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Great video! I love Rean and you explained it so well!. My only wish is he had a cannon partner. Because the "what if" scenario hamstrings a lot of the potential the other girls on the cast. Like the other guys have minor npc love interests like gaius and Linde, but since the girls are rean's choice, they can't have any other interest. I hope in Kai this can be resolved. Like maybe alt Rean in Reverie had the "your choice" character as the love interest and died, while the real one has a cannon one. This will free them to move on and grow more. Also my head cannon is Rean x Towa, they match really well, and the only way to stop a workaholic that cares for people more than themselves is to have another one.

Can you do Estelle and Joshua's next, their romance is hands down easily the best written romance in all of the JRPG ive played, Joshua story is kinda like Rean but he was lucky to have Estelle to knock some sense into him that the "must sacrifice myself and atone for my sins for everyone's sake" arc only lasted half a game

Alright Bobby you put up a good video, nice job. I learned some stuff, I overlooked quite a bit. I still think CS3 is wack tho, but your explanation makes it less wack lol

Reverie had an awesome arc for Rean and C. But clearly they were out of idea for Loyd.

Fie best girl

The problem with Rean is the inconsistency of its central theme. Yes, he was abandoned and the nobles see him badly BUT his adoptive family loves him unconditionally. He says he doesn't deserve to be in class VII BUT all his classmates can't stop telling him how much they care and love him. He says that he is nothing next to his classmates but it is Rean who solves most of the problems within Class VII by making them look useless without Rean. I think it was a very bad idea to make a character with low self-esteem has a harem because it makes me ask "why does the man who says he's worthless attract all the girls?" The game wants to be a tragic story and a harem fantasy at the same time and that makes me and many other people not take Rean seriously and sorry, I don't think Rean is a deconstruction of the shonen protagonist

As someone who's fighting off depression myself I really felt some kind of connection towards Rean. Also just to throw it out now: Lloyd also has a harem, so I don't get why Rean gets reduced to harem protag while Lloyd is the same boat. Oh well, anyway. I really like how during Riverie Rean gets some closure and also look at his cut-in picture, he holds his sword the same way someone else did. I also really loved the bonding events in CS4 with Laura getting really angry at Rean or Towa finally getting her closure. It's not just Rean who's well written but also the people around him who are well aware of his depression and try to help him out. There were alot of moments throughout the series where I just wanted to hug Rean or other characters. Civil War and world wars are no joke on the people ON TOP of the other issues they have.

I've really enjoyed the way you've told the story of Rean, I'm differently looking forward to your future videos.

A yes my other favorite Black haired overpowered protagonist next to kazuto kirigaya 🥳

The best protagonist in trails. Other trails protagonist not even close to him. Edit :)

What was it with the Cold Steel arc and depressed characters

> Mentions Sora and Rex and eating up corny friendship speeches I see, you're someone of culture as well. :) But yeah the other comments have covered anything I'd want to add. Dude's got a lot more to him than it seems, but you have to be willing to play ball with the series which for a series so corny, a lot of people don't seem to want to do! He's got a special place in my heart. I have mixed feelings on things like the bonding event system making him the center of everything (because all the other Class VII girls sans Millium are reserved for Rean, none of them can really have relationships with the other guys, romantic or otherwise. Like Laura could also spar with Jusis or Gaius or talk to them about marial arts as much as she does Rean but AFAIK she never does. This didn't turn out _as_ badly with the new class, but it still happened to a degree.) However, that's a meta issue, and Rean _as a character_ on his own is totally fine. It's just falcom made some not so great choices that I disagree with that involved him. And that's fine.

Rean gets way to much hate. I always thought he was a great example of a man with self loathing and serious depression.

@1:03 Sheep Chiplock lmfao

While Rean is my least favorite protagonist, I still really like how well he works in Cold Steel 3 in particular with the "war hero" figurehead thing for a horrible government

You sir understand Rean perfectly and what makes him great. You know I often like making Rean fish, even though I hate the mini game in CS1&2, because I like the idea of this guy whose truely not okay on the inside and is looking fir an excuse to run away and throw his life away, just stopping all the noise coming from that inner ogre to fish. Just listen to the creek water, wait and fish, taking a time out from doing Student Council busy work he throws himself into like finding worth in his life depends on it, or field study missions, fishing is exactly what he needs

Just finished the video so I'll add to my other comment: It's pretty obnoxious how so much of the community complains about Rean's "trope-ness" despite the whole of Trails being built on Tropes. Like, name a character and someone'll name you the trope. They're meant to be tropey because it's such a wide world wide so many characters. Attempting to write a thousand+ characters with each of them being OC-DONOTSTEAL would be absolutely foolish. Estelle and Joshua can be a tropey and nobody bats an eye, but Rean is and suddenly the whole of Reddit blows a gasket. It's really annoying and why I mostly steer clear of the fandom in general.

this timeline is all over the place

0:00 Wait did you just show the ending of....(ehem, spoilers) Xenoblade fans know 😉 I'm jumping to Trails Series ship now.

