manga update 12-22
PostPosted:Thu Dec 22, 2011 4:28 am
Liar Game seems to be doing a reasonable job right now, though I'm not sold on its ability to be serialized continously based on past history. I realize the author needs to think about this stuff but he's not writing about rocket science here. Assuming he actually has a plan on stuff is going to turn out instead of just wing it, you shouldn't have to wait for an year in between rounds because he's thinking about what's supposed to happen in the next.
Naruto is still consistently average which cannot be said of most other manga. I know people like to bash it because most of the story makes no sense whatsoever, but at least Naruto delivers some coolness amongst the nonsense. I really don't know if people were expecting something like HXH ending which would be like a random fodder ninja dropped a nuke on Madara and ended his plan to rule the world, and I'd argue that'd be really dumb if Naruto copied HXH that far because it was dumb even in HXH. Yeah they talk about strategies in theory but in the end you know it's just going to turn into a massive battle of eyes and nijitsus that have nothing to do with logic.
I really have no idea what's happening with One Piece. I guess the latest arc is supposed to be about fighting over trivial things except all it illustrates is that everyone is a moron in the world of One Piece. I mean you got a nation that will get sacked if they don't hand over candy, but they gave all their candy to the Straw Hats, who have ABSOLUTELY NOBODY that has candy as their favorite food, and I guess now the Straw Hats will defend the nation since they took all the candy. If it was something like Luffy ate all the meat it'd be at least be consistent with the eating habits of the characters thus far.
HXH is clearly too subtle to be appreciated by the average fan. It probably would be better off if it's one of those cult manga you never heard about, except it's now surpassed Bleach in terms of sales from Shonen Jump and probably will start encroaching on Naruto territory too. I think the vast majority of fans actually believe the Hunter's Association HQ can be sieged by two random whackos who are nowhere near the top 5 of the world list. It'd be difficult for two Royal Guards to siege the Hunter's Association HQ and they're by far stronger than any top 5 (human) of the world character. I don't think it's even very subtle that the HQ is in the middle of a massive civil war right now, which is why despite being overwhelming the most powerful organization in the world, nobody from the HQ can be bothered with a minor thing like Hisoka and Ilumi going on a rampage near the HQ because apparently if Pariston wins the election it'd be the end of the world or something.
Although manga should not be used as a lesson on life, generally speaking your generic shonen manga is overwhelmingly positive. Friendship or love or something always triumphs over evil. I really don't like HXH's negative undertone, and while bandwagoners like to say this is a way of showing 'life is not fair', HXH is more like 'crime does pay'. You're in a world where the Hunter's Association who are basically the policeman of the free world and by far the strongest group of people known to mankind, yet apparently they cannot stop a rogue murderer or two on their home territory. You can say it's 'life is not fair' when you got random 100 guys killed by a psycho in a territory that's clearly far away from the Hunter's sphere of influence, but this is the Hunter's HQ here. Even One Piece have the courtsey to have Luffy show up during a major center of power by surprise and with considerable help. There's probably at least 5 guys inside the Hunter's HQ right now that can single handed end the rampage but cannot leave since the civil war amongst Hunters is imminent. I saw some people criticize the latest HXH arc as some kind of sick fantasy world where cute girls die for absolutely no reason whatsoever and any male character involved in homosexual acts inexplicably get away with murder, and it's not an unreasonable accusation. The weird thing is that as unorthodox as HXH is, I'm sure there are more people like me who prefer to watch the cute girl characters (like the new Alluka, who may or may not actually be a girl) as opposed to seeing Hisoka getting an erection on another guy. At this point I'd take Kuroro Lucifier even though I don't even like him, because at least he has his personal harem and also avoids confrontation with the Hunter's Association despite having considerably more power than any evil guys so far, probably because he has a normal sexual orientation as evidenced by his beautiful bodyguards so he does not possess plot immunity.
Naruto is still consistently average which cannot be said of most other manga. I know people like to bash it because most of the story makes no sense whatsoever, but at least Naruto delivers some coolness amongst the nonsense. I really don't know if people were expecting something like HXH ending which would be like a random fodder ninja dropped a nuke on Madara and ended his plan to rule the world, and I'd argue that'd be really dumb if Naruto copied HXH that far because it was dumb even in HXH. Yeah they talk about strategies in theory but in the end you know it's just going to turn into a massive battle of eyes and nijitsus that have nothing to do with logic.
I really have no idea what's happening with One Piece. I guess the latest arc is supposed to be about fighting over trivial things except all it illustrates is that everyone is a moron in the world of One Piece. I mean you got a nation that will get sacked if they don't hand over candy, but they gave all their candy to the Straw Hats, who have ABSOLUTELY NOBODY that has candy as their favorite food, and I guess now the Straw Hats will defend the nation since they took all the candy. If it was something like Luffy ate all the meat it'd be at least be consistent with the eating habits of the characters thus far.
HXH is clearly too subtle to be appreciated by the average fan. It probably would be better off if it's one of those cult manga you never heard about, except it's now surpassed Bleach in terms of sales from Shonen Jump and probably will start encroaching on Naruto territory too. I think the vast majority of fans actually believe the Hunter's Association HQ can be sieged by two random whackos who are nowhere near the top 5 of the world list. It'd be difficult for two Royal Guards to siege the Hunter's Association HQ and they're by far stronger than any top 5 (human) of the world character. I don't think it's even very subtle that the HQ is in the middle of a massive civil war right now, which is why despite being overwhelming the most powerful organization in the world, nobody from the HQ can be bothered with a minor thing like Hisoka and Ilumi going on a rampage near the HQ because apparently if Pariston wins the election it'd be the end of the world or something.
Although manga should not be used as a lesson on life, generally speaking your generic shonen manga is overwhelmingly positive. Friendship or love or something always triumphs over evil. I really don't like HXH's negative undertone, and while bandwagoners like to say this is a way of showing 'life is not fair', HXH is more like 'crime does pay'. You're in a world where the Hunter's Association who are basically the policeman of the free world and by far the strongest group of people known to mankind, yet apparently they cannot stop a rogue murderer or two on their home territory. You can say it's 'life is not fair' when you got random 100 guys killed by a psycho in a territory that's clearly far away from the Hunter's sphere of influence, but this is the Hunter's HQ here. Even One Piece have the courtsey to have Luffy show up during a major center of power by surprise and with considerable help. There's probably at least 5 guys inside the Hunter's HQ right now that can single handed end the rampage but cannot leave since the civil war amongst Hunters is imminent. I saw some people criticize the latest HXH arc as some kind of sick fantasy world where cute girls die for absolutely no reason whatsoever and any male character involved in homosexual acts inexplicably get away with murder, and it's not an unreasonable accusation. The weird thing is that as unorthodox as HXH is, I'm sure there are more people like me who prefer to watch the cute girl characters (like the new Alluka, who may or may not actually be a girl) as opposed to seeing Hisoka getting an erection on another guy. At this point I'd take Kuroro Lucifier even though I don't even like him, because at least he has his personal harem and also avoids confrontation with the Hunter's Association despite having considerably more power than any evil guys so far, probably because he has a normal sexual orientation as evidenced by his beautiful bodyguards so he does not possess plot immunity.