Chapter 389. I will elaborate later why I think it's one of the worst chapters we've ever gotten. But first, imma try to give it another chance after 1 year and half of having read it. @Aeneas , do you have a link to the viz translation? ^^
Chapter 389. I will elaborate later why I think it's one of the worst chapters we've ever gotten. But first, imma try to give it another chance after 1 year and half of having read it. @Aeneas , do you have a link to the viz translation? ^^
As I said before, I'm definitely not gonna defend Kanjidol's internal monologuing lol. Because I will never understand Togashi giving so much dialogue to these tertiary (quaternary?!) characters.
But the conversation between him, Benjamin, and Balsamilco, Vict being suddenly taken out by Halkenburg, the two having him arrested and planning to kill him at the trial, getting to see Steiner and Peuckert again (for the first time since 359), getting some good characterization for Giuliano and Tyson, giving Basho some panel time (however insignificant), finally getting to learn about Camilla's camp for the first time and that that she's given these Have-Nots a place to call home (however twisted her intentions are), learning how they intertwine with Kakin society and how dangerous their curses are, getting good characterization for the newly-introduced Sarahell and setting up a threat to Kurapika and Woble, and getting a small tease with Zhang Lei's GSB to end things off?
More than fair to criticize things, but it's damn impressive to fit all that within 19 pages. Though I imagine that's where some of your criticism may lie. :P But given all he's set up and has going on, it's pretty much a necessity in order to cover everything. Though again, I can easily see how one could dislike that.
I said it before, but the only chapter I disliked from the last set was 388. Now that's a chapter I have issues with, though it does have a few good moments (mainly Bill/Kurapika stuff).
My main problem with the chapter still remains though: its density and text overload, and the exposition of the pannels.
Normally, I welcome chapters with text walls, however this time about 40% of the content is nothing new to us readers, it's information we already know/guessed from previous chapters! To make matters worse, two pages are dedicated only to exposing the thoughts and wrong deductions of a tertiary character on a case which we readers know how it went!! then adding like 16 new and totally expandable characters (oh did I mention they were ugly as fuck?), then shoving them right down our throats...How would this look in the volume? those pages would be a total waste which you would just skip when reading because at that point your eyes are already tired from reading the relevant walls of text...
Trust me, in volume 36 we already have small instances of text overload dedicated to tertiary characters, and I find myself just skipping those pages. The volume felt short. Now back to chapter 389, it can be divided into the following parts:
Benjamin and co: Although heavy in text, it was still useful, as it showcases the sound train of toughts used by Balsalmico on Halk, and how he reached the most effective solution to deal with his ability, from minimal information. It's pretty convincing, but maybe could've been cut a bit short.
Kanjidol's thoughts in room 1007: The most insulting part of the chapter. Useless walls of text that could be described as filler. I did an edit where I removed that part, and the story still made sense.
Tyson and Giuliano: A really nice and cute moment which gave more depth to Tyson, and perhaps also a bit more subtle info on her ability.
Camilla's soldier-chans: Finally we get to see Camilla's arsenal, plus an interesting use of post mortem nen as a weapon. Could've been cut shorter maybe, but it was ok/good in general, with a few skippable panels (personally I didn't enjoy this part either, as I don't like how the post mortem nen concept is being used as of late. I still think all that exposition could've been much shorter (and better) if one of those characters just had an ability that produces curses, like this one)).
To the mod(s) that removed the link: my bad! Thought putting it in a spoiler tag would be fine.
I can't really address the ugly characters criticism. Did you miss many of the other designs this arc? : P
Disappointed to read that you're skipping text, because that's exactly what leads to confusion and can definitely balloon. If someone's eyes are tired, I imagine they'd just take a break and then read the rest. And like I said as well, I really recommend reading from Viz's translation because the Edited Manga uses literally thousands of more words overall (unless you already have been, e.g., with Vol. 36). It's the conundrum for this arc with many "readers": don't read (all of) the text > complain they don't know what's going / are confused about/disinterested in things > told to actually read the text (preferably the official translation) > say they don't want to. But because we get so few chapters, people are much less likely to drop the series outright (or at least wait for the arc to finish) because they'll never really fall behind on things (vs. if we got 30-40 chapters a year).
As for 388, it has the Kanjidol issue multiple times (now with Rihan, Balsamilco, and Tubeppa). And since not much happens compared to 389, it can't really justify some of those text walls.
If someone's eyes are tired, I imagine they'd just take a break and then read the rest. And like I said as well, I really recommend reading from Viz's translation because the Edited Manga uses literally thousands of more words overall (unless you already have been, e.g., with Vol. 36). It's the conundrum for this arc with many "readers": don't read (all of) the text > complain they don't know what's going / are confused about/disinterested in things > told to actually read the text (preferably the official translation) > say they don't want to. But because we get so few chapters, people are much less likely to drop the series outright (or at least wait for the arc to finish) because they'll never really fall behind on things (vs. if we got 30-40 chapters a year).
Maybe I was not clear enough. Since you don't seem to know me back from the old days, here is what I do once a new chapter of HxH comes out:
1) I read the available Edited Manga.
2) I look for a raw version, find it, then read the raw version, then compare.
3) Nitpick on every detail and look out for mistranslations, in order to understand what the frick is happening.
4) Wait for the volume to appear, which is translated by viz. Buy it, read all of it.
5) Reread the volume.
6) Skip the boring bits on my second or third reading.*
As for 388, it has the Kanjidol issue multiple times (now with Rihan, Balsamilco, and Tubeppa). And since not much happens compared to 389, it can't really justify some of those text walls.
Save for Rihan, that was actually new information being given to us, but in a bad way (i.e. could've been trimmed). With Kanjidol however we learned nothing new.
Just my personal opinion, but yes, if you completely skip parts of a text / manga / movie / etc., you lose the right to complain about it. But if someone reads/watches everything, they can have at it and rip it to shreds.
Maybe I was not clear enough. Since you don't seem to know me back from the old days, here is what I do once a new chapter of HxH comes out:
1) I read the available Edited Manga.
2) I look for a raw version, find it, then read the raw version, then compare.
3) Nitpick on every detail and look out for mistranslations, in order to understand what the frick is happening.
4) Wait for the volume to appear, which is translated by viz. Buy it, read all of it.
5) Reread the volume.
6) Skip the boring bits on my second or third reading.*
Save for Rihan, that was actually new information being given to us, but in a bad way (i.e. could've been trimmed). With Kanjidol however we learned nothing new.
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