Day 2. Took a little break. Gonna be taking those way longer and quite often. Let's dive right in!
Simply put, a good power system is a one that's flexible and logical. That's literally it. Of course, for some there will be many exceptions (for example, some will say Stands are a good power system, but whatever stand you get is randomized, and you only can use the few abilities that stand has). This post will be about how well power systems are handled correctly.
Let's start off with the big ones.
One Piece:
Wow, alright, I already have so many problems with Oda's handling I could dedicate a post to this alone. Before the introduction of Haki, Logias were just....better than any other fruit. Oda wrote himself into a corner there, realizing that only other Logias could beat Logias, and was forced to nerf them with the introduction of Haki. I won't get started on how unnaturally weak the first few Paramecia's were, and Zoans....oh, Zoans. Anyway, back to the main topic, the distribution of Haki is PURE EVIL. Ussop getting Observation while Robin gets.....? Luffy and Zoro's Conquerer's should be constantly knocking out Nami, Chopper, and Ussop. Some crew members haven't even unlocked Armament yet? And even outside of the crew, Haki messed up major plotlines. Shanks shouldn't have lost his arm, as the fish would've even have dared approach him. Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords, didn't even have Haki? At this point, just sell the title. Even people like Prime Roger and Garp can be scaled as equals to Whitebeard, when using logic Whitebeard has a Devil Fruit AND Haki, while Garp and Roger only have Haki. The loops are inevitable. Mythical zoans probably just made the series a lot worse than it should have, as well. Should I save that for a deus ex machina post? "What makes a good plot?" I would go on but it's time to move.
Naruto: DEFINITELY a step up from whatever the mess One Piece was, but still handled poorly. We went from ninja techniques, paper bombs, kunais, shurikens, etc. to KCM, Full Body Susannoo, the existence of the Otsutsuki's/The Chakra Fruit....it became less ninja. And maybe I wouldn't have a problem at all if EOS Naruto and Sasuke didn't outscale and absolutely STOMP the entire rest of the village. Power levels progressed without the rest of the characters. There was some sort of freedom, though, like making your own techniques (ex. Rasenshuriken), but the downs HEAVILY outweighed it. A small (not so small) example would probably be how the Sharingan/Mangekyo just has SO MUCH MORE abilities than everything else, making Uchihas just....broken. (good day to be a saske/itachi/madara fan). Now this even proved a problem for Kishimoto, because Madara's Mangekyo ability is nowhere to be found till this day. On top of that, EMS....how do Naruto eyes work?? Many major problems like Konohamaru beating a pain, Kakashi's instant Full Body Susanoo, and even the corner Kishimoto wrote himself into when he made Madara stomp the Shinobi Alliance and had to make whatever the sh*t plot ending that was Kaguya to stop him. Like I said, not as bad as One Piece, but still bad.
Bleach: Now Bleach.....If I could sigh through the Internet, I would. Shikai's and Bankai's are way too restrictive, and you can only do so much with them. Shikais were so bad everyone who had a Bankai started popping it like it was their base (sorry, Soi Fon). Lieutenants were just...fodder. Half of the Gotei 13 Captains were, too. And don't get me wrong, that's not a problem......Especially when I have to live my whole life as a Hollow, continue to eat them as I grow into a Menos, than Adjucha, than Vasto....and in the end, I can still get captured by a couple Quincies using their Schrift. (Harribel, we need more details.) The scaling, at some times, were too inconsistent. Only twice real freedom and an opportunity for a good power system appeared (and it's not like Kubo did anything with them): One. The manipulation of spirit energy as an Arrancar. Seen in Ulquiorra's Segunda, he's able to make his own abilities and emit energy in the shapes or forms he wants. Not a bad start, too bad it wasn't expanded on. Two: Hados/Bakudos (Kidos). They all had variation, and there could've been potential for someone to even make their own sometime, but the potential was wasted. Other than that, everyone who had a power was stagnant with it, could only use 1 ability related to it (Not Yamamoto. Surprised me, too.) and that was it. Schrifts/Volls and Shikais/Bankais, mostly. What a nice set up.
Dragon Ball: Never would I have seen a day I would commend Dragon Ball. It's open like it's power system is open world. Techniques can be learned by most people, you can send Ki to different parts of your body to make it stronger, anyone can just emit pure Ki from anywhere on their body, the possibilities are endless. And I really, really commend Akira.....until a certain point, where Saiyans were the only race capable to do everything. Even after introducing stronger allies than Tien, Yamcha, Krillin....Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, and Future Trunks still did it all. Hair color change after hair color change after yelling (for a new hair color. Or maybe just longer hair. And yes, I know you've heard that many times about the DB Series. You will hear it once more.) Of course, the removal of humans was probably the best for the story....but that's because Akira limited himself. Why did humans even have a limit. Why are Saiyans the only race that can continue to grow? At this point, name it Saiyan Hair Super. Needless to say, first installments of Ki and various different techniques and weapons were great. (Naruto fans, stop punching air. I know Kishimoto did most of these things as well, and he gets a Slime Approval Sticker as well.)
