alakazam^ wrote:Zephyr wrote:In universe, yes, they're all main contestants. Narratively speaking, most of them are as important as the preliminary contestants. They serve the same function. Their lack of spotlight is equally justified.
But that's not for you to decide. There are 70 people that can fulfill various roles going from "fodder" to "crucial to the story", why should 90% of them not have any presence at all? Kale didn't need to wipe 4 Universes out and Toyotarou could have done something fun with some of them.
What's not for me to decide?
I dont have the time right now to go back through all of the chapters right now, but beyond the most central core characters (Goku, Jiren, #17, Freeza, and arguably Vegeta and Kale in this version), a good number of the remaining 74 fulfill a myriad of roles.
Everyone Kale takes out, again, serves to communicate how crazy the form is, her own teammates and Anilaza especially. Frost, and everyone he takes out, Krillin and Tenshinhan especially, helps to further show how risky it is to be working with Freeza.
Gohan, Roshi, Hit, Toppo, Dyspo, Caulifla, Cabba, likewise function to assist, or flesh out, the core characters. Gamisaras, Damon, #18, and Piccolo, and everyone else the former two take out act to deliver on Quitela's buildup. Ribrianne, Kakunsa, and Rosie serve to create a gag with Beerus, Krillin, and Helles. The other Pride Troopers, and the Trio de Dangers help illustrate the effectiveness of teamwork.
That's roughly 40 distinct and memorable characters out of the 80 who have a notable presence. Are some of them relegated to fodder? Yes, but they are done so with purpose. That they are reduced to such helps communicate important things to the reader.
This is 80 people fighting, simultaneously, for less than an hour. There's no way to give most of the characters big spotlight moments without breaking suspension of disbelief, something the anime unintentionally went to great lengths to demonstrate.
Am I saying there's no room for improvement? Of course not. These characters could have shown off more interesting abilities while being eliminated. For the most part, though, I think it tracks nicely. It's a densely packed event, in universe, but I don't think that necessitates the telling of a sprawling and dense epic of a tale. You certainly could, but to argue it a sin not to just feels like you're trying to put the storyteller in a box. Less taking issue with what the story
is, and looking at it on its own terms, and taking issue with what it
isn't.