Not his younger not-sister 😅

Rean is such a complex topic that, at its core, baffles me. People who claim to love Trails so very deeply looked at Cold Steel, saw the bonding events and immediately dismissed Rean as a Shonen Protag Harem Wishfulfillment. Falcom gave us Sky, Azure, Daybreak, Nayuta, etc and yet people still didn't give them the benefit of the doubt and refused to actually take in Rean's story. A recent poll on Reddit made me laugh a lot because he was rated both as the most overrated and underrated character in the franchise and yeah, it's pretty much true.

Knuckles really had that big “O”

This is what I love of the Trail series, the depth on the characters and their stories, even of those that are not entirely protagonist, like Kurt, Juna, etc.

Rean is one my favorite characters of all time, I'm so glad I came across this as I do want to write some analysis on him eventually...I do have one question before I watch, just to be absolutely sure, there's spoilers here for the Cold Steel Games as said in the description, so by that measure there's no spoilers or footage or mentions of Trails into Reverie right? I haven't started that game yet and Reverie I guess technically isn't part of the Cold Steel series? .-.

Can't wait to see your video on Jusis he is one of my favorites in class 7

It's likely a coincidence, but I do like how the Cold Steel series, mainly 3 and 4, has moments in it that parallel Bleach.

saving this for when i finish reverie . on act 1 of cs4 rn

Rean is a garbage main character with the most stupid representation of depression in any video game media and until my last day on earth I will hate this trash character. Guy is almost perfect in every aspect and stole the spotlight of everyone because Rean is always better somehow and the plot refuse to develop his character because we need everyone to jerk to him every 5 minutes saying how important he is or being a tsundere toward his character. Laura entire life is dedicated to sword and 95% of her entire personality is sword and yet Rean is better (even if he spend the majority of his time doing something else). I can spend the rest of the day saying how over the top Rean’s characterization is but let’s talk about just his stupid “depression”. First: the source of his depression kinda sucks. “OMG I have oni powers and used it to kill a bear and save my sister and now I am afraid of my powers” WOW!! You are really dangerous! It’s not like his powers did something bad or he failed with his sister. It’s just him whining about a possibility... he failed to save some terrorists... he stopped a war without killing anyone (2x between CS2 and CS3)... but in his head he is a bad person because he is not perfect enough... AND YET EVERYONE IN THIS SH1T STORY LIKES TO SUCC HIS D*CK LIKE HE IS THE BEST PERSON EVER... even the antagonists are good to him... we need to play 4 and 1/3 games with a main character walking in circles and it’s ok for everyone because in Zemuria everyone knows how bad depression is and nobody will get annoyed by his stupid behavior. There’s good examples of really well written characters with depression like Shinji from EVA because his depression matters for the plot and the characters around him other than make Shinji the center of the universe or Shinji feelings are more important than everything else. The intro of CS4 be like: Oh no a War is about to start but everyone need to care more about Rean than your family or your life. Holy... we have Laura saying “Oh no my father is death but my problems are nothing compared to your problems Rean” Fucccc this game... Rean’s “depression” is just a romanticized plot device to make him (more) special That’s why CS succs so much

Oh Daddy Osborne, do you need your own separate video indeed. 😅Also, hope you're looking forward to the Sky Remake next year 😆

I really like Rean, and he has the same voice as Banagher Links in Gundam Unicorn, the japanese voice cast it top notch in this game, playing with english voices is missing half of the game enjoyment.

I was alright with Rean during CS1-2 but the man really picked up the pace with Cold steel 3 and only kept getting better from there up to Reverie with a great character arc. I think one really underrated scene with him I like is in CS3 during one of Kurt's bond events, where they both go fishing and Rean has a heart to heart with him after Cedric showed up with him relating to Kurt's own issues with himself.

1:02 For some reason we have decided in the english language that "Sean" should actually be pronounced "Shawn" Don't ask me why it just is.

Rean really is a cool character, and while I'm typing this before I've finished the video, it's always been interesting to me thinking that his whole Ogre Powers are you know, just as much narratively symbolic as they are "cool super saiyan mode". Plus, honestly Cold Steel (and Trails in general) has a lot of characters who are dealing with both depression and mental illness, many of whom turn to vastly different things and means in order to try and cope or deal with it.

