#i still have a pretty big lack of manga/anime reading and watching knowledge overall so i do appreciate recs

[13eyond13]

Have you watched Trigun(1998) btw ? Or the new one Trigun Stampede (2023) which is a reboot with some different additions ? Would you like to watch them in case you haven't? Would like to know your thoughts?

Sorry this isn't dn related.

Take care.

The main guy looks SO familiar to me, but no I have not! 👀 if I do I will post some of my thoughts, thanks for asking. You should tell me what's fun about it

[fallen029]

Lisanna Overview

I’ve been wanting to do this sorta thing for a long time, but I was never really too sure if anyone was interested in it or not. Now though, that my writing has kind of dried up a bit, I think it might give me some ideas for some fics or, maybe, at least entertain someone who still follows me and gives a shit. I have few Fairy Tail related things to offer up at this point.

When I first started writing for Fairy Tail, it was with the intention of my focus to be on Mirajane and Laxus. I was still (extremely) behind in the anime, hadn’t read any of the manga yet, but had seen some fan art of Mirajane and Laxus together and assumed that at some point, the anime would lead to this. At that point, I wasn’t even to Edolas yet and wasn’t too sure, honestly, how to approach writing Lisanna who I only knew would come back to life after browsing art lead me to a few spoilers. So I knew that she was coming back, at some point, but didn’t really know anything about her beyond the flashbacks that we got of her as a child with Natsu. That’s why, if you were to read my first few Fairy Tail fics, I think her reactions towards Mirajane are rather curt and usually similar to how Elfman interacts with her.

As time went on, however, as I found myself deeper in love with the Strauss siblings, Lisanna kind of became my favorite. She’s definitely above Elfman, at least, but I go back and forth on her and Mirajane at times. But one of the things I dislike about Lisanna isn’t really a characteristic of her alone, but rather the way that, canonically, we’re kind of given her back for no fucking reason.

You’d think that having your dead childhood friend come back to life would be a big fucking deal. But for some reason, it’s undercut in a lot of ways. I know we’re supposed to consider things unraveling in the background without our knowledge as, obviously, Lucy is more or less our narrator, but man, I fucking hate the lack of development with Lisanna as a character. All of her big moments, after being brought back to life, are mostly just supporting roles to her siblings and, as far as Natsu and Happy go, very little interaction at all. I’ve always felt early on like Fairy Tail’s biggest emphasis was always on friendship and the bonds created from that (this dies slowly, I feel, in the later arcs) and Natsu getting his best friend back, for some reason, isn’t really highlighted well at all.

Now, that’s not really a knock on anything in particular, considering in my personal view, a lot of character growth or regression is stunted in Fairy Tail. It’s less of the person changing overtime and more a singular moment sparking in their head, wow, I should be a different person now. With Lisanna, it’s less that and more, I was gone, now I’m back, so I’ll just fade into the background slowly because I’m the least important Strauss.

That’s kind of what fueled my entire view of her character, when I write her. I think it’s mentioned a few times when she’s the point of view for the story, but a lot of times I take it for granted that people have this same view as me. And I’ve gotten a few, not many, people bitch at me for my characterization for Lisanna. For me personally, however, it’s hard to see her not this way.

You die. Everyone’s sad. They move on. You come back. They’re happy. Everyone moves on again except this time you’re there, and home, and watch yourself become less important to other people. Your siblings have changed, from what you remember, and even if they hadn’t, you’ve just spent two years with their exact copies who are different as well. That’s a pretty big mind fuck. Then you take your best friend, who was clearly upset by your death, but also a bit of an aloof guy, who’s now feels like, you know, everything’s righted again. Only now he has other friends and bonds that he’s formed and, I’m sure they hang out sometimes, but Natsu mostly seemed content with the idea that Lisanna was alive and safe and fine and that was pretty much it. Her and Happy’s interactions seem rather stunted as well.

This leads to the easy jump for me into Lisanna being a bit resentful over the whole thing. She’s not angry with Natsu or her siblings or the guildhall. That would be stupid. No one’s rightfully ignoring her. But everything’s changed since she died and we never really get to see her truly come to terms with this. She doesn’t really fit in anywhere either. Other than with her siblings, one of which is now mostly just a barmaid and the other who probably smothers her a bit. That’s how I’d see it, for Elfman, if the sister that you blamed yourself for killing came back to life, I’d just imagine a lot of smothering going on.

When you insert that into the setup I have for Elfman/Evergreen and Mirajane/Laxus, you’re kind of left with this shitty situation for Lisanna. I think I highlight it best in Firsts, but I touch on it in a lot of one-shots as well. I can’t think off the top of my head an overview of her that I’ve done without one of those relationships being a factor. I’m actually working on one, right now, but in it rather than being depressive and kind of angsty, which in turn I always have lead into her relationship with Bickslow, she ends up with Natsu because she’s happier and more upbeat about things because she’s in a good place with her siblings and her current goings on in the guildhall. When that’s not in place because Mirajane’s busy with Laxus and Elfman’s tied up with Evergreen, Lisanna turns to the other person who would be affected by this, which would be, in my stories, Bickslow.

She’s normally alone, at the guild or somewhere, and he’s alone and they’re both pissy at their respective friends (in this, Bickslow has usually been left by Freed as well) and it just leads to something. I’ve had someone actually argue with me that Lisanna and Bickslow would never have anything in common in the anime/manga and, for that, they’re probably right, because Lisanna is a horribly underwritten character. As is Bickslow.

