Honestly, the reason I hate this show so much is because it's incredibly generic shonen. Generic schoolboy having to fight others? Done already. Protagonist with no big dream? Done already. Not wanting to kill others? Done already.
The thing is that, no matter how you slice it, Reborn is a promising premise (a schoolboy becoming a mafia boss? That would be Godfather-lite!) grounded by a generic plot, generic characters, generic powers, generic chromic themes, and generic J-Pop (for the anime, at least).
Don't try to hide it. It's shonen manga series #46. Nothing else.
^ well at least you're not bitching in the headscratchers page. Also I don't think it's been done once or twice before makes something generic, not original but not generic, not to mention that Goku's dream was to become the strongest fighter, also it goes more than not wanting to kill others to not wanting to "fight" others, and 90% of the time because you're scared of your opponent.
I'll admit that the other review for Reborn spiked my interest, when the reviewer discussed "sticks of dynamite, flames coming from the forehead, the cooking of poisonous foods, a time-traveling bazooka, [and] a lizard that transforms into a 9mm pistol". Had this been a unique series (maybe a Gintama-Godfather mix), I could have gotten my head wrapped around it.
Then I saw an actual clip of it. Truly generic J-Pop opening, cookie-cutter main characters, generic colored power-up boxes, six villains who seemed to be taken from the grand list of anime cliches. That pretty much convinced me that it wasn't worth it.
Oh, Torqey's Headscratchers entry was deleted for bitching, okay. As for the review, my main problem with the cast is how everybody is the same as when the series started. Tsuna hasn't grown out of being a Butt Monkey or even taken any initiative in running his Mafia family, he's still scared of being in it. Yamamoto still thinks he is in a Mafia RPG. Kyoko and Haru are still only Those Two Guys, and Hibari is still an asshole who refuses to cooperate with the team.
@Torquey: I wrote that review!
Unfortunately, though, I'm gonna have to agree with you. While I did enjoy the first 30 or so episodes of the anime (I've never read the manga), I quickly lost interest after that. I enjoyed the zaniness and creativity of the first arc, but once the whole "Vongola Rings" stuff started I felt like the show was losing steam and turning out to be just another shonen series (Darn, and it was showing such promise!). So yeah, I quit watching. Just not my kind of thing I guess.
So in short no one up here is agree with me huh? To be honest it's hard for me to agree you guys since for one, some comment imply you didn't really follow the manga at all and didn't see the manga development. Anyway about big dream, what I mean is not like Goku who only want to be stronger... but his point of view that just wanting a small happiness in life without any sense of adventure or rivalry like shonen series. School boy fighting big bad? Done already? Duh! This is shonen, what do you expect? It's like saying triangle love is generic in shoujo, understatement -.-'
j-pop opening, why opening song matter so much? Many fans love it anyway~ Cookie cutter main characters? Uhm... why? The closest one I can see is Mukuro who looks and act almost like Sebastian from Black Butler. Unless I didn't really get the meaning Cookie-cutter characters. Generic colored power-up boxes, have you seen shonen series without some power up device a.k.a awesome weapon?
@Very Melon I guess you follow the manga, but I don't get why you think the are still the same. Tsuna is still Butt Monkey and still scared to be in mafia is like Naruto is still a hyper ninja. It's a characteristic that make Tsuna, well... Tsuna.Yamamoto from what I see never really see this so called mafia RPG as 'just' a game, you don't get yourself almost killed in a game or fighting your opponent to half-dead. Kyoko and Haru... Sad but true they are one of many girls that overlooked in shonen series, so what about it? About Hibari, same reason as Tsuna but you have to see that he will fight with them independently. It's under the description of his job anyway, he is cloud guardian. I can accept some what you guys said are true but what I argue up here is things I think I can't agree about. Cliche villain? C Onsidering vast number of villains in shonen series I think KHR did a pretty good job~ I have to agree D Aemon Spade is very cliche though.
So there you go~ -.-
- @Very Melon I guess you follow the manga, but I don't get why you think the are still the same. Tsuna is still Butt Monkey and still scared to be in mafia is like Naruto is still a hyper ninja. It's a characteristic that make Tsuna, well... Tsuna.
Unacceptable at this stage. Naruto's hyper-activeness was always portrayed positivity as a strength of his person, while Tsuna has always been a joke and show as such whenever he's not fighting. The 2 are incomparable.
- Yamamoto from what I see never really see this so called mafia RPG as 'just' a game, you don't get yourself almost killed in a game or fighting your opponent to half-dead.
That's your own interpretation going against established fact, sorry. He still thinks it's a game, ever-since the future arc.
- Kyoko and Haru... Sad but true they are one of many girls that overlooked in shonen series, so what about it?
You agree with me on this, that all I wanted.
- About Hibari, same reason as Tsuna but you have to see that he will fight with them independently. It's under the description of his job anyway, he is cloud guardian.
Doesn't mean he needs to be an asshole about it.
- Cliche villain? C Onsidering vast number of villains in shonen series I think KHR did a pretty good job~ I have to agree D Aemon Spade is very cliche though.
I was going to say no-one ever spoke about the villains, but then I re-read what Torquey wrote. Don't bother responding to him.
^ I'm not sure, I Yamamoto is aware that things are real, he just is such an easy going guy that he just acepted it, he even knew about reborn's curse before the others and the whole dead people thing should had tipped him off. But yes, it's sad that Tsuna's balls "ascend" back inside every time he quits Hyper Dying Will mode, it shows almost no growth. Hibari is not the only character I've seen like that though. The slight hope now is that Chrome becomes more dependable.
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It's good as long as you are patient to follow it. Shonen with unique Hero.
Patience definitely needed to follow this series, one of few reasons many bad reviews this series got because couldn't stand the gag until Kokuyo arc started. You have to admit this series take a big turn once the first Big Bad is introduced. When you think Tsuna is annoyingly coward and , the take on his character for Shonen surprisingly more realistic than other series. We are talking about middle school student who have been a Butt Monkey for most of his life and then suddenly forced to be a mafia boss. Realistically he will not start punching the light out of Big Bad or anything like that. For this troper this is the first appeal spotted from this series.
And even after this series goes on, Tsuna have NO big dream like most of Shonen series hero only want to be normal and live a decent and happy life. Some people have issues with him being too soft and unwilling to kill his enemies no matter how Complete Monster they are. This must have something to do with his resolve to not accept Vongola's sin and continue their bloody history. So far TYL Byakuran and Daemon Spade are the only one he killed though it revealed present Byakuran is still alive and seems to be a pretty good guy now and Daemon... well he is not alive in the first place.
I love this series,and when the training plot is repetitive each arc is memorable and packed with action, humor and angst. Current arc seems tame compared to TYL or Shimon arc because it only take destroying watch to win the battle but then again with many mystery not yet to be revealed the representative battle probably just a warm up.