Shounen Deaths and Their Impacts

Before I start, given the title of this post, expect that there will be spoilers ahead, BIG spoilers, for Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

As anyone who reads or watches a fair bit of mainstream shounen will know, the mortality rate is generally pretty damn low for the amount of carnage that goes on each chapter. Maybe the occasional bad guy will shuffle off the mortal coil once in a while, but other than that, death is a rare occurrence in this genre and for the most part, enemies just get roughed up, knocked out and generally end up bloodied but alive. So, when a mangaka does decide to kill someone off, the implications tend to be much larger and there's generally good reason behind it. Particularly, as much as I love it, one of the biggest culprits of not letting people die is One Piece, though in certain cases - namely Buggy, Crocodile and several Baroque Works members - they've returned to play an important role later on, so really it's best that they didn't head off to meet their maker after all. That being said, both Bleach and Naruto have bumped off a few baddies, but since they're enemies, you kind of don't care so much, or at least expect it (I'm still pissed that Kubo didn't kill of Aizen in the end). However, I'm not really here to discuss the killing of antagonists, my main concern in this post is that of deaths of shounen characters who, for all intents and purposes, are good guys.

Killing off your protagonists is a fairly rare occurrance in shounen and while, with all of the insane battle, it may seem a bit unrealistic, I actually believe it to be a good thing for one simple reason: it allows for any deaths to have a much larger impact on the audience. If good guys dying off were a more regular thing, then you'd get somewhat de-sensitised to it all, but when you're led in to a sense of security that no one dies and it's all hunky-dory, and THEN someone gets suddenly wiped out, it can be a devastating and emotional experience.

My first encounter of anything like this was Fullmetal Alchemist. I was happily watching away falling in love with the story and characters - in particular, my favourite of all the protagonists was Maes Hughes. So when all of a sudden he was killed off for getting too close to the central conspiracy, I was utterly devastated. I remember watching his funeral scene through a veil of tears and to this day any glimpse of his face on screen leads to a yelp of "HUUUUUUUUUUGGGGHHES!!!" Looking at it from a storytelling point of view though it was a genius move. He's a likeable guy. He's not an alchemist, he's relatively ordinary, has a family that he adores and is one of the more comical people in the tale.

To this day, Hughes' funeral remains one of the most heartwrenching scenes I've encountered in any anime series.

Having him die is an immediate and powerful way to show just how serious the situation is. Additionally, that there's no warning of his death and that it's so sudden subconsciously puts the viewer on edge, after all, anyone could be next...

More than any mainstream shounen I've encountered, there's one series that seems to be more at home with killing off protagonists (and antagonists, but I'll save that for another post), and that's Naruto. Out of the main shounen mangaka, it seems that Kishimoto is more willing to dispose of some of his protagonists in order to further the plot. He starts off with the Third Hokage, and while he's old, killing off the head of the village - and its most powerful ninja - is a bold, yet necessary step. He's not a central protagonist, so there's not too much emotional attachment, but it still goes against the general philosophy of shounen manga: that the good guys always win out. It throws Konoha into turmoil and, while not necessarily in the way he'd planned, makes part of Orochimaru's plan succeed. It isn't an instant defeat, more a partial win, but it takes away that feeling of security, that all will be OK and continue as ever, and THAT is one of Kishimoto's biggest strengths.

While the Third Hokage's is the only significant death in the first part of Naruto, Kishimoto continues to bump off some of his other protagonists in Shippuuden. In particular there are two demises that I wish to look at. The first, is that of Asuma, which has the least implications, but still remains poignant enough. That Asuma was taken out by one of Akatsuki, not only cements their position as the central antagonists of the piece, but also facilitates some maturation in Shikamaru by making him step up and graduate from being a lazy genius, to a full-fledged konoha ninja with a true "Will of Fire". Likewise, it also proves that the jounin ninja are fallible. They may be close to being the pinnacle of ninja strength (only being outshone by the kage) but they are not immortal. What they do is dangerous and they can in fact die, and it's this realisation that often makes Naruto seem more realistic than some of its shounen bretheren.

However, while the Third Hogake and Asuma's deaths held some importance in the plotline, the most significant death in Naruto by far is that of Jiraiya. 

Death of a Konoha legend, Jiraiya's end summed up the leaf village's "Will of Fire" to a T.

Undoubtedly he is the most central character to kick the bucket in the entire series, and it certainly has the biggest impact on Naruto himself. As the series' loveable pervert, Jiraiya's death has the biggest emotional impact on the audience. We know him more than others and like his antics, as well as respect his position as one of Konoha's Three Legendary Ninja. What makes Jiraiya's demise the most poignant however, is not the emotion but the implications it has. On a more general note, it delivers a massive blow to Konoha's firepower. Jiraiya was not only a figurehead with his position as Sannin, but he was a valuable source of intelligence with abilities that allowed him to feed important information back to the village.

But it's the repercussions his end has on those left behind that is the most striking. In particular it serves as the catalyst for Naruto's evolution. By suddenly losing his beloved master who had become like a substitute family to him, Konoha's Jinchuuriki is able to access parts of himself that had previously been locked. During Naruto's battle with Pain, he not only manages to physically power up, but he learns more about himself. On top of that, he matures incredibly as he finally understands that needless hate and desire for vengeance is nothing more than a vicious circle. He tosses aside his desire for revenge and pledges to carry on Jiraiya's will to find a road to true peace. Ultimately, that not only helps him finally defeat Nagato, but also by solidifying his ideals and essentially leaving his heart open to everyone, it lays the foundations for his later power ups and realtionships with the Tailed Beasts.

Then of course there's One Piece, a series that goes hundreds upon hundreds of chapters and episodes before killing off any of its characters. But boy, when it finally does, it does it in style. While death plays a large part in practically all of the Straw Hats' backstories, it's not really until the Whitebeard war that any active characters actually shuffle off the mortal coil and then Oda dishes up not one, but two significant deaths in short succession, both of which have a distinct, yet different impact.

