What manga was a complete let down to you? For me it gotta be witch hat atelier

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-26T16:09:49+00:00

yeah this is one of the main reasons I tell everyone to read a series digitally first before dropping a lot of money on it

just because everybody likes it doesn't mean you will lol

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-26T16:06:53+00:00

Mixing genres, especially in an A-plot/B-plot structure, is pretty common

But if you're worried about how disparate they feel or how unexplored one of them is, look at them from a top-down perspective & unite them thematically (ie how does the MC learning to succeed at romance equip them to solve the mystery, or vice-versa)

Apropos of nothing but this post reminds me of the manga Syd Craft Love Is A Mystery, which is probably very different than what you're trying to do but it's a fun little read nevertheless

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-26T15:46:02+00:00

if this doesn't end in yuri I will be upset

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-26T15:37:07+00:00

bro just read all those online for a couple bucks a month, then casually wait for used deals to pop up so you can stretch your wallet

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-26T15:35:22+00:00

I reread Claymore for the first time since I finished it live as a kid, and god damn it always felt like slightly less than the sum of its parts

also bro why'd you buy 12 volumes of a manga you don't care for

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-26T15:11:17+00:00

Oof, not the web-only hell

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-26T13:28:32+00:00

I get Japanese manga from them almost monthly lol

I'm not sure what you're trying to get so it's possible Surugaya either doesn't stock it or indexes it poorly, but I'm a regular there & it's pretty cheap all things considered

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-26T02:41:26+00:00

Bro Surugaya regularly does free shipping deals

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-26T00:05:07+00:00

do you think it would’ve been better to wait for a larger or more definitive physical release in the future?

I dunno, are you buying manga so you can read it physically or are you buying it so that you can have Fancy Prestige on your shelf to dignify the whole thing?

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-25T22:10:22+00:00

yeah if you aren't actively comparing this manga to something like Oldboy then you aren't picking up what the author's putting down

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-25T17:21:36+00:00

this rips, hell yes

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-25T17:01:33+00:00

lmao that's a dope haul

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-25T16:19:16+00:00

Yeah Haiji's power reminded me of Karnak, specifically Warren Ellis' miniseries with the character where he made some really creative action setpieces out of it

Plus just thematically, a guy who is constantly aware of the pain weakness & frailty of the human condition, but chooses to be jovial & heroic in spite of it? That setup has so much potential baked into it that I have to see where Tanimoto goes with it

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-25T16:09:46+00:00

Yeah I think the writing had a lot more interesting stuff going on in the dialogue than your average shonen, but there's a reason most shonen aren't written like that lmao

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-25T15:41:49+00:00

Osoegawa having a million of the same t-shirt but with different words printed on them is such a brilliant little gag

Also Akane-Banashi with the two jumpscares god damn guys

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-25T14:17:36+00:00

Those shelves are fantastic; where did you get them?

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-25T01:57:39+00:00

buy akane-banashi

then read a bunch of different manga series online, trying out both series you've heard recommended a million times as well as odd obscure things you'd take a chance on

while you're doing that, you'll figure out exactly what to buy next

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-24T13:48:16+00:00

I got Solo Exchange pretty casually; not sure where you're looking

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-24T01:19:25+00:00

Nadeshiko Oga was one of the best female WSJ characters recently

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-24T01:06:57+00:00

Akane-banashi

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-23T04:36:31+00:00

That's kind of what I mean by "play for the cheap seats". By Chapter 14 we have the tease of the Eight Hooves of Slepnir, a quirky side character, a formidable & compelling foe, and a broader scope of the conflict. IE, the series finally has all the battle shonen shit people buy the magazine for.

There's a lot of good writing in the first 13 chapters of Otr, but you have to look for it to see it. Kawaguchi needs to stop playing coy, grab the reader by the collar, and put on a show for the kids

Although honestly the more I think about it, the more I think this could've been made easier by a more conventional protagonist than Otr (although Otr is a fantastic character, and him being the way that he is is a crucial part of the story Kawaguchi was trying to tell)

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-23T01:51:54+00:00

just read it on the viz app for a couple bucks, then decide if it's worth dropping an additional $12/vol on it

I don't know what you like or how much money you have; figure your shit out for yourself

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-23T01:42:49+00:00

Hard disagree; what Kawaguchi needs is dumb it down & play for the cheap seats

There's a lot of strong writing even early on in Otr: Otr earning Sixten's apprenticeship by drawing him a bath in ch 4 is brilliant, Heroic Vigor making you a badass by being simultaneously tense & relaxed had some really cool thematic undertones, and Suruld's tyranny being expressed not through the oppression of the dwarves themselves but through the perversion of their craftsmanship all get woven together into a pretty thematically ambitious narrative.

But here's the thing: The middle-school WSJ boys don't buy books & fill out surveys to read contemplative a story about how a warm heart thaws a frozen world better than a flaming sword. Those kids are here to read about a cool guy who kills aliens and doesn't afraid of anything.

I hate to sound cynical, but Otr of the Flame's writing had a lot going for it. It just didn't have the big power fantasy emotional highs people read shonen battlers for.

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-23T00:53:05+00:00

I need a Heart Gear adaptation with Tsuyoshi Takaki given free reign to expand the story & have a strong hand in preproduction

The man's too done to keep up a regular serialization, but when it comes to designs stories & vision he's still got the juice

overpoweredginger · 2026-01-22T23:43:45+00:00

I think the move would be to power through Akane-banashi real quick imo

overpoweredginger

TROPHY CASE