For those of you reading the redrawn version of Onepunch-Man by Murata, I should warn you that this is a review of the original Onepunch-Man comic by ONE which is much further ahead. So, if you continue reading, be wary of spoilers.
Saitama and Tatsumaki continue their battle throughout this chapter, rampaging across the country and stampeding into the stories of various side characters as they do so. We start with the introduction of the A-Class rank 34 hero Feather who is fighting to save his lover from N City's notorious Iron Fist gang headed by the A-class criminal Big Iron (none of whom we've ever heard of before). Just as Feather is about to have the heroic second wind to the biggest fight of his life, Saitama and Tatsumaki come crashing in, completely clueless, and offhandedly obliterate the gang. Afterwards, Feather justifiably decides to repress this memory.
We get reappearances of Metal Bat, one of my favorite S-rank heroes, and Speed of Sonic as well in similar circumstances, completely played for comedy. It was nice to see these two again, considering that Metal Bat hasn't been seen since the Alien Arc and Sonic since early in the Garou Arc, even though it doesn't seem likely they'll play much of a role any time soon.
ONE has been introducing a lot of A-rank heroes ever since the start of this arc, which I am pretty iffy about considering that the strongest three of A-class (excluding Sweet Mask) were shown to be pathetically weak compared to an S-rank towards the end of the Garou Arc. I have a hard time understanding just how useful these A-classes can be - even in this arc they've been pretty thoroughly humiliated (such as A-rank 35 hero Air being one-shotted by a severely weakened Evil Natural Water). It makes me wonder if ONE is just introducing them for the sake of filling out A-class when there are more plot centric things he could be using those panels for. However, since some of them, like Air, Butterfly DX, Chain'n'toad, and Forte, have been consistently appearing throughout this arc it does make me more confident that he has some plan in mind for them. Still, there were already plenty of A-rank heroes introduced before this arc,and reusing them probably would have been simpler than creating a whole bunch of new ones (although I suppose many of them might still be hospitalized after being hunted by Garou).
Finally, the battle between Saitama and Tatsumaki comes to an end, and Saitama, despite never going on the offensive at all, clearly has the upperhand. It's revealed, however, that Tatsumaki is still injured from her fights in the Garou arc (understandable since it was only a few days ago chronologically), but absolutely can't stand the thought of losing. When Saitama offers to postpone their fight until she's recovered, she smiles and happily agrees to see him later. Psyche!
At the end we return to Fubuki, who has agreed to Tatsumaki's demands by disbanding her group. It's likely that she's mainly doing this to protect them from her sister, but I don't think her subordinates are going to just let this be either.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
UQ Holder 102: Koroumaru's Date
The big reveal hinted at last week was cut short thanks to a robotic replica of Kuroumaru built by Ikkuu, which frames the girlified Kuroumaru as a relative of his/hers. Kuroumaru then lures Touta into a sightseeing date, though of course Touta remains as clueless as ever. I just hope, however this arc ends up, Touta at least comes to acknowledge Kuroumaru's feelings instead of remaining completely indifferent about it.
What I thought was going to be an uninteresting chapter was certainly spiced up at the end with the reappearance of Xinzqai the immortal hunter. While I think the guy is cool, after Touta's training I'm not sure if he can really be considered much of a threat anymore.
The six armed man behind Xinzqai we've also seen before; Asura Tu of Ala Alba and likely one of Fate's subordinates. Interestingly, there was also a six armed man in similar attire and wielding similar weapons fighting as a part of Kaede's team in the 2015 Mahora tournament footage we saw back in chapter 64. The fact that Asura is a part of Ala Alba just as Kaede was back in Negima makes me wonder if he's related to her former teammate? His skin tone and hair color is a lot like Ku Fei's too, whom the older man lost to in that footage, so maybe he's their son/grandson?
At the end Kuroumaru is brought to her knees by Asura's attack and realizes that she's being overpowered. Maybe this will make her rethink becoming female, desiring strength in order to fight by Touta's side as a friend rather than a lover. Still, there are tons of incredibly powerful females in this verse (and Kuroumaru is already extremely similar, in abilities, appearance, and personality, to Negima's Setsuna, who was arguably one of the strongest), so I can't see 'wanting to be strong' as being a significant reason for Kuroumaru to become male.
...
Seriously, though, am I the only one who has seen a huge similarity between Kuroumaru and Setsuna ever since the former's introduction? I know a few chapters ago we had a cameo from a kid who is practically Setsuna's clone, but the wing imagery that has occasionally accompanied Kuroumaru's appearance makes me wonder if they might be distantly related. I may well be wrong, but I am suspicious that Kuroumaru's Yatagarasu (meaning three-legged crow) tribe and the crow demons Setsuna was rejected from for having white wings may be one and the same. If she has the same condition as Kuroumaru, then that might put a new spin on her relationship with Konoka too.
