A little thread to talk about whatever you’ve been into lately (besides getting lost figuring out Lemmy, that is).
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I’ve been rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel with my GF, who had never watched either. I know Joss is on the world’s shit list for good reason, but I still enjoy his writing, and it’s a part of my past that influenced some of my world views that I am proud of.
Also embarking on an experiment to test the viability of federated social media, go figure!
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I never thought I’d do it - but I have gotten into Manhwa and Webtoons. Woof.
I generally had a negative opinion on korean and chinese webnovels and comics, since they are usually edgy as hell and every character in these works is a hypocritical piece of shit who betrays others for the slightest gain.
I was right in a way, this was only because the main audience at the time for webcomics and novels were teens and edgy/shallow one-dimensional stuff brought in more views and money. However, these audiences have grown up and thankfully matured, so now the works that are getting translated are much more nicer and tasteful.
I’ve found some masterpieces, but there’s still a lot of edgy-but-kinda-ok stuff in there - which I’m also consuming because I’m emotionally exhausted lately and junk like this helps wade it all
I think manhwa (Korean manga) has always had a lot of very matures content tho. Chinese tho… Can’t read it because of what you wrote. It is always about having money and women in the most edgy way possible an sooo much revenge!!!.. And they always do this slap stick humor that feels so forced that I feel embarrassed reading it…
But manhaw can be great, for example all of the gammer themed manhaws have always been very good. It can be cheesy in the beginning but usually it speed up and leaves its embarrassing past pretty quickly. The Mc is usually pretty arrogant and may be even harsh to those he do not see as part of his group but I don’t mind that as long as he can show results in a uncheaty way. It is important the story follows its own logic at all times with very few exceptions (what the Chinese Mangas don’t do). I really liked legendery moon sculpture, the gamer and solo leveling and pick me up for example :D And they are good at medieval fantasy too like loat of counts family
And there are many manhaws with a woman as Mc which are great! Like villains are destinate to die, I shall master this family, Roxana, beware the villainess, the villainess is a marionette
My only complaint is that they don’t put as much effort in drawing props and backgrounds, they use a lot of badly/ok looking 3d objects. I think the resources is free because ALL OF THEM use the same 3d props you can really tell especially the horses 😂
I first read Manhwa in the era that it was almost Manga - black-and-white art, japanese af tropes, etc. At that time Manhwas and Korean webnovels were even worse than the Chinese ones imo (atleast the ones I’ve encountered), which put me off manhwa for a long time - something I now regret, as I would’ve loved some of the better works when I was younger.
It is always about having money and women in the most edgy way possible an sooo much revenge
OH MY GOD I HATED THIS SO MUCH. There is no depth of character. Every romance was a woman falling for a guy because he was strong or bc he killed someone. I remember reading a line that deadass went “People feel elated when they are safe and others are suffering in front of them. It is human nature to enjoy the superiority”. UGH
The Gamer was the first Manhwa that I liked! I dropped it around season 3-4 when it went stale, but I loved reading it. Gamer-theme has because way too common these days imo. They’re Korean isekai basically.
I agree with you - Almost every manhwa that has a woman protag has better writing in general.
I don’t mind the backgrounds and 3D stuff as much, but you’re so right about the horses. Every horse I’ve seen in a manhwa has a nightmare face haha
Ooh, I missed that era completely i joined in when manhwa had become the name for Korea webtoons. There were only Manga to read here. It was when I started to read online that I found out manhwa also exists.
First time I read anything from Korea was a a manhwas called lookism, I really liked it. Because I only stumble over the good manhwas did I pretty much assumed there were very few bad ones 😂
I don’t think I have ever read a “true” manhwa.
There is no depth of character. Every romance was a woman falling for a guy because he was strong or bc he killed someone.
Yes! depth in a character is everything, if I can’t see any kind of progress then I get extremely bored. I am ok with them being edgy if they will grow up over time and there is potential in them as characters. But every time I have tried a popular manhua do I just get irritated. All the adults are so petty, they can’t see the forest for the trees. If everyone is like that from the start then will it ever change for the better? And the world of the story is usually equally bland. They take a concept that someone else came up with but removes all the interesting parts about it.
They do focus a lot on games. But they are pretty big in e sports so I am not surprised. But I actually like the game theme a bit more than the iseki theme(but both has been over used). Many times does iseki not make the plot better, it just feels like a plot device that isn’t used to make the story more interesting, like how fan service works. The person is clumsy and fall over all the time because ppl want to see some panties not because of something meaning full for the story. Like how Velma would drop her glasses and then the bad guys would fall over her while she search for them. A very silly example but then it is used correctly for the story in my opinion.