This isn’t a slight towards the writing, honestly, it’s more of an intentional setup, I think, on my part. When I chose the Strauss siblings and Thunder Legion (plus Laxus since some of yall throw a hissy fit if I don’t state that, yes, I understand he is not a part of, you know, the group that fucking worships him) to all be together, I dunno if I really understood that I was picking some of the least focused upon (singularly) characters, but as time went on, I understood that and rolled with that.

There is very little interactions that we see Lisanna have that you can gauge her every response to a situation. With Natsu or Erza, you can pretty much do this and it’s much easier to fall into their correct characteristics. With a lesser character like Lisanna or Bickslow, this falls apart because what you see of them is kind of only enough fill half a character sheet. They’re half characters because they’re backup to other characters. Lisanna exists to provide a teenage conflict for Natsu and a catalyst for Mirajane and Elfman. Bickslow, and honestly the Thunder Legion as a whole, main function was originally to give Laxus plot development. That doesn’t mean that they can’t be expanded upon later, like I feel Freed was to a certain extent (but still grossly under the radar given all we could have learned from him), but overall, I personally don’t feel they were.

Which actually has served me for the better, as it gave me a chance to layout Lisanna how I wanted. After Edolas, she has no more singular personal struggles outside of, you know, the ones everyone is facing at the hall, which means you can build off that whatever you want. With Lisanna, I chose for her new conflict to almost always be this almost self-hatred over the idea that, while everyone else’s lives go on, hers feels stunted and cheated and out of place, honestly, back in Earthland. On a human level, this just feels right to me.

That being said, I think the presence of what she was when she was younger is always bubbling under the surface in my Lisanna. While her and Bickslow like to brood in the darkness together, they play off one another as well. Lisanna’s kind of the cute, innocent little sibling of the Strauss family and she spends a lot of this time with Bickslow trying to shred this persona, but failing. She longs to be darker and misunderstood, like she views Bickslow as, and to me, I kind of paint her as having that lost teenage dissonance that we all have. Lisanna missed out on truly having a disconnect with her siblings or friends because, without her influence, they were taken from her. She’s reliving that with Bickslow, of all people, because I paint him as also cultivating a misunderstood and failed darkness though, without getting too into his past right now, comes from a missed childhood. This kind of clashes at times and I think they have the most comical of interactions, but also the most dramatic. When I have Mirajane and Laxus fall out, it’s normally done in an adult, concise matter where the tears and anger turn into that ignore it until the hurt disappears. Elfman and Evergreen, by contrast, blow up at one another and get all their anger out in that moment and usually wind up back together before anything major happens.

Lisanna and Bickslow kind of bounce off one another. Because at their heart, they’re both children, almost, dressing up like adults and trying this whole adult relationship thing and failing miserably, but together and that’s important. They’re both sad and have a shared past, really, and try to use that to paint their character to one another, but the reality is that they’re both just sorta silly and are only pulling the cloak over each other’s eyes.

This also comes out in my Lisanna when she’s around Laxus a lot. He didn’t have siblings growing up and I think it sorta mystifies him, the way Mirajane interacts with her own and he tries to mimic this in his new found (or at least acknowledged) love of the Thunder Legion and though it usually fails miserably, he’s trying. This is the same with him and Lisanna as, for some reason, he finds himself kind of drawn to her. He admits, in some stories I write, to himself that one of the driving factors of his intentions of taking the guild from his grandfather comes from the fact that Lisanna died under his shitty rules. Being around Lisanna because of Mirajane leads to him feeling brotherly to her and Lisanna uses this to her advantage in ways she can’t with her actual older siblings. Mainly because Elfman is broke and Mirajane is privy to her manipulation, a lot of Lisanna kind of funds her lack of good work ethic (which Bickslow picks up from her) and ability through Laxus. He doesn’t like to see her upset and is frequently fearful of her life with Bickslow being in shambles so his extra jewels are thrown at her. This originally stemmed from him doing so to keep her away from Mirajane, but eventually he does it regardless.

I kind of make Lisanna come off as a mooch, in someways, if not someone that manipulates her siblings joy over having her back. I dunno if anyone ever picks up on that, but as time goes on, I have her doing that more and more. I guess it come from my own personal experience from having younger siblings where, if they need something, you get them it. Even if it’s overpriced, they’re grown, and they really don’t need it. This would be brought out more in Mirajane being that she stepped into a motherly role towards her younger brother and sister. Laxus gripes about it at times, Mirajane flat out tells Lisanna to pull more shifts at the hall sometimes, but other than that, no one else really calls her out on it.

But she also uses Laxus for more than just his jewels. I write the two of them as having, in some ways, a better relationship with one another than they even have with their significant others. This doesn’t really come from any one thing I’ve written or something in the series, but rather just a causal build I’ve noted in my writing over time. It was highlighted best in Three Wishes, but appears in other moments too. Laxus, basically, is stuck between liking Mirajane, disliking Elfman, and then there’s just Lisanna in the center who, early on, he could do without, but they became friends in a more natural passed way. We seem them, anyways, interacting favorably in Tenrou when Laxus learns of her return and maybe it comes from that, but I think it’s more of the tough guy, tiny guy kind of buddy buddy friendship. It’s beneficial for Lisanna and Laxus to be friends from his standpoint and hers, but it somewhere along the way, they truly become friends. I think they probably have the best, most real relationship out of all the other interactions I give her.

