruto would risk his life to protect his friend, this influenced Gaara in a positive way, which made him realize that truth strength lied with protecting others.

Negative Development

Negative development is when a character changes for the worse. Perhaps they were good or alright in the beginning, but either through a negative or positive example, they became worse (for example, became evil, powerhungry or obsessed with revenge).

Negative Example

A negative negative is basically the opposite of the first example. A character experienced something bad will let it effect them negatively instead of of turning it into something positive. For example – their loved ones may have been killed, and instead of trying to protect others, they go on a long journey of revenge and massacre to ease their hatred. A negative negative also can be a character who has gone through bad experiences and simply degenerates because of that.

An example of this would be Sasuke from Naruto. As a kid, he lost his entire clan, thinking that his brother killed everyone. That became his main source of motivation to seek revenge and kill his brother. Later, the obsession with revenge drives him crazy and power hungry, which turns him completely evil.

Another example would be Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion. After going through horrible experiences as a child, she became cold, angry and mean. However, as she grew up, she only went through more of those negative experiences degenerated further and lost more and more of herself.

Positive Example

Negative positive is when a character sees an act that’s morally wrong, and instead of being repulsed by it, they are actually inspired by it, by traits they see lacking in themselves that the evil character possesses such as confidence. For example someone may have been seeking brutal revenge and displaying his might powers, and that character sees it as an inspiration and wants to become as powerful.

An example would be Yang Kang from Legend of the Condor Heroes, as he started off being decent but always seemed to be power-hungry, until he saw the large amount of powers Ouyang Feng had (who was evil), and wanted to learn those powers and become equally strong.

Soujiro from Rurouni Kenshin was a young boy who was taken in by a mean family when he was orphaned, who treated him like a slave. He found that he would get out of beatings by never showing any emotions and just smiling all the time. One day, he met Shishio, a traveling villain who was confident and wanted to change the world (who believed that only the strong should survive and the weak should die), which ultimately inspired Soujiro to kill the family after he was given a sword, and during the kill, he smiled the whole way through.

“To recognise one’s own sin is to have no sin. So are you a sinner? But if I think I have no sin, I become a sinner. This is the circle of sin. To find the answer is to find redemption.” – Haibane Renmei

“What ever happens from now on you stand firm and face your destiny without fear, but with courage.”- Tenshi’s Grandfather

“I can’t change what happen in the past but I can control what happens next.” -Yusei fudo, Yugi-Oh

“May those who follow their fate be granted happiness; may those who defy it be granted glory.” — Edel, Princess Tutu

“I want…to change things. I want to believe that anything can be changed. The moment I met you, a new world opened up for me. You see, after wandering in the darkness for so long, a light brought me happiness. It’s all thanks to you.” Chrono, Chrono Crusade

“I have no fear of death. It just means dreaming in silence. A dream that lasts for eternity.” – Vincent, Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no tobira

“People are able to hold onto hope, since death is that which cannot be seen.”- Rukia, Bleach

“Everything has a beginning and an end. Life is just a cycle of starts and stops. There are ends we don’t desire, but they’re inevitable, we have to face them. It’s what being human is all about.” Jet Black, Cowboy Bebop

“There was once a tiger-striped cat. This cat died a million deaths, and lived a million lives, and in those lives, various people owned him. None of those people he cared for. This cat was not afraid of death. One life, the cat became a stray cat, which meant it was free. And it met a white female cat. They became mates, and lived together. Time passed, the white cat passed away of old age. And the tiger- striped cat cried a million times. Eventually, the cat died again. But this time, it didn’t come back to life” – Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop

“Angels that are forced from heaven have to become demons.” – Vicious, Cowboy Bebop

“We shouldn’t worry about being able to achieve our dreams, as long as we have the desire to do it!” – Coby, One Piece

“One must kill the spider in order to save the butterfly.” -Knives, Trigun

“Sometimes you have to fight for the things that are worth fighting for.” -Arrietty

“If you aren’t remembered, then you never existed.” – Arisu, Serial Experiments Lain

“Weaklings will stay weak forever. But weakness is not evil, since human beings are weak creatures to begin with. Alone, you feel nothing but insecurity; that’s why we form guilds, that’s why we have friends. We walk together in order to live a strong life. The clumsy ones will walk into more walls than the others, and it may also take them longer to get there. If you believe in tomorrow and put yourself out there, you can naturally obtain your strength. That’s how you will be able to smile and live strong.” Makarov Dreyar, Fairy Tail

“The world isn’t perfect. But it’s there for us, doing the best it can. And that’s what makes it so damn beautiful.” – Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist

“A true kingdom is not built on the blood and tears of young people.” -Kenshiro, New Fist of the North Star