I think many isekies actually could just have been a game world or the Mc could had just lost their memories but I think the author kinda want to escape to another world and the reader likes to read it because they feel the same way.
I am fine with 3d props too if it is done well, but it could just be me, I have been reading too many manhwas recently with the same props and they all use it heavily so i see it right away. It has become a sport “find the 3d props” 😂
Oooh Lookism - that manhwa scared me so much as a kid, I dropped that one too early. I might pick it up again - how is the series? Is it still going?
All the adults are so petty, they can’t see the forest for the trees. If everyone is like that from the start then will it ever change for the better
Yes lol. I can maaaybe extend my suspension of disbelief and accept teenagers acting edgy and impulsive like that. But every character? The adults? The elders? Everyone going “YOU DARE???!!” for everything. So stupid smh
haha I agree about both Isekai becoming more of a lazy plot-device, but I also feel it for Game-themed manhwas. That said, I am kinda okay with them using it as a plot device, as long as it is not done lazily. If it’s just a feature that gives MC some OP, then meh.
I think many isekies actually could just have been a game world or the Mc could had just lost their memories but I think the author kinda want to escape to another world
I actually think the opposite! I think many game-style manhwas have same tropes as isekai but rebranded so it feels different from isekai. But modern isekais have a lot of mechanics similar to game-themed manhwas. Both game-theme and isekai are basically escapism at the end.
The talk of props reminds me - the mansions are always the same! In general, so many Manhwas have the same corridors and buildings and architecture it feels stale at this point
I remember it as it had an ending but I checked a random page now and it says “ongoing”. It was released back in 2014 so I am surprised if this is true. But you should check it out. I really liked it. Maybe I should read it again and see if I still like it as much :D
Oh yea I think the game theme can be very lazy and over done too in many shapes and forms. Like the tower type. Travel back in time so they know all the games secrets (still like this one tho), was first a skinny scared shut in but ended up finding something in the game that made him the greatest that transferred over to real life and so on. But why I talked more about my disappointment with isekai is because pretty much all of the popular and unpopular Mangas is isekai now days. Almost all starts with “woooa is this like those isekai mangas/anime where I am transferred to another world” and then God speaks to them or send them a message. it can be pretty hard finding one that isn’t an isekai (that I haven’t read). gamer manhwas is pretty easy to ignore, their bookcover screams gamer theme haha. I actually take breaks from gamer manhwas and only read one at a time otherwise I would also get tired of them 😂
But I think you misunderstood me. I meant that isekai is often like a game with levels, skills, dungeons, exp and so on or the person act like they lost their memory and pretend to be that person without the consequences of being found out. So it could had been a game instead or about a person with amnesia. It is not always a problem, but it kinda removes the reason for them to be “transported”. Sometimes I forget they were until much later when they maybe tell someone or I read the title of the Manga 😂 I think they should use their knowledge from their own world. Otherwise it doesn’t matter if they are transported or not (in my opinion), and not only the info about that world if they had read the novel. Those kinds work great when they figure out that their knowledge is not that great because the author left out a lot of the world in their writing so they try to work around that. I like to read isekies where the person was passionated about something and use that passion in the other world to save the world or to just make a good/safe environment for a lot of ppl. Like ppl who were researchers or those who loved guns so much they can recreate guns with what exist in this new world with some modifications. I like Mangas with a lot of world building and character progress :D for example building up a ruined small country to be the greatest even if it becomes a cult and Mc is so misunderstood that the ppl think it is all his doing but in reality it is they who do “great” (for them) things by over thinking everything Mc says and does, it is very funny and he thinks they are scary because he can tell they are obsessed 😂 (forgot the name of the Manga sadly).
