carp000

So I’ve been a Smash fan since the first installment on 64, and I still avidly play the newest installment in the series (Smash Bros for 3DS). You have spoken many truths of the series. It is immensely deep and the competition, learning new characters, new play styles, and trying to figure out your opponents, will always keep me and the tons of Smash fans out there excited to play more.

I also own Rivals of Aether. When I heard about this game, I was indeed very excited. I had no intention of replacing my Smash playtime with it, but I wanted to try it out. As the creators explained, they took the more competitive aspects of Smash and polished them into a fast-paced fighting game of the same nature. I’ll have to admit that it is a lot of fun, but at the end of the day, I’ll still put more hours into Smash for the appreciation I have for Nintendo and for the series.

Nevertheless, I would still recommend Aether to anyone who is a fan of the Smash series, but especially for those who really want to dig into the competitive spirit of it.

One big thing to keep in mind is that a film and a book (or whatever the source material is), simply cannot be the same. They are different mediums. It is impossible to have an identical piece from the get go which makes it pointless to expect a movie to look exactly like the book sounds. If you want an identical experience, just read the book again.

Filmmakers therefore have to take at least a few creative liberties because, although there may be stories and characters behind the work, it as a whole has not been done entirely for them. They can go even further with creative liberties too because the plot and setting and everything else does not have to happen identically. Average screen time limits that by itself, but not all filmmakers want their piece to be entirely predictable. By changing the setting of an important event, for example, they can catch even very knowledgeable fans off guard and potentially add a different take in tone or emotion to the story. In short, they aren’t trying to make an identical piece. They still want some room for it, and for themselves, to grow.

It all comes down to how things are presented. If you’re watching a serious discussion scene in a show and a character just stumbles through with her breasts spilling out everywhere, yes, it is very likely to just be fanservice. Yet, if we reframe a serious discussion to an awkward conversation, maybe some more explicit sexuality from a ditz of a character could be the comic relief, the way out for someone having an uncomfortable conversation. The boobs might still be there, but the intent, and more importantly the reception, would likely be different.

Those who are skillful at their craft will find the beneficial ways to use everything, even fanservice. Maybe there’s a tease of a long-running potential romance between characters at the end of a season. That could be fanservice that is not just ditching the plot.

All in all, it sounds like fanservice is almost synonymous to sexuality here, particularly objectifying females. While I understand that it is being abused by many as a gimmick to please some fans, there are surely moments when it could instead be put to masterful use and make the plot and drama of a show even stronger. Let’s hope there’s more of that going on in the future!