What I thought was going to be an uninteresting chapter was certainly spiced up at the end with the reappearance of Xinzqai the immortal hunter. While I think the guy is cool, after Touta's training I'm not sure if he can really be considered much of a threat anymore.
The six armed man behind Xinzqai we've also seen before; Asura Tu of Ala Alba and likely one of Fate's subordinates. Interestingly, there was also a six armed man in similar attire and wielding similar weapons fighting as a part of Kaede's team in the 2015 Mahora tournament footage we saw back in chapter 64. The fact that Asura is a part of Ala Alba just as Kaede was back in Negima makes me wonder if he's related to her former teammate? His skin tone and hair color is a lot like Ku Fei's too, whom the older man lost to in that footage, so maybe he's their son/grandson?
At the end Kuroumaru is brought to her knees by Asura's attack and realizes that she's being overpowered. Maybe this will make her rethink becoming female, desiring strength in order to fight by Touta's side as a friend rather than a lover. Still, there are tons of incredibly powerful females in this verse (and Kuroumaru is already extremely similar, in abilities, appearance, and personality, to Negima's Setsuna, who was arguably one of the strongest), so I can't see 'wanting to be strong' as being a significant reason for Kuroumaru to become male.
...
Seriously, though, am I the only one who has seen a huge similarity between Kuroumaru and Setsuna ever since the former's introduction? I know a few chapters ago we had a cameo from a kid who is practically Setsuna's clone, but the wing imagery that has occasionally accompanied Kuroumaru's appearance makes me wonder if they might be distantly related. I may well be wrong, but I am suspicious that Kuroumaru's Yatagarasu (meaning three-legged crow) tribe and the crow demons Setsuna was rejected from for having white wings may be one and the same. If she has the same condition as Kuroumaru, then that might put a new spin on her relationship with Konoka too.
Monday, November 16, 2015
Fairy Tail 462: Battlefield
All mages guilds in the nation of Bosco have been eliminated. No idea how Warren was able to tell that - the capabilities of his Telepathy magic seem rather ill-defined and have turned him into little more than an exposition device. Whatever, I don't care about him anyways.
We get shots of the various guilds heading to confront the enemy forces in different directions (for some reason walking, and together despite the different guilds likely based in different parts of the country). Then we decide which Fairy Tail members are going to back up which side. I could have lived without this chapter, Mashima could have easily just had the guilds show up on the battlefield instead of spending time telling us who is going where. At the end of the chapter we see Natsu heading straight for Zeref... like he stands a chance.
I think the guild's strategy of ignoring the western front because it's moving slow is kind of stupid. Knowing that Zeref is there should make them even more concerned about it, not less. Maybe they're moving slow now, but once Zeref realizes that most of Fairy Tail forces have dispersed it would be idiotic of him not to rush in and take Fairy Heart while they're weakened.
We see Brandish being kept prisoner, but we don't get any new information from her, so that scene wasn't really necessary either. Marin Hollow is still out in the town and planning to rescue Brandish. Kind of a dumb move for Lucy/Cana to not capture him as well after defeating him. Maybe he got blown away by the Sandstorm?
We get shots of the various guilds heading to confront the enemy forces in different directions (for some reason walking, and together despite the different guilds likely based in different parts of the country). Then we decide which Fairy Tail members are going to back up which side. I could have lived without this chapter, Mashima could have easily just had the guilds show up on the battlefield instead of spending time telling us who is going where. At the end of the chapter we see Natsu heading straight for Zeref... like he stands a chance.
I think the guild's strategy of ignoring the western front because it's moving slow is kind of stupid. Knowing that Zeref is there should make them even more concerned about it, not less. Maybe they're moving slow now, but once Zeref realizes that most of Fairy Tail forces have dispersed it would be idiotic of him not to rush in and take Fairy Heart while they're weakened.
We see Brandish being kept prisoner, but we don't get any new information from her, so that scene wasn't really necessary either. Marin Hollow is still out in the town and planning to rescue Brandish. Kind of a dumb move for Lucy/Cana to not capture him as well after defeating him. Maybe he got blown away by the Sandstorm?
