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Pierson posted:Narutaru I've been led to believe was much more scattershot as it went on and didn't manage to stick an ending, which makes sense if it was an earlier work and he was still honing a style/message. It was super weird, parts of it meshed really well with what the author was going for, some stuff seemed completely out there and simply pain and suffering for the point of pain and suffering.
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Aug 14, 2017 22:09
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So Alien Nine was about an Earth either taken over or indirectly controlled by various alien clans who train up kids to be symbiotes. If they manage to last the full year they're judged as capable and are permanently bonded to an alien. The two secondary protagonists fail by merging/bonding/something as a result of taking damage (or literally fuckin' dying) and actually become aliens themselves rather than symbiotes with one. The Drill clan held a lot of territory which the Yellow Knives tried to encroach on and the Sunflower clan come pretty close to taking over. The final result is some kind of compromise between Drill and Sunflower that lets humans choose which clan to be bonded with rather than being forced to be symbiotes for Drill only. Did I get close at all? There also seemed to be a bunch of heavy metaphors and psychosexual stuff that I can't quite grasp but I'm pretty certain were there. The entire thing with the boys especially seemed to hover around that metaphor for bullying/puberty/attraction.
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Aug 14, 2017 23:28
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Pierson posted:I never got through all of narutaru but Bokurano was great.
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Aug 15, 2017 03:26
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Captain Invictus posted:Bokurano's the one where kids are playing on top of a giant robot and one falls off and dies, right? yeah
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Aug 15, 2017 03:44
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Captain Invictus posted:Bokurano's the one where kids are playing on top of a giant robot and one falls off and dies, right? Sort of. The robot is powered by the kids' life itself, whenever it's piloted the pilot 100% dies afterwards. At that point they still didn't know that (first battle), so while they're celebrating the victory on top of the robot one of the kids goes for a "good job!" pat on the back to the pilot; the pilot dies at that exact moment, so it looks like the other kid pushed him over the edge.
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Aug 15, 2017 06:22
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I tried to read a bit of Genshiken 2 because I heard it finished a while back and I had a vaguely positive memory of the first one but ooooo god that was a mistake.
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Aug 15, 2017 11:02
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Pierson posted:I tried to read a bit of Genshiken 2 because I heard it finished a while back and I had a vaguely positive memory of the first one but ooooo god that was a mistake. Do Not Read Genshiken 2, read Spotted Flower instead.
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Aug 15, 2017 14:14
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Alien 9 I think this works the best if you don't know anything about it, so consider everything below kind of spoilers. This story basically works as an example of a cool genre and tone shift. It starts with wacky scifi SoL with girls in rolling skaters catching little aliens, in fact it knows to wait a bit for the readers to get used to that style, for four or five chapters, and then it starts introducing mystery elements (the teacher is also an alien? she is the one who is really requesting the 'alien attacks'?!! etc and later the real tone shift starts, when the girls start losing her humanity. Well, I say tone shift, but in truth there is a slight surreal tone to the story that is maintained from the beginning to the end. It has a very interesting use of in media res, where it isn't explained at the start the origin of the setting, it basically starts with the protagonist complaining of how icky are the aliens and how much it sucks to be in the alien party, and it goes from there. Alas, the mystery elements tease you, but in the end they only give the briefest and incomplete of explanations, about alien clans invading Earth since time ago and how humanity at this point just can try to choose which alien symbiont should fuse with, never really going deep of how the world turned that way, which is a pity because it seems original. Characterization-wise, It does a bit of subversion, as you expect at first for the protagonist to get a grip and start improving after some chapters, maybe when she has a real encounter where her life is in danger... but no, she never improves or matures. In fact as things grow larger in danger and scale, the mind break part starts. And they are in a situation where they only can 'move forward' so their solutions just make it worse. In that point the art style used and the fact they are small girls contribute in the jarring contrast to what's really happening in the story. However the character growth stops at some point, when the supporting characters fates is sealed as their decision to protect Yuri and her humanity. At that point there is still a final arc with a new alien, a big conflict and a dramatic rescue but it's all a bit ehh, in true it's all very perfunctory, nothing changes and their happy end is saving the princess and maintaining the status quo. There is an interview with the author where he says  And well... while it's true he captures the 'alien' feel well and in that sense it feels science fiction, all the usage of the school setting, the little girls, the weird stuff, it's all very Japanese. Sorry Mr. Author! As proof of how Japanese it is, have some sexual innuendo with lolis!    Or the following scene to the last page where the weird alien tries to merge with Yuri by stalking her by night and trying to drop his spit/sperm? into her mouth. Totally innocent! But in a a way, this sexual creepiness is just another factor that contributes to the uneasiness you should feel while reading this manga. It's supposed to be weird and a lil' hosed up. So feature, not a bug, I suppose. Finally, I don't like the art. It isn't very detailed, I don't personally like the style, and even with the small group of characters I had problems sometimes to identify them.
