Kurogane

[jzmagic]

Originally Posted by Bonta Kun

Yea this chapter just did what I feared and didn't want, it's a rather big disappointment now.

It's now become extremely hard to see Kurogane ever beating that guy, I mean atm the dude is like in god mode compared to Kurogane and no doubt stay over 9000 steps ahead even if Kurogane improves.
I have no idea how the author will make it seem like he has any hope, at least if it was Sayu beating him, we'd know it's not impossible.
Now we just have to accept that when the time comes Kurogane will somehow beat him through sheer willpower and hard work....

Now I can only hope I can get some interest from whatever romance there is, if that ever happens.

Yep, I hate Aizen-like characters.

Also I doubt we'll see much on the romance front for a while, but we can always hope.

[Chandalen]

Add me to the dog pile of 'meh invincible character introduction'... This was the first thing I've not liked so far in the series, but man is it a big one. Hopefully it's over quick and he goes away for like 90 chapters. (won't happen but I can dream right?) At least Sayuri didn't drop Kurogane which was nice, not that I expected that to happen.

[Khalil]

It would've been more interesting and unusual, if she had dropped him.

[ShiroiRyu]

Normal ... Chapter ... Not that bad ... But not that good.
I'm the same : Aizen like characters is not my taste.
Anyways, before that, it's better to wait a little ... If the personality look like too ...

[Johnny]

Originally Posted by Khalil

It would've been more interesting and unusual, if she had dropped him.

This. That's what I disliked about the whole thing. It wouldn't have been bad if she kicked his ass, but to have him stay on par with her ruined the whole thing...

[felix]

More like Sharingan character, but yeah Aizen is a pretty close in asshole level to to this guy too.

[KLGChaos]

The thing is, I can understand why authors use characters like this. It's the whole "the bigger the challenge, the greater the satisfaction when the MC beats them theory". However, many authors seem to make the mistake of going overboard and making the character seem too powerful, to the point that the MC won't stand a chance against them.

This either leads to your typical DEM or Kubo ass-pull or an extended rivalry between the two, with the MC getting slightly closer each time until he finally wins at the end. The first is just annoying because it's bad plot-wise. The second I don't like, either, because I don't like sitting through match after match of the MC losing to his rival, only to get one victory in the end. It's not much of a victory when your win-loss record is 1 win, 20 losses. I think Baby Steps is like this, where the main constantly loses to his rival in the big match.

We already has a rival in the one-armed guy. We don't need another one that's so far out of Kurogane's league that there's no way of winning for another 400 chapters. It's just silly to introduce someone that strong so early in the manga.

It's like playing an RPG and being forced to fight the last boss right away in your first real battle... Getting owned and then repeating that over and over again for the whole game until you finally win. It's not really what I'd call fun.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by KLGChaos

The thing is, I can understand why authors use characters like this. It's the whole "the bigger the challenge, the greater the satisfaction when the MC beats them theory". However, many authors seem to make the mistake of going overboard and making the character seem too powerful, to the point that the MC won't stand a chance against them.

This either leads to your typical DEM or Kubo ass-pull or an extended rivalry between the two, with the MC getting slightly closer each time until he finally wins at the end. The first is just annoying because it's bad plot-wise. The second I don't like, either, because I don't like sitting through match after match of the MC losing to his rival, only to get one victory in the end. It's not much of a victory when your win-loss record is 1 win, 20 losses. I think Baby Steps is like this, where the main constantly loses to his rival in the big match.

We already has a rival in the one-armed guy. We don't need another one that's so far out of Kurogane's league that there's no way of winning for another 400 chapters. It's just silly to introduce someone that strong so early in the manga.

It's like playing an RPG and being forced to fight the last boss right away in your first real battle... Getting owned and then repeating that over and over again for the whole game until you finally win. It's not really what I'd call fun.

Well, RPG where you fight the last boss early on, get owned, and then don't fight him again till the end aren't rare.

But yeah, I don't like that kind of monster rivals either. Not for a sports manga.

[Irenicus]

I said, Sayuri better be invincible.

She isn't.

Fuck this. It just got no fun.

[KLGChaos]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Well, RPG where you fight the last boss early on, get owned, and then don't fight him again till the end aren't rare.

But yeah, I don't like that kind of monster rivals either. Not for a sports manga.

