And hello again!
So, one of my goals is to loop back to old discussion topics and give another fresh look at these Shaman King Zero chapters. So, the most logical place to start is chapter 1! You can find the original post below. If you want to join in the discussion of other chapters, click the links in the menu on the left for more!
Consider this more like a commentary edition. But I won’t talk about everything, just things that catch my eye. I’ll jump around a bit, so be sure to read the chapter first, since I won’t be explaining anything, and there will be spoilers.
[spoiler]
I mean, if someone like me became god… I’m sure I’d kill every damn human.
Takei sure wanted to start off with some powerful here, huh? Personally, I think this sets the tone of backtracking on Yoh’s character alot. There’s alot of points in the series that show other sides to Yoh, and I understand that he wants to give him more of a backstory… but… This just feels like it’s too much. And it’s too soon in the story. We don’t really see trouble until later, so it’s like he is pushing this before the story even began.
I kinda like how Takei wanted to make Yoh’s grandfather look a little younger. The coloring in the hair was a nice touch to give that look. Character design remains the same, but the hair sticks out. But did he have white or black hair when Yoh was 5? I can’t remember. That’s that extra level of research… that I’ll think about some other time, haha!
So Yoh’s “friends” of course have some interesting designs. I mean, take a look at the small kid. You can stack him up twice to match the kid on the left with black hair. Then double that again to match Dokugamushi (the big guy). Scale Takei, it’s way out of wack with these guys.
I love Yoh’s line right here. It’s just Takei saying.. “Hey guys remember Chocolove!?” It’s nice little poke in there.
When I first saw this image, it bothered me alot. Just looking at it, you think she is holding Yoh’s headphones. But she’s a ghost, so that doesn’t work. Luckily if you look down at the next frame… You can see Yoh is holding them out. You saved yourself there Takei. This time!
This image does help show one good thing about Takei taking a break from Shaman King. He’s really using computer assistance in creating his manga. It makes some interesting transparencies that work very well with spirits. I think the only real issue is that it looks better on his computer screen than what actually prints out on paper. I think if we works on it for a little while, we’ll get something that is a good medium. If Takei was making a series weekly, and didn’t have all the assistants, he might not have the time to experiment with these techniques. Alot of this started with Shaman King Kang Zeng Bang, and now it’s really developing into how he makes his manga too.
Oh hi Miki. Nice for you to join us this chapter. I kinda like how Takei was like “Quick, I think we need him in here somewhere, tie this all together.” Thanks Miki. Nice touch. [/spoiler]
Overall, I don’t think it’s the strongest chapter. But you know what? I really don’t like most of Takei’s oneshots. So this “Zero Series” actually ranks pretty low for me, since it’s just a series of oneshots. We’ll see how other chapters go. I’ve got some points to make about “music” and Shaman King, but I’ll save them for chapter 2. Since that one is kinda short, so I’ll save those comments for there.
Hope you enjoyed my opinion on the chapter. Continue the discussion below in the comments if you found anything in the chapter you might not have spotted the first time!
Original post on November 10th, 2011:
Hello, and now that Jump Kai volume 5 has been released… there will be discussion about what is actually happens in Shaman King Zero, Chapter 1! So, post away below with dicussion! And you can use [spoiler_ ][ _/spoiler] (No _) tags to hide things if you want.
If you want to see some pics and a quick review (in Japanese), go check out this Comicsoul post:
[spoiler]http://comicsoul.blog7.fc2.com/blog-entry-1228.html[/spoiler]
I’m sure Dit will be able to fill in any gaps/queestions, since she now has it in hand too.
