Update to the Manga Update

On the Legend of Maian, it appears that the scanlators were just waiting on the next tankoboun (sp?). I suspect that crowds threatened to burn down Kim Dal Il’s house or something, because Felix is suddenly acting a lot more reasonable. As before, spoilers below the fold.

About three more issues have been posted so far, all continuing with the grim and dramatic storyline — minimal humor. One of the new characters appears to be taking the place of Felix as the useless noob, whereas Felix himself has obviously taken a level or two in badass. He is still somewhat of a jerk in the new issues, but not as homicidal; now he’s talking sh*t but actually behaving semi-reasonable. Felix has met up with the new characters, one of whom I strongly suspect is another Knight of the Eleven, and the other two being a brother-sister pair, of which the brother is the noob. We get a few clues as to what happened at the end of the prior battle, but Felix’s reasonableness evaporates when one of Dhia’s armies unexpectedly shows up at the city where they’re at, led by two of his four lieutenants.

Said army is getting the whole “rape, burn, pillage” thing in the right order (gotta love competent subordinates), and Felix gets involved when the noob gets in over his head trying to help a soon-to-be victim of objective #1. Things quickly escalate, and it’s obvious that Felix took more than just a couple of levels in badass. Then Dhia’s right-hand man, er, woman shows up, and of course its Felecia. She’s being ultra-loyal to Dhia-sama, prompting Felix to go “Honorifics? YOU?” And then all hell breaks loose, and pity the army caught between them, because Felix hasn’t taken a level, or two, or ten in badass — he is badass incarnate; more precisely, he’s the War God incarnate, because over the last several years, his powers seem to have fully manifested. He may even have the upper hand on Felicia — everyone else, including the lieutenants and possible Knight had best clear the area, quickly.

So, what do I think? I still liked the pre-disaster story way better. I think the baby isn’t Dhia’s; it’s Felix’s, which is why Dhia is having it fostered out. I think Kim wanted a time skip so he could power up Felix, and I think he barely avoided being lynched over the way he did it; which is why he toned Felix down and put him and Felicia back together, even if as opponents. I think this is the type of story that Kim is more comfortable with, and we’re probably not going to get the comedy back. The noob and his sister are supposed to supply it, but they’re just pointless sidekicks for now.

The problem with this type of story is that there’s really only a few directions it can go.

• Total Tragedy: Felix kills Felicia, vice versa, or Dhia kills them both.
• Major Tragedy: Dhia dies, but so does Felix or Felicia (“Baaawwww!” ending: the survivor recovers the child).
• Minor Tragedy: Dhia dies, Felix and Felicia live, but the baby either dies or is taken by its foster mother and raised secretly. See the sequel in a century as they fight against their own child, raised by their enemies.
• Best End: Felix and Felecia resume their curbstomp of Dhia, recover the baby, conquer the world, and live happily ever after.

Yeah, right. Like that’s gonna happen in a Kim dal Il story.

Ok, gotta run, but I hope to be back later this weekend with something on the new anime this spring based on a couple of manga I’m currently reading: Tasogare x Amnesia, and Sankarea.