Who watched Shadow Star Narutaru, or better, read the manga?

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teslashark
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2008 7:40 am

Who watched Shadow Star Narutaru, or better, read the manga?

I had always felt it is a spiritual predecessor of Madoka, in every way from a bright beginning to a comically drawn opening and a cheerful theme song. AND nearly the same way of shocking us at the end of the 3rd episode, also a professional coverage on details of real-world military weapons.

Please share your thoughts on this show, or the doomed manga.
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Kratos
Posts: 1100
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:57 pm
Location: BC

Re: Who watched Shadow Star Narutaru, or better, read the ma

I've read the manga, through to its conclusion.

I'm not an enormous fan of it; it could have been a very good deconstruction of the "-mon" genre, but put much more stock in shock value than meaning. A whole lot of really bad shit goes down, as I'm sure you've read, but little of it is ever built up to or dealt with in a way that makes it emotionally resonant.
Spoiler
Take the infamous scene where Hiroko snaps and brutally murders those who wronged her: this is a character that appeared maybe once before that particular story arc, and so when things start happening to her and when she starts retaliating, there's no connection to her. What happens to her and what she does are horrifying, but there's some crucial buildup and development missing and so it misses the chance to actually resonate.
The whole series is like that, basically. It's one of the most effed-up things I've ever read, but it's souless.
"The beast of opportunity finds its master and soars through a shaken cosmos"
teslashark
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2008 7:40 am

Re: Who watched Shadow Star Narutaru, or better, read the ma

It's not soulless - I think it's done on purpose, by using rough/tough evidence and questionable storytelling.
At least, the weapons are drawn with detail...
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Kratos
Posts: 1100
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:57 pm
Location: BC

Re: Who watched Shadow Star Narutaru, or better, read the ma

The art is fine - I have nothing negative to say about that. However, art is only half of the manga experience.

You can say that the mangaka's presentation of characters and events was on purpose, and maybe it was; the writer was clearly going for shock value, and if the bulk of internet discussion regarding this series is any indication, he certainly succeeded in that. However, the vast majority of the characters in the series still lack anything to allow an audience to relate or empathize with them. The storytelling is still, as you put it, questionable. Purpose does not eliminate flaw, and a series that functions on the premise of "bad things happen to children" needs to have humanity behind it, or it's just cheap shock. Which is precisely what I found Narutaru to be.
"The beast of opportunity finds its master and soars through a shaken cosmos"
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