Reality Ensues: Difference between revisions

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** On the flipside, Saki may have been an abusive piece of shit, but she was still Kousei's mother, and the death of a parent can be badly traumatising. Kousei has little emotional support; friends, no matter how close, can only be so much help, and Kousei's father is away at work almost all the time while he has no siblings. Whatever one thinks of Kaori's methods, this rut wasn't something Kousei could have gotten out of by himself.

** Kaori is an [[Ill Girl]] with {{spoiler|a terminal degenerative illness.}} Late in the series, some hope appears in the form of {{spoiler|a high-risk surgery.}} You'd think that since she's the love interest and made a promise to play together with Kousei again, everyone is going to work out, right? It doesn't, because reality doesn't load the dice even though you check the boxes of narrative convention.

* In ''[[Fireworks]]'' (2017), it quickly becomes apparent that Nazuna doesn't have a plan for running away. Unlike a more traditional story where convention would have her and Norimichi getting into shenanigans and still managing to slip through the fingers of the opposition, here she gets caught almost immediately. If not for the time-reversing bauble, the film would have ended right there.

* In ''[[Fireworks]]'' (2017), it quickly becomes apparent that Nazuna doesn't have a plan for running away. Unlike a more traditional story where convention would have her and Norimichi getting into shenanigans and still managing to slip through the fingers of the opposition, here she gets caught almost immediately. If not for the time-reversing bauble, the film would have ended right there. Even so, her lack of foresight continues to bite her in the ass a few more times in the course of the film.

== Comic Books ==

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* In ''[[Common Grounds]]'', [[Let's You and Him Fight]] situations between people with superpowers end up with at least one corpse, along with a subsequent trial and lengthy prison term. You do not get a free pass because you were a hero, you do not escape prison every other week to wreak your vengeance or operate as an outlaw vigilante, you '''do''' spend several years behind bars and, once released, have to scrounge in the trash for food because an ex-con fresh out of jail for murder has plenty of trouble finding gainful employment. However, on the upside, the death in that fight will inspire the foundation of an international chain of coffee shops where Heroes and Villains can chat amicably over donuts.

* ''[[Black Orchid]]'' doesn't just lampshade this, a mook gives a half-page [[Character Filibuster]] on the subject. Then he shoots the [[Decoy Protagonist]] in the head and sets her corpse on fire to make sure she's really dead.

* In ''[[Irredeemable]]'', the [[Ax Crazy]] [[Face Heel Turn|superhero-turned-supervillain]] [[Villain Protagonist|titular character]], in a flashback from his early teens, hears his foster mother is about to commit suicide. He gets here in a fraction of a second. But ~~sounds~~ takes almost ten seconds to travel two miles. She was already dead before he left his school desk.

* In ''[[Irredeemable]]'', the [[Ax Crazy]] [[Face Heel Turn|superhero-turned-supervillain]] [[Villain Protagonist|titular character]], in a flashback from his early teens, hears his foster mother is about to commit suicide. He gets here in a fraction of a second. But sound takes almost ten seconds to travel two miles. She was already dead before he left his school desk.

* Amusingly one of the first times [[Empowered]] comes across as actually being badass. She points out, quite effectively, that driving an SUV at 75 miles an hour into a villain's back is much more effective than hitting him with a thrown one at about 5 miles an hour. This allows her to defeat a villain that the entire superhero squad she's a [[Butt Monkey]] for was defeated by. Unfortunately, the car is totaled, leaving her tied up and unable to brag, and her superhero squad walks off, assuming they and the villain knocked each other out. ([[The Woobie|Forgetting about Empowered in the process.]])

* In the first ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police]]'' comic, they're tied up on top of an active volcano and a husky cult leader intends to kill them. [[Convection, Schmonvection|The large amount of heat from the volcano]] causes the cult leader to spontaneously combust. However, the comic decides to play it off as a [[Deus Ex Machina]] for the sake of humor.