Thematic discussion about Worm

[Dame Verylin]

I am seeking other perspectives on the themes inside of W.B. work or what the work itself wants to say.

An easy example to make is how Kohei Horikoshi in his work My Hero Academia (BNHA) start with the very simple thematic premise that "anyone can be a hero" or rather that a hero can come from anywhere and then proceeds to undermine said premise by taking this quirkless character that wants to be a hero (the epitome of someone who cannot be a hero (or is not even considered viable in universe)) and gives them the Quirk of their idol the number 1 hero All Might.

So the premise is never tested or even properly constructed. It's the same as saying anyone can be a millionaire and then having Jeff Bezos adopt you. Anyone could have been Izuku ( for that one time or for that one opportunity) but everyone can't be him (as that one opportunity has been used by others) and the only thing proven is that the inheritor of One for All can be a hero instead of anybody.

Some easy things to take note of (than can be used to construct a thematic analysis):

Para site - Para human
The way trans humanism or rather parahumanism is approached and what it says.

The mutilation of self (or to be more accurate the sacrifice) and others in the pursuit of goals.

Difference between intent and action.

Isolation loneliness and estrangement (self imposed and of others).

Entities shoving their hand up characters asses and piloting meat puppets.

Cohabitational compromise in toxic relationships.

Shedding/mutilation/discarding of humanity and dehumanization.

Illegality and criminal conduct when systems fail or are designed to engineer negative outcomes for a significant amount of people and how the dismantling of said systems is viewed…

Etc



If any of the above speak to you, you can try composing a thematic statement with them and then give your reasoning or argument for why the thematic statement of Worm is X Y or zed.

 

[Soupervan]

That was a bit of a kick in the nads, MHA would have been much better if Izzie rejected discount Superman with a 'Fuck you, I'm Batman' much to All Might's confusion- at least I don't think Batman is common knowledge in that universe otherwise quirkless discrimination wouldn't be as severe.
Reminds me of the Dragon Ball series, as humans are quickly left behind in the dust and even the last holdouts Yamcha, Krillin and as much as he counts as human Tien all either die off or retire- do any of them permenently die? I don't even know, they became such non-entities and it was all about having monkey blood just like Naruto came to be who had the best chance for a bit of incest with a certain primodial goddess who turned out to be an alien, all about who had that bod, them eyes and such.
Anime is pretty anti-human ain't it, Satima comes closest to a regular human as the hero but even he has that weird clicking thing when he exercises and his limiter is broken- I suspect his eating of monsters is responsible, I bet he ate Crablante too- the first monster he faced and the only one he seemed to fight without super strength.. until he pulled out his insides by Crablante's eye.

 

[Upstairs]

An easy example to make is how Kohei Horikoshi in his work My Hero Academia (BNHA) start with the very simple thematic premise that "anyone can be a hero" or rather that a hero can come from anywhere and then proceeds to undermine said premise by taking this quirkless character that wants to be a hero (the epitome of someone who cannot be a hero (or is not even considered viable in universe)) and gives them the Quirk of their idol the number 1 hero All Might.

Click to shrink...

I don't think that's what MHA was about, at all. It's more about societal flaws, complacency, and how surface-level beauty or safety can make cover for a flawed society, and sometimes people don't get the help they need because of that.

 

[Dame Verylin]

That was a bit of a kick in the nads, MHA would have been much better if Izzie rejected discount Superman with a 'Fuck you, I'm Batman' much to All Might's confusion- at least I don't think Batman is common knowledge in that universe otherwise quirkless discrimination wouldn't be as severe.
Reminds me of the Dragon Ball series, as humans are quickly left behind in the dust and even the last holdouts Yamcha, Krillin and as much as he counts as human Tien all either die off or retire- do any of them permenently die? I don't even know, they became such non-entities and it was all about having monkey blood just like Naruto came to be who had the best chance for a bit of incest with a certain primodial goddess who turned out to be an alien, all about who had that bod, them eyes and such.
Anime is pretty anti-human ain't it, Satima comes closest to a regular human as the hero but even he has that weird clicking thing when he exercises and his limiter is broken- I suspect his eating of monsters is responsible, I bet he ate Crablante too- the first monster he faced and the only one he seemed to fight without super strength.. until he pulled out his insides by Crablante's eye.

Click to shrink...

It really was, the story goes so hard on him being quirkless and wanting to be a hero and through his youth being discriminated and bullied for not having a quirk and then his friend with a strong quirk wants the same and is already considered a shoe in by the rest of society and said friend even turns on him. They're made out to be this extremely big thing that he just doesn't have and there's this ache, this need inside of him to be a hero and when his saved his childhood idol tells him "no be realistic" you can't be a hero be a police man or firefighter.

But then his ex friend is in danger and he rushes in while all the heroes just watch him and that moment, that step he took, rushing in just cause with no plan because someone needs help. More heroic than everyone watching but failing and getting punished due to not having enough skill or power to properly be heroic then getting bailed out. Genuinely I thought All Might would apologize and tell him that though it would be hard he had a future as a hero.

Making a really nice arc where even when no one believed in him (even himself) he was still heroic and the words of his idol create a small core of resolution and conviction in him that makes him strive to outshine everyone else that is trying to be a hero in spite of not having a quirk.

In general I think of anime as more "interesting" so having normal people isn't that interesting in the same vein that having a +4 firesword is cooler than a +4 sharpness sword (its the same as a normal sword just sharper... so why not just a sword?(because cool and firesword is cooler than sword so...)) and since the inherent premise is magical or ficitionalish then you can link X or Y Clan or ability or bloodline or ...etc to a MacGuffin or plot point and it becomes easier to develop the story that way and makes it easier to suspend disbelief on the readers side because you have to eat the premise to engage with the work.

The same way that you have to accept trigger events give powers in Worm in order to engage with the premise. Or in the way it is presented Taylor has bug powers, because trigger events, because shard experiments, because... etc and stacking them on the initial premise becomes easier since they build on eachother.

But back to my Worm analysis. So themes are reocurring motifs or events and since there are many arcs you can have multiple themes per arc as well as per work.

One that I personally find interesting is "Heroes are bad". Both in Taylors personal experience and more in general for the Worm verse. Or rather that heroes as we know them and as Taylor thinks of them (at the start of the story) "are not allowed to exist". And it's presence resonates through all the arcs of the work.

A rather minor theme I feel but one that defines the setting.


Edit: Or rather would it be more accurate to say that "Heroes are dead" both metaphorically and literally with the death of Hero?

 

[Upstairs]

One that I personally find interesting is "Heroes are bad". Both in Taylors personal experience and more in general for the Worm verse. Or rather that heroes as we know them and as Taylor thinks of them (at the start of the story) "are not allowed to exist". And it's presence resonates through all the arcs of the work.

Click to shrink...

No, it's more that labels like that aren't quite right...most major characters in Worm are genuinely trying to do the right thing, but they're callous about it, helping some people and hurting others. And people slip through the cracks, the ones that need help don't get it. You can see this with Taylor, Amy, Tattletale and Reggie, Brian and Aisha. This is discussed at the very end, during the conversation between Taylor and Contessa.