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Forum - View topicREVIEW: Switch GN 2
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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Wow.
When I check the first volume of Switch I see
So somehow they knew what Code Geass was going to look like about 4 yrs before it was made considering this site's own encyclopedia gives Code Geass as Vintage
Gee, they should be playing the lottery. Full Metal Alchemist is also Square Enix title. The art book I saw & was impressed enough to buy having never seen the series has a publish date of 9/26/2006 so they even managed to get an art book out before Code Geass aired on tv. The Switch Volume 10 I picked up at Sanseido was printed 9/27/06. So because Yun Kouga has done Gundam Seed artwork (in her Loveless artbook) does that mean Loveless was inspired by Gundam Seed? Naruto? I saw the art as more similar to Death Note/Hikaru no Go's artist's style, although your encyclopedia also give DN's
So you basically seem to be comparing it to what you know without researching which work came out first. Hikaru no Go is older & could be an influence. Naruto is older & could be an influence, though I really don't see the artistic influence. I loved Vol 2 much as I did Vol 1, far more than Naruto. I am a Minekura fan, so it's possible I lean more to that style. I would say Wild Adapter is much more interesting than Switch, but I probably enjoy Switch more than FMA overall. FMA is interesting for me in spurts--it hits a good patch, then a lull. Of course we're only 2 volumes in on Switch, but it's a "read the day I get it" title for me. However, Dolls by naked ape also looks interesting. |
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portgas
Posts: 66 |
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I don't think the reviewer meant an actual timeline dependence, more of a stylistic relation.
The first paragraph really threw me. Ok, compare and contrast for 20 points, eh? I would think that if one were going that route use something in the same vein, like Getbackers. It could be more fruitful. And that whole head and body thing just went right by me. I do think the reviewer is right centering on art as being the primary problem with Switch 2. (And 1 for that matter.) |
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belvadeer
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There sure seems to be a lot of "hate" reviews lately, huh?
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ArielTsuki
Posts: 178 |
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Huh? While you can tell it's Naruto, looking vastly different (and much more 'cuter'), you can see the obvious differences in style. Actually my only complaint for their Naruto doujinshi is that Sasuke didn't look much like Sasuke. And I agree with CSSYueh that this review did so poorly on actually researching on what influences what. Yes, naked ape did doujins for Naruto and Code Geass (and Eyeshield 21 and most recently Hitman Reborn), but I personally don't see any influences they got from Kishimoto or CLAMP (and no, CLAMP didn't invent elongated bodies that been a shoujo staple since forever nor the "noodle" body style they have now existed back in 2002). And they used the "noir style" before Death Note existed as well so no (I know for a fact Hikaru no Go didn't use the monochrome look first either). While I agree that Switch at this point isn't their strongest artistically, by the time they created DOLLS (which is also licensed by Tokyopop), they gotten better with scene composition and the like. Although I didn't find it confusing to follow. I can't help that the review is too strong on the art because he/she didn't like it. The story itself isn't super original at this point (although I think it goes into a larger story narrative later on), but I find it very enjoyable because I'm a sucker cop stories like this and find Kai, Hal and the others an enjoyable cast so far. I only read the first three volumes in scanlations before the group up and disappeared, so I'm sorta happy it got licensed, albiet I wished Del Ray or Go Comi handled this (and DOLLS too).
Actually, DOLLS is better than Switch so far... well what I can compare to since I only read the first three volumes of Switch and five volumes of DOLLS in Japanese that's out. |
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Kisa Tsuki
Posts: 7 |
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I actually really enjoyed the first volume of Switch. Of course I am curious about some loose ends and things that have yet to be explained, but isn't that the point of manga? To have cliffhangers and to keep the reader guessing? Plus I really like the characters, and I wanna find out where this manga goes~
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CCSYueh
Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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Red carpet treatment? A manga company licensed a manga title from a company they've already licensed titles from. SOMEONE at Viz likes the story or saw potential, maybe since the art style is similar to Death Note & it's a crime drama so guys can like the story & gals can drool over the bishies like they do in DN & FMA? No, it's not DN. No, it's not FMA. I don't see that they're flying naked ape out from Japan to appear at conventions. You have some inside info they bought naked ape cars or fur coats or something else to suggest this "red carpet" treatment you claim Viz put out?
