What you have been reading within the past 7 days

[Papasmurf]

I will say though that the fact that Kenshiro only has one loss during the present timeframe of the series (pre-Part 2) kind of makes it too obvious that he's almost always going to win. There is still tension, like in the first battle with Raoh, but faggots like Devil Inverse or whatever his name was and other pieces of really don't offer much of a threat

 

[Captain Cadaver]

It's not like all of Kenshiro's victories were easy ones though even aside from heavy hitters like Raoh or Souther (eg. being temporarily brought on the losing side against Colonel and Amiba), nor assured (eg. it being made apparent a single move could've changed everything against Shin), plus a lot of the conflicts have the additional factor of having to protect or being unable to protect allies. It's also a lot more fitting that the odds would be in Kenshiro's favour for 1 V 1 matches when considering the hype Hokuto Shinken is given from the beginning as the ultimate assassination style, something that'd be made redundant if its successor that's trained for years could be challenged by nobodies.

 

[Papasmurf]

Kenshin's style of Hiten Mitsurugi has pretty much the same hype and he mostly won by luck/the opponent being too anxious to take the win against multiple opponents even in the first arc though. Jin'e could've killed Kenshin had it not been for his obsession with awakening his Battousai side, Aoshi only lost because he used the same Jissen Kenbu + Kaiten Kenbu combo twice in a row instead of just chipping away at Kenshin's health (seeing as Kenshin was already half-dead from the first Kaiten), and Saito could've killed Kenshin any time before he went Battousai mode. And all of that was in the first arc. Even after completing his ougi trial Kenshin was actually defeated once by Shishio and would've just been killed with his two sidekicks had it not been for Aoshi, lost his first fight to Enishi and would've lost against that Yaminobu guy if not for Tomoe's sacrifice.

Compared to that, Kenshiro's fights don't really offer much tension as to whether he's gonna win or lose. He's not as blatantly plot-shielded like Atem with his bullshit drawing technique, but I'd say Kenshiro and Atem/Yugi are potato-potahto when it comes to being mostly plot armored. Kenshiro putting up a better fight (1st fight) against Raoh than that Koryu guy is plot armoring in of itself, not to mention his survival against the two opponents who actually defeated him (not gonna say their names to avoid spoiling Cuntits) was COMPLETE plot armoring.

 

[SSJ2]

Up to 105 in Hokuto no Ken. Toki vs Raoh was good. I'm glad Raoh finally received some development because he was pretty lacking as a character up until this point.

 

[SSJ2]

Up to the part where Kenshiro beat Raoh and now Raoh is going to fight Fudo to conquer his fear. I think this whole thing is a bit contrived. It's convenient that Juza and now Fudo were both people who Raoh was equal to/afraid of in the past, and they suddenly appear in the story to help him achieve his goal.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

I wouldn't really say it's that contrived. Them having some ties to Raoh's past makes a lot of sense due to the strong ties between Hokuto and Nanto made apparent very early on the series (eg. Kenshiro and Shin's friendship) and their role in aiding Raoh was a result of deduction in Juza's case and not even a successful one in Fudo's. It's also apparent with prior examples that there must be some link between the main characters for a new one to be power relevant rather than a random nobody, which would be far more contrived.

 

[SSJ2]

Maybe not contrived, but definitely convenient that the rest of the Nanto users who challenged Raoh were more or less fodder. Suddenly the 2 most powerful ones appeared in a very convenient time in the story to move the plot along. I've also not read the fight between Raoh and Fudo so I can't comment on the results.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Well, it's not as though they were initially sent to fight Raoh. Fudo's main mission was to find Kenshiro and bring him to Yuria, which makes sense when considering his pure brawn fighting style wouldn't be that effective in sending him to fight Raoh, and Juza's personality gave him a reason to not participate until the true nature of the Last Nanto General became apparent to him.

 

[Symbiote]

All caught up on JJK now. Don’t know what I’m going to read next.

 

[SSJ2]

Finished Kenshiro vs Raoh. [mention]Kenshi[/mention] [mention]Captain Cadaver[/mention] around where should I skip to for the end of the manga?

 

[Papasmurf]

Go up to volume 18 on Mangasee and skip down to Chapter 238-239 or so, I'd say. I haven't read HnK in years and don't really care to reread it all. You can decide where you want to read once you get to the part where it's revealed Bat made Lin go amnesiac.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Yeah, skipping to Page 126 of Volume 18 on Mangasee is the best place to go, though I'd personally say leaving it with Raoh's death is the perfect cutoff point since all the ending does as far as tying up loose ends is resolving Lin's feelings for Kenshiro.
You could potentially just read Part 2 in its entirety since it's not completely without merit (eg. the Tentei Arc offering a little more characterisation for Raoh through flashbacks and further elaborating on Musou Tensei's capabilities), but that's only if you can really be bothered since the Shura Arc is essentially one giant, plot-hole inducing retcon of a whole lot of information involving Raoh, Toki and Kenshiro.

 

[SSJ2]

I cba to read it tbh. I was interested in the storyline between the Hokuto brothers. Even if there are flashbacks later on, I don't have interest in the direction of the story now. I'll probably just read about it if I want to.

 

[SSJ2]

Might start Vinland Saga

 

[SSJ2]

Got to chapter 5 in Vinland Saga. I liked the beginning of the manga moreso than the anime. I'm nearly caught up to where I was in the anime after 2 episodes.

 

[SSJ2]

Up to chapter 21 in Vinland Saga. Starting to get good.

 

[SSJ2]

Reached chapter 55 last night. 8/10 so far, though I've been warned by the God of Naruto that the next arc is extremely boring. Hopefully it doesn't drag on too long.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

It can be seen as boring in terms of plot, though fulfilling in terms of character development as Thorfinn gains far more depth as a character, so it's in no way poorly written. The current arc is a meandering mediocrity in both plot and character though.

 

[SSJ2]

Up to chapter 100 and just completed the Farming arc. It had a very slow start but ended up being quite interesting and worth the build up. I'd give the arc a 7/10 based on the quality development for nearly all characters involved. Probably still give Vinland Saga a 7.5 or 8/10 as a whole rn.

 

[SSJ2]

In the 160s-170s of Vinland Saga. Anyone howw how many chapters there are currently?