Under-rated characters?

[Genji]

While it's certain there's some characters out there that are over-rated, I have the feeling that some are on the other side of the board in Ginga.
You know who I'm taking about. The ones that are cut out of the picture because someone stole them their big fight/speech/moment to shine or just because they're left  in the background. So, here we go: now there's a topic for them!

I'm going ahead.
Out of the characters that I feel are concerned, the one that I like the most, easily making him an equal with my favorite primary characters is… Uzuki!
His personality is what touches me. Along with the fact that he isn’t a static character, in the sense he evolves from antagonist to ally: contrary to most dogs recruited along the way in GNG (Kai dogs, Moss, Benizakura, Akame) he isn’t « sought of » and introduced as a vilain on the first occasion we got to see him. I like his serious, courteous and laid back attitude. He’s not overly charismatic, but I find him more interesting than… Riki for instance, without Yoshi having to say « he’s amazing, people worship him you should too cause HE’S AMAZING AND A FREAKIN’ KILLIN MACHINE». He got that silent dignity, and he’s the most mature of the four kings of Mutsu, the voice of reason and observation among his impatients and overly confident comrades (his quote about Moss’ attitude ftw)… So I can only like him, really.

I probably got several others, but my memory is pretty foggy at the moment... so I will probably add more later.
But what about you? I'be curious to know who's got you heart, even just a little bit.

[M-92 Mantis]

Oh geez... now that I think about a time to talk about underrated characters, I can't think of any, lol.

I'm not gonna be preachy, and I don't want to sound repetitive like I'm trying to hammer in my opinion on characters to people over and over, but I'd have to say Reika is underrated in the fact that no English translations have gotten far enough to show her more often when she takes a role as one of Weed's closest advisors. A lot of her lines and time in the anime was cut extremely short, so I agree her reason in it is pretty much pointless when she only gets shown as the damsel in distress, but people also seem to like forgetting the entire reason Gin and the gang got caught by Hougen was they captured one of Hougen's spies who knew of their whereabouts, but Gin decided to let him go. That's in the manga at least, but that was translated into English so some people should know of it. In the anime, it's more of Reika's fault (although she was being spied on for Pete's sake, you can't blame someone for being spied on), probably because they realized Gin letting an obvious spy go and "promise to not tell Hougen and go and make a new life for himself" was a pretty silly reason for Gin's capture. Reika's lines were also given to most of the men in the anime, by Jerome, Rocket, etc. Reika is the one who consoled Weed when he told Jerome to leave and made him feel confident in his decision. She also WAS in the battles with Ohu when they would have scuffles with Kamakiri or Hougen's armies, she just wasn't like Cross and constantly reminding everyone she was a woman.

Another one I can think of right now is... don't hurt me: Lucy, the Mastiff who fooled Sakura into leaving Ohu to go searching for Gin. I don't mean underrated as in "she's actually a great character and people should love her," I just mean in that she actually had forms of human emotions instead of being an airheaded pretty face standing in the background waiting for someone to assign her to having their sons. Lucy was Terry's wife and grieved like a normal person would. The Ohu men took care of her but "didn't know how to speak to a woman" and thought she was wired wrong because she still wouldn't get over Terry's death. The only other woman Lucy had as company was Sakura, and everyone else talked about Sakura and how sweet and friendly she was, so Lucy got jealous. Lucy immediately regretted sending Sakura off in the wilds and confessed to the men, begging them to kill her. She felt she had nothing to live for and her hateful action was even too much for her to forget. I'm not saying I think she deserves to be forgiven for sending another woman into the wilds on her own, where Sakura obviously showed she had no idea how to fend for herself (although that's Sakura's fault for not being able to just take care of herself like any normal adult), but I do think at least it's interesting to see some sort of realistic or believable suffering a character is going through that wasn't over-the-top traumatic or hilariously unnatural for them to do. Lucy felt alone and was treated like some sort of unlikable hunk of skin, and especially with the old-fashioned ways of Ginga, being surrounded by men who treat the opposite gender almost like another species would isolate her, yet Sakura was treated very kindly and complimented all the time. Lucy was also very paranoid and bitter, so I'm not saying she was a perfect little angel. I just mean she actually showed some form of emotions and reactions that are way more complex than Yoshi usually does. So the hate for Lucy I understand completely, but the story itself treating her like a "darn sneaky women and their weird women ways" and forgetting about her immediately after the flashback kind of ignored the fact on how influential she was to the plot, whether or not you agree it was done well or was a stupid reason for Sakura to leave.