My Hero Academia 67: Scratching the Veneer
So I was wrong about my prediction in the last review - instead of 2-3 more chapters everything got wrapped up in just 1 more. This was to the detriment of all the matches we saw in this chapter - Iida and Ojiro only got half a page which consisted of little more than the hero praising them for passing. Hagakure and Shouji got even less, just two panels showing them standing in their arena as its announced that they've passed, and then a comment from Midoriya that their match was something like a game of hide and seek. Of the rest, it seems like we skipped over the most important scene in No. 13 vs. Aoyama and Uraraka, as it just sort of cuts to her having forced him to the ground and handcuffed him - although I enjoyed what we did see. Mineta's match was better - at first I thought he just got lucky in pinning Midnight in place, but after rereading I suppose he actually has pretty decent aim. That was probably the most satisfying of the matches. I am disappointed, and really hope that these scenes we've skipped over indeed get expanded on in the anime.
Team Ashido and Team Kirishima don't make it in time which means, if what was implied earlier on is true, they won't be joining the rest of the class at the forest lodge. If my intuition is right (and it was wrong recently, so I wouldn't give it too much merit) and the lodge turns out to be a big arc, then this might be Kouhei's way of reducing the cast herd a bit. Unless they decide to sneak out of summer school or something. Despite being really interesting, My Hero Academia has been moving at lightning pace since early on and, while I don't that's been entirely a bad thing, I think the series would benefit from slowing down its pacing for an important, dramatic arc. That's what I'm hoping for at least, but I don't find it especially likely.
The villain alliance gets another scene which involves them being joined by new recruits (although, knowing Shigaraki, he may well reject them for daring to mention Stain), giving credence to my theory that the next arc will somehow involve the alliance. Judging from the picture he has of Midoriya, I would guess that he's going to have them hunt down the kid as a test. I don't think Kouhei would give us a simple rehash of the USJ arc where the villains randomly show up and start brawling, so I'm really interested to see what he has in store.
Team Ashido and Team Kirishima don't make it in time which means, if what was implied earlier on is true, they won't be joining the rest of the class at the forest lodge. If my intuition is right (and it was wrong recently, so I wouldn't give it too much merit) and the lodge turns out to be a big arc, then this might be Kouhei's way of reducing the cast herd a bit. Unless they decide to sneak out of summer school or something. Despite being really interesting, My Hero Academia has been moving at lightning pace since early on and, while I don't that's been entirely a bad thing, I think the series would benefit from slowing down its pacing for an important, dramatic arc. That's what I'm hoping for at least, but I don't find it especially likely.
The villain alliance gets another scene which involves them being joined by new recruits (although, knowing Shigaraki, he may well reject them for daring to mention Stain), giving credence to my theory that the next arc will somehow involve the alliance. Judging from the picture he has of Midoriya, I would guess that he's going to have them hunt down the kid as a test. I don't think Kouhei would give us a simple rehash of the USJ arc where the villains randomly show up and start brawling, so I'm really interested to see what he has in store.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Tower of God S2 Ep. 176
In order to help Baam conserve his energy for the fight with Hoaquin, his teammate Moontari goes up against Buelsar while, further above, Ehwa continues her battle with Angel.
Although I think he looks pretty cool, and he definitely has some skill judging from the fact that he can use Reverse Flow Control and that he was shown to have defeated Ran, if Buelsar is at the same level as his brother Varagarv I have a hard time imagining that he stands a chance. Perhaps if Bero Bero joined in. My complaints from the previous chapter still stand though - if this was a character from the Season 1 cast, even a minor one like the knight guy, that we'd stuck with and seen develop then I think I would care more to see him putting his life on the line in a fight like this. I get that Moontari is probably leagues stronger than any of the minor cast from Season 1 and the higher we go the stronger the enemies we face, but they could probably still train to similar levels even if they will always be leagues below Baam and company.
I'm glad that it seems like we're going to get a decent fight scene that doesn't involve one of the A-listers (heck, even Rak hasn't really done much in quite some time), but I think there are better candidates among the new Hell Train regulars (Boro, Aka Williams, Sachi Faker) to get their own fight scenes. That said, I thought Moontari was pretty awesome here, so he gets a pass. I hope Baam really doesn't step in.
Buelsar's 'Hell in a Cage' seems like an oddly specific ability, kind of like a hatsu from Hunter x Hunter. Are the chains permanently conjured? Are there random locations somewhere in the tower where he summoned the chains and didn't die in whatever fight he was in, thus leaving the chains there forever? Did he not also just cut himself off from his teammate? Assuming there's really no other way to pass, then this is bringing up a death flag for Buelsar. I thought it was a bit early into the arc for Hoaquin's teammates to start kicking the bucket (although I'm sure Hoaquin will still claim the lead in this game), and am happy that SIU seems to be proving me otherwise. Reducing the number of characters running around is a good thing in my book.
Angel kills Hongjo to prove how evil she is and prompts a shounen power up from Ehwa. Pretty cliché stuff, but I'm interested to see that unfold. Guess it will have to wait until next week.
