Ni no Kuni vs. Disability Tropes

[@sora_ni_iku2]

Finally somebody who agrees to the fact that Yu could've been a hero in a wheelchair as well. I thought it was so sad that they presented the fact of being disabled as an inevitable bad thing. It just felt so wrong to me too. I think many people don't even notice or feel that way about the movie because they either aren't disabled or just don't feel any relation to it since they had never needed to think about it that way. I would've liked it if it had been the other way around, like him being in a wheelchair and a hero in the alternate world or just like you had said with powers but also still with his disability.

[@sotakovatereza352]

I don't get why they even made him disabled if they wanted him to walk in the other world.

[@KazeTheCursedOne]

Honestly there's SO MANY options for a cool fantasy hero in a wheelchair, dwarven blacksmith with a mobile steampowered forge chair, elven mage with a magical hovering chair, heck even mermaid exploring the surface using it as an aid works better than this.

[@takendruid]

I watched Ni no kuni as someone who didn’t play the game. My boyfriend watched it as someone who had played the game. We both agreed that the ending was a complete ass pull.

[@BasilPaste_]

Yeaaah... hi hello im fully aware that this is a comment being left pretty close to a year after this video came out but. yeah. the worst part is that: from the perspective of someone who has an interest in the games? THEY COULD TOTALLY BELIEVABLY GIVE YU A COOL FANTASY WHEELCHAIR. the movie messed up so many mechanics of the games in general and it was disheartening to see a character with a cool concept like Yu ruined by people just. sucking at the rules of a universe. also, that weird old man character? HE WAS THE PROTAGONIST OF THE FIRST GAME. he was the protagonist of the first game and he also chose to *stay* in the fantasy world! the fact that hes in the real world and treated like hes some nutty old bat? totally misses the mark on 'wise mentor' and falls straight into ableist. i have so many thoughts about that movie and none of them are good which sucks because if the creators cared it could have been wonderful representation.

[@Oakwyrm]

No worries this is a small channel, comments don't tend to get drowned out easy ^^; Honestly this context just makes it all the more disappointing. Honestly it's almost always worse to have disappointing/bad/"potentially could have been good but this ain't it" representation than none at all and that's what this movie gave us. And now apparently they added Pure Disrespect for a staple character from the source material? God. It's even more of a wreck than I thought.

[@monstergirlinc8707]

I think if they wanted to make yu regain use of his legs, they should have at least made it a process. Like yes some paralized ppl regain their ability to walk, but it takes time. They dont just suddenly get up and walk. They have to both learn how and also build up the muscle over time. The story could have been so much more interesting as well if they considered this. Like if yu discovered he could move his legs, but then still had to learn how to walk after that, all while being in this new fantasy world, that would be way more interesting to watch and i may even be able to look past some of the plot holes.

[@ematheoneandonly8896]

Can you review A Silent Voice? It touches on disability and mental illness. It is an anime movie.

[@MsBrendalina]

I second the Silent Voice request. That movie is phenomenal in every way

[@IcePhoenixMusician]

I triple it

[@silvericeeyes4323]

I just wanna clarify, it's not based on the game, it's supposedly supposed to take place long AFTER the game. It seems that things with ni no kuni in the title, are in no way really related to the main game at ALL- they just have similar things in the world, mostly monsters or Ding Dong Dell. in the movie, the only part connected to the first game is the old man who leaves, he is Oliver, the little boy int he game who is extremely old. the reason when it comes to the 2 main characters being linked, but looking nothing alike [MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST GAME EVEN IF ITS BEEN YEARS] Oliver, the little boy who is now extremely old in the movie, was linked to one of the main villains in the game, and the villain was much older than Oliver. Oliver's mother came from the other world and had Oliver in "our world", so there can be strange mind-bending stuff that may not make sense, but it's normal and happens. I'm aware it's not prevalent to the disability things, however, I want to say this as to not confuse the very well written story of the game with the story of this movie. the most this movie has is the name, the named location, and the reference to Oliver at the end of the movie. that is all.

