Manga Mavericks

[LumRanmaYasha]

Slipped my mind that we haven't mentioned this yet, but our next episode will be a retrospective/review of Black Clover to commemorate it passing 100 chapters and it's 2 year anniversary and upcoming anime. Our guest will include Maxy, who you should all know by now, and Annaliese Christman, the official letterer of the manga for Viz, and our first ever guest on the show who works in the manga industry! Annaliese has also met Tabata-sensei himself, and established the Unofficial Osamu Fanclub, a World Trigger fanclub (of which I am the proud 55th member) that has sent care packages to Daisuke Ashihara. We are very excited to have her on the show, and since it's a unique opportunity to have a guest who works in the english manga industry on the show, I wanted to make sure we get some good questions for her to answer next week. If you guys have any questions about Black Clover, World Trigger, or the process of simulpublishing Shonen Jump manga, give us some questions to answer on the show before Sunday!

[Spark Of Spirit]

Well, an obvious question (if she knows) is if Ashihara is recovering okay.

This might seem like an odd question, but I was wondering if Ashihara knew about the amount of characters he would introduce in the story ahead of time or if they came to him naturally as the story went along. He just seems to have a knack with introducing characters that are so very different and yet fit the plot perfectly.

As for Black Clover, is Tabata aware at how well-liked Yami is? It feels like everyone likes Yami. So many people, including non-fans, like him a great deal.

That's all I got right now.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Thanks for the questions! 

[LumRanmaYasha]

We saw Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale, so we were obligated to podcast about it on Movie Mavericks.

[Daikun]

I laughed so hard at this.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Glad you enjoyed it! 

[LumRanmaYasha]

Our Black Clover discussion with Annaliese Christman is out!. We talk about what working as a letterer for Viz entails, debate Asta's qualities as a protagonist, gush about how cool Yami is, and gang up on Colton until he embraces Black Clover with all his heart and soul. No matter how heard he tried to resist, just like Asta, Maxy, Annaliese and I never gave up! Hence why this episode is alternatively titled "Dr. Stockholm, Or: How I Learned To Stop Hating and Love Black Clover." 

But we're not done talking about Shonen Jump manga yet! On our next episode we'll be discussing My Hero Academia with Doctor from the Ass Backwards Anime Podcast! Make sure to leave us some questions or topics to discuss on that show as well!

Also, Manga Fights will be making it's comeback next month, and we want your guys' input on what we should fight about! My Hero Academia, or Pokemon? Vote in our twitter poll or leave a comment in this thread!

[Spark Of Spirit]

The answer is My Hero Academia.

As for topic/question ideas I've got a few.

-Do you think there is a traitor? If you do, who is it?
-Is Dabi Todoroki's brother?
-What was Horikoshi getting at with the Nomu "hint" in volume 7? (In case you haven't seen it, Horikoshi showed a picture of one of Bakugo and Midoriya's childhood friends as a hint as to where the Nomu's come from)
-Who is going to be the one to kill All Might?
-Where is Midoriya's dad?
-Are there any heroes you feel have the potential to become villains or vice versa?
-Will Deku ever reach 100%?
-Other than One For All/All For One, what is the coolest quirk?
-What kind of quirks would you like to see?
-What role do you think Stain could play in the series from here on in?
-Which character should have more appearances?
-Best villain?
-Best hero?
-Do you find the series "generic" or "bland" or are the haters trying too hard?
-Are there any things you think the series could improve on in the future?

As you can see, I am a fan of MHA.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'd be fine with either, but I'd also edge towards MHA since I'm only really familiar with the first two generations of Pokémon and would be interested to listen to a Manga Fights episode regarding a series that I'm actually up to date with.

I'll post some of my own questions and topic ideas a bit later.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Pretty good discussion on Black Clover.

