#underthethreemoons

[maniacalmagician]

have you heard of this new game called undertale? I feel like you would like it

yeah, I’ve known Toby since like 2007 on starmen.net and I used to chat with him quite a bit. good to see things are working out well for him. I’ll play it sometime but I have to concentrate on school and I need to beat Shovel Knight (which someone bought specifically for me to play) and FF9 first

[maniacalmagician]

You know... When you think about it. Banksy is like those people you meet at art school and immediately see your art style as inferior because it's anime

so you mean literally everyone at art school? yeah basically

[maniacalmagician]

I'm currently watching the 2003 anime of tetsuwan atom and i heard that the atom series feel more like reimaginings of the original story. Which one would you say is your favorite. I kind of like this one because tenma is a recurring character in it

personally I like the manga, particularly volumes 6-8 of the dark horse run, an arc in which astroboy travels through time and resolves a time paradox involving his birth, it's very beautiful.

[grass-skirt]

Alrighty then. How about Magi?

Yes, I've read Magi too. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I stopped reading it after I got caught up with it several months ago. I don't really much to say, since I can't really put my finger on why I'm not crazy about it. It just didn't do all that much for me. While I have some favorite--namely Morgiana and Titus--on the whole I'm not super attached to many characters, Magi himself included. As I was reading it was interesting--if I remember right I pulled an all nighter to keep reading it--but it didn't really have many emotional high points for me. It's not that I think it's bad at all. I'm just not crazy about it like a whole lot of people are.

I feel the same way about other series too--that they're interesting and worth the read, but not particularly outstanding in a way that makes me a dedicated fan to them. Tokyo Ghoul, Magi, Toriko, Index and Railgun, YuYu Hakasho, SnK, Assassination Classroom, The Seven Deadly Sins, Air Gear, Hitman Reborn!, Fairy Tail... those are just a handful of the shonen series I've read whose popularity I can understand and enjoyed reading myself, but wasn't effected or attached enough to them for them to earn any particularly special place in my heart (and yes, I'm aware not all of those are shonen).

One Piece, FMA, Soul Eater, Trigun, Claymore, Full Metal Panic, Inuyasha, MxO, Beelzebub, Berserk, The Breaker, Onepunch-Man. Those are a few of the series that I am much more attached to, whether for being outstanding comedies (like OPM and Beelzebub), for hitting me really hard emotionally (like One Piece and Claymore), for having lots of characters that I am deeply fond of (like One Piece and Soul Eater), for having a great plot and character development (like Berserk), or for having relationships that I love in them (like FMP and Inuyasha). 

There are a lot more series that I love than that, but I tried to stick to general Shonen stuff. And I'm not saying that the 2nd group of series I described are definitely better than the first group--just that personally, it's those second ones that have made a bigger impact on me.

[grass-skirt]

I was wondering if you've read Toriko. Out of all the series i've read its the only one that i felt has the same feeling of adventure and world building as One Piece. Imagine One Piece but centered around the giant animals

Yes, I have read Toriko. I still read it weekly. It started out pretty good, but I feel like it's kinda flat lined. I'm just not all that into it anymore. I think the highlights of the story were Toriko's fight with Tommyrod, Zebra's first arc, and the first appearance of the Nitro. It was a couple years ago that I read it from the beginning, so I don't remember everything, but those are the parts that I remember that stand out. I think the main reason that I'm not as into it anymore is because it feels like it jumped the shark in terms of power levels. Earlier on, the Four Heavenly Kings were a lot weaker than they are now, and their enemies felt bigger and scarier and there was more mystery. Now, with all the massive powers ups that they keep getting, to me it feels like the story has established that they'll always be fine no matter what--even if they don't win, they'll still all ultimately be fine. Back when Toriko fought Tommyrod, it was freaking brutal and I was worried if they'd be okay. But since then they've eventually come out okay from nearly everything. It's gotten to the point where the Eight Kings can rip off the gangs legs or blow their body in half and it's like... eh, they'll be fine--Toriko will regrow his body next chapter no problem. Even though they're exploring whole new places that are more dangerous than anything they've been through before, it feels more gimmicky and comparatively tame that what the series used to be. I'm just not worried about the characters the way I used to be, so I don't feel any suspense or concern for the characters' well being, and I haven't been moved or touched by anything in a while either. 

Sorry if my review sounds like a bummer. I'm by no means saying that you shouldn't enjoy it. If you still get excited reading it each week, good for you. The series just hasn't been able to sustain the same suspense and intrigue that it used to for me personally.

[calgaras]

Who do you think is suppossed to be Luffy's marine "archenemy"? The story has made a lot of buildup for it being Coby but in terms of actual acts Smoker fills the role a lot better

Luffy’s Marine “archenemy” is probably Akainu… so I think you were more talking about who is his Marine rival—who is the Garp to Luffy’s Roger. As to that, my answer is Smoker. I wrote a pretty detailed (and I hope convincing) explanation of why I think that here.

lisebell said:

I’m really digging your whole blog right now. Boa is my favourite :)

Thank you! Hancock is my fave non-Straw Hat, and if she had a more active role in the story she might even overthrow Luffy as my #1 fave. You should definitely look through my “All hail the queen" tag on my blog because it’s filled with lots of really awesome Hancock stuff

[calgaras]

One of my favorite characters in the series is Montblanc Noland because he's got almost nothing to do with the main story and yet he keeps getting mentioned and he's one of the most interesting characters in terms of worldbuilding (his death is heartbreaking though). I hope he keeps getting mentioned throughout the series

Noland was damn interesting and he and Calgara's story was one of the best flashbacks in the series IMO. I also hope that we get to hear more about him in the future, such as him being mentioned for having traveled to other islands in the New World as well.

Anonymous said:

I recently switched to the manga from the anime, basically right at Sabaody. The Marineford War was incredible to say the least, I know I cried more times while reading it than I ever have while watching/reading any other anime/manga. And I have a penchant for heart-wrenching series, too. It hurt, a lot. I actually kept forgetting that Ace dies after all that because Luffy's determination was so ridiculous. My heart was thinking he would live.

(Follow up to the second ask here)

Sabaody is a pretty good part to switch from the anime to the manga. By the time Sabaody comes around the anime is pretty much unjustifiable in terms of animation quality and story pacing. And yeah, Ace's death caught most people pretty hard off guard. I enjoy heart-wrenching series as well, and I'm hoping that there are similarly painful tragedies that we can "look forward to" in the future. It limits the story and the impact it has on us when failure and death and tragedy in death are limited to backstories where we already know what bad thing happened in them.

[maniacalmagician]

underthethreemoons replied to your post: underthethreemoons replied to your pos...

oh yeah to rectify it’s not so much that i dont find kaneda interesting. I just didnt like him that much. He was….. kind of a jerk

yeah, that is true. It was all to make Tetsuo look very sympathetic. Woobie destroyer of worlds