Kiba no Tabishounin - The Arms Peddler

[felix]

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Mature, Seinen, Supernatural Some time in the distant (apocalyptic) future the world has become a barren wasteland filled with monsters, bandits and supernatural beings. Garami is a wondering arms dealer. She roams the land doing business for the guild in her metal carriage pulled by a immortal zombie horse. Until one day when she meets a boy Sona, half dead in the wasteland. She saves his life in exchange for him becoming her slave, but gives him the choice of anytime buying his life back for 100 gold. Some more details, Garami uses pretty much every weapon you can imagine, explosives, swords, guns, knives, even sniper rifles. You name it, she'll kill you with it. The series is similar to Berserk in it's supernatural elements (living dead, mass gore) as well as Claymore (in particular the main character looks like a claymore, in some ways) The series deals with everything from zombies to slavery and morally gray choices. Just like Berserk and Claymore the series contains some nudity and gore. MyAnimeList - Back Updates

Garami Sona

[MrTerrorist]

I already read chp 1 to 11.

Spoiler for ch1-11:

It's a very interesting and violent, gory manga. I feel sorry for Sona since his life has been crap since his family was killed, became Garami's slave and he learns the world ain't such a just place especially when he came to the city that does slavery. However Garami has some sense of honor and is willing to do the job she was assign to.

Hopefully another group will scanlate this since the previous group who did the first 11 chapters stopped doing it.

[Johnny]

Saw this one last week and read up to the current chapter. Wasn't bad and it doesn't hurt that Garami is smoking hot. Sort of reminded me of the manga Jormungand...

[Bonta Kun]

I don't know, it's somewhat interesting yet I can't help thinking it's just another apocalpse story that doesn't really do much for me.

As it goes I think all I can reall do is 2nd Johnny's words "it doesn't hurt that Garami is smoking hot"

probably won't keep with it regularly and just read it lump sums when or if I ever I remember to, that is happen more and more these days.

[haegar]

I got the "just another apocalypse" from a couple of people, but I cant rly relate. Maybe it is cause I haven't read that much yet of that genre. In any case it totally captivated me (and I dont just mean Garami ) - I think the artwork is rather exceptional. Currently my fav together with Claymore (was for some time and will be for some time) and Shingeki no Kyuoujin (just recently found that one too) - and yeah I guess though not overly many apocaplypse storylines, as you can see by those two others I do like the dark tone - and have some hopes for the moral ambiguety doing it good

Spoiler for ch1-11:

admitteldy that was much stronger in ch2 than it what followed in the city but that the introduction was like that gives me hope for later arcs - in any case the city arc made a nice dark action read .. and I am gettin rly curious about Garamis past and how it will inevitably tie into the kids fate

anyways, thx 4 thread @ felix, g2 sleep now and will come by again to comment later XD

Spoiler for ..:

edit: it was dropped because it was picked up 0.o

[Iron21]

Just another apocalypse story? Really? To each his own I guess.

The manga has become one of my favorite manga to read. It has pretty much everything to offer so far. I'm always down for a kick your ass, take names later female lead. Garami is way above that level and is straight cold blooded awesome.

Like somebody over at MH said, from the Berserk school of manga

[Gooral]

I've read the first volume of Arms Peddler and I'm not impressed. Mediocre series so far IMO. The artwork is good but the plot is rather schematic and naive. The only reason it's in seinen category is occasional nudity, brutality that involves besides blood gushes flying limbs and some sexual content. But plot-wise and character-wise it's worse than any seinen I know (excluding Ubel Blatt). The kid is annoying from the start, something like Raki from Claymore but worse since he has almost as big role as Garami. And he's constantly in deep shit in one second and miraculously rescued in the next.

Spoiler for volume 1:

First, from all the people that were in the caravan only he wasn't killed. Then he was rescued from starvation by Garami. Then he ended up as a slave and had a broken bottle *by accident* near him and he was fast enough to use it. Then he was sent to a violent prisoner who turned out to be a child lover and he just happened to have a healing ointment (yeah, they've managed to put him into chains but couldn't search him? Or they did and they allowed him to have something like that even though he was supposed to become pig food? It would be better if he wasn't in full health in that case, wouldn't you think?). Then one of the blocks was loose enough to take it out and the hole big enough for him to get through. But the win (in a bad way) of this volume for me was for him *accidentally* fall into a sewer/underground passage that led directly to super valuable princess' room . Also the kid's family has just been massacred and he's as cheerful as a kid in Disneyland. If that's seinen than PLUTO is shounen.

