LogFAQs > #977789633

adjl posted...

But it doesn't come to nothing. It forms part of the characters' development in the grander scheme of things. Arven would be a different person for having tried and failed to save the dog than if he had just given up from the outset, and that would be the focus of a story where the dog died (again, not exactly original, but a well-established idea for an emotionally evocative story). Again, you'd eventually succeed, victory just might not look like you thought it would, which in a lot of ways is a significantly more uplifting experience than everything just going well all the time.

One of my favorite anime is a perfect example of this- huge spoilers, it's Your Lie in April. The female lead dies in the last episode in an operation that could have succeeded and the resolution to the love story is bittersweet, but the main character is able to move on and live a much happier life than if he'd never met her at all.