indigozeal (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
indigozeal) wrote2015-02-20 11:53 pm
indigozeal) wrote2015-02-20 11:53 pm
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Doujinshi update #2
My package from Suruga-Ya by way of Buyee arrived today. Everything was in good shape, thanks to the ridiculously extravagant packaging I somewhat inadvertently ordered. When I checked out, I was given the option of "protective shipping" for 500 yen more, but when I selected it - the lackadaisical packaging from my Tenso order fresh in my mind - I was told that the 500 yen was only a service charge; I'd be informed later on of the additional postage charges the extra packaging had incurred. And, oh - no backsies. The protective shipping ultimately bumped by order up by only about 12 bucks, though, and it was protective: the five slim doujinshi were packed in the middle of a big cardboard box, wrapped in plastic, and cushioned by bags of packing peanuts. For my next purchase, I think I'll just go with the regular shipping, but it's nice to know the more secure option is available.
(Comparison shopping: Buying the five doujinshi from Suruga-Ya through Buyee cost the equivalent of $45, which is much less than the $76 for four from Otaku Republic. Both were professional experiences, though, and I wouldn't hesitate to do business with either again.)
The Baten Kaitos doujinshi from Suruga-Ya is OK artwise but has kind of odd humor; the first Baten doujin I got was a bit farcical for me but at least had some amusing images. No one is doing finger guns in this one. There's not much to recommend the purchase.
The main event, though, was the Vheen Hikuusen doujinshi, which cannot be faulted for their scope. There are scenes from adult Niea's time as a Guildmistress; there are scenes with Mia five years after Ghaleon's death dealing with his passing; there are scenes with Ghaleon & Niea before "Kokuhaku Suru Kioku"; there are scenes with Dain & Remilia that seem to be taking place during SSS; there are scenes with Four Heroes Dain & Ghaleon meeting an older Morris, who informs Ghaleon that Tagak has died, attacks for reasons as-yet unknown to me*, and is subsequently killed by Dain & Ghaleon, to Ghaleon's great distress. (There's also a scene just before that with Ghaleon typing on a computer, which gets a thumbs-up from me.) Plus, each of the four volumes is a pretty lengthy 40 pages.
There's a problem, though: this artist cannot draw. Well, let me correct that: they can obviously, based, on the covers, draw to a certain extent, but for the inside art, it didn't seem that they bothered:
I appreciate, though, that they had a song in their heart that they persisted through 160 pages to realize. I think it's best to treat the books as a lengthy fanfic with rough staging illustrations. I have to respect anyone who shows such extensive love of Vheen Hikuusen.
That's the end of the doujinshi stuff for now (save for one lone package, the other half of the mini-artbooks Funato released in 2011; have to check for Lunar pieces in there). The highlight of the purchases was the Funato stuff, but there were a number of disappointments: the second Baten Kaitos doujin...and the first...and the Mystic Ark doujin...and that disturbing Lunar doujin that I still have to post about. Everything except the Funato and the Vheen Hikuusen books was a disappointment, actually. (And the Vheen Hikuusen doujins were a disappointment to a certain extent, but, unlike the other problem books, I still would've gone through with the purchase had I known the content beforehand.) I think my taste for doujinshi has been sated for now: it's an interesting trip to find fan books for underappreciated things you love, but you are rolling the dice a good deal, and it can be a bit of an expensive gamble.
(*ETA not really but I'm not going to alter the structure of this post to compensate: OK, Morris is alluding to events that apparently happened earlier in the proceedings (the four comics are all one long story), so I can't quite make everything out in medias res, but evidently, in the doujin story, Morris is tinkering with old Magic Empire technology, and he says that Tagak was killed in what I believe was a bombing by religious fanatics devoted to Althena (which is remarkable, that devotees of Althena can be branded as extremists in the first place - that's not territory the game would ever broach). Dain pipes up that not everyone is filled with hate, with which Ghaleon agrees, citing the airship as an example of what can happen when humans & mazoku collaborate - to which Morris says, "The airship?... Yes...that memory is without a doubt etched forever in my mind" - and throws Latona's ring in Ghaleon's face, which is a pretty good scene. More details as events warrant.)
.
(Comparison shopping: Buying the five doujinshi from Suruga-Ya through Buyee cost the equivalent of $45, which is much less than the $76 for four from Otaku Republic. Both were professional experiences, though, and I wouldn't hesitate to do business with either again.)
The Baten Kaitos doujinshi from Suruga-Ya is OK artwise but has kind of odd humor; the first Baten doujin I got was a bit farcical for me but at least had some amusing images. No one is doing finger guns in this one. There's not much to recommend the purchase.
The main event, though, was the Vheen Hikuusen doujinshi, which cannot be faulted for their scope. There are scenes from adult Niea's time as a Guildmistress; there are scenes with Mia five years after Ghaleon's death dealing with his passing; there are scenes with Ghaleon & Niea before "Kokuhaku Suru Kioku"; there are scenes with Dain & Remilia that seem to be taking place during SSS; there are scenes with Four Heroes Dain & Ghaleon meeting an older Morris, who informs Ghaleon that Tagak has died, attacks for reasons as-yet unknown to me*, and is subsequently killed by Dain & Ghaleon, to Ghaleon's great distress. (There's also a scene just before that with Ghaleon typing on a computer, which gets a thumbs-up from me.) Plus, each of the four volumes is a pretty lengthy 40 pages.
There's a problem, though: this artist cannot draw. Well, let me correct that: they can obviously, based, on the covers, draw to a certain extent, but for the inside art, it didn't seem that they bothered:
I appreciate, though, that they had a song in their heart that they persisted through 160 pages to realize. I think it's best to treat the books as a lengthy fanfic with rough staging illustrations. I have to respect anyone who shows such extensive love of Vheen Hikuusen.
That's the end of the doujinshi stuff for now (save for one lone package, the other half of the mini-artbooks Funato released in 2011; have to check for Lunar pieces in there). The highlight of the purchases was the Funato stuff, but there were a number of disappointments: the second Baten Kaitos doujin...and the first...and the Mystic Ark doujin...and that disturbing Lunar doujin that I still have to post about. Everything except the Funato and the Vheen Hikuusen books was a disappointment, actually. (And the Vheen Hikuusen doujins were a disappointment to a certain extent, but, unlike the other problem books, I still would've gone through with the purchase had I known the content beforehand.) I think my taste for doujinshi has been sated for now: it's an interesting trip to find fan books for underappreciated things you love, but you are rolling the dice a good deal, and it can be a bit of an expensive gamble.
(*ETA not really but I'm not going to alter the structure of this post to compensate: OK, Morris is alluding to events that apparently happened earlier in the proceedings (the four comics are all one long story), so I can't quite make everything out in medias res, but evidently, in the doujin story, Morris is tinkering with old Magic Empire technology, and he says that Tagak was killed in what I believe was a bombing by religious fanatics devoted to Althena (which is remarkable, that devotees of Althena can be branded as extremists in the first place - that's not territory the game would ever broach). Dain pipes up that not everyone is filled with hate, with which Ghaleon agrees, citing the airship as an example of what can happen when humans & mazoku collaborate - to which Morris says, "The airship?... Yes...that memory is without a doubt etched forever in my mind" - and throws Latona's ring in Ghaleon's face, which is a pretty good scene. More details as events warrant.)
.