Double: Shoutaro's lack of back story

[myaku]

Okay, I get that Shotaro idolized Narumi and that he was his mentor but, mentors die is shows and movies all the time and their followers don't always decide to follow in their foot steps. If Shotaro had been a normal person he could have made a more normal decision which would have probably included him freaking out about the death of his mentor and then most likely taking time to pull himself back together after the death of such an influential person in his life and gone to college or something. There was a reason that didn't happen and Shotaro chose to man up and take over.

 

[musashi03]

Shotaro is supposed to be the main character that the viewer is supposed to focus on in order to interpret the story right? Well if this is true I would like to know what shapes this character that I am getting my information through. The way Shotaro sees the world was created by something. We know so much about Phillip and Terui who are still main characters but not the one who's telling me things. If the writer's put as much work into these characters as they probably have Shotaro is someone's creative baby and they know every aspect of his life before the series and probably after. While it's fine and dandy to focus only on the now that doesn't usually make for a very interesting personality and while Shotaro may seem dull he has his own quirks that have a history somewhere.

Well, I actually find Shotaro's personality interesting since I'm already used to seeing characters who go berserk with their anger and hatred. Shotaro is the character who returns everything back to Earth when the conflict goes out-of-this-world, which is why I like him, since his moral lessons has a profound impact on me, because my personality is pretty much like the other people in the series, wild and unstable.

I don't think anything shapes Shotaro anymore, other than the challenges presented to him by Shroud which he shows how much heart he has and overcomes all expectations. Regarding his personality, as I mentioned before, he was the exact opposite before Begins Night, and all hell broke lose, which changed his views into how he is today.

 

[KingRanger]

There is nothing bad or what ever about his character. I think he is just a regular guy, that wants to be a great detective and got caught up in huge deal. He has to make the best of what can be bad situations. He's a nice guy that wants to better himself and those around him. He showed great character progress with the Extreme arc, and I am sure they are not done with him, but lets say that what we have seen is all we get? So what? Like I said I love the character.

 

[Skiks]

That just explains to us why he's got crimes to atone for, but not much about his character. Why he feels it's important to actually atone for those crimes rather than just run off.



See, this is where I think a back story would be important for the character. I know why he's half boiled, that explains his care for people, but where does he get the rest of that morality from? Is it from just being Soukichi's apprentice for a while? Did something happen to him early on in life or later that we haven't seen? These are the sorts of things I would be interested in knowing, otherwise he just seems like the guy with an answer to everything who occasionally gets himself into trouble.

He feels the need to atone for it because he killed Narumi even if indirectly We know this already.
And some people are just born that way. Just look at Kirihiko. He had no real reason to be the way he is either.

 

[myaku]

Even if Shotaro really is a normal guy, I'd like to know about his normal life. We know about Terui's family, we know that Phillip has a family somewhere, we know that Akiko had at least a dad. As far as we know Shotaro sprouted from the ground.

 

[musashi03]

Okay, I get that Shotaro idolized Narumi and that he was his mentor but, mentors die is shows and movies all the time and their followers don't always decide to follow in their foot steps. if Shotaro had been a normal he could have made a more normal decision which would have probably included him freaking out about the death of his mentor and then most likely taking time to pull himself back together after the death of such an influential person in his life and gone to college or something. There was a reason that didn't happen and Shotaro chose to man up and take over.

Au contraire, Shotaro did follow Soukichi Narumi's footsteps even though people always say Soukichi is hardboiled and Shotaro is halfboiled. Looking at it outside the box, Soukichi also has a lot of heart which is shown in the scenes he was on whether in the movie or in the series, by sacrificing his beliefs for a friend's request, showing his care for Shotaro and the clients even if it looks like he's just getting angry, and even commends Shotaro in his AU appearance in the end of the movie, he just doesn't show too much emotions which is why people still consider him hardboiled.

After Soukichi's death, Shotaro felt the incredible guilt and ends up following on the request of Soukichi to continue the Museum case, having not earned his right to be a true detective then, he is forced to man up and change his ways.

And if you were Shotaro, you don't seem to have any family or friends other than your informants, your father-like figure dies in front of you and you end-up with a guy who pretty much is the center in all the conflict in the city you love, and even gives you the power to be a Kamen Rider, would you still decide to take the time off and go to college? No, since you need to protect that person you kidnapped from Museum, or else the death of you father-like figure will all be in vain.

 

[musashi03]

Even if Shotaro really is a normal guy, I'd like to know about his normal life. We know about Terui's family, we know that Phillip has a family somewhere, we know that Akiko had at least a dad. As far as we know Shotaro sprouted from the ground.

If I had to guess, he's an orphan taken in by Soukichi since there was never any mention of any family. It's common in detective stories that the story of the detective isn't that much covered, because the focus is the case, and not the detective.

Often, only the clients stories are shown since the case revolves around them, and the detective is just an outside force.

The whole W series is actually just 1 huge case about the Museum, which all began in Begins Night as mentioned by Soukichi.

 

[Dark Kabuto]

And if you were Shotaro, you don't seem to have any family or friends other than your informants, your father-like figure dies in front of you and you end-up with a guy who pretty much is the center in all the conflict in the city you love, and even gives you the power to be a Kamen Rider, would you still decide to take the time off and go to college? No, since you need to protect that person you kidnapped from Museum, or else the death of you father-like figure will all be in vain.

Plus, the moment Shotaro became Double, you could pretty much kiss whatever he had of his normal life goodbye.

 

[myaku]

I think that Shotaro's lack of a "real family" makes him more alienated from the average viewer. Does he have parents? Are they still alive? What happened to them? Why did he turn to Soukichi? Even Kirihiko has a sister and yet it seems that Shotaro just materialized.

 

[musashi03]

I think that Shotaro's lack of a "real family" makes him more alienated from the average viewer. Does he have parents? Are they still alive? What happened to them? Why did he turn to Soukichi? Even Kirihiko has a sister and yet it seems that Shotaro just materialized.

Again, the focus of the series is about the case, not the detective. All we need to see is how he solves it and what he experience he gains.

Having a family in Shotaro's case has a risk that it can complicate things to the point that more people will get alienated because of his story being specific rather than general.

It's typical for characters like him to just appear in the beginning of the story without the need to learn anything prior to it. And this is Kamen Rider, we had many main characters with no backstory and people never complained about it.