Another I always felt a bit bummed about was Rocket's brothers, and I mean underrated as in they could've had a really nice touch to the story, but fell flat. When Rocket split from them, both sides were scared and saddened by the fact that next time they'd meet, they'd be enemies. Rocket wanted to change his outlook on life and feel like a person, not a tool, but his brothers were more interested in gaining rewards from their job as spies. Multiple times it is said that most dogs joined Hougen's army basically for a way to be able to get food and shelter, which was hard to get before he came around because Ohu was missing all of its commanders so it fell apart (nice going, Ohu), and I'm pretty sure the brothers had been working for Hougen to get a quick meal and be in the safety of not being an enemy to him or his followers. Missile and Jet were also colder than Rocket, and more business-oriented, and may have seen Ohu's cause like Rocket did when he got to know Weed a little better through his mission in getting closer to him. All of this could've led up to actual conflict, but Hougen kills them anyway because... he's evil or something, so the build-up to the scene of Rocket leaving them deflated. I've just always liked the idea of the brothers splitting and thought it would've deserved more attention of them as a family and not just a reason for Rocket to want revenge against Hougen.

IIIIIIII'll have to try remembering other characters I've talked about and thought about... I know there are quite a few, story-wise and fanbase-wise. I liked your explanation on Uzuki - can't wait until we reach him in the next volume to see for myself! I've never seen the anime so I don't know if it held to that personality or not.

[Genji]

For Uzuki, yes I'm mainly referring to the anime (I saw the anime before being able to have a look at the manga). But as far I've seen in the scans I read, he hasn't been alter that much. Perhaps he is a bit more "vulgar" than his anime version. But I can't really tell for the moment, because I don't have a global view so I could compare versions side to side.

As for the examples you've put, they all seem very interesting. Sadly, I've only been able to see the GDW anime so far. Soooo there's probably a good chunk of what you're telling me that has been cut out, so I can't really tell. I'll admit I don't remember much of the anime either...

Rocket... I've got little memory of him aside from the fact that he was on Hougen side, then decided to ally with Weed, and that he was... fast?
For Reika, I remember her more clearly, as she was the only female beside Weed's mother. Though... I really remember only one decisive move she made (probably because it was the only one): she stood up to Hougen and made him fall in a frozen river... but that wasn't the most useful thing as he escaped pretty quickly?
I do remember being quite dissatisfied with most of Weed's gang, for most of the focus was put on either Jerome or Kyuoushiro, and even Weed seemed a little pushed aside in his own team. Also, I was really disappointed with Kai Ken dogs. They seemed irrelevant for the most part, outside of making Hougen and his brother look more evil... Which doesn't really hold to the place their dad and uncles had in GNG.

[kek]

In my opinion, I find Buruge to be a very under-rated. I wish I could go more in-depth but I may be making some assumptions or errors to his character because I can't read the manga. Nevertheless, he has a much larger (and slightly different) role than we saw in the anime, and he continues to be part of the 'gang' up until his death in the Russian Dog arc. 

[Zeki]

There are a lot of characters I think deserve more love! To name a few...

Terry lived under a great amount of shame - which is more touching considering the cultural value of 'saving face' in Japan - to eventually save his friends, and gave them the courage to run straight up a cliff. That scene always gives me chills. ;-;

Hyena worked hard to better himself. He knew he was a horrible coward, and he decided to change that.

Ben, while obviously a major character, doesn't get enough love from the fans. He's not a dick on his high horse, unlike other major Ou warriors (*cough*Akame....); he's actually very humble and compassionate and still a total badass who can take a shit ton of abuse.