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Aug 15, 2017 14:24
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I definitely remember leaving Alien 9 pretty unsatisfied, in that the plot doesn't really resolve anything in particular and instead it just sort of ends, and yeah the MC is not likeable and never grows or develops. The main "appeal" of the whole thing is indeed the story's surreal nature and tonal shifts, as you put it.
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Aug 15, 2017 14:34
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Mikl posted:Do Not Read Genshiken 2, read Spotted Flower instead. As of recent developments, that recommendation may need to change as well.
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Aug 15, 2017 17:48
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Madarame's schtick of "dim but ultimately good-hearted nerd who hides from human interaction behind a solid wall of media" worked okay in Genshiken when they were still kids and he had a cast to bounce off, but in Spotted Flowers it's infuriating, god drat.
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Aug 15, 2017 18:09
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Turin Turambar posted:There is an interview with the author where he says Uh being Japanese and being "a legitimate science fiction story" are not mutually exclusive
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Aug 15, 2017 18:29
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HenryEx posted:Uh Uh I didn't say it wasn't a 'legitimate science fiction story' but it seems he wanted to create something in the style of those Western authors. I'm saying, sorry, but it doesn't seem particularly similar to Heinlein or Niven.
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Aug 15, 2017 20:22
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That's not what the author was asking tho, and it's not what you posted either. You should read your own post again, and this time consider context
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Aug 15, 2017 22:07
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HenryEx posted:That's not what the author was asking tho, and it's not what you posted either. You should read your own post again, and this time consider context Maybe you should first.
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Aug 15, 2017 23:00
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Paracelsus posted:As of recent developments, that recommendation may need to change as well. Alright, let's make an amendment to my previous post. Don't read Genshiken 2, read Grand Blue.
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Aug 15, 2017 23:16
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Paracelsus posted:As of recent developments, that recommendation may need to change as well. I HOPE that's a fakeout.
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Aug 16, 2017 00:40
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Turin Turambar posted:Alien 9 I had a generally similar reaction. I also felt like the alien stuff could be interpreted as a metaphor for adolescence, with that way it permanently changes the girls and makes one of them feel less comfortable with her own body. While it had a little skeevy stuff (like you mentioned), it actually wasn't as bad as I expected in that regard.
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Aug 16, 2017 01:41
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On top of all that the way this author lays out the scenes just feels wrong. Like it doesn't flow nicely somehow.
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Aug 16, 2017 07:31
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Mindblast posted:On top of all that the way this author lays out the scenes just feels wrong. Like it doesn't flow nicely somehow. Oh yes, the flow isn't good. It was something I forgot to comment. I read yesterday the sequel, Alien 9 Emulators and eww, I don't recommend it, not even to the people who liked it Alien 9. It's underdeveloped, rushed, a bit nonsensical and underwhelming. Onto new things. Now I'm reading Abandon the Old in Tokyo, which it's more in the indie/alternative category. It had this impressive text blurb:  But seems overrated to me.
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Aug 16, 2017 08:50
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I must've reread the original run of Genshiken like 4 times it's great. Genshiken 2 just went nowhere and didn't have a endearing cast like the original it was such a shame. madarame and sue make a cute couple imo edit: poo poo maybe I'll read all 2 again it might not feel so drawn out now now that it's finished and I can just binge the whole thing
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Aug 16, 2017 14:41
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if you managed to come out of genshiken 2 caring who madarame hooked up with, then the manga hit home with you. for the rest of us, gently caress the whole mess.
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Aug 16, 2017 15:10
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Its the end of another university year and the gang have decided that the next president of genshiken will be.......... you! the reader! oh boy !!
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Aug 16, 2017 15:33
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Genshiken 1 is a wonderful, tightly written coming of age story about going through college with all the trials and tribulations that entails. It approaches just about all of its drama and comedy in a way that is very relatable, especially if you're like me and read it either during or shortly after your own college years. In the end it doesn't overstay its welcome and and delivers on all the beats each character arc needed. Which makes Genshiken 2 and its caricatures and low-hanging fruit humor/situations all the more disappointing, especially when coupled with just how long it got dragged out. I'd also argue that overly focusing on a single character's relationship status sort of comically missed the point of what the original was going for; even with Sasahara/Ogiue, that only got dragged out for 1-2 volumes at the most. The one bright side is that in the end, the first iteration is by its very nature self-contained and it's easy to simply read that and stop.
