Obviously it was just too much for the poor widdle brains of the manga-artist and manga-author to go the extra mile and actually make Kazuki a girl. (S)He could've been an asskicking female shonen hero on a level with Gen. Olivia Armstrong! Except that if Kazuki had been a girl, he never would've won a single fight, judging by the usual shonen girls-can't-win rules applied to Himiko.
There's probably an entire discussion buried in there, about how the only way to get to see a feminine-like character win a battle, in the average shonen, is if it's a man with feminine qualities. That a feminine woman, or even a masculine woman, will still be set up as the losing and/or rescuee character. So if you want anything that codes feminine, your only choice is the feminine-male, because boy automatically equals "will win fights" and the trappings are just for show.
As for the fights... eh, GetBackers fights are standard shonen-fare. They're about par with Watsuki (Rurouni Kenshin); of the various shonen stories, I'd say Bleach and Naruto are two of the best for giving you a fairly good idea of what's going on, in just one explosive image. For artistic flair that can overshadow the fight, look no farther than Blade of the Immortal, but that guy's gotten a little better. GetBackers, though, is neither the best nor the worst for its fights, just whaddaya call it, workable. I think dealing with illustrated fights is a matter of practice: you learn what to look for, in a quick skim, to get the impression intended, extract the information needed, and you flip the page. In a series like Naruto, or Kenshin, or their ilk, a chapter that consists of a fight is a chapter I can read in about five ten minutes (adjusting for not reading at my admittedly inhuman speed). You're not meant to slow down; you're meant to zip past it, only getting a bare impression.
With the exception of Blade of the Immortal (and I suspect D.Grayman) most fights aren't drawn to be gorgeous centerpieces of artwork. And I think BotI does it better because it keeps the movement in there, so you're looking at a kind of modern brushwork. D.Grayman's fight scenes are definitely illustrated meticulously (if in a lot of the wrong ways), but still static compared to the average shonen scene, which really does rely more on blurred movement, swirls, and just enough information to let you know who's who and what's what.
Or maybe I should say: the best shonen fight-choreography shows you the steps between the movements, while the worst shows you the stopping points. Hmm. Think of it like this: you know that scene in the Matrix, when Trinity does that (now-parodied everywhere) leap kick at the police officers? The part that got the slow-motion camera-whatever CGI effect? A good shonen fight scene will show you her kick -- either the moment of her being poised in mid-air (where it's obvious already what'll happen in the next second) OR it'll show you the split-second after that, just as her foot touches the chest of a cop. So she's still "in kick", but you're getting a bit more of the result. Next frame: showing the cop against the wall. You saw the kick (cause) and then the knocked-out cop (result), and you can immediately conclude that Trinity kicked this guy out. Alright, next page, next cause/effect.
Hoshino (D.Gray-man) really is a gorgeous illustrator, but she just can't seem to get what it is about a fight that needs to be illustrated. I don't get why, although I've heard she hates to illustrate fight scenes, and at times, it really does feel like she's just being recalcitrant for the sake of, I don't know, ego, whatever. Because to describe her fight scenes in contrast with the Matrix example... maybe this'll make sense. Who I'd expect to illustrate is in paren.
1. Cops burst down door (Naruto, Bleach) 2. Trinity stands up, facing cops (D. Gray-man) 3. Trinity launches into kick (Bleach) 4. Trinity's foot lands on cop's chest (Naruto) 5. Cop goes down, Trinity lands on top of him (D. Gray-man) 6. Cop is seen laying down, knocked-out (Bleach, Naruto) 7. Trinity turns to face cops (if she says anything, then we're in Bleach) 8. Other cops leap on top of Trinity (Naruto) 9. Major pileon like bad 40s cartoons (D. Gray-man) 10. Trinity throws off all the cops (Bleach, Naruto) 11. Trinity runs (D.Gray-man)
See what I mean? It's like you've got to read between the lines, but that's awfully hard when the lines you do get aren't always illustrated so clearly. It's a real pity, because D.Grayman -- outside its pathetic, if gorgeous, fight scenes -- has some really phenomenal aspects. It does a few twists and turns right up there with Kuroshitsuji, in terms of playing with the darkness.
no subject
Date: 26 Jan 2012 06:15 pm (UTC)There's probably an entire discussion buried in there, about how the only way to get to see a feminine-like character win a battle, in the average shonen, is if it's a man with feminine qualities. That a feminine woman, or even a masculine woman, will still be set up as the losing and/or rescuee character. So if you want anything that codes feminine, your only choice is the feminine-male, because boy automatically equals "will win fights" and the trappings are just for show.
