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tiredreaper's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lilsuccubus's review
2.25
Better than the previous 2 volumes, although I still dislike the art style. Still too fast-paced, but a pretty good story.
_anna_maria_'s review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
idlereader's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
cyanide_latte's review
5.0
THIS. THIS VOLUME. THIS ONE RIGHT HERE, IS A DAMN GEM. Granted, I suppose to some extent I'm very biased, because this volume has a sole plot focus of it's own and it revolves (partially) around the side character of "Wooden-Sword" Ryu and his gang of wannabe-toughs and outcasts, and I've got a particularly big soft spot for these guys.
I won't go into too much exhaustive detail at the moment, especially since I'm still a bit too emotionally invested in having finished reading this and it's late at night anyway, but there is at least one thing I want to talk about. This is something that I feel is fairly important, especially given what the US of A is going through right now. The most climactic moment of this volume hinges on Yoh's act of trust, kindness and empathy to someone who would just as soon kill him if he had the chance. It's such a powerful message that gets sent, and I think it honestly says a lot, not just about Yoh as a character, or any of the messages in Shaman King, but also about the shonen manga that serve as Shaman King's contemporaries, at least those that were also released in English in the west back in the early 2000s era.
Let me explain. I feel like a lot of people these days tend to have very disparaging opinions on these older shonen titles, if they don't outright just shit all over them completely for slotting into the "battle shonen" category of manga. They get bitched about for having a focus on fighting and on really big, flashy battles, and the shortcoming of focusing on criticizing that aspect of these older titles is that the TRUE value and unifying factor of the genre from this sort of collective time frame goes unrecognized in the process.
And that is the underlying human messages of compassion, kindness, friendship, trust, empathy and hope. Strip away labels like shamans, pirates, ninja, Saiyans and alchemists, and look away from the over-the-top battles for once, and that's what you're left with. These messages, which are aimed at a demographic of young men in Japan, who probably needed to hear them, even if they were initially drawn in by the battle manga aspect. And even if they're the intended target demographic, shonen has always been such a powerful market that draws in all sorts of readers, and those messages can reach anyone who really reads and takes the time to appreciate those moments like what Yoh demonstrates in this volume. Not supreme power to crush an enemy with and thus show good triumphing over evil for being stronger in that regard, but empathy and trust building a bridge to someone that anyone else would pronounce lost, a hopeless case. Given the state of the world right now, I feel like we need more messages like that.
I'm aware there are plenty of people who would argue with me that battles aside, the other issue with older shonen is that "the writing isn't deep or the story well-plotted", which I kind of have to huff at. For one thing, whether or not you consider the writing to be "deep" is arguably more subjective than people realize. For another, stories don't have to be well-plotted or incredibly deep in order to send important, necessary messages to the audience. Hell, we publish plenty of books every year that are largely considered neither deep or well-plotted by the vast majority of people, and yet don't we always hear that "good characters can carry a crappy story" thrown out in their defense at times? And isn't there always someone who finds something to take away from those books? I feel like these are all things we really need to bear in mind before going back and criticizing older series solely on the basis of surface appearance. (Not to say that they aren't without their flaws and problems, and that at times some writers don't do well with executing a completed plot, but I feel like there's too much focus on tearing down older shonen and not enough on recognizing and appreciating the good things in them.)
I won't go into too much exhaustive detail at the moment, especially since I'm still a bit too emotionally invested in having finished reading this and it's late at night anyway, but there is at least one thing I want to talk about. This is something that I feel is fairly important, especially given what the US of A is going through right now. The most climactic moment of this volume hinges on Yoh's act of trust, kindness and empathy to someone who would just as soon kill him if he had the chance. It's such a powerful message that gets sent, and I think it honestly says a lot, not just about Yoh as a character, or any of the messages in Shaman King, but also about the shonen manga that serve as Shaman King's contemporaries, at least those that were also released in English in the west back in the early 2000s era.
Let me explain. I feel like a lot of people these days tend to have very disparaging opinions on these older shonen titles, if they don't outright just shit all over them completely for slotting into the "battle shonen" category of manga. They get bitched about for having a focus on fighting and on really big, flashy battles, and the shortcoming of focusing on criticizing that aspect of these older titles is that the TRUE value and unifying factor of the genre from this sort of collective time frame goes unrecognized in the process.
And that is the underlying human messages of compassion, kindness, friendship, trust, empathy and hope. Strip away labels like shamans, pirates, ninja, Saiyans and alchemists, and look away from the over-the-top battles for once, and that's what you're left with. These messages, which are aimed at a demographic of young men in Japan, who probably needed to hear them, even if they were initially drawn in by the battle manga aspect. And even if they're the intended target demographic, shonen has always been such a powerful market that draws in all sorts of readers, and those messages can reach anyone who really reads and takes the time to appreciate those moments like what Yoh demonstrates in this volume. Not supreme power to crush an enemy with and thus show good triumphing over evil for being stronger in that regard, but empathy and trust building a bridge to someone that anyone else would pronounce lost, a hopeless case. Given the state of the world right now, I feel like we need more messages like that.
I'm aware there are plenty of people who would argue with me that battles aside, the other issue with older shonen is that "the writing isn't deep or the story well-plotted", which I kind of have to huff at. For one thing, whether or not you consider the writing to be "deep" is arguably more subjective than people realize. For another, stories don't have to be well-plotted or incredibly deep in order to send important, necessary messages to the audience. Hell, we publish plenty of books every year that are largely considered neither deep or well-plotted by the vast majority of people, and yet don't we always hear that "good characters can carry a crappy story" thrown out in their defense at times? And isn't there always someone who finds something to take away from those books? I feel like these are all things we really need to bear in mind before going back and criticizing older series solely on the basis of surface appearance. (Not to say that they aren't without their flaws and problems, and that at times some writers don't do well with executing a completed plot, but I feel like there's too much focus on tearing down older shonen and not enough on recognizing and appreciating the good things in them.)
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