First up to bite the dust is Ace, and his death has much more of an emotional impact. The audience has come to know and love him from previous encounters with him, and when he dies, it ultimately leaves the viewer at least a little upset. However, with Ace, more than anything it's the effect his demise has on Luffy that really proves the most devastating blow. Seeing Luffy break down is what truly gnaws at the hearstrings. That the usually optimistic and bubbly pirate suddenly becomes little more than a broken and hollow shell is such a powerful thing, that anyone who has become even remotely emotionally invested in the series will feel that grief resonate through them. This heartbreak not only serves as the starting point for Luffy's next big power up but it signals a change in the wind.

As much as Luffy's incessant yelling of "AAAACE!" throughout this arc got a bit much, I found myself joining in with him during this scene.

The second of Oda's double whammy of death has less emotional impact but huge political implications for the world of One Piece. Whitebeard's end was fairly incredible, but that this towering presence in the pirate community that had maintained peace for years was now gone, serves as the end of one era and the beginning of another. Nothing will be the same after this. The balance of the pirate world has been shattered and with Blackbeard stealing the Whitebeard's Devil Fruit power, the die have been cast for what will inevitably become Luffy's final battle - well, unless Oda has another card hidden up his sleeve. Since the Straw Hats' next step is to head into the infamously treacherous New World, Whitebeard's death serves to make that already deadly journey even more perilous as the heirarchical system of the pirates has been thrown into turmoil. So, when they Sunny does eventually break into this new territory, not only will they have to cope with the natural dangers, but they will also face more fearsome pirates who are now not only taking over Whitebeard's territory and throwing peaceful lands into chaos, but are also vying for the now vacant position of one of the four Pirate Emperors. This is the perfect point to draw a line and commence with what will likely be One Piece's heavier and even more epic second act.

So, while it may get rather tiresome watching everyone get beaten to a bloody pulp only to have miraculously recovered a few pages - or episodes - later, the lack of fatalities in shounen goes a long way to making the more important deaths all the more poignant, and with this week's chapter of Bleach, I am reminded of this even more. It may only be the beginning of the arc, and he may only be a minor named protagonist, but I found Kubo killing off Vice Captain Sasakibe shocking. Even though I didn't particularly care for the character, that one fatality immediately shows that Kubo means business and that this final arc in Bleach is going to be a seriously big one. It just goes to prove that the impact of having a "good" character drop off the perch at an important moment is only made that poignant, by not bumping off your protagonists at every turn, since if Kubo had been doing so for the last decade, these recent events probably wouldn't have made me even bat an eyelid.

Sometimes less is more, and this is definitely the case with deaths in shounen.

Fun With Poo

Yes, dear reader, you did read that title correctly and fair warning, this post will likely be crude. If you think that this may offend you, then please don't read, as it could get a little gross. However, this whole thing is a bit of fun (with a serious point hidden away somewhere) and well, forgive me, but this was composed at 2am when it all seemed like such a brilliant idea.

It all stemmed from a conversation I had several months ago discussing shounen manga, specifically the big three (One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach). Then at one point I came up with an analogy to highlight how the three mangaka often appear to work... through poo. I suggested that if each of the trio were told to incorporate a turd into their work it could go as follows:

One Piece (Eiichiro Oda) - I could imagine the introduction of a character that had eaten the Poo Poo Devil Fruit, which gave the user the ability to turn his entire body to poo, and shoot small (but deadly) fecal projectiles from it's hands. Upon more thought I could also imagine a running gag of this guy slipping over when in turd-form since... well... it can be slippy. Naruto (Masashi Kishimoto) - I'd say that in a story that's generally more serious, this would likely be a little light relief, and would be a "gag jutsu", much like Naruto's Sexy Harem or the Thousand Years of Pain. The Poo-poo no Jutsu, a powerful technique that causes the unfortunate victim to develop sudden, volitile diarrhea. Bleach (Tite Kubo) - My thoughts on what Kubo would do with a turd, was quite simple. I suggested that he would simply dress the poo in sunglasses and make it look cool.

It may seem like a throwaway idea, but in essence it displays how I see the way that the three mangakas work. Oda's One Piece has much more of a humour content than the other two, thus I can imagine that if presented with a ridiculous inclusion like this, he could use it as a starting block for something bigger, maybe a mini arc or something. Oda can take the ridiculous and make it sublimely ridiculous. Kishimoto also has that sense of fun at times, but Naruto is a much more serious story. That said, he does manage to infuse moments of levity some of which that are crude and in your face, so the inclusion of something so gross could be done without affecting the gravity of the main plotline. Finally, when it comes to Kubo, while he does have some moments of decent storytelling, it always comes across to me that he's more concerned with the style of Bleach rather than its actual content. It seems, moreso than the other two series, that it wants to look cool. It has the cool character designs, the stylised fights, and while it contains some humour, it's not on the same, almost puerile level, of the other two. So while claiming that he'd simply have a turd in sunglasses may seem like a cop-out answer (and in truth I couldn't see him ACTUALLY doing that if presented with this challenge), it symbolises more the approach I believe he'd take. Somehow, he'd find a way to make a steaming lump of faeces look cool, which when you think about it, is quite an impressive talent.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave To Me...

Twelve Awesome Anime
Eleven Weeks of D'AWWW-ness
Ten Heaping Cow Turds
Nine Stop-Motion Wonders
Eight Slappable Arseholes
Seven Crazy Hairdos
Six Splendid Sequels
Fiiiiiive Kick-Asssssss Duuuuuuudes
Four Mindf**k Minutes
Three Shounen Timeskips
Two Crazy Whores
And A Pair of Giant Matrix Boooooobiiiiiiieeeessss!

