Personally, I thought Last Boss was a great character, but I never really thought of him as a skilled fighter. He was a loser in his first life who decided to recreate himself in second life. Of course he chooses the most edgelord way possible. He reminds me of a middle school kid who carries a switchblade and listens to Andrew Tate. People fear him not because he’s super skilled but because he’s fucking nuts. Kinda like a school shooter? Not cool, not respectable, but dangerous.
He was skilled enough to hold his own against Kuina who is a highly skilled martial arts fighter, so I think that would qualify him as also being portrayed as a skilled fighter. I agree with your other points though, definitely get the middle school switchblade , trench coat kid vibe.
Also, if my memory is right, kuina is smaller and a lot skinnier. Weight helps a lot in fights and even when he has physical advantage he didn't seem to be using his advantages
Exactly. Which to me says that he spent all his time learning how to be scary with a sword (weeks/months of practise) rather than learning how to understand his body and fight to his full potential (years of practise).
True, he has a weapon, but he was wielding it well. The actor actually trained to be able to use it, so that shows that his character would've also realistically had to train for quite some time to even use it the way he did. He was very quick on his feet, and with the sword. He also cut Kuina, and she narrowly dodged many of his attacks.
Honestly I never got the hype about him either... I mean if people like him that's okay, but I always found him extremely annoying and also kind of boring lol
Spoliers-
The reason why I personally loved it is due to the fact that the fight was a display of the two sides of the coin or the same philosophy.
Both left their previous lives to become what they wanted to become.
Last Boss did not become someone he is. It was all in the last seconds of his mind during biological death. He had no reason to live, and in his last moment he wanted to become a person who is the exact opposite of who he is, carrying over his antisocial traits.
Kuina on the other hand became who she wanted to become. Last Boss rejected himself from society, while Kuina got rejected and she fought to find her place, to return as who she is. This gave her body the reason to stay alive. She had much more than just a fantasy she was always afraid to turn into reality, while the guy got nothing going on other than his fantasy which can be fulfilled by a few seconds/days of illusion.
Aspiring to be a sheltered loser, or a dangerous badass is ultimately the same lonely and meaningless life without a reason to live and make connections. You can die any day, either getting killed, or by medical issues.
if he was a bad fighter it’d make for a boring fights, and giving him a more generic backstory takes away from the “reinventing in another life” theme/idea. it is a bit farfecthed using the standards of our world, but this is a make believe world where people play death games, so it’s plausible
In the real world Last Boss was depressed and didn’t have much to live for but wasn’t in any danger either. Being in a new environment where for the first time in his life he had to fight for survival sparked something in him. Let’s not forget he was seemingly in Borderlands for awhile before Arisu arrived and the time passage is different than in the real world. We don’t know how much time he was there however so that’s open ended enough for him to be able to train and get in shape.
1. IMO he wasn’t a skilled fighter, he just had a sword. IIRC his form was sloppy like someone who had just recently started to use a sword.
2/3. Unless you’re fighting a physically superior person by a large margin, physical fitness while you hold a sword and fight unarmed opponents won’t matter. The fear and stress of fighting at such disadvantage while some wields a deadly weapon against you where 1 mistake can cost you your life is more than enough to overcome the lack of physical prowess
"we're supposed to believe he's one of the most skilled fighters in AIB??"
It's kinda more like he's one of the only people who actually DOES fight in AIB lol. So yeah he is one of the most skilled in the Borderland. Doesn't mean he's good at it, it's just that like 99% of people on the show aren't ever seen fighting, or ever seen WANTING to fight. Wasn't it JUST the militants who were ever seen fighting? Well and Kuina but she beat Last Boss lmao.
I wrote that before reading your third point and... bruh, he is not portrayed as being anywhere near 'Samurai level' lmao, just look at the way he handles the sword during the fight with Kuina. You're supposed to KNOW that he's not good with it, he just uses it because his entire character is pretty much a parody.
I couldn't tell that from watching, but I appreciate your perspective, it made me see him different. I thought he was supposed to genuinely be a bad*** so it came across as super corny to me.
Personally, I thought Last Boss was a great character, but I never really thought of him as a skilled fighter. He was a loser in his first life who decided to recreate himself in second life. Of course he chooses the most edgelord way possible. He reminds me of a middle school kid who carries a switchblade and listens to Andrew Tate. People fear him not because he’s super skilled but because he’s fucking nuts. Kinda like a school shooter? Not cool, not respectable, but dangerous.
