Hoshin Engi 1
Posted: June 26, 2007 Filed under: Hoshin Engi 4 Comments »ARGH. This one is hard to follow! I picked it up after it has been recommended by everyone, ever, but I didn’t have much luck following things in the first volume. I am assured it gets much better as it goes on.
I think part of the problem is that its based on a novel. Just as I tend to find fault with anime adaptations of manga for not quite fitting everything necessary in (though this isn’t always the case), manga adaptations of novels tend to be similarly flawed, either too much is going on or stuff is left out that is necessary. In this case, there is way too much going on. Everything has a name, including magic wands, stages of… magic whatever, people’s clothes, tons of locations (within locations), and the no less than ten characters introduced in this volume. Some of these things deserve names. Others are just confusing at this point. There is an appendix in the back so you can keep everything straight, and I guess it’s best to get these things out of the way now so that the next 22 volumes can be dedicated to plot development.
It’s got a bit of “Vash the Stampede” syndrome. This came out first, but I like Vash better than Taikobo, so the title stays. Anyway, this is the kind of series where the hero comes off as totally clueless, but is actually quite cunning and has everything figured out. Taikobo really pushes the limit on this, as he’s clueless most of the time and only does a couple cool things, but he’s still a pretty likable character. I also like the plot quite a bit, and I had it figured out enough by the end of the volume to be really annoyed by the cliffhanger. I like that the characters all seem to be into outsmarting each other, as opposed to just beating each other with pure strength. Once I figured out all the details and story elements too, everything fell into place really well, and I did kind of appreciate all the attention to detail.
One of the more confusing things for me was remembering all the different levels of spiritual… things. Taikobo, for instance, is an apprentice in the spirit world. There is an apprentice level, a “master” level, a title which refers to both, a teacher level, and several different titles to indicate how “things” reach the “master” level. Said things need to be exposed to moonlight for 1,000 years, then they turn into humans who can then master spiritual… stuff. This in itself is extremely difficult to wrap my head around, but it’s awesome when enemies turn into things like stone lutes.
How do you romanize Taikobo? Is it Taikoubou? Taikobou? Taikoubo? I’ve seen it several different ways, but the Viz way of eliminating the “u”s looks slightly wrong after seeing it the other ways for so long.
Well, the “ou” is probably a elongated “o”. Anyways, there’s no real “u” to be pronounced.
This manga is a bit slow, I didn’t like it very much. Battles and comedy were good, though.
Yeah, I know it doesn’t affect the pronunciation much, it just looked wrong reading it in that volume. Just a little thing, I guess, more of a fannish nitpick than a practical one.
It seems like the kind of series that could get really bogged down in it’s own… stuff, so hearing that it’s slow isn’t too surprising. Mostly I hear about all the awesome characters, most of the people who recommended it loved the characters. Sounds like there’s gonna be a TON, though.
I’ve read the complete series, and I believe it gets more interesting in later volumes because right now, Taikoubou (I love the u’s, so…) is practically by himself at the moment (excluding the hippo). Once he begins his “ally-hunting,” the story should be of more interest, as more of the true purpose of the Houshin Project is revealed. Also, the future incoming characters are great and lovable by fans.
Yeah, the characters apparently make the series, which is good to hear. I imagine it being a lot like Basara in the way it gathers characters, though I’ve read neither series so that could be way off-base. Good to hear it definitely gets better, though.