Toube totally gave himself over to this 'friendship' business in his last minutes and went out like a fuckin' badass.

Kaibutsu/P4 is, to me, more complex and realistic than Hougen. He suffered indescribably, and let it continue because he believed in Jerome's words so much. That he eventually snapped isn't surprising at all, and I felt more in tune with his reason for killing humans than I did for Hougen's rampage.

Of course there's Reika, too, for all the reasons Rascal said.

Damn it, these cartoon dogs give me a lot of feelings.

[Ace]

Oh God... Do you want the entire list? 

I will have to side with Genji' point about Uzuki, however, I feel like the Mutsu Generals are in general underrated. As people pointed out in discussion of the volume, I would have liked to have explained how their rule works, how they met etc. It is an interesting concept, and as a child, I feel in love with them because of their design, so it is sad he doesn't develop them more. 

Another character would have to be Bill. I love his nickname, and I would have loved some background story to it, but nope. Why is he so afraid of the fighting dogs aside from obvious reasons? I sometimes sensed that perhaps there was something more to it. In the Danish dub, Musashi seemed to have known Bill from old times. 

And surprisingly, I would have liked to have Gaki aka Akakabuto's substitute explained a bit more. Why does he only have one eye? Was it a coincidence or something more sinister like Akakabuto removing it, so he could function as his substitute?

M-92 Mantis's point about a lot of the female characters I would have to agree with. Another female character would be Fuji, because it is mentioned that she use to be a hunting dog. Again, Yoshi made GDR... Why not GDF? 


And last but not least - Shouko and Dandy Bill. I found the plot with the flute interesting, and I would have liked to know some background or at least have their connection as dog and owner elaborated a bit more. When I first saw the two, I wanted some cool and touching background story... Heck, I could even live with Yoshi coming up with some 'oh mah gawd, woman into dog fighting'. Just tell me anything! 

SPOILER: Click to show

Even after Dandy Bill was killed, I mean... She got over it quickly, which really bothered me.

 

[Deleted]

Well, can I say everyone?

Because in GNG at least, most characters are underrate and under-developed (except Gin of course). They are all clones with minor differences, and no backstory whatsoever. We have just a glimpse of the past of a character, but it isn't developed enough to make it memorable.

We know Ben had an owner that we meet briefly, but I'm not sure the manga explains why he ran away. The Akame vs Kurojaki side-story was very promising, with all the ninja references, ancient scrolls and all. But it's over in a matter of chapters, and never mentioned again: Akame and his followers just become more cannon fodder for the Ohu army. Cross is the only female in the Ohu army, but we have no idea why and there seem to be no consequences to that. Plus the death of her entire family doesn't seem to affect her in any way. Benizakura left his owner, who took good care of him for years, for no apparent reason. Musashi disappears as soon as Beni arrives.The mutsu kings hardly have any personality.

I could go on forever... And what annoys me the most is that most of this characters have a big potential. I like what I see, but that's just a teaser.

But the #1 underrated character IMO, at least based on the anime, is P4.There's a lot to be said about him, so much that is not explained, and so many themes barely touched. How he was before the experments, how he changed his opinion on humans, his quest for revenge (and consequent madness), his relationship with Jerome and vice versa. You can write an entire book on P4, instead he is just another villain.

Oct 15, 2015 12:46:14 GMT -7 Ace said:

And surprisingly, I would have liked to have Gaki aka Akakabuto's substitute explained a bit more. Why does he only have one eye? Was it a coincidence or something more sinister like Akakabuto removing it, so he could function as his substitute?

Like Gin's double, Tokimune. How did he get that scar on his forehead? It's too precise to be a coincidence... Is Gin a sadist?

[Zeki]

Ace - I definitely wanted to see more of Shouko and DB, too! They had an interesting set up, and their own chapter image, so I thought they'd play larger roles... Maybe at least Shouko will come back.

@togo - Aww yiss, another P4 fan? I had SO MUCH I wanted to know about that poor guy. He deserved, at the very least, his own Gaiden story or something.