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Forum - View topicREVIEW: Inuyasha GN 23
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Dranxis
 Posts: 591 Location: Ohtori Academy |
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I'm pretty biased as a Rumiko Takahashi fan, but I'm really glad to see a review for a later volume that simply doesn't bash Inu-Yasha for it's tendency to drag things out. This is a really good volume, though my personal favorite part of the manga, the Mt. Hakurei arc, is just yet to come.
But yeah, Viz's handling of this title is pretty disappointing, what with the flippage this late in the publishing game and all. |
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shirokiryuu
Posts: 714 Location: Northern California (SF Bay Area) |
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I don't think the "story before" is really all that important. I don't think there are many people who skip right to volume 23...
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SharinganEyes92
 Posts: 816 |
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Shouldn't this be in the manga section?
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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No, because it is in response to a review.
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milcor1
 Posts: 337 |
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I thought this was a very poor review. First of all, almost all manga titles in every volume will have a "story thus far" section which is always EXTREMELY condensed and most people never bother to read them anyways. Besides, who would bother to jump into a manga 23 volumes down the road? And a review on the characters page?! Has this reviewer ever read any manga at all? Also I can't believe a review like this would end up getting an A for art and story for such reasons like "great plot" and "great character development". Is that all there is to it to justify an A? I chuckled a bit at the part where the reviewer emphasizes how much detail went into the hair monster to show how hairy the hair monster was! The review was terribly generic, just like the manga itself.
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kazenoyume
Posts: 425 |
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It seems like you thought the review was poor just because you are not a fan of the manga. The review presented completely valid opinions that the writer backed up, whether you happen to agree with the opinions or not. It is okay to not agree with opinions in a review, but that does not mean the review itself is poor. I can't really think of a better compliment for a series than 'great plot' and 'great character development.' This applies to any series. Certainly wonderful plot and wonderful character development along with good art would justify an 'A' from me. Plot/character is pretty much what I would think one would look for in deciding whether a series is high quality or not. I have come across scarce few manga that have character development as excellent as that of InuYasha, and that is certainly a big compliment. It features some of the most multi-dimensional characters in all of animanga, and that's no lie. Rumiko Takahashi isn't exactly what one would call a newbie with no experience in this. She is a legendary manga artist that in my opinion deserves more respect among the American fanbase. IY was wonderful to a great deal of anime fans until it became popular and mainstream, than suddenly it wasn't cool. This is ridiculous. Something being popular should not diminish it's quality in people's eyes. Now it is 'too long and drawn out,' which is an accusation that makes no sense considering these same people are fans of other lengthy shounen series. (Such as Naruto, which in my opinion completely pales in every respect to all of Takahashi's works.) But even Naruto I would never stoop to call generic, because it's not. It just doesn't come close to the vivid storyline and impeccable character development (yes, plot and character) featured in all of Miss Takahashi's works. As for the hair monster. Yeah, it was kind of a random example, but I think they just meant to illustrate the quality of the art. I agree that harping on the 'story thus far' segment is a bit odd, and would not have included it myself. Also the comment about the character designs. This is a matter of opinion, but I highly enjoy watching the character designs evolve as the series continues, and like them better now than at the beginning. But I am so happy to see a review that presents InuYasha as the excellent title that it is, instead of brushing it off because it, when it comes down to it, is not 'hip' anymore. |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Usually characters will look a little different than the earlier series because they're developing and they might need a new outfit once in a while. The review is okay, but the reviewer seems to be disappointed by the novel. |
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Dranxis
Posts: 591 Location: Ohtori Academy |
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I agree that Inu-Yasha is bashed just a bit more than it deserves, however now rereading the review I have to agree that this is not a well-written one. This reviewer seems a bit unexperienced regarding manga with the story thus far issue: very few manga readers would jump in that late, and those that did intentionally could probably care less what happened in earlier volumes (otherwise they would have gone and read them in the first place). I would have liked to see more criticism with the development of the story itself, instead of the packaging. Also, the reviewer should have given valid reasons why someone would want to collect this series up to voulme 23. However, again I'm glad to see a review that doesn't go on and on about Inu-Yasha's length. Sure, it's definetly stretched, but then again almost all popular shonen titles are.
As for whether or not IY has character development, I definetly think it's there, but the problem is that it comes slowly and by the time most people lose interest in the series. Inu-Yasha and Kagome undergo amazing development volume 18 and on, and Miroku, Sesshoumaru, Kagura, and even Kikyo to some extent change in their own ways over the course of the story. The only character that could use more development I think is Sango, who basically spends the whole series angsting over her brother. Rumiko Takahashi, as evidenced by Maison Ikkoku, is a master of character development, but she only really pushes it in her series that aren't dominated by massive amounts of action and comedy. So IY has far more development than say Ranma 1/2, but it's not her best example in that area. |
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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I really don't feel like I'm qualified to criticise the accuracy of the review as I stopped reading the manga around ten or so (and considering I can essentially borrow it for free, that's should give you my opinion of the series), but I can understand some of the points milcor1 and Dranxis were making. Every reviewer has diffrent standards, and while I certainly respect Mrs. Bundy from Answerman, I'm going to probobly assume she was a big fan of the earlier volumes of the series and it probobly isn't going to convince me to start reading Inuyasha again.
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kazenoyume
Posts: 425 |
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Rawr. I am rambly. 
I disagree that IY's character development is not as good as say, Maison Ikkoku's. MI is a fifteen volume manga, of course it is going to be more rapid and more blatant. It isn't a fair comparison in my view. If IY were a shorter manga, the development would undoubtedly come as fast, and less subtly. If she knows that the series is going to be a long one, she's going to develop the characters with that in mind. However, because it is a more 'adult' and 'realistic' series, I suppose I could see feeling Maison's is a bit better overall in the development regard (although I do disagree). I do think it's definitely close. But the character development in her other major manga (Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, and even Mermaid Saga and One Pound Gospel) really doesn't hold a candle to that of InuYasha's. And I do dearly love all of those manga. If I made a top twenty list, they'd all be on it. Mermaid and Gospel would be in the top five. I feel that IY is Takahashi at full maturation. She's taken the strengths of all her previous series and the experience she's gained and melded them into what I think is undoubtedly her best series. Is it perfect? No. There are one or two arcs that I do find tedious, and there are characters I dislike. But on the whole those are minor complaints. Similar to hating an anime because I found one episode boring. Sadly I think the anime adaptation of IY may just be the most poorly done of all Takahashi adaptations. It has its good moments, and a wonderful cast of seiyuu. But the additions, omissions, and alterations make it feel like an entirely different series at times. That doesn't tarnish the manga of course, but it's annoying. It would be poor writing from her to put all the development in the early volumes instead of having it come gradually and slowly throughout the entire series. And if you read and enjoy recent popular longer shounen titles like Bleach and One Piece (OP is the one I feel comes closest to IY in overall quality), I'd imagine you're used to this. IY and Kagome, especially, develop from day one. IY had already practically made a 180 turnaround by around volume twelve for example. However, if they were all the way 'developed' by later in the series, I would completely lose interest. No one wants to read about characters that don't have any more growing to do. This has been the clincher in me losing interest in more than one series. She has to pace their growth. I agree about Sango needing development. It's ironic because her brother is developed so well later on, but she's not. That's part of the reason I've never been the biggest Sango fan though. In regards to the rest of the main cast (outside maybe Shippou), she just doesn't come near the level of complexity. And added to that, Sango and Miroku's relationship. The woman is a master of romance, but it almost feels like she exerted herself on constructing Kagome and InuYasha's relationship and threw in San and Miro's as an afterthought. |
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