High Guardian Spice is a Low-Grade Disaster

I was too high to see this was a bad idea
Twitter: / braxtonjs
Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/JustStopYT/

[@JustStop]

Just wanted to say that in hindsight, my section about storyboarding was highly misinformed and completely mixed it up with animatics and key framing, which is a massive blunder on my part. There's similar points that can be made about the animatic creators, which I was actually trying to talk about, but still, some of that was also mixed with keyframing. Conclusion: I'm a dumbass

[@Exatl]

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[@PelemusMcSoy]

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[@loth0270]

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[@galvanizeddreamer2051]

Storyboarding in many ways contributes to keyframing. Look at the storyboards for the majority of Steven Universe, and you will see the majority of it's problems. Meanwhile, when they bring in a guest in to storyboard the episode, the animation quality skyrockets out of nowhere.

[@ashutdownmcdonalds9466]

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[@Trigger0x10c]

Considering the fact that they're named after herbs, it's very funny how almost none of the characters have any growth

[@ChiefMedicPururu]

Ba-dum-tsss.

[@sageforasennight]

Underrated comment

[@Trigger0x10c]

@@sageforasennight it ain't much, but it's honest work

[@Gigamokin]

since they're named after herbs, the "High" part should have been the focus.

[@kankeydong2500]

That's a good one.

[@dork7546]

Part of this show's premise is a plot hole. Why would Sage's parents send her to a school where they only do new magic if they want her to do only old magic?

[@ChiefMedicPururu]

AND FUCKING BOOM!

[@enasbitch6988]

Meta moment; maybe it’s because there is no school for old magic and they can’t afford to homeschool?

[@vulpiixfoxx]

Idk, best guess is that they didn’t really know new magic was being used at the school?? Maybe they just thought it would just be old magic??

[@dork7546]

@@enasbitch6988 If so, then where did Sage's family and the rest of the people in their village learn old magic? I know her mom went through a phase where she practiced new magic, but that doesn't confirm she went to High Guardian Academy, just that she studied both fields.

[@vulpiixfoxx]

@@dork7546 again best guess is that maybe it worked similar to how regular schools work. The schools used old magic, but when new magic started to be created they used it more, similar to how school used to use just pencil and paper but now assignments can be done on computers idk I feel like I’m giving this show too much of the benefit of the doubt

[@Xerberos542]

This feels less like a story being told and more like a bait to form fandoms over

[@lauriex8832]

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING!

[@mattpace1026]

Just like all "look at us we have LGBT" fiction.

[@YuiFunami]

they basically wanted their own rwby

[@MikeKnight009]

​​@@mattpace1026A show worthy of a bottom tier subreddit with major gatekeeping and different opinions downvoting potential

[@zain6008]

and the sad thing is that it works

[@calebwashere]

Rosemary's pink hair being a genetic thing rather than some "GuEsS tHe MaIn ChArAcTeR" type beat might unironically be the only actually creative thing about this series

[@cladyweather]

this show completely threw away the little potential it had...

[@cocothedino_2901]

rosemary has the setup to be a genuinely interesting character and this full fledged production squanders it harder than a child written play would. her mom is secretly the MAIN VILLAIN! and shes shown to have a complex of not living up to her mothers shadow and expectations, she couldve been an aggressive, stubborn, but disciplined character that has tons of maturing to do and it wouldve been SO COOL to see, her intentionally cliche hair couldve contrasted so well with the realistic personality of an insecure child but instead they make her whole personality a cliched main character joke also and it ruins any intrigue she could’ve had

[@tayschannel2695]

Hey shadows house fandom! Just little reminder what this Rosemary and our Rosemary have same name! Okay I know many people hate our Rosemary and like….you guys have excuse (I like how everyone forget what Barbara Barbie Maryrose and Rosemary make literally everything to kill 14 years old girl. Barbara was too lazy, Barbie was angry, Rosemary was chilling and Maryrose was controlling) but still Rosemary is cute, and also great actress. Just rewatch first season and…..she acts so happy…..even when Barbie yells at her…I just can’t imagine what she was feeling on this moment……and of course, this silly little song she was singing, what she was talking……okay I want to cry now so WINDOW GOES WEEEEEEEE

[@AmartharDrakestone]

Not that creative, considering that parents having the same colored hair as their children is a standard trope.

[@DJ-uy7hb]

​@@tayschannel2695wth are you yapping about ☠️ where did barbie come from??

[@carito3293]

As a writer myself, I absolutely love High Guardian Spice. It gives me such amazing examples of how to write a bad story and what to avoid in my own works Edit: how tf am I still getting replies on this, y'all wack

[@iwantedtobethatanomaly2270]

I like the show just because it's hilariously bad but weirdly entertaining lmao.

[@thatangstychick5789]

@@iwantedtobethatanomaly2270 it's like one of those shows that's not meant to be taken seriously

[@iwantedtobethatanomaly2270]

@@thatangstychick5789 Exactly

[@Mario87456]

It should be used as a example on what NOT to do when making a cartoon.

[@dizzyheads]

Like a shitpost show?

[@KitwaIker]

This show is a goldmine for fanfiction because the groundwork is already there. Now you just have to give the characters actual character and make the worldbuilding yourself!

[@personsomeone2760]

so what i did for a dnd session in like 30 minutes. its basic as shit but is better than this

[@clawyraptor9029]

I'm already worldbuilding my own ver of HGS inside my own mind

[@HawtyHaven]

Lol I this would be a good example in my writing class

[@ChromaLuke]

I've seen godmod self-insert fanfics written better than this, and those are usually pretty low on the bar, and somehow HGS manages to be lower in quality. It's like a 5 year old wrote this, except I think even 5 year olds think this is the stupidest shit they've written and just throw away the paper they wrote it on after one paragraph.

[@Cloverkitty]

Yeah, this is pretty much a lowbar fanfic you find flooding any fanfic site. The kind you have to dig past like a DVD bin to find that one good one buried amongst trash. Certainly written like trash.

[@BunnyUmi]

You know what would have been cool? If the spices they would've named their main characters after would have reflected said characters personalities. Just a thought.

[@marstothestars33]

Funny thing is that they didn’t even name the characters after spices. Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, and Parsley are all herbs. They name the show “High Guardian Spice” AND PROCEED TO NAME THE CHARACTERS AFTER HERBS. They couldn’t even get that right!

[@alephkasai9384]

I never realised they were meant to be named after spices, I thought it was just a naming convention where the characters were named after herbs

[@pokepoke1889]

The thing with names is that unlike in real life, it’s important to have some sort of theme or symbolism that the name has with the character High Guardian doesn’t do that

[@Blundabus1337]

Spice Girls already did that.

[@whoasked3961]

Agreed, and I gotta say, the fact that Rosemary is "rose flower" themed instead of themed after actually rosemary trees is kinda a pet peeve

[@pimmelpummel6150]

"and it would have an all female writing staff" now that is not a bad thing and says nothing about a piece of work but *bragging* about that is a 100% absolute guarantee that its gonna be garbage

[@avivastudios2311]

When I saw some of the writers I knew that they were lying. They weren't all women. They were all SJW's

[@TyperMarlinGames]

*What Knuckles said in that funny Sonic cartoon*

[@mushyroom9569]

This show proves that they belong in the kitchen.

[@codered1132]

⁠@@TyperMarlinGamesy’know just cus he’s a meathead doesn’t mean he’s not a feminist

[@Anonymous-zp4hb]

agreed. as a fact it's innocuous, but as a selling point?

[@maninanikittycat4238]

This show makes me feel better about my writing. Even though my writing is not the best, I feel like it’s miles better then the writing on High Guardian Spice.

[@everyonegetselfears1444]

I believe you

[@gaming1zanagi-1999.]

Same

[@ivy_k_parpholia]

Same honestly. Makes me improve my writing, too.

[@leflamf.c.u.]

This. And writings like, my side side hobby

[@hydrofalls8154]

Yeah totally the same. I also realized that the worst writing is mostly done by the ones that think they are the best.

[@zannchristo]

"blames critics for not realizing she was Tumblrpilled" I can't believe she unironically did the "but your honor, my client is simply based" meme but to herself

[@fluoressmsm1507]

👍

[@digitalunity]

Ma'am you are not Based and Tumblrpilled, you're on the no fly list

[@Mario87456]

It just goes to show how horrible of a person she is.

[@lgbtqiarights]

i refuse to believe she seriously said “tumblrpilled”. it sounds like something tumblr users would bully someone for saying unironically

[@CrasherX2000]

“Your honor, my client is simply _built different_ “

[@sou1creeper211]

This very much so feels like a story that was developed in the creator's head so much, to the point they struggled to introduce the story and characters to us because to them the story and characters had been cemented for so long, it just felt natural that those rules and relationships were as they are.

