Get in here ronin!Previously: https://desuarchive.org/co/thread/153824887
>lady cop 360noscopes a long-nosed goblin with a funny small hatWell this is oddly topical.
Oh boy, more Golden Decade Japan! Better than Feudal Japan, right?
Is that Lord Enma in the bottom left panel?
https://youtu.be/4XoWJV88_MA?&t=57
>1v1 solos a tengu>jobs to a slippery rockMan.
>>154405045>A fucking rock>Suiseki strikes again
Would
Check out that last variant cover in the bottom right, gang. It's by the same Tumblr artist who made the parody of the Invincible cover. https://www.tumblr.com/the-soro-art/815802219746230272/usagi-yojimbo-x-invincible?source=share
Save the date, FREAKS. I'll be storytiming the conclusion of Kaito '84 on Friday of that week.
>curated Pride Month selectionIt's over chudjimbos. WOKE has even come to comic books. Billions must scan
End of storytime. It was much quieter this time around, but thanks to the anons for the reading bump that kept this from sliding into the catalogue before it could finish.
I was afraid that they will "waste" an entire issie on the trials. And despite that, those trials still feel extremely rushed. This subplot should have been either entirely dropped or at least limited to one test and its length cut in half, in favor of character development and setting up the final confrontation. Basically, get ready for a very short final fight. 5 pages tops and Yukichi will Akira slide Jei to save the day.Kaito so far: 8/10 for the first issue, 9/10 for the second, 7/10 for the third and 5/10 for the fourth. A lot rests on the quality of the final issue, but I'm afraid the series will miss greatness by an inch and will end as "only" good.
>>154406136I agree. Despite all the action there's no real INTERraction between Tomoe (forma de policia BUNDA) and Kaito. I'm still holding out hopium that maybe Kaito might continue as a longer series and we can get to know Showa Japan a little more, this is just too condensed for a completely new(ish) cast of characters.
>>154404540>You must work together to succeed. Fail, and you will be trapped here forevwrBoy, that escalated quickly.
>>154404512>UY>Not by SakaiNot once not nevah
>>154406136I am afraid I agree. Also when the background are all done in the same pallette it looks indescernable. It looks like theyare standing in front of a backdrop and I have to look a while to make out what they are looking at. For as great they are boasting the art is just jamming so many panels into pages just ruins that aspect. Most of the pages are 6 or 7 penals which basically means we get a character shot and no room for background.5/10. The artist are shooting themselves in the foot.
>>154406517>I have to look a while to make out what they are looking at.Well to be fair I, the OP, have some share of the blame there. My scanning no jutsu is not the best and it looks much less mushy in real life.
>>154405045Injusticenightwing.jpg
>>154406455>An ancient evil awakens! Only you, the very special chosen one, can stop it!>How?>With an ancient magical sword of the gods!>Oh cool, when do I get it?>You first have to pass 3 trials to prove your worth!>But you came to ME and said I was already chosen to save the world, why do I still need to prove it?>Such is the will of the gods!>Geez, fine. And if I fail?>You PERISH!>But if I perish and only I can stop the evil, then the world is fucked, right? Why not just give me the sword and not take extra risks?> ...shut up and get into the temple of trials, Shinji.I DETEST this trope. Dedicating an entire issue to it is a bold choice when the story is already breakneck fast and barely has time for the characters to breathe. Not to mention the incredibly hyped up villain still has to materialize after 80 pages and with only 20 pages left.A very mediocre issue. I'm a bit sad now.
>>154406517>when the background are all done in the same pallette it looks indescernableThank you for putting into words what was bugging me: the lack of color. Each trial should have been heavily color coded and there barely are any establishing shots. Oh, and the details get lost in the cramped panels. In the underwater part, I had to do a triple take before I realized that Usagi was using the sword (probably a decoy) to push away the rock holding Tomoe's leg and that he left it behind, choosing to save Tomoe, only to find the real sword when they safely resurfaced in the shallow puddle seen in the previous issue. It's a very cool sequence (on paper), but you can barely tell what is happening and many people will not even notice how the yokai infested depths turned into a common puddle.Seriously, 1 trial with them having to cooperate would have been enough. See the (fake) sword, defeat a tengu guardian, pick up the weapon, escape the flooding (like they did) and find the real Grasscutter. And then use the remaining ~8 pages to prepare for the finale.
>>154406517>>154407020OP here again. I tweaked the brightness/contrast and left it in a higher res. Does it do anything to make the panels more readable?
