Manga MegaTokyo

[OtakuSennen]

[color=navy]Over the past few weeks I have become quite attatched to this series, so I thought making a thread about it might make for interesting replies.

This series is somewhat different from most of the manga we see here in the United States- MegaTokyo is a webcomic, made by an American, that got so popular that it was picked up by Dark Horse and currently has two graphic novel compilations of the series in circulation.

Yes, some of you may already be saying "Oh my God, it's not manga, it's American!" or something along those lines, but this series seems to truly be an authentic manga, and not some poor American story with large-eyed characteres to get fanbase. Right from the start, Fred Gallagher (The mangaka behind MegaTokyo) didn't want to make a series that examplified the stereotypes of anime and manga- He set out to create a series that would make new readers do a double take and say "Wait, that's American?". And, in my opinion, he did a wonderful job. Nearly everything about MegaTokyo seems faithful to its Japanese roots- The graphic novels even include omake. The storytelling seems rather similar to Love Hina when a strip revolves around Piro, a rather antisocial geek/nerd who has problems talking to women, and seems more Excel Saga-esque when we watch Largo's stories unfold.

Another thing I like about the MegaTokyo graphic novels is the commentaries put in by Fred Gallagher (Piro) himself. I'm always interested in how a comic was made, or what life is like in the day of a professional comic book/strip writer. Any Behind-the-scenes stuff is cool in my book.

I like where MegaTokyo has gone as of late- Largo's stories always tired me, and Piro's ventures are what always keep me interested. Yet, in some way I miss Largo's Cool Thing. Stuff just isn't the same without Largo's Cool Thing. [/color]

[Anqueetus]

Gallagher is right up there with my heros. It goes Robin Williams, Elijiah Wood, Gonzo, and then Gallagher.

I like both Largo's and Piro's stories. And yeah...the way you described the way the stories feel kind of really do feel that way. Hhhmmm... creepy.

[Sere Tuscumbia]

[font=Times New Roman][size=1]Excuse me while I giggle insanely. ^-^[/size][/font]

[font=Times New Roman][size=1]MegaTokyo is one of my fav. webcomics (I still haven't been able to buy the actual books yet, wah. T_T (although Piro says that the re-issue of the 1st book is better than the original, so I'll wait for just a little while longer)), up there right along with Sluggy Freelance ([/size][/font][url="http://sluggy.com/"][font=Times New Roman][size=1]http://sluggy.com[/size][/font][/url][font=Times New Roman][size=1]), Tsunami Channel ([/size][/font][url="http://www.tsunamichannel.com/"][font=Times New Roman][size=1]http://www.tsunamichannel.com[/size][/font][/url][font=Times New Roman][size=1]), College Roomies From Hell ([/size][/font][url="http://www.crfh.net/"][font=Times New Roman][size=1]http://www.crfh.net[/size][/font][/url][font=Times New Roman][size=1]), Reman Mythology ([/size][/font][url="http://www.felaxx.com/"][font=Times New Roman][size=1]http://www.felaxx.com[/size][/font][/url][font=Times New Roman][size=1]), and many, MANY others (it would take forever for me to list all of the webcomics I read, *drool*).[/size][/font]

[font=Times New Roman][size=1]It's a very beautiful webcomic to read, and I have enjoyed going back through the archives time and time again just so I can see how much Piro has progressed, in both terms of writing and in terms of art.[/size][/font]

[font=Times New Roman][size=1]Also, I think that most people have MegaTokyo to thank when it comes to |_337; I know I do, haha! ^^;; I didn't even know what leet was (I had seen it before, but just thought that the person was nuts and therefore randomly speaking gibberish O_o) before I read MegaTokyo, and then during a "conversation" the light bulb just kinda . . . light up and I understood. And now I've been trying to get other people to understand just what leet is. It's kinda hard to explain though, phooie. =/[/size][/font]
[font=Times New Roman][size=1]Hmm, I really can't say anything on the subject of whether I like Piro or Largo's adventures better, because I like and dislike them both equally. While Largo's adventures tend to be the same thing, over and over and over again, so do Piro's.[/size][/font]

[font=Times New Roman][size=1]Another thing that I've found that I haven't really liked is that the emotions of the characters are severely muted. Most of the time they have very neutral faces (and that makes Erika and Kimiko look a lot alike) and the only people who seem to have emotion consistantly are Ping (so kawaii~~!) and Largo.[/size][/font]