[@Shiirow]

another example of why you never give someone full creative control, you need someone or a few someones beside them going... " but _why_ "

[@quicksilvertheelegant3964]

Late but, I mean, I’m writing a long fantasy book series I wanted to do, and there’s a few key differences in how I approached it: 1. I have foundational blocks in each book, or rather checkpoints/connect the dots that I’ve planned for the characters to hit, while the rest of the details and worldbuilding form around those. It’s not like the characters are railroaded into these events, either. For example, I have something planned for the next book after this one and I basically gave the characters a scene where they get a teaser of this plot point and I let them have their own opinion on it, and they decided they’re interested and want to bring their currently missing friend before they go. I think just letting the characters do their own thing is very important, yes they have plot points they need to hit, but just letting them talk and naturally bring up exposition/make decisions is the key thing here. 2. I ask myself ‘why’ many times, mainly with confusing information or worldbuilding. I add a piece of worldbuilding, and then I ask ‘okay, why does it work this way?’ if I can answer that, I move onto the next question, ‘why does it have to work that way?’. If I can’t answer that I change the worldbuilding on that subject. If I can answer it but it’s ‘classified’ for later in the story, I answer it vaguely in the story and dialogue itself, showing that that detail does exist but won’t be elaborated on until later. I feel like writers really need to ask themselves ‘why’ more often, either as a single writer or a team of writers keeping the main imagineer of the world in check. If you ask ‘why’ and don’t have a good answer, then change that point to make more sense and have a satisfying answer to the ‘why’ question. This also kinda applies to jokes, too. For example, ask ‘why is this joke here/does it benefit anything like worldbuilding or is it just a pace kneecapping joke?’. I had to deal with the latter where a joke in my story negatively affected much more important story elements, so I just slashed the entire wall of like 1.5 pages of joke out of the chapter. Jokes are not more important than story or exposition. If you CAN fit exposition INTO a joke, perfect, it has a place in the story. If the joke actively makes the story more confusing, it ain’t important, get it out of there.

[@tayschannel2695]

@@quicksilvertheelegant3964 will keep in mind!

[@wbwbc89]

You know, this comment actually gave me some insight to my own fictional world, thank you.

[@sou1creeper211]

@@wbwbc89 Have fun creating my friend 👍

[@dman6093]

My theory on why there are so many stock images of bread, fruit, plants, etc. is because the storyboarders drew market stalls or flower pots with the assumption that the animators would just fill those things with food and plants. But of course the animation team couldn't read minds so the High Guardian Spice team scrambled to fill in all those empty baskets, tables, and so on. Likewise, the stuff like lampposts were probably added when the team got the finished product back and saw just how barren many scenes looked.

[@seeexy]

😂😂 uhm.. ok

[@danaa-]

I honestly feel horrible for the below minimum wage korean animators that had to waste time making this mess.

[@lukaberonja3721]

Spice:represents what the main cast (should) is named after Guardian:represents what the main cast want to become High:Represents what state of mind the writers were in when creating this show

[@diamocube5048]

This is gold

[@gaminggoof1542]

Congrats they got two out of three things right

[@enviousshade1770]

Nice roast

[@YataTheFifteenth]

because High and Herb don't really mix well in a sentence. I mean it do, but it don't. Although they may be high on some herbs writing this shit.

[@juliusmoe-nstar8942]

What kind of Crack did they smoke to eek out this sorry excuse of a series they think will take off??? If it's LGBTQ then sorry... that show left a bad taste in my mouth. I respect LGBTQ to leave it to it's devices but if it makes this content it needs supervision in my opinion

[@DonniedrakoE]

People keep saying this looked like a cartoon network show instead of an anime but like already the big 3 (Disney, Nick and CN) were making shows that either parodied or put an original spin on formulas like this. Like this show looks and feels like a parody of what other shows like STVFOE and Steven Universe were doing years ago.

[@lestro1110]

You know what!! i believe that. given that i think both of those shows are bad

[@madnessmangus8687]

Nah this show makes mega man x 6/7 look like it was made by Stan Lee and Araki and a bunch of people how acttualy care about the franchise and capcom and donald mustard

[@NoName......]

I don't like what gets roped into "The CalArts Style" Gumball looks NOTHING like SVTFOE, SVTFOE looks nothing like Steven Universe. The "CalArts Style" should be cartoons that look excessively catoony (no edge, unbearably innocent) yet stiff and boring at the same time (straight lines, the same 4 facial expressions, walk cycles that make the characters look like robots, the same 4 poses, boring camera angles, ect.) Examples of the actual CalArts style would be this, the Ben 10 reboot, Thundercats Roar, Craig of The Creek (I actually really like this show but it does fit the CalArts Style) , and The Loud House. Just because a show has the CalArts style doesn't mean it's bad also. It's just means that the art style is forgettable.

[@NoName......]

@@lestro1110 SVTFOE is good up until the last season. Steven Universe has its moments but is definitely hit or miss.

[@onesmart229]

Rosemary’s hyper approach does give off early Finn vibes which is a huge plus in my book.

[@bananaslamma35]

The walk cycles look bad because they don't match the speed the characters move across the screen at, creating dissonance and making it obvious it's a gif being moved across a static background. Gives a feel like old games that used 3d models on prerendered backgrounds, except worse.

[@walkerphillips2818]

Cuphead walk cycles in both the game and show look fluid and smooth, like you could actually see them in the real world and not get a uncanny feeling by looking at them. High Guardian walk cycles look robotic and forced, where even seeing them in the show gives you a uncanny feeling.

[@PoorEdward]

The cutting hair to symbolize character development without actually having character development is really a reflection of the writers’ own character developments.

[@b.lazing9923]

Oh yeah, i remember the "advertising" for this and the whole "We have a very diverse all female writing team" and when i heard that i went "Wait, if it's all female, then it isn't very diverse..." And for what we see, a lot of said writing staff is composed of white women... That's not very "diverse"

[@lukas3.051]

Their's definition of diversity is basically not having cis white straight dudes

[@marsh6714]

whether that point holds water or not, that shouldn't be an advertising point and matter... just let the work speak for itself. unfortunately, the work isnt really good

[@thedeliveryboy1123]

the only color and diversity i see is deadass in their hair

[@quarreneverett4767]

Yeah gotta virtue signal for the cultist bs

[@quarreneverett4767]

@ᴍʏᴛʜᴏʟᴏɢʏ ᴏʙꜱᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴅᴇᴍɪɢɪʀʟ lol jokes on the people that think its men that sexualize only lol women make sexualized art of men and women all the time as well

[@kinggalactix]

Let's be honest here: Even the BOSS BABY had more character development between the brothers than this mockery of good television. Huh. This is alright.

[@walkerphillips2818]

true

[@kinggalactix]

@@walkerphillips2818 nice to hear. It's even funnier.

[@Mario87456]

That movie is okay really

[@alienshxt]

High guardian spice is so bad that even pirating website doesn't pirate the show

[@highdefinition450]

@@Mario87456 I like how it changes style with the dreams and how creative the animation can get but the story is kinda trash let's be real here

[@socriabbas454]

I like that their idea of being "mature" is just throwing mindless swears here and there. Its kind of ironic that they made it more look childish than mature

[@vespernight4236]

I will never understand why so many 'adult' shows do this. Like it adds nothing and half the time feels so cheap. It's so tiring for animated adult shows to go "ohhh look! The animated person is swearing! Oh they made a sex joke! how vulgar how AdULt it is! Get it western audience? Bc the cartoon normally isn't ALLOWED to swear! How controversial and mature" When like Southpark has done it since forever ago (and hey the main kids ARE immature children and the adults are also shown as immature so at least it's justified in universe)

[@okami-chan9772]

Lavender is both a flower and an herb. Lavender is mostly used in rich and fatty foods to bring out the food's flavor or used as medical purposes.

[@BotulinSpikedMarzipan]

This show is still tasteless

[@thatnekotrapbitch]

With a name and meaning like that, I would expect a character who helps the main cast bring out the best of them and/or takes up a healer role

[@galvanizeddreamer2051]

Your rant on blood is actually really good, and I do think you hit the nail on the head. You don't need blood to make your show mature, and having blood does not make it mature. As well, it's misuse can do more to damage the perceived maturity of the show than its absence. The museum monster from the Hellboy movie bled green, but that was not an immature film, it was actually quite good.

[@BiBiren]

True. Being a mature intended show is not just exclusive to blood, violence and sex. Puella is a mature show because of it questions the character’s moral and how they suffered the consequences of their wishes. People still sympathized with Homura when she did something wrong. Children would see her as a villain right away when there is actually more complicated than that. Same goes for Mami going insane at one timeline where she kills Kyoko.

[@hamishstewart5324]

Even in shows where there is a lot of bloodshed and death (like Primal for example), they usually tone it down to an extent, saving the really excessive stuff for the more intense episodes.

[@nicholasnardone4139]

@@hamishstewart5324 Another example I can think of is Invincible.

[@BryonYoungblood]

Exactly. You can use it, if the story calls for it, but I feel for HGS, that you could do away with the blood or change the color and basically get a good idea of what is going on nonetheless.

[@fammithommproductions]

Same with Danganronpa with their usage of pink blood. It was still a gripping murder mystery

[@theman6422]

So, let me get this as straight as I can: We don’t know about the characters, we don’t know about their relationships, we don’t know the differences between old and new magics, we don’t know the character’s goals, and the one we do know we don’t even know, because the show never tells us what a guardian is or does Well, mates, it seems we found the greatest show ever

[@DarthMcDoomington]

I like how Madness Combat, a series made by one fucking guy, with a DELIBERATELY VAGUE STORYLINE and one line of spoken dialogue (not including the Project Nexus games) in the entire series has a less vague fucking story. We know the protagonist is a psychotic murderer who clearly enjoys his work from his actions alone, hell, he even has character development (he starts out defending himself in a fight over a boombox, then goes to actively murdering people we can assume are cops since they're led by a sheriff in the second episode). I'm guessing other writers had to put a lot of Kate Leth's material on the cutting room floor but still had to appease her.

[@gorg6151]

People are easily distracted by pretty colors and shitty pandering.

