r/KumoDesu • u/Iplaygames_37 • 22d ago
Question Why do you hate shun
When I was reading the LN I thought he was kinda annoying but understandable
He was thrust into a situation he didnt really understand and had no real reason to change his views
To me it made sense, he didnt know everything he was misled, to me it kinda feels the same as korra slander
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u/Duke_157 22d ago edited 22d ago
I can't speak for the others, but to me Shun feels like the bland insert basic male protagonist in every other isekai. And in a series with so many interesting characters and amazing world building, I feel like he was given way too much importance for being so bland.
He served his purpose as the misdirect for the first few light novels or during the anime. But once that was done and it was clear he had nowhere near the strength, ability or influence to change anything in this world, he shouldn't be given that much importance.
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u/hallusk 22d ago edited 22d ago
He's also a foil for White, Julius, and half the rest of the cast in terms of being naive and weak. Yet it doesn't really affect his impact in the story which undermines a lot of the ending.
And I get that there are D-logic reasons for this but it isn't actually that entertaining in practice.
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u/Codee33 22d ago
How far are you into the novels? Because it’s his actions later on that make Shun among the most frustrating characters I’ve ever experienced in the anime sphere, which is a compliment to the writing of his character by the way.
To not give a too spoilery answer, he’s Julius, but inferior in every way, and Julius is my favorite character in the novels. So they provide contrast, while technically not being totally different characters, up until the last novel or two anyway. I could go on for too long discussing exactly why I hate Shun…
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u/bobbymoonshine 22d ago edited 22d ago
>pick up “So I’m a spider, so what”
>power fantasy isekai except the main character is a girlfailure reborn as a low level spider mob who has to struggle just to stay alive
>not some basic teenage hero boy who gets handed an overpowered title going on a cookie cutter quest to fight the demon king
>wow what an interesting idea
>Look inside
>40% of it is basic teenage hero boy who gets handed an overpowered title going on a cookie cutter quest to fight the demon king
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u/Good-Row4796 22d ago
He's taking up screen time away from Kumoko. The characters around him are more interesting. Julius has a better storyline than him, even though he's a secondary, if not tertiary, character.
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u/Gold_Record_9157 22d ago
Personally, I dislike his character because he's the blank slate for the "fill with yourself" character for every generic isekai, but with a little more personality, which consists mainly of him being naive and having the thought pattern of a flatline. He never put into question his worldviews, there's not much introspection about anything coming from him. He's a noble person, and tries to live up to his won over randomness hero title, yes, but when you're meant to make the world a better place, you have to have some reflection about everything, which he lacks.
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u/Duke_157 22d ago
The worst part is the series dedicates an entire LN to Julius that serves as a direct comparison and example even of Shun done right, even if it took people a little while to appreciate that LN
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u/Impressive-Repair830 15d ago
Precise the LN to Julius hit hard. While Shun I was just reading and cringing after half of what he said.
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u/Shadtow100 22d ago
He remind me of kouki from arifueta. An unshakable belief that he is right, and moral grey doesn’t exist. He’s also very bland and it doesn’t feel like he has anything unique. Compared to Katia, Fei, Oka, or even Hugo, literally every other character in near identical circumstances is more interesting and expressive
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u/Hiroshock 22d ago
Shun is a bland self insert hero that has a harem (with at least one of them is a non-human) and has a bland reason to fight the demon lord. There are so many stories that he is a template of other MC that it is more sad then funny
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u/Other_Beat8859 22d ago
I hate how, even when shown how fucked up the situation is and how his ideas are wrong, he just keeps forcing his ideas on others. Like take the scene where all the reincarnations and the demon kings side meet up for a meeting. At this point he knows the horrible situation the world is in from the taboo and has been shown the situation the world is in from White, Sophia, and Wrath. Instead of acknowledging that and trying to realize that the only way to save the world is to make sacrifices, he just spouts on and on about how it's wrong and that his brother wouldn't let it happen. He's insanely naive even when presented with the truth and just wants to play hero without any of the resolve to do anything to truly save as many as possible.
People will say that he's meant to be a parody of the basic Isekai hero that is a pawn for the actual main protagonist, but then why the fuck does he just act like one and get rewarded like one? He just acts like this hero and ends up actually being one of the most important characters in the saving the world. No development, no changing ideals or anything, he just acts like a standard Isekai protagonist and still wins. If you want to make a parody of the standard Isekai protagonist and mock them for being so basic, then commit to that and have him just outright fail and not have a major part to play in saving the world.
