>>32601728>Any other series would have had its protagonist winningDepends on the series. If it was an actually good series, it wouldn't. It would instead find a way to satisfyingly end the battle.
Take Hunter x Hunter, for example. The set up to Gon versus Hisoka was narratively similar to this, and it was even in a tournament. Gon had just gotten a new weapon too, his Nen. But because Hisoka was way stronger, he had his Nen long before Gon and trained much more, Gon lost the battle. But he achieved his goal. Gon himself knew his limits, so his main goal was just getting in a single hit, and having a fun fight. So while the protagonist lost, the battle was satisfying.
A shittier show, however, would just have the protagonist win against all odds. They ignore the power levels they established to let the protagonist win. And ONLY because he's the protagonist, for no other reason.
However, that's not to say all shit shows do the same. Take Pokemon for example. It does most of that, but is shit for different reasons. Greninja lost to Zard, same way Gon had to Hisoka. Greninja learned to control his inner power, like Gon did with Nen. Zard already had power comparable to that, Mega Evolution, and he has had and controlled it since forever. They fight. Greninja loses. They fail at making this process satisfying. Unlike Gon, Greninja wasn't as frustrated and sad when he lost. Unlike Gon, he didn't really care too much about this particular opponent. Unlike Gon, he didn't have a satisfying goal in mind, and he ended up achieving nothing. So on and so forth.
So really, whether a protagonist wins in this situation depends on the type of show it is.
