Jun 8
Bait & Switch
a Kuseno X Bofoi Comic (Webcomic Spoilers)
seen from United States
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seen from Türkiye
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seen from Japan
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seen from Canada
seen from Türkiye
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seen from United States
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seen from Slovenia
seen from China
Bait & Switch
a Kuseno X Bofoi Comic (Webcomic Spoilers)
wholesome? (not including the last message one year ago thing)
Thinking about Season 3: the vertical battlefield... that won’t happen (a response)
[The original essay on Season 3 by @gofancyninjaworld]
Well.... this topic was going to revisited this topic sooner or later. Just as Genos is the most frequent discussions of OPM for @gofancyninjaworld ....mine, while simpler (and maybe even more wrong), the OPM webcomic/manga/anime adaption. So please forgive me if I come off as arrogant, pigheaded, and high horsing. That is not my intention.
The whole arguement in the original essay as to why Saitama vs Orochi can't be the finale, whereas Tornado vs Psykorochi can, is...
The conclusion of Tornado's fight and downfall of the heroes is necessary for Season 3 to make sense.
Saitama vs Orochi is too deceptively conclusive as a heroic victory.
The first one is a complete story argument, not arc structure argument, and the second one is the second greatest argument in support of the first ending.
(A) Tornado vs Psykos and the downfall of the heroes aren’t necessary for Season 3:
Tornado vs Psykos and the heroes downfall, are they neccesary for the entire saga? Yes. But is the story up to Saitama vs Orochi problematic without them? No. It's a simple story of heroes defeating monsters and saving the world. Basic? Yes. Short? Absolutely. A measely appetizer compared to main course coming? 100% agree. But it works as a complete story, just as Season 1 did (and webcomic readers are far more justified in discrediting the Tornado vs Psykorochi fight by the same logic... it’s a fake ending vastly inferior to the true ending of the saga)
(B) Another 3-4 year hiatus is the OPM anime’s greatest enemy... not the short seasons:
It was stated earlier that the deceptive happy ending of is the second greatest arguement in support of the first ending? What is the first? The grave danger of another 4 year haitus... or even longer. Doesn't matter how well animated, how good the storytelling, and how many episodes the new season has... if mainstream fans don't come back to watch it. And the production committee, insulated as they are in their corporate bubble, know that.
The perfect example why trading time for quality eventually fails is Attack on Titan. The anime is pretty consistent with beautiful animation and banger war saga throughout, that began with even more popularity than OPM. But after a single 4 year wait for Season 2... what is it now? Just a very popular anime, on par with other series like Demon Slayer, MHA... or OPM Season 2. Yet somehow... somehow, OPM, which had one 3+ year haitus, AND a worse animated sequel... with recover after a second 3+ year wait?
Again, quality only matters to people who watch it... anyone who drops, forgets, never gets around to, or plain moves on with their lives? Even if OPM Season 3 was the best anime ever made... it will be absolutely worthless... to people who never see it. (That and JC Staff is by far the favorite to make Season 3... so story, not animation, would need carry).
(C) The manga is far, far away from the end of Tornado’s fight:
First off, ending, not with the climax of Tornado vs Psykos, but the start of the climax? That would be akin to ending with Saitama facing off against Boros, or Garou facing off against Death Gatling. That is not a conclusion. Not at all. There is no falling action. There is no story being completed. There is no satisfaction for the audience. Even the end of Season 2 was far, far superior... Garou’s lone wolf hero hunt ended. The Monster Association captured him. The heroes failed to stop him. The prologue of Garou and the Monster Associations’ story was over. The end.
Second, waiting for the end of Tornado vs Psykos as the Season 3 finale? The online manga hasn’t even started their climactic battle of the gods... Tornado and Psykos just reached the surface. Let alone the printed manga. And it won’t simply be a solo duel between the pair, even if Murata/ONE’s storyboard leaks aren’t to be believed.
Many heroes are rushing in to save civilians.
The S-Class heroes are being pulled to the surface.
Garou, Saitama/Flash, and the executives will still be running around underground.
The HA and the civilian populace will be watching the entire event.