In short I think most stories where mc get reminded somehow (can be in the middle of the story) that they live in a real world with real ppl and they aren’t the greatest or imortal but they can do great and will do great (and maybe some less great) things. I like mcs who thinks about their decisions and actions and understand their short comings(they don’t need to know them all) and tries to overcome them. if they fail then that is fine just like life, now they have something else to make great again. I dislike naive doers (like the typical hero who kills the demon king) and those that can somehow run away from their responsibilities without consequences and here we go again back to why I dislike manhua 😂
About the props: oh yea, that is why it is best to read multiple geners or you will start to think all of them are from the same family just different generations 😂 or they all had the same architect hahaha. that is something manga is great at, I have read so few Mangas where the props and background looks bad or the same. I know they do have their cheats but I don’t see them. But manhwas is updated weekly or even faster while Manga comes out with a chapter per month (except for those in weekly magazines). So it isn’t that weird. Some manhwas can you not tell they use 3d props tho like lookism, I don’t think they do it. But most of the panels are just two or more ppl with a colored (usually white) background so that could be why they didn’t have to “cheat” 😂 In vn can you kinda tell it is 3d but they are very good at making it look less off. It just looks a bit different in style (usually no black lines).
I have been trying to type this message all day. Started with me missing my stop and saw it muuuch later 😂 and then when I jumped on another bus to get back did I almost miss while I typed again. And then I had almost no time through the day and when I went home did I again almost miss my stop. And now when I am home did I have to eat and make my ruhbars liquor (That I hope will be done on the evening of this Thursday so I can give it to my family and extended family at the “midsommar” party) and in between am I trying to type this. How can it take a full day to type a message? 😂 (not activly full but you get what I mean). Hope you had a great day :D
If you do end up picking up Lookism again, lemme know - I’ll decide if I should check it out again based on your experience.
Ehhh, if we describe isekai as “going to another world” and then depending on the definiton of “world”, going back in time would count as isekai too I think 😂
Dude I know what you mean, these types of mangas and manhwas have gotten stale these days - with the same isekai-specific tropes and storylines, they’re more fan service than anything like you said >_<
gamer manhwas is pretty easy to ignore, their bookcover screams gamer theme haha
Haha I know what you mean. To be fair though, Isekai is similarly easy to ignore because of their goofy titles, like it always is a clickbait sentence “How I ended up in another world with the overpowered ability to punch like a legendary gorilla”
No No I understood your point. It’s just that I’ve read so many isekais first before gamer mangas, it feels to me that gamer ones are the thing that seem like Isekai (because they have such similar tropes) - Logically what you’re saying makes sense, as things like EXP and stats don’t make sense in a normal isekai, but because I read Isekais first, and since both genres have escapism and wish-fulfillment and re-use of their existing knowledge to survive. But yeah, the mechanics and logics get dumbed down so much 😂
I like to read isekies where the person was passionated about something and use that passion in the other world
OOOH SAME! Have you read “Ascendance of a Bookworm”??? It is one of my favourite isekais of all time, and the way the protagonist goes around changing things is so heartwarming and funny.
I agree with a lot of the themes you said. Specifically, I enjoy the isekai and game-theme works where a flawed protagonist uses this chance to turn over a new leaf, through the new experiences they gain. It always feels nice to see someone be better when they are given a chance to improve :)
Honestly I’ve read a lot more Manga than Manhwa, but I definitely feel Manga backgrounds and props are more unique and varied - I think they have the luxury to do that since they draw it in black and white, and since a lot of manga are still hand-drawn, there isn’t a simple copy-paste of assets that you can do while drawing digitally.
Hahaha I get what you mean -had the same experience for my last msg and this one. I had this tab open where I was typing out the reply throughout the day in between breaks while I worked. Sometimes I forgot what I was typing and then put it off till later so I could come back and write it properly
make my ruhbars liquor
Oooh what’s that? What’s it taste like? Also, and why is the “midsommar” in quotes?
My day was hectic af. Hope you had a great day too
Haha it feels a bit like you push me out to check if it is safe or not 😂 I will tell you what i think about it when i have read a few chapters. Maybe it will be a nice fresh break from the rest. Recently the weather is so hot I feel too slugish to read anything xD
Hmm yea maybe time travel could be seen as a different world. It will kinda be like a parallel world where you know the outcome of major events and if you change them then it will be a different reality which could be translated to a different world maybe? It feels so philosophical to define what our world is haha. But I am unsure if i think time traveling is. Maybe if you travel back so far that it feels like a different world because everything you know is “wrong” but that would still just be a feeling. It actually feels weird when a manga tries to create some kind of link to the world we know and the other world, like mc can travel between the two not just a one way street. It is like breaking the fourth wall.
yeeeaaa it sucks! It makes it feel so boring reading and just like you said long names often is isekai + boring plot with an illogical OP MC. I am ok with an OP MC if there is a twist about it for example “The Eminence In Shadow” it is so stupid and funny. There are a lot of things happening behind MC’s back. He by accident changes the course of the events all the time or even destroy plans for his friends and when they tell him he just play along and thinks they are playing house together with his lunatic friends and don’t even believe any of this is happening for real, and they think he got bigger vision and see things they can’t and their scary dedication to him grows larger.
