manga & anime analyses

Nina the Starry Bride - this story is much more hot boy forward but I love the artwork. Still leaning towards Sett despite his broken boy trope. Though I enjoy the liner notes from the author where some of her assistants have clear ship biases. The comment where she asked the colleague if she 'was Sett's mother' gave me a chuckle. I loved the final page here with all Nina's boys protecting her. I'm really starting to like Holt as well with his nerd with glasses/serious badass without glasses dichotomy.

It appears that the paperback versions of these are popping up fairly quickly as the digital version of this is much further along. To savor the pleasure of reading physical media, I will continue to check out each volume as it comes out. No need to be on top of everything. I'm spending enough time offline or not interacting with most fandoms that I'm in a spoiler free zone all alone. I will fully admit that I can only dedicate my brain and limited free time to 1 fandom at a time and it is still Kekkai Sensen.

Last but not least -

What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad. Not manga or a light novel but still read recently. This novel won the Giller Prize in Canada in 2021, which is awarded to an up and coming author. I have friends who for years would read every single Giller Prize winner until life/work caught up to them. The novel is short and sweet coming in under 300 pages. It has a parallel timeline format with alternating chapters as you piece things together how a young Syrian boy ended up on a Greek beach via Egypt. It also is a retelling of Peter Pan to an extent - and highlights the biases and inability of Western societies to see their own blindness about the issues.

The material is a critical look at the impacts of colonialism (my Golden Kamuy meta topics right there), dehumanization of migrants, desperate people trying to escape the Middle East/Africa for a better life in the vague West. I enjoyed the writing, striking a good balance of details while not getting bogged down by overly complex statements. I've been annoyed by some other recent novels (past 10 years of so) which are absolutely painful to read due to their rambling, convoluted, ridiculously detailed and bloated run on sentences. [see what i just did there]

If anything, it is a shame it took me this long to read it - I told other people to read it back when it got the Giller thinking I'd read it but work - life - moving - new job etc etc. The ending of the book will likely make it or break it for you. Since it is so short, it both reads quickly yet there are elements of it which really need to linger in your brain. Marinate a bit if you will. I personally enjoyed the antagonist of the two children the most a former EU military peacekeeper who served in the Balkans in the 90s and now spends his time chasing ghosts.

Omar's writing personally reads kinda like Michael Ondaantje. Neither of them bury you knee deep in text yet are able to convey powerful statements elegantly. I wonder if it has to do with the idea that they are from countries that were under colonial rule by Europeans (Egypt/Sri Lanka) were educated in another country (Quatar/England) ended up in Canada. Both of them have a globalist perspective on things which I think comes from a lived experience that most of us don't have. I'm currently rereading In the Skin of a Lion, and yes, their writing is still unique but i just get this vibe. Anyhoo, if you want a book that will make you feel things that may be unpleasant but beautifully written than give it a read.

I'm following it up with more Yona of the Dawn and the silly 7th Time Loop light novel series by Touko Amekawa.

We'll see how this series plays out in the greater fandom community when it gets an anime. Compared to the standard popular shounen, it really might be pushing people to really think about grey areas and how one finds a purpose in life. I got sucked in since I love me morally grey areas, personal growth and development and questions about using powers for good or not.

Honey Lemon Soda - read through volume 6. I've watched the anime which was good. They skipped a few manga chapters here and there. The series really speaks to my bullied middle school self, who struggled to find footing in high school. And I didn't get a fresh start since the same people were still there. It is that classic by the book plain Jane girl with the flashy bad boy but somehow keeps it fresh. I think being in Uka's head and the struggle to learn new habits while being true to your best self is difficult in your teen years. It likely is a relatable tale for a lot of readers young and old.

Yona of the Dawn - I'd read through about volume 20 several years ago. Life got busy, and I got sucked in the Golden Kamuy with no brain space for anything else with my busy work schedule. I'm now up to volume 29. It is a great series - the character development is solid and rewarding as they navigate difficult situations. The continued focus to always keep the revolving cast fresh as well as having a lot of women playing key roles through the stories just makes it such an enjoyable read.

Yona - amazing. Hak - amazing. Yun - amazing. Gija, Sinha, Jae-ha and Zeno - amazing. For secondary cast members I've grown to love Riri, Tae-jun and Tae-u and we cannot forget the Earth tribe general Guen-tae and his bubbly wife Yun-ho.

