Member
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2020
- Messages
- 9
I get where you're coming from, the tonal shift has been stark, and yeah, early on the manga thrived on absurd comedy, bizarre scenarios, and the thrill of “what can Tsuyoshi possibly do next?” But here’s the thing, while you enjoyed those moments for what they were, many of us were waiting for the deeper payoff, for the consequences of all that unchecked chaos and strength to actually mean something.Part of my issue with narratives like this is, while absolutely true events have happened in his life which warrant this descent into despair and such, the series of events which led up to this were... unbelievable.
And we, the audience, are largely fine with this, because, suspension of disbelief. This is a manga about marital arts, combat, and comedy. We want to see that, so we accept the bizarre contexts which need to be manufactured to create these moments.
My issue though, is now it feels like we're being asked to take all of those things, retroactively, very seriously. And that feels cheap. It feels unearned.
Every chapter just feels more and more dour, and I don't think the author knows how to pull us out of this tailspin.
Honestly after this chapter, I don't want to know what comes next. I just want to drop the series.
Who of these characters am I supposed to be rooting for? What direction could the story go at this point that would rekindle what I originally enjoyed?
If the author didn’t treat this seriously at some point, the series would’ve forever stayed a directionless gag manga. That kind of story might entertain for a while, but it wouldn't last. We'd eventually ask what’s the point?
That said, I agree with you on one point, the author’s not gonna let this ride all the way to the end. He’s not gonna go full failed art school / fascist dictator route, no one in mainstream manga is that ballsy. Manga lives and dies on reader payoff and people gobble up these kind of stories like there'sno tomorrow. There will be a shift. Whether it’s a new character with a raging hard-on for justice or some moral compass's needle rammed so far up his ass he can’t sit straight, the story will course-correct. That's just how serialized storytelling works.
But for now? I’m rooting for the Stark arc. I want him to fall. I want this descent to mean something. For some of us, this is the first time the manga feels like it’s actually going somewhere. if the author has the guts to actually follow through on it, that’s how this manga could go from good to unforgettable.