My gripes aside, I thought this was a pretty good chapter.
Although I think he looks pretty cool, and he definitely has some skill judging from the fact that he can use Reverse Flow Control and that he was shown to have defeated Ran, if Buelsar is at the same level as his brother Varagarv I have a hard time imagining that he stands a chance. Perhaps if Bero Bero joined in. My complaints from the previous chapter still stand though - if this was a character from the Season 1 cast, even a minor one like the knight guy, that we'd stuck with and seen develop then I think I would care more to see him putting his life on the line in a fight like this. I get that Moontari is probably leagues stronger than any of the minor cast from Season 1 and the higher we go the stronger the enemies we face, but they could probably still train to similar levels even if they will always be leagues below Baam and company.
I'm glad that it seems like we're going to get a decent fight scene that doesn't involve one of the A-listers (heck, even Rak hasn't really done much in quite some time), but I think there are better candidates among the new Hell Train regulars (Boro, Aka Williams, Sachi Faker) to get their own fight scenes. That said, I thought Moontari was pretty awesome here, so he gets a pass. I hope Baam really doesn't step in.
Buelsar's 'Hell in a Cage' seems like an oddly specific ability, kind of like a hatsu from Hunter x Hunter. Are the chains permanently conjured? Are there random locations somewhere in the tower where he summoned the chains and didn't die in whatever fight he was in, thus leaving the chains there forever? Did he not also just cut himself off from his teammate? Assuming there's really no other way to pass, then this is bringing up a death flag for Buelsar. I thought it was a bit early into the arc for Hoaquin's teammates to start kicking the bucket (although I'm sure Hoaquin will still claim the lead in this game), and am happy that SIU seems to be proving me otherwise. Reducing the number of characters running around is a good thing in my book.
Angel kills Hongjo to prove how evil she is and prompts a shounen power up from Ehwa. Pretty cliché stuff, but I'm interested to see that unfold. Guess it will have to wait until next week.
My gripes aside, I thought this was a pretty good chapter.
One Piece Volume 76 Review
One Piece Volume 76: Just Keep Going
Contained Chapters:
Contained Chapters:
- Chapter 753: Battle
- Chapter 754: Making Acquaintance
- Chapter 755: A Man's World
- Chapter 756: The Fourth Step
- Chapter 757: Trump Card
- Chapter 758: Just Keep Going
- Chapter 759: Secret Plan
- Chapter 760: The Same Bet
- Chapter 761: The Op-Op Fruit
- Chapter 762: The White Town
- Chapter 763: Declaration of Humanity
The volume title 'Just Keep Going' is very fitting for the first half of the volume, which is almost all set up involving the characters continuing their charge for the palace to take down Doflamingo. Aside from a few of the less notable gladiators getting taken out rather easily by Dellinger, only one named character is really defeated in the first half. We get some scenes from ongoing battles, such as Franky vs. Senor Pink and Zolo vs. Pica, and we get an idea of who will be involved in other battles, but for the most part it seemed like Oda was putting everything into place before the real action can start. Much like the last chapter, there were several points along the journey to the palace where characters on Luffy's side stayed behind to allow Luffy and co. to continue forward (some characters stay behind to fight the Donquixote Family on the second step, others stay behind the third step, and a couple more on the fourth - pretty standard shounen stuff). By the time what's left of the party does reach Doflamingo's palace, it's been cut down to a mere two fighters.
The highlight of the first half is probably the return of Sugar, and Usopp somehow managing to accomplish a 'Go on Without Me' spiel despite being kilometers away from Luffy at the time. Unlike the rest of these battles that are left hanging, this one actually receives some resolution and, after Usopp's anticlimactic victory in their last encounter, I actually found it pretty satisfying.
In the latter half of the volume, Round 3 with Doflamingo finally kicks off but is quickly interrupted as we get a look into the Donquixote Family's past. I think there's better ways for lengthy flashbacks to be framed than right in the middle of climatic fight scenes, but as far as contents go this is pretty interesting stuff. Seeing how the family operated back in the day was definitely engaging, and - while the flashback is still only halfway through - the feud between the family and Law that motivated this entire story arc is starting to take shape.