[@vicbaez]

This may be such a dumb question but what do you think about the disability representation in sky kids 3d? They also have the wheelchair user who can walk on the other world, but he actually acknowledge the change and returns to his normal life after the adventure. Also the character was played by an actual wheelchair user.

[@_DiemXuan]

I myself have watched some Japanese movie about disability too, and they all disappoint me one or another way. It's just the same script about a 'normal' boy saving the disability girl, might do a whole talk discussion about it

[@wheelchairsinanimation8623]

This film's poster is such a cripbait. Have you heard of the new Josse, The Tiger and The Fish anime film?

[@777Rowen]

I’d love to see you review A Silent Voice, and Finding Dory on their discussion on disabilities.

[@zoeyc5851]

I would've loved to see them give Yu a cool fantasy wheelchair like the sealchairs in witch hat atelier

[@sotakovatereza352]

Why would they even make him disabled if it doesn't add anything to the plot? I like disabled/mentally ill characters because it makes the plot interesting in how the character is both same and diffrent from other characters and what struggles they have. This is a wasted potetial. Also how is it posible that the character who couldn't walk for most of his life can walk absolutly normaly?

[@alexjewett7455]

And why is it that he can walk just fine in the other world, but not in our world? Isn't it the same body?

[@peucev8166]

@@alexjewett7455 in our world he was in a plane crash or something?

[@peucev8166]

u have some good points but careful man disabled characters can and should exist without their disability relating to the plot. their existence does not need to be justified by the plot

[@alexjewett7455]

@@peucev8166 that doesn't answer the question of why he can walk in the other world.

[@peucev8166]

@@alexjewett7455 in the other world he didnt get in an accident

[@m0thm00nvods]

i remember watching this a few years ago at like 3am and being so on board with some of the premise's but then just feeling so disappointed by the end. it! sure was something.

[@taliabatten6042]

I was so angry at the movie; I could only make it about 20mins in. I adored the games so much and the horrible everything about the movie was so frustrating.

[@lahlybird895]

Somehow in your pot synopsis I managed to misread what world they are on and therefore I completely flipped who went away at the end and was very confused until you explained it later

[@LindenGroves]

The representation in this movie felt like being offered a ferro rocher but then discovering it's a raw brussel sprout covered in chocolate when you bite into it. Honestly. I watched it because I saw the wheelchair on the cover and decided to give it a shot, and the start actually gave me hope, but I really should've known better. It was infuriatingly disappointing.

[@sirtinythe3rdofitaly]

Okay, so I love Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, this game was literally my childhood. This movie was so disappointing. I watched it with the idea in mind: “this is absolutely trash”. I was honestly surprised. It was better than the second game, but it did contribute to the amount of plot holes after the first game. I hate the second game for many reasons: one, they changed the world map (which doesn’t make sense considering how much time has passed since the first game as proven by the movie), two, they kept one city from the original game and that’s it, three they destroyed the magic system and combat system. I could go on and on. This movie was not good, but compared to the second game I thought it was better plot wise. I was disappointed by Yu’s disability. As soon as they got to the Ni No Kuni world (besides for being disappointed they set it in Evermore, WHICH THEY NEVER EXPAND ON HOW THE NAME SHOULD BE MORE IMPORTANT) I was disappointed by Yu being able to walk. Besides for the things said in this video: AS SHOWN BY THE FIRST GAME THAT’S NOT HOW THE OTHER WORLD WORKS. (The first game was my childhood and so I’m really passionate about it. I am sorry)

[@spectrethefox5450]