She also kind of plays mother to Bickslow’s dolls without her every really being a mother in my work. I think my most popular Bickslow/Lisanna one-shot was the one where she tells him she’s pregnant, Helmets and Spilled Soup from the Remember Me series, but I never really do much with that. Her baby kind of just exists and gets no real build, like the other children, mainly because I don’t particularly know how to write her that way. Bickslow either. Instead, I like filtering their maternal and paternal instincts into his dolls.

Lisanna treats them in special ways, when the fic focus on that, and has their names memories as well as their personalities. She usually finds them and weird and creepy at first and maybe just as magical expression from Bickslow, but over time they grow on her. This was never fully addressed, but I did have a fic I didn’t finish that kind of focused on the parallels between them and Happy. Because, for all intents and purposes, Natsu and Lisanna were kind of playing house with Happy when he was born and then she’s gone, right? She was sort of his mother, in a lot of ways people never want to address, but that’s definitely the vibe that runs undercurrent with them.

Also for Remember Me, I wrote Blue with Envy, where Natsu now has a real child that he showers with attention and Happy struggles to understand the jealousy he feels over this. Lisanna kind of helps him through that and I think that relationship is my second favorite Happy one, next to Lucy. I see Lucy almost as his step-mother in ways where he kind of rejects her, a lot, but ultimately needs needs her, where as with Lisanna, Happy’s more loving and open and kind of can tell her anything. I always wanted to write one where he expresses his discontent to her over Bickslow’s babies relation to her, but I dunno, I always felt like no one else really got this in the same way I do? I’ve noticed a lot of people feel like you can either love Lisanna as a character or love Lucy as one so I always try to skate on the edge of that, but overall I think they’re such different people that there’s no reason for this distinction. To me, Lisanna’s main interaction when coming back, outside of her siblings, should have been with Happy and Natsu, and while we’re not shown it, I have to imagine a lot of alone time between the three happened. Kind of like when a best friend moves away for a bit and comes back so you just fill those first few weeks doing all that you can together, sharing what had been occurring over the past however long. This, actually, has to be almost certain canonically.

Her relationship with Natsu kind of depends on the situation, but it’s almost always good with them on a personal level. I don’t always necessarily paint Lisanna as still being in love with him, but I always kind of show that, you know, feeling of when your childhood crush is officially no longer viable type of angst. Even when I show this happening, Lisanna’s typically just kind of reflective on it. Like I said before, when it’s a more upbeat Lisanna, they windup together. But when it’s an already down Lisanna at play, that don’t. I guess it could be debated whether this is cause and affect either way, but I see it more as separate, if that makes sense?

There is one one-shot I have where Lisanna ends up with no one in particular. It’s actually my favorite for the whole tone and mood of it, but Timing covers this as it’s sort of b-plot. Laxus and Mirajane are definitely the main focus, but running concurrent to that is Lisanna’s acceptance over how much time she’s kind of spent, hoping that something sparks between her and Natsu and decides to be a bit of a catalyst towards something coming of it by running off with Mirajane, when she goes to pursue her singing career instead of, you know, wasting away as the Fairy Tail barmaid. This lead sto a totally different Lisanna that I ever write and is actually the best one, in my opinion, where she’s happy and kind of doing stuff that Laxus, again as a sort of pseudo big brother figure, doesn’t like much, but can’t do much to stop.

Like I mentioned before, a lot of her relationship with Bickslow is bred in that high school type teenager rebellion most people have. When this isn’t around to happen, that is funneled into more of a college type experimental phase. Lisanna’s, even in the canon, is kind of bottled up in Fairy Tail. She’s mostly known as the youngest Strauss sibling, the one who died, or maybe even just Natsu’s friend, which she kind of resents. To combat this, she turns to Bickslow because he’s literally the only other thing there that isn’t necessarily conform. When she’s always from Fairy Tail, however, without any interference from Bickslow, she spreads her wings a little bit and sleeps around some and mostly takes Mirajane’s sabbatical as a chance to find herself some. That’s probably my favorite version of her that I’ve written, but hard to recreate without completely alienating other elements of a story.

From what we’re shown, Lisanna can never be the most important Strauss. She won’t be the strongest, the most spoken, or anything of notoriety. In her guildhall. Once you subtract that guildhall though, she doesn’t exist as just a Strauss anymore and more of a person. We see Timing through Laxus’ eyes, so of course he rejects it, but overall that’s probably the happiest I’ve ever written Lisanna. It’s the small town kid breaking away from all the kind of restrictions that get put on them and already decided fates to find, you know, how great life is outside of all that. She goes a bit overboard, like most do when they suddenly have no restrictions, but I think overtime, had Timing been a full series, she’d have become more balanced and probably wouldn't have returned to Magnolia full time at any point.

To me, Lisanna probably has the blankest pallet that can be shown as so much more than she is, as far as Fairy Tail goes. We have this person who’s escaped death and been given a second chance, but most people kind of want her to just stay stationary with it. Whatever direction she gets shot towards, whether it’s a darker one with Bickslow, happier with Natsu and Happy, or just out adventuring on her own, there’s so many tiny character details there that are missed without examination.

