Shounen Robot x Laserbeam Hangout Thread

[Kaoz]

Do you think if Robo is good enough to become a regular, they'll expand to 5?

Not sure, I kinda don't think so. Even if they did, only four of them could play in competitions. Obviously it's possible that they're gonna rotate players, but in that case I'd expect them to stick to 4 regular positions while having more than one training camp. It's also possible that Robo won't be the only one with a shot at making the top 4, chances are there are other strong 2nd and 3rd years in the club too.

If I had to guess, I'd say they're pushovers and Rion x Robo will win easily.

Hm even if they're pushovers, I kinda don't think Robo and Rion will just walk over them. If the other two are actually bad, I think they'll continue their bad manners and play dirty in some way. That probably wouldn't go on for the entire round, but I'd expect Eiai to struggle during the first few holes at least.

 

[goldb]

On the score chart, it said that someone with a total stroke count between 60 and 70 is considered to be among the "best of the best" and that 55 is the lowest score ever recorded (the record holder is a guy called Rhein Gibson for that matter if anyone's curious). Souta's best is 62, Gen's 66, Shintarou's 68 and Rion's is 70. So what about Youzan? You guys think he broke 60 already or not quite yet? And what do you think Robo's best is gonna be? What if he played against Souta for instance, lost, but got a 69 total or maybe tied Rion at 70?

I think Youzan might be bang on 60, because though he's a pro, he's still young and there's lots of room for improvement. I don't think Youzan has broken the 60 scorecard yet, as getting a scorecard in the 60s is already a huge accomplishment; as that's usually a 12 under par (72 course par is a standard for a lot of golf courses).

I think at his best, Robo will be at late 50s or 60.

• What do you make of Souta balancing the ball on his club like he did on the roof and subsequently sinking it into the basket? I doubt the school's rooftop is as big as an actual driving range, but at the same time Souta seemed to have great accuracy over this shorter distance. Do you think he might be specialize in approach shots?

I think the Eiai club might all be specialising in something different; be it a shot or just general approach to the game, from which Robo will learn essential information to improve his own game.

 

[Noctis]

This is a bit off topic, but which characters from KnB are in RxL?

I think:
Robot = Akashi
Youzan = Aomine
Robot's father =Riko Aida's father

 

[Kaoz]

I think Youzan might be bang on 60, because though he's a pro, he's still young and there's lots of room for improvement.

I'm sure that's just a minor mix-up, but Youzan isn't a pro (yet). That aside, I do agree with the 60 estimate myself I think, although my reason for guessing 60 rather than 61 or 59 is just that all the best scores we know so far are even numbers.

I think the Eiai club might all be specialising in something different; be it a shot or just general approach to the game, from which Robo will learn essential information to improve his own game.

Yeah, most likely. I think there might still be a difference between Souta and the other three in that regard though. Since Souta seems to be one of the people close to Youzan, he might actually be the best in the country at whatever he's specializing in. Shintarou, Gen and Rion on the other hand might have strong points, but won't be as good in those areas as characters introduced later on.

This is a bit off topic, but which characters from KnB are in RxL?

Can you be more specific? Are we talking design, personality, role in the story or what exactly?

 

[Noctis]

Design.

 

[Kaoz]

Chapter 9 is out:
http://mangastream.com/read/robotxlaserbeam/09/4268/1

--- Double Post Merged, May 18, 2017, Original Post Date: May 18, 2017 ---

Design.

Hm difficult. I agree with Aomine and Youzan, but I feel Robo is more like Kuroko than Akashi, mostly because of his eyes I suppose. And as far as just design is concerned, that's really about it already I guess? Souta reminds me of Kiyoshi and it might be possible to draw some similarities between Gen and Izuki to mention a few of the others, but that's either different factors altogether or a combination of multiple aspects I think.

 

[Spirit]

I had no idea the extent of Robo's lack of skill. And that curveball. I feel like each Regular is going to have their strengths, and one bad apple will be usurped by Robo at some point. Still. A balanced team will never rely on one player alone.

 

[Lady pompom]

Design.

Youzan does look like Aomine, but he's calmer than the basketball player. About Robot, I'd also say he could be a mixture of Kuroko's and Akashi's appearances, but Kuroko was more aware and observative around people and could decipher well their emotions. Robot is quite oblivious to people's emotions, but he's as courageous as Kuroko (confronting delinquents).

Sorry the off topic, comment, back to the manga! I feel like Rion will have many worries about Robot's playing during this manga, and it's good to see Robot is bad at almost everything except his straight shots, if he was too overpower it could become boring at some point. Plus, it's interesting that Rion has an "opposite" style of shots comparing to Robot, his shots are unpredictable.