[@utes5532]

no worldbuilding, no character building, and a story that feels like it's treading water. Sounds like an instant classic to me. Thank god they wrote in hamfisted LGBT rep though, that elevates it from a classic to a masterpiece.

[@Hauntaku]

@TheMan We know that the characters want to become guardians and that the main protagonist is trying to find out more about her mother.

[@chocoburgersenpai1627]

@@Hauntaku ok but wtf does a gurdian do anyway

[@waluigicultmember2539]

Fun Fact: In High Guardian Spice, one of the characters is missing her dad. This is a subtle nod to the fact that the writers have no father figure. Truly one of the shows of all time

[@RudoMike21]

Hmmm truly one of them is hating a certain gender just because for no fucking reason aside feminism.

[@yandenjav9774]

I know right. This show is so

[@SirBlackReeds]

Reminds me of that "daddy issues" clip from a Gotham Knights promo.

[@jbcatz5]

The only male characters who get any depth, or don’t get written as cliche assholes, are Carroway and Snapdragon, who are trans and don’t identify as masculine respectively. Aster in the obstacle course episode and Parnell’s cousin in the Festival of Fall two parter are surface level douches.

[@Tula-cs1ef]

Or the fact they don't know the difference between herbs and spices showing that they have never set foot in a kitchen.

[@sgt_s4und3r54]

When the writers put more emphasis on their own gender and sexuality that was the sign it was going to suck. They never really discussed the merits and weaknesses of the characters or what the plot really was. When make a character about their attributes and not character's ability to handle or not handle a situation it makes it seem shallow. If they had put more effort into writing instead of condeming people then it may have been a good show.

[@WooHooLadttv]

The idea of new magic being a dangerous system because it only takes instead of gives is a cool idea, I wish they went more into it after hearing about it in this video.

[@nahlies2382]

Honestly new magic just sounds like godhood

[@xxxxkad]

Not exactly giving or taking, but Dragon prince takes this concept really well, the natural magic is from the connection with nature itsell while the dark magic is more of a shortcut by taking parts of a magical creature.

[@Don-ds3dy]

I cant help but see HGS magic system as a feminist's metaphor for how they view traditionalism vs progressivism, and that the implications within the show are that there is never justification for doing things the "old fashioned way", and that there are no consequences to embracing new and untested ideas. This is such a narrow, incorrect, and unhealthy world view to have because reality doesn't work that way. On top of the irl social-political implications of the magic system it's also just bad for the story because it's such a shallow one sided conflict. For Sage she basically needs to choose between trying hard and failing, or doing things the easy way and winning. Whats the moral? Do things the easy way?🤷

[@OfStarrySkiesandFireflies]

@@xxxxkad holy shit yes the dragon prince is such a good show.

[@ZeoHidra]

@@Don-ds3dy Having Sage stick to old magic and managing to keep up with (if not surpass) the others could be a cool idea and give the message that you should follow what you want even if it's harder. But apparently pandering to the Twitter crowd is more important.

[@mitchelltheawesome1]

Having an all-female writing staff doesn't mean a damn thing when none of them can write anything good. If anything it makes the prospect of an all female writing team seem like an awful idea.

[@nifty1972]

Also imagine if they advertised an all men writing staff, everyone would get pissed off and people would say there's no representation. Representation and justice unless it's inconvenient for me YAY!

[@remyhavoc4463]

@@nifty1972 a team of male writers could literally make a billion dollar show that rivals the themes of HGS, do it better, win an Oscar and will still not get respect because it's "male fantasy"

[@balazscsotai8354]

Yep. And it gives misogynistic men all the more reason to hate women.

[@user-lr8ow2jg4e]

@@remyhavoc4463 A better team of female writers could do that too.

[@Big-Image]

In short, it's not about the representation, it's about the talent.

[@Legomaster-jv8ll]

19:29 ok, I don’t know why this has to be said at all, but here goes: When you’re doing a sad and emotional scene, where your main character is crying and you want the audience to feel sad too… DON’T HAVE THEM WEAR A CHILDREN’S DRAGON COSTUME! You have them change out of it, in silence or something. If you want to have an emotional scene with a ridiculous outfit, you can do that. But you have to have phenomenal writers and plenty of development so that the ridiculousness is the furthest thing from our minds.

[@samanthacarpenter3336]

Right?! They could of had the costume shredded, and dilapidated after fighting or something to at least make the character more visually pitiful. Would have been a great way of conveying a fun night being ruined, and torn away from her. But, nope. Too much thinking for the writing staff on this show.

[@wbwbc89]

I want to agree, I really do, though- and this is pretty circumstantial so my take shouldn't be taken as my opinion on *every* sad scene. But I'd argue when used correctly it can actually make said scene even sadder because it's supposed to be a fun or goofy moment and yet something really tragic happened. (This can differ obviously like depending on the ridiculousness of the getup a character has on) it's very context specific, but I feel like it can work when done right. That being said yeah no- this show definitely doesn't get it right

[@overlordjames6644]

The reason why this sucks is because it was written more as a in your face political statement rather than a proper tv series with an actual story.

[@user-burner]

no the reason why it sucks is because it isn't well written. In your face politics can work but that doesn't really matter if the medium it's conveyed is a pipe full of dogshit.

[@danaa-]

As a "cuck libtard", as the conservatives put it, high guardian spice(herb) is probably one of the worst things i have ever seen

[@balazscsotai8354]

Yeah. Then they go and mock people who complain about the themes, while ignoring that good stories take entertainement first, and the message second.

[@shadowbrain4814]

If this show were better, I'd be more interested in the "monsters bleed red" thing, personally. Sounds like that could lead to a dark twist later, like examination of monster tissue leads to the discovery that they are genetically identical to humans/any other DNA based race in the series, and that turning into a monster is the hidden price behind using magic that can quote "do anything without consequence." Maybe New Magic saps the caster's soul or humanity bit by bit until eventually, there isn't anything left to take, so it turns them into a monster or something.

[@silverbells346]

Man that’s such a cool concept. Too bad this show doesn’t have an ounce of creativity in it

[@69SalterStreet]

Wow. That would actually be awesome

[@magicfishhobo381]

Adding to that what if Guardians were monster hunters? Our main characters join the academy to become mighty heroes that protect people when monsters crop up, only to find out that they only exist to hide New Magic's true nature from the public.

[@mellowmallow4855]

@@magicfishhobo381 YES!!!

[@quirinoguy8665]

Basically Madoka magica but without the Universe ending stuff and trippy deep philosophical referencing animations. I like it! Just imagine, they presented this show as a pretty trash show y'know? A childish and cutesy show wherein nothing will ever happen but then comes the foreshadowing, small tidbits but then it keeps building up, until it hits both the characters and audience in the face on one episode, the artstyle changes and the story shifts dramatically in a darker and different direction.

[@molinagrn65]

I remember before High Guardian Spice came out, there was basically this redesign video of the characters. One that fascinated me the most was the redesign of Sage and putting two-and-two together with the idea of her struggle with magic. Basically, her redesign was more scarred, timid and she even had a wooden prosethetic. The artist in the video pictured she had an accident with a new spell. If the show had an idea similar to that, it would've been interesting. Her mom being strict about new magic could result in overprotection. Literally any other idea mixed in would've been interesting instead of this cookie cutter plot. It's kinda amazing how random artists on KZbin can make a plot better than a Crunchyroll Original.

[@Xxxfallen_angelxxX]

Remember which KZbinr it was?

[@upgradeninja7350]

Oh that was oddity illustrations video it was rather interesting how someone managed to make a more unique and interesting character in a youtube video then an entire show

[@Rosa-he6xb]

@@Xxxfallen_angelxxX kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqupamttrtmKfNU Here’s Oddity’s video if you want to check it out and see the Sage section.

[@Xxxfallen_angelxxX]

@@Rosa-he6xb Thanks!

[@TheLakabanzaichrg]

Sounds like a FMA ripoff

[@chiusan1528]

I can still remember when tumblr was synonymous with mental disasters and this show feels like it was written by people that lived only on that platform, forgetting how to interact with real people

[@a---------------]

this really just goes to show who's in the right in the state of politics at the moment. These folks can't prove that they can do anything... Time and time again, yet they still continue to try and save face and bandage their little mistakes like it wasn't already a irreversible and significant mistake enough. They CANT fit IN with normal people yet they keep trying.

[@SirBlackReeds]

It gets worse. Kate Leth had her breasts removed on a whim and Raye Rodriguez is a fujoshi.

[@aff77141]

I've met the kinds of writers like thosefor high gaurian spice, and having met those people I'm SHOCKED those women managed to get a writing job when there's so many more skilled people out there

[@troudbalos333]

Thats why diversity hire is bad. Im also pretty sure in this case she put herself up for the job and nobody chose her.

[@kimorajackson8167]

You shouldn't be. People like them prioritize people like them,

[@wren_.]

they seem like the kind of people corporations hire when they want fake “i’m not even trying” diversity instead of real diversity

[@DangerDan64]

When people don't even Pirate the show online, I guess it's true what they say. "Pirates only go for things worth of value" this is demonstrated perfectly through that notion.

[@b4ssyhunter810]

i saw free episodes of this on youtube once

[@alexandreturcotte6411]

But how would we binge it to make memes about it if we have to all pay for a chrunchyroll acount?! I don't want to do that!

[@felipe_drawmania1604]

@@alexandreturcotte6411 Can't you watch It normaly on the site but with *ADS* ?

