>>51580406>To compare Madara and Alain as "sources of conflict relating to the main character" is such a vague and useless piece of analysis that it becomes meaninglessI did initially draw similarities between them by pointing out that they were sources of conflict for the main characters that they never directly defeated but overcame thematically later in their series.
>Alain is a rival to Ash, not the villain, and maps onto Sasuke far better than Madara in every respectSasuke =/= JUST a rival, he was THE foil to Naruto and became arguably a bigger motivation for Naruto than him wanting to become the Hokage, even tho they kinda became intertwined at some point. To put Alain on the same level of value as Sasuke is on in Naruto is utterly absurd. The most obvious comparison would be Neji, a momentary rival brought about by circumstance and hardly a major factor in the main character's growth, I only stressed the similarities of Madara and Alain in regards to the main characters not beating them but still overcoming what they represented.
>He is not the main source of conflict in the storyYes, but thematically he represented the main conflict of the series and the lesson that Ash had to learn in order to grow.
>Ash should've beaten him in the endAbsolutely wrong. Alain represented someone who, while seeking power and victory managed to attain what's really important, the love and others that he fought for, and won, while Ash only fought for his own desire to win. This thought Ash what true strength is after he forgot it for retarded XY reasons and utilized that lesson to win his next league and become the Champion that he is today.
