(Hated trope) Remember all these stories and characters we followed for so long? Welp now it’s all reset.

[u/FullBrother9300]

1: using another flashpoint to create the tomorrowverse (Justice League Dark: Apokolips war) after 80-90% of the cast is killed off and billions lives are fated to die Flash and Constantine hatch up a plan to kill baby Darkseid to prevent the entire story from happening which just leads to an entirely different universe being formed and even erasing some characters from existence.

2: Jim travelling to the beginning (Tales of Arcadia series) after multiple characters die including Toby Jim uses a magic gem to travel back to the very first episode but instead lets Toby find the amulet… this changes things how?

[u/AndreZB2000]

https://giphy.com/gifs/IvoysZG4Zn5a4cWBZA
Solo Leveling

the worst part? there was no reason to. Jin Wu defeats the big bad, and barely anyone is dead, but angels show up anyway and tell Jin Wu "hey we have this magic cup that can time travel, and has never been mentioned before, you wanna go back?", and he does. he kills all the bad guys in the beginning of time and somehow humanity's history stays the same, all the same characters are alive, and the only difference is everyone is powerless

[u/toonboy01 → u/AndreZB2000]

>barely anyone

>millions of people killed in the final battle alone

Also, it was Jinwoo that asked them to use the cup, they didn't think it was a good idea. And he only went back like a decade or so.

[u/ThatCapMan → u/toonboy01]

I'd shit on solo leveling any day of the week, but I appreciate your specificity and explanation.

[u/thedicestoppedrollin → u/toonboy01]

It's been years since I read it but iirc it's kind of a new game plus situation, which fits the series just fine imo

[u/WouldYouPleaseKindly → u/toonboy01]

millions of people killed in the final battle alone

So the cup could fix that, but not his messed up hand?

[u/thesirblondie → u/WouldYouPleaseKindly]

His messed up hand happens after they use the cup. In his final fight with Antares in the new world he gets scarred. It's the only wound that his abilities can't fix, which is why he wears a glove.

[u/toonboy01 → u/WouldYouPleaseKindly]

I don't recall him having a messed up hand in the epilogue? But it's been a minute.

[u/thesirblondie → u/toonboy01]

He only has it in the epilogue. He wears a glove at school and some bullies try to get on him for that, so he shows them his scarred hand and they back off.

[u/toonboy01 → u/thesirblondie]

Must've been from fighting the Monarchs again then but yeah, I didn't remember that

[u/haoxinly → u/toonboy01]

It's exactly that. He doesn't have it when he wakes up as a kid but does after the time skip fighting monarchs

[u/thesirblondie → u/toonboy01]

It's from his rematch with Antares

[u/SimpleCrow → u/AndreZB2000]

Which then ends up being equally pointless bc in the sequel series, the rifts, hunters, and superpowers come back just so his son can level up too.

[u/fake_user_34 → u/SimpleCrow]

He gave earth more time. During the end, the cosmic war was always coming to Earth. But in the OG timeline, so many heroes died that the earth was just doomed to fail.

New Timeline with his son, there is a more fighting chance now because those that died are now alive.

[u/DinDonDaaan → u/AndreZB2000]

Incorrect. The cup is introduced by Ashborn way before the final fight, and Jin is the one whom proposes one last use to make things right. People are saved, criminals are forced to turn themselves in. Basically a way better timeline.

[u/thesirblondie → u/AndreZB2000]

there was no reason to

The population of earth was decimated by the Monarch war. And that's not taking into account the millions who died as a result of dungeon breaks or hunters dying in dungeons, one of which being Jin-Woo's father. Or what about the people who got mana sickness, like his mum and Jinho's dad. Sure, he cured the two of them but it's not a terribly rare sickness.

The thing you should be annoyed by is that his sacrifice didn't matter, as per the sequel series (which I've enjoyed, still).