[font=Times New Roman][size=1]However, I have to say that my favourite character award is tied between Miho, Ping, and Pirogoeth. I'm leaning more toward Miho, because she has a lot of depth and mystery that hasn't been explained (although you've been left to assume a lot. Grrr, I hate that!) and I just love the way that she handles situations and people (and just how she looks, mawr.). But Ping is def. a very genki, kawaii character, as of the fact that she is the physical embodiment of the shoujo dream-girl, but with that funny little quirk that causes her to go into rampage mode whenever she gets mad or frustrated. And Pirogoeth just kicks butt, 'nuff said (plus she looks really cool, and she spawned the "ph34r the cute ones" phrase that went around for a little while).[/size][/font]

[font=Times New Roman][size=1]All in all, I really love this webcomic, and I think I'll faithfully follow it to the end. I just wish that Piro (I keep on typing in Prio instead!) would hurry up and finish the top sections of the site because some of the times you have so many characters that it gets confusing and you can't look up who they are because THERE IS NO CHARACTERS PAGE! ><;;[/size][/font]

[font=Times New Roman][size=1]And now that you've mentioned it, OS, Piro is un-nervingly like Keitaro. O_o;; What with the glasses and the awkwardness and the girls all eventually loving him and the crazy guy friends . . . except without the accidental pervertedness. That's Largo's job (and the part where Keitaro gets beat up a lot. That's also Largo's job.)[/size][/font]

[font=Times New Roman][size=1]Hmm, I have no real way to end this, phooie. =/[/size][/font]

[font=Times New Roman][size=1]--Sere[/size][/font]

[font=Times New Roman][size=1]A little off topic, I would like to say that if you haven't checked out the webcomics I mentioned above (I'll have to start sneaking in webcomic addresses everywhere so I can tell everyone about all of them, haha!), then you really ought to. Sluggy, CRFH, and Tsunami Channel are some of the longest running webcomics out there (running on a daily or mostly daily basis for several years now), but I do warn you: the beginning art of College Roomies from Hell(!!!) is really bad. I'm pretty sure that if I looked hard enough, Maritza Campos herself (the webcomic writer and author) herself would say that the art is horrible. But the art has WONDERFULLY improved, and all of these webcomics are a good read (and a good laugh) whenever you're bored. ^_^[/size][/font]

[OtakuSennen]

[quote name='Sere Tuscumbia][font=Times New Roman][size=1]Another thing that I've found that I haven't really liked is that the emotions of the characters are severely muted. Most of the time they have very neutral faces (and that makes Erika and Kimiko look a lot alike) and the only people who seem to have emotion consistantly are Ping (so kawaii~~!) and Largo.[/size][/font'] [/quote][color=navy]You know, I never really thought about that before, but you're right. Most of Gallagher's characters have extremely similar faces, and they don't exactly show too much expression. 80% of the time Piro has his surprised/confused expression on, and Largo seems to always have that smug little smirk. In fact, it took me quite a while to distinguish Ping from Kimiko when they were in closeups. In fact, the only characters who I could really distinguish from the rest in the beginning were Piro, Largo and Miho.

I remember reading somewhere online that Mr. Gallagher planned on doing another serial manga, in magazine form, a little while back. The magazine, I believe, was Amerimanga or something to that extent, and he was putting out one of his older yet unknown stories, entitled "Warmth." It was.. Another romance manga, about this guy who meets a girl who always seems to be cold and shivering. Unfortunately, Piro only did one or two months of this, and went back to working only on MegaTokyo.

It's interesting how Piro's stories always have something strange and unique in a story to make it interesting. Stuff like the cold thing in "Warmth" adds a new twist to a typical boy-meets-girl story, and somehow Gallagher makes it seem fresh. [/color]

[Shinmaru]

I still enjoy MegaTokyo, though not as much as when I started it. Lately it's being centering far more on Piro's trials and tribulations and while I enjoy them somewhat, I find them a bit too dramatic and angsty for my tastes, most of the time. I enjoy it more when MegaTokyo goes at a more humorous angle, even if Largo's antics get a tad stale after a while (Boo will never get old).

I will say that anything with Miho is pretty damn cool. I like her, heh. She's probably my favorite character in the whole series.

[SaiyanPrincessX]

I bought the book early last summer and read it all the way home. I was hooked. Since then I've had several people borrow it who also injoy it. I haven't read the web comic in quite awhile unfortunetaly, but its still on my list of awesome web comics. ^_^

[Dragonstar]

I love MegaTokyo, I read this marathon style when I found it, which took about, two weeks >_< I really like the way the characters are drawn, particularly their eyes...