I'm chugging along, reading about 4-5 volumes per check out. For some odd reason the library has few copies of the volumes from around 25-mid 30s on the shelf.

Nina the Starry Bride - read up to volume 8. This is my guilty pleasure read. I watched the anime and have been reading the manga to get further into the story. I do enjoy it - don't get me wrong, but I don't get Nina and Az. Sure Azure is a total dreamy ideal hot guy - yet their initial romance didn't do it for me. They barely knew each other and somehow fell for each other. There is no sweet build up or payoff for them; they defaulted into wanting each other. My controversial take is that a Nina-Sett endgame would be a better payoff. That is a relationship that actually required investment!

However, Sett is also such a trope-filled dumpster fire of a person that really Nina should not do the emotional labor of a trained therapist. I'm interested to see where it goes but let's just say I very well may have further complaints about how it plays out. Yet, I'll keep up with it because it is such a good series for fluffy, candy, political drama shoujo romance. I also really like the style, it's a bit more on the minimal side and gives the panels space to breathe as opposed to the sheer shoujo-ness of something like Honey Lemon Soda.

Soon after this incident, the boys enter their hideout (which just happens to be the lair of the blood breeds). Bloodline gate bats separate the two of them after Klaus hears Diana's scream. He enters the lair to find her killed and being eaten by the trio. Klaus cries out in horror, is terribly wounded losing all of his limbs.

In the darkness Edgar appears and finds Klaus in a giant ziplock bag (for freshness, I guess) and he takes Klaus back to their tent. There he tells him it is the end of the line for him unless he let's Edgar help him him. Klaus appears to be somewhat are and when Edgar asks if he'd like to avenge Diana's death, he leans in really close to hear what that reply is. Based on Edgar's reply, it seems Klaus agreed to it.

The chapter ends with Edgar tearing up while bearing his fangs telling Klaus they will walk the road together and he'll be there for him. All of this clearly indicates that Edgar wants Klaus to be with him. Edgar clearly respects Klaus but also wants his friendship.

Bloody Thursday part 2 - or how to almost make Klaus a Blood Breed! The manga doesn't waste time as Edgar sinks his teeth into Klaus' neck to do the usual vampire thing.

Edgar than talks to Klaus describing what is happening to his body as he transforms. And why did Edgar go to all this work to set up this horrible event for Klaus. Because he's lonely and wants another blood breed [boy]friend! He didn't just choose him from a hat, he got to know Klaus over the period of several years and determined that he was worth of being next to him.

Of course this isn't without risk to Klaus, so he makes it clear if this doesn't work out and Klaus isn't the person he thinks he is - well its over.

With all the disappearances, Lucky Abrams appears again with Magdalena. We learn that the fog is directly related to a powerful blood breed and they are continuing to investigate on their own. I love to note that Magdalena continues to sport heels, indicating that one can choose whatever style of shoe for blood freeze techniques.

Meanwhile, Edgar continues to push Klaus to evolve, referring back to the levels indicated in the original KKSS one shot, where level 13 is the point of no return. We learn that Edgar has pushed the incredibly buff Klaus to level 12. At the same time, Edgar has trapped the three other blood breeds in the bunker having recalled the Bloodline gate bats.

Edgar only opens the door to let Klaus in who quickly demolishes the henchmen and Vladimir is able to escape with Klaus in hot pursuit. The Reinherz family rush to the woods, Vlad realizes the fog has lifted before he and Klaus get frozen by Magdalena, with her thorns of absolute zero. Another botanical attack from her on the books as well.

Klaus was able to break free of her ice and he kills Vladimir easily. Klaus is completely confused and his family quickly surrounds him as Edgar comes out from the shadows, requesting they hand him over. The family look confused and Edgar tells them to get more information from the fang hunters near by.

They are unwilling to let go, so Edgar tries to suck them all in with Klaus so that they can facilitate the completion of the last step in the ritual to get Klaus to level 13 as he observes Klaus' tears falling on the grass. Klaus finally gets up and embraces Edgar in a hug. It appears that Edgar may be blushing? as he then presses off the ground.

With all the force he can summon, Klaus leaps into the air while hugging Edgar into the opening of the giant cross. Klaus is crying while he pushes them into the mouth of the opening while Edgar goes from a calm expression to a soft smile. Was he expecting Klaus to do this? Is he relieved Klaus is trying to push them in together to save his family?