>>154404540>The Three Trialsa little hokey tee bee eitch
>>154404692>she beat himfake-ass tengu
I don't like it
These action scenarios feel a little trite in the way the mainline series never does. The "so THAT'S the solution!!" stuff that solves the problem in one fell swoop.
>>154406136early '80s Japan setting was more interesting than the magical adventure plot
>>154405202While manipultating the reflections could be called wisdom, Uasgi seems to rather show valor in grabbing the gem and benevolence in rescuing Tomoe while getting the sword.
>>154407362I think the last panel is just badly laid out- the action focus is on the stone being used to lever the rock, so it should be zoomed on that to make it clear. It happens, in the process of drawing and redrawing a layout and for a deadline, it's easy to lose track of details like that.
Kinda sad both at how I'm lukewarm on this, and seeing more anons join me in my camp. Would've rather a scenario where I was the lone grouch, but it does seem the comic is falling short in general. Ah well.The other anon who said it was close to greatness feels to me has the gist of it. It's nearly there, it just feels it needed another pass on the script to tighten it and on the storyboard to clean them. Some of the setup should've been simpler (why are Kitsune or Gen here?) so that we could've gotten into the trials earlier to give them more time to then be able to have the Jei fight get its own time. I mean, I think the actual answer is that the plot should've been different, but even if keeping the plot going that like this, it could've been massaged to work better.Ah well. Hope it does well enough to get a sequel where they do better.
>>154408894Gen really hasn't done shit. He doesn't even say much and having him be so grumpy seems like an excuse for that.
>>154407362It helps a bit but the issue is not a matter of colour but value, Kaito and Tomoe are the only things in panel that have a strong contrast most of the time, almost everything else is done in the same palette making everything look like a confusing mess, and that's ignoring the piss poor composition some sequences have(so they insert the magatama, the place rumbles, then... they start sliding because the floor rises? collapses? gravity shifted?)I kinda want but also don't want to check some other works of the team to see if the issue is because the format, a tight schedule or they simply are not that good
>>154404512Aw yiss, a proper comic about katana-wielding animals in the 1980s, none of that turtle crap!
>>154404935That was fairly Zelda
>>154406136>This subplot should have been either entirely dropped or at least limited to one test and its length cut in halfThat could be the comic's tagline
>>154405180This issue felt somewhat lackluster compared to the previous ones. I also have no idea how they're going to wrap this up nicely in one more issue. I assume there's going to be plenty left open to explore set up future opportunities for Usagi to travel around Japan even if this is supposed to be self-contained.
>>154408894In retrospect as hype as I was for Sasuke I would have rather had him show up at the end and drop the flashback thenThis should have just been Miyamoto Kaito and the Meddleus Yojimbus to properly introduce the crew and the world
Since everyone else are throwing in some critique of Kaito #4, let me join in.Pros:>I'm reading high quality scans, the contrast is crisp and it just looks much better than what 4chan serves us>the monsters are cool, even if their appearances are brief. In particular, that tengu and mermaid looked great>despite the comic speeding through, we can notice some chemistry between Tomoe and Usagi>the faces are great>the last page promises a dense final issue...Cons:> ... but this one was a bit of a slog, like a sidequest that puts the main story on hold, I don't remember Sakai ever doing that in his multiparters>out heroes don't interact enough, they really needed one calm moment of mutual understanding>despite the comic looking much better than it seems on 4chan, the colors are a bit boring and the backgrounds a bit lazy>somehow it moves even faster than previous issues but accomplishes less than any of them, by far>seriously, I get the intent >>154405202 , but this trial subplot was unnecessary. Change the ending of issue #3 to Sasuke just giving them the sword he was hiding in a magical shrine and then the final page of issue #4 happens. Instead of facing the trials, let the heroes get in trouble, fight an uphill battle against the thugs/yakuza/ninjas and then save each other and gain mutual trust this way. Then finish issue #4 with Jei appearing and aura farming, setting up explosive finale in the last issue. The pacing and character interactions would be so much better.>I thought they made it impossible to fuck up the eyes, but in one panel Tomoe's right eye becomes grey, absolutely unreadable, 0/10>lmao, just kidding, it was to show how light reflects, nice detail, I can't be mad at the artOverall, I rate it "meh", certainly the weakest issue in an otherwise good miniseries.
>>154404692>lady cop 360noscopes a long-nosed goblin with a funny small hatIn front of a pleasure district?
>>154405045Everybody do the Inazuma!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYJUlPBn50w
>>154405180Hey look, it's stray dog in far left!
