Hard Power System Review Battlegrounds!

[Nekyo]

As you have read!

---

Welcome everyone, this is Nekyo the Abyss Cat speaking!


Nekyo the Abyss Cat, power system addict and overly dramatic chuuni critic, has entered the arena!
I have watched over 500 anime, always looking for the best battles and power systems.

---

My Criteria for a Power System​

See what my criteria has always been:

• Is it cool and fun to watch?
• Is it logical?
• Does it make sense?
• Is it fair?
• Does learning it sound logical?
• How can it be applied?
• How far can you push it?
• How hard does it break its rules?

---

Hard vs. Soft Systems​

I’ll be the first to admit that I care mainly for Hard Power Systems.
When the magic or powers are too abstract to be used for anything at any moment of need, they don’t really fit what I offer to comment on.

---

Reference Rankings – My Top Power Systems​

Just to give some idea and reference, here are the systems I consider the greatest in terms of Coolness / Creativity / Rules / Flaws:


Hunter x Hunter – Nen
5 / 5 / 5 / 4
The coolness of how anyone can pretty much make any ability, how they look, and how they operate based on rules—it’s intertwined majestically.
Even down to how they have to learn to dominate their Aura as a whole science on its own.

Spoiler: Flaw Spoiler

Nanika is often called a Deus Ex Machina for being too convenient in solving Gon’s terrible fate.

---

Avatar: The Last Airbender – Bending
5 / 4 / 5 / 5
Maybe the creativity is limited as it doesn’t evolve beyond the four elements, but Fire does evolve to Lightning, Bloodbending was a thing, and it’s always thematic.
Flaws aren’t really pushed (if we ignore Korra).

---

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – Stands
4 / 5 / 4 / 4
I take points off coolness since the Stand users rarely do the fighting themselves—they’re more like carriers for their Stands.
Might be cool for some, but I prefer the actual martial arts (biased, I know).
Rules and flaws get shaky as some abilities devolve into hacks for the sake of hacks.

---

Jujutsu Kaisen – Cursed Energy
5 / 3 / 3 / 3
The fights are insanely cool, but the creativity wasn’t really explored.
Enemies evolved too quickly into powerhouses, with attacks that should be “delete beams” (Jacob’s Ladder).
By the midway point, it became more a matter of power level than concept.

---

Final Words​

So I know I’m placing the bar really high by asking you to compare your works against such big-name anime…
but what’s there to stop writers from achieving such greatness? >:3


So, do you take the challenge?

 

[Eldoria]

I don't fully understand the list above; perhaps no power system aligns with my understanding. I tend to favor a power system based on suffering. Power crystallized through the suffering of an individual or society, giving birth to a particular supernatural entity.

This concept may be similar to the Seven Deadly Sins, but the understanding of power in this concept doesn't stop at the classification of "deadly sins," but rather encompasses universal suffering.

For example, if victims continue to be silenced by tyrannical laws, then through that suffering, the world will give birth to a supernatural entity that executes judgment against corrupt rulers, acting as an antithesis to tyrannical laws and a symbol for victims demanding justice. These supernatural characters are essentially manifestations of rebellious suffering.

I call these characters "living ideologies." They aren't just OP characters; they are collective wounds that live to demand retribution.

 

[Nekyo]

I don't fully understand the list above; perhaps no power system aligns with my understanding. I tend to favor a power system based on suffering. Power crystallized through the suffering of an individual or society, giving birth to a particular supernatural entity.

This concept may be similar to the Seven Deadly Sins, but the understanding of power in this concept doesn't stop at the classification of "deadly sins," but rather encompasses universal suffering.

For example, if victims continue to be silenced by tyrannical laws, then through that suffering, the world will give birth to a supernatural entity that executes judgment against corrupt rulers, acting as an antithesis to tyrannical laws and a symbol for victims demanding justice. These supernatural characters are essentially manifestations of rebellious suffering.

I call these characters "living ideologies." They aren't just OP characters; they are collective wounds that live to demand retribution.

The Power Systems I mentioned are structured and have established rules of things you can and can't do, like a tested science or mathematics that you can add up and replicate time and time again.

In regards to your concept, sounds like it does lean more into a core mechanic of world building. Rather than being a power system with rules that individuals can master and use to their benefit and growth,

So in this scenario the System would be the magic or energy those Living Ideologies are made of or use. If it is a kind of magic with no defined laws it would fall into the Soft Power System (not entirely understood by the civilizations of the world or for the reader to comprehend)

Hard Power System: Bending (Avatar): Fire Bender can use fire, and sometimes lightning.
Soft Power System: Magic (Harry Potter): Wizards can shoot fire, spirit animals, make things fly, transform, and no real limits in sight.