Do you think the anime's take on the Aether family is more superior or lacking compared to the games

[Doppelgänger]

Anime is better.

Game Lusamine is insane, and the major problem with portraying insanity is that it removes a character's agency from their actions. This was an issue I have with people who consider FF6 Kefka a good "villain", versus the more conventional Emperor Gestahl. An antagonist who isn't in control of their actions is no different from an act of nature, since their capacity for self reflection is impaired.

Game Lusamine's response to grief isn't normal, it is symptomatic of her insanity, which is further aggravated by Nihilego poison. While that makes opposing her more exciting and tense, she is a poor villain and overall weak character until Nihilego's influence is removed.

Anime Lusamine is far more reigned in, and as a result, easier to understand and the more sympathetic character. She lost her husband to an accident involving Ultra Wormholes, and this created a deep-seated fear of losing the rest of her family. She used her work to try and distance herself from this fear, and as a result is a little cold to her children.

 

[Leonhart]

Anime Lusamine is far more reigned in, and as a result, easier to understand and the more sympathetic character. She lost her husband to an accident involving Ultra Wormholes, and this created a deep-seated fear of losing the rest of her family. She used her work to try and distance herself from this fear, and as a result is a little cold to her children.

While I can appreciate that take on her character, I felt that Lusamine's borderline insanity in the games was what made her such an interesting character since despite being the first major female villain in the core games, Game Freak managed to make her just as much of a threat as the male villains without having to compromise on her character's depth.

 

[Zhydra]

I kind of agree that SM Lusamine as a villain, was very effective, unique and scary. But as an actually in depth character with on screen nuance, she is better executed EVERYWHERE ELSE.

Anime for making this one all around fun to watch, adorable and developing from a lousy parent to a half decent one... THEN throw in Nihilego into the mix to where we have a reason to care that our heroes are trying to save her. Her development after the Aether Arc was pretty damn good and I find Anime Lusamine too adorable.

The biggest catch is Lusamine isn't a villain here and MIGHT come off if you liked bat **** insane Lusamine.

Manga for giving us more nuance to her villainy, use understanding HOW she became horrible and even putting some light in her treatment of her kids that SM never showed us anyways and USUM end up coming off as a plot hole despite what the Manga showed. (And dumbies still not getting it.)

Also, putting the blame on Faba kind of removes what made the family drama tragic in the first place. One accident resulting in a domino effect that spiraled to where it is. No, instead... blame it on jackass Faba and hope he dies as you realize he is behaving exactly like the Lusamine haters.

USUM for taking that Nihilego obsession out of the picture and giving her that nuance to show. Having her come off as more human despite still being an abusive parent, having her being the main source of most of the problems you and the characters had to deal with. Being the cause of Necrozma escalating to an active threat and through a lot of things. (Including that off screen talk Lillie gave her... that you should have figured out what it was since she flat out told you back at vast Poni Canyon.)

Realizes just how much of a nutjob she was and started making amends for her actions. Giving off pretty good closure to her and her family that was VASTLY superior to how SM ended things off. Where she still didn't realize what she did wrong and her abused daughter took it upon herself to try and fix her. (Along with Gladion getting stuck in the place her was abused in because Wicke couldn't take the job herself.) While leaving a LOT of things unresolved.

The only catches with USUM is that the Aether Family lost on screen focus for Necrozma towards the end and Lusamine's motives are awfully similar to Zinnia's from ORAS and thus come off as less unique of a villain. Not much of a deal breaker to me since I liked the alternate course the story went, its just the added things that I admit, could have been better. (URS and a lesser extent, Necrozma. URS were not the best build up to Necrozma and it took until he showed up for things to start truly being dramatic.)

 

[VoltTacklingPika]

They're both good. I appreciate what both mediums tried to accomplish.

In the games, Lusamine is unsettling because of the lengths she would go to preserve something she deemed beautiful, and the way she treats anything ugly. Her obsession with Nihilego bled into her treatment of her own children, ultimately forcing both to leave and rebel. Lillie's growth throughout the game, going from meek to being able to choose her own outfits and stand-up to her mother, is satisfying as Lusamine's treatment of her is such a strong motivation.

However, the game's story is limited as it doesn't show you what the family was like before Lusamine's obsession took control of her. We're lead to believe she wasn't always that way, but we're never shown it, and Lusamine ends up a flatter character because of that. We can understand Lillie wanting to confront her, but it's harder to understand why she also wants to save her.

