So, was this new meta plotline planned from the start by the mangaka or is it the result of editor meddling due to lukewarm reception of the first arc in Japan? In any case, interesting attempt to up the stakes and provide longterm hooks.
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Red Hood
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It definitely felt like a 4th wall thing.
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Ouch. When the author spends multiple pages breaking the fourth wall to say "why are you complaining about the pacing and all the time I wasted?"
That's… not a good sign.
Definitely getting the two month pivot here where some editor told him soemthing and he's not agreeing with it. They're trying to reshape the premise of the series and show multiple new hooks. "Look, lots of character have strange cursed powers!" "Look the mayor is a secret badguy!" "Look at all the giant monster wildlife!" "Here's new roomates with whacky quirks!"
But.. you introduced a training arc and then skipped ALL the training? Not going to show any of the weird strange things? No wearing a turtle shell? No trying to cut a rock with a sword or blow up a pot with your breath? No doing 10,000 pushups while a large man stands on your back? No spinning water in a baloon? No being chased by angry bees? No hook at all? Just... nothing except the fact it was too much for an old man to deal with?
That screams "i was planning to do a training thing for a few chapters but now I don't have time". ANd if that's not the case and they never planned to do a training arc after explicitly setting one up, then... yikes.
I want to like this series and I want it to do well but just every week I eel like I'm just seeing signs of it ending soon, but maybe I'm just too pessimistic.
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I feel like the most charitable interpretation of that scene is that the bad guys are trying to follow some sort of prophecy that is presented as a book of folk tales. So their actions follow a script and they see themselves as characters in the prophecy. Most definitely there's a lot of editorial meddling but maybe it could work. The biggest issue is that after Candy Flurry there's no obvious cancellation candidates, so this and Neru are at high risk.
Now, I think the manga has a good setting (post hamlet) but the characters are a miss, especially the side characters. I remember there's a guy called Bonkers because it's funny. The new character has the worst personality quirk I can remember. The flunk siblings exist.
The fact that the fortress is a huge cube on tiny rails on a path through the ocean at sea level bothers me. Feels like it's trying way too hard to be weird. Just use a ship.
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Kinda so-so on the series so far. The art style is neat, the story has potential to go somewhere and the werewolf designs in particular are fantastic. But it lost steam once the prologue concluded with the villagers scattering and since then it's been very wishy-washy. I have no idea what this story wants to be, it started out like a horror-esque monster flick, then it's a school setting with bunk mates and quirky teachers and now we even get aspects of meta commentary. The only thing I found interesting these last few chapters was the old man it he was dealt with so quickly it felt absurd.
It's frustrating because there's clearly something good here, but the story is fumbling and can't grasp it.
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I think it being very self-aware was actually planned from the start. The Checkov Gun was only the first reference, in a story that's already based on several folk tales like Red Riding Hood mixed with werewolves.
I've been riding the train like most folk here, the art is neat, some good ideas are there but let's see where this is going, give me a better hook. And this was it.
It's a story about stories, spelling out every literary troupe it's using.Velou still needs something though.
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Yeah, I'll excuse any fourth wall breaking since this series seems built around storytelling and fairy tales as its motif.
I really liked the latest chapter. Probably my favorite since the first. The off-screen training and lack of other participants has been strange, so it's nice we're finally getting to see an extended cast in action.
Ranking was really bad though. Hoping it was a fluke since Ch. 2 and 3 are probably the low points of the series.
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Enjoyed the last chapter, really hoping they give it a chance. The characters that were on the spread all looked nice, even the Morgan-looking fellow.
I hope that Hori does a sketch to promote the first volume, since the author is a former assistant.
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What's with this recent trend of beautiful muscular women. Not like I'm complaining, hehe.
https://mobile.twitter.com/ShonenSalto/status/1434872913006579713
Heh.
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Oof, this week is the first official ranking for Red Hood that wasn't the first chapter and its dead last, final slot in the magazine.
And that's after they'd been ranking it in the bottom half for the grace period.
Unless some miracle hook happens in the next couple chapters this is done.
The author wasn't being meta last week, he was legit bitching at the readers for not liking his story.
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Oof, this week is the first official ranking for Red Hood that wasn't the first chapter and its dead last, final slot in the magazine.