Miho and Ping are my favourite characters, but Largo... I know someone like him... ^_^

[QUOTE]Yet, in some way I miss Largo's Cool Thing. Stuff just isn't the same without Largo's Cool Thing. [/QUOTE]

Hear Hear! I mean, Largo's Cool Thing could save the world someday... :therock:

I do kinda feel sorry for Piro though...

There's just so much really funny stuff in this, from the gamers in-jokes to Junpei and the Rent-a-zilla... It's priceless.

one downside though... Shirt Guy Dom days... :drunk:

[Sara]

[size=1]My friend showed this to me...roughly a year ago, I guess. I think discovery of a comic is one of the best parts--you get to read a ton of stuff without having to wait for updates, heh.

I enjoy it. I do like the drawing style (although it did take me a while to figure out the differences between Erika and Kimiko.) I think the comic lost a great deal of spontaneity when 'Largo' left, but I still enjoy it, really.

I think my favorite theme is Largo vs. Miho, especially the first "arc" of that. The GTA bit was hilarious, too.

[i]Great. The psycho gothic gamer chick is here.[/i][/size]

[De-Lor]

Largo's Cool Thing makes me smile, especially when he found a use for it. Ilove the way that Gallagher switches between Largo and Piro. Although the main storyline is center around Piro and his lack of manly-hood, Largo's irrational antics give a great comical relief to it all. And if you like MegaTokyo, then give Applegeeks a looksy, the storylines a little sketchy but the artwork is very good.

[DarkFactor]

I found this comic about four years ago and turned all of my friends into fanatics there-after. However, after Fred was finnally allowed to truly revel in his emotional uber-lameness it went south... I suggest picking up the first to books if you have any tastes similar to mine. But if you're a female who likes bands like fallout boy, you'll love the last two books. I think darkhorse even dropped them cuz they got so lame XD. But the first several chapters will rock your socks.... Oh and by the way, Dom is still the coolest. I'm Sega Black Ops for life. :cool:

[QUOTE]I enjoy it. I do like the drawing style (although it did take me a while to figure out the differences between Erika and Kimiko.) I think the comic lost a great deal of spontaneity when 'Largo' left, but I still enjoy it, really.[/QUOTE]

I love jun-pei and rentazilla. And I loved when Largo had to defeat a ninja at mortal kombat at the airpot, That was amazing. Tottally a largo moment.

[Ikillion]

[color=#56995e][SIZE=1][FONT=Comic Sans MS]I still find it intresting since Megatokyo was the very first webcomic that I had ever read and it could probably have been the starting point of my webcomic craze. ( I have four right now but eh, some intrested me for a while then I dumpted it).

I really couldn't be able to pick a favorite character though, I think it would be a somewhat tie between Largo and Miho, I just can't be able to diecide between the two for probably Largo's gamerness and Miho Gothiness...

Although I can really tell that ever since Rodney left, the comic had turned from a balance bewteen gaming and a sim date like game, to more of a sim date one. I think Fred can probably tell this so he tries to throw some gamer like things int here, even though it really isnt the exact same its still very good in my opinion.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Shaholl]

Man, when I discovered Megatokyo, I grew addicted to it immediately. It just kept on getting better and better. Best of all, when I went to Acen '06, I got to meet Gallagher and co. They were signing pictures and selling merchandise. I didn't manage to get an autograph, but I did get a Miho blanket and a Ph33r the cute ones poster.

[vegeta rocker]

The guy is a total ***, take it from someone who has met him; and i honestly don't get whats so great about his comics.

He is self absorbed and thinks he is the *&^% when it comes to manga; his stuff just seems so recycled. And all his characters look like bugs; the're eyes are so far apart i get a headache just from looking at them.

I guess i wouldnt have nearly as much of a problem if he wasn't so high and mighty. When i saw him at his panel, everything was "I" this and "I" that.

He didn't give the 4 other guys next to him any props for keeping the site up and running and just focused on his wife at the table with him.

We couldn't even ask routine question, he designated one of his engineers the low job of rewording questions we had. He would come up to you and when he heard your question he would ask Fred himself.

Erik Renee Avila (D7 Peacemaker) is also guilty of the same thing, one of my roommates did one of the voices and she just couldnt stand him. D7 was just still frames moving left and right.


I don't get the deal over Christopher Hart either....just don't get it.