Smash! Chapter 170 Discussion

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Apr 9, 2011 6:06 PM

Laevantein

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Jul 2009

6620

THIS IS A MANGA ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS ANYTHING BEYOND THIS CHAPTER.
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The last page kinda reminded me of Susi Susanti's x Alan Budikusuma's mixed couple which are Husband and Wife couple and won the gold medal at Barcelona 1992..

But i was kinda disappointed that the manga never spoke about Ricky Subagja x Rexy Mainaki's couple the legendary double in Indonesia..

May 19, 2011 3:11 PM

nosequien

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Mar 2009

Oh, i've loved the whole series.

Matches were very good and the love part was also quite moving. Nonetheless, the last volume was too fast for me. I mean, they went from the interhigh to the Olympics. The actual level difference is much bigger, and I think you can't win an international overseas if you are not training in a specific centre (even if it junior). Well, at least you can't in Spain, and the level is not that high.

But I loved the series. 10/10

Sorry for my English. ^^

Sep 5, 2012 8:24 PM

korn7809

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Feb 2011

529

I had to drop this manga after 30 chapters... Not sure how I got that far into it.. Then I skipped to the last few.

The problem was that if you don't look at this manga as nothing more then a gag manga in EVERY sense then it seems rather bland. Far to predictable. I also DO NOT like the Anan + Miwa couple in the slightest.

Jul 13, 2014 3:03 AM

Bump809

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Jan 2013

I thought the manga was subpar but it was a good read. It didnt have enough focus neither in badminton or in the romance. I didnt like the pairings so i didnt take the romance part seriously. For it to be a better sports manga, I think it should've focused more on the sport by having long matches, not skipping or rushing the matches like it mostly happened. It could also help if they focused more on the strategic/tactical side of badmington more. But it is what it is. I liked the characters, I thought Shouta was really driven. I really liked the emphasis on training, gotta say that was one of my favorite things about the manga, to see how they trained so hard and then how it showed some result in the matches. Overall a quick good read 7/10.

Dec 12, 2014 11:38 PM

Pirating_Ninja

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Nov 2009

14588

Overall I enjoyed this manga however I had quite a few issues with it. Or rather, I felt the pacing was extremely lopsided, it first set out to be a manga that would have seemed to have only lasted like 50 chapters tops (since it started off as some kind of romance but they got together instantly and never really had any progression, i.e. the type of manga that ends after the kiss or whatnot), but then it continued into somewhat more of a sports manga for a bit, with Yuuhi pretty much falling out of the picture and becoming almost entirely irrelevant (aside from occasionally reminding the reader one of Shouta's drives to becoming better, although much later in the series you realize, or rather are made painfully aware, that as from the beginning, Shouta found the game of Badminton fun, which was why he wanted to get better). For awhile it then proceeded to seem like some super long series, that would atleast last all 3 years of highschool and probably have afterwards too, competing in the international scene (especially with how long the second year of their high school lasted, being something like 130 chapters probably). But pretty much immediately after he suffers defeat and breaks up with Yuuhi the author quickly decides that it should go back to being almost entirely wrapped around romance so quickly seeks (a rather implausible means) to fix the gap between the two by making Azuma all of a sudden OP (which, by the way, I have trouble with given the fact that before his injury he was made out to be some king of insane genious that went from novice to nationally ranked over the course of less than a month, but then never really improves from there for almost the rest of the series) and just taking home the gold. Thus being suitable for Yuuhi and winning her back. I did think that her finally being able to speak again was a really nice touch. However . . . The pacing was all over the place, mainly because the author didn't know if he wanted to make this a romance with a sports subplot or sports manga with a romantic subplot. Anyways, I did enjoy it but again, rather disappointed with the outcome especially, since it was so obviously rushed. 6/10 for me.

Aug 3, 2015 12:28 PM

Major123

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Jan 2013

2685

I loved it, great combination of sports and romance, guy above me is too damn picky.

Aug 3, 2015 1:08 PM

Major123

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Jan 2013

2685

Also the one big boobed girl who was in love with Shouta really needed to piss off, like they almost fucked up big time in the end by putting her and him together but thank god the author did not do that.

Mar 21, 2017 11:20 PM

Hinata-chi

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Sep 2015

3269

Dam 169 was pretty good but my gawd 170 is lovey dovey focused

Jun 10, 2019 4:13 PM

tr25a3

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Aug 2018

1260

I read until chapter 152 and then decided to skip the last few, read about the breakup and the end.

I might edit this later on, just wanted to leave a few thoughts.

I could understand that Yuuhi got insecure after she saw the picture of Shouta kissing another girl.
Sadly they didn't really try to resolve it by words. Even as a mute, Yuuhi communicated too little. Even at that crucial point.

She way she made his winning a requirement for his forgiveness was stupid and sad.
Then she breaks up with him on the street without even telling him why. She tells her sister that she couldn't bear seeing that he had to play tough matches?
She still loves him but wants to protect him from something in a weird way without talking things out with him.

Yeah, what a great relationship. He is a bit depressed and then turns on the "fuck school" mode and just tours around asia for a few months (?) and becomes a badass player.

He wins a medal, 6 month timeskip, reaches the finals of the freaking olympics (great timing btw).

Oh, and after dumping Shouta, Yuuhi gets into a slump and goes on a loosing streak.

Back to the olympics, he wins and by some miracle Yuuhi suddely gets her voice back, and albeit never having heard her before, Shouta knows that she is sheering for him.

And nobody seems to be that surprised by that miracle? The only thing her sister says is "Come on, cheer!".

Happy reunion and she suddenly doesn't bother about the pressure put on him anymore. Wow.

And in the last panel they play in a mixed gender double in their uniforms. Is there even a discipline where you play in that configuration?

Overall I liked the story. I kept comparing it with "Baby Steps", a tennis manga that also combines sport with romance, but has a much heavier focus on the sport side and actually tries to explain some of the mechanics.

I liked that the romance parts were more frequent, but sadly their impact wasn't as strong.
Mainly because making Yuuhi a mute did the story no good. Her entire family background didn't. For me, it added nothing to the story, it didn't even provoke emotions of sadness out of me.
But her "mute" condition hindered the communication a lot. That made the romance suffer, since there was no deep interaction between the two. No dates, no good conversations that gave the characters some background or depth.

The time / panels they invested for the romances of all the side characters would have been better invested in the two main couples.
If I had to choose between "show me random sidecharacter couple that we won't see much of ever again" or "show romantic progression between main couples", I'd always choose the main couple, since this is way more interesting.

The one huge thing this story sadly shares with "Baby Steps" is the rushed ending.
I guess the manga got axed in the end. Both used timeskips to let the MCs rather suddenly progress to a world stage level.

Baby Steps: 2007-2017 Shounen Magazine (Weekly)
Smash!: 2006 - 2010 Shounen Magazine (Weekly)

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