[@DangerDan64]

@Zero Bullet's Well it panders to the lowest common denominator, so it has that going for itself. As many other shows weebs eat it all up as of recent. Hell, I know many people's standards is shit when RWBY is still alive and kicking.

[@DangerDan64]

@@felipe_drawmania1604 I was thinking the same thing, makes one question. Is it better to watch the ads or the actual show. (Lol)

[@amirgarcia547]

As a trans person myself, this show honestly has the worst trans representation I’ve seen in a show in a long while. Not because it’s offensive or anything, but by having a character who’s basically a mouthpiece who does nothing but explain what being trans is in the most forced and shoehorned way possible. Instead of…well, an actual character. That and also basically being a self-insert for the show’s creator. Overall, it’s like this show is a Tumblr fanfic that somehow ended up being greenlit as an anime/cartoon, and is like if you combined Steven Universe and Little Witch Academia but removed anything good about either show.

[@ShiningTaiga]

The funny thing is it was a Tumblr comic

[@neoqwerty]

It's the Steam Greenlight russian bootleg version of Little Witch Academia.

[@edcaous]

Honestly, self-inserts can be done well, but only if they're interesting.

[@b4ssyhunter810]

expect some Steven Univerese's episodes are good

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

What is your favorite trans character in an animated show?

[@JacF6734]

That whole “Tumblrpilled” segment reminded me just how batshit insane the 2010s were

[@pkcell]

As a writer who loves worldbuilding, if a piece of lore can't be cleanly implemented without awkward exposition dialogue, it's probably not that necessary to the plot and best left to extra trivia or not said at all(Leaving open holes in lore is a good way to create engagement via theories.)

[@civilengineer3349]

My rewrite of Episode 1 (my opinion): - make sage the mc - focus on Sage's slow and quiet life in Pebble in episode 1. Its peaceful but boring. - Sage wants to leave to the big city and go to a magic school. Her dad refuses. Sage doesnt understand why. - Sage's mom is not seen in the show. Its implied she disappeared long ago. But Sage ponders about her because she heard stories of her mom being a great sorceress/guardian who helped everyone in Pebble before leaving to help people across the kingdom. - Sage has a "magic manuscript" or whatever those spell books are called. She tries chants and tries to improvise potions with whatever little she got in secret while her dad isnt watching but she fails all the time. - one day, she accidentally curses her dad. Turns out the spellbook is "new magic" (dark magic) which is powerful but comes at a big cost. - her bed ridden dad tells her that her mom was just like her, always toying with magic to help people until one day she learned about new magic and something bad happened. The folks at Pebble complained to the Lord of the land to evict her so that she would never harm anyone in Pebble ever again with her irresponsible use of new magic. - her dad tells her that the reason he doesnt want her to leave is because shes the only family he got left. But now she has to go to the "guardian academy" to learn how to undo "new magic". Her weakened father gives up holding her back. - she finally leaves Pebble for the first time, worried about her dad who she is leaving behind but excited for what lies ahead. End of episode 1.

[@jazzratoon]

I like it.

[@cautiouslyimpulsive8321]

So much better!

[@notenoughmemes1847]

Wow this sounds like the plot of something I would actually enjoy. Kudos mate.

[@mister4881]

The curse to the dad reminded me of Atelier of the witch

[@elmaionesosexo]

feels a little like there's too much happening which could make it feel too long or too boring or too slow

[@witcherstudios9351]

I thought old magic was the "runes and incantation" kind of magic while New Magic was instantaneous but drained the planet's resources.

[@SaishiKurenai]

Supposedly

[@onesmart229]

That’s pretty much what we got so far other than some smaller difference that are hopefully expanded upon in season two

[@slurpingmario8006]

@@onesmart229 season 2? Why would this get a season 2?

[@onesmart229]

@@slurpingmario8006 Well I think the show is pretty decent. It’s gathered a lot of attention and therefore money just based on ad revenue from the first few episodes. Also the story left a lot of plot lines unresolved.

[@mojothemagickcrafter7635]

Wouldn't be surprised if Teraspheres were like materia and we're ripped from the world forcefully to merely speed things up.

[@trashyCorn.12]

I think the only thing good about it is character designs , probably something else though Fun fact:they used a bread png, not animated or drawn they just took a flipping PNG of bread and slapped it on a table in an episode.

[@cakefrosting6451]

To this day, one mystery remains: What does the High, Guardian, Spice actually mean besides an easy way to group your main characters who are just, named after Herbs? Should it have been High Guardian Herbs? (Edit: the show expects the mom being on the (suddenly relevant) bad side to be shocking. But how is it shocking, when we know zero about the mom’s personality beyond her warrior side?

[@ZorotheGallade]

It all makes sense. High, because the writers and storyboarders clearly were Guardian, because they're calling on the power of feminism and forced representation to shield them from criticism And Spice because you can add that to bland, flavorless food as a last ditch attempt to make it palatable.

[@Trigger0x10c]

It would've been at least funny if the answer to the question "why do they want to become guardians" was something like "Benefits, dental plan, good health insurance, etc." Like something incredibly mundane and boring

[@Ergeniz]

That would be too self-aware and intelligent subversion for this lot. What do you think this is, Gintama?

[@iwannaseehowlongyoucanmakethis]

In My Hero Academia, one of the main characters wanted to become a hero for the money.

[@RAINBOWNIGTHMAREPRODUCTIONS]

I think selling potions on the street corner would be cooler

[@jjprs3062]

The part where they announced that they had an "all female writing staff" is a red flag. Companies don't usually do this unless it's to cover up some sort of deficiency that the show has or they think "wowie! We're progressive. Look at us being progressive." and think that's enough to carry the show.

[@quarreneverett4767]

Right also because people involved I the company wanting to signal to the delusion of the cultist bs

[@panda-yr6ul]

@ᴍʏᴛʜᴏʟᴏɢʏ ᴏʙꜱᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴅᴇᴍɪɢɪʀʟ what the fuck? women literally can sexualize kids too

[@bebopdedop8776]

@ᴍʏᴛʜᴏʟᴏɢʏ ᴏʙꜱᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴅᴇᴍɪɢɪʀʟ yeah sure. Using that logic let's ban men from all public places because they're more likely to murder someone. Sound logic.

[@crystalwings4520]

@@bebopdedop8776 Yeah, like, women did nothing wrong, yet some of them could do such a disgusting thing like that.

[@mcbuttstuff]

@ᴍʏᴛʜᴏʟᴏɢʏ ᴏʙꜱᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴅᴇᴍɪɢɪʀʟ too bad there where woman on the team so all they did was argue with each other and cheat on people. See that I just did what you did it’s called sexism

[@notmyopinion4981]

19:39 that killed me. Your voice acting here has no business being so good.

[@joachimsrensen7666]

"anyway, now that neither guardian or spice make any sense, all we are left with is high" 😂😂😂

[@themimsy]

As a woman, I just wanna say, having an "all woman team" for something like this isn't a brag... it's just whatever. just like it wouldn't be a brag if it was an "all man team". I don't care about the sex, race, age, wealth, etc. or anything like that about someone. As long as they are a good person and have the experience or skillset necessary for whatever role they are filling, then I am good.

[@runascarlet2623]

Yeah, I fully agree. I think this mainly is just some companies or groups that are compensating for the all male groups in history, but the main problem with that is that yes they can do this to try to rectify it but they also have proven that because of this mindset they might throw quality out the window. Like they’ve hyped up the thought so much that they don’t even consider if they work good as a team. It’s sad because I want them to do good but it’s like they’re punching themselves when they hype it up for that reason but they do a terrible job.

[@inukaiya1509]

Agreed, being an all female team is not really anything to brag about. Their are many shows that are created by females and they never brag about it. Because it wasn't important.

[@user7061]

Agreed. Another problem that arises with using something like that to brag is that if the shows fail (which they sadly usually do due to the teams don't put in any effort it seems), people will associate negative reputations with female writers, minority characters etc. which is mildly upsetting.

[@quarreneverett4767]

@@runascarlet2623 it's got to do with the cultist bulllcrap and virtue signal. Its plagued crunchy roll for awhile. I domt sub anymore cause they lie to you about the funding

[@NINjaboy20111]

I agree with this fully, no one cares whether your team is all x or y. Its just the political landscape capsizing into a popularity contest to check the most "I'm relevant!" boxes. Oh, we have a POC character, then we also have a 'strong female lead'. It feels forced and lowers the excitement for a new idea and new medium of entertainment. The only people who care are the twitter trolls and puritans. I would watch a show about some LGBTQA+ character if they had depth beyond "I'm gay".

[@missleiadragonitemaster7597]

I’m surprised you didn’t mention this, but the 4 main characters and a LITERAL KINGDOM (as well as an instrumental track in the first episode) are references to a song called Scarborough Fair. The only reason I can think of as to WHY that is a thing is due to the story in the song itself. The lyrics are about, at least from what I have gathered on repeatedly listening to it because the song is that nice IMO, a story about a solider who went into battle during a war or something akin to a war, and is asking as their final request to tell their lover or fiancée to craft them attire to be buried in (I assume a funeral shroud or maybe a shirt handmade by the lover so they are buried in something they made for the dying soldier), going so far as for some of the lyrics to describe the process in which to make it. There is also the fact that, in the era Scarborough Fair was written about (Medieval Era), the 4 herbs repeatedly mentioned in the song are also metaphors for virtues: -Parsely was Comfort -Sage was Strength -Rosemary was Love -Thyme was Courage I’m going to guess that the writers only knew the base level info about the song, heard it at least twice, did not recognize the admittedly depressing story it was telling, and decided to use both the names, herbs, and the fucking music itself without any proper forethought. Also Scarborough Fair was primarily written by guys, so...

