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REVIEW: Moriarty the Patriot GN 1




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capt_bunny



Joined: 31 May 2015
Posts: 364
PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 4:40 pm Reply with quote
I'm quite surprised about the grade notes. Maybe I'm so numb to a lot of action manga but this nothing compared to a lot of manga. Shoujo manga too. CLAMP's x/1999 makes this manga look like it's for kids compared to all of the gore that series had. That's why I'm confused about seeing "hard to stomach". I get that shounen is aimed for teens and below but there's far worse in a lot of shounen. The franchise I mentioned before being a shoujo too.

Another is historical notes. I guess you have to he a history buff or have read a lot of Sherlock Holmes novels to understand some of the settings the plot continues on.

I do agree that they did give him a "Robin Good" feeling. He's anti villain in the end.
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Dian Z





PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:36 pm Reply with quote
I heard good things about it and now I'm curious. But honestly, I'm not a fan of the idea of ikemen-ized Morriarty, even looking at the cover and how he posed with the gun pointed to his pretty face like an experienced supermodel already puts me off. Maybe it's specifically marketed for readers who fancy ikemen, and I guess it just doesn't work for me. Here's hoping the anime adaptation turns out great, if it's got beautiful animation, I might be motivated to see it beyond the character design.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2606
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 6:11 am Reply with quote
I'm not sure it's so much about an attempt to market to an ikemen audience as it is about an attempt to overwrite the image most people have of the character from Sydney Paget's original illustrations. I, at least, interpreted it as a visual signal that this isn't about the two-dimensional *evil* character most people think of.

There is a joke about the visuals at the end of the book as an extra, so there's at least a little self-awareness of what you're seeing.

@capt_bunny

I didn't mean gore-wise; you're right, this is nothing compared to a lot of other series on that front. I was talking about the emotional impact of the stories - self-harm, drug abuse, that sort of thing, like a "terror vs horror" distinction.

I really do think that historical notes would have been a good addition. I love history and all the little details that are in here, and (and maybe this is because I'm a teacher) I wanted other people who might not get them all to be able to enjoy them too.
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capt_bunny



Joined: 31 May 2015
Posts: 364
PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 10:53 am Reply with quote
Princess_Irene wrote:
I didn't mean gore-wise; you're right, this is nothing compared to a lot of other series on that front. I was talking about the emotional impact of the stories - self-harm, drug abuse, that sort of thing, like a "terror vs horror" distinction.

I really do think that historical notes would have been a good addition. I love history and all the little details that are in here, and (and maybe this is because I'm a teacher) I wanted other people who might not get them all to be able to enjoy them too.


Again, maybe I'm numb from reading so much but I find that those things aren't too much to stomach rather than it being triggers. Such as those who find self harm or child abuse as a triggering for themselves. I would understand if it was that instead.

I agree on on being able to get them. However, a lot of the Sherock franchise usually take place in the 1800's UK. Its natural there will be historical events. That's why they make remakes in modern settings so its easier for the viewers. Understand why you say that but, again, its to be expected. Who knows? The viewer could look it up online out of curiosity to understand the historical time period.
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ErikaD.D



Joined: 09 Jun 2019
Posts: 659
PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 11:22 am Reply with quote
I wonder why Moriarty the Patriot is not on MangaPlus because it's from Jump Square(by Shueisha) and it should be on MangaPlus.

Quote:
Can be a lot to stomach, some translation and artistic issues. Historical notes would have been helpful.

So it has some translation issues. Are just the Japanese version put historical notes but the English version not? If it's true, then Viz is mess up with translations.


Last edited by ErikaD.D on Wed Oct 07, 2020 11:34 am; edited 1 time in total
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Fluwm



Joined: 28 Jul 2009
Posts: 889
PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 11:30 am Reply with quote
I found the first volume promising, but kind of unimaginative. Fiction is rife with guile heroes, and they're one of my favorite tropes, but they kind of require clever plans... and nothing Moriarty does in this book seems all that clever. His "brilliance" is showcased primarily through trivia knowledge.

I'll probably give it another volume or two to see if it improves, but if not, I doubt this is a series I'll bother to follow.
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Jinbei



Joined: 12 May 2014
Posts: 55
PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 12:59 pm Reply with quote
I like the series quite a bit, actually. The finnish translation is good and the story evolves into an interesting direction, albeit sometimes connecting dots to actual historical figures and fictitive personae a bit too straightforwardly to my taste(example: spoiler[one lady is a masterful seductress and able to crossdress very believably and when Albert hires her, she takes on the codename James Bond, which was a bit too much "on the nose" for my taste..]

The fine balance between political history, action and character development is what keeps this series a tasty read. As of now, I believe 9 books have come out in Finland and I remember when the series came out, our largest local retail chain didn't like that the cover had a guy pointing a gun at his temple, so they didn't stock the first book. Had to spend some time finding it...
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ronri



Joined: 11 Apr 2013
Posts: 84
PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 4:37 pm Reply with quote
Dian Z wrote:
I heard good things about it and now I'm curious. But honestly, I'm not a fan of the idea of ikemen-ized Morriarty, even looking at the cover and how he posed with the gun pointed to his pretty face like an experienced supermodel already puts me off. Maybe it's specifically marketed for readers who fancy ikemen, and I guess it just doesn't work for me. Here's hoping the anime adaptation turns out great, if it's got beautiful animation, I might be motivated to see it beyond the character design.

If nothing else, the Fate franchise has shown me that you can still do old man Moriarty in anime style while still managing to draw the same audience (seriously). Not a knock against this series, but the comparison is worth noting.
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dm
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Joined: 24 Sep 2010
Posts: 1354
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 10:31 am Reply with quote
I found myself thinking of A Tale of Two Cities: the nineteenth century British aristocrats in this book seemed like Dickens' French aristocrats of a century before.

I enjoyed this first volume and will definitely be following the series. Even in the first volume we have signs of plenty of back story.

The grapefruit pie was a cute trick, worth the price of admission in itself.
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