“Even if I die, you keep living okay? Live to see the end of this world, and to see why it was born. Live to see why a weak girl like me ended up here… And the reason you and I met.” -Sachi, Sword Art Online

“But important events, poignant moments and promises to others. These things must never be forgotten.” Haruka, Love Hina

“We are all like fireworks. We climb, shine, and always go our separate ways and become further apart. But even if that time comes, let’s not disappear like a firework, and continue to shine forever.” Hitsugaya Toushiro, Bleach

“Nothing can happen until you swing the bat.” -Haruko, FLCL

“You have something that you can do, something that only you can do. Nobody is forcing you. Think for yourself, and make that decision by yourself. Think about what you have to do now. Think about no longer having any regrets.” Kaji, Neon Genesis Evangelion

“If that’s what it means to be wise, I guess that means I’ll be fool all my life” -Naruto

“On that day, you taught me that solitude is painful! I understand that so well right now. I have family, and I have friends but if you’re gone. To me, it will be the same as being alone.” Sakura, Naruto

“The weaker you are the louder you bark.” Tenten, Naruto

“The true measure of a shinobi is not how he lives but how he dies. It’s not what they do in life but what they did before dying that proves their worth.” -Naruto

“As a flower cannot choose the place it blooms, neither can a child choose their parents.” – Fairy Tail

“There probably isn’t any meaning in life. Perhaps you can find something interesting to do while you are alive. Like how you found that flower. Like how I found you.” Orichimaru, Naruto

“Anyone can die. It’s living that requires courage.” Kenshin

“I can’t do much yet, but even if I can do a little help I want to give it all I have! If a person doesn’t do anything, they can never get any better. Doing one little thing, taking one step foward. I gotta believe it will help build a better future!” -Sakura, Tsubasa Chronicle Manga #4

“I want you to be happy. I want you to laugh a lot. I don’t know what exactly I’ll be able to do for you, but I’ll always be by your side.” Kagome, Inuyasha

“The key to everything. To forgive each other, to promise each other.” -Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Episode 26.

“For what they all seem to seek is to wage war, and endless desperate, blood-stained, struggles. Things quite close to crying loudly. I don’t think they desire those things at all. On the contrary: all of this is their way of shouting and begging for death.” Arthur Hellsing, Hellsing.

Princess Luna is turning all the Ponies into plushies!!!! Escape while you can.

Princess Luna and Celestia playing in the snow.

Ponies in aawesome, stylish outfits.

Party time, come eat some candy with us!

Just a nice relaxing day!

Source: pixiv

Belldandy – Ah My Goddess

Belldandy has a gentle elegance that is hard to describe, for example when her long, dark blonde hair flies about in sweeps and whorls and accentuates her movements. She is often depicted in “angelic” poses, with “impossibly long” hair.

Xuejian – Chinese Paladin 3

Xuejian’s hair in Chinese Paladin 3 – She has long, curly hair that’s tied up in two, with accessories such as beads and string on both sides of her hair.

Cloud Strife – Final Fantasy VII

Cloud has spikey blond hair His blond hair is spiked, and in Final Fantasy VII featured one particularly large spike emerging into the air. For this reason, Cloud’s spiked hair has become one of the trademarks of his appearance, although in later appearances the spikes have been toned down.

Yu’er – Xuan Yuan Sword

This is Yu’er’s main hairstyle for the first 10 or so episodes of Xuan Yuan Sword before she arrives at Taba. Yu’er wears a silver crown type of accessory and braids coming down on both sides, with long hair.

Death the Kid – Soul Eater

Kid has perfectly symmetrical black hair. The most notable feature is the three white lines that cut across the left side of his hair, stopping in a completely straight line along the front and back of his head. They are the Sanzu lines, and they act as limiters to his power.

Zixuan – Chinese Paladin 3

This was Zixuan’s hairstyle in her first lifetime when she was still young. This hairstyle shows the carefree nature of Zixuan, which was gradually lost as she aged (slower than normal people as she was a Nuwa descendant). Her hairstyle includes bangs, and braids coming down from all sides.

Hinamori Amu (Amulet Heart) – Shugo Chara

Amu wears her hair in a side ponytail, much as Ran does. When Amu Character Changes with Ran, her hair clip also becomes a red heart.

Jianping – Treasure Venture

In Treasure Venture, Jianping has long hair, with bangs and most of her hair slants to one side. She also has black hair accessory on the top, with braids on each side.

Rikou Nura – Nurarihyon no Mago

Rikuo’s yōkai blood normally awakens at night time, during which he undergoes a drastic transformation. In his yōkai form, Rikuo’s hair grows long, he loses his glasses and his voice deepens. His appearance resembles that of Nurarihyon and Rihan in that his hair is long and protrudes out the back of his head. Like Nurarihyon, the top half of his hair is white while the bottom half of his hair is black. His hair grows longer and turns black and white, although not as long as his fully transformed form.

