Submitted 4 days ago by wjs018@ani.social to manga@ani.social
Another week in the books. Let’s chat about manga in the general discussion thread! Feel free to use this thread for questions, comments, recommendations, etc.
Like normal, please be careful with spoilers. I wrote a guide about spoilers in case you need a refresher on how to handle them (also linked in the sidebar).
I’ve got another new (to me) series to talk about today, this time a Japanese web manga rather than manhwa. The Ramparts of Ice is a story about a schoolgirl who’s bad at dealing with people (partially due to her character, partially due to her past experiences) making, joining a new group of friends and learning how to overcome those problems.
I really like this one as it’s not interested in making fun of MC’s situation but rather provides an empathetic and serious insight into why she (and other characters) is the way she is and acts in a way that prevents her from getting close to others. It shows how everyone has their own baggage and makes a point of showing how easy it is to misunderstand people and situations when acting on your own assumptions instead of talking things through with others. It’s a really sweet story full of lessons worth learning even in real life.
I know there are other series with similar premise but I haven’t read any of them so I can’t provide any comparison.
Apparently there’s an anime adaptation as well so it seems like it was big enough for that too. I somehow never heard about it until last week, go figure.
Since we’re on the topic of Japan, lets get back to some of the manga series I tend to post here. I haven’t really written anything about manga recently but I am still reading it - my days aren’t filled exclusively with villainess manhwa!
There are a few other titles I keep up with but most of the stuff I read is pretty slow to update these days. Most of it has to do with translations catching up to raws so it’s understandable but it’s no less disappointing. Reading fresh is suffering.
The Ramparts of Ice
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the anime adaptation. And as I recently commented on the latest episode’s thread, I’ve realized it’s been doing something fascinating.
Not just the tone and feel of the story, but the actual depictions of the characters - their design and artstyle and movements and gestures and everything - have changed as the characters (mostly Koyun) have changed.
There was an early clue when an episode ended with a confrontation between Koyun and Minato that ended up with her blowing up at him, and seemingly entirely justifiably, and then the next episode opened with the exact same interaction from Minato’s point of view, and it wasn’t just different - it was almost as if it was an entirely different interaction. There was virtually no correspondence between what Koyun thought she was hearing and saying and what Minato thought he was hearing and saying.
But the really impressive thing is that that’s become a part of the series. As it’s gone along, the same people and things, either as seen from different viewpoints or even just from Koyun’s viewpoint at different times, have been constantly changing.
Like there might be a scene of a conversation between Koyun and Yota, and it will start from Koyun’s POV, then switch to Yota’s, then to Miki’s, then to Minato’s. And each version of the scene will actually be somewhat different - it’s all the same scene, but it’s not even just that the different versions will be interpreted differently - to us, the audience, they’re actually portrayed somewhat differently, as each version is filtered through the presumptions of the current POV character.
Similarly, when they first showed Igarashi, he actually looked dark and sinister. Everything about him - his posture, his build, the look on his face - everything - was threatening. He’d sort of loom up somewhere in Koyun’s peripheral vision, looking like a pure villain. But already, as it’s gone along, though Koyun hasn’t yet entirely revealed the story behind her reactions to him, he’s been changing. Every time he appears, he looks a little less villainous and and a little more just human. And in this most recent episode, as they’re moving toward Koyun finally telling the whole story, I was keeping an eye out for him to appear, and when he did, I barely even recognized him, since he looked… perfectly normal. His eyes and his hair were recognizable, but other than that, he just looked like any other guy, rather than the dark and evil weasel he looked like earlier in the story.
And that’s a really neat trick that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.
And what you’ve said here about the manga seems to tie right in with that.
That does sounds cool. While multiple points of view are present in the manga, they aren’t as explicit as what you’re describing (probably) - it sounds like they were expanded on in the adaptation. I’m curious if it’s an intentional story choice or just something decided due to difference of medium.
I’ll have to give the anime a shot some day.
Got the final volume of My Dress-Up Darling last week. It’s a decent final volume, but it feels a bit rushed and disjointed.
Still, I loved the overall manga a lot. My favourite arc is the Haniel arc. I think the mangaka did a stellar job portraying the haunting captivation the characters had for that fictional manga character and thus managed to captivate the reader too (at least for me). That’s gonna be tough to adapt to anime.
I’ll probably reread the entire manga soonish.
My understanding is that the manga ended kind of suddenly for health reasons, so I’m hoping we’ll actually get an anime-original ending for once. Just because the mangaka’s body gave up doesn’t mean they were necessarily out of good ideas!
Ah that’s sad to hear! Makes sense though.
so I’m hoping we’ll actually get an anime-original ending for once
Yeah, not so much original, but an addition to it!
Unboxious@ani.social 4 days ago
Finished reading my 13 volumes of Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt yesterday. Overall it was pretty good. Great job of endearing me to characters on each side of the conflict. It can be easy for a story like this to come across as very heavy-handed with its “war is bad” theme, but this series shows that that isn’t necessary. It turns out all they have to do is make you like the characters, then add a very real threat that some of them will die, and even if you’re also a little excited for the action you’ll find yourself wishing that there were a way for this to not happen (even if that means there wouldn’t be an MSG:T manga anymore!). I also like the mech designs.
Overall it’s wasn’t quite my favorite thing in all of Gundam, but I’d say it’s above average by the franchise’s standards; I’ll definitely be seeking out the other 14 volumes to read later.