I think you all nailed the reason it is as popular as it is. It's not that it is incredibly innovative or different but that it does pretty much do what shonen is supposed to do and it does it well. There's nothing unpredictable here and a lot of it is tropes, but it's very genuine and not like Tabata's trying to cash-in on it. It's not my favorite thing to read every week, but it doesn't disappoint and frequently adds some fun to weeks when most series might have down time.

However, I do agree with Colton on chapter 1. I don't think it was awful, but I don't think it did enough in establishing the characters or the world. Especially since a lot of what happens here isn't prominent in the story most of the time. It gets better past that. This is a series that really does get better as it goes.

I like the character designs. I like that the fantasy and magic doesn't have the problem of feeling video gamey like most modern fantasy manga and anime. I like the art. I like the action. I like the comedy. It does a lot well.

It's easy to see why it's popular. It does a lot of things right. I actually feel a lot of people are too harsh on it for sometimes silly reasons. It's not very original and won't light the manga world ablaze, but it does what it does very well. I would honestly say that it does much better than Naruto did post-Sasuke retrieval arc. The series is a good time.

The only thing I can fault Black Clover for is on two fronts.

The first issue is that Asta wins almost every fight on his own most of the time and it almost feels like he's OP a lot of the time. He doesn't need to lose more, but his victories would feel better if he struggled more to attain them. At the same time, I like that the pacing for fights is otherwise good.

My other problem is that the series is WAY too fast. The fights are paced really well, but everything between them doesn't usually have enough time to build. Tabata feels like he's rushing from moment to moment, like that invasion arc near the beginning of the series. He introduced a bunch of characters with info-dumps in 1 chapter then spent about 4 chapters with boring fights that ended lamely by having the Wizard King show up and save him which sort of ruined the point of the arc in general. Now he improved a lot since then, but I would like to see more pausing in the story for character moments and world-building. The side chapters are usually really fun and Tabata is really good with comedy that it's a shame that he do them more.

But yeah, it's a good series.

I never thought of that relation between BC and MHA before. It's an example of how execution is everything. If it wasn't brought up I never would have made the connection. MHA and BC are really different in execution to the point that they are wholly different. But I do agree that Asta really should struggle and learn more in regards to his sword.

Well it's good to know Ashihara is alive at least. I hope he's recovering fine. There's just been no information at all on the status of his health and, unlike other writers and artists, we knew he had health problems for a while now so it is a bit disconcerting to have radio silence on him for so long. Hopefully he'll get better soon.

It's hard to be excited for the Black Clover anime, but this is one series I think slower pacing and filler would help. Adding in the light novel would help. Of course it's still Pierrot, but I can hope for a decent adaption at least.

Great show again.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Glad you enjoyed our Black Clover discussion! I can see your point that the first chapter wasn't quite enough to sell the characters and world, but I still felt what it did was compelling and enjoyable when I first read it. BC doesn't do anything new that other series haven't done, but it's done well and is fun to read and it's simplicity is part of why I think it's so popular with younger readers in Japan. I do think Asta's anti-magic swords are too OP and I'm always worried that his fights will be resolved too easily, but I think the last few battles he's been in, particularly that against Vetto, was enough of a struggle to still buy into the tension and make the payoff satisfying. I don't think the pacing is too fast for the most part. I mean, the most recent arc took around 6 months to finish. But I do think there should be more adventure over action in the arcs, since a lot of them almost immediately get into the fighting. The world is pretty interesting so I'd like for Tabata to let us spend more time in a new location before jumping right into the fights. The MHA/BC similarities we discussed are certainly interesting. Perhaps warrants more conversation in the next podcast or an editorial.

I think it's pretty much decided we'll be doing MHA as our next Manga Fight considering that the twitter poll is clocking in at 12 votes for MHA to 0 votes for Pokemon. Thanks for the comments and MHA questions/debate topics Spark!

