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Which is in your opinion the greatest story ever told in an anime/manga?

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Mar 25, 9:25 PM
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I don't necessarily mean the "best" story, but the greatest. I think it will be easier to explain with my own answer. I think the greatest story ever told (even outside of anime/manga) is One Piece. There are other things that I would probably say have stories and developments as greatly constructed as One Piece (The Last of Us, Steins;Gate, etc.) nut the sheer scale and depth of One Piece is simply too overwhelming. Never have I seen such an absurd mix of worldbuilding, lore, foreshadowing, mysteries and connections between different characters and plot lines. It is simply unimaginable to me how Oda not only has maintained the level of such an amazingly connected and complex story, but that every chapter he keeps building more complexity above it and it never seems to feel overly confusing or unnecessary. Oda makes such an amazing job at preparing you for new information that you could probably find 20 times that any new reveal was foreshadowed in the story.
That is why I actually consider Oda the best author of anything ever. The level of insane foresight and unparalleled level of great writing throughout an inmense amount of chapters on One Piece is imo the greatest achievement of any piece of media ever.
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
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Mar 25, 9:56 PM
#2

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Phoenix tells the entire history of human civilization starting from the birth of Japan and extending all the way to the distant future.
https://tezukaosamu.net/en/manga/656.html
Its only flaw is massive gaps in the timeline that Tezuka died before he could completely fill in. There are no stories set in the 20th century unless you count the "Daichi-hen" novel Sakuraba was commissioned to write.
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Mar 25, 9:57 PM
#3
🍅 Tomato 🍅

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Star☆Twinkle Pretty Cure is my favorite.

Mar 25, 10:44 PM
#4

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Probably Monster or Penguindrum for me
Mar 25, 10:59 PM
#5

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Love Live Superstar

Ok, seriously, the Nausicaa manga. Hard to talk about without spoilers, but the ending was the first time I started to question the way a lot of environmental rhetoric treats humans and nature, natural and artificial, as separate entities, and the whole mythical concept of a pure, untainted natural world.

But if you want to know why I say Love Live Superstar, it's better than Your Lie In April. Better than Full Moon o Sagashite. The best version of A Star is Born I've seen. And it's because it diverges from the typical "love of one's life helps protagonist become a successful musician" to reveal, no, Kanon didn't need a saviour. Her singing, songwriting, stage presence? It came from herself all along.
Mar 25, 11:06 PM
#6

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Reply to MelodyOfMemory
Love Live Superstar

Ok, seriously, the Nausicaa manga. Hard to talk about without spoilers, but the ending was the first time I started to question the way a lot of environmental rhetoric treats humans and nature, natural and artificial, as separate entities, and the whole mythical concept of a pure, untainted natural world.

But if you want to know why I say Love Live Superstar, it's better than Your Lie In April. Better than Full Moon o Sagashite. The best version of A Star is Born I've seen. And it's because it diverges from the typical "love of one's life helps protagonist become a successful musician" to reveal, no, Kanon didn't need a saviour. Her singing, songwriting, stage presence? It came from herself all along.
MelodyOfMemory said:
it's better than Your Lie In April. Better than Full Moon o Sagashite.

Those are low bars to clear in my opinion.
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Mar 25, 11:10 PM
#7

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Reply to Lucifrost
MelodyOfMemory said:
it's better than Your Lie In April. Better than Full Moon o Sagashite.

Those are low bars to clear in my opinion.
@Lucifrost Admittedly, yes. I didn't understand what people saw in Your Lie In April either. Other than the music, it seemed like your standard teen melodrama and yet another iteration of the well known A Star Is Born plot.
Mar 25, 11:55 PM
#8

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One piece is one of my favourite manga but their are many flaws in it to call it greatest.
Mar 25, 11:55 PM
#9

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For me will be Shoulder a Coffin Kuro that lore the world building the black disease the mysterious witch, and the king I love the fairytale Grimms Tim Burton combination I wish it got anime though
Mar 26, 12:20 AM
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Some really great answers to this question! I would have to also say its is One Piece. Everything in the one piece world is a complex variable that will almost most certainly come back to have a huge impact on the mystery that develops over the course of 25 years of this story, things like the people, genetics, and even the geography itself is all working together for a singular great reveal and there is nothing wasted in the story.
Mar 26, 12:27 AM
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I haven't read enough manga or watched enough anime to say, but Hunter X Hunter is up there. One of the most meticulously written stories I've seen
Mar 26, 12:30 AM
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For me it's CLANNAD. It's a visual novel but it had a great Anime adaptation.