All in all I have mixed feelings. We have zombies, naked chicks, some gore, magic, somewhat of a post-apocalyptic setting and quite a great art. It annoys me quite often but I'll give it a chance since the read is not painful just yet. Claymore also wasn't great until Teresa's arc so maybe it will come around.

But anyway, if you liked it you should really check Desert Punk out. Desert Punk is shounen but characters feel more real (i.e. they're better constructed and their actions are convincing) and the plot is better thought out (comparing only first volumes of course). There's also Trigun (which also is in a post-apocalyptic setting) which is another great manga, much better than anime and also much better than Arms Peddler. And Shingeki no Kyojin which is also much better (although IMO worse than Trigun or Desert Punk by a class at least).

Edit:
Ehh... Arms Peddler manga is getting more stupid with every chapter.

Spoiler for chapter 9-10:

The kid is a retard. He went back to a prison thinking no guard would be there? And how would he let demi-human (Immortal Zodd cheap rip-off) out? But the stupidest thing was that the lion could get out himself, lol. This manga is almost as stupid as Ubel Blatt. Also this lion could wipe out in second the army of zombies which could wipe out 20 armed men easily... WTF? How did he and 5 of his comrades get captured if they were worth like 1000 normal soldiers?

[haegar]

Originally Posted by Gooral

I've read the first volume of Arms Peddler and I'm not impressed. Mediocre series so far IMO. The artwork is good but the plot is rather schematic and naive. The only reason it's in seinen category is occasional nudity, brutality that involves besides blood gushes flying limbs and some sexual content.

I can relate to the fact that you feel things are a bit schematic, the beginning of the revenge storyline certainly is not totally new - still my general feel is that it nontheless made for an entertaining read - and that it's still too early to tell. basically ch1-3 were introduction standalones, with the first arc being used to delve some more into characters and also the nature of this world.

Spoiler for ch 4-12:

As Souna said, we and he still know very little about Garami, her nemesis from the necromancers has just barely been introduced -

so lets see where that goes before stamping it "mediochre" ...and rly... "mediochre ...is like ... Kubo or stuff like that

As for the "just another aplocalypse" as mentioned I havent read so many of those yet, bear in mind I havent read i.e Desert Punk & Trigun yet so I can't rly make the comparison as of now and will lealve that out of my argument.

character-wise it's worse than any seinen I know (excluding Ubel Blatt). The kid is annoying from the start, something like Raki from Claymore but worse since he has almost as big role as Garami. And he's constantly in deep shit in one second and miraculously rescued in the next.

Spoiler for volume 1:

First, from all the people that were in the caravan only he wasn't killed. Then he was rescued from starvation by Garami. Then he ended up as a slave and had a broken bottle *by accident* near him and he was fast enough to use it. Then he was sent to a violent prisoner who turned out to be a child lover and he just happened to have a healing ointment (yeah, they've managed to put him into chains but couldn't search him? Or they did and they allowed him to have something like that even though he was supposed to become pig food? It would be better if he wasn't in full health in that case, wouldn't you think?). Then one of the blocks was loose enough to take it out and the hole big enough for him to get through. But the win (in a bad way) of this volume for me was for him *accidentally* fall into a sewer/underground passage that led directly to super valuable princess' room . Also the kid's family has just been massacred and he's as cheerful as a kid in Disneyland. If that's seinen than PLUTO is shounen.

Spoiler for ch4-14:

You raise a number of valid points here, but I do feel depending on how one reads Souna's character they are not all that negative:

First of all, the comparison to Claymore/Raki only goes so far, Yes, we have the badass fighter chick and the poor helpless kid tagging along in both - but I feel in a totally different way. Clare let Raki tag on cause she needed him emotionally as much as he needed her. She also realized he'd be lost on his own in this world so she is kinda protecting him by having him. The big difference is that Clare doesn't have a clear concept of how to prepare him to stand on his own feet in this harsh world. It is left to Isley to train that into him later - and it happens mostly offscrene - contrary to that, Garamai is aware of how this kid has no chance in this world - and she obviously is trying to educate him in her own way.

Souna is also different from Raki in that he is motivated by revenge first and foremost, and from the very start - both lost their famillys ... Raki only wants to "protect Clare someday" wheras Souna wants to kill Hydra. This give us a totally different basic layout for character development. As seen as early as ch2, moral is very ambivalent in this world. And presumably remaining a "good guy" in terms of moral AND achieving his revenge is gonna turn into a problem for Souna sooner or later. Garami also lets it hang out very clearly to him that her job comes with a certain moral ambivalence - I can see how that might clash later on too - there was no such thing in Claymore where Clare certainly is the good protective nee-san - yeah she has a dark side, but due to her physiology, not due to her ambivalent actions.