 

[Brandish μ]

There was a mistake with MS I believe... a GIR on a par 4 should be 2 shots not 1. I think that guy was trying to put it on the green with 1 shot, under GIR, which would've been an impressive drive. Those scumbags are doing okay though, but they do have a decent advantage.

Robo's skillset is further analysed. He has a lot to learn that's for sure.

I did like Rion's Serpent Bite, that snake looked badass. A good chapter, without being as good as some of the others we've had.

 

[Kaoz]

There was a mistake with MS I believe... a GIR on a par 4 should be 2 shots not 1. I think that guy was trying to put it on the green with 1 shot, under GIR, which would've been an impressive drive.

I found various definitions of the term. Some say it's gotta be 2 under par, others at least 2 under par. Are you aware of a term for getting on the green in 3 under par?

 

[Brandish μ]

I found various definitions of the term. Some say it's gotta be 2 under par, others at least 2 under par. Are you aware of a term for getting on the green in 3 under par?

I think it's at least 2 under, so 3 under would still count as a GIR in the stats. Just that MS (or editors) who stated it was a green hit in one shot - which technically that would be a GIR you don't need 1 hit on a par 4 or 5 (2 and 3 respectively). I don't know the term for 3 under par or if there is one.

--- Double Post Merged, May 25, 2017, Original Post Date: May 20, 2017 ---

Chapter 10 is out http://readms.net/r/robotxlaserbeam/010/4293/1

 

[Mariyan]

This chapter proves that robo is a fast learner , although his senpai ( who said that?) said that its all his intuition, So robo is a faster learner and has a intuition skill . So , for now , I wonder how much time it takes for him to master a new skill , and i wonder about the main point of the manga, I mean in some shounen sport manga like DNA HQ or KNB( just kuroko ) dont have a special skill and ability but they try to master themselevs and be NO1. Although in KNB we that the theme is not just abouut being NO1 . All the GOM have their own problems . i want to say that KNB was not the same as some other sports manga , it has a psychological theme too . So the Quesiton is : Do you think Fujimaki will follow that in this manga too and he will creat sth different ? or do you think it will be similar to other sport manga , despit the fact the its still soon to say that or make a prediction

PS : Sorry for bad english

 

[HereNThere]

Not into golf, but I enjoy this series.

I do think beating those punks in golf is a bit too lenient a punishment for, you know, physical assualt though.

 

[Spirit]

And so there we have it. Robo's true strength lies in his ability to learn. However I'm not sure whether he will continue to gain new abilities and skills just by perfectly replicating them, or if he will develop skills of his own.

 

[Kaoz]

Do you think Fujimaki will follow that in this manga too and he will creat sth different ?

Like you mentioned yourself, it really is too soon to say, but I think we'll have a more traditional route here. It's not like KnB strayed all that far from the default scenario either - sure, Kuroko wanted to knock some sense into the miracles, but it ultimately boiled down to beating them and becoming the strongest and all the miracles' issues pretty much stemmed from them being self-centered. It's also worth noting that both of those things were established very early on in the series.

For this series, we already know that the central conflict is going to be between Robo and Youzan, maybe pursuing the path of being or becoming a true golfer if you want to include that. So in that sense, I think the closest possible scenario we'll get to KnB is that Robo will encounter players who have strayed from that path and maybe Youzan himself will eventually have that problem and change in some way, maybe shaped by the pro circuit somehow or something. Then Robo vs Youzan could be similar to Kuroko vs Akashi or vs Aomine I suppose.

However I'm not sure whether he will continue to gain new abilities and skills just by perfectly replicating them, or if he will develop skills of his own.

I imagine there's gonna be some limit to his learning. Like he might be able to hit a shot similar to Rion's very quickly, but I think it'll take some time to master it completely. For instance, he managed to hit a nice shot out of the rough against Youzan at the end, but it doesn't seem like that really carried over? After all, Rion commented on how Robo is terrible at anything besides laser beams. So I feel he'll have to put in quite a bit of work to actually make those shots his own.

To get back to your actual question though, I think for now he'll just copy others. His basic abilities are apparently so low that almost anything he copies will be improvement. I do hope that once he's become a more balanced player, he'll develop one or two more moves himself though.

 

[Organizized]

I also hope he does develop his own shots in the future. Preferably, though, his special shots should always be related to making perfectly straight shots. In my opinion. I mean, it's the name of the manga after all.

