I am feeling a very specific form of sadness right now, you might relate

The sadness for the apparent deuteragonist introduced at the start of a show/manga/book series, who is initially setup to be the faithful sidekick, foil and best friend of the main character, but then who later becomes eclipsed by more interesting and useful characters and is almost completely forgotten about as a sideliner. Maybe the character was promised to have super powerful and interesting abilities but later loses all apparent talent and is reduced to a comic relief reaction guy. By the time you're wrapping up the final season or book they're barely relevant at all, except as a plot point to let the main character remember their roots in a fond nostalgic way.

You see this a lot in anime/manga . Think...Krillen. Think Tien. Think Tatsuki and Arisawa from Bleach.

Think Ron Weasley.

I'm watching Dr Stone right now i'm I'm quite confused at how Taiju is introduced as this brawny super dependable honest guy and then he's almost immediately eclipsed by basically every other person introduced after that.

It's a weird sad feeling. Like the slow death of a friendship that you can't stop.

That's kinda heavy. If it makes you feel any better, Taiju is still the literal best at stamina/manual labor.

In terms of friendships I feel you -- but sometimes friendships go beyond just work or fighting. I'm sure Krillen had a ton of BBQs with Goku. I don't get to see my best friend all that much, but when I do, the connection is the same. I guess I kinda hope that's how it is for those characters too.

Life is a tapestry where people weave in and out. Admire the beauty of when people are together, and try not to lament when they are apart.

pinky0926 posted...

Think Ron Weasley.

Ron Weasley never had talent.

Pour one out for my homie Kuwabara.

DrizztLink posted...

Ron Weasley never had talent.

In the first movie/book the whole point of the chess puzzle was to show he's got a strong analytic mind and that Harry/Hermione were underestimating him. Then that never panned out.

A guy hyped in the early Baki series was gone for a whole 30 years, and then popped up again in 2024. He was just chilling, I guess.

s0nicfan posted...

In the first movie/book the whole point of the chess puzzle was to show he's got a strong analytic mind and that Harry/Hermione were underestimating him. Then that never panned out.

And his strong analytical mind came to the conclusion that he was the weakest link

DrizztLink posted...

Ron Weasley never had talent.

Ron was set up to be the strategic mastermind of the group with the many times his prowess in chess was initially mentioned in the first book...and that just sort of disapparated and gave way for stupid emotional bumbling idiot Ron in later books

Also re Ron: putting aside talent, the bigger narrative sin is how he just sort of gets sidelined by Hermione being the better friend and closer confidant.

Like Saitama in his own show. The shonen is trying to completely take over the comedy.

pinky0926 posted...

Also re Ron: putting aside talent, the bigger narrative sin is how he just sort of gets sidelined by Hermione being the better friend and closer confidant.

The series suffers from Hermione not being the main character anyways.

A_Good_Boy posted...

The series suffers from Hermione not being the main character anyways.

Which is ironic given her biggest side stories (the castle slaves, the shape shifting reporter, etc) all got cut from the movies.

I think it's something most people go through. When you are younger, it feels like the world has so much possibilities. You are still in school or early in your career. When you're older, doors close.

Krillin at least had a very happy life in the end

pinky0926 posted...

I'm watching Dr Stone right now i'm I'm quite confused at how Taiju is introduced as this brawny super dependable honest guy and then he's almost immediately eclipsed by basically every other person introduced after that .

Sazh should have at least been the top Synergist for the party, but SE gave those skills to Hope. :/

andri_g posted...

Sazh should have at least been the top Synergist for the party, but SE gave those skills to Hope. :/

Though the fact that he gets Haste long before everyone else makes him pretty invaluable for the main game.