As much as I love it... I still have to think that it would've had a much better impact if it had happened earlier on, Either after Law's capture, or sometime between then and when the final charge for the palace started. Instead, the volume continually builds up towards a series of climatic action scenes throughout this volume and the last, finally gives us a taste of what we've been promised when Luffy reaches Doffy... and then completely halts everything so Oda can explain why all of this is happening and give us more reasons to care. The major flashbacks in the CP9 saga both had the feel of dramatic intermissions, and the latter served to hype us up before the Strawhats went up against their opponents in CP9; we didn't get into the real action and then pause it. I'm not saying that this flashback, once it's concluded, won't get us more excited for the fight scene, but my problem is all of the set up Oda fed us in the first half of the volume was already building up our anticipation. By cutting away from that action, at least in my experience, it makes the audience lose some of that initial hype when showing it at an earlier point could have complimented it. Anyways, I've ranted enough about that.
Overall, the first half of this volume feels like Oda is setting all his pieces in place for the final battle between the heroes and the Donquixote Family. The obligatory flashback that takes up most of the second half might feel intrusive at first, but its contents are interesting enough to make you happily forget that. I'd say that, with everyone now matched up against their respective opponents, this long running arc seems like its ready to be sped towards a conclusion... but there's a lot of fight scenes that have been set up which we've still only seen a tiny bit of. Either a lot of them are going to get brushed under the rug, or this arc still has a ways to go.
My Rating: 6/10
((Just to note, while I obviously am up to date with the weekly release if you look at my chapter reviews, as this is a volume review I've tried to avoid spoilers for anyone that might be reading only in this way.))
As much as I love it... I still have to think that it would've had a much better impact if it had happened earlier on, Either after Law's capture, or sometime between then and when the final charge for the palace started. Instead, the volume continually builds up towards a series of climatic action scenes throughout this volume and the last, finally gives us a taste of what we've been promised when Luffy reaches Doffy... and then completely halts everything so Oda can explain why all of this is happening and give us more reasons to care. The major flashbacks in the CP9 saga both had the feel of dramatic intermissions, and the latter served to hype us up before the Strawhats went up against their opponents in CP9; we didn't get into the real action and then pause it. I'm not saying that this flashback, once it's concluded, won't get us more excited for the fight scene, but my problem is all of the set up Oda fed us in the first half of the volume was already building up our anticipation. By cutting away from that action, at least in my experience, it makes the audience lose some of that initial hype when showing it at an earlier point could have complimented it. Anyways, I've ranted enough about that.
Overall, the first half of this volume feels like Oda is setting all his pieces in place for the final battle between the heroes and the Donquixote Family. The obligatory flashback that takes up most of the second half might feel intrusive at first, but its contents are interesting enough to make you happily forget that. I'd say that, with everyone now matched up against their respective opponents, this long running arc seems like its ready to be sped towards a conclusion... but there's a lot of fight scenes that have been set up which we've still only seen a tiny bit of. Either a lot of them are going to get brushed under the rug, or this arc still has a ways to go.
My Rating: 6/10
((Just to note, while I obviously am up to date with the weekly release if you look at my chapter reviews, as this is a volume review I've tried to avoid spoilers for anyone that might be reading only in this way.))
Friday, November 13, 2015
Fairy Tail 461: For Whose Sake is That Parfum?
Wahl turns out to have a lot more up his sleeve than I first expected and the Thunder God Tribe get taken out in their attempt to save Ichiya. Unfortunately, it seems they'll be out of commission for the rest or at least most of this arc, much like with Tartaros.
I wonder how Ichiya realized the attack was coming and managed to mobilize the ship so quickly; I guess he was listening in on Fairy Tail's telepathic connection. The fact that the ship has the ability to broadcast speech all throughout Fiore seems like it should be fairly advanced magic and makes me wonder why they even had such a feature installed in the first place.
I wasn't expecting it to be done in this way, but I think everyone knew that the other guilds would be lending a hand in the upcoming battle. It seems awfully befuddling that Fairy Tail didn't contact the other guilds themselves when it should have been obvious that they wouldn't hesitate to lend a hand (and that they would need the support if they wanted to stand a chance). Ever since Alvarez was first introduced by describing how many mage guilds it has in comparison to Ishgar, it seemed obvious that it was going to involve other guilds as well.
I wonder how Ichiya realized the attack was coming and managed to mobilize the ship so quickly; I guess he was listening in on Fairy Tail's telepathic connection. The fact that the ship has the ability to broadcast speech all throughout Fiore seems like it should be fairly advanced magic and makes me wonder why they even had such a feature installed in the first place.
I wasn't expecting it to be done in this way, but I think everyone knew that the other guilds would be lending a hand in the upcoming battle. It seems awfully befuddling that Fairy Tail didn't contact the other guilds themselves when it should have been obvious that they wouldn't hesitate to lend a hand (and that they would need the support if they wanted to stand a chance). Ever since Alvarez was first introduced by describing how many mage guilds it has in comparison to Ishgar, it seemed obvious that it was going to involve other guilds as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)