Yeah, but they don't usually have you lose right in battle. Usually, you beat the guy, he pulls out some DEM of his own to wipe out the party and then runs away for some reason. And as you said, you don't fight them again until the end. Manga like this usually have the MC losing to the guy over and over again until he finally wins.

I still remember one battle in a video game I hated, mostly because you never get a chance to get revenge later on. Star Ocean 2. Fight through a big tournament to get to Dias Flac-- aka Annoying Emo McGee. You can't beat him and you get owned in the fight. Even if you use cheat codes to max your stats, the computer makes him invincible to compensate. Then, you never even get a chance to fight him again and prove yourself. It annoyed me to no end, even if I did steal his girl. The Hopeless Boss Fight trope can be good if handled really well... but usually, like is Star Ocean 2, it's handled very poorly and feels like a cheap trick to advance the plot.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by KLGChaos

Yeah, but they don't usually have you lose right in battle. Usually, you beat the guy, he pulls out some DEM of his own to wipe out the party and then runs away for some reason.

IME, nothing you do has much of an effect, he pulls out some super move, and you're either captured or left for dead.

[felix]

I can only imagine the reader backlash to this will be great in the polls. I hope this series doesn't get cut but unless it pulls itself back togheter somehow I really don't care to see 100 chapters of this "author favorite" gimmick again. Had enough of that BS in Bleach and Naruto tyvm.

I'm trying to think of ways the author can turn this back around. Maybe I'm just biased but I'm really not seeing them.

[Kafriel]

Guess I'm the only one who enjoyed the Sayuri overload...ah well I don't really hate Yodaka either, he isn't perfect and says so himself (unlike Aizen who wants to hold God some company <_<), I'd like to see how the tournament will go and how his character will eventually turn out...

[felix]

Well pretty sure it's just going to be Kurogane and the 1-hand dood along with the captain who decide the match since the others were pretty much labeled as loser team already.

At best Kurogane will win with a fluke; or at least that's what I would think prior to this chapter <.<

If the guy starts using Sayuri's techniques against Kurogane I'm going to be pissed.

[Kafriel]

Well, if he could stand his ground against Sayuri, I highly doubt Kurogane stands a chance against him. I'd call a draw at best, but the execution's really crucial at this part.

[felix]

Originally Posted by Kafriel

Well, if he could stand his ground against Sayuri, I highly doubt Kurogane stands a chance against him. I'd call a draw at best, but the execution's really crucial at this part.

Yeah if it goes bad and the author is only good at writing "cool setup" it's gonna show pretty clearly next chapter or the ones after; depending on how this friendly dojo vs dojo fighting drags on. Honestly I was hoping for some redemption this chapter too, but hopes not dead yet!

[Bonta Kun]

Originally Posted by Kafriel

Guess I'm the only one who enjoyed the Sayuri overload...ah well I don't really hate Yodaka either, he isn't perfect and says so himself (unlike Aizen who wants to hold God some company <_<), I'd like to see how the tournament will go and how his character will eventually turn out...

I enjoyed the Sayu overload as well(more adult Sayu is always welcome) but the problem came from what happened to her character and role in the series.
Her "best of the era" style is now nothing when matched up against a kid that "best of the era" today, doesn't say much about her sword style.

My guess is we'll end up seeing improvments(big ones) to her sakura style throughout Kuroganes training.

[Johnny]

It may drop in the rankings as a result of these past two chapters, but we have that new romance one that will provide a bottom buffer so to speak...

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Bonta Kun

I enjoyed the Sayu overload as well(more adult Sayu is always welcome) but the problem came from what happened to her character and role in the series.
Her "best of the era" style is now nothing when matched up against a kid that "best of the era" today, doesn't say much about her sword style.

A... "generous" interpretation of the situation is that she misjudged his strength, but that she still a lot of her own in reserve, if it came to a situation where she had to win.

But yeah. Even so, it was disappointing.

[Bonta Kun]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

A... "generous" interpretation of the situation is that she misjudged his strength, but that she still a lot of her own in reserve, if it came to a situation where she had to win.

But yeah. Even so, it was disappointing.

Yea I figure she isn't truly going all out and def misjudged but still, it's a rather massive misjudge on her part, I don't think the margin for error should have been so big.
But the biggest thing was the fact the lad stopped her attack dead in it's tracks, not evade or parry but stopped it dead.
That says alot when that happens.