A tooth impales Edgar's head and the entire structure collapses. It seems like he's fine with this happening. Everyone is released and the chapter ends with Abrams report. Edgar was not just some Blood Breed, he was one of the Elder 13, Count Mobius Zoa El-Linkal. Seriously, can these old blood breeds not have such complicated names?

And the chapter ends calling for full support for poor Klaus, a twelve-year-old now in a level 12 form and still human.

First impressions from these past few chapters.

1.) Klaus got the 'Wolfwood' treatment having a strange advanced aging technique used on him, but instead of aging him more quickly it more was about refining his form to become a full blood breed. I was never a fan of that aspect of Trigun Maximum, it sort of soured things for me since Wolfwood gave off snippets of wisdom that didn't fit his final age. At least Klaus now is super tough and very hard to kill [shurgs]. This does align with the original one shot with the blood breed marks and leveling system.

2.) Edgar/Count Mobius is a very lonely guy. Seriously. Trying to understand the rationale and existence that he's been living for thousands upon thousands of years. He's been looking for a companion who can share his experiences. To think that he went to the effort to put himself in orbit of Klaus, get to know him since he was seven and then also move undetected in the presence of others is impressive. With both of them crying during the course of the events did Klaus and Edgar love each other?

It makes me wonder how many other times he'd tried to make a new friend and it failed or if he'd known he would need to find the right person who would understand him?

Now, should you be doing this to a twelve-year-old who cannot consent to the full intent? No, that would be bad. But then again if you are an almost immortal being who doesn't value humans as a whole and really have been craving someone to be your equal, it wouldn't be that hard to rationalize your actions easily.

Additionally, it doesn't seem like he's upset when Klaus cries as he pushes him down into the spiky teeth. It could be read that Edgar/Count would accept someone like Klaus finally killing him, releasing him of his thousands of years of possible suffering?

He likely found a way to lure the low level blood breeds to the area when he'd decided he wanted Klaus and watched things play out as he expected. He lead Klaus to be close to them, and knew that they'd likely take an interest in Diana. The fog and all the strange distortions in the forest were in response to what he was doing to Klaus. When Vladimir notices the fog has lifted he knows he's in trouble since all of it was done by someone more powerful than him, including the summoning of the Bloodline gate leaving them trapped.

What is still unclear is how involved the Reinherz family is in the overall fang hunter scheme. I'd assumed that his family was always involved in them but their father was the one who pulled them away from it. But if they were a family that were involved it would mean they had the possibility to become fang hunters. They clearly did not know Blitz or Magdalena when called out in the moment.

I first read Ranma 1/2 long before watching the original anime so I'm less attached to the original anime. Sure, it was fine and the first OP will live rent free in my head until I die. I appreciated how the remake made sure to keep the feel of the original OP even with a much more smoothly animated version of the martial arts moves that Ranma and Akane did in the original OP and expanded it to contain Ryoga and Shampoo which was great.

Therefore, unlike other series that I watched a lot more, I couldn't even do a one to one comparison of the original version and the 2024 one if I wanted to.

I have to admit the family friendly censorship of Ranma's frequently carefree attitude towards his female form seems a bit odd as a manga fan. I get it, I'm not some fanboy getting my knickers in a twist over it - more like it matches the self-censorship that is omnipresent with shirtless males in anime. I honestly think the last time I recall a male character in anime had legit nipples it was Spike in Cowboy Bebop. I just don't get it, there was a time when male nipples existed freely in anime but now it is no nipples. I'm not looking for an answer, just scratching my head that this is a line that can't be crossed in more recent series. [cough cough] Golden Kamuy [cough cough].

Anyhoo, I've gotten off course . . .

Five episodes into the series, I'm enjoying it. The color is fun, I like the dynamic panels, extra effects and the much more manga adjacent feeling. The manga is so bonkers and over the top and this anime really seems to capture it well. Since it is a silly manga the gags can be approached from a number of different ways. It appears that someone on the staff is a huge Kuno fan based on his even more dramatic entrance in this version.

The biggest disappointment with this first season is we will only get to the introduction of Shampoo - I'm going to have to wait awhile for my gal Ukyo to appear with her giant spatula.

Welp, that's all at the moment for comments on the 2024 version. I'm also reading the manga currently, past where I had gotten with my first edition books. It continues to be hilarious and I'm currently in the middle of the 'food fu' arc which is a great snapshot of how the series captures that weird sense of humor.