It's my favorite piece of fiction, never has a story touched me and produced so many emotions.
Mar 26, 12:33 AM
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Either UC gundam or LoGH, there's just a feeling that you watch an epic with them, the scale and everything feels both grander than life while being very real and personal
Mar 26, 1:11 AM

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Reply to nishant0
One piece is one of my favourite manga but their are many flaws in it to call it greatest.
@nishant0 That is what I mean by not being the best, but rather the greatest. Objectively speaking One Pieces does have many flaws, but the scale and writing of One Piece simply puts it over any other story that I've ever consumed. Other animes/mangas are more flawless that One Piece and have amazing writing as well, but One Piece has things than imo are much more difficult to recreate than simply "not having much flaws".
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
Mar 26, 1:12 AM

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Reply to JuiceNoodlez
Some really great answers to this question! I would have to also say its is One Piece. Everything in the one piece world is a complex variable that will almost most certainly come back to have a huge impact on the mystery that develops over the course of 25 years of this story, things like the people, genetics, and even the geography itself is all working together for a singular great reveal and there is nothing wasted in the story.
@JuiceNoodlez And the crazy thing is that it keeps getting better.
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
Mar 26, 1:16 AM

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Reply to Guilmon1
Either UC gundam or LoGH, there's just a feeling that you watch an epic with them, the scale and everything feels both grander than life while being very real and personal
@Guilmon1 LoGH is so insanely good. The pure concept of the show is in my opinion one of the best ever: a profoundly political and militaristic space opera that revolves around two of the most charismatic protagonists ever. If that doesn't sound great I don't know what does. I like to think about LoGH like a really similar Kingdom but that happens in the Star Wars universe.
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
Mar 26, 1:18 AM
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Reply to DarkFirefly72
@Guilmon1 LoGH is so insanely good. The pure concept of the show is in my opinion one of the best ever: a profoundly political and militaristic space opera that revolves around two of the most charismatic protagonists ever. If that doesn't sound great I don't know what does. I like to think about LoGH like a really similar Kingdom but that happens in the Star Wars universe.
@DarkFirefly72 yeah
Sadly I didn't finish it because there is no place with good subtitles but my conquest is the sea of stars is one of the best experiences I had with an anime movie, it even stands on its own
Mar 26, 1:23 AM

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For me it would be Violet Evergarden or A Silent Voice. Not because it was unique or something, it just resonates with me more.
Mar 26, 1:24 AM

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Reply to Guilmon1
@DarkFirefly72 yeah
Sadly I didn't finish it because there is no place with good subtitles but my conquest is the sea of stars is one of the best experiences I had with an anime movie, it even stands on its own
@Guilmon1 If I remember correctly the subs on this website were pretty good and consistent: https://watch.hikaritv.xyz/anime/820/Ginga_Eiyuu_Densetsu. If you don't like those you can use this https://theindex.moe/library/anime to search for good places where to watch anime.
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
Mar 26, 1:28 AM

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Reply to KodomoKomodo
For me it would be Violet Evergarden or A Silent Voice. Not because it was unique or something, it just resonates with me more.
@KodomoKomodo Violet Evergarden made me cry like crazy XD. I think that I cried like 14 times between the show and the movie.
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
Mar 26, 2:21 AM

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Reply to DarkFirefly72
@nishant0 That is what I mean by not being the best, but rather the greatest. Objectively speaking One Pieces does have many flaws, but the scale and writing of One Piece simply puts it over any other story that I've ever consumed. Other animes/mangas are more flawless that One Piece and have amazing writing as well, but One Piece has things than imo are much more difficult to recreate than simply "not having much flaws".
@DarkFirefly72 the scale of story and world building in OP is unmatched and it already has been praised for years for that, but as i said the flaws are also there for years and while it being of aware of it, still doesn’t try to improve on them which won’t let me put it on pedestal of greatest like many fans of the series.
Mar 26, 2:31 AM

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Monster. Certainly not the richest in worldbuilding or having deep lore (which it still does those pretty well) but rather the messages/themes, their multiplexity and how they're delivered for example
which the first time watching it I simply thought "bruh this ed sucks the first one was better" but after reading, thinking, rewatching and with even more thinking I finally understood "ohh, that's why".

