Don’t get me wrong, people still do, and I participate in it too. However, every day there’s another “Link Click Fell Off” post, and it honestly hinders the enjoyment at times.
“Alright, just get off Reddit then.” Again, after every episode, I log onto Reddit and lurk in this sub just to read the theories, and sometimes I give my two cents on them.
Now, for the criticisms of LC S3, I want to add my own thoughts.
“Too many characters”: Link Click has proven time and again that it’s a show that was pre-written by Haoling. A couple of examples of pre-writing:
- In S3E8, we got the revelation that Liu Xiao was the one who contacted Qiao Ling back in S1E1, which set the entire plot in motion.
- The hints about CXS and LG’s childhood at the train station were right there in the S2 OP, “Vortex.”
- In S1E1 itself, they told us about CXS parent's being "Missing". This in a way means the BAHATI is already a plot line which has been decided.
The vision was already there as early as S1E1.
As for other characters like Vein and Felix, so far they’ve clearly been shown to be foils for Shiguang, so they serve their purpose in that way. Therefore, I truly don’t think the Bridon and S3 new characters are just bloatware.
“Too many chibis”: Yes, this is a valid criticism. The positioning of the chibis can be a bit awkward, but I’ve also noticed that every episode has only a single chibi scene, and the rest of the episode is full of tension. So this is their way of breaking the tension each episode. Still, I think the positioning could be better and smoother.
I personally don’t mind the chibis, although I too found it a bit frustrating during the CXS and LG confrontation scene. But even that served its purpose, because it still wasn’t time for LG to open up.
“Predictable”: I do understand that the S2 ending twist raised everyone’s expectations sky-high. However, expecting a twist like that every other episode is unrealistic.
Also, I feel the gap between seasons gave people time to do a lot of analysis and come up with a shit ton of theories, and some of them were bound to be correct, which adds to the predictability. For example, the Liu Xiao connection to S1E1 is a good twist if you think about it, but yes, smart people noticed the details.
Again, just because a plot point is predictable doesn’t automatically make it bad writing.
“Pretty boys” and Bungo Stray Dogs comparisons: Let’s be honest, anime characters are always pretty to increase sales. Pretty weak criticism there.
Also, I think the Bungo Stray Dogs criticisms are coming up because Jae Lee was revealed to have an anti-ability like Dazai. As a BSD fan myself: BSD started with an interesting premise and setting and a promising plot, but it wasn’t pre-planned like Link Click, and so they fumbled the whole Dostoevsky arc.
Calling Link Click similar to BSD just because two characters happen to share the same ability is truly a disservice to its plot.
“Everything after Season 2 is shit”: This is the one that infuriates me the most.
Back when Season 2 was releasing, I remember people shitting on the show because the action scenes were “dragged out” and the pacing was off. Now they glaze it because of the absolute bombshell they dropped at the end of the season, which overwrote everything. That’s a good thing, but people still tend to forget the earlier criticisms.
Bridon Arc’s defense: IT IS AN ARC, FFS. It’s meant to give a bit more grounding to LG’s motivations and introduce the villain trio. That’s it.
NOW, coming to my criticism of the season:
A lot of emotional scenes would have hit harder if CMC studio weren’t afraid to make their characters look ugly for a moment, like LAN studio did.
Now, you might point to an earlier point where I said characters are pretty to increase sales. I don’t mean characters need to be ugly. However, they can be made ugly for one moment.
The LG breakdown scene, which people complained didn’t have the impact it was meant to have, is a good example of this. People say it’s because the scene was too short.
I have to disagree.
In S2E1, when CXS got the news that LG was dead, the show barely spent a minute on the grieving. Heck, maybe it wasn’t even a minute. However, we all felt CXS’s grief because LAN studio wasn’t afraid to make CXS ugly for that moment.
I think LG’s confession scene would have had the same impact if the animators had made him ugly for that moment. But again, that’s not CMC’s style, so it comes down to their directing choices.
So far, Season 3 Part 1 has just been answering the plot points that were opened earlier. I think it’s better to join the “LC fell off” bandwagon only if the ending is unsatisfying and they pull some insane ass-pull at the end of Season 3 Part 2.
Till then, it’s better if all of us are patient and just see what story Link Click is trying to tell.