As for your points on plot build convenience in the city, I cannot really refute that. I took no issue with the chair and the bottle though, booze is not that uncommon in a guards room - and Souna's reaction to me is perfectly viable since he does have that huge amount of rage burning inside - more so you are right that he has too much of a smile plastered on his face in the city before ending up being sold - but that was done so that the contrast when he encounters the slaves is stronger. And even that is partially understandable. I mean imagine loosing your all and everything somehwere in the desert, and keeping on travelling it alone with a stranger, a hot, but somewhat harsh stranger that while saving you makes it clear there is a price - seeing such a city after the time in the wasteland is something that might produce a childish smile even in a damaged/hurt kid. It was wiped of his face fast enough anyways.

As for the Garon warrior taking a likeing to him, yeah, more conveniences there, the healing ointment at least, the stone not so much imho, it is easily conceivable that that guy can push a stone out of the wall. What is actually lacking here though is an understanding of Garami's plan - and that makes it all so farfetched and convenient: She sells him to get in, and she apparently thinks he'll survive on his own for some time, and yeah he did that with help of the big furry guy - but Garami couldnt possibly know that could she? So was she taking a gamble with his life, thinking it is best to let him learn the hard way (aka , yeah, he has the spririts to survive the dugeons for a couple of days, and probably I can find him again later - but if something goes wrong he might die - but that risk must be taken since there is no protecting him from this world other than having him stand on his own feet...) I mean there is little doubt that somehow she does care for him ..so this was all a bit

So yeah, a bit of a stretch there, and moreso with finding the princess. There I have little to argue. But again, even though this was a stretch it might still change with further plot - The princess, like him, made a promise that will be hard to keep and live up to - and as this manga has gone so far I actually very much doubt solutions to their problems will "always" just miracolously appear as they happend to do in this arc. This arc was used to introduce the princess as another kid character - presumably as a mirror image to Souna - it was used to introduce Garami's nemesis, it was used to show the cruelness of this world - and with the benediction lille Souna got by recieving the fangs his spirit to keep on fighting was highlighted - also this serves to introduce another, later plot station (he has to return the fangs to the garon village)

All in all my feel is that this whole Arc is still very much introduction, and due to that I am easily willing to forgive some of the all too convenient plot developments - assuming that such will not keep on happening and that actually things will get harder for Souna soon enough - If he keeps on having "luck" such as this I'll probably agree with you. But as I said, all in all, lets wait for say vol3 completely translated and see where the character dynamics go before dropping the sword of mediochre-doom on it

All in all I have mixed feelings. We have zombies, naked chicks, some gore, magic, somewhat of a post-apocalyptic setting and quite a great art. It annoys me quite often but I'll give it a chance since the read is not painful just yet. Claymore also wasn't great until Teresa's arc so maybe it will come around.

Spoiler for ..:

As for nakedness, yeah, in part not neccesarry (I did like seeing Garami like that, but there was no point at all in showing her like that at that time, other than fanservice (and maybe foreshadowing Souna falling in love with his saviour ala Clare/Raki which would be premature imho)

Zombies and gore, I don't like them too much actually, and that for me is a point that something about this must be good. For instance I dropped the ohso hyped Berserk cause I felt the gore was just to excessive despite good art and plot (well I guess I will sometime finish reading up on it nontheless ) In this one though the gore part in some panels felt overdone but still to me it fits the setting nicely. Again, we'll have to see how it progresses.

Another strong point btw I feel is the "flow" when reading. I could almost picture this manga before my inner eye as a movie while readin on - the narrative voice is pretty good too imho and that is another + that makes me get over the all to convenient turns of events. Anyways, in closing just want to reemphasize that the current layout allows for much much more dynamics and tension between lead-chracters than claymore's Clare/Raki...

[felix]

Originally Posted by Gooral

But plot-wise and character-wise it's worse than any seinen I know (excluding Ubel Blatt). The kid is annoying from the start, something like Raki from Claymore but worse since he has almost as big role as Garami. And he's constantly in deep shit in one second and miraculously rescued in the next.