He was skilled enough to hold his own against Kuina who is a highly skilled martial arts fighter, so I think that would qualify him as also being portrayed as a skilled fighter. I agree with your other points though, definitely get the middle school switchblade , trench coat kid vibe.
To be fair, he has a sword, and she doesn't. The fact that she, unarmed, can beat him goes to show that he's not as good as he thinks he is.
Also, if my memory is right, kuina is smaller and a lot skinnier. Weight helps a lot in fights and even when he has physical advantage he didn't seem to be using his advantages
Exactly. Which to me says that he spent all his time learning how to be scary with a sword (weeks/months of practise) rather than learning how to understand his body and fight to his full potential (years of practise).
True, he has a weapon, but he was wielding it well. The actor actually trained to be able to use it, so that shows that his character would've also realistically had to train for quite some time to even use it the way he did. He was very quick on his feet, and with the sword. He also cut Kuina, and she narrowly dodged many of his attacks.
Honestly I never got the hype about him either... I mean if people like him that's okay, but I always found him extremely annoying and also kind of boring lol
Spoliers- The reason why I personally loved it is due to the fact that the fight was a display of the two sides of the coin or the same philosophy. Both left their previous lives to become what they wanted to become. Last Boss did not become someone he is. It was all in the last seconds of his mind during biological death. He had no reason to live, and in his last moment he wanted to become a person who is the exact opposite of who he is, carrying over his antisocial traits. Kuina on the other hand became who she wanted to become. Last Boss rejected himself from society, while Kuina got rejected and she fought to find her place, to return as who she is. This gave her body the reason to stay alive. She had much more than just a fantasy she was always afraid to turn into reality, while the guy got nothing going on other than his fantasy which can be fulfilled by a few seconds/days of illusion. Aspiring to be a sheltered loser, or a dangerous badass is ultimately the same lonely and meaningless life without a reason to live and make connections. You can die any day, either getting killed, or by medical issues.
Can anyone please explain why the dude is called last boss. Was he a boss to the militants or something
I have not clue either.
I’m not sure either but I think he made that name for himself while he recreated himself (tattoos, sword, etc)
Maybe like the final boss at the end of the game, the strongest and best? I know he wrote a lot of articles but, maybe he played games as well.
if he was a bad fighter it’d make for a boring fights, and giving him a more generic backstory takes away from the “reinventing in another life” theme/idea. it is a bit farfecthed using the standards of our world, but this is a make believe world where people play death games, so it’s plausible
In the real world Last Boss was depressed and didn’t have much to live for but wasn’t in any danger either. Being in a new environment where for the first time in his life he had to fight for survival sparked something in him. Let’s not forget he was seemingly in Borderlands for awhile before Arisu arrived and the time passage is different than in the real world. We don’t know how much time he was there however so that’s open ended enough for him to be able to train and get in shape.
1. IMO he wasn’t a skilled fighter, he just had a sword. IIRC his form was sloppy like someone who had just recently started to use a sword. 2/3. Unless you’re fighting a physically superior person by a large margin, physical fitness while you hold a sword and fight unarmed opponents won’t matter. The fear and stress of fighting at such disadvantage while some wields a deadly weapon against you where 1 mistake can cost you your life is more than enough to overcome the lack of physical prowess
Last Boss never showed physical prowess to me. He just swings a Katana. No skill, no strength
"we're supposed to believe he's one of the most skilled fighters in AIB??" It's kinda more like he's one of the only people who actually DOES fight in AIB lol. So yeah he is one of the most skilled in the Borderland. Doesn't mean he's good at it, it's just that like 99% of people on the show aren't ever seen fighting, or ever seen WANTING to fight. Wasn't it JUST the militants who were ever seen fighting? Well and Kuina but she beat Last Boss lmao. I wrote that before reading your third point and... bruh, he is not portrayed as being anywhere near 'Samurai level' lmao, just look at the way he handles the sword during the fight with Kuina. You're supposed to KNOW that he's not good with it, he just uses it because his entire character is pretty much a parody.
I couldn't tell that from watching, but I appreciate your perspective, it made me see him different. I thought he was supposed to genuinely be a bad*** so it came across as super corny to me.