Just saw your post about NaruMitsu and I think I understand the direction of what you mean by them being flanderized, but I don't think I get your points. I'd love to hear what part of them are flanderized by the fandom :o
Well tbf I didn’t give any points so there weren’t any to get /s. I’d also like to clarify I’m not criticizing anyone’s interpretation of these guys. This is entirely based on my perception of these characters so like…I can’t dictate what other people feel I’m merely making claims on my own personal opinion. They’re fictional characters and it doesn’t matter, I’m just gonna rant bc you asked lol.
That being said, as to what I said in my initial post, every character in the ace attorney series is flanderized by both capcom and the fandom.
Both phoenix and edgeworth get oversimplified a TON and that bleeds into the depiction of their relationship. What I personally love about the ace attorney series is that there is so much emotional devastation but the characters continue to be themselves throughout this trauma. The flanderizstion, to me, comes from people’s desire to lean too far into this trauma and make the characters personality rooted in it instead of grown from it. People’s qualities are influenced by their trauma, especially extreme circumstances, but they are not defined by them.
When it comes to the interpretation of these characters, I find that there is a tendency to grasp onto one potential side effect of a traumatic circumstance and make it their entire personality. In terms of narumitsu, I see this a lot with “edgeworth is a complete softy who is just waiting for someone to save him” and “phoenix is a naive trusting fool who will throw his life on the line for anyone”. These are exaggerated statements, but I see it a lot in the depiction.
What I love about this pair is that they are just some guys. They are crazy, but they are just some guys. They are so incredibly normal, but they experience complex feelings as any person would. Personally, I feel as if sometimes these feelings and idiosyncrasies are leaned into too much to a point where the initial heart is lost and the character gets flanderized.
Also y’all I wrote this while i was sick and unintentionally pulling an all nighter so apologies for the lack of eloquence. I have sm more to say on this but I have a hard time articulating my thoughts sooo you get this lol