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Aug 16, 2017 15:46
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Agreed, Genshinken 1 is very good (in fact, it surprised me, I didn't expect to like it so much), with a great mix of comedy with the right amounts of romance and drama, and coming of age story easy to empathize with, of people finishing college, looking up for jobs, the group of friends breaking up over time, etc. Genshinken 2 was much worse, in comparison. Abandon the Old in Tokyo Old works with certain renown usually fall in two camps: classics where age doesn't matter as the quality makes them timeless, and others that are important pieces historically (maybe they were pioneer in a style or a subgenre) but they didn't age too well. This is part of the second group. The author is one of the pioneers of alternative comics movement/gekiga, dramatic adult stories with themes reflecting modern society of the time, in the seventies. But it hasn't aged well. This volume 's a collection of short stories with clear themes criticizing the modern society, but I don't think they are very good. First is the drawing. The problem isn't that the style is obviously old, I read several comics from Tezuka for example, but he doesn't seem very good with faces. 90% of the time the protagonist are as inexpressive as dead fishes, even when it doesn't make sense. Also he tends to draw the same type of protagonist in each short story, he doesn't have variety.    Three different character from three different stories in different situations. Second, most of the short stories are actually too short. Some of them you can feel they are onto something but they end before the consequences for the actions appear, or they are too devoid of characterizations, or they are too dry. What they have most of them is a metaphor for a critic of modern society (at the time). But they feel a bit too transparent and unsophisticated for our current standards, and even the themes themselves are too old (sexual revolution is bad, cities alienate people, women are evil manipulators, we are like animals surviving from the dregs of society, etc) or they are just the low-hanging fruit for what it's bad and have a shock factor in human society.  Yes, thanks nameless character, I totally wouldn't have noticed how people in modern cities aren't that different from overcrowded cattle trains.
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Aug 16, 2017 21:47
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sue is 1d as hell. it would have been much more realistic had he gone for the sister hostess (who also feels like the most realistic character in the harem), been dumped/cheated on by her, then gone with some new unknown female but that's manga for ya
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Aug 17, 2017 02:42
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Shigurui, manga or anime?
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Aug 17, 2017 12:05
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Ancient Magus Bride 39 Yo Elias that is, like, a colossally bad idea!
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Aug 19, 2017 15:22
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Thermae Romae Hey, this was better than expected. I expected something silly just using an out-of-this-world premise, but feww times you find a work that it's so successful in hitting the goals it sets for itself. Here the author wanted to do a silly comedic manga of a ancient Roman bath engineer that time travels to Japan to learn new bathing techniques... and she does a drat good job with this silly of a premise! The comic is some times amusing, some times hilarious, and also pleasing in that strange SoL way that some comics have. As the hot baths they use so much here, it has a relaxing rhythm in the chapters, in how predictable (because they are always mostly the same) but entertaining they are. But that isn't everything, it happens to be very well researched, the basis for the Roman part of the manga isn't based on just a few Hollywood movies the mangaka watched. They are glimpses of their customs, their utensils, stuff like the rebellion in Jerusalem, the conflict between the Senate and the Emperor, the inheritance method, etc. It's not only funny and original, but educative too. At the end of every chapter there are a pair of text pages from the author, which also are interesting in her insights in both the comic itself and in her life experiences, and she is well traveled and has lived in the four continents. The structure is mostly episodic, but that changes in the last volume where to tie things off, she does a whole narrative arc. It's very predictable of course, in fact it loses a bit in the comic side of the equation, but it's a good end, you want a happy, definitive end to close this story.
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Aug 19, 2017 17:00
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I liked Jagaaaaaan more when it didn't have a character whose power was being a rapist.
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Aug 20, 2017 13:00
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Relaxing with a beer and rewatching Haibane Renmei drat it's good 
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Aug 21, 2017 10:25
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Turin Turambar posted:Thermae Romae I quite enjoyed the anime.
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Aug 21, 2017 18:13
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Nate RFB posted:Ancient Magus Bride 39  This kinda feels like a final arc, I hope everything turns out OK. I think Chise will catch Elias trying to use her friend. Then he will end up sacrificing himself or similar.
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Aug 21, 2017 21:46
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Bokurano was good but I wonder if i should have watched it due to the action scenes
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Aug 27, 2017 19:32
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I think the anime has a different ending. Which I wouldn't mind, the ending of the manga is so over-the-top depressing.
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Aug 27, 2017 21:18
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it was a good "twist" imo depressing sure but i'd legit not thought about someone doing that before it happened
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Aug 27, 2017 21:27
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Can someone remind me how it actually ended?
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Aug 27, 2017 22:07
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genericnick posted:Can someone remind me how it actually ended? I forgot the dialogue so I don't remember precisely but I think the final theme was about trusting the next generation and letting them create their own future rather than trying to control them or use them for your own end. Fairly standard in a manga but I remember it being an optimistic ending in a bad situation, rather than actually depressing.
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Aug 27, 2017 22:22
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Ok, after reading the latest Spotted Flower chapter that was translated into English, and the two following chapters in Italian, Shimoku Kio can gently caress right off t
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Aug 27, 2017 22:43
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LOL, what happened this time. I dropped off of that one pretty early too.
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Aug 27, 2017 22:47
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