Yoko – Gurren Lagann

Yoko has red hair that extends down to her lower back and wears a skull accessory on her head, while wearing two small needles for hairpins.

Just kidding! Okay, so I’ve seen those episodes that have over 5-7 minutes of REFRIGGINCRA-Recaps… And I often wonder, what are the purpose of that? Why would you waste about 7 minutes of a precious episode with recaps? Also, what’s with the recap episodes? I’ve come up with a few reasons to why this happens.

Recaps remind people what’s going on

Some may argue, “but we’re old and we remember what’s going on”. Perhaps they are targeting at younger audiences who don’t have as good of a memory as us. Perhaps they also want to make it possible for people who has missed an episode to catch what’s going on. So, if you’ve got 5 minutes of recaps of the previous episode that you’ve missed, you’ll probably get the gist of what’s going on and won’t need to look up an episode summary to catch on, and believe me – in a lot of shows, you miss one episode, you may as well go home!

Usually, reruns are pretty rare for Anime, so recaps would be similar to a marathon rerun, except shortened a lot!

Recaps fill space!

Perhaps people want to stretch out the episodes longer, and instead of making filler episodes, they can just slap a few minutes of recaps. Hey, it’s no extra work! Perhaps a show was originally 20 episodes, but with the recaps, it could stretch out to 24 episodes! I know this for a fact because I watched a sample episode of Qin’s Moon before the season was ready and the episode was 19 minutes long, thinking they’d add a couple of minutes in the real one. But, when we got the real season, they just added a 3 minute recap to fill the space of the episode!

Recap Episodes separate the Halfway Mark!

Sometimes, recaps summarize what’s happened during the halfway mark. Perhaps the direction of the story afterwards will be completely different, or perhaps there will be a time skip, so what better way to celebrate the end but to recap what’s happened! It may even help people remember stuff they’ve forgotten, or think more on certain plot points or analyze characters further. It’s quite true that the more times we watch something, the more our mind becomes analytical!

Recap Episodes shown during Events!

I only heard of this one through another blog as a speculation, but sometimes on special events, not a lot of people watch TV, so instead of airing a real episode, it’s wiser to air a recap episode, so not too many viewers are lost!

Other Purposes

Recap episodes can also be a good breather during intense moments in a series, as some series tends to be very suspenseful and action-packed.

Having recaps can help people get the story altogether in their heads. If a story is very complicated, people may not understand everything straight away. When there’s a recap, it helps people to piece everything together and see it as whole.

What do I think about Recaps?

If a show is airing every day, I really don’t like recaps at the beginning of every episode because I get excited to see new content, not to see 5 minutes of repeated content. Although, I wouldn’t mind if it there was only 2 minutes of recaps. As a translator of Wuxia, I absolutely LOVE it when this happens because it’s less work for me! If the episodes are going by weekly, then yes, I would like a short recap because my memory is rather interestingly crap and can’t remember things to save my life, so being reminded would be good!

As for recap episodes, I don’t mind them because if it’s half way through the series, I can understand wanting to recap what’s happened to refresh our memories, but if I was expecting a new episode when they gave me a recap, then that’s a whole new story!

In any ways, as long as recaps aren’t overused, it could be quite helpful!

This is a really awesome cosplay I ran across on a cosplay photo gallery. I absolutely love the stunning outfits and high quality pictures, the dress looks so pretty as well.

The crazy thing is, I actually don’t remember which series or episode she was wearing this dress (though I have a figure of her in it somewhere).

Rest of the Cosplay:

OMFG this classroom looks so darn awesome. I think I wanna go in it.

Humans fear the unknown.

As cliched as this sounds, it’s true! We like what’s familiar to us, and we stick to it. If someone introduces us to something we haven’t heard of, I bet for most of us, our first response is… GONNA PRETEND I CARE but in reality, BUT IT WILL TAKE EIGHT BULLS TO PERSUADE ME! Although it’s inevitable that for a lot of us, our attitudes are like this, I still think it’s going to stop people from enjoying what can potentially be something they really love dearly, and just because they weren’t interested to watch, they’ve missed something. Here are some things I think we should try and remember when we try turn off something new.

Your Favorite Series were New Once!

Think about your number one favorite show! Don’t forget that your current favorite series that you’d rewatch again and again were once new as well! You may not have felt that way about it when you first saw it, but anything can only be familiar if you go through the phrases of it being new. Just think of how your life would be if you turned off watching your favorite shows, what you’d be missing. It could be happening right now!

Watching a show is kind of like, getting used to a new environment, or meeting new people and making friends. It takes a period of time for the human body to adjust and change from “new” to “familiar”. Give it time and it will happen!