[@alexandreturcotte6411]

♪Casual sexism!♫

[@abby9448]

it’s so disappointing, if they followed along with the songs plot it could’ve been so good, and couldve even just changed this plot a little bit by making it a madoka magica type of thing. it wasn’t bound to be that good from the beginning but for them to take inspiration from this song, that’s so damn good, and to screw it up as much as they did is just straight up injustice

[@Sneedboy]

@@abby9448 I bet the show can be saved by having any future episodes leaning into the depressing angle.

[@romankvapil9184]

I wished the song would have been attributed to a better story than what we got here. It's an absolute insult.

[@Skallva]

Btw, if anyone wants to watch an anime that utilises the song in a way that enforces the story's themes, check out WorldEnd. An anime original cover of it is even used in the opening scene of the show.

[@WobblesandBean]

28:15 That's because Caraway is a blatant self insert of the show creator, who himself has absolutely zero personality.

[@legendaresn6983]

Apply water to burn

[@danaa-]

Cmon, he has a bit of personality... as in narcissism/self centeredness

[@cosmicspacething3474]

4:06 Characterization through dialogue from other characters can be a great thing, you just have to have the actual dynamics be shown off for people to compare/contrast what’s said and what’s done.

[@wolfgangallanalhazred802]

Just hearing the words "Tumblr pilled" makes me want to be "everything in the medicine cabinet pilled".

[@dork7546]

Kate Lenth should have just admitted she was a femcel and be done with it.

[@Dumb_Killjoy]

Makes me want to be bleach-pilled

[@mikedanielespeja6128]

@@Dumb_Killjoy makes me want to be red-pilled and based

[@Mario87456]

@@dork7546 If somebody was advocating for the death of men I would fire them IMMEDIATELY because that is threatening and illegal behavior not to mention wrong on so many levels.

[@JinzoCrash]

@@Mario87456 That's pretty much the difference between red-pilled individuals and "woke" fruitcakes... ...Redpills usually try to make the world better by debating and educating (memes!), where woketards would, absolutely, press a big, red button if it said, "Press this and all your enemies die immediately".

[@dragon_ninja_2186]

“What is art?” It’s definitely NOT this show. That’s for sure.

[@paralixis4500]

Friend, this is art kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4G2kHlpp9aUqaM skip to 0:15 a fan made anime on the work done by a mexican independent studio named hakuren making a fan followup to cult classic anime saint seiya

[@justanotherexistingperson4377]

"What is art?" *ARCANE*

[@DeviemTwen]

“What is art?” Megamind

[@scyi.3665]

Hey art can be mediocre

[@St0pLookingAtMyProfile]

@@scyi.3665 But this is is just.. ..something else

[@user-rf9co2ge7l]

As an aspiring storyboard writer and a writer who does concept writing of ideas, characters, world building and all, this show is the example of what not do as a writer when it comes to the writing of the show.

[@gitguuchisidetweedledeeand7200]

What are they even guarding? The word “Guardian” implies they are defending from something, what are they defending from????

[@user-a0d9w0ec9wiej]

Defending from MY ASS

[@albatross4920]

I guess just random d&d stuff like orcs, ogred, dragons giant spiders, dungeon shit 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@thenotoriousbum6950]

The “spent their entire time before going off to school in a god damn wooden box waiting to open until they were old enough to leave” is unironically a good idea and I need to see a series begin that way

[@jaceybella1267]

The boxcar children but literal

[@lacabraasada2326]

They could've used that to expand on the world building and flesh out the mcs better, but nooo instead we get a poorly animated train with magic wheels that don't even move

[@tripplel8495]

@@jaceybella1267 bro that movie slapped

[@zaphikel4578]

wasnt harry potter pretty much banished to the cupboard under the stairs until magic school time?

[@insulttothehumanrace3807]

@@zaphikel4578 Yes, and his home life of living under a cupboard with an abusive family did factor into his character. Also how he got there is pretty darn important, since the main villain of the story played a huge role in that.

[@YowLife]

*How come they never change up the camera angles in High Guardian Spice?* Anime always has high angles, low angles, moving shots, etc, but all I've seen in this show is mostly static and casual. Even though it's meant to be an anime, the artists still position the camera as if it's just an animated show from Canada or something.

[@SammEater]

That requires creativity and hard work.

[@shadowbyname2802]

If you look up a fella by the name of Crown Prince, they actual go into detail about stuff like this as well. I recommend giving their video a look at what the "animation" and "editing" tells us about the mindsets of the poor souls locked into animating this. The short and sweet version otherwise is basically, "The animation and editing of this thing tells you that either the animators working on this were really inexperienced, didn't have the right assets and story boards... or straight up just didn't care."

[@maximk9964]

What? They totally do, that why you've got those awful from the top shots, where character perspective is a always just a bit off

[@ghostering8]

They used Photoshop to add item in back ground so ofc they wouldn't change Camera angles must.

[@Hauntaku]

@Yow IDK I feel like it's charming in it's own right. It's not really an anime anyway, so anime rules don't really have to apply.

[@ragnos2262]

One thing I'm surprised nobody has commented on is how many similarities this shares with RWBY, like they copied its homework, changed it up a little but forgot to show the work. Every character is named after an herb instead of a color, there is a prestigious academy where young students are trained to become guardians instead of hunters and huntresses, there's quite a few instances where you can just plug and play with different aspects of each show. I mean jeez even both main characters are named Rose in some way.

[@markmorales7958]

As a fan of RWBY, this shameless copycat is an offensive abomination! 😡

[@Shiirow]

the trans teacher is literally a self insert based on the creator of the show, which is why they go off into this explanation of trans tangent seemingly out of nowhere. trying to make it seem like this big deal while in the show, he literally goes bippity boppity whirl, I dont wanna be a girl and suddenly now has no boobs and a new whang. the tangent and the reality of the show in universe are severally contradictory but if you take it as the creator "educating" the audience, it makes much more sense.

[@coachrenaldo]

Here’s how I would write the “old magic vs new magic” conflict: NM=New Magic OM=Old Magic NM-easy to learn, easy to master. OM-semi easy to learn, difficult to master. NM-fields of magic are useful in day-to-day problems, such as lesser healing, minor levitation, and short ranged teleportation. OM-fields of magic will set you for life, such as restoring terrible wounds, major levitation, and large scale teleportation. NM-practitioners tends to be arrogant and egotistical, due to their low effort, high payoff magics. OM-practitioners tends to be respectable and understanding, due to their high effort, very high payoff magics. NM-needs little costs due to their small scale, such as taking a drink of water after use. OM-requires a lot of costs to use, such as feeling very exhausted and rest for hours after some use. NM-not dependent on equipment nor clothing. You can wear and use anything to use NM. OM-very dependent on equipment and clothing. Needs spell tomes or staves and enchanted robes to get the most out of OM. NM-only a spell tome is needed to start learning NM. OM-requires having to attend an academy or a university to even get started on learning OM. There. That’s how I would depict the Old Magic vs New Magic conflict.

[@awsomedude23456]

U could also say that due to its quickness, NM isn’t as strong or potent as OM. Sorry if that’s what u meant in your post just wanted to make it more obvious

[@firesnakegaming5446]

you should also add what the conflict for the two on accuracy like its fast to summon magic but it will also fast to be shot since its unstable something like that while old magic is slow to do but you can try to pin point at the target

[@macgeorge8229]

I would add in that new magic is like harry potter no real chance of backfireing if you don't do something dumb but not as powerful, whilew old is like psyker powers from warhamer 40k where you get a lot more power at the cost of taping into space hell.

[@saltyralts]

@@awsomedude23456 They...literally said that.

[@asher-360]

The thing about NM practitioners being arrogant just sounds wrong to me, but that’s probably because of the magic system’s parallels with politics. I would rather show both sides as a mixed bag honestly.

[@Piromysl359]

How to make an amazing cartoon in two easy steps: 1. Take High Guardian Spice 2. Do exact opposite.

[@radornic2387]

Low Attacker Plain

[@Acedegenerate07]

@ᴍʏᴛʜᴏʟᴏɢʏ ᴏʙꜱᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴅᴇᴍɪɢɪʀʟ how much they payin you to say these things

[@Acedegenerate07]

U got that right

[@ExtremeWreck]

That would be Fallout 76, so no.

