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RIGHT TURN ONLY!! - The Amnesiac Butler




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Nagisa
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Joined: 19 Aug 2003
Posts: 6128
Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh
PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 4:18 am Reply with quote
The greatest crime ever committed against the Warcraft franchise was letting Richard Knaak get his grubby mitts on it. Not saying the Warcraft mythos are this deep, pristine, flawless piece of high fantasy, because it's always been simple, derivative, semi-serious fluff peppered with pop culture references. But there's a line between light & fun and downright stupid, and Knaak makes a permanent residence on the wrong side of the tracks. I mean, really, this is the guy who retcons things so that his human mage self-insert character (who gets pages and pages and pages of unnecessary description about how badass his awesome red hair is) travels back in time to personally mentor one of Warcraft's biggest tragic figures and then wins one of the night elves' most significant historical events for them, then has the demi-god responsible for protecting all life on Azeroth engaging in trivial nonsense like presiding over a suspiciously Westernized human wedding ceremony held for the same tree-squatting tribal elves. It's rubbish, and so long as his name is attached to Warcraft comics, they'll always be rubbish in kind.

Oh, and raptor cavalry.
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Driverbob



Joined: 17 Sep 2010
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 6:56 am Reply with quote
Not to get too meta, but a question. You gave AMNESIA LABYRINTH Vol 1 a C because, if I read your review correctly, you felt the story was a bit haphazard and left too many hanging threads. From a vol 1 of a mystery story, this is kind of what I would expect. So are you giving it a C because you genuinely think it deserves a C, or is it a "we'll have to wait and see" C? If the next volume reveals that the set-up in vol 1 was actually a masterful plot device that pays off in the end, would you upgrade the rating?

This all gets back to how does one review a volume vs a series, but your positives about the story didn't make it sound like C material.

DriverBob
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prime_pm



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 2372
Location: Your Mother's Bedroom
PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 12:03 pm Reply with quote
So, this Warcraft author doesn't seem to have the knaak for this story. (sorry)

I got out of the whole Warcraft craze years ago after eating away a good chunk of my life. I'm proud to be Wow free for over four years now, not having once given back into temptation. Working full-time has helped deter me from play. Not to mention the drastic change in art styles for the blood elves. Ugh. Luckily I stopped before that whole winter adventure thing came out. I'd never quit then.
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PingSoni



Joined: 05 Dec 2008
Posts: 195
Location: Lansing MI
PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 2:22 pm Reply with quote
Don't know where its going, but I was quite satisfied with the story and setup in volume one of Amnesia Labyrinth; I'm eagerly waiting for the second volume to ship. I love the artwork. I'm a long time fan of pen and ink. It's refreshing to see manga art with no use of screentone.

I like Tanemura so much I subscribe to Ribon primarily to read her work hot off the press. She doesn't do many short series, so I think she had a lot of fun pushing Mistress Fortune along at a fast pace, and of course including some of her personal experiences. All of which makes for a fun read.

Agree that 7 Billion Needles is a good read. Volume 3 just shipped, so there's enough out to sink your teeth into.
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Youkai Warrior



Joined: 07 Aug 2008
Posts: 505
Location: Sarayashiki
PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 8:32 pm Reply with quote
prime_pm wrote:
So, this Warcraft author doesn't seem to have the knaak for this story. (sorry)

I got out of the whole Warcraft craze years ago after eating away a good chunk of my life. I'm proud to be Wow free for over four years now, not having once given back into temptation. Working full-time has helped deter me from play. Not to mention the drastic change in art styles for the blood elves. Ugh. Luckily I stopped before that whole winter adventure thing came out. I'd never quit then.


Good for you. Cool This is why I never played WoW. I didn't want to spend a lot of my time in front of the computer becoming unhealthy.

Quote:
n this day and age, most attempts at pure, classic fantasy ultimately end up being Imitation Lord of the Rings. And even then, such a description would be insulting to Tolkien, since 500-page doorstops like the Sunwell omnibus are just patchwork assemblies of superficial fantasy elements.


This is so true. I love Tolkien's work, and because I love it, I hate it when I read imitations. Instead of making their own fantasy stories, there's too many who rip off Tolkien. I think it is insulting, because they do turn out to be patchwork, D&D variations. Rolling Eyes Tolkien must be turning over in his grave. At one time I thought about getting the Sunwell Trilogy, but after looking through it, I'm glad I didn't.
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Jaymie



Joined: 18 Jun 2009
Posts: 915
PostPosted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:48 pm Reply with quote
Driverbob wrote:
Not to get too meta, but a question. You gave AMNESIA LABYRINTH Vol 1 a C because, if I read your review correctly, you felt the story was a bit haphazard and left too many hanging threads. From a vol 1 of a mystery story, this is kind of what I would expect. So are you giving it a C because you genuinely think it deserves a C, or is it a "we'll have to wait and see" C? If the next volume reveals that the set-up in vol 1 was actually a masterful plot device that pays off in the end, would you upgrade the rating?

This all gets back to how does one review a volume vs a series, but your positives about the story didn't make it sound like C material.

DriverBob


Carlo's pretty biased against mystery, so don't take it too seriously.
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CCSYueh



Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Posts: 2707
Location: San Diego, CA
PostPosted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 3:13 am Reply with quote
prime_pm wrote:
So, this Warcraft author doesn't seem to have the knaak for this story. (sorry)

I got out of the whole Warcraft craze years ago after eating away a good chunk of my life. I'm proud to be Wow free for over four years now, not having once given back into temptation. Working full-time has helped deter me from play. Not to mention the drastic change in art styles for the blood elves. Ugh. Luckily I stopped before that whole winter adventure thing came out. I'd never quit then.

My daughter is heavy into it, though she has backed up some after a year or so being really really into it.
I thought about the game back in 1998 but decided not to buy it. On the other hand, I really would love to see the end of Kim's King of Hell. (Growl, TP)
I enjoyed all the background in the first part of Prince Sohma's story. The character is meant to parallel Ciel in a superficial way, but we also get a peek into Ciel's personality & something of an explanation into the annoying manor staff through Agni & the Prince. We also see quite a bit more of Sebastian's personality come out in this volume. Agni represents a power level rivaling Sebastian's that isn't in the otherworldly vein of the Shinigamis we've met but is interesting because of the source.
This is Kuroshitsuji coming off the driving force of the Ripper arc which naturally carried the title through the first hurdle. This arc is the title moving into more than just a one-shot sort of mystery concept (pertaining only to the principal character). This is establishing a Black Butler world with neighbors, etc. outside Ciel's manor. Up to now, we've dealt with Ciel or his family being involved. Prince Sohma & Agni bring their own troubles & perspectives into Ciel's little monarchy.
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