Try finding New Shows but with Hints of Familiarity!

Perhaps this could make certain transitions easier, is if you choose shows that have some similarities to the ones you love. Be it the kind of characters, or storyline, it doesn’t matter.

Dedicate a Set Time to Try Something New

This is what I do. Sure, I love rewatching familiar Anime and TV Shows whenever I can, and watching new shows never feel the same, but I still dedicate at least 30 minutes each day to watch something new if I can, and then blog about it! Although rewatching old shows may be enjoyable, but this experience I know will allow me to enhance my knowledge and eventually, it will also become that familiar show that I love rewatching!

Let me tell you some stories about fearing the Unknown…

Firstly, this was my own story. I was a huge fan of Digimon when I was growing up, but I refused to watch the third season at first because all the characters were different. I simply couldn’t accept that, and I didn’t want to see it at all! I had that unfamiliar, unknown, dark feeling inside… But, I kept hearing good things about it and my friends saying how great it was, so I gave in and watched it. I turned out to love it to death, because I soon got attached to these characters and loved them like I did the first two! It became my favorite season and I would’ve lived a life of regret if I hadn’t watched it!

Another example was, showing my online buddy a show called Seven of the Sky, an fantasy/romance series that’s one of my all time favorites, and honestly, he was very skeptical and relunctant because it wasn’t animated, but after a while, he actually REALLY enjoyed it and even wanted to learn Chinese because of it. The characters may not connect to you instantly, but they become a part of you after a while, and that show had such a beautiful and inspiring story that he couldn’t help but enjoy!

Here are the funny fansub fails:

YEA, MOTHERFKER, GO DIE!

When I’m not winning, I will lose.

Because your behind is sexy, dude! <3

Lalalalalalalala!

I know what you’re all thinking…

Sometimes, I wonder if the mistakes were because of a mistranslation or the dialogue really screwed up – like the two cups thing!

Fan

What are fans for? Cool us down in the heat of course! That but more! Fans are often used as a weapon. Often used by very reserved, yet skilled martial artists, fans can block swords or very sharp items and makes a person look really cool while he’s using it. Two examples of characters who used fans are Ouyang Ke in Legend of the Condor Heroes and Xiao Mei in Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei.

Double Edged Sword

OH MAN, does Sanniang in Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei look freaking amazing holding this sword or what! She’s probably the only Wuxia heroine in history to be wielding such a badass weapon and uses it to slay through the bad guys! She is really a skilled fighter, and of course, a skilled fighter needs a great sword to represent herself. The most amazing thing about this sword is, it can also separate and become two swords, which allows Sanniang to completely scrape the other person’s butt when it comes to battling.

Flute

Flutes are pretty popular for a weapon! You may think this lovely thingy is good for music, but music can do so much more than sooth your spirit and mind! Music can mess with your balance, make people lose focus if they’re concentrating, and drive people weak and crazy. Some of the characters who used flutes as weapons include Huang Yaoshi in Legend of the Condor Heroes, he was able to make anyone dizzy and in pain when he blows his flute. Yu’er in Xuan Yuan Sword also used it, but more of a melody to control/calm the sprites she had. Xuenu in Qin’s Moon used it as her unique attack alled White Snow. Shui Ruohan often played the flute in Treasure Venture, which was able to create illusions in people’s minds. Oh, all the things music could do!

Bamboo

How could a mere bamboo be a weapon? Well, it may even be more powerful than your average sword. Used in Treasure Venture, there’s even a whole philosophy behind the usage of bamboos as weapon, included here:
“Look at how slim and soft this bamboo is. It can be bent at will, but to break it is by no means easy. If the force passes from the arms, it can become a bamboo sword, which turns into a weapon. It can pierce through flesh and blood of the human body. Its limit and tolerance absolutely does not fall below a steel knife and a metal sword. Ancient people often compare bamboo to a hero. This is because the centre of a bamboo has a great capacity. This is just like a hero’s heart, which should be open minded and wary. The Bamboo joint is just like the ambitions and moral courage. A hero would follow way and have control over the actions they do. The sharpened bamboo can protect yourself but also kill. When the point of the bamboo touches the skin of the other side, you still have enough time to consider the value of the other’s life. Life for any person can only happen once.”

Staff

Be careful, Ouyang Feng in Legend of the Condor Heroes has the most deadliest snakes hidden in his snake-shaped staff. Not only can he whack people with it, he can call those snakes out and kill anyone in an instant.

Dagger

Daggers are smaller swords that look absolutely awesome on some characters. Legend of the Condor Heroes had two daggers which belonged to Guo Jing and Yang Kang, who were destined to become sworn brothers. They even had their names etched on the dagger. Too bad Yang Kang turned out to be an asshole and stabbed Guo Jing with it. In other instances, Yu’er has a really curve shaped dagger which suits her exceptionally well. Also, I noticed Sanniang in the beginning had one of those, where she used it to break Li Gexiao out of the wooden jail thing.