[@Non-vegen]

"Ok we're gonna make high guardian spice and do none of that"

[@thegalaxysqueen]

As a former animation major I spent a lot of time with scripts, storyboards, animatics, etc. My professors drilled into my brain that the better the storyboard is there's a greater chance you will have an easier time animating. Putting everything together as an animatic would also show how smoothly the storyboard worked timing wise. The little piece of the animatic they showed made me think that in the end it wouldn't have a good animation quality because the animatic seemed a little jumpy when it came to timing (to me at least). When it was released I was surprised to find out my initial thought about the animation was right. I initially gave it a shot due to it's delay because hey maybe they went back and corrected all of their mistakes....I regret that decision. There were so many times I was either bored or just confused on both animation and continuity

[@AKASunWukong]

Heres a tip for writing anything with magic in it : Always know all the spells you want to include, and always know the limit of magic in that Universe. And never over cross it or make character’s coincidentally have the exact spell or magic they need to get out of a certain situation. For the spells part, maybe set a certain theme, like spells related to natural elements. (Controlling Wind, Nature, animals, etc.) only exist or something like that. And if you want more spells, you Can write a story about Your character’s finding more and different magic. If you dont wanna go that route, just Brain storm some spells you Think are need and add Them to a list of spells. Then make sure you only use those. (You Can add the spells, i just recommend it isnt only there so the character’s Can get out of something.) For the limits part, lets say you have pretty much every spell you Can Think of, but something like dimension travel or time travel isnt possible or just extremely hard to do. (If you wanna go this route, make sure to always communicate that who ever uses those spells are extremely skilled at magic.) And one of the worst cliché scenarios of a Character coincidentally having just the write spell for the situation is something you wanna avoid, since, especially if we havent seen the Character preform or use this spell before, it comes off as annoying and like there were never stares to begin with. Something that bothers me a lot is when the writer tells us about this super hard to master spell that no one if Anyone has ever gotten to work, its so PowerFul and impossible to do that it was locked away for a thousand years, and only the destined one with a heart as strong as a thousand men could ever, EVER ever be able to preform such a hard and PowerFul spell. And Then the main Character preforms it 5 seconds later.

[@nitrocharge2404]

Slime Boy, Axe Girl, and Parsnip are the only parts that make it tolerable. Everything else is god awful, and if those three were the main characters in a different series then they would've been much, much better edit: Oh yeah, and a new team of writers would be needed

[@ihatefridays2715]

Do people really like Slime Boy outside of memes? I mean, haha bad mic quality, but I didn't think he was all that tolerable either, just slightly less annoying to watch than the others.

[@Darkgun231]

@@ihatefridays2715 Every show needs a junk character for the viewers to hate or meme to give the other characters better screen time and development.

[@xxratsrcutexx3494]

Snapdragon is kinda alright too I guess

[@MasticinaAkicta]

@@xxratsrcutexx3494 Snapdragon has potential. In a better story, written by better writers, it might work.

[@yerination8531]

@@xxratsrcutexx3494 hes ok but annoying

[@madengineerkyouma]

Your comment about the first episode not showing the characters regular lives before leaving reminded me of Wakfu. In the first episode we have: 1) Cool fight scene 2) Mystery about the origins of the main character 3) Main character having a normal day 4) Introductions for secondary characters 5) Another battle 6) Setup for episode 2 It didn't delve too deep into the main character's normal life, but even that was enough to get me to care enough about what happens to his father at the end, considering his interactions with the main character throughout the episode. Light years better than HGS

[@B3N_Youtube]

Hold up, Wakfu?!

[@madengineerkyouma]

@@B3N_KZbin Wakfu, aka the best French Anime

[@kittykittybangbang9367]

@@madengineerkyouma I'm glad someone else knows what Wakfu is, so underrated in America.

[@B3N_Youtube]

@@madengineerkyouma I knew no one forgot about it! :D

[@b4ssyhunter810]

the french are fucking geniuses when it comes to cartoons(Expect MLB)

[@tobyeasterbrook8117]

15:00 that's a really sharp hammer to cleanly cut off a limb like that

[@karrahklinger2573]

I want to preface this all by saying I'm AFAB and have grown up female. I believe that celebrating a mostly female cast is... problematic- because the world isn't just women. Yes, fair and accurate representation of women, which are often mistreated in media, is important- but this really has the same energy as making every character in your story black, and saying your story is 'diverse representation'- because no, it wouldn't be- it would just be creating a new problem- a problem of becoming what you're trying to stand against. I feel like having an almost completely female cast just falls into the 'men are pigs' mindset, or the mindset that 'everything men say is sexist'- because that isn't true. Yes, rates of sexual harassment of women are much higher than those of men- and men are more often than not the abuser- but excluding men entirely is just turning a blind eye instead of trying to display what being a healthy and encouraging man might look like- the story prides itself on being "girlboss" but really just isn't it. TLDR: as someone born female I feel like making the cast mostly female and avoiding men entirely is damaging to the attempted themes of acceptance and diversity.

[@Alex-dh2cx]

There's nothing around with an all female cast though. It just doesn't matter, and if it's all you've got to talk about your show probably isn't that great. Just my opinion, I'm a dude, but one of my absolute most favorite anime is Asobi Asobase, which is just insanity surrounding 3 girls at an all girls school being random as hell in their club which has an undefined purpose.

[@plaguedoctor323]

Thank you, this is one of the big problems i've had with the show but i've never found the words for it, your comment is the perfect description of my problem with it

[@abstractaxolotl6961]

Very much this. I feel like people have forgotten that the problem with saying "Not all men" is when it's said in opposition to people who discuss issues of sexism, toxic masculinity, etc. The problem with that is the deflection from the issue not like. Saying that all men are actually evil. Also the fact that it seems one of the only male characters that shows up semi-regularly is a trans man feels a bit like just treating trans men as "Women Lite" which I hate that this is such a reoccurring issue at this point.

[@Alex-dh2cx]

@@Travellerfromthewest414 i don't think you need men to write well rounded male characters, or women to write well rounded female characters. I've read books by male and female authors that do an excellent job fleshing out characters of the he opposite sex. Saying that it's like denying any ability humans have to understand each other. This show very clearly had some angry writers who cared more about their anger than the story they wrote.

[@kyleroman2744]

@Alex I agree with you with that but it still best good to consult a real female/male, especially if one is a new writer and lack the understanding of opposite sex

[@Inksanity]

I don't get why they even felt the need to use herbs, are names like "Nutmeg", "Cinnamon", "Pepper", "Mustard", "Paprika", and "Ginger" not good enough?

[@andrejg4136]

Apparently not. Which says a lot about this years long creative process.

[@TuesdaysArt]

Pepper and Ginger are pretty good names! There's also Fennel, Clove, Saffron, Dill, Camomile, Cassia, Anise, and Coriander (to name a few). Caraway is an actual spice, so why can't the main characters be named after spices?

[@yourlocalarchaeologist1897]

What monster names a kid mustard

[@TheSameYellowToy]

I know the main 4 are supposed to reference the song Scarborough Fair, but if they were really married to the idea of referencing that song...then they should've chosen a different name.

[@kankeydong2500]

@@TuesdaysArt because "fuck you, we don't know what we're even doing!"

[@sadmanbradman7182]

how does this show, the most non violent looking show have a mature audience warning but shows like demon slayer and jjba has no warning whatsoever with scenes that are hyper violent (not saying they bad shows i love both of them), must be the complex themes such as magic lmao

[@pheunithpsychic-watertype9881]

Because whenever western media lately wants to advertise quality and maturity all they're really doing is advertising how gay they want to make it and that there's curse words.

[@onesmart229]

Crunchyroll is probably just being weird or the likely boring answer is probably some rating issue because the swear words are in English

[@scpfilechildrenbarrow2212]

Because Crunchyroll's app/website is dumb, and so are the people working for them.

[@at-citie]

@@pheunithpsychic-watertype9881 western media isn't really like that, take Amphibia for example, its mainly an episodic series, but the season 2 finale was pulled 2 hours before it was going to air because one of the main characters gets stabbed, strait up stabbed in a children's cartoon made for 10-13 year Olds.

[@civilengineer3349]

They couldnt decide on whether they want to make a show primarily for children or exclusively for adults.

[@realgamingpro_0024]

I like this show, it makes me really appreciate how some shows are actually really good and it shows that it isn’t easy to create a good story

[@undeadladybug7723]

I still find it hilarious that it counts as "diversity" when it's 99% white women. What's diverse about that, exactly?

[@MK-cm6xo]

'Diversity' is just a code word for "no hetero cis White men".

[@lyokianhitchhiker]

For them, "a lack of straight cis white upper-class abled dudes between the ages of 18 & 65" is diverse in & of itself.

[@Scenario_animations]

Those hairstyles are all pretty diverse

[@kyperactive]

The only slightly reedeeming factor aside from snapdragon, amarylis, Nepy Cat and Smile boy is the fact that the names of the main characters is a reference to scarborough fair. That felt weirdly mind blowing.

[@rotciv557]

Eeeh...I wouldn't say it's a particularly REDEEMING factor...it feels more like the creator heard Scarborough Fair once or twice and decided to base several things in the show about it without understanding anything about what SF's themes were about.

[@Tamaki742]

But it doesn't make sense. Why would you have characters in a series that goes for a cheery tone, reference a song that's about unrequited love and later implies tragedy.

[@saladspoonami4563]

Firstly those are herbs but the writers are like “oh look they’re spices! High guardian SPICE!” And they’re herbs Second they are not gonna redeem themselves for making a reference to one of my favourite artists, they don’t deserve to reference Simon and Garfunkel

[@Mario87456]

Nothing about this show is redeemable with the possible exception of possible cool character designs that could maybe one day be repurposed for another show.

[@jackmack4181]

3 words SHOW DONT TELL Even a basic author or story teller knows that if a character is looking longfully at a picture, shouldn’t talk about their feelings.They should have the watchers connect the dots

[@ddjsoyenby]

telling can work, but it has to be done in a certain way.

[@pheunithpsychic-watertype9881]

That's a dead practice on this side of the globe. I'm doing my hardest to to try and do as much of that as possible for my smash bros comic I'm working on. I don't want most of the characters talking too much because then they'll run the risk of sounding like modern western characters, talking talking talking but no one is saying anything and speaking about how so self aware they are but never in how dumb they sound.