So, I wholly admit that the title for the final of my 12 Days of Christmas is a bit of a copout, but I wanted to pick twelve of my favourite anime moments from the last year from the good to the bad and the just plain weird. Some are scenes, others full episodes, and there's even an entire series. So here they are, some of my favourite anime moments of 2011. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Katanagatari  (Episode 12) Before I started watching, everyone had told me how epic and awesome Katanagatari was. It seemed that everyone, even those who are hard to please, seemed to love it so I was a little concerned. Too much hype often leads to big disappointment. When I started watching, however, I was far from disappointed. Initially it was the art style that leapt out at me most, it's very different to most anime and utterly gorgeous. Then I got more into the story and damn, I was addicted. But, what REALLY made the series for me was the epic final episode. Following the end of the previous episode, Shichika in the castle, just OH. MY. GOD. I kind of want to re-watch it all again just to get to that last bit.

Shiki (Episodes 14 & 20.5) I don't care how much I've raved about Shiki this year, I'm going to do it again. In particular this time I want to pick on two specific episodes. Firstly, episode 14, which contains what is, for me, one of the most disturbingly dark scenes I've ever seen. Watching Ozaki perform live experimentation on his undead wife was gruesome, cringeworthy (in the good way) and down right uncomfortable. That scene marks the distinct change between the show's quiet beginning and it's bloody, frenzied finale and boy, what a way to do it. My second pick is episode 20.5 which is actually one of the DVD specials. This particular episode depicts some of the manga content that was omitted. Set during theheight of the shiki-hunt, it focuses on the villagers chasing their prey into the irrigation pipes. It's dark, very dark, a bit on the gory side and just plain awesome viewing.

Redline Everyone and their granny has been banging on about Redline this year, so when I got the chance to purchase the Blu-ray at Expo a fortnight before it was released tot he public, I jumped ta the chance. I have to admit, though it's generally not my sort of thing (racing + intergalactic spacey stuff) I did enjoy it. The visuals are pretty damn awesome and fall somewhere between horrifically ugly and too cool for school, while the movement is impeccable. Well done Madhouse. Do I think it's over-rated? If I'm honest, yeah, a little bit. But it's still well worth a watch, if only to make up your own mind about it.

One Piece (Ace's Death) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCE! That's really the only way I could begin this bit. Having been up to speed on the manga for some time, I knew that this was coming and I was kind of dreading the moment when I'd st down to watch One Piece and Ace would meet his end. I cried at the manga and generally I tend to blub more at the anime (with the actual movement, sounds and music, it's hard to resist when the tears well up). However, for me, as much as I loved Ace, what upset me most was not his demise per-se but the profound effect it had on Luffy. Watching those scenes and the ones that followed were like watching his heart systematically crumble and fall apart. Heart-wrenching stuff, truly.

Nichijou (Deer Fight) Had it not been for the fact that I really wanted to mention this scene here, the principal in Nichijou would have ended up on my list of "Five Kick-ass Dudes" for this one skit alone. Without a doubt, the deer scene is the luminescent highlight of an otherwise underwhelming series. There's no particular story to it, quite simply, it's just the quite gentle-looking principal going at it in an all out battle for supremacy with a deer. Why is the deer there? WHy are they fighting? Where did that guy learn all his moves? No one knows and really, who cares, it's just awesome viewing!

Gintama (Episode 38) I have an odd relationship with Gintama. I'm only around 40 odd episodes in, but despite the promises that it's utterly hilarious, I personally have never quite managed to get into it. Generally I've found it to be quite hit and miss, with some episodes bordering on the just plain dull, but then along comes a plotline that reminds me why I really like the series, and one of those was episode 38. The gang participating in a scnow sculpture contest was hilarity in a bucket, packed with stupid humour that had me giggling like an idiot the whole time.

Hanasaku Iroha Without a doubt, one of my favourite new series this year has been Hanasaku Iroha. It demonstrates some of the best characterisation that I've seen for some time and is a true ensemble piece. With the exception of a filler-esque mid-section I looked forward to each new episode with increasing anticipation. Plus with P.A. Works pulling out all the stops in the animation department, such exquisite eye-candy made it a genuine joy to watch.

Shinryaku!? Ika Musume (Beach Aerobics Scene) Now, I love Shinryaku Ika Musume, but it's not one of those series where there's a laugh a minute. Mostly it's fairly gentle with some decent giggles from time to time. However, in the latest series there came the most brilliant section that had me full-on belly-laughing. Quite simply, Ika-chan is taking part in a beach aerobics session with elementary school kids and her tentacles keep hitting the kids. It sounds like dumb slapstick, and it is, but the comic timing is perfect, and it's played out in such a way that by the end it's like there's been some kind of child massacre. Genius. Absolute genius.

Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence (Avalanche Scene) What I love about watching the Detective Conan movies is that inevitable moment towards the end where the whole thing entirely detaches itself from reality in favour of a big flashy finale. Whether it's the tone deaf Conan singing into a faraway phone in order to dial the correct number, or two teenage girls successfully performing an emergency landing in a jumbo jet on a ridiculously short and narrow strip of land, the antics are ridiculous. Safe to say Quarter of Silence didn't disappoint with the supposedly seven-year-old Conan riding around on his jet propelled skate/snowboard in order to cause an avalanche and stop a rampaging flood from hitting a village. So dumb, so epic, so fun!

School Days (Episode 12) I ended up marathoning all of School Days in two days, not because it was any good - it wasn't - but because I wanted to know what the hell the infamous ending was and just how such an initially innocuous series could descend into something with such a reputation. I'd like to say that watching it was wholly worth it, but it was only half-so. It was worth watching so that I could witness first hand the insanity of the events, but at the end of the day, the entire series was shite.

Legend of Koizumi This is a bit of a lesser-known and slight shock entry really. Legend of Koizumi is a short OVA that's basically political parody with mahjong. Big important political figures meet in neutral areas to play a game with high political stakes on the line. As an anime, it wasn't that great, and in truth, it was kind of dumb, but you know what... it stuck in my mind. Despite its inherently idiotic foundation, it's somehow incredibly epic. Hell it's so epic that the snivelling dude accompanying Koizumi can't help but piss his pants half the damn time.

