Another week in the books. Let’s chat about manga in the general discussion thread! Feel free to use this thread for questions, comments, recommendations, etc.
Like normal, please be careful with spoilers. I wrote a guide about spoilers in case you need a refresher on how to handle them (also linked in the sidebar).
I caught up with both Nan Hao & Shang Feng and The Saga of Tanya the Evil.
There’s not much to write about the former, it’s fun and I’m waiting for more. As for the latter, I have some more thoughts about the series. I like Tanya over all - it’s not perfect but the issues I have aren’t serious enough to affect my enjoyment in any significant way. They still exist though.
Writing wise it’s pretty good. The fact story is happening in a discount version of the real world started to bother me a bit but more in a “this feels a bit lazy” kind of way (even if it makes sense). The more serious problem is the amount of plot armor encasing the main cast - there were multiple instance of important characters surviving attacks that pretty much pulverize anyone else. Things like that are fine in small doses but there’s a too much of it here.
I also really like the historical chapters - parts set 40 years after the war, shown from a perspective of journalists trying to figure out the less known parts of the war, specifically things related to our main character and her exploits. Seeing them stumble over military secrets, people unwilling to talk in detail and dealing with the fog of history is super interesting.
Art is great! There are some fantastic spreads of chaos and destruction and a great back and forth between the normal art and “animal cartoon” segments. This makes it all the more jarring whenever backgrounds (or even whole panels) consist of photos with some filters thrown on top of them - these parts throw any art cohesion out of the window and just look bad compared to everything else. I understand why, I’m just not a fan of how they’re used.
All in all, despite some minor issues I look forward to the rest of the story. It’s a fun if uneven ride and I think I prefer the anime version a little more (Aoi Yuki helps a lot in that regard).
Sorry for the wall of text, I needed to dump this stuff out of my head to function properly.
This is one of those things that you can’t unsee in a series once you notice it. For years, I have enjoyed playing the Dynasty Warriors games (ever since DW3). Those games are similar in the way that it will often have some kind of scenario in which a whole army is wiped out in some trap or ambush, but the general character leading that army comes out just fine, ready to fight another day.
Totally, I had the same issue with Attack on Titan as well. I understand that having a regular cast makes things easier but, as you said, once you notice it that’s that. At least both series are fun enough things like this aren’t enough to destroy the experience.