Mar 30, 2021
As I finish reading the last chapter and take a couple of minutes off to stretch my legs, I'm left wondering how to properly convey in words how I feel about this as a whole. On the one hand my childhood wasn't deprived of the Mega Man series. There were the games (difficult as they came from the different series), the TV show (which I later caught up on) and the fan projects (pictures, merchandising, AMVs, you name it). On the other hand, as I grew older I started looking back at those pieces of media in a different way. My enthusiasm no longer blinded
...
me from their flaws and I started noticing some details and design decisions that I had passed on before. As a result of not being the target audience anymore many conflicting thoughts have come as I try to wrap my head around how to approach this, but I'll try my hardest to remain unbiased.
Firstly, by taking a look at the artwork one can see that effort was clearly put into designing each of the characters. From net navis to their operators, there's a clear visual connection between them being portrayed in their costumes and mannerisms, further solidified with the emblems in a few cases. Plus, the art style adaptation from the source material is charming and makes for quite a number of gags, some of which can come as absurd but in a good way if taken out of context. That is not say that the battle scenes stay far behind in this department. One can imagine their motion along the panels with the effects of the different weapons and transformations coming to light.
Speaking of characters, there doesn't seem to be a shortage on them for every story arc. While not every one from the series makes an appearance, those that do are usually introduced in a dedicated scene that shows us a glimpse of their personality (often in an exaggerated way) and their relevance to the story. A couple even have their own special chapter to show us more about their background. However, there is not much development beyond that. This causes many to be easily forgotten by the end until they suddenly reappear, or not given proper motivation behind their actions. The latter mostly concerned the villains, which results in my immersion being broken as I couldn't empathize with what I was reading.
Lastly, the story is probably the weakest link in this scenario due to two main factors. The first is the power of friendship, otherwise known as "nakama power". It is no secret that many (if not all) shonen products usually rely on this technique in dire straits which seem to have no noticeable solution, which afterwards serves as a way to convey an emotional message. Nevertheless, in this case it felt overly implemented considering how many times it is relied upon by the main characters in a whim. It happens so much that an entire volume was even dedicated to it, making it so that in latter chapters its presence felt somewhat taxing or disingenuous.
The second one is the power level scale. In each arc Mega Man and his crew are driven to defeat the new evil mostly in a new setting with new upgrades and characters who will aid them. As the fight scenes need to build up tension to be believable for the use of the previous technique, the magnitude of power involved has to amplify more and more with each chapter. Hence, what in an earlier chapter may look like the end of the world on a latter one can come as child's play, so looking back at the former takes away their tension. It also leaves you questioning the consistency of such a range of characters, threats and settings coexisting at the same time as the plot unfolds.
In any case, there is certainly a lot of material taken and built from its sources that fans of the series will most probably find engaging. That being stated, there isn't much in terms of a story that takes advantage of it to welcome newcomers. It's certainly an entertaining read, though not for everyone.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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