Ben-To (Any of the Supermarket Scenes) Ben-To started out for me as a fun, throwaway series, but very quickly got to the point where I was bored of it and couldn't wait for it to end. However, the one part that still makes me chuckle like a maniac are the various supermarket battles. No matter how many times I see them, or how crappy the plot gets, the utter ridiculous notion of fighting bloody battles over half-priced lunch boxes just does not get old. Serious comedy at its best (just a shame about the rest of it).

On the Third Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave To Me...

Three Shounen Timeskips
Two Crazy Whores
And A Pair of Giant Matrix Boooooobiiiiiiieeeessss!

This year saw timeskips in three particular shounen series (Bleach, One Piece, and Fairy Tail) leap to the forefront of my mind - though two of them I first encountered in their respective manga at the back end of last year. In an odd sort of way the three kind of feel like some kind of arse-kicking Japanese version of the three ghosts from Dickens' A Christmas Carol - Naruto's timeskip is oooold news and just jangles around in the background like Jacob Marley.

Bleach: The Ghost of Christmas Past Interestingly enough, Bleach is the only one of the three whose timeskip I've not actually encountered this year. I read it in the manga at the end of last year and since I stalled on the anime, I've yet to see it there. In a sense that makes Bleach the most fitting to be my Ghost of Christmas Past, especially since the majority of my enjoyment of the series is well and truly in the past. Scrooge reliving the happiness and misery of his past sums up my relationship with Bleach. Everything was all fine and dandy at the end of the arc, so why, WHY did he have to do a timeskip and continue?! As much as I love Renji's smexy new hair-do, I still can't help but think, Bah Humbug, Ichigo. Bah Humbug.

One Piece: The Ghost of Christmas Present

Much like Bleach I read the timeskip in the manga last year, but I did encounter it in the anime this year. When I think of the Ghost of Christmas Present I think of a jolly, bearded man showing everyone having a warm and happy Christmas, and that's exactly how I feel about One Piece. Despite being over a year into the jump manga wise, it still feels present, like it's ongoing an not just a thing of the past. Oda has carefully held back on revealing every change all at once so that it's like we're still living the skip, still reeling from its impact and not just treating it as something that happened a while ago in the past.

Fairy Tail: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come This year saw Fairy Tail become the latest of the big shounen series to throw in a time jump, and this series ends up as my Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I know I will have this to come in the anime soon enough and I've yet to experience that, but mainly, I look to the future with it, because I'm still unconvinced as to whether this skip is genius, or utter folly. It's an unknown quantity for me at the moment and I look to the future to see where Mashima takes this and just what I'll make of it.

Cosplay Musings

Cosplay is one area of fandom that I'm unlikely to blog about all that much, but this weekend it feels like an appropriate topic, not because it's Halloween, but due to my own experiences. Yesterday I ventured up to the ExCel Centre for my fourth London MCM Expo, and for the second time, I was in costume. Now, before I go on, there are four things you should know about me:

1. I'm fat and while I'm comfortable with my body, I by no means like it.
2. I have very little self-confidence.
3. I'm not an exhibisionist and prefer to stay out of the spotlight.
4. I hate having my photo taken.

So considering the above, one may wonder why on earth I'd even consider going out in public dressed up as an anime character, yet back in May that's exactly what I decided to do. The initial choice to go in costume was made on the way back from the previous Expo. While on a high, myself and my best friend decided that while we loved watching the other cosplayers, we wanted in on the action and were going to go as Zoro and Sanji from One Piece respectively. I can't speak for my friend's motivations, but I personally wanted to cosplay for a few reasons. Having been surrounded by countless other fans, seeing how friendly people were and how much I felt like I belonged, I wanted to take it to the next level. I wanted to join in rather than being a simple observer. As for the specific choice of costume, I wanted to show my support for the series and my affection for Zoro.

After several months of anticipation, May rolled round, and armed with my green wig, homemade haramaki, bandana, earrings and katana, off I went to Expo and when I arrived, the sensation was bizarre. By some odd twist of fate I actually felt like I belonged more by being in costume, and by wandering around as one of my favourite characters, the whole thing felt more exciting. Additionally, I had so much fun in costume, especially when it came to fake fighting with Sanji and the One Piece cosplayer meet-up where we met others who loved the series. However, despite thoroughly enjoying it, and deciding then and there that I'd likely cosplay every time I came in future, I still felt insecure as I'm too big to be cosplaying a skinny character. I felt inadequate because I didn't really look like my character, something that wasn't helped by either the "witty" tosspot that yelled out "Oi Zoro, lose some weight!", or the fact that my best friend had the Sanji look down to a T - had the perfect build for it, and looked damn good in his costume - git. The silly thing is, is that I think I was probably the one who was most bothered about my size. Ended up having a fairly good chat with a couple of other One Piece cosplayers and some people took my photo, though I still always felt that the only reason anyone took my photo was as an "accessory" to the awesome Sanji cosplay, rather than because I was actually a decent Zoro. But while I didn't feel good enough, it still didn't prevent me from wanting to cosplay next time, because it really was so much more fun.

Myself and my best friend as Zoro and Water 7 Sanji

My next task was to decide upon my costume for October, and this time I decided to cosplay to my size, and chose to go as Marco, the titular character from Porco Rosso and my entire cosplay experience was different.