I dunno if anyone got anything out of this, but I’m probably gonna do one on all my depictions of the Strauss siblings and Thunder Legion (plus Laxus because you have to separate him in this awkward way because some people lose their shit if you don’t). I started with Lisanna, but I’ll probably jump over to Evergreen next. Hers probably won’t be this long, as she’s not as focused or highlighted in my stuff, but there’s some deeper shit going on there too. And again, this was just me, kind of laying out my personal depictions of how I write something. It doesn’t reflect anything canon-wise or what I think others should be writing someone as. At best, this was something to show others how I view what I’ve written of Lisanna. At worst, it was a way to kill time.

[dlamp-dictator]

Thinking About Masters of Ragnarok

Recently, I bought a few volumes of The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar manga from Amazon’s Comixology website after I came into some extra money this month. I remember watching the anime and more or less enjoying it, but I also remember there was a bit of controversy about the anime as well. And being a bit bored and wanting something easy to read and chew on I decided to give this series a second shot. I only bought the first 3 volumes of the manga and haven’t rewatched the anime yet, but I’m starting to remember what drew me to this story and setting in the first. I find myself both fascinated and a bit disappointed by what I’ve read so far. I think this series is pretty good for what it’s worth, but there are some clear flaws in it.

But first, that synopsis.

During a Test of Courage in a local forest and shrine, high school student Yuuto Suoh and his childhood friend and crush Mitsuki Shimoya test a superstition involving the shinto shrine’s mirror. In his hubris, Yuuto is spirited away to the world of  Yggdrasil, a Bronze Age land with a Norse-like mythology and culture. With Yuuto’s only connection to his world being his solar-powered smartphone and the modern world knowledge it holds, he strides to survive in this brutal and violent world of Yggdrasil and return home to his friend and crush.

So, with that out of the way, let’s discuss some of the bigger issues of this series.

Criticisms

For an Isekai series that got an anime in 2018 there’s actually very little problems I have with the series, at least going by its manga adaptation. Most of the issue I have are more detailed and a nitpicky than the usual problems I have with a story or narrative. I’ll say again, overall, I do like a lot of what’s in this story, there’s just a lot of things in it that nag at me. That said...

The Exposition

At least in the manga, this series is very exposition heavy. There’s a lot of explanation and discussion about war tactics, Bronze Age methods and logistics versus the Iron Age methods and logistics that Yuuto is introducing, agriculture practices, political systems within the clans, and so on. This isn’t a bad thing, as it gives a lot of context to the world and shows use the author doesn’t just have this world in place for the Bronze Age aesthetic. However, I feel like I’d enjoy this series a bit more if I read the light novel proper.

As pretty and nice as some of the images are accompanying the exposition and as good as the story is in some of its more political-based dialogue it still feels like a lot of reading for what is at its core a comic book. As if the medium of manga didn’t translate that well from the original medium of the light novel. I remember the anime being a little better about this, though I can’t say how due to it being so long since I’ve read the thing. This isn’t a deal breaker by any means and if you like the more detailed world building of shows like Log Horizon then I’d say this is still a good manga, but... just know this is more reading than what most manga would entail given how most contemporary Isekai titles are.

The Setting

For all the talk of how brutal the world of Yggdrasil is there’s a real lack of blood and gore shown in the manga. Not that I wanted to see cute girls or soldiers getting impaled by spears and swords, but it feels like either the artist isn’t comfortable drawing that aspect of the world, or doesn’t care to show it. Either way, it creates a dissonance with how seriously Yuuto is taking the situations he’s in. As much as he abhors the violence and need to be violent in the dog-eat-dog culture of Yggdrasil we never seeing that blood and violence outside of a handful of on-screen deaths of prominent enemy commanders, and those aren’t really played to the brutality of the world. Again, I don’t want to see a bunch of blood and guts, but the repeated mention of the harsh realities of violence and the lack of actually seeing it in a repelling way creates dissonance in the setting. 

Again, I get the feeling this is done better in the light novel, where you have a chance to go into detail about some of the cruel aspects of the world. And I don’t just mean describing the blood and guts. Things like showing the refugees of a country Yuuto’s Wolf Clan conquered being fearful of him, having Yuuto’s generals demand to loot and pillage after conquering a region with Yuuto refusing, having Yuuto trying to give proper burials to allies and enemies a like. Just more of a show on those cruel aspects in this world would be nice. 

The first arc does this very well, with Linnea being terrified of Yuuto when she’s brought to him in chains as a captured general before Yuuto tries to manipulate and guide her into peaceful surrender, only for him to collapse in relief and exhaustion once Linnea is out of view and Yuuto marvels on how difficult it is to mask kindness with a heavy hand in this world. However, after this arc things  just feel a little less tense. Maybe its because I watched the anime long ago and know how things end, maybe it’s just the manga not writing/drawing in details that would make some of these scenes more tense, I don’t know. But the setting feels just a touch flaccid. 

Character Diversity

I know this is a harem-esque Isekai series, but with how seriously the manga is taking Yuuto’s situation I feel like there should be some diversity in the main cast gender-wise. Don’t misunderstand me, I like cute girls as much as the next guy, but with a setting playing things as serious as they are it doesn’t really make sense that the characters closest to Yuuto would only be his harem, especially given how violent the world of Yggdrasil is. It would make sense to have a few male generals or male warriors around his age in his circle. This would not only allow Yuuto to have more male characters he could be casual with, it’d also give us characters that could be violent, rowdy, and flawed without it being a turnoff if they were female.