[LumRanmaYasha]

The MHA episode is out! Thanks again Spark for your questions! Hope you guys enjoy this, and remember, we're recording out Manga Fight on MHA later this month on Sunday, April 23rd, so send in any additional questions or topic suggestions before then!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Listened to part of your MHA discussion on my headphones during my lunch break. Good stuff so far. I appreciate that Doctor, despite not being that into the series, doesn't simply just wave away all of its brilliant little touches and even comments about improvements that it makes over time, rather than just referring to the whole thing as generic shonen tropes like most critics of the series tend to do.

It is a generic shonen in concept, but is an incredibly well done one in execution with a bit more nuance to it than what some people tend to give it credit for.

As for some potential Manga Fights quickly, I have a few ideas, though obviously feel free to ignore them if none of them suit either your's or Colton's fancy:

-What with the popularity of superhero team-up movies and shows such as The Avengers, The Defenders, Justice League, the CW DC-verse and so on, pitch a 4-person team of any four heroes (students or pros) with a unique name for their team and why they would work well together.

-Should Vigilante ever canonically crossover with MHA in a major story-line for either series, or is it better for it to remain a strictly complementary spin-off with the occasional cameo?

-If All Might had never met Midoriya, which UA student would be most deserving of inheriting All For One, and why?

-If you could pick any quirk from the series thus far to have as your own, which one would you pick and why?

-Midoriya and All Might aside; which MHA hero would be the most interesting to follow in their own comic-book style solo series?

[Spark Of Spirit]

Very nice discussion. Interesting hearing a point of view from someone who doesn't really care that much for the series.

The main appeal of MHA has always been the merging of Western superhero comics with Eastern shonen manga. There's really nothing else like it and I think that's where the originality comes in. It also helps that it's extremely well written and drawn. As someone who grew up with superhero comics before losing interest in them for a lot of reasons, MHA is the first series in a while to capture the spark of what makes old comics so appealing while adding its own flavor. He manages to hit all the right marks of Golden and Silver Age comics without all the squickiness of post-Bronze Age material. Horikoshi has found a niche that a lot of us didn't know what we wanted.

Midoriya is a great main character. He is a good kid with a good head on his shoulders, and he is constantly striving to improve. Also, the most important point is that unlike most shonen protagonists, his goal is actually very endearing. He wants to be a hero to save people. It's completely unselfish and it makes you want to root for him. I can't think of a recent main character in a shonen manga as strong as he is.

I don't think the All For One fight should have happened earlier. It's been heavily hinted that Shinsou from the Sports Festival and Stain from the Field Training arc will be playing a role in the future. Without their set up, they wouldn't be half as interesting as they are now. I'm really eager to see what will happen when they return.

Personally, I thought the first chapter was incredible. But it was the Field Training arc that sealed the deal of me sticking around. The combination of the character development of Midoriya, Ida, and Todoroki, combined with an incredible fight filled with high stakes against a scary villain like Stain really showed everything that made this series great. Horikoshi came such a long way in such a short time that I couldn't help but become a fan.

I think Uraraka's attraction to Midoriya is a good bit of development for her because it puts up a contrast. Does she admire his heroism and think of him as an inspiration, or does she actually like him on a deeper level? Maybe it's both. We know that Midoriya likes her a lot but given that he is no longer shy around girls it's hard to tell exactly what he really thinks. As far as potential romantic subplots go, it's pretty interesting. I expect this will get solved in the current arc on some level, but I think it's being done really well. It's a bit of an insult to compare her to Sakura, who never really was a good character to begin with. It's only a shame that some fans really seem to not like her.

My top ten characters are such:

1. Izuku Midoriya
2. All Might
3. Katsuki Bakugo
4. Shoto Todoroki
5. Ochako Uraraka
6. Tenya Ida
7. Stain
8. Eijiro Kirishima
9. Gran Torino
10. Denki Kaminari

I will agree that Mineta is more annoying than anything. But apparently there are people who really find him funny. Hopefully his plummet in the popularity polls (he dropped from 17th to 35th!) will either cause Horikoshi to do more with him or dial him down. There have been just so many characters added to the series that completely outclass him.