One on the photos I had taken at the Manga UK Cosplay Photo Booth

Undoubtedly, this time around I had the ideal costume for me. having chosen a character that was closer to my actual size, any insecurity I had about being a fat version of a character instead of just the character itself was nowhere to be seen. For once, I actually thought I looked pretty decent - to the point where I willingly ventured into the Manga UK Cosplay Photo Booth to get proper photos taken (that photographer rocked - he was a Porco fan). Additionally, Ghibli cosplays seem to be few and far between, so there's generally more of a novelty factor when I see any Miyazaki creation get the cosplay treatment (I remember squeeing pretty hard at a Nausicaa cosplayer in May). From pretty much the moment I walked in, the reception I received was entirely different. As I wandered along the main hall to get to the exhibition room, I could hear many a comment along the lines of "Oh My God! Porco Rosso!", and I received multiple requests for hugs and photos and this continued inside the exhibition hall. It was so different from May as this time people genuinely wanted a photo of me in costume, I was being singled out from my friends for a photo, as opposed to being an accessory. It seemed that people were genuinely happy to see someone dressed as Porco, and two people even said that they were glad to see me as they'd never seen a Porco before - at least not in the flesh. I felt worthy of calling myself a cosplayer - especially when some random guy followed me down the hall covered in official passes and asked me to participate in a video portrait.

That I'd apparently done a decent job on the costume, was recognisable and seemed to please people not only gave me more confidence in myself, but also made me feel like I was properly contributing and I felt like yesterday was the first time I'd fully experienced cosplaying.

For me, cosplay is both an inclusive and exclusive activity. Undoubtedly, cosplaying has had a personal effect on me. I have more confidence in myself, because, no matter how sad or pathetic it sounds, I felt validated yesterday. Likewise, despite my general hatred when it comes to having my photo taken, I loved having people stop to photograph me (one guy even slid across the floor to snap me when I was doing the video portrait!). But that I wasn't camera shy comes down to one simple fact: people weren't photographing me, they were photographing Porco. That is part of what I love about cosplay, you can be someone else for a day and for a few hours you become more than just yourself.

However, despite the personal effects of it, cosplaying is also a wholly inclusive act. It becomes a conversation starter between people who are dressing up from the same series, you have a laugh with similar cosplayers and get photos taken with them, which makes for a much more social occasion. Cosplay breaks down barriers between total strangers who you'd never normally even look at, let alone approach - in no other circumstance would you hug a completely random person, or ask for their photo, but on our very first trip to Expo, I hugged a Doctor Who (Tennant incarnation) cosplayer, and my best friend ran after an Amy Pond cosplayer yelling "AMY!!!!!" so that he could get her photo. Whether you dress up or just observe, cosplay creates memories, brings people together and above all else, is damn good fun.

Two Years Later...

Warning: As much as I'm trying to keep them vague it's not always possible, so this post contains some spoiler information for Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, Fairy Tail, Usagi Drop, and Death Note. Each manga will have its own paragraph so if you don't want to risk finding anything out that you don't know, then please (time)skip ahead to the following section.

Last week, within the space of twenty-four hours, I encountered time skips in two different and wholly unreleated manga. Plus, with the One Piece anime having recently reached its own temporal leap, it fels like the time skip is the order of the day. Certainly, when it comes to mainstream shounen manga in particular, it seems that jumping ahead several months or years is becoming the thing to do and it's certainly an effective hook. Time skips offer up the chance to completely revitalise a manga or change its dynamic often following a climactic event, and as such prove to be a turning point wherever they feature.

Back in 2005, Naruto started the recent trend with the two-year leap following the events of the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Having come to a definite conclusion it offered up the perfect chance to power-up the protagonists with each member of Team Seven walking their own paths to train. Sasuke turned his back on Konoha in order to get into the metaphorical bed with Orochimaru, Sakura - fed up of being the useless one - begins her tutelage as a medical ninja under Tsunade and Naruto heads off on his journey with Jiraiya to become stronger than ever. The skip also marks a distinct change in focus. Whereas Orochimaru plays the role of lead antagonist in the first part, the two-year jump marks the switch to when the biggest thread to the ninja world is actually Akatsuki.

In the same year, another Shounen Jump hit also hopped on the time skip bandwagon. Death Note however opted for a six year differenceto mark the beginning of a new saga. With the manga focusing on the game of cat and mouse between L and Light, L's death comes as a climactic event that in no uncertain terms ends what the whole story has been about. The mangaka then take the opportunity to skip ahead to allow the next generation to come to light. Had Near (also known as L-clone) appeared immediately after his predecessor's demise, then all the spiel about how L was the only one capable of katching Kira would have been flushed down the toilet. Likewise, it allows for Light to become more even more confident and complacent. In not being an excuse for the protagonists to simply power up, Death Note's time skip shakes up the pace by similtaneously starting from the very beginning (L-clone's investigation) and continuing the second act (Kira/Light's reign of terror).

While the leap in Death Note proves interesting in it's own way, the "powering up" time skips are what it's all about for me and both the ones in Naruto and One Piece work in essentially the same way. In both series the main characters split off (though this happens forcibly in One Piece) and undergo their own training following a distinct loss (Sasuke's departure from Konoha and the events of the battle at Marineford). By the time that the characters return from their adventures, there's a definite sense of excitement and anticipation. What will they look like now they're two years older? What new moves will they have? How much stronger are they? If done well, the events immediately after a time skip can keep you on the edge of your seat. One of the best examples of this is One Piece where Eiichiro Oda has not only timed the timeskip perfectly but also plays out the beginning of its second act with pacing so spot on that it keeps you hooked.

The two-year leap in One Piece came at the ideal time. The Straw Hats had made it half way along the Grand Line and were about to enter the New World, a sea so full of peril that it supposedly makes their adventures thus far seem like playtime. Additionally, following the Whitebeard War, a distinct singular villain has emerged, which all means that the dynamic of the plotline could shift. As for the anticipation value following the skip, that Eiichiro Oda had split up the Straw Hats some considerable time before, he now hits us with a double whammy of excitement: the gang finally reuniting plus the results of their training. Also throughout the course of the fishman island arc, Oda has only gradually revealed just how powerful the crew have become and with each teensy glimpse of Usopp's toned awesomeness or Zoro's even more deadly slashes you can't help but marvel. While Naruto brought out most of the hero's new awesomeness in one Orochimaru-targetted attack in the arc following the skip, One Piece spreads it out creating several smaller awe-inspiring moments as opposed to that one jaw-droppingly epic scene.