Yeah... I know how that sounds, but that’s just how the marketing works these Isekai/harem series.

Given what I know of the characters, Sig or Ingrid could definitely be guys and nothing would really change that much in terms of the narrative. Sig is played off more as an innocent and loyal daughter to Yuuto rather than a potential lover, and turning that innocent daughter into a son would work, especially with Sig being the brawny warrior of the group. Ingrid is the group blacksmith and has a rather tomboyish and casual attitude that needs to constantly be reigned in by Yuuto so he can keep up appearances, and making her a guy would actually let Yuuto not hold back much in how he addressed her. It’s possible the light novel gives him some male allies to let into his main group, but I kind of doubt that.

Yuuto’s Age

Yuuto feels a little too young to be as smart as he is. I had a similar issue in the Taboo Tattoo manga, but given how humble, mature, and intelligent Yuuto is, him being only sixteen makes no sense. Especially when you consider he’s been in Yggdrasil for two years since arriving. I know the competently smart child/teenager is a convenience that a lot of manga, anime, cartoons, and comics have that the audience just accepts, but this manga also takes a lot of this deadly eat-or-be-eaten world serious, so seeing a mere child lead a clan of warriors with only his stolen knowledge of the modern world and Google feels real out of place. The manga explains that he was humbled by a mistake he made when he first came to Yggdrasil that got someone close to him killed and he took his situation much more seriously after that, but I feel that his maturity and his age don’t really match at times. I understand that hardship can force someone to mature quicker than expected, and the responsibility of leadership means he had to shape up fast if he didn’t want more deaths on his hand, but him being just 16 makes his wiser and mature decisions and actions feel a little suspect. Him being around his late teens or mid twenties would feel a bit more appropriate.

Honestly, this whole main cast could be a few years older with the exception of Sig, Chris, and Al, as their younger ages are actively discussed and utilized in the story.

And... well, it’d make all the sexual tension feel less awkward too.

Yeah, I’m gonna’ have to go there. It’s no secret that Master of Ragnarok has a lot problematic issues in some of the topics it discusses. And while I’ll defend a few, this one I won’t. Some of the girls trying to actively make themselves sexually available for Yuuto feels real uncomfortable. Yuuto is probably the oldest of the main cast with the exception of Felicia and he’s 16. Now, I’m not against characters of a young age exploring their sexuality, there are too many western sitcoms and movies that both poke fun at and discuss that topic for me to grandstand, but Master of Ragnarok has some of these girls clearly trying to jump on Yuuto’s dick. 

In their defense, characters like Chris and Al are actively trying to get into a political marriage with Yuuto so their clan can be under Wolf Clan protection, and Felicia is within Yuuto’s age group and has known him long enough for marriage and even casual sex to be discuss given the world setting. And to Yuuto’s credit he always refuses for both story reasons and reasons more in line with harem anime tropes of keeping the main character celibate while enjoy the fawning, but it’s still very uncomfortable to see girls just barely around 14 trying to bang and marry the dude.

Smaller Issues

That’s it for the big stuff, but I’ll just post a few smaller issues I have. Nothing too big, but things that either aren’t as problematic as the above issues, or things that just bug me personally.

I don’t like how the majority of male characters in the story are villains/antagonists, it just feels very generic.

The only male ally we actively see is in his late 20s and that bugs me greatly. 

Not a nitpick, but I would had liked it if Yuuto’s knowledge came from some personal interest in old world war strategies instead just actively trying to google search the best solution for all his problems.

Praises

I know I went into a lot negatives, but I do enjoy this manga series. There are a lot of aspects I found interest and explored in fun ways. To that end...

The Framework

This is an Isekai story that is more in the middle of the journey than the beginning, and I actually like that fact. It saves the audience a lot of time since any seasoned anime/manga fan knows the tropes of most Isekai already and jumping straight into what makes this one different from others is a nice change of pace. Despite my synopsis above, this manga actually does a two-year time skip after the starting incident and we’re planted firmly into Yggdrasil’s world right as Yuuto wraps up a big battle. 

Granted you will be a bit lost if you aren’t familiar with the tropes of most Isekai, and the large gap in time can feel like a lot of potential character development was lost, but I like that I can just jump in and see the bigger moves being made right at the start, though I’ll admit that’s a personal thing.

The Setting

While I have my issues with how the artist treats the setting, I love how writer handles it. I appreciate that Yggdrasil a Bronze Era world rather than a generic Holy Roman/German-esque European nation. It actually helps justify some of the odder aspects of typical harem anime tropes by sticking them in a setting where a harem, a war-like culture, and other practices are somewhat appropriate. It’s not too odd to have a young ruler with a few girls and mistresses. As unnerving as I find these girls being so promiscuous, I’ll admit this was probably normal given the times, assuming Yuuto was just a bit older.

I also like the fact that Yuuto takes advantage of the fact that his knowledge of strategy and war has some real weight. This is a world where the basics of strategy is to have your strongest fighters up front and push back the enemy’s strongest fighters, sometimes with some supporting arrow fire. Yuuto’s knowledge of phalanxes, hammer and anvil, and other strategies makes him a near god of war in terms of commanding ability, and that his intelligence is the key to making him a rising political figure in the world.