Bow and Arrow

Bow and arrow are most often used by a group of people, such as guards of the palace to attack people who are a) invading the place, b) rescuing someone from the execution grounds or c) attacking in general. This is usually used by a lot of people at one. Of course, highly skilled martial artists could always dodge them with their swords. Arrows on their own is usually not lethal, so baddies often think up an evil plan, smear poison on the arrow. Then, it would be deadly if one gets shot by it. In a few instances, a main character has used a bow and arrow, including Guo Jing in the beginning of Legend of the Condor Heroes to save the white condors. Another example is Red Longkui’s attack is a bow that shoots out red arrows.

Spear

I’ve noticed that spears are usually used in war situations. However, some Wuxia series does include the usage of spears, such as Yang Kang and his father, who were descendants of the Yang Warriors, that had a special technique called the Yang family Spear. In Qin’s Moon, spears are often used against fighting the Qin Empire in war situations, especially by Shao Yu.

Zither

Believe it or not, a zither isn’t just a musical instrument that brings calming and peaceful music! It can be used as a weapon in a simialr way to the flute. The music wavelength can be used to mess people’s minds up. It could do anything from forcing a person go down the wrong path if they’re training, or turn someone evil (Fuxi Zither in Xuan Yuan Sword). Don’t mess with the Zither, otherwise Ningke might use it to turn you evil! Xuezi also used a zither in Treasure Venture to try and distract Jianping while she’s training, causing large amounts of internal injuries.

Chain

Chains can be really useful and strong! I’ve seen it used in a few cases. First, the Crimson Chain is the trademark weapon for Crimson Snake in Qin’s Moon. She uses this all the time when she battles, and the chain is shaped as a snake to represent her personality. Other times I’ve seen chain used are in Princess Returning Pearl, when Xiao Yan Zi decided it was time to teach Ziwei and Jinsuo martial arts so they don’t get bullied. If used poorly, this can wrap around your neck and, oops!

Dragon Saber

Dragon Sabers are these huge, badass looking swords that I think would weigh a tonne and not sure how anyone would be able to carry on their back. It is primarily used in Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. In other shows, Jing Ke’s sword in Qin’s Moon also uses a saber known as Canhong, translated as Ferocious Rainbow.

Light Saber

HELL YEAH BABY! Let’s get the show rolling with light sabers, dudes! Light sabers is actually rarely used, probably the only instance of it being used was in the Dreaming of the Deer and Cauldron game promo because one of the females came from the future in Russia and she brought those light sabers for the heroes to use. They look so fun, look at the guy’s face as he’s trying to wield it.

Blunt Sword

Blunt swords can be wooden words or swords with a blunt blade. Usually, there’s a message behind these swords, such as a sword can still be powerful with being sharp. Momei is a great example that goes by the teachings of the Mohist School, Anti-war and Universal love. Anti-war means to be against the concept of wars. All wars, no matter what their reasons are, as long as there’s war, it will cause the common people to suffer. Universal Love means that people should love and take care of each other. Those with powers should use it to help others. Those with wealth should share the money with others.”

Dart-Like Weapon

These dart-like weapons totally reminds me of shurikens and kunais. They are usually thrown at the enemy and if you’re not careful and get hit by it, it could cause a lot of damage. These were used a lot by Xiao Mei in Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei and Legend of the Condor Heroes by various characters.

Dog Beating Stick

Probably the only show that has such a cool weapon is Legend of the Condor Heroes. Used by the chief of the Beggar Sect, there’s a special martial art skill that comes along with the Dog Beating Stick. This was imparted to Huang Rong during the middle of the series. A dog beating stick works similar to a sword would, but you can also use it to lean your whole body on it, or give people some good whacks and beatings.

Firelock

These are amazing. Yes, they represent guns but they’re not the same as what you’d see in the modern world. They’re usually designed in a very “ancient” way that makes it feel like an Ancient weapon. This was actually used in two shows that I’ve seen so far: Treasure Venture when the assassins were after Jianping and Ruohan, in Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei, used by Ying Wuqiu and in an online promo game, Dreaming of the Deer and Cauldron – which this weapon was brought by the Princess of Russia from another time. Usually when these are used, it somehow represent an “advancement in technology” of that time period.

Needles

Needles can be used in a similar way to dart-like weapons, thrown at the enemies. If thrown accurately, it would really hurt. In rare instances, needles can be used as torture device such as in Princess Returning Pearl, Rong Momo stabbed a giant amount of needles in Ziwei’s body to force her to confess. Indeed, a very cruel method. However, needles as a weapon was mostly used by Huang Rong in Legend of the Condor Heroes. She even practiced aiming for the leaves with Hongqi. Duanmu Rong from Qin’s Moon also uses Silver Needles as one of her main weapons.

