*pulls collar*
For Wizard to be a good show, it may as well be taken straight back to the boardroom, torn up, and started afresh. This is a show that has elected to have an overarching plot that is too thin to cover a 50-odd episode show, have so much focus on the tired two-part format but with an especially generous percentage of the focus on one-off victims of the week (half of whom are unlikeable, or hang out with unlikeable douches), wastes its support cast, and as a whole, tightly adheres to an uninspiring theme of a hero bringing hope in a world of despair (which face it, is almost literally what superhero shows are about anyway) without even doing anything very interesting with that very insipid theme. I am not a writer, and it would require my time, so won't entertain the idea of rewriting Wizard.
But what would I do with the general exoskeleton of the show we've got to make it better? Goodness knows, really. I'll definitely deal with the following though:
+ The origins of Beast and Chimera. Beast is an archetype wizard, we have established that....so? You establish an ancient wizard and an accompanying ancient and mysterious beast, so naturally you would do something with them. You have potential for good lore and world-building. Go deeper into that aspect and give Nitou something to actually do and discover, rather than the irritating and redundant munchkin he is for almost his entire time onscreen.
+ I of course, would not have had Shunpei and Nitou in the same room as two separate characters. Certainly, I wouldn't have a character like Shunpei or 75% of Nitou at all, but my bosses would have landed a diktat on my desk instructing me to make one of those characters. Beast could well begin as a lowly ring apprentice who previously had, like Shunpei, delusions of grandeur, was exploited by a Phantom, and rescued by Haruto. Perhaps a deal with Chimera could have been a deal made by a naive young man with something akin to the devil. Does this sound slightly like Leangle? Bah, but it'd still be better than the redundant, immaculate hobo Nitou we began with.
+ Rinko can still be what she is, albeit a more competent one at that. Kuuga and Agito can give her lessons. Perhaps a running subplot in the show would be her discretionary investigations into the secretive activities of the mysterious Section Zero. Do we remember Kizaki? He could have been significant, as a lingering third party. I remember when he was all too eager to cover up Phantom activities from the general public. Imagine if there is a more pressing reason to do this. Maybe he's in on Fueki's plan or payroll. Maybe he could be Fueki. I dunno. Even this idea sounds questionable as I'm spontaneously typing this down, but it would still be more compelling than the Kizaki we got.
+ Heck, why go down the route of Kanzaki Shirou? Who needs the Koyomi story? Why can't Fueki simply be delighted at the idea of a growing cult composed of Phantom-resisting magic sensitives that can overthrow the current world and usher in a new order? A man who believes that only authoritarian control by those who know best can trample despair, rather than the unbridled corruption of the current world? I don't care if I'm half-inspired by the Templars from the Assassin's Creed series. It'd still be a more compelling, albeit less bittersweet/tragic sort of story for the show's main antagonist.
+ On the topic of Fueki and the White Wizard, would it not have been better for the man himself to be introduced earlier? The way the show handled White Wizard made us all believe they were pulling another Scorpio/Virgo Zodiarts, when it turned out that Kamen Rider Gandalf was really...oh, some dude. The more effective twist and climax of dramatic irony would not be everyone agape with shock that Gandalf is some middle-aged guy, but instead the twist that this Fueki character whom we have known and interacted with for at least fifteen episodes or so as a benign wizarding mentor figure, is Wiseman all along and has some nefarious plan to stamp his brand of authority on the world.
+ Should the Phantoms stick around, why not kill off a few Gates? There are some unlikeable Gates. No one would miss them if they were offed and a new Phantom mid-boss general replaced them. If that is not feasible for Toei executives for whatever reason, then perhaps one shouldn't base the villains off the idea of growth through the brutal despair and death of innocents. When all the existing show does is make the villains predictably fail for nearly the entirety of the show, where's the threat? Why should I be on the edge of my seat as our hero takes on what is tantamount to a bunch of badly dressed rubber suits telling a random salaryman to let the "fear of death" drive them to despair? I know the Sabbath and backstories of Phoenix and Medusa already depict the callousness and indifference of Fueki in regards to the monsters he has created, but some actual Phantom success would help aid the impression of just how unforgivably far-reaching his experiments have become.
+ I don't know how I would rewrite Dragon. If it had more of a presence, I fear it would have just been a rerun of Eiji and Ankh. I suppose I quite like the idea of Dragon being a double-edged sword. Haruto can channel powers from Dragon, but there is always that danger of Dragon either consuming him, or being released somehow and screwing up the world. But...that's Chimera territory. Unless the Beast-Chimera dynamic is a straight up Faustus-Mephistopheles one. I can't be arsed putting any more thought into this, so I'll leave it at that.
+ Let's face it. I wouldn't write a character like Koyomi to begin with and give her a position of such prominence in the overall plot. A smart, proactive sort of Rinko is more my kind of style. Someone with the very real potential to make it among the best in the Tokyo police force and an ally that Haruto can rely on for business other than magical arse-whupping.
+ You know the reviled Raum arc starring Rinko and Shunpei needlessly committing a thousand crimes (as well as nearly murdering a police officer) just to protect an idiotic, convicted arsonist who could easily acquire proof that he was innocent? Yes, that idiot plot would never have made it if I had any say on the show. What bollocks that was.