"Revolutionizes the manga medium"? Bleach revolutionizes manga? Naruto? Come on. This is ENTERTAINMENT. A fun way to blow an hour's free time. It's not going to save a life or cure cancer or reduce our dependance on fossil fuel. Why would you dream it would? Does Indiana Jones 4 save the world? Does Ironman salvage the dollar being worth about as much as toilet paper? Does Sex & the City help all the people losing their homes? Does the Incredible Hulk do squat for the people flooded out in the mid-west? Why do you seem to imagine a couple yr-old manga title is going to revolutionize squat? Isn't that a bit pretentious? Possessing delusions of grandure about what manga is supposed to represent? Square Enix's Switch site only lists 12 volumes. Maybe if it HAD made it to Volume 16 naked ape would have revealed the secrets to the universe you seem to believe some manga title will someday deliver.
Or maybe the aliens from Planet Bishonen swore them to silence so naked ape are not allowed to publish the cure for cancer or how to make air cars |
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manafairy
 Posts: 113 Location: My own tweaked world.... |
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Hmm, reading between the less than positive lines, I gather that the art is as pretty as the cover implies, the story is in the style of something Kazuya Minekura, the pacing is pretty well done, the buddy dynamic works, and it has quite a bit of overt fangirl pandering..... tempting indeed.
I'm sure this won't ever be ground breaking, but it sounds like something with a lot of potential to be a thoroughly enjoyable way to pass 45 minutes or so. I think I might start picking this up once the third volume gets released, so I'll be able to start with a decent enough chunk to really get a feel for what I'm getting myself in to, and because that way I have time to get over my buzz from the fifth volume of Wild Adapter so I won't be too jaded going into it. |
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Monsieur Pink
Posts: 141 |
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CCSYueh, always there to defend oppressed bishonens and underrated shojos! Fangirls can now sleep on both ears! Not that it's a bad thing.
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LKK
 Posts: 426 Location: Virginia, USA |
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I don't know if you meant to imply that Switch is a finished series or not. But just for the record, Switch is still running in G-Fantasy monthly. |
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CCSYueh
Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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Wow. I did think Switch was finished, what with naked ape's talk of not being super-motivated & 2 people doing the work of one & I know Dolls is still running in Zero-Sum. Thanks for the heads up. Is G-Fantasy that HUGE thing FMA runs in? I do like the art style. It's not the one I'm normally drawn to (Higuri, Yamane), but the art book jumped out at me from the shelf. I thought about buying it, but didn't & when I returned it was sold so I bought it when the dealer either got it back in stock or I found it at Kinokuniya's booth at Comic-con. I don't mind goth look (Charles Addams & Gorey are longtime favs), but the colors on the cover of the artbook are a muddier red & brown mix than I'm normally attracted to. Was I even reading Death Note when I saw this? Can't remember. I had to see it close to when it was published in 2006 The story is interesting. It's not the simple shojo detective stuff I buy & then get upset with because it's so much fluff. (Zodiac PI. Still reading Satisfaction Guaranteed, but the author really needed to have ended it sooner. It's stretching & becoming thin & annoying. I know there are more, but the titles escape me for their mind-numbing thin plotting heavily padded with hot bishonen. I am trying not to fall for the trick of the hot bishonen style guy hawking the title. I have too many shojo titles I consider eye candy only) Switch isn't eye candy. THe plot isn't 12 Kingdoms or Don't Worry Mama (ok, I think I finished that one in one night because I really was shocked at the 300 lb evil uke. Oh my god. I have never finished any other yaoi novels that quickly) but as someone who grew up with cop shows (I recall one year they had about a dozen detective shows on tv), I enjoy a nice coherant plot with an interesting cast & I do believe these guys are interesting. There's also the rivalry between the 2 agencies that's playing nicely (& I know law enforcement agencies often do not get along. They often bad-mouth each other & try to steal the thunder because a big bust makes the news & can be waved in the face of the high muckie mucks at budget time) I really don't see the hate. I seem to recall the review of Vol 1 was negative also, though at least it didn't try to claim naked ape was stealing designs that didn't even exist when these volumes were drawn |
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LKK
Posts: 426 Location: Virginia, USA |
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G-Fantasy is a huge magazine, but it's not the one FMA runs in. FMA runs in the sister publication, Shonen Gangan. Other titles besides Switch running in G-Fantasy include Nabari no Ou, Zombie Loan, E's Otherwise, Pandora Hearts, Diabolic Garden, and Black Butler. Switch is unusual for a G-Fantasy title since it doesn't seem to have the fantasy element that is common for a G-Fantasy title. (At least as far as I can tell.) |
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CCSYueh
Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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Thank you.
I'll have to check out Sanseido to see if they carry it. They do carry the Switch novels, but I haven't checked what they have past 10. I could always subscribe, I suppose. |
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