It is definitely hitting different seeing that this was my first manga series ever. I put a Shampoo sticker in my Ti-34 calculator which only recently went on the fritz at the ripe old age of twenty-eight and is still in my desk at work. I have a Ranma 1/2 poster still in my old closet at my parents' house (someday I should actually, you know, grab it), I bought fan art at Anime Expo in 2022 and even this summer I got a Ranma double sided charm from a local artist at an Asian food festival who also tables at local cons/art markets. I have to admit, I got all excited for the Trigun reboot and if you've been reading along you know I was incredibly disappointed. And you also have a rough estimate of my age based on when I watched it originally as a fan sub. Yet if there is any series that can be used to date me it is Ranma 1/2 since I bought all of my manga before university. I oddly kept telling myself I'd round out the collection when I got older and had more money to complete it. I never did and it has remained a mess of the original Viz editions. Behold! The first English edition of Ranma 1/2 in the left-to-right, hand lettered, and redrawn sound effects all in English.

Volume 1 cost $16.95 when I bought it which would have worked out to a whopping $33 adjusted for inflation, with a publication date of May 1993. Purchasing those early volumes from Viz was not for the faint of heart or those with shallow pockets. This is reminding me why I never back filled volumes 5-7 within my own collection, coming in at $15.95 each. I'm pretty sure that a few of them were likely Christmas presents as well . . .

These editions are what eventually came to match the size of the Viz Signature versions like Maison Ikkoku and Gokinjo Monogatari. These are hefty books and have held up pretty well over the years.

So I now find myself in the exact same position I was in before Trigun Stampede - do I reread the manga and finish it off since I likely only read the first third of it? And then do I take the time to review the new anime from Mappa?

Unlike Trigun which required me to start from scratch having only watched the anime, I've read up to volume 12 of the original manga and filled in the gaps by watching the original anime back in 2014/2015 to around where I'd read it - I think.

One of the issues is that I have the old format for it where there are no chapter numbers like it would have run in the weekly magazine to directly compare with. Viz did a really weird format since it started out as a comic with different arcs and parts and all mine have part 1-13/14 per volume. If I'm not mistaken, there were two subsequent editions of Ranma 1/2 in English; a right-to-left reprint of the original Japanese tankobon with the sequential chapter numbers from the magazine which then was later bundled into a 2 in 1 edition also in the right-to-left format.

Going by chapter names, I'm going to check out various volumes of the 2 in 1 edition from my local library and hope they line up to cover my gaps and then continue onward from chapter 142, The Mark of the Gods.

I also read the edition which really struggled to describe okonomiyaki to a non-Japanese reader. For several years, my young mind tried to square how they were like pizza when they were made on a griddle but had lots of toppings?!?!

I still don't know why the translators chose to localize it this way. They could have simply called it a savory pancake and it would have solved a lot of reader confusion.

I read the entire manga in the early 2010s via scans and had spent the late 90s to that point praying for an official release after Paradise Kiss was printed by Tokyopop. The series was old enough that in the late 90s early 2000s no one was out there doing the line by line translations that I used to use to read manga. I read all of Wish that way with the original manga and the speech bubble guide. e.g. page 12 panel 5 Overall impressions - this was a white whale for me - I likely bought the original manga when I was sixteen or seventeen based on the art style alone. I would say it falls into your standard dramatic shoujo manga with high school students but the lives of ones in counter-culture, outside the norms of usual expectations. When I read the scans I enjoyed it and while it was nothing mind blowing it is a rewarding read. The various individuals sporting alternative fashions is one of my favorite aspects of it. You have a MC who leans mostly towards mod style (Twiggy from the 1960s) with a strong vintage twist, punk, lolita, generic 90s alternative dude, preppy and your designer brand girl.

I look forward to getting volume 4 and completing the set, just it will be likely 28 years later than I would have wanted. The Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda - I sprung hard for the recent English hardcover editions. One of my friends lent me her roommates 2 volume tankobon set of this series in 2000, but it too lacked a good translation to find online and read along to it. I watched the anime in 2014 and bought the DVD box set. Of course, I couldn't say no to this classic shoujo manga. I'm through the first three volumes and slowly working my way through it. Seeing that I already watched the anime, nothing in it is overall surprising.

