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Kwyndig posted:I loved that show, it combined my two loves of romance and MMOs. Man do I like romance stories for an asexual. Yeah the director is a piece of poo poo but you'd never know it from the show itself and he's gone from that company anyway AFAIK
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# ? Sep 25, 2022 02:59 |
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 04:23 |
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gimme the GOD drat candy posted:i don't quite get why authenticity is so rare in mmo stories. it's a video game. you buy it and play it for a while and bam, now you understand mmo culture. but instead you get these weird rear end copies of copies of copies where the original author had also never played a mmo. On the one hand I kind of get it. The original MMOs were very wild; no one knew anything, boss strategies (such as they were) were kept super-secret, having stuff that could only be done once per server was considered ok, and it wasn't unusual for GMs to pilot NPCs to give players something to do outside of grinding (I still remember some dude offering Bael'zharon a twinkie in Asheron's Call and getting rewarded for it). But it all kind of falls apart when you try to sell me on that stuff happening in any kind of modern game played by 100s of millions of players.
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# ? Sep 25, 2022 03:23 |
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It makes a bit more sense if you consider their reference points are usually FF11 and RO
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# ? Sep 25, 2022 03:45 |
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kirbysuperstar posted:The most realistic was MMO Junkie where they all went to buy cash cards at the combini when a new costume scratch came out Log Horizon was clearly closely based on real MMOs and even had a whole story arc about an in game raid that practically gave me WoW flashbacks. But yeah, remotely realistic MMOs are definitely rarities compared to the sheer number of stories nominally set in one. Nemo2342 posted:(I still remember some dude offering Bael'zharon a twinkie in Asheron's Call and getting rewarded for it). Still probably my favorite MMO, accounting for the time it was made in.
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# ? Sep 25, 2022 05:03 |
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Oh shoutouts to anime based on an MMO that can't even get parts about its own property right, such as in episode 1 of the PSO2 anime where someone blocked with a gunslash
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# ? Sep 25, 2022 05:07 |
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kirbysuperstar posted:Oh shoutouts to anime based on an MMO that can't even get parts about its own property right, such as in episode 1 of the PSO2 anime where someone blocked with a gunslash Or the fact that the main character's facial expressions change in game and they're allowed to talk outside of dialogue boxes.
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# ? Sep 25, 2022 07:09 |
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RareAcumen posted:Or the fact that the main character's facial expressions change in game and they're allowed to talk outside of dialogue boxes. They have fingers that move too, what the gently caress
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# ? Sep 25, 2022 07:38 |
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Bremen posted:Still probably my favorite MMO, accounting for the time it was made in. I think it's mostly vanished from the internet too, which is a shame. I wasn't really playing MMOs back then (why pay when MUDs are free) but I still loved reading the wild stories from them.
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# ? Sep 25, 2022 08:03 |
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I'll Save This drat Family has apparently wrapped up it's hiatus. Ah, as classy as always.
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# ? Sep 30, 2022 21:29 |
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I think it was this thread that recommended The Ideal Sponger Life. Would you recommend the Manga or the LN? I almost always prefer novels because I kind of skim the pictures in manga. From the samples of both, it seems like the LN has a tendency to overexplain. The LN also kind of makes the male MC seem like a not great person in that he a) expects his wife to defer to him because he's a man (no Japan! Bad! Females are people, not accessories!) and b) doesn't let her know that he's figured out that the reason she summoned a husband is specifically to avoid him usurping her. I'm more than a little worried that he's going to push the otherwise apparently very competent female character into the background which would pretty much end my interest in the series. The LN also lists a later publication date, is that just a translation thing or did the manga really come first? I guess it sounds like I've already decided on the manga, but I'm very interested to hear the thread's thoughts.
