Medaka Box [Manga]

[Tenchi Hou Take]

I think it's simply she's a boring mary sue who takes away development time and screen time for more interesting characters.

I wouldn't neccesarily call it hate butr I think they just wanted anyone else but her to be the MC. That and she's kinda flaky and self involved but that's kinda peripheral and I don't actually mind that too much

[silvercover]

short answer: she's a mary sue.

[Tempest35]

Yay! A Mary Sue!

A story about a (virtually) perfect person! There aren't enough of those that actually go the mile.

Spoiler for Mindless rant because I stayed up all night - XP:

The question is - can a perfect person even exist in a non-perfect world without becoming 'imperfect' themselves? Will they lose their luster after all the mud and crap that will be thrown at them for even existing as such? Can they be blamed for trying to change their part of the world into something that they can exist in without having crap thrown at them? Do they have a 'right' to that, or were the basic human rights meant for the 'Joe and Jane Regulars' instead of 'Gary/Marty Stu' and 'Mary Sue'. Because we see something in them that we do not like, we throw things that we are familiar with onto them until they become bearable for us to look at without feeling inadequate - mud and crap, usually. So what is the stuff on us or in us that make us want to throw that at other people to make ourselves feel better (which is essentially what people do when they engage in that sort of thing)? Hnnn...

Of course most people hate to have to be compared to other people in that sense because it places that part of you on display for others to judge, to measure to a standard that someone else created.

[bastek66]

値千金の衝撃情報を見逃すな！！

Spoiler for pictures:

[Tenchi Hou Take]

Originally Posted by Tempest35

Yay! A Mary Sue!

A story about a (virtually) perfect person! There aren't enough of those that actually go the mile.

Spoiler for Mindless rant because I stayed up all night - XP:

The question is - can a perfect person even exist in a non-perfect world without becoming 'imperfect' themselves? Will they lose their luster after all the mud and crap that will be thrown at them for even existing as such? Can they be blamed for trying to change their part of the world into something that they can exist in without having crap thrown at them? Do they have a 'right' to that, or were the basic human rights meant for the 'Joe and Jane Regulars' instead of 'Gary/Marty Stu' and 'Mary Sue'. Because we see something in them that we do not like, we throw things that we are familiar with onto them until they become bearable for us to look at without feeling inadequate - mud and crap, usually. So what is the stuff on us or in us that make us want to throw that at other people to make ourselves feel better (which is essentially what people do when they engage in that sort of thing)? Hnnn...

Of course most people hate to have to be compared to other people in that sense because it places that part of you on display for others to judge, to measure to a standard that someone else created.

HAHA! the Erza avatar says it all. Medaka isn't really perfect she's simply ridiculous in comparison to her contemporaries and that just makes her a rather boring character and even more boring to follow. Aijimu would be closer to a "perfect" character, but she isn't half as disliked by the western fanbase because she has more interesting character traits and doesn't actually directly interfer with the story.

Also this stories excution of a perfect character in a flawed world is rather subpar in making the reader care as seen in the majority of the fanbase.

[Wolfenstein]

Originally Posted by Kinali

Why do so many people hate Medaka? I mean what did she do in order for her to be hated and to be ranked number 6 in the third popularity poll? I wonder if she does get together with Zen will she be hated less?

I think she's too shallow and boring a character to take the spotlight.

Her personality is really something that I can only tolerate in small doses; definitely not something I'd like taking the spotlight from all the other characters. If she were administered in small doses, I'd probably even come to like her, eventually.

[kenjtr]

Poor medaka finally can love puppys lol how hard it was for her to not being able to do that for years .

Problem of Medakas character is that her being booring , her fighting style is also booring , her skill is booring , her ideals are booring , her body is booring , her face is booring etc... There is nothing about Medaka that cathes my heart she is just a plain booring villain type character that plays the main role in a shounen manga .

[DawnEmperor]

I don't actually hate Medaka, at least in retrospect. The series does repeatedly remind you that she's the main character, but I think I said before that it's more overall about the archetypes. When exploring that, likability might not be the highest priority.

I'm curious, does this mean you guys dislike a character like Superman? Now I know he hasn't received quite the same popularity as Batman in recent years but there is a point to analyzing these seemingly perfect characters. Now we can argue about execution since that has its subjective points but I think the manga delves into the mindset of these individuals in an interesting way even if they aren't the most likable characters.

I've felt that Zenkichi has been abused by Medaka, but Zenkichi has had his flaws as well even if he's my favorite character. Sometimes it feels like we don't know if he has any independent motivation, but he's also someone with somewhat relateable if stupid motivations at times. Because there are indeed a lot of people who can act that way. And it's a reflection upon society on what's normal; our desire to label, exclude, and correct people towards what we think is improvement, but may be just suppression. And while I may be making up his motivations a bit, Zenkichi loves Medaka for what is definitive of her. If she turned into a "normal girl who loved him" it wouldn't be Medaka anymore. Now this may open up another debate on how people defined(by personality traits or an inherent essence).

Medaka Box is about exploring what makes people human and there's not really a concrete answer nor is it someone's fault. Certainly in every profession there's always someone better, but we think about how people use their abilities. Even if Medaka is "perfect" by our standards, it's not something which necessarily satisfies her.