It was only last year that One Piece skipped ahead, but hot on its heels was Bleach with it's very own leap. Unfortunately, while placed after a climactic battle and Ichigo's subsequent power loss, this time skip is the most underwhelming of the big three by quite some margin. While it has allowed eighteen months for Orihime, Chad, and Ishida to power up, this becomes slightly meaningless as Bleach always has (and seems that it always will) focus on Ichigo's ridiculously strong abilities and the constant power-ups that Kubo seems to yank out of his arse every so often. Instead, it seems that the main funtion of this skip is to make it so that Ichigo doesn't lose his powers only to suddenly regain them immediately after. It also doesn't help that the end of the arrancar saga had a very definite conclusion and the manga felt like it could have ended right there and then and everyone could go home relatively happily. So whereas the likes of Naruto and Death Note promise more and feel unfinished, making their skips more exicting, Bleach's seems to lack purpose by comparison, other than to drag out a series that probably should have been laid to rest with Ichigo's shinigami abilities.

The most recent time skip in a shounen manga - only a couple of weeks ago - is that of Fairy Tail which, following a pretty horrific event that devastates the main cast, jumps ahead seven years. Now with such an epic skip, you would be expecting something great, unfortunately I'm yet to be convinced that this was a sensible move for Mashima. With the Edolas arc and the following Tenrou Island plotline, Mashima had really found his stride and various plotlines were all weaving together. Now, with the timeskip, he's lost all that momentum and frankly, with the latest installment (chapter 255) I'm getting concerned as to how this will all turn out. This week's chapter felt rushed. Everything happens at one hundred miles an hour to the point where it feels like Mashima just wants to get this little bit of explanation out of the way and done with. At the moment it doesn't fill me with hope, but I won't write it off just yet as this is a bit of a timeskip with a difference, and the dynamic between the drastically altered and the unchanging could prove interesting.

Of course time skips aren't just limited to shounen, and one in particular that I'd like to mention is the one in Usagi Drop. This series is a perfect example of how a time skip can completely change a story. The first four volumes of Usagi Drop place strict focus on Daikichi learning how to take care of Rin. It's about his growth as an adult, his development as a parent and the dynamic between an awkward single thirty-year-old and an innocent six-year-old girl. Then suddenly, at the beginning of volume five, everything changes. Without really reaching a definitive moment beforehand, the manga jumps ahead ten years. Now, instead of being a story about a man coming to terms with sudden parenthood, the focus shifts to become more about the romantic entanglements of a teenage Rin. Now a decade-long skip would be pretty epic in most places, but in a story centring on a child it changes it 100%. Imagine if Yotsuba&! did that? Instead of being a manga about a naive and exciteable girl exploring the world, it became a tale about a hormonal teenager trying to date the school hottie. It seems wrong, right? Certainly, I enjoyed the Usagi Drop manga much less after the time skip, since it wasn't the story I'd fallen in love with - that and I still can't help but feel that the final direction it went in was just plain wrong.

Time skips can be the making or breaking of a manga and it all depends on several factors:

• Is the time skip necessary/does it come at the right time.
• How the mangaka handles events following the timeskip.
• Personal preference.

While points one and two are integral, for me it's the third one that will ultimately decide whether the skip has been successful or not. I have not been enamoured with the jump in Bleach but I don't doubt that there are people out there who love it as much as I love the skips in One Piece and Naruto. Similarly, because I personally dislike the direction Usagi Drop takes after the jump, I find myself disappointed by the manga. What I'm going to find most interesting however is seeing how the Fairy Tail skip pans out since I have yet to grasp whether it's awesome or awful and at the moment my stance changes from week to week. But despite everything, I still love a good time skip, as even if there have been times where I've been disappointed, sometimes it's good to shake things up a bit.

An Ode to Oda

Disclaimer: This post contains spoilers for both the One Piece anime and manga.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has seen me around the internet, that I have an unending adoration for One Piece. In truth I was somewhat late to the Straw Hat party, only starting the anime at the beginning of 2009 - nearly ten years into the anime's run and a good THIRTEEN after the manga originally started. Having denied myself the pleasure of Luffy and the crew for several years beforehand due to the crazy episode count, I finally gave in and ended up marathoning all that was available in the space of about two or three months. Night after night I immersed myself in the world of the Grand Line, laughing, cheering and crying my eyes out along the way. And when I ran out of episodes, I devoured the movies, specials and ultimately the manga. But why is it that I love this franchise so much, or more importantly, why have I continued to love it so much even two and a half years later? If I were to pin it down to one specific reason it would be this: Eiichiro Oda knows what he's doing.

It may sound like a fairly obvious observation given that he's a professional mangaka with a highly successful and long-running series in Shounen Jump, but being successful and knowing exactly what you're doing don't necessarily go hand in hand. Looking at how the story is progressing, it's clear to see that Oda has a solid idea of where he's heading. He knows in which direction he wants to go and sets his plans in motion early on, scattering odd parts through the crew's early adventures that will become useful as time goes on. For example, the Little Garden plotline may have seemed like a fluffy or almost throwaway arc used only to showcase the extremes of the Grand Line. However, the crew's encounter with the two giants, Dorry and Broggy, becomes essential in the later Enies Lobby arc and greatly contributes to their success. Had they continued their massacre of the show, quite how the infamous 4-Kids dub would have explained those events away after cutting the entire Little Garden arc, I do not know.

This definite sense of direction does Oda much credit, especially since this isn't a trait that seems to be shared by all of his peers. Oda's careful planning is in stark contrast to Tite Kubo, whose manga, Bleach, completely lacks that sense of purpose. Before the end of the arrancar saga, there appeared to be some idea of where it was all going, but considering that the Hueco Mundo arc felt like little more than a rehash of the Soul Society plotline with added arrancar, it still felt a bit haphazard. Likewise, Kubo has openly admitted that when he runs out of ideas, he adds a new character. Again this goes against Oda's style of work, where he adds characters when the story requires it and fully fleshes them out instead of tossing them aside when their shock value or interest factor has worn off. As such, One Piece proudly boasts one of the fullest casts of any shounen series and that characterisation ability makes the already impressive narrative all the more so.