Spoiler for volume 1:

First, from all the people that were in the caravan only he wasn't killed. Then he was rescued from starvation by Garami. Then he ended up as a slave and had a broken bottle *by accident* near him and he was fast enough to use it. Then he was sent to a violent prisoner who turned out to be a child lover and he just happened to have a healing ointment (yeah, they've managed to put him into chains but couldn't search him? Or they did and they allowed him to have something like that even though he was supposed to become pig food? It would be better if he wasn't in full health in that case, wouldn't you think?). Then one of the blocks was loose enough to take it out and the hole big enough for him to get through. But the win (in a bad way) of this volume for me was for him *accidentally* fall into a sewer/underground passage that led directly to super valuable princess' room . Also the kid's family has just been massacred and he's as cheerful as a kid in Disneyland. If that's seinen than PLUTO is shounen.

Spoiler:

• He did not accidentally survive; he was spared to tell the tale—it was pretty clearly explained, how did you miss it.
• God knows how much time passed since Garami found him; she could have spotted the giant fire from the distance and just changed course towards him, seems pretty plausible to me.
• He ended up as a slave after several chapters, not right after, which is an untold amount of time. The strange part in that scene was that there should have been a lot more broken bottles, not that there was one.
• The violent prisoner there was not a child lover, he was just not the "violent prisoner" you were told he was. If anyone else was thrown with him the same thing would have happened. This was also explained quite clearly.
• As for the ointment, it's not like it was a lethal weapon or anything, or that they searched him that thoughrly. For all we know it was also inside the few clothes he still had on him. Also you've played too many RPGs if you think that little bit of powder is miracle dust and so important.
• What's so unrealistic about a block being loose? It did not look like were cemented together, if anything it's surprising a lot more were not loose.
• The princess was a slave too, so it's not like she was necessarily in a tower or anything

Personally I get the impression you just skimmed though it and looked at the pretty pictures. A lot of what you said was so blatantly explained using entire pages it's not even funny.

[Gooral]

I'll respond to felix only since it will take less time and I will cover most of your points haegar anyway.

Spoiler for spoiler vol. 1:

1. I didn't say he "accidentally survived" and I didn't miss it. I've written about it to show an obvious and cheap pattern and what a plot-armor he has, starting from the first chapter. And the fact that from all the people on the caravan they chose him it shows it pretty well. It would be better to leave an elder alive and take him with them if the author really wanted me to buy such explanation. And what the villain did? He left a kid to die anyway on a desert (so his excuse just went out the window) and he left a young kid that would definitely try to kill him later, even if it was 20 years from now. So he made potential enemy that would grow stronger while he would get weaker (older).
2. It couldn't have taken too long since he had nothing to eat and he couldn't manage to get far in such state. Also, if he went too far it would be stupid of Garami to go into a graveyard where there was nothing left (which Garami would know by asking the boy before going there, so if she went there without asking it it's pretty certain she was near it anyway). So because it didn't take more than a day (you can only survive as much without water on a desert, especially as a kid) it was pretty convenient that she was near enough to see the smoke or vultures gathering or something. In itself it's not that far-fetched but when you add it to the rest you will see that every chapter he's miraculously saved.
3. Yes, it was explained that they don't eat people. Again, you've missed my point. Out of all options he had, he chose to shove him into a cage where this boy might have survived for all he knew, or worse, he might not and the body would still be there which would result in his head falling unless his supervisors would also be retards and wouldn't be able to add 2+2 and know who could throw this kid into lion's cage or he would get rid of the body (but in that case what would he need lion for, he could have killed him himself). Either way it was a lose-lose situation to him and stupid.
4. Ehh... It is important since it allows him to recuperate from his wounds. And since he was about to be killed and they knew what garons can do (what's more they thought they could do even more since the rumours made him look twice as dangerous) they wouldn't want him to be in the best shape unless they were retards (which seems to be the case for 99% of characters in this manga). Plus it looked like it was quite an expensive and valuable ointment so leaving it to a dead man would be a waste especially in a post-apocalyptic setting which unfortunately I don't see in this manga. Unless you want to tell me they've managed to capture him and put him into chains without injuring him. As for ointment, sure it could have been hidden but going by that line of thought many other things could, like a lock picking set, some kind of smoke bomb or explosive that would allow him to escape (and we know that in this world such things exist, maybe except lock picking set but since there are locks they also must exist). So any way I look at it it was stupid.
5. That's the only thing I would be willing to scratch out of the list and it was more of a "bonus" than anything. It also shows a certain pattern of convenient "coincidences". Prisons have that in common they're generally hard to escape from (duh) so blocks being loose would make retards out of people responsible for keeping prisoners there. As for other blocks not being loose seemed strange to you, actually that's one of the few logical things the author did. If other were loose the lion and his companions would escape almost immediately after being confined there but if they would have to work pretty hard to make it lose enough to take it out it would be entirely different story. Even if they knew it would be futile, seeing their nature as warriors I could understand they wouldn't want to go down doing nothing.
6. Yes, she was a slave but extremely valuable and important one and the boss (king or whoever was supervising it) didn't even bother to choose a location he knew was safe and didn't have more than one entrance (or all entrances guarded). It's especially stupid taking into account that this king knew what this bearded guy planned. But going back to princess, she didn't look like a slave at all and lived in royal quarters worthy of a princess. And I didn't say anything about a tower. Of course it wasn't tower but something low on ground since the kid fell down and when he climbed about the same height he was in her quarters. So for someone as important as her it wasn't the best location (tower would be much better since it would make escape harder). What was really stupid here however was that he accidentally fell to that tunnel that led right to her. If you can't see how stupid that was then don't even bother responding to my post.