Leaves

How could those fragile, beautiful leaves be weapons? Oh yes they can! They can also be powerful weapons too, especially used by someone who could manipulate leaves. I’ve seen this in an Wuxia series that I don’t know the name of, but the person who uses it best from what I’ve seen is Shao Siming from Qin’s Moon. She’s able to control the leaves and use it to attack anyone! Next thing, feathers and cotton will be weapons too. Oh wait, it probably already is.

Sword

This is probably the most common weapon ever used. Swords are EVERYWHERE, in every show. You would never find a single Wuxia series without at least one sword. People carry it on their backs most times. Swords are crucial if you want to travel the Jianghu! There are big swords, little swords, fat swords, skinny swords, even swords that can move and think on its own, such as Fifteen from Xuan Yuan Sword. Series from RPG game adaptations such as Chinese Paladin 1 and 3, Xuan Yuan Sword uses sword as center part of the story.

Giant Sword

These swords are much bigger than your average sword and look freaking amazing. Don’t let it slice anything, especially a bridge, because if it does, the bridge will fall apart! This particular giant sword is used by Shenqi in Qin’s Moon.

Other weapons which I didn’t include as it was hard to find info and pictures are: Umbrellas – they can shoot out energy or be a form of protection, whips – used to whip people, hairpins to stab people with, scissors, and even paper and material swords, which are all stronger than a normal sword!

(Kakashi using a Chidori attack)

Chakra in Naruto is the basic energy source necessary for ninja in Naruto to perform most jutsu. A similar concept of this in Wuxia is “Neigong”, which means the internal energy, where the higher your internal energy is, the harder it is for you to be injured. One needs external energy to heal. Without it, you may as well be done for!

(Yuwen Tuo in Xuan Yuan Sword using his powers! – Now, I will walk on my feet for a week if those two pictures don’t look similar in some ways!)

Other powers that are similar between Anime and Wuxia is that often, we can see that characters can jump from place to place easily, as if they’re flying. Wuxia has a similar concept called lightness skills, which allows people to fly and walk around in the air. Wouldn’t we all love to have those skills? I used to try and do that, but sadly it failed miserably.

If anyone saw a fight scene in Wuxia, you may even be reminded of fight scenes in Anime. However, Wuxia battles are generally shorter than Anime, but the way the battle is fought shares quite a lot of similarities.

Here’s another example of similar types of energy forming.

(Jing Tian in Chinese Paladin 3)

Here, we can see in both pictures, yellow/orange energy has formed from the character’s hand. Although the first picture is transferring powers and the second is actually emitting powers, we can still see the similarities between the two. In many cases, the color of the powers may change, depending on what kind of attack it is.

(Natsu in Fairy Tail using fire power)

I think the reason why many of the similarities exist is because these cultures are originally very similar. Even their code of the warrior is similar! Let’s have a look at the Bushido code, also known as the ethods of a Samurai, as well as the code of Xia (hero).

The Bushido Code, also known as the Eight Virtues of the Samurai includes Justice, Courage, Benevolence/Mercy, Politeness, Honesty and Sincerity, Honor, Loyalty, Character and Self-Control.

(Jingchou in Xuan Yuan Sword)

The code of xia is defined that the hero of a wuxia story keeps his honour by upholding justice and helping the poor, just as Robin Hood robs the rich to help the poor. A typical follower of xia has considerable martial arts abilities that are used not just for personal gain, but employed to achieve the greater good. However, just as Robin Hood is an outlaw, the swordsman may not necessarily submit to higher authority. When part of a larger group, the code of xia requires the group to maintain social justice within the best of the group’s abilities.

The code of xia is composed of two main virtues – yi (righteousness) and xin (honour). The code also emphasises the importance of repaying benefactors after having received deeds of en (grace or favour) from others, as well as seeking chou (vengeance) to bring villains to justice. However, the importance of vengeance is controversial, as a number of wuxia works stress Buddhist ideals, which includes forgiveness, compassion and a prohibition on killing.

The Bamboo philosophy from Treasure Venture explains the way of the hero very well -

“Look at how slim and soft this bamboo is. It can be bent at will, but to break it is by no means easy. If the force passes from the arms, it can become a bamboo sword, which turns into a weapon. It can pierce through flesh and blood of the human body. Its limit and tolerance absolutely does not fall below a steel knife and a metal sword. Ancient people often compare bamboo to a hero. This is because the centre of a bamboo has a great capacity. This is just like a hero’s heart, which should be open minded and wary. The Bamboo joint is just like the ambitions and moral courage. A hero would follow way and have control over the actions they do. The sharpened bamboo can protect yourself but also kill. When the point of the bamboo touches the skin of the other side, you still have enough time to consider the value of the other’s life. Life for any person can only happen once.”

