#i'm gonna pick up the KH1 manga at some point soon- maybe tomorrow i'll order the first one idk

[mushroom-winners-proof]

i finished reading the CoM manga and my thoughts ????? it was a fun read

post gets kinda long so thoughts are under the cut

the manga takes a more comedic approach to the game which is pretty funny considering how dark CoM is. it really breezes past the story, though it does offer really great fight scenes- in general the art style, shading, and paneling is probably some of my favorite that i’ve seen in manga. 

unfortunately the only major battle that gets proper page time is the second fight against larxene: fights against vexen, lexaeus, marluxia, and even ansem are pretty much cut or are much shorter than they should be for a final fight. 

on the topic of ansem, i did like how there were times he had a sort of lingering, foreboding presence to riku’s story, but it only happens once or twice before their final encounter. i didn’t have issues about zexion’s fight being nonexistent however: zexion isn’t really a fighter, he relies on illusions and tricks to win. he’s more of a tactician than a hands-on person. so for his segment to just be the sora illusion part was pretty fine with me (though i wish it lingered just a bit longer and “sora” guilted riku more, just to really push riku into the mindset he’s nothing but darkness).

riku’s story was never too long in the actual game: playing through it only takes about nine hours, so i wasn’t expecting it to be terribly long. my only issue with its pacing is that i feel like there was a missed opportunity to expand on how isolated riku was by not showing at least one world and showing just how empty it was compared to sora’s (maleficent got to show up though so i mean points for that. it was cute seeing riku’s room in hollow bastion again too)

it doesn’t tackle the serious tones of the game too much. for one thing repliku’s arc is significantly trivialized, not even getting a proper resolution until a gag comic at the very end (he doesn’t even directly interact with riku in the main story).

i’m not going to make this super long since i’m not making a Review review right now, i’m just giving my right-after-the-manga thoughts. my overall conclusion is that i did enjoy reading it: the visuals were captivating, both comedically and just enjoying the art style. the book definitely gives a lighter tone, so it’s certainly something i’d revisit if i just want to have a laugh or a smile.