You've also didn't comment my edited part, i.e. how stupid was that the kid when he

Spoiler for vol. 2:

went back to a prison thinking no guard would be there and lion escaping when he wanted... Also this lion could wipe out in second the army of zombies which could wipe out 20 armed men easily... WTF? How did he and 5 of his comrades get captured if they were worth like 1000 normal soldiers? Later the princess was kidnapped and had her clothes ripped off (fortunately they didn't show details) and of course was saved by someone who didn't have a sword in his hand until like a month ago. The whole auction that the king has organized was just a pretext to trigger action since he knew from the start what the other party intends and he went through it anyway and wasted resources. Instead doing it the smart way he actually managed to kill himself in the process....

In short, I don't think I've read another manga with such weak script (dialogues, etc.), plot and characters (like a kid whose family has just been massacred was as cheerful as a kid in Disneyland and is a retard overall). There are tons of plot holes here and the list of stupidities goes on and on.

It's funny you say that I must have skimmed through it and looked at pictures (which for the most part I wouldn't call pretty but I digress) when you've missed so much yourself and I had to explain to you every little thing.

Maybe I've had my standards set to high because of Desert Punk or Trigun (and from a different genre Dorohedoro which I've recently read) but I generally don't like manga where characters and plot is stupid and it's not a comedy. Heck, even Shingeki no Kyojin is much, much better than this (even though it's worse than Desert Punk IMO).

[felix]

You are making a lot of convenient assumtions to prove your point.

Spoiler:

1. Out of all the people on the caravan he just happens to be last one to die, more so then the "chosen" one. We don't even know if the others were killed outright or died in the chase (or died from injuries from the chase). Also, you are implying "Hydra should be afraid of a 10-year-old" because "he might kill him 20 years into the future", c'mon now.
2. Doesn't matter how "miraculous" it is, it's a manga, it's entertaining when unexpected shit happens. Since we agree Garami being there doesn't require heaven pooping her out from the sky, it's all fine.
3. He could just say there was no room. It was not so much that he couldn't do it himself, and more to do with everyone there bitching about merchandise. His other options were all zero, since from all we got it seems that was the only "man-eater" there.
4. Like I said you've played too many RPGs, wounds won't just close because of a little crappy ointment, and any other type of wounds are irrelevant. Frankly we have no evidence he was "seriously injured" or crippled, particularly when these "wounds" (on which this magical ointment was applied) were on his face; not exactly the most vital region. And of course they managed to capture him and put him into chains with out injuring him, first of all Garami pretty much gave him to them, and second of all they have this "merchandise must not be damaged" nonsense going on. I don't see no evidence of him being injured while being put into chains.
5. While the block was loose, you have to consider the strenth required to pull that thing out. None of the guards even comes close. Additionally if not for the claws it would probably be hard to get a good grip on it. (I also got the impression the block was pretty high up, but I think that's a little iffy.) And of course even though the block was pulled out there was not exactly a corridor behind it, more like a primitive sewer pipe running though the walls (water drainage or whatever), going by where he ended up. Proof of this is how far we saw him go into the wall, if it was just a block, he should have just ended up straight into a corridor.
6. And why is the dungeon not the safest place for a prisoner? How do you know she wasn't guarded, the kid didn't exactly come though the door. How do you know the way they went out was actually big enough for the bearded guy and his men to go though or that the entrance to that way anywhere near where they could access, remember they had problems just getting into the main square.
7. It's not unlikely for him to know the way the guards patrolled and assume a certain pattern. Regarding our little man eater escaping: Let's assume he had escaped prior, he would face ALL the guards and die in vein; is there much point in that? At that moment the princess was there so in some sense "it was actually a good time to die". Additionally the entire armed forces there was scattered around and disorganized (at the time), this would not have been the case if he had just escaped on his own—we know for a fact (ie. that he was captured) that even with his strength he still can't go against a well organized army.
8. Now regarding him beating all those zombies. Think of it this way, Garami had problems with just one soldier (the sniper) yet managed to decimate a miniture army of (dumb) zombies. This is not a question of numbers, but a question of what kind of force is required. Guns versus zombies were obviously worthless and given the soldiers morale and other circumstances such as the inability to damage/find the seals in any reasonable fashion even in close combat, I'd say, even though the zombies were pretty dumb overall (ie no combat tactics just push forward) that whole bunch of soldiers still had a combat strength of zero. Then you got beast boy, who's a fucking walking disaster go against dumb zombies; now what do you suppose would happen.
9. I don't know what you're going on about with the governor there. He didn't know they would not pay up, and the second buyer apparently came afterwards. He knew nothing, and overall was plenty prepared to handle the official rescuers. Let's face it they only managed to get as far as they did thanks to Garami and still a whole bunch of them died (if not all of them).

