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More Soul Eater thoughts.

June 10th, 2008 by Brack

I think I can now pinpoint the problem I have with Soul Eater, and it’s a problem I have with some other shonen titles to various degrees. It’s the Adult Authority Figures.

I mentioned some time ago the difference between Sgt. Frog and it’s antecedent, Urusei Yatsura, in how they treated adulthood. Sgt Frog treats adulthood as being just as fun as childhood, Urusei Yatsura portrays it as some kind of living hell.

Now the difference between Soul Eater and what is obviously my favourite shonen series, One Piece, is also a difference between how they treat adults, but rather than a difference in a philosophical view of adulthood (Soul Eater seems to side more with UY, given Maka’s father’s characterisation), it’s in the use of Adult Authority Figures.

Soul Eater, like many shonen series has the main characters firmly placed as students of older, wiser, characters, who know more than they do. Naruto is an exemplary case of this format, for all the goofing off and disobeying orders that Naruto does, he’s never shown to be smarter than Kakashi. In Soul Eater, no matter how goofy Dr Franken Stein or the Grim Reaper are, they know more than the main characters, and at the current time, the main characters ultimately have to bow to their greater knowledge.

In One Piece, however, all characters who feasibly have authority over the main characters are wrong. Even if, in theory, they are right. Regardless of common sense, fact or circumstance, Luffy’s decisions always end up being the right one in the end. It’s resolutely anti-authority. It’s a bunch of kids having adventures, doing what they want, without adults telling them what to do. Even if some of the kids are 27, 34 and 100+ years old. Part of what turned me off Bleach was the slow turn of the main characters from being anti-authority, to doing what the series’ “grown-ups” want them to do.

The lesson is: if you are going to write an adolescent fantasy, go the whole hog and STICK IT TO THE MAN!

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Posted in Anime, Manga, Things I Know About Pirates | Tags: bleach, naruto, One Piece, soul eater | 1 Comment »

Things I Know About Pirates #4

April 28th, 2008 by Brack

The latest chapter of One Piece introduces a whole load of new characters, who are essentially the peers of Luffy and Zoro in terms of notoriety. And a couple whose notoriety exceeds theirs. Most have obvious historical references in their names but a few are bit tricky.
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Posted in Anime, Manga, Things I Know About Pirates | Tags: One Piece | No Comments »

New Portrait of Pirates

February 9th, 2008 by Brack

HLJ have the latest Portrait of Pirates for pre-order

Red Hair Shanks~!

Looks like one of the nicest yet. I’m still waiting for the inevitable Brook one before I drop 20+ quid on one of these (though I might go for a sufficiently manic looking Blackbeard one too…).

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Posted in Things I Know About Pirates | Tags: One Piece, portrait of pirates, shanks | No Comments »

Things I know about pirates, fresh for ‘08!

January 1st, 2008 by Brack

I checked the couple of recent-ish threads by “Greg” on Arlong Park - the translated web interview with Oda and the Jump Festa coverage. Very interesting stuff.

The whole thing about OP being halfway through was interesting. You got the feeling that Oda hadn’t expected it to be this long/popular, and it was kinda scary to think he still had another 10 years to go.
The commitment to the SBS was neat. There is an underlying sense that as much as he admires Toriyama, on some level he wants to outdo him.
The comment about when Brook was conceived was shocking, and subsequent discussion of how he assembles One Piece was fascinating.
Also fascinating was the comment about writing Franky with Kazuki Yao in mind.
Talking of whom - I really want to see a proper interview with him now. His Franky-esque dress on stage at the Festa was hilarious, particularly in comparison to how everyone else was dressed. I’d like to know if he is the genuine eccentric he appears to be.
Brook seems to be all over the latest OP games, I’m guessing he’s proving popular.
The OP boat race looked fun and horribly reminiscent of seaside holidays on the east coast of England.

Also I see Yuichi Nagashima is apparantly Brook’s voice (he debuts on the 6th!). I’m only really familiar with Nagashima’s role as the deputy head on GTO and the sickly Kyasharin in Sexy Commando. So I’m guessing he’ll have a higher pitched voice than I was expecting (I was expecting a deeper, more gentlemanly voice ala Jouji Nakata - check the Club Escaflowne extras on the Escaflowne DVDs, Nakata can do the dirty minded gentleman perfectly, in fact, judging by that, he is one!). Still, Nagashima was good on GTO and Sexy Commando, so I’m sure it’ll be good. Just different.

Stuff on HLJ.com that caught my eye:

Straw Hat’s Flag Knitted Cap
Chopper w/ Wanted Poster - he looks so upset!
One Piece Barrel Mugs - in particular the Sanji one - I love that they are using that picture on merchandise.

I also caught some of the Chopperman special on youtube. Are the commentators on the wrestling bit real people? If so who? Also in the final battle, is that a parody of some of the Giant Robo music or am I imagining things because I want to buy this?

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