[@onesmart229]

Probably too much Hunter x Hunter

[@anicrue]

My favourite practices, as a writer, are to write either a scene with no dialogue, or a scene full of it. Force the writers to do that for a week straight, maybe 2, and this story might just be watchable!

[@goddammitno_]

It's funny because helluva boss did exactly that - character looks at a picture, doesn't say anything, and starts crying

[@celebisonm4271]

18:40 the delivery here had me cracking up

[@derpyderp2270]

Lets be honest. Its good shows like these exist so that we know what not to do when, doing anything story writing and animating

[@derpyderp2270]

The more im listening the more it sounds like they just did whatever they thought would be cool or good for the episode and thought nothing of continuity and whether it would actually be good.

[@RiverbrookTsodmi]

I think what they were trying to implement as a magic system as more like this: Old magic: Requires knowledge on how to do correct spells Takes more time since you need to remember all the signs and rituals for the spell Something like fireball could be harder to make since it needs the correct shape, element, size and when to release the power (impact, fizzle, swirl) All spells uses 'natural' energy in order to function and consumes it around the objects you use Once you understand one spell, you can modify it as how as you see fit -> fireball can be turned into wall, spear, broom or an animated familiar New magic: The new magic takes shortcuts in places and as such is more streamlined You can't modify new magic in any shape, it's static It doesn't require any knowledge from user, just a "mana" -type system or an piece of artifact that is magical It can't produce powerful magic and is heavily depend how much "mana" user has But they poorly explained this since they know what they want, but during the writing process nobody asked them: "Ok, so how does these two things differ?" And I would have taken a wild guess on the New + Old that since you have the artifact, you could just make a single modification to the "fireball" spell when it was cast and then change the ball shape to wall shape. But since the new magic has to be modified it released a lot of "unnessesary mana" in the wild. It can't be seen by normal eye and would require tools, like mana glasses. That released mana then would be cause of corruption, since it would be similar to a radiation from a nuclear waste product.

[@lyrqk5829]

so its like android vs iphone

[@Clovis_the_Cat]

I love the idea that releasing mana causes a nuclear radiation-like effect that's invisible to everyone at first, until it becomes more severe. That sounds like an interesting story premise

[@theslimeofender1990]

Now that's a very interesting magic system side-effect. Wouldn't mind using this concept for ideas

[@mikzpwnz_3199]

So in terms of hacking the laws of nature, old magic is knowing the operating system from the ground up while new magic is a script kiddie? That could be potential for the long term problem of magical stagnation where since everything is a shortcut of something else, there is no real way of fundamentally changing it. This could be intentional by the villain who could be secretly subverting the school to set up future guardians for failure by setting up a new form of magic that directly hard counters the new magic. But unfortunately that would be too much effort from the writing staff to actually go this way as we are currently using more effort to assert what these things are than the actual writing team is. Edit: also what school would teach it like this? It's like going into a mathematics class and the teacher is like "we're not teaching you stuff like addition and subtraction. We are just teaching you how to use a calculator." Like WTF. At least the first assignment would be along the lines of using old magic to derive new magic from it. Going over it seems to be doomed to failure.

[@MASTEROFEVIL]

That's a storyline from Black Clover

[@cheesecakedefender101]

as someone who's learning how to write good characters and stories that make sense high guardian spice is really helpful because it shows me what not to do and i think that's all it's good for

[@saramorgan4744]

Same, this is the only positive aspect of this show

[@Mario87456]

@@saramorgan4744 Along with possible cool characters designs that could maybe one day be repurposed for another show.

[@ITSXIY]

@@Mario87456 honestly when i look at them I feel like something is missing, no idea what though.

[@Mario87456]

@@ITSXIY Well I did say possible cool character designs because there may not be any but I do not know for sure.

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

It's not enough to know WHAT not to do, but also WHY you shouldn't do it. Your story could do one thing that high guardian spice did that didn't work for high guardian spice, yet worked for your story. WHY did this work on your story when it didn't work for this series? That's just as, if not more important than figuring out what not to do.

[@dudemcguy4277]

More like "high on spice"

[@TheDogsOnItMOVED]

8:41 “How should we know that Rosemary is so annoying-“ *obnoxious singing* “Let me rephrase that-“

[@Telawin]

Oh my gosh I just figured it out... this show is someone's DnD game. now I know that gets thrown around a lot but hear me out the magic is never explained in any satisfying way. especially the difference between old and new magic. old magic is shown to require hand movements and materials. just like dnd, but the dm made a new system to make it easier. but left in the old version for world building (probably at the request of Rose's character since she came up with a character based around that). the adventuring school doesn't make any hard stances on what a guardian is because the DM knows the players are just gonna do whatever the hell they want the characters will undergo growth and development for a minute and then immediately forget about it. which happens when "oh my character is already the personality I want for them... why would I change it?" but the absolutely perfect reasoning as to why I think this is a game... is the backstories. these four probably spent a lot of time fleshing out backstories. but when the time came to play it out everyone wanted to explain everything about their backstory at any relevant moment (it happens a lot, trust me). which leads to long annoying sets of exposition or the characters have been role played in the past and now you're just left with exposition dumps instead of actually getting to see the pivotal scenes they exposit about from those role plays

[@WHOARETHEPATRIOTS475]

based analysis, calling out the writers like that LMAO

[@hypnospaceoutlaw3376]

Boy, when you see the show like that it's almost tolerable.

[@jteam_]

hmmmm, time to homebrew a new dnd world based off this show, then except dnd would actually be fun

[@oncreativemode5486]

@@jteam_ when in doubt, make fanfiction

[@Maggot-Milk]

the mystery has been solved

[@dracokaleb1239]

"Forgery is not a fighting skill" I don't know, from the speed of which the blonde girl made a second dagger in *a single second* that sounds like a useful combat skill to me.

[@fluidwolf]

Heck it's basically the entire fighting style for Archer and Shirou Emiya from Fate/Stay Night where they can essentially recreate objects and weapons to use.

[@rockhistoria2537]

Girl is literally Steve from minecraft

[@nomiflower9707]

Here's my brief name ranking: Rosemary/Sage- Passable Parsley- Ok Thyme - Do u hate ur child?

[@ryzikx]

more like thyme to get a new name

[@Mr.MeatPuppet]

it doesn't even look like an anime, it looks like dollar tree Steven Universe

[@AdventureHusky]

Shows like HGS are an absolute treat because there's so much story potential. For anyone who has seen badly written shows before it's a very common thing for multiple channels or fic writers to go ham with the characters and world and make them 10x better than the original and its always fun to discuss new rewrites and origin stories or evolve the characters in our own way. I always love hearing everyones opinions on how to fix bad shows like these and it also serves as a helpful example to writers on what not to do.

[@kaleenguyen7868]

I heard a saying that, mediocre or even poorly written works are the ones that get the most and best fanfic. Because potential is there and the right writer very well could take the world and characters of hgs and turn it into something compelling and interesting

[@naven3002]

Just like with RWBY! so much potential that hardly gets used, but with a lot of thought out and considered fanworks.

[@BrokenXDI]

Agreed

[@cooltrainervaultboy-39]

Kinda reminds me of my ideas on how I would continue Universal's DARK UNIVERSE. Like having the Frankenstein monster thawed from ice, making him an agent of that agency, partnering him up with Quincy Morris from the original Dracula novel, have a descendant of Van Helsing join them, and call her Christina Cushing as a nod to Hammer Horror icons Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Have them go after Dracula, reveal that Quincy was turned into a vampire at the end of the book and that's why he's running around in current day, give Quincy a whip in reference to the Castlevania video games, and maybe throw in some Helsing Ultimate Abridged references here and there.

[@allyli1718]

My favorite example of this is the Dear Evan fic “come and go” by charactershoes. Actually did the themes of mental health justice and realistically while also incorporating strong metaphors (unlike the show’s hamfisted “trees” thing)

[@milktea6676]

High guardian spice is the reason why KZbin had to take off the dislikes all together

[@TheDigitalApple]

To protect corporate trash

[@luizy6701]

I wouldn't doubt that

[@awsomegirlpower476]

Nah I think it was for Sneakerella😂

[@TheLakabanzaichrg]

It was to enforce engagement

[@BlazeHeartPanther]

Disney Marvel Star Wars

[@thornwall6303]

"How should we know that Rosemary is annoying?" *_Insert any clip where Rosemary is doing anything_* "Let me rephrase"

[@walkerphillips2818]

Hahahaha- *Comedy*

[@lorenzorentniop717]

Goes into the trash next to Velma

[@Barakon]

Imagine if a character who was a goodie two shoes actually succeeded in becoming "evil" and ended up userpting the original main bad guy.

[@WhitneyDahlin]

I think that's a great idea. And that's why it will never be done. This is show is why the gender of the writers and creators isnt a marketing tactic. They clearly only hired these women so they can claim it was an all woman team. Not because these people had genuine talent and deserved the jobs. I blame the creators and writers. But this is literally an epidemic in hollywood. The majority of Hollywood movies just have the worst writing now and they think having cool special effects is all that matters. They are writing to show off the special effects not to tell a story. And it shows. And it's only going to get worse from here. Because it doesn't matter how terrible the writing is, how terrible the critics say it is, how terrible Americans say it is. They couldn't care less because they're making billions of dollars off that movie in China. They are making movies for a global market now and even if every single American refuses to see the movie because it was so bad that movie would still get a hundred sequels and a spin-off series because it made so much money overseas. That's the problem, people are overseas are dazzled by special effects and that's all they care about. They don't care about a movie having good writing or compelling characters or even telling a story and Hollywood knows that. It's only going to get worse and worse from here.

