Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku o Ketsuishimashita

I know that I am supposed to write an article or read Nate Silver's the Signal and the Noise, but somehow I ended up reading this very interesting manga which title, translated to English, is "I, Who Didn't Become a Hero, Reluctantly Decided to Find a Job" scanlated by ER.

It is too early to say whether this will be a good manga. I only read one chapter, and if this turn out to be just another shonen ecchi manga, I would end up just drop this from my reading list. Still, I have to say, the concept is VERY interesting. What happened after "the end" of an adventure?

There are, of course, prequels or sequels either in form of movie or another video game that either trying to tie the loose ends to sweeten the original ending, or just to add another adventure to further milk the success of the original game or movie. I haven't seen any, however, that to some degree tries to look at the social condition after the adventure ends.

Maybe I am overtly critical to this as this is supposed to be a "funny" background plot for this new manga, but it does make me think about the entire "adventure genre."

 

If you think about it, the "eternal war" between "human and demon" in the end does help the economy a lot, some sort of a Keynesian stimulus. There are always demands for weapons and armors. There are outlets for restless youths, notably to join the anti-demon crusade, and getting killed in the process, thus maintaining the social order. Of course bad things do happen, such as sacking, pillaging, and whatever else. But if both sides are quite even-matched, this eternal war could be highly profitable with the additional bonus: the ablity to maintain social order regardless how terrible your government is, as ably demonsrated by George Orwell.

More mangas (spoilers inside)

You know that you have trouble in writing your articles when you keep going back to writing lots of useless stuffs. Either way, I think I should let off some steams and write something else besides politics.

Ok, how about some reviews of mangas that I have been following?
First, lets talk about Negima. Frankly, the ending of the "Journey to the Magic World" arc is a major letdown. Asuna recovered, and bam, she with Negi just beat the "final boss". then restored everyone in the "Magic World" back to existence from the "dream world."

Okay, I do realize that this is a shonen manga, logic does not work here, and everything should follow the cliche, but doing all of them in TWO chapters? Shouldn't Ken make it more difficult, like only after Negi launched his "Rescue the Magic World" plan, then we see many of the dissapeared characters to return?

Dunno, for me this is a major letdown, followed by a really slow chapter 336 that deals with "the re-adaptation of the girls to the normal world." I really think Ken should start thinking ways to kill this manga softly, before the entire series is totally ruined.

On Hayate: another Maria-fanservice. You know, maybe it is time to start ditching this manga, when you find cross-dressing Hayate is far more attractive than Maria.

So what's the point of this plot? Teaching the spoiled little Princess Negi that life is a struggle and she needs to behave responsibly and focus on her goals, rather than taking the shortcuts. Okaaayyyy..... Still, can we "get" this "lesson" without the entire "comic party" arc?

This arc is horrible, because it put many solid and great characters into just a second-rate background characters. Maria and Izumi ended up just as "fanservice" characters. Hinagiku? Just an acerbic commenter. Nishizawa? Another "hey you can do it!" character, and so on. I think the mangaka just ran out of ideas, unsure how to milk this cashcow anymore. No more weirdness and zaniness that were the hallmarks of this manga in the beginning.

Maybe they should go straight to the down-to-earth jokes, like in this Silver Spoon, written by Hiromu Arakawa of Full Metal Alchemist fame, where A is thinking that B is trying to "give the hero a lesson" while B just said "what lesson? I am just an a******."

Anyhow, enough trashing manga for now. Still got tons of works to do. Oh wait, there's also a really nice one-shot gem, titled "the Princess of Darkness." Not new, it was translated a few months ago. It has a "blah" predictable plot but kinda sweet ending.

Will you obey this "moe" Demon King?

Well, this is not as sugary as "Chi's Sweet Home," but still pretty nice. Oh, speaking about cat....

Don't do it, please. Poor cat.

I think I am in love with Manzai-style comedy.

Now the biggest question:

WILL CONAN SUPPORT INDONESIA'S TEAM MERAH PUTIH?

Or will he investigate why Kogoro Mouri looks more horrid than usual?

The killer is Ms. Scarlet with candlestick in the kitchen.

Off topic: Some mangas

I have been following Hayate no Gotoku since the third tankobon, and while I still enjoy reading the story, I think the post-Athena development is simply blows.... I am not even sure what's the point of the entire sotory anymore. Yea, it can be another "slice of life" story, but I'd rather reading other mangas if I want to read a "slice of life" style. Sketchbook, for instance, is a nice one.

Besides, this plot takes a huge detour from the main story: the mystery of the Kings' Jewels, how it relates to the early death of Yukariko Sanzenin and Mikado's obsessions. By introducing a slew of new characters and adding this entire "comic con" development, it's just... a pile of mishmash that is completely lacking in direction. In the meantime, Hayate is adding another girl to his harem.

Yeah, Chisame. I agree wholeheartedly. It is like watching a trainwreck.

Speaking of direction, it seems that Negima has been lurching toward its finale (and probably ending the entire series). It has been a very long journey and the nice thing about Ken Akamatsu, aside of his untimely and frequent "break for research," is that he manages to tie up many of the loose ends into one coherent epic. I'd hazard to guess that there will be a lot of shonen-cliche going on and unnecessary fan services in the next several chapters, but overall it is still a good series to follow. Watch Evangeline makes everyone naked in the next chapter.

Ken Akamatsu also needs to stop adding nonsensical craps on his "spells." Why would someone use "nasi goreng" (Fried Rice) for the incantation? That's stupid and distracting. Hopefully, there will be a GOOD explanation in the tankobon.

Interestingly, someone in Fate's noob harem is actually very powerful and like, a hidden boss or something?

Humm, my complaints about plots reminds me of one of the longest series that I have been following: Detective Conan. I swear that I've never been able to guess the culprit correctly. The logic of Conan is always so messed up - I think Aoyama Gosho is very unfair with his clues. Well, either that or I am just bad at guessing. Still, the plots and the motives are now starting to be very repetitive... after 785 chapters.... Oh yeah, knowing how Conan's logic works, I think the culprit is the lady in the middle, because she is the only one drinking with right hand.