Then there are others like Berserk (manga), Lotgh, Juuni Kokuki, AoT (yes) Ergo Proxy and maybe One Piece that deserve mentioning as well which ofc none of them are perfect.
TRC_RandyMar 26, 2:36 AM
Mar 26, 2:37 AM
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HEAVEN OFFICIALS BLESSING! [It's a donghua. Speaking about the novel] That is like... pure love 🤌
Mar 26, 3:03 AM

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Reply to Cherie_758
HEAVEN OFFICIALS BLESSING! [It's a donghua. Speaking about the novel] That is like... pure love 🤌
@Cherie_758 adding that to my PTR
@Lucifrost yesssss!!!!

For me, it'll be a manga I'm reading currently, Karakuri Circus. It's the greatest I've read so far, it starts out really simple actually, but the plot scales to such a huge level, spanning over literal generations and making sense throughout. I'm not good at explaining but I hope this counts as a recommendation.
Another would be Orb: On The Movement of the Earth. That has an anime now
Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.
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Mar 26, 3:05 AM

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Fate zero is the greatest piece of fiction ever created.
If you enjoyed the time you wasted, then its not a waste of time.

Mar 26, 4:03 AM

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In general, Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

IMO, Kiss x Sis.
MAL EMOJIS - Get your specially formatted emojis for MAL forums.

Mar 26, 5:41 AM

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Maybe Gintama, but I haven't watched it yet.
Mar 26, 8:47 AM

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DarkFirefly72 said:
I don't necessarily mean the "best" story, but the greatest.

By "greatest," it sounds like you mean "biggest" or "most dense." Maybe "grandest"?

The biggest story I've personally read/watched is the Berserk manga. 370+ monthly chapters, published over 30+ years. Packed with beautiful art and spectacle, lots of characterization, huge emotions and sweeping scope.

This is basically the only "long-running" anime/manga that I've seen, and I wonder how it will measure up to other examples in this thread...
Mar 26, 9:00 AM

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Reply to DarkFirefly72
@Guilmon1 If I remember correctly the subs on this website were pretty good and consistent: https://watch.hikaritv.xyz/anime/820/Ginga_Eiyuu_Densetsu. If you don't like those you can use this https://theindex.moe/library/anime to search for good places where to watch anime.
@DarkFirefly72 check everythingmoe there is better list where to watch and it is getting updated almost daily for anime watchers to see if it is good
Mar 26, 10:36 AM

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DarkFirefly72 said:
That is why I actually consider Oda the best author of anything ever. The level of insane foresight and unparalleled level of great writing throughout an inmense amount of chapters on One Piece is imo the greatest achievement of any piece of media ever.


Zoomers and their One Piece fanboyism... Tolkien is probably rolling over in his grave now.
Mar 26, 10:59 AM

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Reply to JoeChip
DarkFirefly72 said:
That is why I actually consider Oda the best author of anything ever. The level of insane foresight and unparalleled level of great writing throughout an inmense amount of chapters on One Piece is imo the greatest achievement of any piece of media ever.


Zoomers and their One Piece fanboyism... Tolkien is probably rolling over in his grave now.
@JoeChip
Tolkien couldn't even get the majority of his ideas published in his lifetime.
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Mar 26, 11:02 AM

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Reply to Lucifrost
@JoeChip
Tolkien couldn't even get the majority of his ideas published in his lifetime.
@Lucifrost

And I am not even a Tolkien fan but still respect his works and his imagination.
Mar 26, 11:28 AM

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Reply to Lucifrost
Phoenix tells the entire history of human civilization starting from the birth of Japan and extending all the way to the distant future.
https://tezukaosamu.net/en/manga/656.html
Its only flaw is massive gaps in the timeline that Tezuka died before he could completely fill in. There are no stories set in the 20th century unless you count the "Daichi-hen" novel Sakuraba was commissioned to write.
@Lucifrost is that the original manga?
Mar 26, 11:34 AM

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Reply to TRC_Randy
@Lucifrost is that the original manga?
@TRC_Randy
I think so? I don't quite understand your question.
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Mar 26, 11:43 AM

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Reply to JoeChip
DarkFirefly72 said:
That is why I actually consider Oda the best author of anything ever. The level of insane foresight and unparalleled level of great writing throughout an inmense amount of chapters on One Piece is imo the greatest achievement of any piece of media ever.


Zoomers and their One Piece fanboyism... Tolkien is probably rolling over in his grave now.
@JoeChip I was talking about argaubly the most beloved and well respected manga author of all time XD. I don't think it is famboyism at all.
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
Mar 26, 11:44 AM

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Reply to TRC_Randy
Monster. Certainly not the richest in worldbuilding or having deep lore (which it still does those pretty well) but rather the messages/themes, their multiplexity and how they're delivered for example
which the first time watching it I simply thought "bruh this ed sucks the first one was better" but after reading, thinking, rewatching and with even more thinking I finally understood "ohh, that's why".