Yuuto’s Phone

I almost feel like Master of Ragnarok’s writer saw In Another World with my Smartphone and knew they could do something better with that concept. While Yuuto Google searching his problems is a bit silly, the effects it has in improving the lives of his clan are hard to argue against. Yuuto’s claim to fame is the tactics and methods he learns by trying to kickstart his Bronze Age clan in the Iron Age, and the methods and practices he learns to try and keep things under control helps make the world feel more realistic. 

I also like how Yuuto’s phone can only get reception in what is essential a holy shrine where he was originally transported, as well as his cell phone being charged via-sunlight. This does a lot to explain just how he still has access to the internet and Mitsuki despite in a different world and time period. A nice touch overall.

Smaller Praises

While I had little in terms of small issues with the series, I have many small praises I want to give the manga and story. The above points were just the ones I could go into detail about, but here are just a few of the smaller things that impressed me.

Yuuto not having the titular Einherjar blessings was a smart move. I hear in a lot of writing circles that they want to see an Isekai where the protagonist has just their wits to get them through the world and this is probably the closest we’ll get to that idea done successfully, at least in a more action-based series.

I didn’t talk about her, but the character Linnea is a well-written character in this series. She’s forced into being a vassal of Yuuto, but is shown to be a charismatic ruler in her own right, able to motive her clansmen, command armies, and only being weak in terms of strategy and combat skills compared to Yuuto. 

As much as I wish the cast had more males in it, the female harem all have a role outside of typical harem stuff. Sig is the frontline warrior, Felicia is familiar with the lore and setting of Yggdrasil, Chris and Al are spies and assassins, and Linnea is a great co-ruler/adviser of her people. Even Ingrid is a great blacksmith and is able to comprehend and push out what is for the Bronze Age advance technology with little trouble.

I know I wrote off the artist quite a bit in my criticisms, but I do enjoy the way they’ve drawn the characters. They have a bit more life to them than the anime counterparts accord to my memory.

Conclusion

Overall, I like this manga series a lot. I’m only 3 volumes in and I know the light novel has over 20 volumes with the 15th coming out around April of this year here in the US, but I don’t know if I’d read it. I’m already deep into a few manga and want to finish some other Comixology stuff I’m reading.

Anyway, that’ll be it for me. Next time... might talk about some Warhammer II stuff, don’t know.

[theantisocialcritic]

