Comic Site Rant: Paradise Lost

Posted On November 8, 2008

Original Post

I guess I need to backtrack and provide negative commentary for the last comic in addition to providing negative commentary for this current comic, considering I was pretty lazy last update. The character art in the last comic is pretty bad, but I don’t hate it. I know I can do better though, or at least try. The backgrounds are a little rushed, and I kind of wish I could have represented the Boston City Hall more accurately. When I was in there to vote, I hastily took pictures before the security guard could notice. A partly middle eastern gentlemen such as myself taking photos in a government building isn’t really an image that inspires a feeling of safety, I don’t think. The script isn’t really laugh out loud funny, but I find the idea of talking about necrophilia and the like around people during election day to be funny. I added in Brad at the last minute as an excuse to draw a scowl and a tie. And maybe inspire some cheap laughs. Agitated old guys are always funny, right? That’s why I always try to make Aaron Clark’s life a living hell! Or used to. I’m turning into an agitated old guy myself.

This new comic has slightly better art, but it’s still pretty bad. One thing I have trouble with is the size of the head in relation to the body, so I tried to get that right here. Tina looks pretty bad in panel 2– I think maybe her head came out too small, and her body looks too manish. The rest is mostly fine, though. The lighting effects didn’t come out just as planned, but I like the backgrounds. I’m basing more and more of my backgrounds on real locations, and this one isn’t an exception. It’s my school’s dining hall. I feel if I keep doing this, I’ll eventually turn into Makoto Shinkai. The script isn’t really funny at all, but considering my chances of studying abroad in Japan are pretty high, I figure I may as well set the comic to go in that direction as well. And hey, anyone who’s been through that paperwork will be able to relate to Rets. There is a lot of paper work, I’ll tell ya what. Anyways, as always, I’ll try harder to write funnier things next time.

Moving on, I figure I’ll mention some manga I’ve been reading. So as not make mt-i feel as if the manga he sent me is just sitting around, collecting dust; I’ll talk about my adventures reading Ikoku Meiro no Croisée in raw Nihonese. One thing I noticed immediately was that my reading speed is way fucking slow. I suppose that’s normal, considering I have just over two semesters of Japanese under my belt. It does dash my hopes of applying seiyuu’s voices to these characters in my head though, since I’m more focused on making sure I’m reading this shit correctly. As far as understanding goes, I can understand most everything on a very basic level, but I often find myself missing fine details. The thing that helps this comic is its great artwork, which makes forcing my way through some tougher spots slightly easier. But seriously, this artist is super fucking pro. I don’t see how this person doesn’t spend three hours just on one panel. I seriously wish I could draw this well.

On the anime side of things, one show I’ve been watching is the Kyou no 5 no 2 TV series. I think I’m about the only person who cares about this show, but that’s fine, since I can totally understand people not caring about it. It’s not a bad show per se, but it’s just not as good as the first OVA’s take on the material. Kyou no 5 no 2 suffers from what every remake does, in that it will always be compared to the original no matter what. I think on its own it’s a fine piece of work, and I do appreciate its alternate take on the old material, and I like the new material as well. The show has also gradually gotten more fanservice laden, which is also a plus. But the whole, it’s simply not as funny. That said, I didn’t find the OVA to be all that funny either– I just watched it for the fanservice, and for the slice of life aspect.

The new TV series nails the slice of stuff pretty well, too. One thing I like about Kyou no 5 no 2 is how it captures those early years of your life pretty well– those years when you’d argue with your friends over dumb shit, would talk about sex and have no idea what you’re talking about, and when you still thought Super Balls were the coolest things in the world. But in the end, I guess if I were to rewatch 5-2 I’d rewatch the OVA (unless the original material in the TV series wows me.) The character’s don’t look as cute, but it’s an all-around more solid piece.

I guess I’ll cut it off here. I was going to go on for a bit more, but this rant is already around 900 words, and my other rantings are probably better suited for blog posts anyway. Hell, that bit on Kyou no 5 no 2 is a blog post in itself. Anyways, see you guys next week.