Some good, some bad, for a change of pace...
Gambling Legend Keiji (or something) - Similar to Liar Game, this stuff is getting scanned because Gambling Legend Zero was a big hit, and people wonder what this guy did before Zero. And similar to Liar Game you found out there was a real good reason why even the pirates don't bother scanning this stuff before. The story seems to be about some gambling genius named Keiji playing against some totally rigged situations. Right now he's playing Mahjong against a guy who can see all his cards. In Mahjong this gives the other guy a 100% chance to win. It's also pretty clear the only way Keiji is going to win is to switch the cards while the other guy didn't notice so there is actually no suspense whatsoever. I mean, it'd be like having a manga about two guys playing Texas Hold 'Em and one guy has access to the pocket cam. There's absolutely no suspense whatsoever as to what the outcome is regardless of who is supposed to win.
Chinese are pretty obsessed with gambling, and I think one of the rule about writing about anything gambling is that the game can be rigged but still has to be winnable. For example if I play you poker and let's say there's one hand that always wins (say, a heart suit Royal Flush) and I have an extra pair of heart royal flush in my sleeves I can use anytime I want. The game is rigged but the other guy can still win. In fact if the other guy goes first and knows my strategy, all he has to do is hide an ace of hearts (or any other card in the heart Royal Flush sequence) in his sleeves and show that, and then at that point I can no longer pretend it wasn't rigged and would be forced to forfeit. You can't have a *competitive* gambling scenario where one guy has 100% chance to win. Drawing a royal flush on every hand is actually a beatable strategy, but able to see the other guy's cards is not a beatable strategy (in most games), and even if it is it'd obviously just be pure luck.
Actually Gambling Legend Zero seems to have learned this mistake as during the Giant Anchor arc, it is clearly stated that author the game is ridiculously rigged against the players, it is nevertheless winnable. You can usually see an author improve between older to newer manga, but the difference between Keiji and Zero is quite striking.
Gambling Legend Zero - Still going on pretty solid, though the recent question in Giant Anchor arc seems to be written without actually being tested. Here's the question. I got a coin that's partially covered by other coins (so you can't see anything on it that'd reveal what coin it is) but you can see its size and color. I took this coin away and what is the coin? Zero guessed penny and it was a dollar coin. I didn't think about this until I found a bunch of coins at my desk and realize it can't possibly work. A penny and a dollar coin has totally distinct colors from say, quarter/nickel/dime. If you can see the coin at all you can see its color and you'll know what the coin is. Also a dollar coin is much bigger than a penny and you'd need much bigger coins to cover it up partially than a penny. I'm guessing since the manga is black & white the author didn't think about the color aspect, and maybe he's not familar enough with US denominations since I sure don't see the 1 dollar coin very often either.
But one mistake in a manga that deals with a lot of improbable logic puzzle situations isn't that bad.
Ravages of Time - The author has clearly learned from the earlier 'his intelligence level is over 9000!' problems. The recent arc sees a return of Guo Jia, the strongest (smartest) man in China. When he shows up, the crows fly, lightning strikes, and pestilence spreads across the land. That is a much more appropriate illustration of his power level than say, Sima Yi saying he has now discovered the secret of Super Saiyan 823 (this is an actual quote).
It'll be interesting to see which characters fills Guo Jia's void when he invariably dies as history dictates. It's also interesting to see if the manga, which is at volume 40 or so and is barely 1/5th done, will be finished before the author dies of old age.
Here's an example of Ravage of Time's earlier problems, say the Chen Gong vs Sima Yi + Xun You fight.
henchman: My master, everything is ready. They are no match for your Super Saiyan 230!
Chen Gong: Yes, but I think I'll figure out Super Saiyan 231 just in case.
Sima Yi: Chen Gong, I have returned from my training with Xun You and I mastered Super Saiyan 823! Prepare to die!
(they fight)
And the fighting part is actually pretty cool if you ignore the completely nonsensical dialogue.
Another good example is when Lu Bu and Zhang Fei are fighting each with Super Saiyan 17/18s and Chen Gong comes with a Super Saiyan 20 to beat Zhang Fei, but Zhang Fei revealed that Super Saiyan forms above around 18s is just a waste of energy or something which is why he stopped at 17, and left.
The weird thing is as stupid as this dialogue is, the action is good enough to keep you interested in the story, and the author has finally realized that his dialogue is dumb and gotten rid of most of the outright stupid stuff.