As for the fights... eh, GetBackers fights are standard shonen-fare. They're about par with Watsuki (Rurouni Kenshin); of the various shonen stories, I'd say Bleach and Naruto are two of the best for giving you a fairly good idea of what's going on, in just one explosive image. For artistic flair that can overshadow the fight, look no farther than Blade of the Immortal, but that guy's gotten a little better. GetBackers, though, is neither the best nor the worst for its fights, just whaddaya call it, workable. I think dealing with illustrated fights is a matter of practice: you learn what to look for, in a quick skim, to get the impression intended, extract the information needed, and you flip the page. In a series like Naruto, or Kenshin, or their ilk, a chapter that consists of a fight is a chapter I can read in about
fiveten minutes (adjusting for not reading at my admittedly inhuman speed). You're not meant to slow down; you're meant to zip past it, only getting a bare impression.With the exception of Blade of the Immortal (and I suspect D.Grayman) most fights aren't drawn to be gorgeous centerpieces of artwork. And I think BotI does it better because it keeps the movement in there, so you're looking at a kind of modern brushwork. D.Grayman's fight scenes are definitely illustrated meticulously (if in a lot of the wrong ways), but still static compared to the average shonen scene, which really does rely more on blurred movement, swirls, and just enough information to let you know who's who and what's what.
Or maybe I should say: the best shonen fight-choreography shows you the steps between the movements, while the worst shows you the stopping points. Hmm. Think of it like this: you know that scene in the Matrix, when Trinity does that (now-parodied everywhere) leap kick at the police officers? The part that got the slow-motion camera-whatever CGI effect? A good shonen fight scene will show you her kick -- either the moment of her being poised in mid-air (where it's obvious already what'll happen in the next second) OR it'll show you the split-second after that, just as her foot touches the chest of a cop. So she's still "in kick", but you're getting a bit more of the result. Next frame: showing the cop against the wall. You saw the kick (cause) and then the knocked-out cop (result), and you can immediately conclude that Trinity kicked this guy out. Alright, next page, next cause/effect.
Hoshino (D.Gray-man) really is a gorgeous illustrator, but she just can't seem to get what it is about a fight that needs to be illustrated. I don't get why, although I've heard she hates to illustrate fight scenes, and at times, it really does feel like she's just being recalcitrant for the sake of, I don't know, ego, whatever. Because to describe her fight scenes in contrast with the Matrix example... maybe this'll make sense. Who I'd expect to illustrate is in paren.
1. Cops burst down door (Naruto, Bleach)
2. Trinity stands up, facing cops (D. Gray-man)
3. Trinity launches into kick (Bleach)
4. Trinity's foot lands on cop's chest (Naruto)
5. Cop goes down, Trinity lands on top of him (D. Gray-man)
6. Cop is seen laying down, knocked-out (Bleach, Naruto)
7. Trinity turns to face cops (if she says anything, then we're in Bleach)
8. Other cops leap on top of Trinity (Naruto)
9. Major pileon like bad 40s cartoons (D. Gray-man)
10. Trinity throws off all the cops (Bleach, Naruto)
11. Trinity runs (D.Gray-man)
See what I mean? It's like you've got to read between the lines, but that's awfully hard when the lines you do get aren't always illustrated so clearly. It's a real pity, because D.Grayman -- outside its pathetic, if gorgeous, fight scenes -- has some really phenomenal aspects. It does a few twists and turns right up there with Kuroshitsuji, in terms of playing with the darkness.