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 04:34 |
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LLSix posted:I think it was this thread that recommended The Ideal Sponger Life. Would you recommend the Manga or the LN? I almost always prefer novels because I kind of skim the pictures in manga. From the samples of both, it seems like the LN has a tendency to overexplain. The LN also kind of makes the male MC seem like a not great person in that he a) expects his wife to defer to him because he's a man (no Japan! Bad! Females are people, not accessories!) and b) doesn't let her know that he's figured out that the reason she summoned a husband is specifically to avoid him usurping her. I'm more than a little worried that he's going to push the otherwise apparently very competent female character into the background which would pretty much end my interest in the series. The LN also lists a later publication date, is that just a translation thing or did the manga really come first? I haven't read the LN yet, but Novelupdates says it started in 2011 and the manga is listed as starting in 2017, so something got crossed in your research. As to your issues, while he doesn't let her know that he's figured out why she wants him for a husband, it immediately sets up a scene where she gets to do the "I know that you know that I know" thing. After that, while I don't believe he ever confirms his knowledge he goes out of his way to avoid interfering with her business until the situation forces him to begin interacting with politics. Even then the series has been excellent about having the MC enable the strong female characters (even at the cost of his own reputation and pride) instead of solving problems for them. His true value comes not from offering solutions, but by creating opportunities due to his modern values and his willingness to play the fool.
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 05:31 |
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LLSix posted:I think it was this thread that recommended The Ideal Sponger Life. Would you recommend the Manga or the LN? I almost always prefer novels because I kind of skim the pictures in manga. From the samples of both, it seems like the LN has a tendency to overexplain. The LN also kind of makes the male MC seem like a not great person in that he a) expects his wife to defer to him because he's a man (no Japan! Bad! Females are people, not accessories!) and b) doesn't let her know that he's figured out that the reason she summoned a husband is specifically to avoid him usurping her. I'm more than a little worried that he's going to push the otherwise apparently very competent female character into the background which would pretty much end my interest in the series. The LN also lists a later publication date, is that just a translation thing or did the manga really come first? the manga has way better art and sometimes the diagram explanations work better than text. the ln is not without normal virtues of expanded dialogue and internal narration but the manga is honestly well done in covering for weaknesses of the format the queen is never really totally backgrounded but the story is the kind of thing where the guy is constantly having ladies thrown at him and aw shucks he doesn’t wanna but he probably eventually has to take more wives, because he’s so dedicated to his queen. so if that kind of contrivance is bothersome it could get really annoying. like there’s no point downplaying that it is very much a male fantasy with horny at its core (just not in an overflowing way). but it’s also the kind of neat isekai worldbuild where the other people are deeply competent within the world’s context and the guy from our world has to be careful and measured in bringing those advantages to bear
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 13:35 |
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this allusion meant posted:the manga has way better art and sometimes the diagram explanations work better than text. the ln is not without normal virtues of expanded dialogue and internal narration but the manga is honestly well done in covering for weaknesses of the format I will however note that the manga is 50 chapters in and while they have basically locked down who the second wife will be, at no point in the manga has the MC laid hands on a woman other than the Queen. The second wife also makes a lot of sense from a political/strategic sense, so while yes it is still a male fantasy, it's one of the very few "harem" situations that hasn't felt overly gratuitous. Of course it could just throw it all out the window down the line and have him marry every woman that people have thrown at him, but for now I've been impressed with how restrained it's been.
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 18:17 |
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Nemo2342 posted:I haven't read the LN yet, but Novelupdates says it started in 2011 and the manga is listed as starting in 2017, so something got crossed in your research. So a translation thing then? Amazon lists the manga publication date as 2019 while the LN publication date is 2021. So I guess it got brought over as a manga first and then the original LN was licensed and translated later.
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 18:36 |
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LLSix posted:So a translation thing then? It's also different companies licensing each. There are a decent number LNs that JNC translates where a different company already has the manga.
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 19:03 |
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Nemo2342 posted:I will however note that the manga is 50 chapters in and while they have basically locked down who the second wife will be, at no point in the manga has the MC laid hands on a woman other than the Queen. The second wife also makes a lot of sense from a political/strategic sense, so while yes it is still a male fantasy, it's one of the very few "harem" situations that hasn't felt overly gratuitous. Manga: The MC character is actively trying to sabotage any possible additional wives/concubines to the point that it's starting to cause problems with his queen/wife. The conversation that they have when she lays this out to him with the whole "things I want as your wife vs what I want as your queen" is the best I've ever seen handled in a story like this. In fact, the only reason he is even considering the second wife is because it will stop people throwing women at him as it's expected that he should take a concubine when his wife is pregnant. Like it is so baked into the culture that him not doing so is so suspicious that it becomes a plot point that he is just being 100% controlled by the queen (they of course don't understand his ethics, morals, the fact he is completely in love with his wife, etc.). In fact, most people don't find the queen attractive at all (and are quick to mention this in private), so it even makes it worse. This doesn't read gross at all, and I don't like the male power fantasies as a general rule, especially the treatment sometimes of women in them.
