Author notes

Magatsu-Izanagi

Strain42

on Dec. 22, 2011

Ok folks, pop a squat and get your debating caps because I'm about to give a long winded speech here about our good friend, Adachi. I've said before that I like Adachi as a character, and this is true. I'm not going back on that. But what disappointed me the most is Adachi as an antagonist, and how I believe he's one of the most disappointing antagonists in any MegaTen game.

It stems from something Brad Bird said on the DVD commentary for The Incredibles (I'm paraphrasing here) "A villain can be silly or clumsy or even nerdy, but a GOOD villain should never be non-threatening." and that's really what I felt was Adachi's biggest fault. I was never threatened by Adachi. He never worried me, and he didn't exactly ever showcase himself as a powerful figure. Some people say "Well, he killed two people." yeah, but look at who those people were. A scared skinny reporter woman, and a high school girl. This wasn't like Takaya presenting himself as a threat by killing someone who could probably kick his ass like Shinji. This was a grown man basically just shoving people who were most likely physically weaker than him.

Maybe Adachi wasn't supposed to be seen as a powerful figure and is supposed to exist merely as a lead up to the more powerful antagonists, but I think it's a pretty swift kick in the balls for us to spend all game chasing a murderer and then have the murderer be a total pushover.

I'm sure people have their own takes on it, but that's just how I feel. He was a good character, but a bad villain.

As for notes on this actual comic, the last panel is supposed to be a callback to when Izanagi smacked the dream sandwich out of MC's hands back on the first day of comics, and Kanji being the one to deliver the line is because when I was playing the game Kanji was the one who beat him.