Shounen Orient by Shinobu Ohtaka

[Eastgrove]

@ Magi stuff; There was build up and context for all of that, given before and after the fact.

[being judgemental of a fictional character morality?

So if she'd just slit their throats in their sleep we should be okay with her just because she's cute and quirky? Regardless of that, my objection was to the idea of her being the heroine of the story. She's been nothing but antagonistic towards the protagonists (can't be trusted). She's completely worthless as a traveling companion (dead weight). And if she's the best girl this manga has to offer, the whole world (story) is doomed.

or is it because she acted indecently? Really just see how the story plays out. She's been out for two chapters and the reception I sew was pretty good. You can let her arc complete at least then rant as much as you'd like. As for her boldness, remember shounen magazines targets males for primarily audience , even if it's not your cup of tea. Also just to say, this story might turn out to something good or popular but still not your or my or anyone who came from magi thing, you can't force love! but the art is pretty so we stick with shallow logic

I understand stupid sells, but personally I'm quite sick of that. It's literally every where I look. Series I used to be hold myself to have become increasingly dumb in the last few years. Granted, this is a new series, but I'm not seeing any of the care Ohtaka used to take.

For example...when did Morgiana first demonstrate her physical abilities in Magi? Do you know? Think a moment...

Spoiler

When she was first introduced. She was carrying several hundred lbs of apples balanced upon her head. You didn't notice though because you don't think of apples weighing much, she didn't exert any effort in doing so, and she didn't look like a strong person.

This manga doesn't lend itself to such subtly since everyone is basically a freak. Now, I will admit that I'm not actually paying that much attention to this manga, because I don't think the investment will be worth it. If weird things just happen because reasons, I'm going to spare myself the headache of trying to make sense of nonsense. It'll have to be up to someone else to figure out and sell this manga.

 

[Laminariales]

Lol dude it's entertainment, you're a consumer, you don't have to sell anything. A manga will run its course regardless and by the time the story polarize you can decide to collect it or not (that's the only worry, shelf space worthiness). And you can't call a market stupid out load just because it doesn't resonate with your standards, some of the best female characters and their storyline were in a so called harem light novels, it's part of the structure that's all. (btw if you're looking for quality shounen that already hit 100+ chapter check out kimetsu no yaiba, it's getting an anime soon)

To orient related stuff, you'r forgetting we got interrupted right before she pulled her weapon things. Now I don' know how this arc will go, or how long it will be (magi had 3 mini arcs before balbadd) and I'm trying to stop with all the magi equating. For now the kosameda bushidan are another bushidan, I'm thinking the point of the boss fight was to introduce the takeda as the first dan we see, to establish an idea of what a bushidan are and the kosameda will be different (Hideo was not among the shadows shown). the kishin as well this time I expect is stronger bc
A] Tsugumi said a kishin fight does not wrap up by one day
B] the worn down looking bushi by the end,
Those are to my limited perception the highlights so far, It's really difficult to make assumption on anything though tell we see hideo interact with both the the MCs and tsugumi

Spoiler: About mormor

it's not impossible for human women to carry that much overhead, actually it's quite common in a lot of developing counties, and thus not an impactful imagery. Again, it'll really serve you to not compare it with magi, whether you continue reading it or not

 

[Haya-san]

Spoiler

I’m a bit confused, in the previous chapter, Tsugumi told Hideo that she stole a bike from ‘bushis’ and in this chapter, she welcomed the main duo into the fortress and returned it to them. It seems she mistook Musashi and Kojirou for being members of a bushidan and doesn’t know there are a bunch of amateurs ignorant of the real state of Japan.

Tsugumi is cute, but ch 9 makes me worried that she’ll be like Female Ranma and would continue using that as a tactic (I don’t think we’ll see that again, but again, Ohtaka’s record when it comes to fan service makes me worried)

Spoiler

I’m also not excited for the possibility of a romance between her and Musashi, since it seems like Alimor2 (again, I don’t hate Alimor, I just want something different this time).

I like kunoichis and Tsugumi is from the Hattori clan. I hope she will be a worthy addition to the cast and not just a fan service character who will be popular because she’s cute/waifu material.

 

[Laminariales]

Spoiler

Hmm this is all speculation, but maybe she lured the two boys on purpose (as they thought) but after having a moment with musashi is having a second thoughts/uneasiness? which is why she's nervous that the boss man returned (why is he a lord while takeda is a danshou?) . Tbh I don't know any of the MCs well enough to worry about romance, and tsugumi in particular we still know nothing of her motivations. Maybe they'll turn out to be just kindred spirits. as for three dimensionality that's something I trust ohtaka on, even character that showed for half a panel and had no plot significance felt real to me.