17:15. I need that Rean and Altina picture lol. And yeah, Rean is my favorite Trails protagonist.

I think considering he mentioned he had an obligation (not necessarily a right) to be happy, Rean might actually run into something where he might overdo it and risk another mental breakdown. Buuut at least he has a lot of friends to help him out...

I think Trails has shown multiple times how well they can handle characters like Rean. Kevin is my favorite example, and his character arc alone makes Sky the 3rd my favorite game in the series. Bonus points as well to Van and Joshua who have elements of this as well though I wouldnt say that its their defining struggles and traits for their whole character arc. Van in particular I think is more characterized by his duty and responsibility more than anything.

hello and thanks for the video, I still don't dislike rean but I've learned across cold steel games how he came to this and to somewhat appreciate him However what I don't like is the bond system of cold steel together with the developement of the characters of the team or their relatives, Each girl or guy has very few developement in my opinion aside from some including rean emma, juna or altina, like how much has elliot or kurt grown for example; in my opinion not much, he is a nice guy and he plays music but what's more ? Kurt could have had much more on the side of royal familly body guard cut from his duty, what hardships laura crossed during the way of the sword thing and her fighting multiple strong opponents , she had a nice starting arc with the fie and mercenary thing but it never has gone far. It is like every developement thing is kept for rean bonding event, would have enjoyed the other characters growing friendship When I think of strong relations between characters I think 1st about estelle joshua, kevin ries, tita renne/agate, the entire sss group, but not bewteen cold steel characters, I'm not all for the main character getting all the love from everyone or be worshiped etc Though I must admit rean is really handsome and him having the same sword style as arios a boss character in the former arc is really enjoyable Sorry for long post

Rean is my favorite protagonist

awesome video 🔥💯 still waiting for the legend of heroes lore part 2 tho😂

It seems whether you like rean or not is how much an empath are you or you have some depression or self esteem issue. It's like pointing at the screen and scream "he is just like me" but not because he is not wish fulfillment self insert isekai protag, but you know this boy has sone big sad like you.

This was such an amazing video. I really enjoyed those small video edits in-between where it was gameplay with character lines said over them. I think what I enjoyed most out of the video was how spot on and a more positive talk about who he is as a character. It reminded me a little of a different person's video talking about different characters with sacrifice & healing, feel bad I'm struggling to remember the name though. Sorry if this is a dumb question but was CS1 also your first game?

As someone also with poor mental health, I've noticed these things about him too. Some people say that Rean has no character, but like this video explains, he's really well written and has a lot to him. Thank you for makiing this review of his character, you compiled everything and edited it really well. Although I'm not sure if the haha thing has anything to do with depression, I've been watching someone play Sky and haha gets thrown around a bunch in the very first game too.

Now I wait for the 12 hour Laura video Jokes aside, I really enjoyed this video. Also, I'm really glad you explained why there is a second rean in reverie cuz I'm stupid and couldn't remember

I love Rean still my favorite character. :)

Class VII: You do realize putting “Haha” at the end of every sentence doesn’t hide the fact that your secretly depressed right? Rean: Yes it does “Haha”

Rean is actually 18. I only know cuz it said so in the art book that came with the original ps3 limited edition release

"The harem was the same in sky and crossbell" >joshua has three women into him, two of which he rejects to their face, and the last of which he is canonically with >lloyd is rean light and the harem is still bad, but limited to 4 women: Elie, Tio, Rixia, and Noel Here are all the characters into Rean: Alisa, Emma, Laura, Fie, Millium, Altina, Juna, Musse, Alfin, Elise, Sara, AND Claire. Twelve goddamn women. Thirteen if you count Duvalie, who is teased multiple times about being into him. It would be easier to list playable female party members in Cold Steel that ARENT into Rean. This is not comparable, but I suppose the justification then become "ok but rean is him so why is it a problem every female in walking distance wants his cock"

Good video... I hate how some people in the trails community treat Rean as a "Typical shonen protagonist". I mean his harem aside, he doesn't think he deserve to be happy and try to find a meaning to all his suffering. His speech to Ash in Cold steel III is overlooked a lot (one of my favourite moment). His character development until reveries ending is fantastic.

Rean might be the only protagonist that has alot of plot armor than the rest and when those plot armor gone ,He completely almost destroy .He still my third fav protag , first might be Estelle because how real and raw she is ,no super power or plot behind BS .Just a big stick and Ultra Violence baybee , second is Van because he is HIM .

REANJUMPSCARE