I think that's a rather narrow view of what's a good story, drama does not equate physical conflict and emotional and mental conflict are necessary components if the end result is to be something other then the equivilent of a cheap action novel.
In my opinion the relative lack of overt conflict is a welcome contrast to most anime and manga fanfiction on the Net , a very large part of wich are buildt around the premise "beat up the new threat", they might still be very good but it does get old after a while.
[Very true. There is a lot of the ol' Dragonball syndrome in a lot of fics, though I will argue that there are many fics who have an emotional element to them as well.
But when I said in my earlier post that the "emotional conflict isn't very dramatic," I meant that beyond his very brief moments of remorse and anger, Doug does not have to fight himself at all. He does what he thinks is right, and while that's good from a character view point, it's not dramatic.
Frankly, Lisa Vanette's story is much more compelling, what with her ambitions, fears, and worries about betraying one or the other of her friends. She's both conflicted and in conflicts where she is in peril, and that makes it dramatic.
But as the main protagonist is Doug, who follows through on what he thinks is best, is emotionally healthy if lonely, and can't be beat in a fight, there is no conflict at all with him. What are his biggest worries? Boomer sentience and getting home. Big concerns, yes, but there isn't enough adversity, enough conflict, in his way to make that dramatic. He has it too easy. I mean, for god's sake, look at how quick he found an apartment in Tokyo. I don't know how it might be in Mega-Tokyo, but by all rights he shouldn't have been able to find something bigger than a wardrobe if he liquidated all of his gems in modern Tokyo and I can't imagine what with Genom buying as much land as possible, it's gotten any better (okay, an exaggeration, but you get the idea). It all comes too easily for Doug.
I mean, hell, even Superman had *some* problems.
-murmur the fallen
In my opinion the relative lack of overt conflict is a welcome contrast to most anime and manga fanfiction on the Net , a very large part of wich are buildt around the premise "beat up the new threat", they might still be very good but it does get old after a while.
[Very true. There is a lot of the ol' Dragonball syndrome in a lot of fics, though I will argue that there are many fics who have an emotional element to them as well.
But when I said in my earlier post that the "emotional conflict isn't very dramatic," I meant that beyond his very brief moments of remorse and anger, Doug does not have to fight himself at all. He does what he thinks is right, and while that's good from a character view point, it's not dramatic.
Frankly, Lisa Vanette's story is much more compelling, what with her ambitions, fears, and worries about betraying one or the other of her friends. She's both conflicted and in conflicts where she is in peril, and that makes it dramatic.
But as the main protagonist is Doug, who follows through on what he thinks is best, is emotionally healthy if lonely, and can't be beat in a fight, there is no conflict at all with him. What are his biggest worries? Boomer sentience and getting home. Big concerns, yes, but there isn't enough adversity, enough conflict, in his way to make that dramatic. He has it too easy. I mean, for god's sake, look at how quick he found an apartment in Tokyo. I don't know how it might be in Mega-Tokyo, but by all rights he shouldn't have been able to find something bigger than a wardrobe if he liquidated all of his gems in modern Tokyo and I can't imagine what with Genom buying as much land as possible, it's gotten any better (okay, an exaggeration, but you get the idea). It all comes too easily for Doug.
I mean, hell, even Superman had *some* problems.
-murmur the fallen