The story is transitioning into the next era. I think it's possible that by the end of this arc or the next that the world could be a very different place. Remember, the chapter All Might lost his powers was called "End of the Beginning, Beginning of the End" which is fairly telling. I would say we're probably about a third to a quarter through the series right now. It really depends on what Horikoshi is planning on doing.

I prefer the slower pacing of the anime. Horikoshi jam packs his chapters full of information, usually requiring me to read them twice or so, and the anime lets everything flow at a natural pace. The only thing I ask is to cut back on the flashbacks in future episodes. It was understandable for the first episode of the new season but it is really unneeded. Making the the anime different enough from the manga was the right choice.

When it comes to traitors, I do find the Kaminari theory plausible, but I'd need more evidence to be convinced. Realistically, it would have to be someone who has not been in much peril when facing off against the villains. It would have to be someone the villains have not tried to kill one on one since there would be no point playacting. That would include Midoriya (obviously), Bakugo, Ida, Todoroki, Best Jeanist, Mt. Lady, Gang Orca, All Might, Aizawa, Kirishima, Yaoyarozu, and Gran Torino, as characters that are clearly not working for the villains. Whoever is the traitor I have no idea.

The whole thing with Dabi was the fact that he has a fire quirk, refuses to use his real name, is covered in burns, and really hates the hero society. Endeavor is a crappy dad and it would make sense to have someone like Todoroki who went on the wrong path. Who knows. Nonetheless, we know nothing about him so it's not like the theory holds much water yet.

I've been reading manga and watching anime since Dragon Ball and reading comics since then and I've never had a problem getting into MHA. I saw it exactly for what it is. You have to look beyond the surface to enjoy most things for what they are. MHA is really good because it achieves exactly what it sets out to do and manages to surpass it at times. When I was talking about haters, I didn't mean people who had issues with the series. I meant the shonen fans who worship Naruto and Bleach but never actually offer criticisms about what the series does wrong.

As for a series defining arc, I think Doctor hit it well. We probably won't know until after its animated, but I do think the All Might Vs. All For One fight is going to be the one catalyst for the fanbase to explode. That said, I think the current arc is going to lead into something really big in the manga. When All Might actually dies I feel it will really change things on an even greater scale than his retirement. This arc has death written all over it.

If you want some Manga Fight topics I can probably scrounge some up.

Quirk free-for-all between all year one students: Who wins?
Would a crossover between One Punch Man and MHA work well?
Would a time skip work in a series like this?
If Todoroki and Bakugo had fought for real in the Sports Festival who would have won?
Which color page is the greatest?

Again, good job. It was a fun listen.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Glad you guys enjoyed it! I was worried at first that Doctor was going to dismiss the series' merits, so I'm glad he ended up reading more of it than he originally planned and coming to appreciate it so we could have a more thorough discussion, and he certainly brought a fresh perspective as someone who likes but is not overly enthusiastic about the series.

Midoriya is a great main character. He is a good kid with a good head on his shoulders, and he is constantly striving to improve. Also, the most important point is that unlike most shonen protagonists, his goal is actually very endearing. He wants to be a hero to save people. It's completely unselfish and it makes you want to root for him. I can't think of a recent main character in a shonen manga as strong as he is.

I think Midoriya's altruistic nature definitely sets him a part from other protagonists. Where other shonen protagonists seek self-improvement or a status, Midoriya just wants to help people. With the exception of Emma of TPN whose goal is simply to save her friends, there's really not another protagonist in Jump whose motivations are so selfless.

I don't think the All For One fight should have happened earlier. It's been heavily hinted that Shinsou from the Sports Festival and Stain from the Field Training arc will be playing a role in the future. Without their set up, they wouldn't be half as interesting as they are now. I'm really eager to see what will happen when they return.

