End of the world.
So, I wanted to buy a couple of hoodies today. (Rather, I kind of wanted a track jacket.) So I quickly ran up to Target, and they didn't have anything I liked.
Instead, I ended up walking to B&N, and I now own volumes 5 and 6 of Bleach (I already bought 1-4 this summer)...and volumes 1 and 2 of Ragnarok.
I'm actually surprised I didn't read it sooner, as it's a fairly old manga. (Okay, manhwa. Whatever.) It's about 10 years old, currently, and Tokyopop released it in English back in 2002. And I've been playing Ragnarok Online since about 2004, and - quite obviously - I get v. v. weeaboo about it. (To the point that there's a stalker smirking at me on my computer screen right now.)
Opening it was VERY CONFUSING because it's left to right. Yeah, I know. It's normal. I texted Matt and was like "WUT IZ DIS FAGGOT TREE" when I first started reading it because I was so confused I had to look at it for five minutes to make sure that yes, I was looking at the front cover, and yes, the spine was supposed to be on the left side.
It's actually...So far, from the first two, the Ragnarok manhwa is very different from Ragnarok Online. The settings are similar - I recognized Payon Fayon IT'S STILL PAYON TO ME DAMMIT even if tokyopop fails it and translated it as fucking FAYON, Alberta, and Morroc. I recognize a lot of the main characters, and for good reason - the servers themselves on official servers are named after the comic's characters. (Chaos, Loki, Iris, Sara, Fenrir, Lydia, etc.) The guards of Morroc look exactly as they do in game. Hell, I even recognized Thanatos on sight. (Fatty and his spiky blue mop of hair and his hugeass sword I'd know anywhere.)
On the other hand, you can tell where the game developers took a detour from the manhwa. Chaos is described as a rune knight; up until 2007, this job didn't even exist in RO. (Actually, rune knights will be implemented in 2008; I believe they're the third job of knights/lord knights.) The characters that are so familiar to an RO player - like merchants, acolytes, and such - aren't even really there. (Okay, Lydia OH EXCUSE ME LIDIA is a thief, but WHATEVER.) And the translations are sometimes strange as well.
More importantly, though, a lot of the Norse influence has been removed. And I kind of feel that...while it makes it a bit more accessible to most players, it's also doing the original product some injustice. I think that the track that RO has taken in Episode 10, and will take in episodes 12 and 13, brings it back to its roots, so to speak. (lol angry legendary knights and angry valkyries. oso: HI2U SATAN SURT MORROC. And did I mention the rune knights and guillotine crosses?)
It also brings up questions on what to do with my fanfiction. I'd like to revise some of it so that it's a bit more consistent; I'd really like to bring together game canon and manhwa canon. (I've already come to the conclusion that Midgard is pagan, which fits a bit better with what the manhwa is leading to so far as opposed to the Catholic symbolism the game endows its clergy with.) But that can wait.
At least I can have my characters curse more effectively now. lololol.
Moar reaction when I finish reading. Almost done with the second volume.
Also, have some more Gay!bledore icons, because Dumbledore liking cock is still too fabulous to not talk about.
Instead, I ended up walking to B&N, and I now own volumes 5 and 6 of Bleach (I already bought 1-4 this summer)...and volumes 1 and 2 of Ragnarok.
I'm actually surprised I didn't read it sooner, as it's a fairly old manga. (Okay, manhwa. Whatever.) It's about 10 years old, currently, and Tokyopop released it in English back in 2002. And I've been playing Ragnarok Online since about 2004, and - quite obviously - I get v. v. weeaboo about it. (To the point that there's a stalker smirking at me on my computer screen right now.)
Opening it was VERY CONFUSING because it's left to right. Yeah, I know. It's normal. I texted Matt and was like "WUT IZ DIS FAGGOT TREE" when I first started reading it because I was so confused I had to look at it for five minutes to make sure that yes, I was looking at the front cover, and yes, the spine was supposed to be on the left side.
It's actually...So far, from the first two, the Ragnarok manhwa is very different from Ragnarok Online. The settings are similar - I recognized Payon Fayon IT'S STILL PAYON TO ME DAMMIT even if tokyopop fails it and translated it as fucking FAYON, Alberta, and Morroc. I recognize a lot of the main characters, and for good reason - the servers themselves on official servers are named after the comic's characters. (Chaos, Loki, Iris, Sara, Fenrir, Lydia, etc.) The guards of Morroc look exactly as they do in game. Hell, I even recognized Thanatos on sight. (Fatty and his spiky blue mop of hair and his hugeass sword I'd know anywhere.)
On the other hand, you can tell where the game developers took a detour from the manhwa. Chaos is described as a rune knight; up until 2007, this job didn't even exist in RO. (Actually, rune knights will be implemented in 2008; I believe they're the third job of knights/lord knights.) The characters that are so familiar to an RO player - like merchants, acolytes, and such - aren't even really there. (Okay, Lydia OH EXCUSE ME LIDIA is a thief, but WHATEVER.) And the translations are sometimes strange as well.
More importantly, though, a lot of the Norse influence has been removed. And I kind of feel that...while it makes it a bit more accessible to most players, it's also doing the original product some injustice. I think that the track that RO has taken in Episode 10, and will take in episodes 12 and 13, brings it back to its roots, so to speak. (lol angry legendary knights and angry valkyries. oso: HI2U SATAN SURT MORROC. And did I mention the rune knights and guillotine crosses?)
It also brings up questions on what to do with my fanfiction. I'd like to revise some of it so that it's a bit more consistent; I'd really like to bring together game canon and manhwa canon. (I've already come to the conclusion that Midgard is pagan, which fits a bit better with what the manhwa is leading to so far as opposed to the Catholic symbolism the game endows its clergy with.) But that can wait.
At least I can have my characters curse more effectively now. lololol.
Moar reaction when I finish reading. Almost done with the second volume.
Also, have some more Gay!bledore icons, because Dumbledore liking cock is still too fabulous to not talk about.