Did you choose that analogy out of all knowing ohtaka drew female ranma for the Takahashi sensei anniversary thing or was it a terrible coincidence ? xD

 

[Haya-san]

Did you choose that analogy out of all knowing ohtaka drew female ranma for the Takahashi sensei anniversary thing or was it a terrible coincidence ? xD

Both, actually. When Tsugumi parted her robes I remembered Fem!Ranma and then thought 'wait, didn't Ohtaka draw her for a Sunday event?'.

 

[Eastgrove]

Mangaka tend to become less perverted as they grow older. Compare Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 to Inuyasha. Or Akira Toriyama's Dragonball to Dragonball Z. Or Kubo Tite and his early work with Bleach to the later years. Or Sumomomo to Magi.

Spoiler

Personally I found that Ohtaka's depiction of Arba went too far. Early on her sexuality worked really to convey how crazy and how much of a troll she was. Going after Kouen at his father's funeral while her daughter was right there to her fight with Hakuryuu. But those kind of antics don't work all time with every character in every situation. No one gives a crap about her fight with Yunan because she had no relationship to him, it came out of nowhere, and no matter what kind of screwed up stuff she did or was subjected to, it really could only amount to be disturbing.

So...I'm inclined to think Ohtaka will do whatever she has to to get an audience, because I think she's failed to mature as a mangaka.

 

[Haya-san]

Mangaka tend to become less perverted as they grow older. Compare Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 to Inuyasha. Or Akira Toriyama's Dragonball to Dragonball Z. Or Kubo Tite and his early work with Bleach to the later years. Or Sumomomo to Magi.

Yeah, I noticed that pattern too. Inuyasha was my first series by Rumiko Takahashi and when I checked her earlier works I was a bit shocked by the fan service. I didn’t expect that from a female author lol!

I haven’t read Sumomomo, but Mor and Kougyoku were both good female characters and it was their characterization and backstories that made them loved by readers. I think Ohtaka is aware (or at least I hope she’s aware) that people have high expectations and that Tsugumi, assuming she’s indeed the heroine, won’t be appealing if she’s a step down from Mor and Kougyoku. Maybe she already feels that way to some, but we still don’t know much about her or what kind of role she’s going to play in this arc. If she turns out to be a character with no depth, interesting background or goals, then I will be greatly disappointed.

 

[Doughboy]

Yo so thoughts so far... the first 7 chapters of this manga honestly were super dull to me, the two mains aren’t very interesting and lacked needed characterization but in chapter 8 the story is picking up. But WTF is this thot that appeared? Lol holy shit she’s shameless.

 

[Ice]

I am in love with manga! Omg
Ohtaka is the best mangaka ever period :3

 

[Eastgrove]

Yeah, I noticed that pattern too. Inuyasha was my first series by Rumiko Takahashi and when I checked her earlier works I was a bit shocked by the fan service. I didn’t expect that from a female author lol!

I haven’t read Sumomomo, but Mor and Kougyoku were both good female characters and it was their characterization and backstories that made them loved by readers. I think Ohtaka is aware (or at least I hope she’s aware) that people have high expectations and that Tsugumi, assuming she’s indeed the heroine, won’t be appealing if she’s a step down from Mor and Kougyoku. Maybe she already feels that way to some, but we still don’t know much about her or what kind of role she’s going to play in this arc. If she turns out to be a character with no depth, interesting background or goals, then I will be greatly disappointed.

Making her a shameless unscrupulous rogue type character would certainly set her apart from Morgiana and Kougyoku. But for those types of characters to work, they need one thing above all else; independence. Literally after introducing her, they have her fangirling over a local Bushi lord, and it doesn't seem like it's false flattery to get into his good graces for some specific reason. She actually seems to, almost desperately, want his approval, indicating that there is actually some kind of relationship there.

Since Musashi and Kojirou lack a specific goal, a place they want to go to, a person they want to meet, they're probably going to be hard to write around. This kind of set up can be great for series like, let's say, One Piece where Luffy wants to be the Pirate King and assorted people join his crew because he's at least got a ship. But all Musashi and Kojirou want to do is ride around being Bushi and fight the oni.

There just doesn't seem to be a foundation there for people to join them or for them to accept other characters into their group.