I have noticed that early on the level of gay is pretty high and this current "twist" of Andre getting closer to Oscar is much stronger than I felt in the anime. The entire loss of Rosalie and her fawning over Oscar was a disappointment, also toned down in the anime. There is a lot more questioning with Oscar's character as to who she is, what she desires and how to fit into her world. I really wish it pressed those questions more but alas, I'm really starting to feel the Oscar x Andre pressure ramping up. In the anime I felt like it sort of came out of nowhere and in the manga it is more like - okay Rosalie's crush was cute but real adult relationships need a man. lols. Even with my different opinion on the manga compared to the anime, I cannot stress how owning such a fundamental manga series is. I don't think I'll ever attempt a meta on this - more than enough already exists about this with how long it has been around. Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama - An impulse purchase at The Comic Swap on Allen Street. I'm pretty sure some of the individual volumes of X and other early 2000s manga were on the shelf when I was in university.

I'd heard some good murmurs about this manga and a friend kept recommending it. I can't explain how blown away I was this series. The art style is amazing with little use of screen tones and the emphasis on line art. With the author's previous work for DC and Marvel it shows but in all the good ways as far a composition and again that line art. And we haven't even gotten to the story itself! I have read through volume 3 and the pacing is excellent. It doesn't info dump how magic works and the world building is natural and unforced. It already has brought up great questions about who controls knowledge, disability vs accommodation, dealing with trauma, what is your purpose in life/goals. It has the right amount of whimsy that you feel cozy but at the same time you know when shit is serious.

What I feel the most is that Witch Hat Atelier is intentional with everything in it. It is a carefully constructed story and comes together naturally with a good balance of young pupils and adults. And the character designs! Oh my goodness, I love them all.

The Apothecary Diaries by Natsu Hyuuga - Can't skip my gal Mao Mao. I mean I cosplayed as her back in April because how frequently do you get a pragmatic female lead with deadpan humor and is a scientist who likes plants? I also watched the first season of the anime loving every moment of it and how it really shines with its focus on women navigating a world not made to really benefit them. I decided to read the original light novel instead of the manga based on the light novel. I think by time I finish volume 2 I will have caught up to season 1 and hopefully, pull ahead of the eventual second season which comes in 2025, I think.

Out of all the titles, this one is likely my biggest guilty pleasure as a plant biologist; Mao Mao as a character has a lot of common scientist traits which make her very relatable and fun to see in any sort of media. Her obliviousness to certain things not because she doesn't have an eye for details but because she can't be bothered is realistic but rarely given to a female character in most forms of media regardless of cultural context.

Will I dive into the rest of these series for a meta? I'm honestly not sure. I may do a "quick" review of Gokinjo Monogatari when I complete volume 4 but it isn't the sort of manga that feeds into deep critical analysis. It is a coming of age story about artistic kids and looks cool.

I'd likely be more inclined to tackle Witch Hat Atelier but sometimes I just want to read something and not deep dive into it even if it intellectually feeds my curiosity. My current plan is to catch up on the manga and I'm relying on my county library to read volumes 4-13. If I really like it, I'll probably become a sucker and buy it at some point but I need to be a little more mindful of my manga purchases for the sake of my overflowing bookshelves. I took one of those surveys about how much manga you own and I wasn't expecting to clock in at almost 200 volumes when I've given away/sold/donated them from time to time.

It wasn't until undergrad I was able to meet a few more people and figure out more than just the name and artist. I tried to find the translation of the manga online, but was unsuccessful. I have to remind people that before scanlations, you had to buy a tankobon and hope you found the text based translation which would have the text according to page number and what panel location. I read a fair bit of Kenshin that way, but sadly, this series was not that popular with readers in the States. I've been moving my entire adult life hauling my three precious volumes of the manga hoping that someday I would first, collect volume 4-7 to complete the picture and that I'd have my matching English version. Granted, I haven't done a good job of looking for volumes 4-7 when I've been in Japan . . . or using the internet either.

As if to spite me, the follow up manga, Paradise Kiss, did get a translation in 2002 from Tokyo Pop which exists in the same universe as Gokinjo Monogatari. Note that a previous manga's characters show up at the Flea Market in Monogatari as well and Yazawa likes to keep a lot of her series tied together. Eventually, the scanlation of the series appeared and I read it around 2011. I'd only found an episode or two of the anime during the golden age of file sharing, but didn't follow through on it. I wanted to read the manga before watching the anime. In 2017, I visited the Manga Museum in Kyoto, got to see a cool display about Ribon magazine and of course they had Gokinjo Monogatari merch! I bought the file folder set and stickers! I bought the Gokinjo Monogatari UT shirt from Uniqlo featuring Ribon series. Yet each time I found more stuff, the universe got the last laugh. Japan released the collectors set with four volumes, there was a French translation, German etc and never one for English. So, you have to realize how I absolutely lost my mind when the thing I'd figured would never happen, happened! Not only was it a thing, I'd even missed the December 2023 release date -at least I didn't have to wait for a pre-order to get volume 1.

