Rising (3+)
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I've been to one funeral as a kid about an old lady I never knew.
AND IT WAS SO, (sniff) SAD.
can't say I'm going to miss Ouran Host Club.
AND IT WAS SO, (sniff) SAD.
can't say I'm going to miss Ouran Host Club.
I would much rather a series goes through a sensible story arc and finishes while it is ahead of the game.
There is always a temptation with a successful manga (or film/TV series, etc) to just keep prolonging the story or making more sequels for the money. This usually leads to weaker and weaker plots, until the series is a travesty and has spoiled all that was good about it.
There really does come a point where your characters have said all they can reasonably say and it's time to shut up shop.
Death Note is a classic example of a series which had a very specific plan and carried it off superbly.
Also Genshiken.
There is always a temptation with a successful manga (or film/TV series, etc) to just keep prolonging the story or making more sequels for the money. This usually leads to weaker and weaker plots, until the series is a travesty and has spoiled all that was good about it.
There really does come a point where your characters have said all they can reasonably say and it's time to shut up shop.
Death Note is a classic example of a series which had a very specific plan and carried it off superbly.
Also Genshiken.
It's about time those old cows were put out to pasture.
Did Goro win baseball yet? Did Haruhi finally have that gangbang she's always wanted? Did the milquetoast samurai ever get to make out with the flamboyant rogue?
I stopped reading all three a while back.
But despite the fact that my previous questions about each series hinge on an ostensible final goal for these series, I don't necessarily think a manga needs a specific plan or a clear, arcing plot. I'm fine with prolonging a story out of love for a world and its characters.
But I feel like past a certain point, a manga just falls into complacency and stagnates. They don't get bad, necessarily, but nothing dynamic or creative is happening, and the characters and premise become so entrenched or engraved into an author's mind as to shut him out completely. The characters just start to write themselves and there's no way to breathe new life into them. Which is fine, but interest will inevitably wane (for both reader and author) and the story just starts to wear out its welcome.
It happened (in very varying degrees) with all three of the aforementioned manga. It's happening with Hajime no Ippo (in my opinion) and others. And it's sad to see. So I think these manga are right to go out now, they've earned and cemented their place in the pantheon of popular manga history. It's probably time to let go. For the author's creativity's sake, if nothing else.
A perfect example of an open-ended manga keenly aware of its creative lifespan: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. Ended on a perfect note. Long before signs of aging or atrophy started to take root. It could very well have gone on forever, and I would still happily be reading, I'm sure. But as it stands; it ended on a strong note and in my books, it is perfect.
Did Goro win baseball yet? Did Haruhi finally have that gangbang she's always wanted? Did the milquetoast samurai ever get to make out with the flamboyant rogue?
I stopped reading all three a while back.
But despite the fact that my previous questions about each series hinge on an ostensible final goal for these series, I don't necessarily think a manga needs a specific plan or a clear, arcing plot. I'm fine with prolonging a story out of love for a world and its characters.
But I feel like past a certain point, a manga just falls into complacency and stagnates. They don't get bad, necessarily, but nothing dynamic or creative is happening, and the characters and premise become so entrenched or engraved into an author's mind as to shut him out completely. The characters just start to write themselves and there's no way to breathe new life into them. Which is fine, but interest will inevitably wane (for both reader and author) and the story just starts to wear out its welcome.
It happened (in very varying degrees) with all three of the aforementioned manga. It's happening with Hajime no Ippo (in my opinion) and others. And it's sad to see. So I think these manga are right to go out now, they've earned and cemented their place in the pantheon of popular manga history. It's probably time to let go. For the author's creativity's sake, if nothing else.
A perfect example of an open-ended manga keenly aware of its creative lifespan: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. Ended on a perfect note. Long before signs of aging or atrophy started to take root. It could very well have gone on forever, and I would still happily be reading, I'm sure. But as it stands; it ended on a strong note and in my books, it is perfect.
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