Same. I'm really wondering what role Shinso is going to play in future events in particular. He's been built up for a while now.

Personally, I thought the first chapter was incredible. But it was the Field Training arc that sealed the deal of me sticking around. The combination of the character development of Midoriya, Ida, and Todoroki, combined with an incredible fight filled with high stakes against a scary villain like Stain really showed everything that made this series great. Horikoshi came such a long way in such a short time that I couldn't help but become a fan.

Agreed. That's really where MHA came into it's own for me. It was an amazing experience reading and writing about that arc as it happened.

I think Uraraka's attraction to Midoriya is a good bit of development for her because it puts up a contrast. Does she admire his heroism and think of him as an inspiration, or does she actually like him on a deeper level? Maybe it's both. We know that Midoriya likes her a lot but given that he is no longer shy around girls it's hard to tell exactly what he really thinks. As far as potential romantic subplots go, it's pretty interesting. I expect this will get solved in the current arc on some level, but I think it's being done really well. It's a bit of an insult to compare her to Sakura, who never really was a good character to begin with. It's only a shame that some fans really seem to not like her.

Uraraka definitely has better character motivation that Sakura whose defining goal was to get with Sausuke. She genuinely wants to be a hero and help her family financially, and admires Midoriya's heroism more than simply crushing on him. She has potential and I'm interested in her character development, and am glad to see she'll be involved in the current arc.

My top ten characters are such:

1. Izuku Midoriya
2. All Might
3. Katsuki Bakugo
4. Shoto Todoroki
5. Ochako Uraraka
6. Tenya Ida
7. Stain
8. Eijiro Kirishima
9. Gran Torino
10. Denki Kaminari

Good list! Mine would probably be:

1. All Might
2. Midoriya
3. Todoroki
4. Ida
5. Bakugo
6. Stain
7. Shigaraki
8. Yaoyorozu
9. Uraraka
10. Gran Torino

I will agree that Mineta is more annoying than anything. But apparently there are people who really find him funny. Hopefully his plummet in the popularity polls (he dropped from 17th to 35th!) will either cause Horikoshi to do more with him or dial him down. There have been just so many characters added to the series that completely outclass him.

I hope Horikoshi finds something else to do with him besides his perverted shtick. He has a pretty fun power so it would a shame to see him completely fade into the background, but his jokes are becoming uncomfortable at this point.

The story is transitioning into the next era. I think it's possible that by the end of this arc or the next that the world could be a very different place. Remember, the chapter All Might lost his powers was called "End of the Beginning, Beginning of the End" which is fairly telling. I would say we're probably about a third to a quarter through the series right now. It really depends on what Horikoshi is planning on doing.

I think the power dynamics in the world of MHA are definitely going to change. I think it's cool we're simultaneously seeing the end of All Might's story alongside the beginning of Midoriya's, the end of one era and the beginning of a new one.

I prefer the slower pacing of the anime. Horikoshi jam packs his chapters full of information, usually requiring me to read them twice or so, and the anime lets everything flow at a natural pace. The only thing I ask is to cut back on the flashbacks in future episodes. It was understandable for the first episode of the new season but it is really unneeded. Making the the anime different enough from the manga was the right choice.

The use of flashbacks for padding is really my only real complaint with the anime. I'm hoping they find a better balance in terms of pacing as this season goes on.

The whole thing with Dabi was the fact that he has a fire quirk, refuses to use his real name, is covered in burns, and really hates the hero society. Endeavor is a crappy dad and it would make sense to have someone like Todoroki who went on the wrong path. Who knows. Nonetheless, we know nothing about him so it's not like the theory holds much water yet.

Oh yeah, I see the connection now. Maybe he could be Endeavor's illegitimate son or from a previous marriage of his. Otherwise I'd imagine Todoroki would know if he had a brother and would've recognized him.

Thanks for the Manga Fights topic suggestions guys! Those are some really good ones!