Then there are others like Berserk (manga), Lotgh, Juuni Kokuki, AoT (yes) Ergo Proxy and maybe One Piece that deserve mentioning as well which ofc none of them are perfect.
@TRC_Randy Monster is amazing. The only real nitpick I have about the manga is that even though it is a slow paced manga, the pacing does feel too slow for me sometimes.
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
Mar 26, 11:46 AM

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Fate/Zero, Madoka Magica, Psycho Pass make up a Holy Trinity when you really think about it.

Sometimes it takes a real man to be best girl. Gilgamesh is also chad.

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Mar 26, 11:54 AM

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Reply to DarkFirefly72
@JoeChip I was talking about argaubly the most beloved and well respected manga author of all time XD. I don't think it is famboyism at all.
@DarkFirefly72

Akira Toriyama is easily more beloved and respected than Oda, and I am not even mentioning Osamu Tezuka, but believe whataver you want.
Mar 26, 12:12 PM

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Reply to JoeChip
@DarkFirefly72

Akira Toriyama is easily more beloved and respected than Oda, and I am not even mentioning Osamu Tezuka, but believe whataver you want.
@JoeChip Arguably is a word I used. There are multiple authors that could have that title. Oda is one of them. And I will believe what I want XD.
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
Mar 26, 12:26 PM
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Link Click[Donghua] is great too. The complexity of it and the thrill and pain it gives is too real 😭🤌 My brain wrecks itself every second of it man-
Mar 26, 12:30 PM

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Sailor Moon classic, Steins Gate, Major, and Madoka Magica are some really good ones imo

Mar 26, 3:04 PM

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Reply to Lucifrost
@TRC_Randy
I think so? I don't quite understand your question.
@Lucifrost no I mean it looked like the complete manga. Page-to-page but ig I was mistaken.
Mar 26, 4:06 PM
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Really tough question; for anime I couldnʼt pick anything because there are just that many that excel at the story department. Iʼd probably choose something mainstream like FMAB, NGE, Code Geass, Steins Gate.

Manga I havenʼt read as much, but "Jumyou wo Kaitotte Moratta. Ichinen ni Tsuki, Ichimanen de." is a simple yet compelling story that deeply analyses how much is oneʼs life worth. It doesnʼt rely on plot twists or any other plot device to progress itʼs story. Itʼs plain simple yet it is worked to a degree it makes it just this good. Their characters are itʼs main strength and obviously worldbuilding is itʼs weakness, this happens due to the focus of the story and the length.

While you didnʼt include light novels, I feel I need to talk of "Omniscient Readerʼs Viewpoint" which I recently finished reading. The first 100 chapters (551 total) are subpar at best and just about do the same work any mediocre light novel does, it reinvents the wheel. You wonʼt see anything you havenʼt seen and the only outstanding thing is the characters which are very well crafted, each one holding their own views and most of them are unique, making their interactions quite interesting as the story progresses. After the first half of the novel it skyrockets. It becomes fearless on taking risky initiatives on the story and lightly switches to a more psychological tone. By the epilogue, you realize everything was intertwined and to my personal surprise, there were many plot twists I didnʼt even think about not even for one second. It is just that unpredictable. The worldbuilding is naive at first and greatly grows towards the second half. The power system is as refreshing as it comes, it reminded me of the HxH power system introduction which I consider it to be among the best. The foreshadowing is crazy starting from the first chapter and a second read warrants discovering many things youʼve missed on your first read. I gave it a 10/10 and I probably wonʼt be seeing something like this for a while, after all, masterpieces supposed to be rare. An adaptation is on the way and I believe that if does justice to the source material, it will trascend to the top 10 with ease.
Mar 26, 4:11 PM

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It might end up being Frieren when all things are said and done.
As great as the first season was, after catching up with manga, story-wise, it's going to get even better, so if they can keep that up, it's going to be hard to beat.

Mar 26, 9:54 PM

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Reply to Briekimchi
It might end up being Frieren when all things are said and done.
As great as the first season was, after catching up with manga, story-wise, it's going to get even better, so if they can keep that up, it's going to be hard to beat.