I'm happy to see that this version included some of the original color pages!

It has a few more at the end with a photo wall of Mikako's outfits. Everything about the style of this manga, I absolutely love. The fashion goes so hard even now. I get nostalgic with all of the mid-90s Japanese street fashion which has a mix of 60s mod and 70s flare. I think the series also does a good job of capturing that awkward time in your teenage life when you are trying to figure out how to act with people you are interested in. But failing to sort things out. Unlike a lot of other high school manga series, this one stands out with the much more "normal" appearance of the students. I remember picking it up and thinking that the characters looked like they could be my peers; though there is no way Mikako's outfits would pass my high school's own liberal dress code where dyed hair and piercings were permitted. Her bare midriff would get her in trouble . . . Funny how now when I look at it, this is a very unusual high school set up for a Japanese reader likely coming from a more regimented school environment with a uniform and strict dress code. I never thought about it at the time. More that I was plotting my own hair dying plans for when I moved out of the house for undergrad just like the characters had - while still in high school. I did read Parakiss back when it came out from 2002-2005; however, it never really resonated with me the same way a series that I couldn't even find a decent translation for. I started to watch Nana but couldn't get into it at all. Maybe it was my mindset or the fact that I wasn't the mood for young twenty-somethings figuring their shit out.

His name is only written in kana with no matching English for the manga character guide.

However, we also have his anime info box, where he is Lt. Daniel Low.

Besides him having the last name written as Low, I'm more disappointed at how lame his character design is. I don't think we ever even get to see him standing up in all of season 1 (which the book is only based on it). The very straight nature of his posture is a bummer, the anime at least still kept Steven's noodle posture but Daniel's is gone. His waist is not very cinched unlike in the manga. The anime guide also doesn't have him smoking in his character art. It seems so odd to not include that.

Interestingly, Aligura's Monster Truck is also in the B5 book where it is referred to as a "Monster Track" . . . the whole kana to English always results in things like this. It does seem that most of the Japanese media wants to write his name as Daniel Low(e); yet for me, my brain will always go with the anime Law which as I've stated previously, is hilarious.

4.) K.K. would have boobs, and somehow be more sexy than an awkward and doting mother. See Rem and Luida. 5.) Steven's scar would be smaller or missing to make him a real lady killer. Either they'd lean way too far into Steven's shady side or they'd clean it up completely. Like he'd wink at women as opposed to sleeping with them to get intel. Be Klaus #1 fan! But like all the time, making himself to work too much. His hangry side would either be missing or played up for laughs. 6.) Zed would be dropped because he's the non-human team member. What's the point of having him? 7.) Luciana Estevez would only appear in her super sexy doctor form not her silly clone or normal form.

8.) They would try to create lore and filler to explain things that you have to assume are just how things work. Or they would info dump as opposed to leaving it up to you to worry about things and figure it out from the context. 9.) The entire cast gets aged down, because having a bunch of 30+ cast members who don't have all their shit together is too embarrassing aka very realistic. e.g. K.K. has a house husband (not a good mother like Rem and Luida in Stampede), Steven will die single and alone, Daniel will die single and alone, Patrick carries a torch for Guinness but is single, Abrams is a walking disaster.

10.) Character designs which are super unique and fun, especially in the manga all get 'isekai treatment' were they look homogeneous. The whole point of the diversity of the cast is lost. Women are short and cute, men are tall and slender or tall and buff. No other options.

11.) They attempt to rationalize the 13 Kings and give deep meaning behind their behaviors. Which maybe we will get that someday, but part of the fun is how fucking chaotic they are.

12.) Hellsalem's Lot is an empty city. Somehow, the city lacks people on the streets and we don't get the rooftop betting scene between the giant stomping creature and super-sized Riel. Sex, drugs, gambling are minimized in their version.

13.) The entire Prosfair story line is cut because it is so fucking bizarre and awesome; they wouldn't understand the point of the entire game.