Yeah, I can't say the exam is doing much for me after all the offscreened training, so the prospect is grim (haha). Here's me with crossed fingers because I really enjoyed the art in early chapters - the werewolves especially. But seeing how even this is now taking a backseat, I'm not setting my hopes too high…
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I was interested during the village assault and liked the beginning of the training arc…but the last couple chapters felt a bit rushed. I really don't know if the author can necromance his series out of the graveyard anymore.
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Not gonna lie, I'm starting to enjoy this series in a bleach-like way. Most failed stories I come across tend to be bland, or they have one good arc before they drop in quality. But this is like watching a motorcycle stunt where the driver drove up the ramp only to forget how to land and right now we're watching them fumbling in the air, waiting to see if they'll crash or miraculously make it.
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Chapter 10: https://mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp/viewer/1009875
This chapter was my favorite one from the exam so far, really hoping it can make a comeback from the bottom of the ranking.
! Also, the blessing/curse thing is interesting wouldbuilding. I wonder what makes someone a witch in this universe
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Yeah this was a step up from before. I have some trouble understanding what's going on, but I feel like I at least had some fun reading. Still some ways to go though.
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The motivation behind the plan doesn't make sense. They want everyone to pass to ensure that more people fight the werewolves, but having a bunch of people pass doesn't make them any more capable. If they're good enough to fight werewolves as part of the guild, they could be good enough to fight outside. Or make another guild with all the rejects that are actually good enough to fight but were exluded by the crappy test system.
On a positive note, the sanctuary priestess defense arts hand pose (with the cubes in the fingertips) looked really cool.
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That was an okayh chapter, but completely betrayed by the lack up buildup to it.
If only any time at all had been spent to develop a single one of these characters or hinting at their powers before jumping into a free for all.
The one guy going" Yeah, you were always good about removing stuff that scared me"… that quirk was literally just one panel from like, a chapter ago.
I get it, the series is on the verge of cancellation, the author can't slow burn anymore and has to do SOMETHING to draw attention which is why we just skipped the training arc and we're suddenly getting super powers from everyone, but it doesn't feel like a natural or organic extension of the first part of the story at all.
20 or 30 chapters from now maybe but... not yet.
it's like it wants so badly to be Hunter X Hunter but its just missing the mark.
Oh well, do what you have to do to survive, comic!
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I second the appreciation on cubic defense arts and it's not the first time art stands out in a good way. I really think the author would do wonders if paired with someone who can help improve storytelling aspects.
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Right now I’m not really following this, just skimming through. But I am interested and hope it gets good.
I'm torn on this one. I’m not opposed to a blatant save our ratings exam arc, HxH is great and the exam was easily the best part of Naruto. This all feels pretty unnatural though. Honestly I kinda want this to get the axe, the author to then get some more experience under his belt and have another shot at this series one day. Ideally the introduction should be revised so it has more hooks for the reader besides 'Grimm is hot AF I wanna see more of those killer thighs'. Spend more time on the intro (Why not make the village a whole arc?) so we get to know the village and MC a little better, so we can get invested in him when it’s destroyed and want to read his story. Luffy was determined and hilarious from the very second chapter and I wanted to read more. As everyone said it's sorely lacking here and I don't think a story can recover from such a hookless intro even if it gets good now. Will new readers ever read past it? I'm betting this will indeed get axed like a werewolf but there's potential here and I hope this won't stay dead forever. Don’t know how realistic that is though.On the other hand I also want to see this succeed. For some reason I can really respect the author and story. Maybe it's because I respect going for such an original setting, avoiding clichéd tropes and the fanservice being respectful for a change (not gratuitous, doesn’t disrespect the character and no creepy MC groping her boobs cough7deadlysinscough). Having the bad guys not be badass dudes who you fist fight with but just ugly monsters is very challenging for a shonen but I like the originality. Good on you for having the guts author guy. I'm up for huntin some fairy tale monsters with guns and axes. I’m afraid it’s going into standard shonen territory though. If this survives I hope it goes back to what the intro promised, now with characters I can like from this tournament.
Anyway this seems like a fun chapter. Though the art is good it can be very hard to follow and moe little kid faces glued on to adult bodies is jarring.
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Honestly I kinda want this to get the axe, the author to then get some more experience under his belt and have another shot at this series one day.
It this gets axed it won't come back ever. I'm already bracing for the worst, because no matter what emergency maneuvers it takes, everything else is established. It would need either PPPPPP to fail spectacularly or something going into hiatus to survive the next cancellation round.
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Neru has been placing pretty badly too, and they came out only a week apart. It could be either one depending on which the editorial team thinks has a better shot… or they could both go.