@Briekimchi I didn't say Frieren because only the first 28 episodes have come out but if it maintains at least 85% of what made it so great the first season all the way through it is indeed gonna be hard to argue. Does it really get better? That seems practically impossible to me as in my personal opinion the 1st season of Frieren is the most flawless piece of media I'ver ever consumed. Literally no flaws, not even nitpicks. It quite literally is the textbook definition of perfect.
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
Mar 26, 9:58 PM

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Reply to Corvida
Really tough question; for anime I couldnʼt pick anything because there are just that many that excel at the story department. Iʼd probably choose something mainstream like FMAB, NGE, Code Geass, Steins Gate.

Manga I havenʼt read as much, but "Jumyou wo Kaitotte Moratta. Ichinen ni Tsuki, Ichimanen de." is a simple yet compelling story that deeply analyses how much is oneʼs life worth. It doesnʼt rely on plot twists or any other plot device to progress itʼs story. Itʼs plain simple yet it is worked to a degree it makes it just this good. Their characters are itʼs main strength and obviously worldbuilding is itʼs weakness, this happens due to the focus of the story and the length.

While you didnʼt include light novels, I feel I need to talk of "Omniscient Readerʼs Viewpoint" which I recently finished reading. The first 100 chapters (551 total) are subpar at best and just about do the same work any mediocre light novel does, it reinvents the wheel. You wonʼt see anything you havenʼt seen and the only outstanding thing is the characters which are very well crafted, each one holding their own views and most of them are unique, making their interactions quite interesting as the story progresses. After the first half of the novel it skyrockets. It becomes fearless on taking risky initiatives on the story and lightly switches to a more psychological tone. By the epilogue, you realize everything was intertwined and to my personal surprise, there were many plot twists I didnʼt even think about not even for one second. It is just that unpredictable. The worldbuilding is naive at first and greatly grows towards the second half. The power system is as refreshing as it comes, it reminded me of the HxH power system introduction which I consider it to be among the best. The foreshadowing is crazy starting from the first chapter and a second read warrants discovering many things youʼve missed on your first read. I gave it a 10/10 and I probably wonʼt be seeing something like this for a while, after all, masterpieces supposed to be rare. An adaptation is on the way and I believe that if does justice to the source material, it will trascend to the top 10 with ease.
@Corvida Steins;Gate is my fav anime ever, so I can't really argue with that.
I'm pretty interested in readind Omniscient Reader as a friend of mine reads a lot of manhwas and he constantly recommends several of them to me. I'm loving the Solo Leveling show right now and I'm actually reading TBATE right now (I know that it technically isn't a manhwa, but whatever). So Omniscient Reader will definitely be the next one I read.
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
Mar 26, 10:05 PM

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Reply to DarkFirefly72
@Corvida Steins;Gate is my fav anime ever, so I can't really argue with that.
I'm pretty interested in readind Omniscient Reader as a friend of mine reads a lot of manhwas and he constantly recommends several of them to me. I'm loving the Solo Leveling show right now and I'm actually reading TBATE right now (I know that it technically isn't a manhwa, but whatever). So Omniscient Reader will definitely be the next one I read.
@DarkFirefly72
YU-NO is better than Steins;Gate according to the standards you set in this thread.
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Mar 26, 10:34 PM

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@DarkFirefly72
YU-NO is better than Steins;Gate according to the standards you set in this thread.
@Lucifrost I actually thought you were talking about a Yugioh spin off or something XD.
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
Mar 26, 11:18 PM

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I've actually thought about this a great deal in the past and as I'm in no position to meaningfully judge that which I have not seen, I can only judge the anime series (and films) which I have seen, including those from among all my favorites.

And taking them all into account, I'd have to say it's something like Higurashi (and by this, I'm specifying that I'm referring to the main body of the series which I consider to be 54 episodes in length - the first and second seasons, the Nekogoroshi-hen special, and the three middle episodes or Saikoroshi-hen arc and denouement of the Rei OVA; all the rest is an exercise in blowing off steam, self-indulgence, and fan tribute for the creators and audience alike). There are a very few series I rank above it and prefer (exactly three), but all of those have in essence extremely simple stories centered on one or a few core basic and primal wants, fears, and dilemmas of the human experience, transfigured to unparalleled artistic heights and explored in immaculate detail.

