I always hate it when any media tries to explain the magic, making it scientific in any way grinds my gears unless it’s done that way from the start, like alchemy in Full Metal Alchemist.
The only time I’ve seen it done well is with “power levels” in Dragon Ball, and even then the whole point of power levels was to demonstrate how bullshit they were.
EDIT: Not that I’m biased as Hexbear’s resident Dragon Ball glazer of course.
Most of the time it's just sloppy. It's techno babble, but fantasy. Instead of "Reverse the polarity so we can hyperjump our warp drive back online!" it's "Reverse your mana flow so you can teleport through the aether!"
A lot of fantasy creators don't think their ideas all the way through. Like if you can make infinite fire using magic, you have an infinite energy source. If you have an infinite energy source, you have an infinite number of lanterns, transport systems, and so on. This also means there's not going to be conflicts over energy. Instead, we get people throwing fireballs at one another with some other techno babble reason for why there aren't free electric carriages.
If magic is unknowable and dangerous, then it makes sense why there isn't free drinking water everywhere from infinite ice/water mages.
tries to explain the magic, making it scientific in any way grinds my gears unless it’s done that way from the start, like alchemy in Full Metal Alchemist.
i was going to hard fucking disagree because I think it's super cool when there's effort put into the magic system of a given setting but then you went and gave an example i agree with
I always hate it when any media tries to explain the magic, making it scientific in any way grinds my gears unless it’s done that way from the start, like alchemy in Full Metal Alchemist.
The only time I’ve seen it done well is with “power levels” in Dragon Ball, and even then the whole point of power levels was to demonstrate how bullshit they were.
EDIT: Not that I’m biased as Hexbear’s resident Dragon Ball glazer of course.
I like a well-defined and investigatable magic system, but I don't like an inherently eugenicist one.
I think FMA gets a pass since it ends at a sensible length and can't keep dragging on about every minute detail
Most of the time it's just sloppy. It's techno babble, but fantasy. Instead of "Reverse the polarity so we can hyperjump our warp drive back online!" it's "Reverse your mana flow so you can teleport through the aether!"
A lot of fantasy creators don't think their ideas all the way through. Like if you can make infinite fire using magic, you have an infinite energy source. If you have an infinite energy source, you have an infinite number of lanterns, transport systems, and so on. This also means there's not going to be conflicts over energy. Instead, we get people throwing fireballs at one another with some other techno babble reason for why there aren't free electric carriages.
If magic is unknowable and dangerous, then it makes sense why there isn't free drinking water everywhere from infinite ice/water mages.
i was going to hard fucking disagree because I think it's super cool when there's effort put into the magic system of a given setting but then you went and gave an example i agree with