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 19:56 |
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It's a kind of a deconstruction of the genre. Not in the sense of "a regular genre exercise that's edgy," but in the sense that it questions the cliches. "How could a random guy from the real world actually be special and important? Who would even want him there? What kind of society would put him in contact with a parade of bachelorettes that we can put in pretty dresses on the volume covers? What kind of drama can arise from this scenario?" And it tries to come up with answers to those questions that don't involve being an ethically dubious wish fulfillment fantasy. I tell you what, though, that guy sure loves his wife.
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 20:46 |
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LorneReams posted:Manga: The MC character is actively trying to sabotage any possible additional wives/concubines to the point that it's starting to cause problems with his queen/wife. The conversation that they have when she lays this out to him with the whole "things I want as your wife vs what I want as your queen" is the best I've ever seen handled in a story like this. This is all very fair and excellent analysis. I’m just always a bit wary after having otherwise good series suddenly toss in slavery/misogyny/etc. and ruining things. LLSix posted:So a translation thing then? As was mentioned, the dates on Amazon tend to be the dates the translations were published, and it’s entirely possible for a popular manga to get translated before the source novel. I generally use Novelupdates and Mangaupdates when I want to know about original publication dates and how much material a series has.
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 21:24 |
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As yet, slavery has not even been mentioned, and misogyny is explicitly present as a societal problem and the main reason the guy is summoned - so that his wife doesn’t have to marry a powerful man who will usurp her throne as thr first reigning queen in loving forever.
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 23:12 |
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Bongo Bill posted:I tell you what, though, that guy sure loves his wife.
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# ? Oct 5, 2022 00:43 |
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I stopped reading for whatever reason but not because it was bad. He does sure love his wife.
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# ? Oct 5, 2022 06:11 |
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I recently started and caught up with the manga version of So I'm a Spider, So What? I liked it and wanted to show it to my partner, but the first episode of the anime wasn't great and also had a bunch of stuff in it I wasn't familiar with. Is it a light novel situation where it's drawing on canon stuff the manga or scans haven't reached yet? Does the anime get better, that aside? Thanks!
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# ? Nov 3, 2022 12:40 |
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the anime gets worse as it has to animate more things.
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# ? Nov 3, 2022 13:04 |
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The human-side stuff was present in the Spider light novels from the start, but the manga skips all of those chapters for whatever reason (there are a few human chapters included as bonus chapters in the physical manga volumes but typically it's just one per volume, if that). The anime is passable to decent in terms of quality, peaking around the middle of the season, but absolutely craters quality wise near the very end due to production issues.
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# ? Nov 3, 2022 13:15 |
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Dartonus posted:The human-side stuff was present in the Spider light novels from the start, but the manga skips all of those chapters for whatever reason (there are a few human chapters included as bonus chapters in the physical manga volumes but typically it's just one per volume, if that). The reason it skips those chapters it because the human side stuff sucks. People claim that its important for pacing or whatever, but I don't think following boring and terrible characters helps with the pacing. The only good character is the old man wizard.
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# ? Nov 3, 2022 14:07 |
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the human side stuff is only worth it for the twist, and also the twist isn't in the anime.
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# ? Nov 3, 2022 14:16 |
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Thank you for the clarification, that all makes more sense. I think we'll just skip the anime then. Thanks again!
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# ? Nov 3, 2022 15:22 |
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I don't mind the human views, but the novel volume that was all human view and you already knew almost everything on how it'd play out was really disappointing.
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# ? Nov 3, 2022 18:23 |
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SpiderLink posted:Thank you for the clarification, that all makes more sense. I think we'll just skip the anime then. Thanks again! It is entertaining watching Aoi Yuki have a fit onscreen. She carries the show.