If you can't see how stupid that was then don't even bother responding to my post.

Well, I certainly will not bother responding to your posts from now on. There are ways more possibilities then just the ones I mentioned, frankly you seem to just be nitpicking at every little thing. It's really pointless to argue with you when you only see everything as bad and just go on about everyone being retarded, dumb or events being stupid, or forcing them into some kind of trope (as if tropes are necessarily always bad). Amusingly enough you actually miss the actual plot holes such as Garami apparently selling him with only the slightest of chances of him escaping in the inevitable commotion that followed. So maybe the kid has superhuman luck and some kind of plotshield, so what, I do not enjoy reading it to see him survive, I am more interested in his interaction with Garami, thus, him just randomly dieing (as you imply) would add nothing to the story and plot.

[Gooral]

Originally Posted by felix

You are making a lot of convenient assumtions to prove your point.

Me? You're really funny. First you're telling me that I'm skimming and looking at pretty pictures only when you're the one doing it (otherwise you wouldn't need another post to make excuses but show that the things I've mentioned weren't idiocies in the first one which you couldn't and still can't), then you're telling me that I'm making a lot of convenient assumptions when you're the one trying to find far-fetched explanations to all the idiocies I've mentioned about. That's rich. I assume you haven't heard about Occam's razor then?

Spoiler for vol. 1+2:

1. "He just happens" is the thing that happens in this manga too often and only proves my point. As for not knowing whether others were killed outright or in the chase, I don't see how it matters. What matters is that we know thanks to this bandit that all died but the kid. And like I said, if it wasn't that he was miraculously saved every chapter I wouldn't even mention about it. As for revenge thing, yes, I'm implying just that. It just wasn't smart in any way. And like I said and which you've ignored, if he wanted him to live he should have taken him and dropped him off in some city or at least give him some food and water. Otherwise it was just stupid to leave him alive and state such purpose of it. It looked like he was just mocking him and wanted the kid to die slowly which I doubt was author's intent. Also a kid isn't the most credible witness, for all people would know he was an orphan who wanted to use such story to receive some free help.
   
2. Sure, I can relate to that. But like I said, the problem is the overuse of this motive. When a main character is in deep shit every chapter and he's miraculously saved then it's just bad writing.
   
3. Oh really? A kid needed a whole cell? Also, if there would be empty cells he would have to explain where the slaves went so it would be somewhat possible only if there were no records kept on either side. Which would only show how retarded characters are since in such mess they wouldn't notice if valuable slaves would be sold off the books to someone (although it seems to be the case since this guard didn't flinch when he found out that not even bones were left which would be more suspicious than having a body if records would have been kept). As for everyone bitching about merchandise, they only reminded him that if something would happen to the slave he could be more than whipped. They didn't care less whether the kid actually died or not. So it clearly wasn't his only option. He could have killed the kid himself and throw him in to lion's cage (and according to you, use an excuse "all other cells were occupied" which doesn't stick but for the sake of an argument let's say it does) using for example the bottle he was stabbed with (so they couldn't determine he wasn't killed by a claw). But like I said what he did was utterly stupid unless someone would buy your excuse but if they would buy such far-fetched story I don't see why would he be afraid in the first place.
   
