[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Mesnick

I agree, they really overdid it. The fact is that they slipped us a protagonist for whom profit comes first and he helps others only when he is sure that this will not prevent him from winning. In fact, this only confirms that Ace needs character development, as he doesn't do the right thing with a swaggering face like Tsukasa. It looks like Gits is actually capable of villainy.

No hard feelings of how the series handle it so far, and it's expected of kitsune-tanuki rivalry.

But it seems that, in general cool and capable characters are often given negative qualities, while the relatively more incompetent characters (naive, weak, etc.) are more often being made as the all-good one. This can portray as if only worse people can get the job done, while the goody ones can only rely on people around them, hopefully competent ones, softening up for their sake, or if not, constantly endure until that happens, which is honestly unreliable as hell. That also can be overdone to the point that some can conclude this in something like 'someone good can't be all powerful, someone powerful can't be all good' when it's not true/set in stone, just writing choices.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

I think a lot of people are just afraid that there won't be any development and the show will just say "love this asshole, he's right", like in the case of Tsukasa.

Then again, those asshole traits can be their main appeal of which development risks taking it away. Hypercompetent assholes can make for an ideal power fantasy that can make those seemingly critically acclaimed. And hypercompetent characters who aren't assholes has bigger chance to be bashed as "gary stus".

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Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

I just really like this show so far. I see some people don't like Ace, but I personally really appreciate that we are getting a protagonist who has some serious negative qualities to him, it can be rare to have that in Rider. I also think it will form a good basis for future character development.

It depends if they'd keep him practically similar throughout the series looking from his predecessors, but a reminder that character development isn't only applicable to characters with serious negative qualities, albeit writing that is easier.

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Originally Posted by Omnikaiser

Not saying Ace is literally Jesus Christ or even "God" himself (I don't expect Toei to go deep into that territory). But still. The choice of year is peculiar and can't be a coincidence.
But Ace being a martyr, suffering for other people in the world to be okay, is probably a thing.

They made Agito with Overlord of Darkness.

Though otherwise, medias can and has employed 'messiah archetype' characters, when their role and story can use some of Christ references. There can be even a darker versions of that too and Ace likely gotta be that type considering what he did in this episode.