The use of swords as a fighting weapon is another similar aspect. In many Anime, swords are very important weapons. To name a few Anime that uses swords – Bleach, Rurouni Kenshin. Samurai 7, Samurai Champloo, Gintama, Samurai X, Escaflowne, Sword Art Online and many more. In Wuxia, swords are the main weapon for battle! If you watch any Wuxia, sucha s Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei, or Legend of the Condor Hero, Qin’s Moon or even Chinese Paladin 3, you’ll notice that the main weapon used is swords.

(Xuan Yuan Sword – battle with the swords!)

The only major difference I’d say between Wuxia and Anime powers is, Anime powers are more diverse, such as the use of clones, breathing fire, etc, whereas Wuxia powers are usually more fighting and technique types. In Wuxia, there are techniques with many stances, such as Legend of the Condor Heroes, there’s the 18 Dragon Subduing Palms – where there are a total of 18 stances of this technique. Sometimes, characters even say attack names in Wuxia, just like they do in Anime!

These are fanart collection of Alfheim Online.

Source: pixiv

Whenever the main character/s have a battle with someone, especially those who aren’t 100% evil, the opposing person is usually so overly confident that he’ll say all these things about the other character losing. You see examples of this in Bleach when Ichigo was fighting Renji and Biyakuya at the beginning, both were so confident they’ll win, then they get proven wrong and oops! They haven’t got much to say. You can also see examples of this in Naruto during the Chuunin Exams when they had to battle each other. All of Naruto’s opponents were so sure they’d win, especially Neji. You can see several examples of that in Pokemon.

What I’ve noticed in these battles is the hero isn’t usually the one who’s outspoken about winning, they’re mostly defying what their opponents are saying. It’s always funny to see the opponent go, WTF? HOW COULD HE STILL FIGHT?! when the main character is almost beaten but is still hanging in there and fighting.

Another thing I noticed is that sometimes after battles, the enemy can become a friend. Perhaps a battle was a great way to really wake them up, as people often get convinced not by words, but by being beaten. You can also see examples of this in Bleach and Naruto, where after a battle, a character will become the main character’s friend or ally! This also happened in Digimon 02 with Ken, where it was only after he was beaten when he realized the Digital World wasn’t a game but real, and he was using cruel methods to torture innocent creatures.

If a battle is two wins out of three rounds, or a very long battle, there’s always a method in this. That is to keep us in suspense until the end. So, if it’s two battles out of three, the person will probably lose the first one or the middle one. Rarely have I seen a person win the first two battles in a row. When a battle is one on one, most of the times, they’ll make it look like the hero is losing the match, until suddenly, they have a burst of power or idea, and win it at the end, shocking everybody.

During multiple battles in a show, another method of torture way of keeping us in suspense is to switch between scenes and make us go crazy. This happened so many times in Naruto, but the one that I remember most was the battle between Gaara and Naruto, and the Hokage and Orochimaru. He was pulling the damn soul out for so long that I was going crazy with anticipation, and they didn’t show the result to that until two or three episodes later.

I always enjoy seeing a good battle in Anime, so it’s really interesting to notice these little things.

When I was a kid, I watched Pokemon a lot, and I still remember when I watched the first movie, that was the first time I had ever heard of the DNA cloning concept, and that was fascinating for me to learn that things can be cloned by DNA! That got me thinking, I wonder what else we can learn from entertainment, just because we’re interested! Pokemon also taught me a lot of other concepts back then, such as psychic powers and the ability to bend spoons. I seriously had no idea about that at all, it even taught me how to spell the word!

Also around that time, I remember watching Digimon Adventure and the episode where Kari got pneumonia was also the very first time I heard of the term, and that word just stuck with me. I always knew there was an illness that could be dangerous like that!

Gaia Online is the next thing that really taught me something! I really don’t know what category it comes under, perhaps games? But, I used to cringe every time my parents start talking about making money through buying multiple houses. Never got it, hated to think about it because it hurt my head! Until one day, I discovered the Gaia market place, and one of the easiest ways to earn gold was to buy something (or multiple items), wait for it to inflate and then sell it back. I don’t know how, but that concept was so easy that it actually taught me that buying houses uses the same logic! Oh, can something that complicated really be that easy? SHIT, I WOULD HAVE NEVER GUESSED!