4. Ehh... Closing wounds isn't that hard even without any medicine. You've been sitting before computer too much and haven't been cut before I presume. I never wear plaster and the wound closes really quick (since it actually closes quicker than when using plaster and I can wash without messing plaster up). Granted I usually injure my knees, elbows and hands and I never had my arteries cut (but in this case you would need compression bandage - not sure how it's named in English). But I digress. The point is it would help him recuperate, even if by little which could make a difference by him killing one more person (or more) before going down. What's ironic though is that you're implying I'm playing too many RPGs and something like that happens only there when here we have freaking zombies, magic, lion that can withstand a series from a mini gun... Heck, you even brought up argument that "it's manga !" yourself... And judging by the lion's words, that this ointment is too strong for such minor wounds as his, you can be almost certain it was and RPG like potion. Maybe if instead of personal attacks you would start to read with more attention I wouldn't have to explain it all to you. Further, I don't understand what you mean by "Garami handed him to them". Lion was obviously there before Garami came (when he first came there, there were other lions with him). As for seeing no evidence of him being injured, Garons are proud and fierce warriors. For him to be restrained he would have to be knocked out. "Garron would rather fight to the death than surrender", so tell me how someone like that could be put into chains? He would have to do nothing in order to do that. Seriously, start reading with comprehension because it turns out I know this manga better than you do and I don't even like it.
   
5. I don't really understand what you're trying to say here. What do guards have to do with him being able to pull the block out? In this world humans aren't the only ones that live here. And they saw how powerful these lions are during the battle in which they were captured so putting them to a cage designed for humans would be stupid. And yet they've put all of such strong warriors in one cell (otherwise there would be no way he could get the amulets unless through the hole he made but that would mean they were in two rooms unless in every room was a hole like this and they would be next to each other or they would be able to give it to him or throw it through bars) and put them into chains in a way they could do everything anyway (so their motions weren't restricted at all practically, heck, their legs weren't even chained). The point is they allowed for something like this to happen while doing nothing to prevent it, which shows their stupidity which allowed the kid to escape conveniently. Kid got into prison and next he knew he was out.
   
6. If you call it a dungeon then you need new glasses. Also, it would be an utterly useless dungeon if you could escape through a bathroom, wouldn't you think? Oh right, you wouldn't. And you misunderstood me. I didn't write she wasn't guarded. I said that not all entrances were guarded which is obviously true. The problem here was that this king has chosen such unsafe location and they didn't even bother to check the bathroom, lol (and such huge hole would be hard to miss). I find it hilarious. This whole situation made me rotfl, hence my comment that if you can't see it, it's pointless discussing because it such an ass-pull that it would be hard to top it. The sequence was as this: kid escapes from prison thanks to super convenient coincidence, then he falls into a tunnel, which of course no one else ever found or bothered to look where it leads to, then he walks 10 m and is in princess's bathroom. Kids from elementary school could make up something like that. But from a seinen I would expect something else than a direct portal to the destination point. Let me point one thing out - you're trying to make really far-fetched explanations now, explanations which we weren't given. You're the one who's making a lot of convenient assumptions, not me.
   
7. Seriously? That's your excuse? *sigh* If your previous argument was really far-fetched then this is beyond that. Firstly, for garons death in battle is something they seek. Secondly, this lion was strong enough to destroy an army so ALL guards would be nothing for him. Thirdly, he couldn't have known what the situation was outside (even if he could hear guns fired) so he would risk it either way. And actually, with army on the loose to deal with intruders (hence the shots to which they would clearly react if they weren't theirs) it could be harder to escape, not easier when army would be inside barracks. And yes, he could have been captured so large enough army would be too much for him to handle but the problem is a while later we've seen how large it must have been so your argument is weak at best. But you really made me rotfl when you mentioned about patrolling patterns... Prisons are never heavily guarded. You always have a ratio of 50:1 (prisoners : guards) or sth like that. Especially in this case where there was army stationed outside. So escaping from prison would be the least of his problems and watching how 3-5 guards patrol would give him nothing. So my question still stands, why didn't he do it earlier? He couldn't have known that at the 3rd day of his confinement (or later) a kid would be brought to him, would be small enough to squeeze through the hole and would be stupid enough to go back to him with the princess... And with every day he would grow weaker I would think (unless they would feed him and allow him to have strength which would be retarded). So to make it short it was stupid and your excuses are laughable.
   