Aside from the sense of direction that Oda's work exudes, the veteran mangaka knows how to construct a story and make it appeal to the masses. For each individual arc he gives enough background information to fully set the scene, which helps to make the following battles all the more epic and shocking. Meanwhile he withholds key information to be revealed at a later moment for maximum shock value. For me, this is most deftly demonstrated in the Water 7/Enies Lobby saga (there WILL be massive spoilers from this point on, so if you haven't seen/read this arc please skip the next paragraph).

Without a doubt, Water 7 and Enies Lobby is, in my mind, when One Piece gets truly epic and that's entirely down to Oda's ability to plan out his story and visualise every aspect of this world. He starts by introducing you to the island of Water 7, an impressive city built on two levels and completely at the mercy of the weather. He introduces you to the Galley-La company of shipwrights and begins on one of saga's mini-arcs - that of the Going Merry's fate. Oda makes you engage with the new characters and helps to immerse you in the culture of the island, and then it all goes tits up. Oda then proceeds to throw multiple challenges in the faces of the Straw Hats to really test them. The loss of Usopp, the approaching, devastating storm, the emergence of a special government assassin group known as CP9 attempting to kill Iceburg and seemingly "recruiting" Robin, and the Straw Hats getting blamed for the attempt on Iceburg's life. Then with the knowledge that Robin in fact hasn't betrayed them, but is sacrificing herself for the safety of her crewmates, the stage is fully set for the epic fighting on Enies Lobby as Luffy et al take on the World Government itself. But even when the battle section of the saga commences, Oda still has the odd trick up his sleeve, rewarding the audience by finally revealing Robin's past, giving the cowardly Usopp some balls as the confident Sogeking, and making links with the previous Little Garden arc thus proving that their past actions have meaning and can affect their future. By doing this and still creating some of the most heart-stopping battles of the manga (the Luffy vs Lucci fight is pretty damn awesome), Oda makes his story wholly engaging. I remember when I watched this saga, I cried buckets at Luffy and Usopp's fight, felt heartbroken at Kaku's betrayal, sat on the edge of my seat at the crew battled CP-9 and laughed my arse off at Franky's "recruitment" into the Straw Hats. I couldn't wait for the next episode and watched one after the other, annoyed that I had to sleep because it meant I couldn't continue watching. And when I got to this story in the manga, I was just as excited if not moreso.

What also really makes the Water 7/Enies Lobby saga is the characterisation, another aspect where Oda excels. The mangaka fully explores his cast with each of the central players having their own pasts. Admittedly backstory isn't a new thing in shounen manga, but what Oda does that not so many others do, is he focuses on the crew's growth equally. Each character goes through their own journey and they're just as important as Luffy's since while the young captain will still be the saviour of the day, the story isn't all about him. While Bleach tends to leave its supporting mains slightly more in the background while focusing on the main hero, One Piece and to a slightly lesser extent, Naruto, plays out more as an ensemble show. In Bleach, the likes of Orihime, Chad and Ishida hide in the shadows and return powered up. Naruto fares much better, with Kishimoto showing the likes of Sakura's determination to not be left behind, Lee's incessant drive to become powerful despite his complete lack of ninjutsu skills, and Shikamaru's transition from lazy genius boy to a dependable and invaluble strategist. However, only in One Piece is the balance of power more evenly spread. While the Konoha ninjas may be strong in their own right, they still have a habit of relying on Naruto to save the day. In contrast, while some of the "weaker" Straw Hats have a tendancy to rely on others to help them, it's not purely Luffy they depend on, it's also Zoro, Sanji, Robin, Franky and Brook. But even then, each and every member of the crew is intent on becoming stronger so they can support Luffy (this is possibly also due to their own desires to achieve their dreams) as opposed to simply hoping that he'll save the day. That Oda allows more than one single hero to shine in the spotlight makes the story all the more interesting as there are infinite opportunities for growth.

As you can probably tell by now, Eiichiro Oda is the one of the mangaka I most admire. His vivid imagination allows him to create fully fleshed out and epic stories that will make you laugh, cry and cheer and you watch or read your way through them. He has managed to keep up the quality for well over a decade now, and as teh story progresses it just keeps getting better and better. Certainly the new Fishman Island arc complete with powered-up Straw Hats has me craving each new chapter, and I cannot wait to learn more about their two-years training and just what Oda has in store for us in the New World.

Shounen Filler: One Piece

Having already looked at both Naruto and Bleach, the next post in my mini-series on shounen filler will be focusing on the final of Jump's "Big Three": One Piece. In stark contrast to it's brethren, One Piece's primary method of padding it's anime out isn't to rely one anime-only arcs - though it does use them, but more on that later - but instead it extends upon the original content. For instance, some final battles can end up being longer than need be, while others that are semi glossed-over in the manga receive more of the spotlight. When you're marathoning it and get caught up in the action, this doesn't prove to be too noticeable, although, week-by-week is a different story.

What is, however, more glaringly obvious is when the anime drags out certain activities that DON'T have that engaging wow factor that keeps you glued to the screen until you completely lose all feeling in your butt cheeks. In particular there are two noticeably painful filler parts that feel far too drawn out for their own good and they occur in the Arabasta and Foxy arcs.

1. Arabasta: So you have a group of pirates who have set sail to an island with a desert-like climate, which they have to traverse in order to further the plot. What better way to pad out the story than to have seemingly endless episodes of the gang trudging through the sand and meeting with its various inhabitants. Unfortunately, extending the crew's experience in the harsh desert terrain ended up somewhat dull. So, while in truth there were only about six or seven of these episodes, it felt like so much more, and what is simply a means to an end in the manga, becomes a mini saga in the anime. Shame as the Arabasta narrative is otherwise pretty damn good!