In the anime, Lusamine doesn't have that obsession, and is therefore not a villain. The emphasis is instead on her treatment of Lillie and Gladion, and the way she's neglected them in favour of work. It's not as hard-hitting a story, but I do think it's relatable for kids who have parents who work all the time and never seem to have time for them. Lillie's character changes, showing a more petulant side than her game counterpart, but that petulance is a result of Lusamine overdoing her affection. To her, it's superficial affection, as the moment work comes up, she knows Lusamine will ignore her again. Crucially, we understand how Lusamine became this way, as Mohn going missing has driven her to obsession over the Ultra Wormholes and Nihilego.

Overall, I think Lusamine is a better character in the anime than in the games, and I feel the anime has handled this whole arc very well.

 

[Emelie]

I wasn't a fan of how quickly the plot was resolved in the anime. After the Lusamine plot was resolved nothing was really at stake anymore and the Ultra beast episodes had too many Power Ranger references which got annoying fast.

I guess references can be fun sometimes but in Sun and Moon they basically bombard you with them. In combination with the gags and the lack of traveling (and sense of progression) it felt very repetitive even for the Pokémon anime.

 

[LilligantLewis]

I also dislike that Gladio didn't infiltrate the Skull-dan the way that he did in the games

They clearly have some backstory with each other though based on their interaction with each other at the beginning of episode 27.

 

[SatoSereFan224888]

To be honest I like Lusamine not being evil in the anime. She’s more of a down on her luck character in the anime it seems. Still think the Ultra Guardians arc was pointless. Ash should have said no but Lusamine probably would have beaten the crap out of Ash for him refusing.

 

[pancakemonster]

They're both good. I appreciate what both mediums tried to accomplish.

In the games, Lusamine is unsettling because of the lengths she would go to preserve something she deemed beautiful, and the way she treats anything ugly. Her obsession with Nihilego bled into her treatment of her own children, ultimately forcing both to leave and rebel. Lillie's growth throughout the game, going from meek to being able to choose her own outfits and stand-up to her mother, is satisfying as Lusamine's treatment of her is such a strong motivation.

However, the game's story is limited as it doesn't show you what the family was like before Lusamine's obsession took control of her. We're lead to believe she wasn't always that way, but we're never shown it, and Lusamine ends up a flatter character because of that. We can understand Lillie wanting to confront her, but it's harder to understand why she also wants to save her.

In the anime, Lusamine doesn't have that obsession, and is therefore not a villain. The emphasis is instead on her treatment of Lillie and Gladion, and the way she's neglected them in favour of work. It's not as hard-hitting a story, but I do think it's relatable for kids who have parents who work all the time and never seem to have time for them. Lillie's character changes, showing a more petulant side than her game counterpart, but that petulance is a result of Lusamine overdoing her affection. To her, it's superficial affection, as the moment work comes up, she knows Lusamine will ignore her again. Crucially, we understand how Lusamine became this way, as Mohn going missing has driven her to obsession over the Ultra Wormholes and Nihilego.

Overall, I think Lusamine is a better character in the anime than in the games, and I feel the anime has handled this whole arc very well.

This is pretty much exactly what I wanted to say.

I didn't figure the anime would want to take the same approach to Lusamine's character, so I was glad rather than neglecting her or trying to do a half-baked villain role, they decided to shift her role and give us a version of the character that was still believable and engaging. I enjoyed the game's version of the aether story a lot, and Lillie's development wasn't nearly as prominent in the anime as it was in the games. But I still thought it was a nice little story in the confines of a much larger show that obviously couldn't be as centrally structured around it.

 

[Leonhart]

To be honest I like Lusamine not being evil in the anime. She’s more of a down on her luck character in the anime it seems. Still think the Ultra Guardians arc was pointless. Ash should have said no but Lusamine probably would have beaten the crap out of Ash for him refusing.

The Ultra Guardian episodes did feel rather pointless. I was hoping that we'd see more Ultra Space scenery when the Ultra Beast stuff was first revealed to be a recurring subplot, but the anime really watered-down Ultra Space by making it appear in only a few episodes. I also wish that Lusamine had been more involved in the Ultra Guardian episodes, and that the Mohn subplot could've happened during some of those as well.