It is very edgy and he knows it and actually mocks it too with love, so it makes it even more fun. but I kinda got bored of it now after 50 chapters. But I am unsure if it is because it is being updated so slowly (once a month) so i forget most of it or because there isn’t any real progress with MC the rest grows a lot tho, from one person to 100 of dedicated followers with their own side stories and problems.
But back to the easy to ignore. Is it really? I mean we can ignore the very obvious ones but i often click a manga and 90% of the time even with a short name and a discrete book cover is it an isekai like the one i just wrote about. It is either “a slice of life” of someone’s school life or an isekai! But maybe my manga sources just favor those a lot more. That is why i read a lot more manhwa. They have their problems too with isekai but i find a lot more gems (plus they update faster) so that is that haha. Why is school life so interesting? I have tried many and get bored fast 😂 a few made me stick around but they were often about events outside school and not so much on the school ground.
I liked Ascendance of bookworms too! But it stopped getting updates somewhere back in the beginning of 22 :( Maybe i should reread it. Actually maybe that is what i should do with everything i remember as good. As long as i don’t remember major plots it should be fine? right? hahah 😂 for example this great manga Jobless Reincarnation - It will be All Out if I Go to Another World that i started reading 2019. The name is very bad but the manga is very good. The MC actually goes through a lot of personality development together with his friends and family. Both ups and downs, like depression because he lost a very dear friend in the middle of the manga (i don’t want to spoil so this is super vague). A lot of very heavy feelings that are greatly shown through many parts of his life. So i recommend it. The only bad thing is that there are only 91 chapters and it is updated only once a month D:
And this one: The Death Mage Who Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time i actually read the novel first. The manga came out much later. I do enjoy the novel more but the manga is good too (but the drawings are pretty… poor?). It has a great world development. The guy who is translating the novel is doing gods work https://lightnovelbastion.com/novel/death-mage/ he is really good at writing so it is very enjoying to read it (not like other fan translated novels). I have been reading that since 2019 😂
The nice thing about novels is that you can read it on the bus without feeling ashamed 😂
Most mangas is actually drawn digitally nowadays but by hand on tablets like wacom cintiq. Japanese are very traditional beings even with digital tools so i am not surprised if that is why they don’t use 3d props (or maybe they do but are so good at hiding it?). I also like it more because it becomes a lot more harmonious with the characters. It is kinda off putting to see a kinda correctly drawn person with one kind of style with a lot of perfectly shaped things around them in a completely different style. It is better if it is equally bad/good or in the same style at least like the thickness of the lines.
I don’t know how it tastes because this is my first time making it. It is vodka + rhubarbs + raspberries + white syrup. It is supposed to be in the fridge and shaken now and then for the minimum of 2 weeks, but i don’t have time for that. If it tastes ok will i make it again and wait two weeks haha. Supposedly will it be better the longer you wait. I am pretty excited to see how i and the others will feel about it. You should try it out. Last year I made a drink by making “ice cream” out of watermelon green skin (why waste something that can taste great?) and adding it in a glass with prosecco (the only time i would drink that by choice) it was so great my dad wanted to drink it multiple times and he usually ask for a beer instead 😂
I put midsummer in quotations because it is a tradition here (and a name) but i don’t know if you know about it. I am Swedish and we got our parties going that i am unsure of how many outside of the Nordic countries know about 😂
today must have been the hottest day of the year i am sweating and i can’t go outside or i will melt away! It is 21:00 here and still super hot! So that removes some focus but i did very well even tho the heat tried to kill me. I am now laying on the sofa with a fan directed at me 😂
I got sandals, so that’s pretty neat I guess.
In all seriousness life has been pretty harsh these last few months with a pretty major health thing concerning my wife (she’ll live; she’s in good spirits but our lives have very suddenly changed a lot rather permanently). We also had to say goodbye to our oldest cat and very good boy shortly before all this.
So I’m just focusing on trying to be positive and maintain a good outlook and take care of myself better, for my own health and to be able to help her better. I have earrings that look like orange slices and I got my wife a pair that look like avocados.
omg! That’s so much change to happen so quickly. It’s always good to have a good outlook, and I am sending all my best energy to y’all.
Also the earrings sound super cute!Thank you so much.