 

[oxtopus]

Read all nine chapters and all I see is failure. I get that it's cliche shonen but still, why does it have to be annoying as hell. Even cliche can be entertaining if executed properly, but the protagonist here just makes every chapter unbearable. He has to be the most annoying protagonist I've ever seen and the supposed deuteragonist, a big disappointment so far. I don't think I'll be able to read this anymore.

 

[airmattress]

Read all nine chapters and all I see is failure. I get that it's cliche shonen but still, why does it have to be annoying as hell. Even cliche can be entertaining if executed properly, but the protagonist here just makes every chapter unbearable. He has to be the most annoying protagonist I've ever seen and the supposed deuteragonist, a big disappointment so far. I don't think I'll be able to read this anymore.

There r worse (or just exactly the same) protagonists lol, but regardless the story will get better when things get serious, but yeah I don't have much confidence that the protagonist himself will have a significant character development (he'll just get physically stronger instead to deal with all adversity, kinda your typical shonen stuff). The deuteragonist, however, will get better... better than Sasuke at least

Also while we're at it go read Magi instead if you haven't already it's a dozen times better for the majority of its run.

Ehem... A-anyway, if you still wanna give it 1 more shot, probably best to take another look once we get to chapter 25-30 by then things would've moved quite a bit. With that said, enjoy your other manga!

 

[Haya-san]

Volume 1 Animate exclusive message paper sample. It seems Ohtaka listened to the comments in the orient twitter and decided to draw it. Magi’s first paper was also just a drawing (the heroine of Sumomomo carrying a tiny Aladdin on her palm). I hope we see one-shots and interesting info on the characters in the upcoming ones.

--- Double Post Merged, Aug 4, 2018, Original Post Date: Aug 4, 2018 ---

So, I made a few observations on th Kosameda samurais (I could be wrong and it might turn out later that I gave them too much credit, but, eh, why not?)

Spoiler

-Because of Hideo’s introduction, many of us think he might become an antagonist/villain. If Tsugumi is the heroine and she’s meant to join the duo, then he needs to be evil in order for her to leave, but seeing the state of the fortress in ch 10 made me rethink this. All the non-warrior inhabitants seemed quite happy and well taken care of, which hints at Hideo being a good leader. It’s still possible there’s a dark side to this seemingly ideal community and in the next chapter, we see the inhabitants cower in fear and the samurais being mean to them. But so far, nothing out of the ordinary.

-he sounded mad at Tsugumi when she didn’t answer his call on time (he values punctuality?), but overlooked it and praised her when she reported that she carried out his order. Maybe as an organization, the Kodameda bushidan is meritocratic?

-he ordered Tsugumi to steal bushi bikes, which indicates that the bikes might be relics, rare or not made by humans. It also showed that he would stoop to robbery and maybe even assault other clans to get what he wants. The manga established there’s a rivalry between the samurai clans for who would rule over Japan, but maybe each clan has its own morals and methods how to achieve that.

Also, I’ve read comments on Manga Pocket that the Kosameda symbol looks similar to Sinbad’s leaf.

 

[Eastgrove]

You mean Sinbad's makeshift loincloth?

 

[Haya-san]

You mean Sinbad's makeshift loincloth?

Yes.

 

[Laminariales]

As far as speculations go, Hideo can also be morally black and white extremest, like his dan deserve all good and the others can go bankrupt. For now I'm keeping my shallow expectations, his clothes are so elaborate and dazzling and he carries a bow (sensescans' notes mentioned what he wear is for iron horseback archery) In addition tsugumi carries some strange weapon so we'll see non-sword fighting techniques. Also wonder if there is some sort of hierarchy in bushidans beside danshou/members.

I'm all for humans' conflicts slowing down the demon extermination, that and some top class invincible kishin.

About the designs, the kosameda are birds motifs right? morgiana was a rabbit and kougyoku a butterfly if I remember, sensesscans said tsugumi name come from thrush (the bird) and she's bird-like, so is hideo. would like to see silly art

 

[Haya-san]

Ch 11 spoiler images:

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Short summary:

Spoiler

-the main duo are welcomed by the Kosameda, who throw party in their honor. They thought after inspecting their bike that they are high level samurais who fought a lot of kishins. They find out they are fakes after Musashi asks what a Tetsuki
=demonic iron horse is, and Hideo orders Tsugumi to capture them. It seems that much like Brock from Pokemon, Hideo is one of those characters who always have their eyes closed and only open them when they are serious.

