#shadow manga spoilers

[usual-pale]

HE CAUGHT A FUCKING BULLET HES SO COOL

[skaruresonic]

Unpopular take but the Shadow manga was pretty dissapointing from art wise to how different the characters behave from what we have seen in he older games. I just feel like the manga is getting overly praised because " its not idw or american or flynn therefore its good!' While not looking at the short story critical enough.

...What is there to criticize yet? People have been jumping the gun with assumptions that Black Doom retconned Maria's death when we quite literally don't know that for sure. This is the first issue. Maybe give it some room to breathe first.

I plan on reading the issue in full once I buy it, although not knowing Japanese will hinder my comprehension. I likely won't understand the dialogue, but it's not bad, at least from what few snippets I've seen. Certainly, it's no Tolstoy, but like. Does a manga need to be?

You also have to keep the Shiny New Thing(tm) phenomenon in mind. Lots of us have been asking for a Sonic manga for years and now we finally have one. Everything new will initially receive hype before people reexamine it with a critical eye.

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and IDW was just starting out, most of us were, in fact, praising the book and getting hyped for new issues. We weren't yet privy to the steep nosedive it'd take in quality following the metal virus.

---

I just feel like the manga is getting overly praised because " its not idw or american or flynn therefore its good!'

Hey now, that's not entirely true: I also enjoyed the Schadenfreude of dunking on "Shadow was tortured on the ARK" headcanons. To say nothing of the quality Shadria and that tasty Parasite Eve reference :P

Look, I know I have Shadria goggles strapped on so tight they're practically cutting off circulation to my head, but I feel like that's a little unfair to say considering we've only seen bits and pieces of issue one and have to rely on fan translations to know what's happening on any given page. It's not like we're 15 volumes in and Shadow's done nothing but brood. And just because I wasn't tempering my gushing with "Shadow looks weird in some panels" doesn't mean I wasn't silently thinking the latter. Trying to give the manga the benefit of the doubt here.

When you wander the Fauxteur Desert for years, even cloudy water will look like an oasis. In a series where the majority of fans and creators view the source material with disdain, as something to be mutilated in order to be considered "good," beggars can't be choosers. You have to take whatever Ws you can. It can be simultaneously true that I think the manga is good on its own merits and good because it's better than its contemporaries. One doesn't necessarily negate the other.

Besides, at the risk of sounding massively hypocritical... Is it so bad to feel relieved when you finally get served some decent food in this Chili's and you discover you're not as emotionally broken as everybody says you are? IDW fans gaslight you day in and day out with "you can't read," "you don't understand the characters," "you hate the series," and "you need therapy," and when you find something that brings you joy, for once, amidst the sea of phoned-in spinoffs tha pussyfoot around being faithful to the games at best and regard them with disdain at worst, something that doesn't feel like pulling teeth to read? You realize how full of shit they were.

The Shadow manga is better, objectively speaking. And I don't think it's quite fair to imply that comparisons to IDW should be off the table when we keep getting IDW forced down our throats as the cultural touchstone that defines Sonic, sometimes taking top billing before the games. I had to listen to everyone parrot "Eggman can't plan" as if it were Ohshima-given fact for three and a half years. Certainly, people can handle me going "omg Shadria <3" for a few posts.

The art is better. The blocking is better. The emotional beats land by virtue of being competently executed, instead of thinking we'll be won over by five-paragraph monologues. Sometimes the art carries the story! Wow! Compared to other media where the characters never shut up long enough to let us draw our own conclusions - a problem shared by Archie, IDW, Prime, the films, and Boom - that actually is a lot, all things considered.

And, yes, suffice to say, if fan translations are accurate, the writing is better, if only because it seems to come from a rare place of respecting the source material.

That probably sounds like I have no standards, but you have to realize the bar has been placed in hell and writers continue to cha-cha slide right on under it. IDW has Starline knock Shadow out with a freaking log, whereas in the manga Shadow stops a bullet in midair. I'm sorry I can't shut off my initial gut reaction of "holy shit that was bad ass."

It's not even like he stopped the bullet psychokinetically a la Neo, he caught that shit mid trajectory. Unlike the scene where Shadow gets knocked out with a log, nerfing him in order to hype up an OC, thinking about the logistics of the speed and precision needed to intercept a bullet in such a manner just makes it even cooler.

Good writing is enhanced by the application of thought. It doesn't punish the reader for considering the implications. The writer doesn't tell you to "go read something else" if the narrative disappoints.

This isn't even a contest.

...I know, dude. I'm aware it's not the best thing since sliced bread. It's a serial manga. Not expecting Shakespeare here. I just need it to be relatively faithful to the games and not emit an air of arrogant superciliousness towards the source material.

My standards are incredibly low considering how much higher they could be, and that's because 90% of spinoffs fail at clearing the first bar. If I maintained as stringent a standard as my adoring fans say I do, I'd have absolutely nothing to read lol.