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is an incredible game with a beautiful story. This movie did not do it justice and randomly changed how everything works. Going between worlds isn't supposed to change *anything* about your body, you don't even get different clothes. Haru and Yu being soulmates (people whose lives are linked) also made zero sense. Soulmates are supposed to look and act incredibly similarly; the decisions they make and the roads they go on are often parallel, too. There are rare exceptions though, one of these being the "switcheroo." As an example: In the second world, there's a sky pirate captain who owns a giant dragon. In the first world, the captain is a dog and he's owned by the dragon who's a human. The role of ownership was swapped, but they still kept the same dynamic; the dog is very protective, caring, and encouraging to his human, just as the captain is to his dragon. Haru and Yu break all the rules of soulmates from the game. It's honestly embarrassing how the game even has exceptions to some of its rules, and yet Haru and Yu *still* don't fit into any of those. You're not supposed to even be able to travel into another world when you're in danger. There's a specific spell to enter the other world, it's something you have to learn and consciously use. If you're about to die, you die, and so does your soulmate (usually for a parallel reason), there are no random world-hopping shenanigans to save you. Honestly, this movie is so disappointing.

[@HiBuddyyyyyy]

I played a bit of the video game and it was fun that you could name the creatures whatever you wanted (my mum named them rude things, she is way less mature than me), but you had to kill these cute little animals that were the enemies and it was kind of hard to avoid them. So I didn’t stick with the game long enough to get a sense of the plot. I guess I wasn’t missing much anyway.

[@angeltheweirdo]

Ngl I never knew the game had a movie.

[@anitanielsen1061]

Also the wheelchair person (Haru? Yu?) was rolling out of the way, and the other guy JUNOED TO THE GIRL TO GET HER OUT OF THE WAY, while the wheelchair one WAS HIT BY A CAR! WHAT THE *FUCK*????!!!!!

[@charlettelogan4354]

I've never watched this but it was interesting hearing you talk about it

[@Oakwyrm]

that's lovely to hear ^^

[@Miyukazukii]

Wonder how you feel about A Silent Voice. It's a favorite of mine but my disability is not a physical one and it makes me wonder how someone who knows more about disability tropes in media feels about the characters deafness

[@BeauxBeetles]

Not going to lie, i'm pretty sure James Cameron's Avatar has this exact issue. Jake spends basically 25 minutes using a wheelchair in the first movie, then he becomes a Na'avi (is that how you spell it? my apologies if not.) and he can suddenly walk. it's like his disability is entirely forgotten, and this carries on in the second movie. it sucked, and i hated that it implied he had couldn't be disabled and a hero.

[@omni-jq8pc]

This is completely unrelated to the video ( I havent even finished it yet ) but a manga that has pretty good disabled representation is witch hat atelier !!!

[@omni-jq8pc]

Its a fantasy manga and the first one ive seen have a high fantasy wheelchair !!! ( ofc take my recommendation with a grain of salt im not physically disabled , im autistic but ive seen general reviews of it by wheelchair users and they all seem to be positive !! :D )

[@BAVy11037]

There's a recent anime movie where one of the main characters is a disabled girl. It's called 'Josee, The Tiger and The Fish'. Have you had a chance to check it out? I wonder how you feel about how it is portrayed

[@PaHa4113]

Hol up. suomi? i've been bamboozled this whole time

[@elaimaro122]

Wow... That's a doozy, just the shirt plot description had me sweating in discomfort

[@luciussakura5031]

I would be very interested in hearing your opinion on an anime called Demi-chan wa kataritai. Some of the main characters are creatures like vampires and snow women, but with there abilities toned down to the point where they are fairly normal people. However, the show does go into some detail about how their abilities and differences affect their daily life, and I'd be interested in what you think about it.

[@MalloryGrizzell]

Just a suggestion, have you looked into "ranking of kings" yet?

