Felix vs. Adrien
Feb. 17th, 2016 08:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aikateriniSo, apparently, Thomas Astruc, the creator of "Tales of Miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir" had to send a tweet out to fans, telling them that Felix, the original concept for Adrien/Chat Noir, would not appear in any shape or form and that he was theirs to play with. Apparently, fans had been very persistent about asking him about Felix. Originally, the show was planned to be 2-D animation, and was heavily inspired by anime. The civilian identity of Chat Noir didn't actually have a name yet, but the fandom was so crazy about him that they dubbed him 'Felix' and the name stuck.
He only showed up in an OVA, but that was enough for some fans to fall in love with him and for me to dislike him.
Felix's personality in the OVA was very different than Adrien's. While he was the same goofy dork as Chat Noir, as a civilian, he was portrayed as aloof and standoffish. Marinette (or, rather, Marinette's original concept) was still gaga over him, but in the OVA, he was fully aware of her crush and did not reciprocate her feelings. There was still the dramatic irony of the two of them being in love with each other's alter egos, but the way that it was depicted just didn't sit well with me.
Because, quite frankly, Felix came across as a total jerk. He came across as nothing more than the same brooding, rude creep that we've seen a hundred times in shoujo anime and in YA paranormal romance novels. The rich, handsome loner who treats the heroine like garbage because 'he just can't handle showing his feelings.'
Now there may be some people who say, "Well, in the show, Ladybug rebuffs Chat Noir's advances too, so what's the difference?"
The difference is that while Ladybug/Marinette may not reciprocate Chat Noir's feelings (...yet), she still cares about him. They're still friends and partners. They still enjoy being together. And even when she rebuffs his flirting, most of the time it's in playful exasperation. Even when she's annoyed, it tends to be because there's more important stuff going on (i.e. the villain of the week is trashing the place).
But in the OVA, Felix looked like he honestly couldn't stand to be in the same room as Original!Marinette. He openly snubs her and looks irritated by her very presence. Which brings up the inevitable question...
Why the heck is Original!Marinette so crazy about this boy?
Okay, he's hot. Okay, he's rich. That still doesn't change the fact that, as far as the OVA shows, he clearly does not like her and ignores her and appears to be a cold, distant jerk.
With Adrien, Marinette's crush on him makes much more sense. Yes, he's still rich and pretty, but he's actually, you know, nice. He's shy, not standoffish. He's oblivious to Marinette's crush on him, not disdainful. Even though he's socially awkward, he still has friends, whereas the only shots of Felix that are in the OVA show him alone. He may be in love with Ladybug, but he's still friendly towards Marinette. So, it still makes sense why she prefers him to Chat Noir.
But in the case of the OVA, I really couldn't see why Original!Marinette would turn down Chat Noir in favor of Felix. Okay, so Chat Noir's goofy. At least he actually, you know, smiles at her. At least he obviously likes her.
But no, apparently some fans didn't like the fact that Felix was scrapped. They found his attitude to be funny and envisioned him as this cynical grump. Which, okay, if you like that sort of character, fine. I just don't see how he would be appealing as a romantic lead, which he was supposed to be.
Because I didn't find anything funny about his behavior towards Original!Marinette. When watching Original!Marinette eagerly try to talk to Felix, only to be ignored, I didn't feel the urge to smile or laugh. I thought that it was more sad than anything. And it made me wish that somewhere down the road (if the series had continued from the OVA) that Original!Marinette would throw Felix's attitude back in his face once the two of them learned each other's secret identities.
So, as Thomas Astruc said, if you want Felix, go ahead and grab him. But in the meantime, I'll enjoy the sweet ball of sunshine that is Adrien and be glad that the show went with him instead of Felix.
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no subject
Date: 2016-02-18 02:35 am (UTC)Not to mention, if what I heard is correct, the original concept for Felix was that his transformation ring couldn't be taken off unless he got a kiss from Ladybug, and that's one of the reasons he was romantically pursuing her (which may be the reason for her to keep rebuffing him, although that still doesn't explain her pursuit of Felix).
no subject
Date: 2016-02-19 03:07 am (UTC)/Considering that Felix makes an apple fall on Marietta's head after walking away as she tries to offer him something, I fail to see how anyone could view him as a love interest to root for./
I’ve seen responses from fans who thought that it was funny. Because a boy being a complete jerk to someone who clearly has a crush on him is just hilarious, right? -_-
/if what I heard is correct, the original concept for Felix was that his transformation ring couldn't be taken off unless he got a kiss from Ladybug/
Yes, I heard that the idea of Ladybug and Chat Noir being on the opposite ends of luck was going to be more prominent in the OVA. Apparently, Chat Noir’s bad luck was going to play a bigger role in the story.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-26 10:06 pm (UTC)Although Felix could still work if there was some storyline where Ladybug and Chat ended up in an AU based on the OVA. Things are darker, Marinette can't get why her AU self is focused on such a jerk, and Adrien is appalled that his AU self IS the jerk. Then we find out that AU!Adrien ended up a cold jerk because something went a little differently with his background of a lonely homelife or something. I dunno. It'd be interesting.
Yeah, that's not funny. I can, to a degree, understand anime/cartoon violence being played for laughs, but that context isn't even amusing in a comedic sociopathy sense. It's just mean-spirited.
True, and apparently the original concept was going to be darker and a bit more political. I'm just glad they did get rid of the "needs a kiss from Ladybug" bit. It removed a LOT of creepy and manipulative implications in regards to their relationship.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-28 09:39 pm (UTC)Yes, I've seen a bunch of AU fanfics where Marinette and Ladybug meet Felix and Bridgette (as is apparently the common fan name for Original!Marinette). The most common scenario I've seen is where Felix and Adrien are brothers. I did see a fanfic where Felix was the younger self of Adrien's father and Marinette's mother was Bridgette (Bridgette was her middle name or something).
/I'm just glad they did get rid of the "needs a kiss from Ladybug" bit. It removed a LOT of creepy and manipulative implications in regards to their relationship./
Right, especially since in a lot of fanfics, Marinette's worried that Adrien/Chat Noir will only like her as Ladybug and not as herself. The needed kiss would really only support that view.
Levitra Versand Online
Date: 2017-05-05 02:47 pm (UTC)