This is no fast paced straight to the point boss battle like Boros’ invasion or Elder Centipede that can be covered in a couple hundred pages. There are too many variables, too many players, too many storylines being tangled together (at this point, Dr. Bofoi and Sonic might as well take action, if Mumen Rider can save civilians from Psykorochi, then Sonic sure as hell can wipe his butt and head over to hunt down Saitama! Same with Bofoi, where are your nukes?). This is is looking far closer to a 500 page battle royale. Which would normally mean the better part of a year for Murata to complete online, to, say, early 2021. But the current schedule is far from normal.
(D) The adaption schedule is still getting worse...
With Volume 22 delayed to October, and Volume 23 with Saitama vs Orochi delayed to who knows when, even the best schedule for Season 3 is late 2021/early 2022... 2.5 years since Season 2. Dangerously close to another 3 year hiatus... and that’s the best case scenario.
800 pages from Volume 22 (October 2020) to current chapter...
+500 pages to reach the Tornado ending
1200+ pages/6 volumes minimum
+2 years for the printed manga to reach the Tornado ending. End of 2022.
+1 year for Season 3 production. End of 2023.
[This is not accounting for any more major redraws by Murata... could be 2024 for all we know]
Not simply a 3-4 year wait for Season 2, but a 4-5 year wait for Season 3 ending on Tornado... that is a timeline disaster which would all but guarantee that OPM will be just another manga whose anime petered out due to loss in popularity and relevance. Popularity doesn’t equal quality... but neither does quality equal popularity.
[Even magically ending Season 3 on the “faceoff of Tornado and Psykos” would be Volume 26, released early 2022, pushing the anime to late 2022/early 2023, still a 3-4 year wait.]
(E) Why Season 2 suffered.... and comparing the two options for Season 3:
Last note: there is major difference between “rushing production” and “relasing a shorter season sooner”. The first reduces quality, the second reduces quantity. When looking at OPM Season 2, what were the main negatives?
Less Saitama...
Worse animation...
A cliffhanger ending...
Both versions of Season 3 will have less Saitama. Both will have similar animation quality (if anything a longer wait for two would be more rushed, for fear of a too long hiatus. That and two cour anime are generally lower quality than one cour). But to claim that Tornado vs Psykos is less of a cliffhanger ending than Saitama vs Orochi? Right after arguing that the heroic victory is too deceptive? The only argument, bad as it is, that can be made for Season 3 not ending on Saitama vs Orochi is the same one against Season 2 not ending on a cliffhanger.... webcomic fanatacism: “Screw hiatuses, screw the anime industry, screw the casual fans! Give me Saitama vs Garou!”
Attack on Metal Knight (Part 1)
Credit to /u/PoetOfSaffronPark for inspiration with The Human Monster vs the First Hero and When the Earth is in Danger. Loved the idea of ramming different character's philosophies into clashes to see how they would reach to each other. Here is my take on how Bofoi would react. Enjoy!
#I. Breakfast:
There he was, Dr. Bofoi, the greatest mechanical, weapons, armor, and robotics engineer, developer, and researcher in the world since the dawn of time. There was he was, hidden in his secret fortified industrial base, so secret even his student Child Emperor had never seen most of its complexes or the deepest of its bunkers. There he was, working tirelessly to save the world from evils not even tortured souls like the psychic Tornado of Terror, the brainwashed ninja Flashy Flash or mutant Zombieman could imagine. There he was, the most powerful man in the world while the invincible hero King stood idle and only acted infrequently on a whim… and what was Bofoi doing?
Having breakfast in his private domestic quarters like any ordinary human being.
Bofoi had already taken his daily physical scans, he remained in good health despite his age, no failing organs, no dietary issues, no significant physical weakness (he had never used a crutch his life). Yet here he was, filling his stomach with fuel to keep his limited biological system functioning… the basic, fragile system upon which the most powerful military force in history depended on. If he died, the access codes would be lost with him, his robots would continue to defend humanity until they failed without his efforts maintaining their effectiveness.
Ten minutes had already passed. The monitor on the kitchen wall beeped (Bofoi had one in every room), the efficiency levels of production had dipped 0.1% in his absence. He really needed to finish up eating and get back to work before things got worse. He still had nightmares from the time a single power failure in the factory coordination sector slowed down production by 2% for several hours. And the nerve of the Hero Association desperately trying to contact him! All about that “Monster Association” after rejecting the idea of simply killing them all at once. All because killing a single child to save humanity would hurt their public funding. Which was their own fault for selling out to donors and relying on popularity to support the Hero Association.
#II. The Attack:
Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Defense Level 10 Breached!