Witch Watch gets a reprieve. It might just hang out in 15th place for years at this rate.
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The blonde scientist dude is more interesting than the maim character so far. This really does feel like someone really liked the hunter exams.
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Introducing Merrio as a guy who has a phobia of leftovers and leaving it at that was such a disservice.
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Ok, Merrio is pretty cool, I was wondering whose power was the plant they used last week to send the message, but that answers it.
Dunno about letting the baldie be part of the team, he seems like the kind of guy that will stab you when you are not looking, although since there wouldn´t be any benefit from doing perhaps it´s safe.
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Despite knowing that it's on it's way out, i gave it a try since even Boichi praised the art.For shounen standard, it is really good.But by the 3rd chapter,the story didn't grip me enough to look forward to. I think young readers nowadays have already read and watched so many mangas and anime that they themselves get bored easily if classic tropes are used in classic setting.Also, if debuted in a different magazine othar than WSJ, it would have survived perhaps.
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I don't think it failed because readers are tired of the classic tropes. Demon Slayer is the perfect example of a shounen series that used the standard tropes and it has been a tremendous success. The big difference is that unlike Red Hood it gripped you from the very first chapter and it knew what it wanted to do and where it wanted to go. Better luck next time.
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Chapters good enough, it was fun to read and flashbacks are always great. But it's still unable to make up for what's been lost. The characters are getting better (the priestess is by far my favourite and with all the panels she's getting I bet others like her too) so if the series somehow survives long enough to wrap up the training and go back to monsters I can see a glimmer of hope.
The meta story doesn't do much for me though. It gives off the feelkng like Velou's supposed to break the story, but he's really just engaging in shonen tropes. But I can see other readers liking that aspect.
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The sad thing is, if the manga survives we won't be seeing most of these characters for a while (or even again). It's inevitable when a manga introduces a huge cast early on (see Naruto, MHA, Black Clover, etc.).
Anyway, it doesn't feel like the axe has been cast yet. I'll take either the highest tier bad guys interrupting the exam or a sudden timeskip as a confirmation. -
Ok, I like Bonkers now, the fact that he used the hardest exam on the world to make a living is pretty cool.
Sadly, because of the two weeks rock bottom at the toc I don´t have many hopes. I hope it survives though, hoping for at least a little pushing.
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I don't know, I binged through the chapters and it looked promising to me. I'm hooked. There is some space between One Piece and Fairy Tail Robby. And friggin Fairy Tail sold around the world.
“As I stand out here in the wonders of the unknown at Hadley, I sort of realize there’s a fundamental truth to our nature: Man must explore!” – David Scott, Moon
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Binging manga is a different experience. Chapters 2-5 felt like a slog because everyone expected the story to move out of the Hamlet after chapter 1. And then there was a break between chapters 4 and 5 (and soon after another break between 6 and 7). The fact is that it's ranked bottom all the time and that can be ok for some series but not for new ones.
Also, I realized I didn't really comment anything about the chapter. Bonker's story was ok, but could have been shorter. Then the fourth wall breaking brought the chapter down because it felt like the author self pitying again.
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There is some space between One Piece and Fairy Tail Robby. And friggin Fairy Tail sold around the world.
1. I didn't mention Fairy Tail? Ever?
2. Fairy Tail is awful. "That it sold" is not a measure of quality. And I know its awful because I read like the first 200 chapters when they were coming out, constantly waiting for it to break out of its shell and get good and that never came.
3. Fairy Tail was in a different magazine entirely and never competed for space with any Jump title. The issue isn't how good the series is or isn't, its that it's ranking dead last in the polls which means its on the chopping block.
How did that ever happen anyway.
It ran in Kodansha' Weekly Shōnen Magazine, which has much lower thresholds for success than Jump, and is way less cutthroat, series are generally able to run a bit longer. I think Fairy Tail and The Seven Deadly Sins are the only mega hits its had in the last decade, unless you're counting Ken Akamatsu and CLAMP titles.
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May be it will survive a bit and Neru will get the cull first.But I have never seen a manga ranking so low continuously survived much long in WSJ.
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Storywise, this chapter is not the work of a person who thinks their story is getting cancelled in a chapter or two.
Until you get to the second half and they stop drawing any backgrounds and in the final pages and they just stopped drawing and started pasting in entire old pages to fill space.
The story is not going to have any real conclusion but the art is definitely getting scribblier and less effort.
