Forum - View topicSaikano
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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After having read the first volume today, I think I will be trying to get more into the series. Having seen the tragic love developing from the plot, and how it affects both the boy and girl, it really has caught on to my attention. The biggest thing was the last scene at the end of the first volume when spoiler[the boy is at the phonebooth trying to locate the girl, and she is seen flying over, generally evolving as a weapon. The one thing she was afraid of.]
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Not a Jellyfish
 Posts: 539 Location: Boston, MA |
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I'm glad there is still new love for this series. Saikano is among my top 5 manga ever. The characters, the story, the depth, the art, the pacing, everything is absolutely perfect. From the premise, it sounds so ridiculously cheesy, but it is so much more than "a guy's girlfriend gets turned into an ultimate weapon to save the world." Saikano is a modern tragedy that speaks bounds about humanity, relationships, and I think above all hope and love. Yeah yeah, cheese fest. But I don't think any other manga series has made me feel as much emotion as Saikano. Tragically beautiful to the bitter end and absolutely worth reading.
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Moomintroll
 Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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Saikano is on my manga-I-need-to-get list but I've been thinking about removing it from said list after watching the anime. I found the anime to be clumsily emotionally manipulative (not a good combination), mawkish, lacking in logic (in terms of both the drama and the science fiction) and entirely devoid of characters I could like, empathise with or care about.
How close is the anime to the manga, Not a Jellyfish? If it's a faithful adaptation, I'll not be trying the manga but if the manga avoids the problems I had with the anime version I'd still be happy to give it a go. [I should point out that pretty much everyone else seems to think the Saikano - or She: The Ultimate Weapon (the name is was released under in the UK) - anime is a work of genius so those thinking of trying it shouldn't be put off by my dislike of it.] |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Well, you never know how far the manga can go compared to the anime. I personally read more manga than watch anime, and I have found 95% of the manga I have read to be somewhat better than compared to the anime. I haven't seen the anime myself, but maybe I might find out a few things. A staff member here said never to let one side of the series decide how you view the other side of the series. One will be good, the other bad, or you'll get great action on both ends and vice versa.
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Not a Jellyfish
Posts: 539 Location: Boston, MA |
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I have read the manga and seen the anime. I'm actually quite surprised by your reactions, Moomintroll. But to each their own. The series may not be for everyone. The anime is a relatively faithful adaptation of the manga. The manga is more flushed out with character development and furthers certain situations, but overall, it's almost the same. I'd say give the first volume of the manga a try before you write it off completely. The pacing is different in the anime than in the manga, so that may add to part of your dislike. If you don't like what you see in the first volume, I'd say the series may just not be for you.
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Moomintroll
Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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I'd entirely agree with that generally. It's just that when you're really, really turned off by the first version you see it can be difficult to bring yourself to spend more money risking the same thing in a different form. I'll take heed and leave it on my wants list for now. Just not very high up my wants list... 
Me too. Every review and forum thread I read seemed to indicate it would be something I'd enjoy at least somewhat so I was thrilled when I found it cheap in a sale at HMV but it ended up taking me a month to get through the boxset (including the OVA, which I thought was a slight improvement on the TV series) and I had to really force myself to finish it. I don't mind angst and tragedy but it just felt really contrived.
Thanks for the advice. I'll give the first volume a go at some point - your saying the pacing is different is a relief since the pacing was one of my problems with the anime. |
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Not a Jellyfish
Posts: 539 Location: Boston, MA |
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I hope you do and I certainly hope you enjoy it. I definitely prefer the manga over the anime (which is generally true for all things for me). Overall, I just think it works better. So it may solve some of the problems for you.
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Though I think it does enough things right to make it worth viewing, my take on the anime is similar to Moomintroll's, especially when it comes to being emotionally manipulative. Hitting the viewer with wave after wave of depressing drama and overblown emotions can only get you so far without compelling characters to back it all up. But as one might expect the manga is better. It has the same kinds of problems as the anime had, but Takahashi is a strong enough storyteller to make it compelling and the characters are a bit more fleshed-out. The medium suits the fairly unstructured plot better as well.
That said, its been nearly two years since I read volume five and I have yet to purchase the remaining books. |
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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The last volume is out of print and hard as hell to obtain, so good luck to you and Moonmintroll. Saikano's a weird series, since it's something that I really shouldn't care much for -- it's obviously emotionally manipulative, bit mawkish at times, etc. -- but Takahashi impressive handling of the characters (Chise in most manga-ka's hands would undoubtedly be a pandering type to induce moe) and the broad yet effective stroke he paints his themes with really hit home when you least expect it. Oh, and the manga is better than the anime, most definitely. I actually saw the anime first, and came away a bit disappointed. (Though admittedly it's one of Gonzo's few good series.) Read the manga a some time later and it had a really hard impact on me. When I came to the ending and read Takahashi's afterword, it felt so cathartic -- and this is AFTER knowing what would happen. Lesson learned: Cramming thick seven volumes worth of manga into 13 episodes won't produce the best results. |
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Moomintroll
Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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Yup. Amazon.co.uk has 5 copies of the last volume available through marketplace sellers but they range in price from £15 to just under £100 (that's the best part of $200...). And that's kind of annoying given that I'd just decided to give the series a go following what you, Kagemusha and Not A Jellyfish wrote. 
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Not a Jellyfish
Posts: 539 Location: Boston, MA |
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Wow, I had no idea it was out of print. But indeed it certainly is.
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Monumension
 Posts: 268 Location: Norway |
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*swear words* I have been looking for volume 6 of Saikano for a long time, but if the series is out of print then I guess there's no use keep looking for it...
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Here is the encyclopedia entry for it. I was looking for more volumes at Book Off yesterday but they were in the rather expensive section, and I didn't have any money on me, so I had to settle for just the first volume of the Japanese version.
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