[u/Leather_rebelion → u/AndreZB2000]

I honestly don't know what people expect from solo leveling. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. It's not smart or deep and it doesn't want to be. It's just a self insert power fantasty

[u/yijiujiu → u/Leather_rebelion]

Yeah... I had to force myself to finish it just to say I did. It became Jin-woo ex machina basically always, swooping in to mop things up and save the day basically from the ants onward

[u/thesirblondie → u/yijiujiu]

Which is exactly what it was supposed to be. The genre is called Power Fantasy. And it's alright if that's not your cup of tea, it usually isn't mine. However, I think Solo Leveling is a very strong entry into the genre even if it falls into some of the same trappings that plague the genre. The sequel series tries to deal with one of those (side characters that used to be powerful become obsolete), but it's been on hiatus since shortly after that mechanic was introduced.

[u/yijiujiu → u/thesirblondie]

I mean, I get that, but isn't DBZ or the like also something of a power fantasy? A story where everything always goes the MC's way isn't much of a story unless you find ways to creatively problem solve (like greatest estate developer). SL just felt kind of lazy, besides the artwork I mean

[u/NonGeneriComplaint → u/Leather_rebelion]

powerstomp is like a whole anime genre of over powered protags. Its meant to be that way but fans still dont like lame ass endings

[u/WouldYouPleaseKindly → u/Leather_rebelion]

It's not smart or deep 

Yeeeeeeeeeeah. I watched the show and expected some crazy things in the books. Think, extradimensional beings who gave Jinwoo the power of death in the system so that he could be the destroyer, and Jinwoo would have to fight the system to save people. Plus I thought Cha's declarationthat she would catch up to him was actually going to be taken seriously and that she would really do it. Then I read the books and they were boring. Then it turned into straight up copaganda and I was out.

[u/Ok_Turnover_1235 → u/Leather_rebelion]

Why does power fantasy have to be dumb and shallow though?

That's like saying a superman story has to be unsatisfying and poorly written because he eventually becomes the strongest thing on earth

[u/Leather_rebelion → u/Ok_Turnover_1235]

It was dumb and shallow from the start. That's my point. People take it more seriously than it does itself

[u/Ok_Turnover_1235 → u/Leather_rebelion]

I'm concerned that you're retconning what you said. You spoke very generally about the genre, not the show

[u/Leather_rebelion → u/Ok_Turnover_1235]

Yes. Self insert power fantasies in anime are most of the time shallow and dumb. That's like most isekais. I didn't know that it's now a genre people take seriously. I thought it was mostly a derogatory term used for shonen anime that fit the bill.

[u/Ok_Turnover_1235 → u/Leather_rebelion]

Except there's absolutely top tier iseksais that have phenomenonal writing and themes.

.hack//sign is probably the best example, and it set that standard in 2002.

I just don't know why you can handwave a negative reaction by saying "how can you expect good writing from x genre?"

[u/Leather_rebelion → u/Ok_Turnover_1235]

I can handwave it because it is the rule and not the exception. I haven't watched/read hack//sign and I believe you that it's probably an exception. But most isekais and self insert power fantasies are indeed shallow and dumb and that's ok. It's cool when there is an exception, but expecting it is setting you up for disappointment.

[u/Ok_Turnover_1235 → u/Leather_rebelion]

Gargantia in the verduous planet.

ID0

Overlord can be cringe as fuck but has great themes regarding civics, good and evil etc.

I'd have to think harder to remember more, but mocking people for expecting non dogshit endings is crazy

[u/Leather_rebelion → u/Ok_Turnover_1235]

The point also was the solo leveling was like this from the start. It was very blatant not high art. It's rule of cool and style over substance. Overlord I actually watched and that was more in depth and thought out in its first season than Solo leveling ever was. Expecting a good ending from Overlord I'd understand. From Solo leveling? No

[u/minai_ruo → u/Leather_rebelion]

I really didn't like the idea of power leveling in this, I think author should go with something else

[u/fake_user_34 → u/AndreZB2000]

The sequel answers this. They start to get powers again because regardless of what he did, the cosmic war was always coming to Earth's doorsteps. All he did was delay the inevitable.

But he did reset the world back a decade. Only because so many fucking people died in the war to the point that the big war that was coming, Earth was doom to die. He gave Earth more time in the reset.