Bofoi started, his base was perfectly hidden! No radar, sound, vibration, or smell gave away its position, it was impossible!
Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Defense Level 9 Breached!
He jumped up and ran to his monitor. Already past Level 9? His test assaults by released monsters never made it that far!
“What is the assault pattern? Physical? Firepower? Chemical? Electrical?”
Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Defense Level 8 Breached!
“The method of attack is unidentifiable.”
“Unidentifiable? How?” Even if his sensors were annihilated, that itself would record the data of their destruction! Something is horribly wrong!
Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Defense Level 7 Breached!
This is bad! Forget the threat level, those defense were tens of miles apart. Whatever did it is moving faster than a fighter jet.
“What is the damage to the Defense Levels? What percent of them were destroyed?”
Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Defense Level 6 Breached!
“Damage levels are at…. 0%. Each Defense Level is functioning at 100% capacity.”
“0% Damage?! 100% Capacity?! That doesn’t make any sense!” All the expendable outer Defense Levels, 10-6, were overrun in less than a minute. Defense Level 5 with Bofoi's standby robotic armies was the last real line of defense.
“Mobilize all forces and destroy the threat! Aircraft, Mechas, Drones, anything! Destroy the factories if you must, but stop that intruder! Code **********!”
Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Defense Level 5 Breached!
“Military forces are not responding to orders. They are remaining on standby.”
“Remaining on standby? But I gave Attack Code! Standby Mode is disabled!”
If his robots were not responding… that could only mean… the enemy had disabled their programming! And that could only mean… oh no….
Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Defense Level 4 Breached!
Defense Level 4, the factories, the core of his entire military power, would be broken into. Now that they had fallen, humanity was as good as dead.
Next were the research labs. With the most powerful weapons Bofoi had ever created. As well as a few samples of human DNA and basic artificial wombs Bofoi reluctantly added as a safeguard in case of human extinction. If they fell, there was no hope of Bofoi ever recovering from this attack, of ever saving the world. But the intruder had not won yet.
“Activate All Prototype Weapons in Defense Level 3! Code **********! Is the intruder technological, and is it hacking my programming relays?” Damn it! Someone must have captured Child Emperor, and engineered a computer virus based on what few codes the student knew. Only they could be behind it!
Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Defense Level 3 Breached!
“No, the programming is functioning properly. There is no data of any hacking or foreign program. Nor have any authorized codes reversed the Attack Code or Prototype Code. All Prototypes remain inactive. The intruder is not technological.”
Not technological? No hacking? No malfunction? Not even stolen authorized codes? Bofoi turned off the monitor, it was obviously compromised. He pulled out his backup radio.
“Activating Alternate Communication Relays! Code **********!"
"Self-destruct all breached Defense Levels! Code **********!"
"AND all explosive and ordinance storage in Defense Level 2! Code **********!"
"If they want my technology, they can die capturing it! Is the intruder biological? Answer with maximum priority! Code **********!”
Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Defense Level 2 Breached!
“Biological Scan: Negative. Self-Destruct 10-3: Negative. Self-Destruct 2: Negative.”
All that was left was Defense Level 1… His fortress. His prison. His refuge. His home. Everything was lost. Humanity was lost. Even his few samples of human DNA in his private lab were lost. Earth was lost. But Bofoi… he had not lost yet.
#III. The End:
Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Defense Level 1 Breached!
Oh… so Bofoi had lost after all? And he hadn’t even finished his breakfast. Well… if he was to die… he would die not a coward… but a warrior. He calmly walked to a side closet, opened it, and pulled the lever. No technological, biological, or supernatural interference could stop pure mechanical levers. Bofoi had always wanted to use IT. Even more than he feared IT. His final weapon. His last resort. His masterpiece.
The lever pulled smoothly.
Nothing happened.
Defense Level 0 Breached.
Bofoi shuddered in fear… and shame. Everything was lost. Even IT was defeated without a fight. His death would accomplish nothing, mean nothing, and… lose nothing. It was over.
“Kuseno.... I’m sorry.”
Nothing happened.
Bofoi waited for the end, shivering and almost crying. Just end it already.
He heard the sound of footsteps. The rustle of cloth. The slight sounds of light breathing.
Bofoi turned around. He could not believe his eyes. The spiky hair. The sleek suit. The gloves and boots. The large cape. It was HIM!
“Blast….?”
“Bofoi… we need to talk.”