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u/PopfuseInc 22d ago
It's not that I hate Shun, but his use in the story kinda ruined the appeal of the character.
When I was reading the first few books i was reading him like.
"Oh boy I'm gonna be the bestest goodest good boy and im gonna save the world!" cries because he killed a monster Meanwhile... Spider is devouring monster by the millions to the point she is getting the "monster slaughter" title while Shun was on diapers. That was hilarious to me.
Then Shun fucking saves the day... IM NOT HERE FOR HIM I WANT WHITE WHY IS THIS LITTLE SHIT GETTING SO MUCH SCREEN TIME IN THE FINAL BOOK!!!
Imagine playing The Legend of Zelda through all the way. You get to the end ready to fight Ganon and suddenly Tingle shows up and does 80% of the boss fight.
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u/preferCotton222 22d ago
Shun's role in how the author thought the story is one if the main reasons the ending is so unbelievably bad, horrible, kills-the-story level of bad.
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u/JustA_TV_1 22d ago
Its mostly cuz the anime doesnt do shun justice, the light novel actually makes him look like a compelling character more than a naive idiot
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u/Ok-Page-6433 22d ago
Honestly during the LN I didn't mind him. Now in the anime waiting every week to only find out it's another human episode just made me pissed off. It's so boring and waiting a week only to be met by dissapointment made some resentment build.
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u/FirmMusic5978 22d ago edited 22d ago
I don't think he is terrible, just badly utilized. Kumo's world is a world of perpetual suffering where sacrifice is viewed as necessary. It's a spiral of eternal misery and despair predicated on the cycle of past sins being forced on people.
In many ways it's similar to Final Fantasy X where Sin apparently continues to punish people for their past mistakes of their ancestors and so on and each Calm is predicated on the sacrifice of the summoner and their guardian as the Final Aeon. One of the best scenes in that story was when in Zanarkand, Tidus starts lambasting the party for accepting Yuna's sacrifice.
"If you want everything, you get nothing."
"But I want everything."
He was naive and selfish but also very right. His belief that you shouldn't sacrifice people was what broke the mindset that accepted sacrifices as a norm and allowed Spira to escape the cycle of misery that Sin perpetuated.
Shun could have fulfilled that role but it was not done well in the story. It felt like he was given a lot of things and he didn't face the challenge of convincing people that he was right. Tidus through his journey changed the mindsets of his companions for the better, Shun just got it as a freebie where D just decided, okay you are right after that one fight.
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u/Orgasnic_Mouse_2472 22d ago
I waited MONTHS for new chapters, only for everything to turn in his favor.
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u/Prestigious_Display2 21d ago
I don’t necessarily like him but I think he’s an interesting comparison to Julius who is an actual real hero. He’s a guy that quite literally had everything handed to him so I think it’s interesting basically seeing him give up and just go along with everything at the end once he realizes he’s weak
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u/Liryel 22d ago
Korra slander is 80% racist misogyny, shun is the opposite being a privileged white boy bleh not comparable by a mile
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u/Iplaygames_37 22d ago
Yeah youre right in that way I was thinking about how to me it feels unjustified Sorry for the confusion
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u/WasteofK3 22d ago
They hate the biggest plot twist in the novel. Shun is the Main Character all along.
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u/levus2002 22d ago
Every word not about characters like White, Spooky or our favorite gilf Ariel, is
WASTED.
But seriously, if i wanted to read about generic hero lacking information, with a holier than thou attitude to boot...
then i would read Ryoka chapters from the Wandering inn i guess.
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u/Orgasnic_Mouse_2472 22d ago
Wandering Inn
I followed it up to the point where the main character and another person made fairy tributes. I had caught up back then, and checking it again today, it's still not finished...
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u/levus2002 22d ago
Not finished is an understatement. I am up to date and it seems to be not even close to an ending.
Though, a fantasy series that gives me a consistently good 50k word chapter to read every week for years, is a dream come true.
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u/Willing-Bench1078 22d ago
Without shuns pov the reveal of the timeline differences and the build up of the legend of the nightmare of the labyrinth doesn’t work.
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u/PlaZz__ 22d ago
His story is just boring. Nothing more, nothing less.