[Homura7]

Dunno you guys know, but along with the last chapter next week it seems there will be a big announcement related to the series.

[Tenchi Hou Take]

Kumagawa spinoff manga. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it was.

[Wolfenstein]

Originally Posted by Tenchi Hou Take

Kumagawa spinoff manga. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Probably this.

[Kurosu]

Originally Posted by Kurusu-Shirudo

Dunno you guys know, but along with the last chapter next week it seems there will be a big announcement related to the series.

Probably one of three things.

1) Season 3 of the anime (nope)
2) Manga Sequel/Spin off (unlikely)
3) More light novels (more feasible)

So all in all, I have no idea what the heck this announcement might be.
But with the series ending, whatever it is, you can only go up from here.

[Nemesis@]

Originally Posted by Kinali

Why do so many people hate Medaka? I mean what did she do in order for her to be hated and to be ranked number 6 in the third popularity poll? I wonder if she does get together with Zen will she be hated less?

There is nothing to hate. Are just idiots who think all the hate just because they do.This coming from a person who has read this entire topic.

Well, to be fair Akune stole several votes without even appear.

For me, the popularity contest should be done near the end of the series when it was already set. : P

[Kurosu]

Originally Posted by Nemesis@

There is nothing to hate. Are just idiots who think all the hate just because they do.This coming from a person who has read this entire topic.

Well, to be fair Akune stole several votes without even appear.

For me, the popularity contest should be done near the end of the series when it was already set. : P

hm, well that might be unfair to say. After all, I can see why people might not like her.
Though I find her to be a fun character myself.

[Nemesis@]

Originally Posted by Kurosu

hm, well that might be unfair to say. After all, I can see why people might not like her.
Though I find her to be a fun character myself.

Clearly, no one is required to like her. But getting to the point as they arrive? This is already spending limits.

Not because I hate a character I'll be lowering it, because even though I hate it, others love. Unfortunately the case here seems not to be applied.

[Kinali]

I guess I'm one of the few that doesn't hate Medaka. My favorite characters happen to be Zen and Kumagawa and she doesn't treat Zen that great and keeps rejecting Kumagawa. But I still don't hate her. In fact she happens to be within my top 5 favorite Medaka Box characters.

However, I didn't like the idea of Zen and Medaka as a couple. Only recently I have come to accept it. And based on the last chapter I hope they do get together only for the fact that if they don't Zen wont have a happy future and be forever alone. One chapter isn't enough to make me believe otherwise and Zen won't get a LN or of that sort because he just doesn't have the fanbase for it. I know its a pretty stupid reason but I just want Zen happy.

As for Kumagawa I also hope he doesn't get with Medaka. I feel this can ruin a spinoff or a LN for him. Maybe I'm wrong but I wouldn't like to see another Medaka romance story. I think I agree with Westlo and hope they don't mention him so it can possibly mean future material for him. And yes another stupid reason but I do want more of Kumagawa that doesn't involve romance with Medaka.

Now that I'm on that topic of Kumagawa. I wonder if that announcement in next chapter has anything to do with his and Ajimu's message. I feel like they aren't going to show them next chapter and the topic about their messages will come up and their messages will be something like this:

Ajimu: "I have to decided to leave this manga to join Misogi Kumagawa's spinoff"
Kumagawa: "I told you I wouldn't graduate from Shonen Jump"

Though recently I have been thinking maybe Ajimu's message had to do with the Animal Sympathy Skill.

Well all I can do is wait now and see what happens.

[Wolfenstein]

Hopefully MoganaxMisogi can be pretty much confirmed next chapter or something; though I think it's pretty much the only alternative left.

I know this chapter crushed my hopes that Zenkichi had fully moved on from Medaka into a better girl, but if he can't be "saved", I at least hope that Misogi had the sense to tap Kikaijima.

[novalysis]

Originally Posted by Kurosu

Probably one of three things.

1) Season 3 of the anime (nope)
2) Manga Sequel/Spin off (unlikely)
3) More light novels (more feasible)

So all in all, I have no idea what the heck this announcement might be.
But with the series ending, whatever it is, you can only go up from here.

Kumagawa spinoff Seinen Light Novel series, mocking every Seinen trope that Nisio can get his hands on. Expect shout-outs and parodies of the likes of Ghost in the Shell, Fate Zero, or Liar Game, and more .

That's my prediction.

[Nemesis@]

Results of the third popularity contests. Akune stole half the votes.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BHAtizdCMAE6Zmy.jpg

In total the three popularity contests looked like this:

Misogi Kumagawa = 185 +3854 +2824 = 6863
Kurokami Medaka = 832 +992 +522 = 2346
Zenkichi Hitoyoshi = 554 +672 +885 = 2111
Akune Kouki = 87 +802 +1084 = 1973
Youka Naze = 318 +905 +725 = 1948
Mukae Emukae = 7 +835 +735 = 1577
Hansode Shiranui = 307 +727 +487 = 1521
Najimi Ajimu = 375 +514 = 889

[2xj]

I just don't get how a character with zero importance to the plot and is almost never around got second place