However, I don't think he'll find his own style of playing anytime soon. Possibly there will be a lot of him learning different types of shots now, but I can see the story putting him in a match where he loses because he only knows the shots he's copied and can't really improvise. Which will lead him to grow more as a golfer etc etc.

Haven't played golf for over ten years but I enjoy this series so far. There's something addicting about typical sports manga like these where it's all about becoming the best and making people go "whoa, now way, the Ultra Free Gravity Darkness Supernova Zone Shot!".

 

[goldb]

To get back to your actual question though, I think for now he'll just copy others. His basic abilities are apparently so low that almost anything he copies will be improvement. I do hope that once he's become a more balanced player, he'll develop one or two more moves himself though.

Agreed.

Though whatever his special shot is, I think it'll be based off the Laserbeam because that's what he's most comfortable doing at the moment and as we've seen with the Serpent Bite, he can't get the curve on it properly, and so it looks like a beam bouncing off a corner.

Sota seems really calm at the end when he stated Robo would take one of their spots; I know it's in his character to be like that (from what we've seen) but it looks like confident that it won't be him. So do you guys think someone will vacate their position for him or he'll beat someone else for it?

My guess is that it'll be Rion. I say that because he looks easily riled up in the last 2 chapters we saw and admittedly aware of his own game once riled up.

 

[Kaoz]

I also hope he does develop his own shots in the future. Preferably, though, his special shots should always be related to making perfectly straight shots. In my opinion. I mean, it's the name of the manga after all.

Hm there's only so much you can really do with straight shots, isn't there? Once you've eliminated all potential for curves, you're basically only left with topspin, backspin and differences in height and length. I'm not sure how much of an effect Robo would get out of the spins and I'm guessing height/length variations wouldn't be considered new special moves. That said, one possibility I'd find interesting is if he was able to do a super long putt under the right conditions - that would still be a straight shot I suppose.

Sota seems really calm at the end when he stated Robo would take one of their spots; I know it's in his character to be like that (from what we've seen) but it looks like confident that it won't be him. So do you guys think someone will vacate their position for him or he'll beat someone else for it?

My guess is that it'll be Rion. I say that because he looks easily riled up in the last 2 chapters we saw and admittedly aware of his own game once riled up.

Well, unless someone gets injured, there's no way Robo will get on the team without a fight. But that essentially brings us back to the question from a few weeks ago where we were wondering who might accept his direct challenge. The issue is still the same as back then too:
Shintaro = Captain
Gen = Vice-Captain
Sota = Ace

Rion's the only one without any sort of "position", so just going by that he's the most expendable of the four. And of course he's also implied to be the worst in terms of skill. What speaks for him though, in my eyes, is that him losing his spot to Robo is almost too predictable, so if Fujimaki wants to keep the readers guessing in the future he might want to throw a curve ball here.

There's one more important point to remember about Rion. He's only a 2nd year and since 1st years aren't allowed to compete for the regular position, this means he must've seized that spot in the first few weeks of the school year. This could indicate him having a relatively fast growth rate, so it's possible that he could take on Gen or Shintaro by the time the camp happens. And even if Rion does lose his spot there, I can definitely see him making a comeback later on.

 

[Organizized]

If this series goes down the same path as many other sports manga, with ridiculously crazy super shots pretty much supernatural, I don't doubt Fujimaki can think up some inventive super shots like that, like

Laserbeam (but for real, Robo shoots it so straight and beam-like it can pierce through obstacles or whatnot like a laser).

A shot where he shoots it straight at the flag with such a spin that it rolls down the pole into the hole.

A straight shot with a special topspin that makes it drop in a 90 degree angle after so many yards (over the green).

I mean, not all of these rely on he shots being perfectly straight, I guess... but if this series go down the "special super technique"-path I hope it can get more inventive than super slices/hooks and whatnot.

 

[Brandish μ]

I pretty much agree with Rion. This level of motor skill acquisition is off the charts. A machine, not a human. It's the same with his ability to hit the straight ball perfectly and repeatedly.

The chapter ended with some hype. In 3-4 weeks we'll get the camp, and a challenge for one of the spots. Gen is probably the one who'll be the toughest to convince... wouldn't mind if he dropped out based on character (but he's no.2 atm, so he's probably safe).

Really enjoying this manga so far, and it's doing well in the WSJ rankings... so looks unlikely that it'd be cancelled.

--- Double Post Merged, May 29, 2017, Original Post Date: May 29, 2017 ---

On Robo's skills - I wonder when he'll learn the art of putting. I've felt this is where he'd shine with his laserbeam. But perhaps it might be tougher, since he'll need to learn how to read the greens.

Souta - I'm going to guess he'll have a spin shot.