Are we there yet? No? Bugger.

I'm 99.9% sure that Foxy used his "Slow Slow" Devil Fruit powers to drag out his arc.

2. Foxy: I'm not going to lie, the Davy Back Fight is One Piece's weakest arc by quite some margin. With a contemptible antagonist that you just want to punch for being so annoying and a somewhat weak (at least by Oda's standards) contest premise, I generally found myself willing the storyline to end. The entire plot felt like filler before any padding were even added, so imagine my dismay when I discovered that the anime had actually dragged this story out by adding in a whole second game. In the manga there is one single game of the Davy Back Fight consisting of three rounds. In the anime there are TWO three-round matches. Please, just kill me now. Or better yet, do away with Foxy!

On a more positive note, some of this canon material extension actually works to the show's advantage. For instance in the recent episodes, a reasonable amount of airtime has been given to the individual antics of Luffy's crew following their separation. In the manga this material takes the form of title page illustrations and the occasional mention in the main chapters. Fleshing out these little snippets proves rather satisfying as we get to learn more of the other's escapades, and their experiences (which become pivotal in their development) have a more solid grounding that the viewers can relate to.

Outside of any plot-stretching, One Piece does occasionally throw in the odd short filler arc, normally only lasting around five episodes. Like most anime-only fluff, they may not be the greatest tales, but in the case of One Piece these short interludes actually provide a nice change of pace, especially when they follow a particularly long arc. For example, while not a masterclass in storytelling, the escapades on Marine Base G-8 proved a light-hearted and entertaining diversion after the epic battle on Skypeia. Adding to this "cool down" effect, the series often throws in odd standalone episodes such as in the post Enies Lobby episodes where we witness the antics of the crew before they leave Water 7 and head off on their next adventure. Much like in Naruto and Bleach many of these odd episodes are somewhat throwaway and not always to the high standard you're used to. While Zoro babysitting for a bunch of young kids and Sanji having a cook-off with an old drunken chef may be amusing in themselves, they hardly leave much of a lasting impression and to be honest if they weren't there, I really wouldn't miss them.

Of course other anime-only arcs don't fare so well. In particular the short storyline relating to the release of the Strong World  movie didn't exactly bowl me over, especially since the series "did a Bleach" and dumped this fluff slap bang in the middle of the awesome Impel Down arc. Even though it only lasted for four episodes, sombrero-clad pirates are a poor substitute for an engaging and quirky prison break with twists and turns aplenty. Likewise, during the Enies Lobby arc, the series wastes several episodes on semi-pointless and wholle irritating recaps (yes, plural) as well as the inclusion of several "Oyabin Luffy" specials. While the original TV special was entertaining as a one-off these subsequent additions wore thin exceptionally quickly. When it comes to any filler arcs though, no matter how entertaining a diversion they tend to be, by sheer nature of being placed after the climax of an impressive and engaging plotline, they're all going to seem somewhat tame, or even just plain crap by comparison.

You mean I have to do three more episodes of this crap?

Certainly, while by no means perfect in execution, out of the big three shounen fanchises, One Piece deals with filler much more capably than either Bleach or Naruto. Building on existing material, the series lays extra groundwork for its already impressive plots that mostly - but not always - enhance the tale. By doing this they then generally leave any side stories for specials and movies where they belong and let the main narrative speak for itself.

Hiro Mashima: A Cross Between Oda and Kubo?

This evening I was having a conversation with Patches comparing various shounen manga and we got onto the subject of Hiro Mashima, the mangaka of Fairy Tail. This led to an interesting discussion about how we feel Mashima is somewhat of a cross between Eiichiro Oda (One Piece) and Tite Kubo (Bleach) in terms of both art and storytelling.

Much like Kubo, Mashima's narratives are thinner than some of its shounen brethren, but focuses more on getting to the nitty gritty fighting. Since most of Fairy Tail's arcs are shorter than those of say, One Piece or Naruto, it's not too surprising that the storyline isn't as epic as the two aforementioned series. Don't get me wrong, both Kubo and Mashima build their stories fairly well, but they don't weave such intricate plotlines that really pull you in and give the final clashes that massive, shounentastic impact. While his method of storytelling appears to be more Kubo-like, Mashima adopts several Oda-like qualities to make his plotlines more entertaining. The main similarity between the two is the comedy element. Both Fairy Tail and One Piece share a very similar style of humour, with wacky and almost silly humour that can at times border on the slapstick. Likewise, Patches makes a good point when he says that while the battles share a similar level of importance to Kubo's works, the Fairy Tail wizards have such varied and distinctly recognisable abilities that they are much closer to the various Devil Fruit powers in One Piece than the Zanpakutou in Bleach.

The similarities however do not stop at the story. When it comes to artwork, there's no doubt that Mashima's visual language is more akin to that of Oda's One Piece, especially when it comes to some of the wackier character designs (think Wally and Hot Eye). On the flip side, Mashima's art is very bold and the dynamic battles throughout have slightly more of a Bleach vibe to them - though with more comprehensive imagery and fewer action lines of doom, Mashima's fights are generally easier to follow than Kubo's.

Maybe it's unfair tolook at a single mangaka's work and inherently compare him to others, but when you've read and seen a certain amount of work, it's hard to stop yourself. Likewise, all artists and authors will take inspiration from existing works that they admire to the point where noted similarities can be spotted (the resemblance between Fairy Tail's Kageyama and Naruto's Shikamaru both physically and in their abilities still amazes me to this day). Mashima certainly seems to have taken on board a lot of Oda's strong points such as the comedy and visuals as well as Kubo's dynamic battles. Sadly, he also seems to have gravitated towards less-developed plotlines in the same way that Kubo has, though thankfully by going for shorter arcs, he manages to avoid the pitfall of boring the audience with a string of battles centring around one simple and underdeveloped plotpoint. Let's hope he just doesn't pick up any of Kubo's other bad habits...