manga rant time
I think this week's installments are pretty interesting from a writing POV. 2/3 are heavy on the flashbacks -- and demonstrate pretty effectively how to use one and how not to. And then Bleach... not quite sure what happened there but wouldn't be surprised if editor/reader feedback had some repercussions.
1. Bleach: As predicted, crap chapter. What does surprise me is the pacing in this chapter, which was really bizarre -- it really really threw me off at first because what happens in this chapter, Kubo usually takes about 3-4 chapters to cover, lmao. I felt like I was missing a transition page or two somewhere, it was that abrupt.
But after months of repeating the exact same back and forth battle pattern without even the slightest bit of variation, I wonder if his editor finally got on his case? (I realize these chapters are turned in weeks before publication, but that's what makes me wonder, since the lag seems about right for feedback to have finally started filtering through at this point.)
Well, it's still shitty writing, but at least he got straight to the point this time. Hopefully we'll find out the fate of a certain other character now, but who am I kidding? Eff you too, Kubo.
2. Naruto: I wish I gave a crap (for a character I wish I liked more than I actually do), but when it feels like every other chapter is a flashback, and pretty much every character has the exact same backstory (one of two types depending on whether you're a villain or one of the good guys), in a cast of dozens...
In other words, this week's chapter doesn't really tell us anything new. It's pure emotional manipulation, and not even effective emotional manipulation at that. We've seen all this before (and quite frankly the attitude and the amount of hypocrisy involved horrifies me, but let's pretend it doesn't). Either way, we already know the sacrifice this act entails. We understand its significance. We've known about it for hundreds of chapters (if even *I* remember this detail -- for a series in which I can't remember SHIT and am completely lost 90% of the time -- surely everyone else does too).
Given Kishi's track record, there's not even any guarantee that the sacrifice will actually stick. (Though I guess his record is better than Kubo. Kishi HAS written effective deaths before.)
3. One Piece: The flashback in this chapter, while not surprising or shocking, is so much more effective than the Naruto flashback that it's kind of sad. (This despite being I'm pretty sure half as long as the Naruto flashback, which took up practically the entire chapter, whereas there were a couple pages of significant plot development in OP chapter this week beyond the flashback.)
Unlike Kishi, Oda's not deliberately manipulating us for feels. Instead, he's presenting us with confirmation of details he's already been hinting at, and really playing with a variation of one of the main themes of this arc (the intersection of memory, history [communal memory], and self-identity). From a characterization POV it explains a great deal about two characters we've only had a vague understanding of until now (with potential implications re: a few others). From a thematic standpoint it's pure brilliance (consider the seemingly unrelated first half of the chapter, and the callback to previous arcs). From a plotty standpoint I suspect it's serving as both indirect worldbuilding and foreshadowing at the same time.
Guh. He is just SO good with parallels and point-counterpoint and bouncing ideas/story strands organically off each other.
comments at the original Dreamwidth post
1. Bleach: As predicted, crap chapter. What does surprise me is the pacing in this chapter, which was really bizarre -- it really really threw me off at first because what happens in this chapter, Kubo usually takes about 3-4 chapters to cover, lmao. I felt like I was missing a transition page or two somewhere, it was that abrupt.
But after months of repeating the exact same back and forth battle pattern without even the slightest bit of variation, I wonder if his editor finally got on his case? (I realize these chapters are turned in weeks before publication, but that's what makes me wonder, since the lag seems about right for feedback to have finally started filtering through at this point.)
Well, it's still shitty writing, but at least he got straight to the point this time. Hopefully we'll find out the fate of a certain other character now, but who am I kidding? Eff you too, Kubo.
2. Naruto: I wish I gave a crap (for a character I wish I liked more than I actually do), but when it feels like every other chapter is a flashback, and pretty much every character has the exact same backstory (one of two types depending on whether you're a villain or one of the good guys), in a cast of dozens...
In other words, this week's chapter doesn't really tell us anything new. It's pure emotional manipulation, and not even effective emotional manipulation at that. We've seen all this before (and quite frankly the attitude and the amount of hypocrisy involved horrifies me, but let's pretend it doesn't). Either way, we already know the sacrifice this act entails. We understand its significance. We've known about it for hundreds of chapters (if even *I* remember this detail -- for a series in which I can't remember SHIT and am completely lost 90% of the time -- surely everyone else does too).
Given Kishi's track record, there's not even any guarantee that the sacrifice will actually stick. (Though I guess his record is better than Kubo. Kishi HAS written effective deaths before.)
3. One Piece: The flashback in this chapter, while not surprising or shocking, is so much more effective than the Naruto flashback that it's kind of sad. (This despite being I'm pretty sure half as long as the Naruto flashback, which took up practically the entire chapter, whereas there were a couple pages of significant plot development in OP chapter this week beyond the flashback.)
Unlike Kishi, Oda's not deliberately manipulating us for feels. Instead, he's presenting us with confirmation of details he's already been hinting at, and really playing with a variation of one of the main themes of this arc (the intersection of memory, history [communal memory], and self-identity). From a characterization POV it explains a great deal about two characters we've only had a vague understanding of until now (with potential implications re: a few others). From a thematic standpoint it's pure brilliance (consider the seemingly unrelated first half of the chapter, and the callback to previous arcs). From a plotty standpoint I suspect it's serving as both indirect worldbuilding and foreshadowing at the same time.
Guh. He is just SO good with parallels and point-counterpoint and bouncing ideas/story strands organically off each other.
comments at the original Dreamwidth post