8. Zombies were dangerous no matter who the opponent was. They could only be destroyed by destroying the crest and they were immune to everything but fire. And zombies are much stronger than humans and don't get tired nor feel pain. So lion has shown some real skill there. They were army and he easily defeated them even though 20 armed men couldn't. Imagine what would he have done to people who would die just by him touching them with his big, sharp hands. Humans don't have only one weak spot, their whole body is one weak spot. And we saw it was the case later (chapter 12) so I don't have only my deduction to rely on. The only problematic soldiers for him would be these heavy armed ones but we've seen they were elite soldiers and we've seen them only with the king so they were his personal guard.
   
9. About the governor, he tried to get rid of them earlier and it was stated in manga by the bearded guy himself that he probably knows but he will go through this farce because of his personality. Which is rather weak excuse if you ask me and it was only a plot device to make some action.
   
10. Another thing I forgot to mention was that Garami sold the kid under the pretext to have a slave so that she could get out. Which is another stupid explanation since she could as well buy the cheapest slave there was or go to a blacksmith for a chain without putting him through all this. If I'm to read between the lines and assume that she wanted to train him then OK, but I seriously doubt it was author's intent since the kid managed to escape only to ass-pulls and super convenient "coincidences" and there were easier ways to kill this kid if Garami would want it. So the most probable thing was that author didn't even bother to think about what he's writing about.

Heh, I'm bumping the thread of a manga I don't even like. Time to end this. Read Desert Punk, maybe then you will understand better my criticism.

[Ravenblitz]

fun read! love this kind of manga & i marathoned the scanlated chapters in one sitting.

[ellifeedn]

There are a number of good and bad things in this series. I'll stick with it for now just to see where it goes.

[vansonbee]

Originally Posted by ellifeedn

There are a number of good and bad things in this series. I'll stick with it for now just to see where it goes.

Can you refresh us the flaws of this series, I would like to know it.

[ellifeedn]

Spoiler for flaws in the series:

The first flaw was in the beginning, where Sona was left dying even though evil final boss guy said he wanted to leave a survivor to spread tales of his deeds. Then Sona was found by Garami in a contrived manner, but something had to bring the two together otherwise we wouldn't have a story.

And then the first story arc. There are a number of problems, but I'm just going to concentrate on what I felt were the biggest. First of all, I've read complaints about Sona smiling when seeing a large city. Yes, his family died horrible deaths and he swore revenge, but that doesn't mean he has to be focused on those things all the time. If he did, he would wind up as one of those always depressed kill-joys that stop caring about anything (i.e. emo). He will seek revenge, but as long as he can find some enjoyment every now and then in his life, I'm fine with that.

After several chapters where Sona somehow survives prison life, he meets the princess. The way in which he ended up in her bathroom was really contrived. But then, the biggest head-banging moment happened when he brought her into the prison. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? That was the lowest point in this series for me.

And those were the main problems I felt like talking about.

[SoFarGone]

Originally Posted by ellifeedn

Spoiler for flaws in the series:

The first flaw was in the beginning, where Sona was left dying even though evil final boss guy said he wanted to leave a survivor to spread tales of his deeds. Then Sona was found by Garami in a contrived manner, but something had to bring the two together otherwise we wouldn't have a story.

And then the first story arc. There are a number of problems, but I'm just going to concentrate on what I felt were the biggest. First of all, I've read complaints about Sona smiling when seeing a large city. Yes, his family died horrible deaths and he swore revenge, but that doesn't mean he has to be focused on those things all the time. If he did, he would wind up as one of those always depressed kill-joys that stop caring about anything (i.e. emo). He will seek revenge, but as long as he can find some enjoyment every now and then in his life, I'm fine with that.

After several chapters where Sona somehow survives prison life, he meets the princess. The way in which he ended up in her bathroom was really contrived. But then, the biggest head-banging moment happened when he brought her into the prison. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? That was the lowest point in this series for me.

And those were the main problems I felt like talking about.

Spoiler for spoiler:

the prison thing did leave me scratching my head. Didn't make any sense why you would bring the princess to such a dangerous environment.

[Ravenblitz]

well if i remember the princess wants to see her bodyguard imprisoned there

[kirayume]

a good manga. and i guess that arms peddler is like a main character from Claymore but she's more beautiful..;D

[vansonbee]

Can anyone tell me the release rate for this series? weekly, bi-weekly or monthly?