I always found history pretty boring as a subject at school, and I can’t help but think: If they could teach history like the way Qin’s Moon tells it, in such an epic, fantasy way through a child, evolving epic battles between good and evil, morals, sequence of events, comedy and romance, I think history would be the greatest thing ever! It was through this animation that I learned a lot of the different philosophers in Ancient China, such as the Confucian School, Mohist School, Legal, Yin and Yang School and so on. I also learned a lot of events that took place in Qin Dynasty around that time, such as the assassination attempt of Jing Ke and Gao Jianli. I would never have known about that if it wasn’t for this amazing series! Of course, they did the best thing by making characters as martial art heroes and making the story really exciting.

It’s amazing how much we can learn from Anime, shows, games and such, just because we love them and they’re fun! This is the same concept as, “time flies when you’re having fun”, you remember better if you are enjoying something. I always hated the old fashioned learning through textbooks and memorizing!

I really think that creators should put more knowledge they want kids to learn and let these things be fun, rather than boring. I hope that one day, instead of reading papers for something, we could learn it through a game, or song.

I’m talking about people who constantly complain about horrible special effects when I literally see nothing wrong with it. I simply cannot understand how their minds work. Perhaps I have different eyes to everyone, but I can’t see it, nor understand it at all.

They need a MUCH larger budget for this to be good. The special effects pretty much ruin it. ~ On this video.

When I saw this video, I was really blown away by the special effects. I thought that itself was AWESOME, so when I read comments like that or saying it had “cheesy” effects literally CONFUSED me. Like, what about it was bad? I really need someone to point out these things because I certainly don’t see it! I mean, what would satisfy these people? How would it have changed to make it better? These critics are just saying it’s bad and not really giving an explanation to why, so perhaps that’s why I’m baffled, since I just don’t see it.

I go through many things feeling lost about people’s complaints because when they’re saying how horrible the graphics are, I think they’re amazing. I just don’t understand this because when something is really good to me, I can’t see what qualifies as “good” for these people!

Sometimes when I think about those people who are being so critical to special effects, I wonder if they can ever enjoy something because they’re always complaining about it. Maybe they saw so many shows and movies in the world that they can tell the slightest difference in quality by 1 percent, while someone like me can’t even tell the difference. I would find it difficult to enjoy anything if I was always criticizing on how bad it was, so I really believe that’s doing nothing but stopping yourself from enjoying something. I just don’t understand, instead of “wanting more and better stuff”, why can’t these people be more thankful for what they have? It reminds me of people who always complain about their crappy lives when in fact, it’s nowhere as bad as some people have and instead of being grateful, they complain about the smallest details.

So, perhaps one of you out there who has these high expectations of special effects and criticize CG/Special Effects endlessly can please explain to me exactly how it it’s so terrible (and I don’t mean saying things like it just is and I’ve got a terrible eyesight, but tell me how) because I don’t think I have the brain built for this. I really find it hard to be disappointed with any special effects these days because they all look pretty awesome to me.

A brief explanation of Instant Runes from TVTropes:

Traditional Hermetic Magic often required creation of elaborate pentacles, pentagrams, magic circles, runes, etc. before a spell could be cast. These would typically be scratched into the ground, or made with special materials. Many works get around this by having special effects do the work.

(Magical circle in Dog Days)

Firstly, let me say that I love magic circles as much as I love pentagrams. I seem them almost as the same thing, except one has five sides and the other has more or less. Magic Circles appear in both Anime, video games and Wuxia – especially new series such as Xuan Yuan Sword that’s based on a video game. Magic circles also vary in shape, size and colors.

Here’s an example of a magic circle used in a live action series based on an RPG game, Xuan Yuan Sword. This magic circle is used to summon the Xuan Yuan Sword, which is a very powerful sword only one person can wield.

I think the use of magic circles look great live action as it does in games and Anime! It brings out the fantasy elements in the show, and makes you fee like you’re playing a game.

(Video shows the magic circles as well!)

In Fate Zero, the magic circle allowed Iris to recover inside it.

I find it interesting that magic circles have many uses. Some are used as an incantation/spell, some for healing, some to retrieve an item through portals.

In Fullmetal Alchemist, alchemy requires a circle for any transmutation to occur. The formula within said circle defines how the gathered energy is channeled. Alchemy is the ancient metaphysical science/mystical art of manipulating and changing matter by using natural energy.

(The magic circle that summons Rias in Highschool DxD)

Lots of video games which uses magic have these magic circles, particularly RPGs and Real Time Strategy games. As soon as the mage calls out the attack, any magic circles, mystic runes, designs and written magical incantations appear glowing in the air around the spellcasters.

Strike Witches has magic circles that appear as shields and when the Strike Units start up. Miyafuji’s circle is a little under 3 football fields. In radius.

All magic circles look amazing to me. I’m a big fan of magical series that uses spells, incantations and I love seeing the different shapes and patterns in these circles. I’m also curious to know if any of the shapes represent something in particular. Learning about different circles’ functionality is really exciting.