Archive Project - August 16, 2014 - Anime Catchup

If the title isn't subtle enough for you, I've watched a bunch of anime movies and shows lately and i'd like to talk about my thoughts on all the ones i've completed! Here we go: Wolf Children This movie falls has something that I very rarely see in Anime and endlessly appreciate: subtlety and a grounded, really world story. Granted the actual premise is very much of the high concept fantasy type that anime tends to be, Wolf Children ends up being emotional and powerful enough on its own and a lot of that has to do with the fact that its other elements are grounded in a world and scenario that feels more or less like the real world. The story follows the life of a young woman studying college in Japan when she comes across a reclusive young man. He has a secret that he conceals but the two of them fall in love and he entrusts her with his secret. He is the last surviving descendent of a tribe of people with the ability to transform themselves into Wolfs. Not Werewolves, just wolves. They maintain their personality and the ability to talk in wolf form and otherwise live lives as normal people. The couple fall in love, conceive children and start building a family. Unfortunately, things transpire that force the couple apart and now the young woman is forced to raise her two half-wolf children alone, with little money and understanding of how to raise children that have the ability to become wolves at any time. Wolf Children isn't really a normal anime, its somber, emotional and centers it's drama around the central characters ability to function as a single mother in a difficult situation. It might sound silly but its one of the best anime movies i've seen once The Wind Rises. Check it out! Summer Wars This movie comes from the same director as Wolf Children. I checked it out on Netflix shortly after seeing Wolf Children for the first time and I was very impressed by it. Its not nearly as good as his other major piece but its fun, emotional and engaging enough that it didn't bother me at all. Summer Wars is far more rooted in it's anime origins in style and substance than Wolf Children. In the near future, an ultra advanced Social Network has become the center of global technology in almost all aspects of life. A young tech support member who is working on coding for the social network is pulled away from his job by a girl who needs him to pose as a boyfriend for her extended family. Events are conspiring away from the public eye as a super powered virus has entered the network and is threatening to pose damage to the entire network which potentially included access to transportation, hospitals and global weapons systems. Now only a young group of tech support operators stand in the way of the virus destroying the lives of millions of people. As I said, this movie is FAR more in touch with mainstream anime than Wolf Children. That being said its also a very emotional, exciting and visually fascinating movie to watch! If you have a Netflix DVD account I'd definitely suggest renting this one! Akira My oh my… In the realm of anime movies, few stand more hollowed than Akira, a movie so powerful, emotionally effecting and deep that even great the great Siskel and Ebert loved it. Following the destruction of Tokyo in the third World War, a new city called Neo Tokyo was build up from the ruins. Now the city runs rampant with crime, civil unrest and talk of revelation against its corrupt ruling class. One night, a group of street thugs come across a mysterious individual whom the government immediately arrests. Shortly after that one of the members of the street gang begins to have strange outbursts and fever dreams. I won't reveal too much of the plot beyond that but be warned, you are in for a dark, dank, and terribly strange movie with psychics, super powers, chase scenes and some of the best animation that has ever been put into an anime. Akira is so powerful and influential that it is regularly cited as a notable inspiration for The Matrix. The only problems I really have with this movie are the pacing and the tone. They aren't bad! For me though, the movie felt very slow. That, and the tone was so dark and downright disturbing that I was in a pretty foul mood for the next two days after I saw it. That being said though, Akira is a must see anime movie! Ranma 1/2 Season 1 The works of Rumiko Takahashi are beloved amongst anime fanatics the world over! Her most famous work is the beloved, though notably flawed Inuyasha, which I do very much enjoy! Much earlier in her career though she created a martial arts-comedy Manga titled Ranma 1/2. The story follows the life and romantic exploits of a teenage boy named Ranma. He and his father are training in China at a cursed spring, unaware that it is so, when both of them fall into the water and are transformed. Now whenever Ranma is splashed with water he is transformed into a teenage girl, while his father becomes a panda. Inspite of their curses, Ranma and his father move back to Tokyo, Japan where he reveals that Ranma is to be wed to Akane Tendo, the daughter of a training partner of Ranma's father. From there the story begins as Ranma becomes the center of attention for all the young ladies in Tokyo and similarly for Akane to all the boys. I just finished reading the 36 volume manga for Ranma 1/2 last month and in retrospective I thought it was a really fun story! Its a manga that came out of that wonderful moment in the 1980s when Martial Arts was the coolest thing ever. This was about the time when stuff like Karate Kid and DragonBall were getting popular. For a couple months this year, Walmart had the first season of the anime adaption of Ranma 1/2 for sale and I was lucky enough to pick it up. While not totally perfect, and to my knowledge the first season is infamously slow, I thought it was a lot of fun! It really picks up towards the end of the season when the side characters start showing up and it starts getting into a regular beat that would come to define the series. Check out the Manga adaption sometime! In my opinion its a little better than the anime but this is still dang fun! Ghost Hunt Thanks a lot to FYE for keeping the Funimation SAVE boxes on discount for a couple weeks! I was able to pick up the Shojo Anime Ghost Hunt for less than $20! In this anime, a young teenage girl named Mai meets a strange, distant and very narcissistic Ghost Investigator named Naru. After an accident in which Mai breaks a piece of Naru's equipment, Mai agrees to work for Naru to pay off her dept. The two work together with a team of Exorcists and Medians to solve strange cases and hauntings. Taken as a whole, Ghost Hunt is a surprisingly compelling and interesting anime to watch. It does however suffer from a number of issues, namely the characters. Aside from Mai and Naru, most of the cast lack any compelling character traits to make them fully formed. A few of them get last minute traits thrown on them towards the end of the anime but they are pretty much uninteresting up until then. On the other hand, Mai is a genuine and sweet character that I found enjoyable. Naru works pretty well too, carrying the same sense of "I know everything better than you" confidence that characters like Sherlock Holmes and The Doctor carry, granted with their more humanistic optimism replaced with a duller more world wear affectation. Overall, fun and compelling anime to watch! Attack on Titan Now we get to THE BIG ONE. Attack on Titan is the holy grail of anime to come out of the last couple years. The world as we knew it no longer exists. Sometime in the past, a race of beings known as the Titans have devastated humanity, eating them and driving them to extinction. All that remains of mankind lives behind the a fortress. One day however, a strange, enormous Titan appears and destroys the outer wall of humanities last fortress. Hundreds of Titans are let loose into the city and hundreds of thousands of people are killed. In the aftermath, a group of children swear revenge on the Titans for the destruction of their homes and families. I don't know what to say for this anime that hasn't been said elsewhere. Yah! Its great! Its really really awesome! The characters are well conceived and fully dimensional. The story is powerful and compelling. The music and anime are some of the best in years! Beyond the fact that this anime is at the center of attention for Anime fandom at the moment, there are dozens of reasons to check out Attack on Titan! Definitely do! Thank you for reading! Live long and prosper!

[sparda3g]

Sparda’s Lounge: A Silent Voice Movie Review

I have been anticipating for this movie for a long time. The funny thing is that I haven’t read the manga when the movie announcement occurred. I finally collected the volumes and read them. Needless to say, I loved it. It was one series that for some reason dragged me into reading without any knowledge or preview. I just know I wanted to. The movie trailers begin to compel me, reminding me the great memory of the series. I have no idea on why the movie isn’t licensed in USA as of this recording time, but I know I have to watch it.

A Silent Voice is a bit over 2 hours long. The thought of condensing the entire content from the original source in this length is ludicrous, though I accept it for what it is, so long it brings the excellence to the big screen. From the critics’ reception alone, it certainly has done a bang up job. Is it good as I was hoping for?

Story

I will break into two parts: one for movie review and the other is the brief comparison from the original source.

Ishida Shouya bullies a deaf girl, Nishimiya Shouko in Elementary School. After her transfer to another school, he then gets bullied by the ones he called friends, leaving him scarred with no sight of future. A couple of years later, he seeks to end his life, only to stumble upon Shouko. It was that moment that his path to redemption has begun.

The story begins with a hard-hitting and nerve-wrecking setting. Watching an innocent girl getting bullied for faults that she didn’t choose to have is hard to watch. The movie briefly shows the current timeline of Shouya in an empty shell of his former self. That brief scene helps to balance out before entering over 20 minutes worth of flashback in order to feel not just disgusted but sympathetic. They were sixth graders and at that time of age, they will do nasty thing that they wouldn’t know what would lie ahead.

