Flame of Recca is so bad.

[snarp]

I’m reading Flame of Recca. It’s strangely addictive! Though the art, writing, and gender issues are all unbelievably terrible.

I think the Avatar guys must have read it, because villain #1, Kurei, is (minor spoilers for both)

a brilliant swordsman with magic fire powers, a burn scar over his left eye, a megalomaniacal father, and a mother whom his father uses as a hostage. No sister or grandpa, though!

But Kurei’s behavior is generally bad enough that I do not buy his eventual redemption. He makes sincere attempts to murder two cute little orphaned children. Cute little orphaned children who love him and want to be his friend! It is my position that, if you are a villain who intends to be redeemed later, acts of violence against the cute little orphaned children who love you will only hurt your plausibility. They will not help.

(Crossposted to SarahPin.com, Dreamwidth, and LiveJournal. You can leave comments at whichever.)

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think I both read and watched a bit of this ages and ages ago. I remember loving the first bit then abruptly not caring.

[snarp]

I know I read the whole thing at one point in the past, but actually have no recollection of what happens in the second half of the series. I remember a lot of the first half, but the second half is just gone.

(Or, no - I remember that a character fell into a black hole and never got mentioned again, because that that stood out, in several ways. I do not remember where he found the black hole to fall into it, or if any explanation was given for said black hole's failure to destroy the solar system.)