-Hideo is pretty upset with Tsugumi at her failure with the duo and orders her to repeat time and time again that she was messed up. It’s then revealed that the Kosameda sufferred a lot of casualties against the demons and don’t have enough warriors and bikes to stand a chance against them. The oni, who desire metal, will aim for their fortress next. Hideo then reveals to Tsugumi that if the situation escalated to that, he will have everyone fight, even children, and Tsugumi objects. Hideo admits it’s a pity, but it’s a samurai’s destiny to fight demons and they can’t let go of the land entrusted to them by Tokugawa. When Tsugumi objects gain he lashes out at her and she reverts to her subservient self and asks him to give her his next order. He then pats her on the head and tells her since long ago, she couldn’t do anything without him. He then tells her while similing he will always be by her side and all she has to do is listen to him (a death flag?). Lastly, he tells he he still has to punish her for her failure earlier.

-the scene shifts to the duo, who note that Tsugumi’s technique is similar to that of the Takeda warriors. Tsugumi then shows up with a weird face and tells them she wants to ask them something.

 

[Laminariales]

Spoiler

This was a sad chapter...good news I don't know if I'm still on the fence on whether this guy is evil... so much for an ikemen

Spoiler

Way to be subtle, being so self important, using difficult kanji...Also couldn't he explain what a kitetsu was then apprehend them? The castle's total mobilization decree (according to google) is shocking but ridiculous, how would that work even. There are many utilities of the castle, but to think one of them was a bait. Also what's the point of telling tsugumi? to get her to recruit better bushi? I doubt he wants his whole estate gone, or maybe he's suicidal warrior type idk. Some parts were difficult to watch, but lets see what business tsugumi have with duo next week.

As for musashi the takeda must not look too bad now,

 

[Haya-san]

Spoiler

Kitetsuki could be translated fo demonic iron/metal horse. Much like the case with bushi and bushidan, I prefer to translate them and refer to them as iron horses. Tsugumi’s technique that is similar to the Takeda girl is kitetsutou=demonic iron blade.

I thought why didn’t Hideo just issue the order to retreat instead of fighting a losing battle? Does the fortress need some sort of energy to move? Or is it a samurai honor thing? I expect him to die or the kishin boss will be awakened by Musashi and Kojirou and they drive the demons away by defeating it.

So, the bike contains some proof of how many kishins the owner defeated/assissted in defeating. Just which samurai lord did Kojirou’s father serve, and is there any chance he was Musashi’s father? This could hint at Kojirou’s blade containing some sort of kishin power.

Hideo is a bit of a jerk, but he sounds interesting and I like his bow. Too bad, since it’s possible he’s going to die. Also, his name means hero and contains the kanji 雄, the second kanji in Hakuyuu’s name. The name and the beauty spot on his chin are possibly a homeage to Hakuyuu.

--- Double Post Merged, Aug 8, 2018, Original Post Date: Aug 7, 2018 ---

Forgot to add:

Spoiler

I won't be quick to label the Takeda as nicer. When Hideo talked about making even the citizens fight, others didn't object, and I don't think it was because they were afraid of him. It seems it's a bushi mentality in this manga that they must not turn their backs on the demon problem and must fight until the last member of the clan. Musashi and Kojirou see bushis as heroes, but the Kosameda might teach them there's an ugly side to being one, and they might end up rebeling against the system like AlaAli did.

 

[Laminariales]

Spoiler

But it still proposes the question if kitetsuki are named like that because they're made for oni-combat or made of them in some way

I guess as long as the fortress have ore in some form the kishin will come after it, and throwing their only way at putting a fight and probably heir honer is out of question. I'm curious if the kids can win this time though, kojirou didn't engage the kishin before, musashi is without a sword, a bushi army failed, it's really infeasible they win at their current circumstances.

As for hideo, His name as a whole can be read "hero" too (ei-yuu). Usually in manga logic physically pleasing = long lasting role, but idk with ohtaka, I know someone who still mourns jamil xD I understand about the takeda, that's according to musashi perspective. But speaking of the fortress occupant, they preform at their highest capacity to serve the bushi for I believe unspoken rule to be protected from the oni. putting people with no combat ability in the frontline, morality aside, is just ill advised, like engoku tengu could use them as wood to keep warm, so I doubt a decent leader will support that. Even hideo he might as well be bluffing for some end, or idk to far gone

And yes intel on kojiro's dad keep trickling these couple latest chapters, was his bushidan wiped out? betrayal? I hope betrayal

By the way more fanarts keep popping up

Spoiler