I guess it hasn't been dead last the last four chapters in a row, its been next to last for some of those. Maybe the editor really has belief in the series and wants them to have a chance to turn it around? Maybe the numbers started increasing with this arc and we're just not going to see the result of that for a few more issues? Or maybe it's just going to have a very abrupt end.
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Guardian of the Witch acted as if nothing happened, the second to last chapter looked like the start of a new arc, and then last chapter was a timeskip and the world was at peace.
I do think they're giving Red Hood slithtly better treatment. For instance, it got a Spanish translation right away while Neru didn't (and PPPPPP didn't either). But the thing is, this training arc has been boring outside of showcasing some of the participants' powers. And Velou is pretty much a Deku clone in his characterization, which is bad because Deku has consistently proved to not be very popular (as a MC, he's obviously high ranked in popularity polls, but never win them, which is unusual for a shonen).
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Golden Future Cup saves Hood and Neru for the next five weeks at least. Might be why the author is pacing this arc out to time it with the axe.
(as a MC, he's obviously high ranked in popularity polls, but never win them, which is unusual for a shonen).
Luffy is an outlier, if anything. Ichigo dropped from 1st to 3rd later on in the series, Naruto got 1st only 2 out of 6 times, and Gon always got 3rd. Asta, Tanjiro, and Senku have also fallen from 1st place in recent polls.
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Edit: Wrong thread.
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I guess with Jimbei joining and Yamato probably joining, Oda felt Sanji needed a power boost to solidify his position as the #3 on the crew.
Wrong thread I guess ?
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I won't need to understand since this will get axed soon anyways, right?
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The hunter's guild have a book that creates reality. The mayor stole 2 pages. He deleted the big wolf and messed with Grimms memories. Also it turns out Grimm wrote that everyone passed the exam. Debonair mentioned the "scenario" and Grimm didn't understand, so Debonair asked all those random questions, which were probably codewords to identify if someone is being impersonated, controlled, etc (in this case, Debonair suspects memory manipulation).
So the mayor stole 2 pages from the book and has been messing with it, including either making up the story about dragons being extinct 500 years ago, and his plan is to replace Grimm with Velou.Anyway, the manga has been axed so it's just dumping all the plot on us.
Wash your hands.
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Anyway, the manga has been axed so it's just dumping all the plot on us.
The chapter does feel like it's moving way too fast all of a sudden. The axe is official, then ?
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Not official yet, but sudden pace switches with plot dumps are in 99% of cases signs of an axed manga. A shame because these developments over the course of 200 chapters or so could have been interesting, but the mangaka clearly needs to improve some more.
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. - _Sun Tzu, The Art Of War
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Well that was a disorganized info dump. Definitely feels like it's about to be axed, either that or the author needs to learn some things about storytelling.
I'm curious what the original plot of the manga was. This "we're rewriting the story angle", was that always present? The training arc? So much of it feels like impulsive changes.
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I'll take either the highest tier bad guys interrupting the exam or a sudden timeskip as a confirmation.
I wrote this 3 weeks ago. The big bads appearing suddenly is a typical indicator of cancellation. Other cues: we got told the secret of lycanthropy (which was extremely underwhelming), one of said big bads got killed off panel, the mayor appeared in front of Velou and we got into the overarching storyline instead of a guild introduction arc.
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While not a cue, I find it weird how hard the Werewolves were dropped. They were THE drawing point of the manga and now they haven't appeared for like ten chapters aside from the big wolf dude.
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@Zar:
I'm curious what the original plot of the manga was. This "we're rewriting the story angle", was that always present? The training arc? So much of it feels like impulsive changes.
Were there not a few hints about the storybook angle at about the time the witch and giant wolfie appeared ? This much at least may have been there from the start, considering also the Red Riding Hood references. Training arc I'm much less certain, that one did feel like a "I was given a warning, let's try something entirely different".
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I've no idea what's happening or why backgrounds ceased to exist.
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Welp, it´s getting cancelled not doubt about it. It would have been interesting to see how the author was planning to foreshadow this whole thing before having to rush it.
Looking foward to his next series, surprised they didn´t even wait to see how the series would sell though.
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Welp, it´s getting cancelled not doubt about it. It would have been interesting to see how the author was planning to foreshadow this whole thing before having to rush it.
Looking foward to his next series, surprised they didn´t even wait to see how the series would sell though.
It has been at the bottom ever since it started getting ranked. Giving it a longer leash would have been a complete waste of time.
