13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Part Three
Jan. 18th, 2023 08:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingI recently listened to a discussion of 13 Sentinels in which two people who’d played the game tried to explain it to a larger group, and one of them made an embarrassed comment about “anime tropes.” I think it’s worth discussing these tropes (without spoilers).
The first anime trope is fanservice, by which I mean “male gaze anime pedo bullshit.” For whatever reason, this fanservice is frontloaded into the tutorial and then more or less disappears. In other words, it’s a little gross at the beginning, but then it stops being an issue. It’s kind of like the opening of Final Fantasy XII, where you have to get acquainted with the dimples in Penelo’s ass and watch Fran straddle a flying motorcycle in lingerie before the game drops the fanservice pretense and gets down to the business of telling a story in which the characters aren’t sexualized at all.
The second anime trope is basic netto uyoku anime brainrot. This is concentrated at the beginning of one character’s story but then stops being an issue. There’s not much to say about this, save that it’s fairly common in a lot of anime-adjacent work that came out of Japan in the late 2010s, and that it will probably go over the heads of most people playing the game in English. I’m generally sensitive to this sort of thing, but it’s such a minor part of the overall story that it was easy to roll my eyes and not be bothered by it. Also, that character’s storyline gets much, much better later in the game.
The third anime trope is “giant mecha that can only be piloted by teenagers in high school.” As someone who dislikes this trope, what I would say to myself is that the diegetic explanation is very good, and that the narrative payoff is a lot of fun. The explanation and payoff don’t happen until late in the game, but they’re worth suspending disbelief for.
In a lot of ways, 13 Sentinels has strong Final Fantasy VIII vibes, and it’s worth reminding people (mainly myself) that Final Fantasy VIII was actually a really smart and interesting game. The conceit of all the characters being in high school is admittedly silly, but the “daily life” silliness of the first disc exists primarily to serve as a contrast for what you learn about the story as it progresses.
I’m not saying that anyone’s enjoyment of 13 Sentinels will be dependent on their tolerance for anime tropes, but what I would say is that it might be necessary to be patient with the game during the opening two hours. Like every other JRPG, 13 Sentinels gets so much better once you’re free from the mandatory tutorial.
The first anime trope is fanservice, by which I mean “male gaze anime pedo bullshit.” For whatever reason, this fanservice is frontloaded into the tutorial and then more or less disappears. In other words, it’s a little gross at the beginning, but then it stops being an issue. It’s kind of like the opening of Final Fantasy XII, where you have to get acquainted with the dimples in Penelo’s ass and watch Fran straddle a flying motorcycle in lingerie before the game drops the fanservice pretense and gets down to the business of telling a story in which the characters aren’t sexualized at all.
The second anime trope is basic netto uyoku anime brainrot. This is concentrated at the beginning of one character’s story but then stops being an issue. There’s not much to say about this, save that it’s fairly common in a lot of anime-adjacent work that came out of Japan in the late 2010s, and that it will probably go over the heads of most people playing the game in English. I’m generally sensitive to this sort of thing, but it’s such a minor part of the overall story that it was easy to roll my eyes and not be bothered by it. Also, that character’s storyline gets much, much better later in the game.
The third anime trope is “giant mecha that can only be piloted by teenagers in high school.” As someone who dislikes this trope, what I would say to myself is that the diegetic explanation is very good, and that the narrative payoff is a lot of fun. The explanation and payoff don’t happen until late in the game, but they’re worth suspending disbelief for.
In a lot of ways, 13 Sentinels has strong Final Fantasy VIII vibes, and it’s worth reminding people (mainly myself) that Final Fantasy VIII was actually a really smart and interesting game. The conceit of all the characters being in high school is admittedly silly, but the “daily life” silliness of the first disc exists primarily to serve as a contrast for what you learn about the story as it progresses.
I’m not saying that anyone’s enjoyment of 13 Sentinels will be dependent on their tolerance for anime tropes, but what I would say is that it might be necessary to be patient with the game during the opening two hours. Like every other JRPG, 13 Sentinels gets so much better once you’re free from the mandatory tutorial.