[@Autumn-n7c]

Oh yeah this movie ! I wanted to watch it because I played the video game when I was younger and honnestly the animation style, plus the story didn't make me want to watch the end, plus Yu, as a mc didn't interesst me at all because of how was his personality and I didn't even understand why tf did he sudently could walk when he passed on the other world ? Seems like lazzy writing for me

[@meddlesome-]

I'm curious about your thoughts on Netflix's 3%, one of the main characters of which is a paraplegic wheelchair user

[@calicofrost8064]

Late af but I really was excited for this movie when it came out i was a fan of the original game series for years now I've cried at it and it was my childhood....this movie butherd the world and is a total mess there's barley anything recognizable to the original series and the timeline is jank af also they fucked up the weapon the original thing wasn't a sword it was a wand ;( the co protagonist thing with the wheelchair was off aswell it didn't matter to the plot really and came out of left field

[@wyfile9704]

I agree the movie was bad, but the second game also portrays the main weapon as a sword too. I’m not trying to completely defend the movie here. It is something I noticed in the second game. Granted the second game takes place many years after the first one and I still find that decision to be weird.

[@ucjaromanczyk5623]

I agree with you critics about getting dissabiblity wrong thing which always have to damage by disabling characters but I completely disagree about movie! I love it for the first time and forever and Truly recommended for everyone!!!

[@fishpond88]

I Totally Agree The Ni No Kuni Movie Is Horrible. I Was Extremely Disappointed. I Was Looking Forward To The Move Since I Played Both Video Games. I Loved The Second One Better. I But The First One Is Also Amazing. So When I Saw This Whole Bad Movie I Was So Upset. I Told Fans Of The Games Please Do Not Watch It. I Thought Live Action Anime Moves Where Bad But No This One Wins The Bad Award. Now To End On A More Positive Note. Video Game Movie That Actually Did It Correct If Not Better. My Opinion. Was Castlevania! It Wasn't A Move But The Episodes Where Movie Like To Me.

[@fishpond88]

Ni No Kuni 2 Is An Awesome Game.

[@Joy-zz8wz]

Really good video

[@mr.gameandtime8432]

The game is much better imo.

[@Bellabeebopboo]

Yes yes oh my gosh! I loved the video game as a kid and when I found out there was a movie I was so excited! It started off pretty good and I liked the characters and thought it was cool there was a disabled main character! And then,,,,, I was like wtf is this ?? I am a fan of the game and loved it lots but by golly the movie is awful

[@Rose_Haw]

Huh yeah the name really looks like at home😂

[@peucev8166]

that movie was so fuckingg. mediocre. like disability tropes aside it was just not a good movie

[@Shamazya]

Yeah, doesn't sound like a very good movie.

[@Komi83]

I have a bad feeling from the movie, that Yu's disability is there as a way to highlight his feelings about not belonging into this world, to show how isolated he is from his friends. And if it actually is the case, they chose one of the worst possible analogies. I get it, being disabled may cause some people to feel this way, but overall in the full context of the film... Yu decides to stay in the fantasy world at the end, where he's not disabled and is finally happy and content and it just comes out as if telling you that you can achieve the same if you manage to cure your disability. Which is such a sh*tty message. I don't think it was their intent, but it is just what this movie makes me feel. And if this are my feelings, as someone who is not physically disabled therefore it's less personal for me, you can tell how bad it is. And just to clarify, I don't se the fact that Yu isn't paralyzed in the fantasy world as a necessarily bad thing, it's the execution that's bad. Even some people who went through a temporary paralysis had to learn to walk again, let alone someone who never got to learn it in the first place like Yu. It's like having to use a wheelchair for your entire life doesn't affect you in any way. I used to write with my left hand, but due to an injury in my early teens, I can't anymore. And even after writing with my right hand for majority of my life, I have to relearn how to write again and again after just not writing for one week. And I'm not even actually left-handed, so just imagine how surreal Yu's ability to just stand up and walk suddenly really is.

[@RokkTheRock]

the movie is so fucking bad. i love the games (nothing beyond (: that was a fun play anyways) and didnt expect anything of the movie but no IT WAS SO BAD

[@aquabluerose7734]

Wow that sounds like a terrible movie all around!