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Fairy Tail 184
[chapter link]
Cover page says “Climax of the Edolas Arc.” I am holding you to this, chapter.
Taurus: Useless, as always.
Virgo, now. Proving Lucy’s powerlessness before she reveals a new summon, maybe? I don’t know. There’s no sense of purpose to this fight.
I am entirely unsurprised that Mashima is having a cute girl fighting a baddie with tentacles.
You can’t use a “protect your friends” speech when the character is trying to save a stranger. This is a basic storytelling principle.
Yep, Lucy proved to be unnecessary. Natsu would have come through that wall and saved the day whether or not the octopus guy was tied up. Chalking this up to fanservice.
Two mid-bosses were defeated, and that’s the “climax of the Edolas arc”? Gray hasn’t even fought, Erza is still fighting herself somewhere, the old man has yet to reveal his power, and there are surely at least two more “shocking” developments in this cheap Enies Lobby ripoff.
Final Flash: Chapter, that’s unacceptable false advertising. I demand to see your supervisor, chapter.
Fairy Tail 182
When’s the last time you saw One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, etc., use a narrative box for recap purposes? Even Hunter x Hunter doesn’t do that, and it goes on hiatus for months at a time. Major series don’t need to refresh anyone’s memory.
Magic vs. … a guy who throws boats.
Wait, or is it magic vs. an amusement park?
Okay, two notes on the other, uglier baddie: 1. Kurama; 2. his weapon can make anything soft and limp? I don’t even have to say anything; the jokes write themselves.
Ugh, taking a roller-coaster picture? Really?
Dramatic Natsu panels have lost all their edge at this point. They’re like “shocking” twists in the last three pages of any given Bleach chapter.
Nice to see Aquarius facing a real challenge. She was too one-dimensional of a character.
Mashima would be well served learning to stagger fights in such a way that not every single protagonist is on the brink of the losing, while simultaneously the world faces some kind of cataclysm, before inevitably someone (Natsu) turns the tide and saves the day.
Final Flash: Stupid amusement park.
Kimi no Iru Machi 87
[chapter link]
How convenient; Haruto finally remembers to care after the damage is done.
After making us sit through the date with Nagoshi for so long, Kouji might as well have wrapped up her small storyline properly. Instead, Haruto explains that she left. That isn’t proper narration.
Wait a minute… who is this girl again? I feel like I’m supposed to know her. … oh, that’s right, it’s Eba, who we should have seen weeks ago.
Clearly, this isn’t going to go well.
So, it finally happened. I still don’t necessarily believe Eba, and will refuse to believe her outright until we see her supposed new boyfriend, but this is the storyline development that needed to happen. Unfortunately, it needed to happen several weeks ago, so most of the impact is gone.
Final Flash: The author made the audience wait too long; much like real relationship issues, one side’s indecisiveness has soured the whole experience.
Kimi no Iru Machi 86
[chapter link]
P1: Ah, unreasonable expectations.
Of course, Nagoshi is completely misunderstanding the situation. Not just a little. Completely.
Don’t be fooled, Haruto! Let Nagoshi have a bad time!
A haunted house. Cue standard “I’m scared, let me fall into your arms” scene.
Surely Eba is one of these ghosts.
What better way to wrap up an entirely stereotypical chapter than with Haruto falling on Nagoshi and revealing some skin?
Yep, Eba. I take no credit for seeing that coming. Painfully obvious.
Final Flash: Highly disappointing. Romance series can be somewhat derivative, but being outright formulaic is unacceptable.
Gamaran 45
[chapter link]
You know who Jinno (scruffy old man) reminds me of? Fry’s dog, from Futurama.
 Jinno Ichiou |
 Fry's dog, Seymour |
The resemblance is uncanny.
The sudden personal conversation about Jinsuke is a little jarring. It could have been used to good effect if Shingo was trying to get in his head, but he quickly goes back to boasting. Doesn’t quite work.
This fight is exceptionally easy to follow. That seems to be a major strong point of Gamaran as a whole; the art always clearly illustrates what’s going on, even in a heated fight.
Final Flash: Interesting beginning to the fight. Hope the rest is memorable, because barring a huge plot twist (Gama deciding to take on everyone), we move away from the most interesting character when this fight ends.
Fairy Tail 181
Cat Island is expendable, for the record.
Natsu’s face is amusing, but his reaction is predictable. So little originality in his character.
Wendy might be the stereotypical “little girl with secret power thrust into difficult situation,” but she’s still cute.
Gazille! More of him would be entirely acceptable.
So he’s just going to go punch the crystals? Yeah, I’m sure no one will interfere.
… “I’m sure no one will interfere,” he said.
Transparent foreshadowing, but unlike Naruto, where it leads to plot advancement, this is entirely gratuitous. An amusement park? Really?
More weirdo enemies.
Final Flash: “At least we’re moving forward” is becoming a tired assessment of this series. Some decent storytelling along the way wouldn’t hurt.
Mahou Sensei Negima! 286
[chapter link]
Amnesia is so convenient for the novelty of having a character fall in love with the same person again.
I appreciate quick releases of low quality scans… but man, this one is terribly difficult to read.
Akamatsu’s art style is enjoyable, but sometimes the drawn-characters-obviously-pasted-on-backgrounds approach is too overt. At least lessen the white outlines around the black outlines of the characters.
P15, large center panel: “What’s this, then? Some kind of magic? Hand power?” Yes, use your hands to make him feel better. All of you. … wait, this isn’t a doujin yet, never mind.
Final Flash: Supremely uneventful chapter. Training arcs are difficult.
Fairy Tail 180
[chapter link]
Nice try, Doppelganger! Save it for Queen Doppelpopolis. … wait, wrong series.
At least one Erza was kind enough to put markings on her face.