Gambling Legend Keiji (or something) - Similar to Liar Game, this stuff is getting scanned because Gambling Legend Zero was a big hit, and people wonder what this guy did before Zero. And similar to Liar Game you found out there was a real good reason why even the pirates don't bother scanning this stuff before. The story seems to be about some gambling genius named Keiji playing against some totally rigged situations. Right now he's playing Mahjong against a guy who can see all his cards. In Mahjong this gives the other guy a 100% chance to win. It's also pretty clear the only way Keiji is going to win is to switch the cards while the other guy didn't notice so there is actually no suspense whatsoever. I mean, it'd be like having a manga about two guys playing Texas Hold 'Em and one guy has access to the pocket cam. There's absolutely no suspense whatsoever as to what the outcome is regardless of who is supposed to win.
Chinese are pretty obsessed with gambling, and I think one of the rule about writing about anything gambling is that the game can be rigged but still has to be winnable. For example if I play you poker and let's say there's one hand that always wins (say, a heart suit Royal Flush) and I have an extra pair of heart royal flush in my sleeves I can use anytime I want. The game is rigged but the other guy can still win. In fact if the other guy goes first and knows my strategy, all he has to do is hide an ace of hearts (or any other card in the heart Royal Flush sequence) in his sleeves and show that, and then at that point I can no longer pretend it wasn't rigged and would be forced to forfeit. You can't have a *competitive* gambling scenario where one guy has 100% chance to win. Drawing a royal flush on every hand is actually a beatable strategy, but able to see the other guy's cards is not a beatable strategy (in most games), and even if it is it'd obviously just be pure luck.
Actually Gambling Legend Zero seems to have learned this mistake as during the Giant Anchor arc, it is clearly stated that author the game is ridiculously rigged against the players, it is nevertheless winnable. You can usually see an author improve between older to newer manga, but the difference between Keiji and Zero is quite striking.
Gambling Legend Zero - Still going on pretty solid, though the recent question in Giant Anchor arc seems to be written without actually being tested. Here's the question. I got a coin that's partially covered by other coins (so you can't see anything on it that'd reveal what coin it is) but you can see its size and color. I took this coin away and what is the coin? Zero guessed penny and it was a dollar coin. I didn't think about this until I found a bunch of coins at my desk and realize it can't possibly work. A penny and a dollar coin has totally distinct colors from say, quarter/nickel/dime. If you can see the coin at all you can see its color and you'll know what the coin is. Also a dollar coin is much bigger than a penny and you'd need much bigger coins to cover it up partially than a penny. I'm guessing since the manga is black & white the author didn't think about the color aspect, and maybe he's not familar enough with US denominations since I sure don't see the 1 dollar coin very often either.
But one mistake in a manga that deals with a lot of improbable logic puzzle situations isn't that bad.
Ravages of Time - The author has clearly learned from the earlier 'his intelligence level is over 9000!' problems. The recent arc sees a return of Guo Jia, the strongest (smartest) man in China. When he shows up, the crows fly, lightning strikes, and pestilence spreads across the land. That is a much more appropriate illustration of his power level than say, Sima Yi saying he has now discovered the secret of Super Saiyan 823 (this is an actual quote).
It'll be interesting to see which characters fills Guo Jia's void when he invariably dies as history dictates. It's also interesting to see if the manga, which is at volume 40 or so and is barely 1/5th done, will be finished before the author dies of old age.
Here's an example of Ravage of Time's earlier problems, say the Chen Gong vs Sima Yi + Xun You fight.
henchman: My master, everything is ready. They are no match for your Super Saiyan 230!
Chen Gong: Yes, but I think I'll figure out Super Saiyan 231 just in case.
Sima Yi: Chen Gong, I have returned from my training with Xun You and I mastered Super Saiyan 823! Prepare to die!
(they fight)
And the fighting part is actually pretty cool if you ignore the completely nonsensical dialogue.
Another good example is when Lu Bu and Zhang Fei are fighting each with Super Saiyan 17/18s and Chen Gong comes with a Super Saiyan 20 to beat Zhang Fei, but Zhang Fei revealed that Super Saiyan forms above around 18s is just a waste of energy or something which is why he stopped at 17, and left.
The weird thing is as stupid as this dialogue is, the action is good enough to keep you interested in the story, and the author has finally realized that his dialogue is dumb and gotten rid of most of the outright stupid stuff.
