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REVIEW: Complex Age GN 1




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BodaciousSpacePirate
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Joined: 17 Apr 2015
Posts: 3017
PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2016 5:25 pm Reply with quote
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I admit that I will be disappointed if that is the outcome of Complex Age's six volumes, but at this point the exploration of Nagisa's insecurities even as she revels in cosplay are interesting enough that Sakuma might be able to make such an ending work.


This feels like the sort of thing where I'm going to need to wait for someone to review the ending before I commit to picking it up. I don't have the time or the shelf space to commit to six volumes if the moral of the story ends up being something like "being an otaku is something you should grow out of as you get older and settle down".
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FenixFiesta



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2016 6:10 pm Reply with quote
BodaciousSpacePirate wrote:


This feels like the sort of thing where I'm going to need to wait for someone to review the ending before I commit to picking it up. I don't have the time or the shelf space to commit to six volumes if the moral of the story ends up being something like "being an otaku is something you should grow out of as you get older and settle down".

That would be an annoying yet not unexpected sentiment.
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2016 9:21 pm Reply with quote
I can't remember; was this hosted on a website at one point, or just a preview of it? Or was it the one-shot?

Glad this got picked up, I was kind of curious about it. The one-shot's ending is a little worrisome, but I think I'd be okay with the series ending on a similar note if the heroine trades the confidence cosplay gives her for confidence in her day-to-day life. I'm just hoping it lines up more with C.S. Lewis' quote about "being old enough to start reading fairy tales again" rather than the "you should grow up and join 'normal' society" train of thought.
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CandisWhite



Joined: 19 Apr 2015
Posts: 282
PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2016 11:33 pm Reply with quote
This sounds like an interesting story and I'm curious, but a little bit fearful, to see where it would go.

I am certainly sympathetic to Nagisa's shyness leaving her to feel that her taste is something that needs to be hidden but am less sympathetic to the pedantic and immature behavior regarding her interaction with other people, particularly other fans. THAT needs to be addressed and, I hope, that the character will evolve out of that and grow up, both to be open with her interests and to be more of a flexible and mature grown-up.

I'm there on the young girl interests part: I have 45 Monster High dolls on the shelves of my bedroom desk; I'm a huge Jem fan, and never saw the show until I was in my 20s; Though I no longer play with them, I'm still just as a big of a My Little Pony fan as when I was a kid. You might see me at the grocery store wearing Ariel earrings (They're gorgeous; I bought them at the Disney Store or they were a gift- I genuinely can't remember, I've had them that long), buying Shopkins Kleenex, and being wholeheartedly interested in the new Barbie line.

I am on the opposite side of the football field on Nagisa's actually acting like a little girl and am recommending that she see a psychiatrist about her insecurity regarding her inability to physically be the character that she loves: That's not expressing love for a creative world, regardless of who its intended audience is; That's obsession.

It seems that Nagisa has no interests outside of this ONE show and is oblivious to the idea that she is missing out on so much of life by denying herself the ability to take pleasure in anything but this one fictional world: If the story goes on to address this, in a well-written way, it's something I will not only be interested in but something I will WANT to own.

Nagisa doesn't need to jettison her love of the show, including the cosplay, but simply needs to mold her outlook on life into a new, flexible, mature, one.Then, she'll see that she doesn't need to hide away in a (metaphorical) dark, dusty closet but can come out and breath the fresh, invigorating, air of really living.
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 3333
Location: Victoria, Australia
PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2016 11:44 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I'm another one that is weary of the ending, even if the journey seems like something that may interest me. Unsure what to think, had no idea the original one-shot ended that way.
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