The way I picture Erza shouting “Explosion!”
I’m actually interested in seeing Gazille in more action. Hopefully he won’t be taken out too quickly and leave all the rest of the Dragon Slayer responsibilities to Natsu.
So all of the main characters are back and they can use magic? Good. We can make actual progress in this arc (and then be done with bizarro-world).
Final Flash: Disappointing that the Erza fight will last more than one chapter, but I can’t complain that we’re moving forward.
Gamaran 44
[chapter link]
What?! The only good one wasn’t so good after all? This never happens!
P5, bottom panel: What’s with Naoyoshi’s mouth?
Jinno Ichiou certainly features eye-catching character design. I don’t recall seeing many characters from series in this era with scruffy facial hair.
Ranmaru’s message is the best news in a while. This series needs considerably more Jinsuke. It’s one thing to announce the standard of excellence in a series; it’s another to show it.
Very tired of the “Do you hate me? Then grow stronger”-style of foreshadowing. Those villains rarely turn out to be complete villains, too.
Midou Shingo is reminding me strongly of Gedatsu. Not saying there’s any plagiarism going on, because the hairstyle suits the era; it’s just amusing to picture Gama’s next opponent talking with his mouth closed and failing to cross his arms.
Final Flash: Another Gama fight! It’s about time. Also, excited at the prospect of finally seeing Jinsuke.
Kimi no Iru Machi 85
[chapter link]
Well. Hello, Aoi.
Oh, the perils of being a stalker.
Wow. This turn of events is too much of a stretch. Anyone would see the problem with using another girl for this. You can only make your main character so naive before the audience’s suspension of disbelief breaks down.
When Negi adds a harem member, it’s a great occasion. When Haruto adds a romantic interest, it’s frustrating. Show us Eba already.
This entire chapter is following the most basic of romantic comedy formulas. Seo is a better writer than this. What a letdown.
Final Flash: Well, I suppose since Haruto doesn’t want to see Eba with Nagoshi in tow, there’s a 99% chance it will happen. I wish we didn’t have to drag this disappointing storyline to the long-awaited meeting.
Gamaran 43
[chapter link]
I have absolutely no qualifications to talk about proper swordfighting technique, and I know this is manga, but the stance for Muhi Musou Renjin seems a little… completely wide-open. Even for a fully offensive move, it makes little sense. If this is grounded in any reality, he would die before even reaching his target.
I point it out in the bad series, so I have to play fair and point it out in better ones: Hugely disappointing number of speed lines this chapter. I know the action is fast-paced, but limit yourself.
P13, top panel: Why we like this series.
I hope when I die, I don’t say “Abeh…”
Final Flash: Shinnoujou’s fight is over. It might have lasted a little too long for my tastes, but it was still acceptable. Ready for the main cast again.
Mahou Sensei Negima! 285
[chapter link]
Negi, the perfect example of a male protagonist unwittingly making every girl around him fall in love. So innocent.
Why, hello Evangeline. So nice of you to drop in.
(Love that she’s playing a retro game on a retro TV, the way it’s meant to be done.)
Shonen paraphrasing: “There is an option but it’s dangero–” “I MUST DO IT”
All these overt parallels to RPGs (well, video games in general) present the obvious, mandatory scenario: An American release of the inevitable comprehensive Negima (Suikoden-esque) RPG encompassing at least the entire Magic World arc. This must happen.
Page 15: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and Chidori on the same page? Hm.
Nodoka meets up with Yue, too! I was hoping this would happen soon.
Final Flash: Great fight scenes and the final character development necessary before the climactic fights.
Fairy Tail 179
[chapter link]
Let’s see how much I can write without mentioning cats.
“What path is left in Edolas without any help?” is a pretty shallow statement. It wouldn’t be predictable shonen manga without someone coming to help them right about now.
Hm, handcuffs that restrain special powers. That sounds familiar.
Activate the Buster Ca– er, Code ETD.
“So, the purpose of strengthening our military was for this…” Yes, it was, Dalton.
What do you know? Someone showed up to help.
Final Flash: The swerve of the humans waging war on the Eksheed is the only redeeming quality of an otherwise linear chapter.
Kimi no Iru Machi 84
[chapter link]
Suzuka and Yamato fighting! Cute and unsurprising. Unfortunately, the constant references to Suzuka are beginning to have a negative effect; I’ve enjoyed Kimi no Iru Machi as a whole, but not nearly as much as Suzuka.
For anyone interested, the cast are at a real race track: Tsukuba Circuit, in Ibaraki Prefecture. (Haruto calls it Ibaragi, an apparently common mispronunciation.)
I think I could have done without Kazama being sick. It’s already enough to swap out half the cast of the series midway through; don’t make me care for a whole new set of dramatic circumstances. Couldn’t Kazama just be an aspiring racer?
It’s hard to tell if Kazama is actively trying to push Haruto and Mishima together or only joking.
That ended quickly. Haruto is the one who needed cheering up, not the audience; we don’t need an entire chapter at a race track.
Final Flash: I read a theory online that Kazama is Eba’s new boyfriend. This would be horrible and unnecessary. I’m okay with Kazama and Mishima now, but please, not too much more. Stick to the main storyline.
Gamaran 42
[chapter link]
Like Kenichi, I appreciate how Gamaran attempts to provide a realistic basis for its fighting styles.
Man, that’s pretty cruel to blame your death on someone as you’re dying. I mean, I get that you’re pissed off that you’re dying, but to curse someone you love when you know they’ll have to live with it seems harsh.
Top panel, p16: These scenes are the reason that, despite its faults, I enjoy this series.
Yet, the fight isn’t resolved. That’s unfortunate.
Final Flash: Some decent action, but these aren’t the characters I care about. I hope the fight ends next chapter.
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