Once the flashback ends, the story goes to full gear with the relationship between Shouya and Shouko and every part of it is delightful. It slowly works its way to build the foundation between the two in which later spreads to others. The theme of friendship is the centerpiece to these two characters, more so on Shouya, because the redemption is the big question of his life. It question if a person deserve another chance or forgiveness. As time progresses, the developments are profound within the relationship with old and new friends.

The struggle for both characters are similar yet struggled differently to exploit the importance of bond. While the romance feel is visible and known towards the audience, it doesn’t take away the prime focus of friendship as well as dealing with their issues; therefore making the story more focused, more character driven, and great emotional ride.

The ending hits home with a powerful message from the course of the journey. Although it could have timed it a bit better on the setting, perhaps cover a bit more on certain aspect, the message is well received as it pays off your 2 hours long trip to these attachable characters.

Characters

The two main characters are very likeable and well presented in their roles. Shouya is a boy who has done many wrongdoings in his past, leaving him to take a path to redemption. He’s the protagonist that we follow through and through; getting to know something he lost a long time ago. He leads the story to present the meaning of friendship: how to communicate, what to do in your spare time, how to stay communicated, where to go to have fun, and many others.

The narrative doesn’t let him off easy as his character is often challenged with certainty that he can’t be redeemed. It reminds the audience that this is the same boy who has done so much negative deeds that one way or another, karma comes around. It’s not handling in a way that he will always suffer, rather trying to maintain the reflection of his interpreted view of friendship.

Shouko is a lovable character that has you feeling upset that her life shouldn’t have to deal with this. She’s not there to look pretty and innocent target though; she has her share of developments that is similar to Shouya, only it leaves you wondering if she will be fine throughout the story. She plays a role of trying to make the friendship come to reality as well as helping Shouya with its process. Because of this narrative approach, it brings these two characters at their top form.

If there is something to nitpick or pick a con, it would be the supporting cast. While there are some that is spared and receive development such as Yuzuru, there are others that either enter the scene late or didn’t get enough time of their own to be more than a character that represent just a friend; notably Mashiba. It’s the sacrifice of condensing a long length series in a fixed length movie. That said the movie doesn’t suffer as it didn’t present certain characters as what could have been, only to fall flat. All in all, the main characters are treated at their finest and with its journey with nice supporting cast, it carries the movie enough strength to remain splendid.

Content

Once again, the journey to find the meaning of friendship is the driving theme of these main characters. It’s the well-paced and step-by-step journey of friendship. From the days of bully and hate, to the days of renewal and love, it is convincing to see and why one cannot simply forward as easily as one would hope to be. Each passing bonding moments lead to a notable growth within them and it puts your feeling at ease.

It’s not an easy road however; life can be full of surprises and mishap that it will have you on the edge of your seat. These main characters continuously try to make the friendship and their life better, only for old scars to return and new one possibly form. You want to root for them to change and no longer be haunted by their past mistakes or struggles. Even for Shouya who began with a troublesome attitude deserves another chance. They’re gentle and kind enough for you to care to hope for their life to finally overcome their demons.

The supporting cast, while not as developed as the main or some don’t earn much, does relate to them one way or another. Some could be challenging as few can be someone you despise, but it works here as it conveys the human nature and how there would be people that are difficult to change, even for this movie length. They do job well to boost up the morale for the main characters to gain something they lack. It’s an emotional ride from the very start; wishing for the very best.

Presentation

Kyoto Animation has done stunning job in TV Animation and this movie is no exception; arguably the best movie presentation from the studio. Its vibrant color, the jarring water visual, and characters’ expressions are some of the best work of art in recent years. The characters’ motions are top-notch, bring tons of life in them and make exquisite and lovable scenes ever more convincing. It’s difficult to not be adored by those two.

The dramatic scenes are on point with its engaging piano score playing in a right tone. The voice actors deserve tons of praise because they hit the emotion home. There are many key moments with excellent voice work to grasp and hold your attention with its emotion that is powerful enough to make you believe that they are the characters themselves. The overall presentation is simply glorious.

Anime/Manga Difference

In the fixed length of the movie, it was given that many cuts and rearrangements have to be made. Some characters’ traits have to be altered, cut short or almost entirely, and it’s a sacrifice to prevent the bigger issue. Some scenes are rearranged such as the bridge scene and others that I won’t spoil for newcomers. A subplot was removed as it wouldn’t be needed for this similar yet altered theme.

The interactions are largely the same with few cuts that would only confuse the audience, including one friendship that wasn’t elaborated enough, but a line or two gives you an idea of their bond. The main theme carries the same. Bonus: romance wise, it’s more of the same with a few alternations that works. It remains a side story like the original, but both version, you can tell where it was going at.

While I wouldn’t call it exactly night and day difference, it’s enough to consider it as an alternative version of the original source. If you can accept the changes, it’s still a pleasure to enjoy the story and the characters. Both sides have their own pros and cons, so for a newcomer, I recommend them both. As for manga fan, give it a try and you may be pleased for their own take on the story.

Overall

The story of friendship in the path of redemption can be a challenge for those who have lost that passion. Whether A Silent Voice brings in a great meaning of friendship or not, it certainly brings in the joy and heartwarming moments. It’s a compelling and charming movie that is definitely worth your time. It’s a voice that shouldn’t remain silent; it deserves to be heard.