Lets go ahead and move on to the smaller, unknown ones.
Hunter X Hunter/JJK: "What the hell, Slime? Why did you put them together?!" Maybe because JJK just took Nen and rebranded it as Cursed Energy. Even Binding Vows were stolen (and honestly, i feel bad for Togashi, because holy hell Binding Vows in JJK suck ASS.) Anyway this section is gonna basically be a Hunter Hunter section, and oh boy do I love Hunter Hunter's power system. Why? Because you CREATE your own power (well, usually (on that note, read the manga)). YOU choose how powerful you can be. There are literally no restrictions. On top of that, there has never been any room for a major/plot breaking plot force or deus ex machina. Why? Simply, because Togashi follows the rules of his power system. Gear 5 and Mugetsu didn't follow the rules of their power system, and they're branded as terrible deus ex machinas. Anyway, yeah, Nen is great, Gege's execution of CE could be better, yada yada, you know.
Tokyo Ghoul: "Slime, why even bring this one up?" I just asked myself the same question. This might be the most limited one yet. Of course, expectations for TG fell hard after S1, and even during S1 the power was just convienent for the plot. Sure, yeah, it makes for a good plotline, but a good power system? I don't think ANY person in the comment section would openly say they want a kagune.
Attack on Titan: On the topic of "convienent during/for the plot", I shoulda brought up this one immediately. Great plot, ass power system. To be fair, everyone who isn't a Titan shifter uses their ODM geat and steel blades, a select 9 or less few are Titan Shifters with broken powers, and even less than that are the Ackermann clan, which slams both. There is no freedom WHATSOEVER in this power system, and that's fine because AOT wasn't supposed to have a good power system. It was supposed to have a good plot. And you know what ruined it's plot? It's power system, namely the fact that Grisha and Eren can see the past and future holders of the Attack Titan. If that doesn't get bad enough, the Paths and the Coordinate make it far worse. Isayama wrote himself into a corner, and in ch. 139, Eren turned from the best written animanga character in history to...a monstrosity. Go back and reread the ending a couple more times, and you can find loopholes that seemingly break the story, a big one being the fact that Eren caused his mom's death. As soon as the words "past" and "future" saw daylight, it went downhill.
FMAB: Again, convienent for the plot. Not saying this one is bad, it's just....there's only so much you can do. Roy and his lighter make the greatest fire duo, Edward's "dirt to gold" schemes...It's limited. Of course, there are special occasions like Scar, and then the 7 Sins...Which brings me to a great plot point AND a great power system point: Equivalent Exchange. Not once has it been abadoned or altered, not one has someone worked their way around it or found a loophole. It was always there. And it did it's job.
MHA: I've went on about this for days. The fact that some Quirks are fine without any drawbacks (Todoroki, Bakugo), some have drawbacks for no reason (Denki), and then some are just straight ass (Mineta, Tail Guy, Invis Girl, Tape Guy, Shining Laser Guy, almost the entirely of Class 1-B). Quirks almost pick how strong they want to be. This allows for Deku, Todoroki, and Bakugou to just stomp most if not all of their class and 1-B. And then we have those like Mina, who essentially could've went down the same path Shigaraki did. Not saying she has to, but it's better than being useless. She never uses her acid, and when she does, "it doesn't work"? And then some quirks are just useless. You wonder how they got into U-A. We have Eri's quirk, or should I call it the plot quirk, and then we have Shigaraki, who can manhandle everyone. Quirks are the opposite of consistent. And it's not like they choose how weak or strong these Quirks are. It is GIVEN to them (even if genetically).
(Haven't read or watched Black Clover, Fire Force, Chainsaw Man, and I feel like I'm forgetting a lot of shounen. Do people here even know what Soul Eater is? And, no, I'm not touching on isekais. How absurd are you to even suggest that?)
Anyway, those are only opinions, which is why you're allowed to share your opinion in the comments. Congrats for those who made it to the end! You guys deserve a cake. Sorry, this one wasn't as long as the one on 6/4/24.
Overall, a good power system is one that doesn't feel limited. Of course, that doesn't mean a good power system is NECESSARY to having a good plot (FMAB is amazing). It just means that a good power system allows for more creative without bounds that have to break the rules of what was already made. It allows for variation, and more importantly, more fun. Flexibility shouldn't be hard to come by. And, most important, the possibilities should be endless....without a sudden plot force power up or deus ex machina.
This is NOT the comeback CHATTTT