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# ? Nov 3, 2022 19:59 |
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Mors Rattus posted:As yet, slavery has not even been mentioned, and misogyny is explicitly present as a societal problem and the main reason the guy is summoned - so that his wife doesn’t have to marry a powerful man who will usurp her throne as thr first reigning queen in loving forever. his super isekai power is Respecting Women
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# ? Nov 3, 2022 20:30 |
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Gave Sponger a chance and found it fairly enjoyable. Not sure if it's enough to keep my attention for a full read, but yeah, it avoids the skeevier aspects of the setting and does a good effort in laying down the rules of the world in a way that makes sense and doesn't feel like excuses pulled out of the author's rear end to justify horny shenanigans. And that's a pretty low bar to pass, but the likeable characters help push it up an extra notch. The one thing that I'd complain about is that the author clearly tried their best to keep the world visually distinct from the cookie-cutter isekai fantasy setting, but I don't think their skill with backgrounds and clothing was up to the task. Like, the first chapters will place you into this weird little... fantasy al-Andalus? but every once in a while things will revert to bog-standard otome dresses and medieval halls.
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# ? Nov 4, 2022 02:18 |
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Yinlock posted:his super isekai power is Respecting Women In the land of the blind...
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# ? Nov 4, 2022 06:39 |
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I’m partway through the second Ascendance of a Bookworm book and I really love Myne and Lutz’s dynamic. Lutz being super proud that he’s the only one who can make sure that Myne doesn’t overwork herself is just so cute
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# ? Nov 4, 2022 07:24 |
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SexyBlindfold posted:Gave Sponger a chance and found it fairly enjoyable. Not sure if it's enough to keep my attention for a full read, but yeah, it avoids the skeevier aspects of the setting and does a good effort in laying down the rules of the world in a way that makes sense and doesn't feel like excuses pulled out of the author's rear end to justify horny shenanigans. And that's a pretty low bar to pass, but the likeable characters help push it up an extra notch. I personally like how insanely inconvinent magic is. It's made me dislike when other series just go for chantless magic immediately because here it's like "no not only do you always need the full chant but it also needs the exact intonation and mindset. reality will be double-checking your grammar and if you emphasize the wrong syllable then you get jack poo poo"
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# ? Nov 4, 2022 08:00 |
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Yinlock posted:I personally like how insanely inconvinent magic is. It's made me dislike when other series just go for chantless magic immediately because here it's like "no not only do you always need the full chant but it also needs the exact intonation and mindset. reality will be double-checking your grammar and if you emphasize the wrong syllable then you get jack poo poo" Yeah that's the best for isekai magic systems imo. Or when it's something like "In order to cast magic here you have to be insanely good at chess" or "the magic here is only usable by solving advanced calculus problems". It's absolutely lovely when it's just like "Oh let me just tick the box for very good at magic."
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# ? Nov 4, 2022 08:37 |
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Spanish Matlock posted:...."the magic here is only usable by solving advanced calculus problems". This calls for "I am Gottfried Leibniz and I reincarnated in a world where so-called fluxions are used for magic".
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# ? Nov 4, 2022 13:05 |
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I like how in Bookworm it goes several volumes before they reveal that everything that's bothering Myne's health is because she has magic and it's been ravaging her body since she can't control it.
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# ? Nov 4, 2022 22:23 |
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Kwyndig posted:I like how in Bookworm it goes several volumes before they reveal that everything that's bothering Myne's health is because she has magic and it's been ravaging her body since she can't control it. I think they actually revealed that in the last chapter of the first volume
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# ? Nov 4, 2022 23:04 |
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Spanish Matlock posted:Yeah that's the best for isekai magic systems imo. Or when it's something like "In order to cast magic here you have to be insanely good at chess" or "the magic here is only usable by solving advanced calculus problems". It's absolutely lovely when it's just like "Oh let me just tick the box for very good at magic." Yeah Isekai loves to talk up magic systems as complex things requiring years of study then give the main character a spam magic button that makes him instantly super good and avoids the need to actually think about the magic system or how it interacts with the setting.
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# ? Nov 5, 2022 02:41 |
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 04:23 |
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The junk collector posted:Yeah Isekai loves to talk up magic systems as complex things requiring years of study then give the main character a spam magic button that makes him instantly super good and avoids the need to actually think about the magic system or how it interacts with the setting. the years of study are still there, but are instead spent solely having the entire world admire your incredible box-checking ability magic school arcs are usually the kiss of death but boy does every isekai love them anyway
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# ? Nov 5, 2022 10:04 |