[hinamie]

I'll give them shelter like you've done for me

[epickiya722]

I shall treasure this image for the rest of my days. 😭🖤

[ultamitelifeform]

PART 1: Shadow Manga

[hishighnesstheprincess]

The contrast between how the scientists and Maria view Shadow is heartbreaking to me. The scientists sell him out to save their own skins even after earlier in this chapter Shadow saved all of their lives, and even though she's about to be gunned down just for knowing about Shadow, Maria refuses to give the military anything

[saturnsfallen]

this is hurting me

[smallpwbbles]

More Shadow Manga spoilers cuz this is murdering me

I need someone to translate fucking asap, she’s ONE LITTLE GIRL, WHY ARE THEYRE LIKE 20 GUYS INTIMIDATING HER

Shadows expression here someone help me

[dynamic-dingo]

I tried something

I wanted to try color pop/pop art for a background, but my original plan didn't work so it ended up like this. I threw in some more stuff to test, like halftones and different hair highlights. I like it

No Text below

[fuumiku]

A shadow of myself, just who am I?

… I committed to the bit

Alright everyone do we want to listen to the Shadow identity crisis song the Shadow ptsd attack song or the Shadow existential angst song. Alexa play I Am All of Me. Alexa play Rhythm and Balance. Alexa play The Chosen One.

Appealing to the tiny overlap between Dungeon Meshi and Sonic fandoms. Mithrun is also like Omega in many ways (stoic but enthusiastic about maiming). Hm sometimes team Dark just be Mithrun, Cithis and Lycion... I need Mithrun to get a voice like Shadow’s in the anime soo bad please, raspy and deep... Parched throat with 0 intent or motivation to intonate aka low and pretty flat

Okok let’s gooo assigning characters chars, Fleki Sticks, Izutsumi Sonic because she craves freedom, Kabru Knuckles because he’s all about duty and isolates himself… Laios & Falin, Surge & Kit because it'd be funky and their parents want them to be people they aren’t :) Everyone having matching Sonic phone straps would be so cute. The context in that comic was that both groups passed each other by at the grocery store and Mithrun's big flashy merch sure is big and flashy (which happens to be quite bothersome for him) Laios is a Metal fan. Reasons: 1) he’s cool and murderous and there is a causal link there. 2) He transforms into a dragon once and it’s both empowering and angsty. 3) "No one SEES who he IS!!" says Laios and I as we burst into tears. Also Fleki is a big Team Chaotix fan I know it in my heart

You know it’d be fun drawing what Shadow’s dungeon would be like if he was dungeon lord. I’d imagine something like Mithrun’s. The ARK, but with flowers growing everywhere for her, his dead sister alive and well besides him as they live isolated from the rest of the world. It’s all fake, but Shadow’s heart feels at peace for the first time in so long, he is at home. See, they’re similar

Merry Christmas! I hope Mithrun gets a Shadow plushie

[jackdaniel69nice]

the fact that tokoyami could be considered one of the more important members of 1-A and we still got JACK SHIT about his backstory is so wild to me

like you have this whole idea of him cherishing the relationships he has so deeply to the point of an emotional breakdown whenever someone he cares about gets hurt and you DONT TELL US WHY???

like this boy is so incredibly hard on himself despite improving faster than the majority of his peers and WE DONT KNOW WHY???

my delusional ass was WAITING. for THREE YEARS. and we got nothing. the disappointment i felt was just immeasurable.

My god you are so right. It IS really disappointing. I honestly had no expectations for tokoyami backstory because I had always thought of him as a background character when I got into mha in 2017-2019. The story was still new then but when I returned last year there was so much more tokoyami had become. He plays an absolutely vital role but is treated as a supporting character. We knew him long before hawks but he was obviously pushed aside in favor of the winged hero. There is so much subtle writing about tokoyami especially him potentially having hurt or even killed people in the past. Dark Shadow is such an interesting quirk and character but they are never truly addressed for their insane power.

I would like to think tokoyami would have gotten his own character arc eventually if the ending hadn’t been so rushed for whatever reason. It would have probably been a very large undertaking and I can see how it wouldn’t have been able to fit into the tight schedule. He’s not even mentioned in the epilogue, only seen, despite clearly being one of the strongest characters and would at least be top 10.

I’m so sorry anon that your dreams were crushed. I hope my silly headcanons and stories bring you some closure, I do try to stay as close to canon as possible. Although I am aware my personal experiences and feelings certainly influence my ideas without me realizing. Perhaps you could drop in my dms at some point so we can share thoughts :)

[alley-fox]

Since Shoji got a new hero-outfit in the last chapter, I wanted to try and tweak Tokoyami's as well. Not sure this is one I'd settle on, but I do like the idea that his cloak can be more easily opened to give him more maneuverability or in case he needs to take it off.

Also, Dark Shadow gets a grown-up form too and you can't convince me otherwise!

[mettywiththenotes]

Tiny Tokoyami and Dark Shadow holding hands

[alastorgould]

Black Doom better watch out

[epickiya722]

I love how we went from this...

TO THIS!!

[sunnysunsins]

Took us idk how long, but finally all shadow kids have names. Updated version of the chart