Beast King & Medicinal Herb - Vol. 1 Ch. 4 - The Pledge

[Tavero]

writing ??? expresses my level of confusion towards your take, not mad/anger.


once again, literally only 4 chapters in, we can't say that for sure. Humanity could have been the one who was oppressed but now was strong enough to strike back, but not smart enough to realize the importance of keeping the ecosystem balance, which is understandable because even in the real world many people don't care about the ecosystem either.


that's so wrong in like, so many levels I don't even know where to start. Dungeon Meshi started out as a "cooking first, lore later" story, Katekiyo Hitman Reborn (one of the pretty successful shounen of 2010s) started out as comedic SoL with little comprehensive plot and slowly changed to one epic fighting shounen with twists and turns. I'm sure there are more stories that also slowly/completely change as they go, but these are the 2 examples I can think of right now.

anw, my point is, the first 4 chapters are usually just the simple stuff to let the readers meet the characters (and for more skilled writers, to set the tone/settings of the entire series). However, things can change as the series go, so I think judging a series as "mediocre" when it's just starting out is overly harsh and a bit dumb.

Oh you are definitely agitated by my comments. You reacted to both of my post with strikes and are trying to argue a hypothetical reason why I can't give my opinion about this manga after it's 4 chapters. You don't need to react so defensive just because you disagree with my opinion. I even wrote I like it but I guess anything other than declaring it a masterpiece isn't good enough for you.
I just hope you don't make entertainment your identity like many gamers do and then can't deal with criticism of their game later on.

Also you have used Dungeon Meshi two times as an argument now. And I think it's a bad example because I think the reason for it to introduce lore only later was, that it was only planned as an cooking manga with the rest being an afterthought. A lot of mangaka who don't know about the success chances of their serialisation beginn with a simple story and only start to put effort into lore and worldbuilding when they realize they don't get instantly axed after 10 chapters.
That's not a good base for good writing but a necessity born from the manga industry.
The world God only knows is one of the worst of these contenders. The real story only started after like 60 chapters, because the mangaka didn't believe in it's success, writing filled chapter after filler chapters in the process.
A well planned and executed story can add foreshadowing of that into the first chapter without being an exposition dump.

 

[zokoi19]

Oh you are definitely agitated by my comments. You reacted to both of my post with strikes and are trying to argue a hypothetical reason why I can't give my opinion about this manga after it's 4 chapters. You don't need to react so defensive just because you disagree with my opinion. I even wrote I like it but I guess anything other than declaring it a masterpiece isn't good enough for you.

honestly all of that was just me trying to be civil and not just outright say "u r dumb and so is ur opinion" but like, your replies keep enforcing that to me lol.

So I will stop here bc talking to you makes me feel like talking to a child who can't take criticism at all.

 

[jonsmth]

It's mediocre because it's the default fantasy setting with evil humans oppressing other races.

That's not the default. That's a subversion.

Even then, this subversion manages to be different enough from others, and I've read a lot.

 

[Tavero]

honestly all of that was just me trying to be civil and not just outright say "u r dumb and so is ur opinion" but like, your replies keep enforcing that to me lol.

So I will stop here bc talking to you makes me feel like talking to a child who can't take criticism at all.

Lol, you have already outright said in your earlier post "my opinion is dumb" so what are you talking about, now acting like it's me that can't criticism. Did you already forgot what you wrote. Look into a mirror before calling out others next time.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Graham's_Hierarchy_of_Disagreement.svg
Yes please stop here before you embarrass yourself even further. You are right there at the bottom of "Graham's hirachy of disagreement", fuming because I don't agree with you. If that's you "tying to be civil" I don't want to experience you throwing a temper tantrum.
https://9gag.com/gag/aZD9Dxz?utm_source=copy_link&utm_medium=post_share

 

[Tavero]

That's not the default. That's a subversion.

Even then, this subversion manages to be different enough from others, and I've read a lot.

Yes technically you are right. But there is a catch. The anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica was a subversion of the traditional magical girl Anime. But after a few years of tragical girl anime, these tropes become the new norm and something the viewer start to expect. Especially if the whole show is set up for that scenario from the beginning and they didn't make enough effort to mask it.

Similar to here where the viewpoint and arrogance of the adventurers made it quite predictable that the humans were in the wrong here. We feel sympathy for that lion demon in the very first pages.
Also the of stories released where sentient demons are "actually not that bad" is in the quite numerous right now so IMHO it has already become the new norm instead a subversion.
That's opposed to frieren, for example, where the three demons in that town were designed as logically thinking and overall beautiful looking and sympathetic characters. Until they betray them.

 

[beep_repair]

Good start. This chapter had an "end of the introduction" feel, so it'll be interesting to see where the series goes next. I like Tina, Garon and their relationship quite a bit, and prefer the almost old-fashioned storytelling sensibility to a more edgy and amoral approach. It has the feel of a good young adult fantasy adventure novel.

I agree that the worldbuilding leans hard on standard fantasy tropes, but that's only a fault if it becomes tiresome. This still feels fresh to me. Not great so far, but appealing and promising.

 

[jonsmth]

Also the of stories released where sentient demons are "actually not that bad" is in the quite numerous right now so IMHO it has already become the new norm instead a subversion.

I believe we should define this as a different genre as the traditional fantasy is still prevalent. It's like we have reformed orcs of Warcraft lore and their inspirations, but Warhammer orks, JRPG porcs, and Tolkien orcs are never really displaced. Demon lord trope is a uniquely JRPG trope and many new takes on this trope are still coming out today.

That said, it didn't seem like a "humans bad, demons good" kind of plot to me yet. It seems more like a matter of survival and misunderstanding for now.

Also, I don't think a lack of subversion makes writing mediocre. IMO, faithfully using tropes yet still keeping it interesting would be more evident of writing quality than relying on twists.