Higurashi, it's difficult to assess and say for certain if it's due to the mystery genre necessitating a deliberately oblique and obscurantist presentation of more simple motivations and events, but I find that it has seemingly the largest amount of discordant and disparate elements and moving parts sewn together like a patchwork or elaborate tapestry - including the range of different genres, conflicting character personal motivations and pasts, rival ideologies, changes in perspective of the audience vessel/vehicle from character to character and different points in time, the opportunity to examine the same familiar characters in different and radically contradictory scenarios in a way which is usually outside the scope of one show due to the nature of the show's very premise and with it exploration of unspoken concepts like circumstantial morality in philosophy, the marriage between scientific and supernatural hypotheses and eventual confirmed explanations for understanding the basis of the world and nature of the conflict the characters find themselves in, etc.

In a way, something like, say, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu could be arguably said to be far more grand and ambitious in scope and in a way that would be correct, because it more closely mirrors real life historical developments and political schools of thought. But in my view it's a much more matter-of-fact and documentary-style relaying of events over a long period which sacrifices something of the intimate and opportunity to accentuate its drama in a bid to be comprehensive (this isn't intended as a put-down - that series is also one of my high-ranking top favorites and select few 9/10s. My own writing is also likely often perceived as dry, pedantic, and unyieldingly digressive in service of accuracy, so the series' approach coincides nicely with my own sensibilities, but then, I'm not a professional author).

What also aided in my arrival at this conclusion is that every series and film I've ever seen, and to my acknowledge exists (and it would stand to reason goes likewise for every story-based novel, game, etc.) could be sufficiently summarized with a synopsis and Higurashi is no exception, but in my experience it's the series with the greatest divorce between anticipation and expectations formed from reading one for it and the breadth of story actually experienced.
WatchTillTandavaMar 26, 11:24 PM
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Reply to WatchTillTandava
I've actually thought about this a great deal in the past and as I'm in no position to meaningfully judge that which I have not seen, I can only judge the anime series (and films) which I have seen, including those from among all my favorites.

And taking them all into account, I'd have to say it's something like Higurashi (and by this, I'm specifying that I'm referring to the main body of the series which I consider to be 54 episodes in length - the first and second seasons, the Nekogoroshi-hen special, and the three middle episodes or Saikoroshi-hen arc and denouement of the Rei OVA; all the rest is an exercise in blowing off steam, self-indulgence, and fan tribute for the creators and audience alike). There are a very few series I rank above it and prefer (exactly three), but all of those have in essence extremely simple stories centered on one or a few core basic and primal wants, fears, and dilemmas of the human experience, transfigured to unparalleled artistic heights and explored in immaculate detail.

Higurashi, it's difficult to assess and say for certain if it's due to the mystery genre necessitating a deliberately oblique and obscurantist presentation of more simple motivations and events, but I find that it has seemingly the largest amount of discordant and disparate elements and moving parts sewn together like a patchwork or elaborate tapestry - including the range of different genres, conflicting character personal motivations and pasts, rival ideologies, changes in perspective of the audience vessel/vehicle from character to character and different points in time, the opportunity to examine the same familiar characters in different and radically contradictory scenarios in a way which is usually outside the scope of one show due to the nature of the show's very premise and with it exploration of unspoken concepts like circumstantial morality in philosophy, the marriage between scientific and supernatural hypotheses and eventual confirmed explanations for understanding the basis of the world and nature of the conflict the characters find themselves in, etc.

In a way, something like, say, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu could be arguably said to be far more grand and ambitious in scope and in a way that would be correct, because it more closely mirrors real life historical developments and political schools of thought. But in my view it's a much more matter-of-fact and documentary-style relaying of events over a long period which sacrifices something of the intimate and opportunity to accentuate its drama in a bid to be comprehensive (this isn't intended as a put-down - that series is also one of my high-ranking top favorites and select few 9/10s. My own writing is also likely often perceived as dry, pedantic, and unyieldingly digressive in service of accuracy, so the series' approach coincides nicely with my own sensibilities, but then, I'm not a professional author).

What also aided in my arrival at this conclusion is that every series and film I've ever seen, and to my acknowledge exists (and it would stand to reason goes likewise for every story-based novel, game, etc.) could be sufficiently summarized with a synopsis and Higurashi is no exception, but in my experience it's the series with the greatest divorce between anticipation and expectations formed from reading one for it and the breadth of story actually experienced.
@WatchTillTandava What is Higurashi about? I've heard about the franchise several times and it seems interesting but I don't really know what it is about.
I also understand your point about LoGH (which I also love a lot and also have as a 9/10), I don't really feel that the series necessarily sacrifices intimacy but I do have some problems with it on my own.
"Those words are meant for those that dare defy god's final warning... An epigraph of their stubbornness"
- Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate 0)
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It’s time to ditch the text file.
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