Comments on: Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — Soul Eater vol 1

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:36:58 +0000

I suppose I should have given another manga example but BPRD was one of the first that popped in my head.

By: Michelle Smith

Michelle Smith — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:35:31 +0000

Ohhhhhh. Well, Hellboy, at least, I have heard of.

By: Danielle Leigh

Danielle Leigh — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:56:41 +0000

heh. Don’t worry — It isn’t manga. It is a spin-off of the Hellboy comic — BPRD stands for “Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.”

By: Michelle Smith

Michelle Smith — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:16:16 +0000

I feel like such a manga failure, but… what on earth is BPRD?

Black Panda’s Racy Diary?
Bishounen Prettyboy Receives Declarations?

Or, my personal fave:
Boy Protagonist Risks Danger?

By: Tully

Tully — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:59:38 +0000

Soul Eater gets better later, even toning down the fan service… But then it gets worse, IMO. It’s a monthly manga with the pacing of a weekly manga, and it can get really irritating sometimes.

By: Danielle Leigh

Danielle Leigh — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:54:26 +0000

Thanks, guys! I appreciate the input…I’ll be sure to check out volume 2 when it is released early next year and post my reactions here.

By: Okman

Okman — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:35:19 +0000

I don’t think Soul Eater is as clever as Fanboy thinks it is. It’s definitely step-up from most shounen manga, but it’s a far cry from, say FMA or Kekkaishi. That said, it does lay down long-term plot lines very well and I really like the character designs.
I think it does world building fairly well. It’s not a lot, and it’s definitely more atmospheric, but I think it develops its fictional surroundings quite nicely.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:06:50 +0000

Hmmm. While I can appreciate the appeal of “atmospheric” I much prefer my comics to feel more grounded.
The cover caught my eye and I was intrigued, but I think I’ll pass on this one. Thanks for the review.

By: Fanboy

Fanboy — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:59:56 +0000

It does get better, I assure you. The prologues and first few chapters are pretty fanservice-heavy, but once they get into the meat of the story, the fanservice becomes much less in-your-face, to the point where it often disappears entirely. I definitely recommend sticking with it, it’s really clever and imaginative.

By: Danielle Leigh

Danielle Leigh — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:59:49 +0000

Yup, the backgrounds are mainly “atmospheric.” This is a very different kind of comic than FMA or BPRD — I don’t think we’re supposed to be too firmly planted in any one concrete space, which judging from your comments seems like the kind of thing you wouldn’t appreciate very much.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:37:38 +0000

How are the backgrounds handled in this? One of my pet peeves in comics is a fantasy comic with very little visual world building. In comics such as Fullmetal Alchemist or BPRD I feel as if I know exactly what type of setting the characters are in at all times, but I’ve dropped titles titles that are filled with backgroundless panels, and the few pages I’ve of this (granted they were poor scans) it seemed like everyone was floating in white voids.