[@pendingchange3776]

Austin powers be like

[@ArkThePieKing]

You should play Live a Live on the Super Famicom/SNES. There's a great translation patch for it, and it actually covers exactly this (also it's a fantastic game in general)

[@CheshireCad]

Or a good hero has a moment of doubt, which the main villain exploits to try and tempt her to the dark side. But she decides to just pretend to turn evil, so that she gets an opportunity to backstab him. Which she does. But she has to pretend that she's usurping him, so that his other evil underlings don't kill her as revenge. Which actually works. So now she's the main villain with control over all the evil forces, desperately juggling sabotaging the entire operation while still pretending to be super-evil while hiding the stress and anxiety of being in WAY over her head.

[@rick30521]

@@CheshireCad Would be fun if the main character after that ordeal, successfully makes the other "good guys" get to them, but after explaining what they did, they're doubted bc well, they backstabbed the main villain, and then kill them to take control over whatever territory they had, aka plotwist over plotwist, give the audience so many plotwists they break their ankles just watching it.

[@billmcgee6941]

So from what I can gather the things you shouldn't do that this show does (from a writing standpoint) are: -Telling not showing -Exposition dumping -Not having a world with consistent and well-defined rules for how it works -Not having characters that are fleshed out, believable, and that grow and change throughout the story -Not being careful to avoid major plot holes -Having diverse characters who are defined only by what make them diverse, thus giving them a sense of "otherness" rather than making them seem natural

[@Aredel]

Minus the last one, those are the hallmarks of nearly every shitty anime out there

[@Hauntaku]

I feel like the gender explanation was more of the guy trying to avoid talking about his past. It's a good set-up but IDK what role the writers are planning for him.

[@cobaltblu4196]

-not having the budget to show -Exposition dumping because you only have 12 episodes -not having the time for rereads and rewrites -only having 12 episodes, low budget, low time, and 4 characters -not having the time for rereads and rewrites -having a common cartoon trope, see adventure time, Steven universe, and gravity falls. it's so obvious none of y'all know what working in animation is like and it pains me.

[@mr.potato]

@@cobaltblu4196 None of this justifies the listed flaws. If they had a low budget and time restraints, they should've narrowed their scope and focused on getting at least something worth watching out Edit: Also the "showing, not telling" part isn't entirely due to limitations, the example shown in this video is just lazy writing

[@cobaltblu4196]

@@mr.potato there's that word again. "lazy" now tell me this. entire teams including writers working crunch time, does that sound "lazy" to you? time restraints can often lead to a weak result in the hands of an inexperienced team, like those who worked on this show. is it a great show? not at all, it's incredibly flawed. but is it lazy? i don't think so. try making a show, with a small team, as one of the first projects, then your "lazy" might actually be worth a damn. but likely you'd change your tune,

[@nihili4196]

Also no, Luffy is not exactly completely static character as heis going through a bit of character arc. But it is a big deal. It got started by Ace dying, and now in New World Luffy is growing more and more into his capitan role, he's getting more focused, giving out more orders... But it is a slow growth that started halfway through the story. Static characters are fine, but only when their statick-ness is build into the story. Choosing static character for story about growth is not a good choicce. But about story of exploration and adventure? Yes, it can work.

[@9somethingorother837]

I can only see Rose as a human pinkie pie.

[@plshelpalistair]

The thing is, most trans people don’t want to make a big thing of outing themselves. Especially when it comes to random associates. I don’t want to explain the history of my gender identity to someone I barely know.

[@georgemeyers7172]

Fair.

[@moinmeister-rp9sl]

that sounds totally reasonable

[@twinzzlers]

What about romantic partners?

[@plshelpalistair]

@@twinzzlers I do end up telling my close friends, and any romantic partners. It’s good to be open about this kind of thing with my close contacts, I was referring more to people I meet at uni or around town.

[@twinzzlers]

@@plshelpalistair Yeah that's a good thing. Aot of guys aren't comfortable dating trans women, no offense.

[@rman88]

I feel like pointing this out in order to rub salt in the wound. As the whole idea of guardians reminded me a lot of hunters from Hunter X Hunter. Only difference is becoming a hunter is an insane and grueling set of challenges that if completed gives you a hunter licenses. Which grants you Immense amount of freedom, Free stuff and access to jobs that can make you rich. Hell just by having the license you can pretty much stay at any hotel for free and eat for free. setting you off for life pretty much as you will never have to pay for anything ever again. So regardless if the person wants to use that license to hunt for rare objects, fight giant monsters or just live a life of luxury forever. Everyone has a reason why they want to become a hunter. yet could you say the same thing for becoming a guardian? What do you even get for becoming one? Least what do you get that you didn't have before?

[@insulttothehumanrace3807]

Even for a more normie example, My Hero Academia. Being a hero lets you be a superhero, fighting criminals and supervillains for a living. It's also a fairly lucrative position, you get to be really popular with people, and may even get to have other jobs or passions on the side. From there you get a variety of motivations. Some people want to be heroes due to family expectations/tradition, some want to be popular, some want de money, some use hero work as a venue to practice some other passion of theirs, some want to fight baddies, and some simply want to help others and make the world a better place. Everyone has a reason for becoming a hero. Again, though, what does Guardianship offer?

[@beenice1555]

I thought the same thing

[@momo-rt9ko]

I was literally about to type the same thing lol. Also, the hunters specialize in different things and that can be explained by the fact that there’s so many different types of hunters (like Gourmet and Sea Hunters). Yet the “guardians” all seem to specialize in different things with no explanation. Like,,, do all guardians serve the same purpose or are there different types of guardians lol😕

[@ZorotheGallade]

Worldbuilding is yet another thing that was crumpled up and tossed in the waste basket in favor of pushing the GURL POWAH message.

[@bruises.n.bitemarks]

Demon Slayer also does this well in my opinion, becoming a demon Slayer is a grueling task (some trainees even die during exams/training) and we're introduced to a demon Slayer in the first episode, right off the bat it gives us a reason to become one and an indirect explanation of what they do, AOT also does this well.

[@nestli126]

This might seems weird but it will be interesting if Sage have heavier mommy issues. Like Sage wanting to explore new magic but her mother strictly only likes old magic. Sage and her mother fought a lot about this but her mother finally agree with the condition that she would only use it partly from old magic and still have to study old magic. This will make the character more relatable and make Sages character less dead, giving her a goal to impress her mom and also have fun with newer magic.

[@samthepancake69]

14:54 OH MY GOD THE RED CREATURE BLOOD. I'm *so glad* you pointed this out, I hadn't seen **anybody** comment on this. I also found it quite disturbing...

[@plshelpalistair]

This show makes me wish that I had the opportunity to make my story and characters into an animated series. But it also makes me worry that my plot, world building character development is shallow and uninspired.

[@sp0tl1gtf0rjustice]

This is late but every single book and idea is based on something weather we know it or not, what makes them feel originally is how it is executed, it's like that saying "it's not what you say it's how you say it." So if you have an idea try to figure out what will be the best way to excute that said idea.

[@plshelpalistair]

@@sp0tl1gtf0rjustice thanks :))

[@Acacius1992]

Can relate to it. Sadly by me my plots charcters and world building are shallow and uninspired.

[@DrDolan2000]

I bet my ass it would be 10× more entertaining than HGS

[@sadaomao7425]

When a 17 year old kid do a amazing job of breaking this dumpster fire down and more entertaining than the show itself, you know shit is bad!

[@magikforce4069]

He’s 17?

[@jakubmroz4761]

@King Wobbegong, Sea Urchin Farmer 17 isn't exactly a kid

[@jakubmroz4761]

@@magikforce4069 yes

[@bottheskitarii8881]

I thought he was an adult! Jesus, puberty hits hard!

[@DJ-qj2mt]

HE'S 17?!!?!?!

[@alexanderleggett7679]

Watched this show with my friends cause of how bad I heard it was. Got past the first two episodes, which, based on the comments, seemed to lose to critics. But not us. There's this one scene where a dragon they used to escape a cave randomly dies... before coming to life as a skeleton, telling the characters its all cool, then exploding into fireworks. Also, the line "have you heard of... transition magic?" Is a new meme for me and my homies

[@cocoboy5814]

17:31 shoutout to Captain underpants movie

[@Djindas]

Absolutely *BASED*

[@Tom-re6zo]

I'm not even joking, this series WOULD have been a masterpiece if they gave every character a Squidward nose. THEN it would be art.

[@ck-1649]

I see what you did there 🤣🤣🤣

[@PunishedKrab]

You can never go wrong with placing Squidward noses on pretty much everyone and everything you see

[@eel5618]

@@PunishedKrab True wisdom

[@woodlandpricess]

I was thinking about the scene where the teacher explains to Rosemary he's trans, and like, wouldn't be a reasonable writting decision to make him explain how Lavender accepted him as he was and supported him along his journey? Bc it would make a lot more sense with the context since they were talking about her

[@Hauntaku]

Nah, I feel like that random exposition is foreshadowing.

[@ezurka610]

high guardian herb makes me feel WAYYYY better about the story i'm making, where i actually take time worldbuilding and making character depth and whatnot