274 replies to this topic

[svines85]

Spoiler

Since the run-up to the Rising Dragon festival, this has been drawn out. We shouldn't be that surprised by the drawn out denouement.

 

It seems as if to justify the harem end, the mangaka has to show Nagi continuing to attend to each of the girls. He continues to have meaningful individual connections with each girl, not just guy + group. The mangaka was willing to spend a chapter a piece to reinforce that notion. I suppose that's the setup for a future where he sustains a deep bond with each woman--a genuine plural marriage.

 

Does kind of make you wonder what happens when he dies of old age. Does one of the former maidens survive as his widow, become the new Oba, initiate and train a new group of maidens? Who then wait for his reincarnation to grow to be a young man and appear once again?

Yeah, you're right, and frankly it's not just those questions, there's a lot of them that are going to remain unanswered from throughout the story. It's not that I personally find it a major deal or some kind of a let-down or anything.....but yeah, there are lots of things that will now remain unexplained. 

[Necron99]

I thought Nagi was visiting Mike as part of some plan to revitalize the island.  All the young people move away and it seems to be dying out, which is the fate I thought he was changing.

[maffa]

it's true i couldnt wait for it to end because things have gone so downhill (art, plot, just name it) that i wanted to wrap things up, but the ending was unsatisfactory nonetheless. The timing was very strange, the last chapter is weird, it's badly built and built up, fails to deliver closure. He is a living god but he's outside the cult of his own persona, all he has to do is smile at the three maiden and shag them gently. Doesnt add up. I hate harem endings because they dont make any sense, but this particular plot had the chance to have a harem ending and yet it fails to deliver. 

 

I loved Ai yori aoshi, and i cant help but think UnM is an inferior product under all aspects.

Edited by maffa, 11 March 2014 - 07:54 AM.

[svines85]

Spoiler

Ai yori aoshi, but i cannot it's true i couldnt wait for it to end because things have gone so downhill (art, plot, just name it) that i wanted to wrap things up, but the ending was unsatisfactory. The timing was very strange, the last chapter is weird, it's badly built, fails to deliver closure. He is a living god but he's outside the cult of his own persona, all hehas to do is smiling at the three maiden and shag her gently. Doesnt make sense. I hate harem endings because they dont make any sense, but this particular plot had the chance to have an harem ending and yet it fails to deliver.

 

I loved Ai yori aoshi, and i cant help but think UnM is an inferior product under all aspects.

A funny thing, how personal tastes work. Ai Yori Aoshi was one I just couldn't wait to be done with.  

 

Oh well, different strokes for different folks.    

[maffa]

aha totally! to each its own

[jacksonbarber49]

Lots of unanswered questions.  What did Rinne remember when she got her memories back? What did she decide at the end? and so on, etc, etc. I don't think the Rising Dragon Festival lived up to the hype, although that one scene---where Shizuku takes a step backward, and steps off the cliff--left me gob-smacked.

 

I believe Fumizuki never really intended to end the series and was deliberately leaving all the loose ends open for future plot arcs, which I guess now we will never see--unless there is a Umi No Misaki II.

 

I was really into this series for the art and the girls, and I was happy with the artwork all the way. Could have used a little more fan service there at the end, but after Ai Yori Aoshi I realize that is not Fumizuki's way.  If he ever does a bonus holiday extra chapter in Young Animal Island I could stand to see a hot springs episode on Hokkaido with all the girls.

 

Final verdict: I still love this manga! Looking forward to whatever Fumizuki does next. 

[Necron99]

Fumizuki's next series starts in late May.  I think it's called something like Kid Constant.

[svines85]

Fumizuki's next series starts in late May.  I think it's called something like Kid Constant.

Oh, very cool, thanks for the heads-up!

 

I believe Fumizuki never really intended to end the series and was deliberately leaving all the loose ends open for future plot arcs, which I guess now we will never see--unless there is a Umi No Misaki II.

I've waffled between that same opinion and the idea that "this is just how it turned out". I believe right now I'm more in the latter camp than the former. I've come to think the "mysteries" (sooooo many things that were presented as, and left ambiguous) were just a matter of story-telling, and that the author never really had any intention of explaining every little detail he was leaving behind in the story. Oh well, an interesting question I suppose, though unless the author's talking.........well, we'll probably never know.  

[crossguy]

The author has had a series going since 2011- "Itadaki!"

It's about an all girls mountain climbing after school club.

Only seen 5 chapters TL.I know they were up to chapter 20ish.

 

As for Umi no Misaki, I'm not disappointed, Just  "It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key."

 

BTW Where's Nagi's Dad?

Edited by crossguy, 14 March 2014 - 03:03 AM.

[svines85]

The author has had a series going since 2011- "Itadaki!"

It's about an all girls mountain climbing after school club.

Only seen 5 chapters TL.I know they were up to chapter 20ish.

Yeah, Animexis still has it listed as "active", but you're right, the raws available are quite a bit farther ahead than's been scanlated. Oh well, what can you say, really? It's just how fan scanlations work, any title you'd care to name could quit being done at any moment.

 

Hope someone'll gain a sudden interest in scanlating it or that it gets licensed and legitimately published in your country so you can just buy it at the bookstore, about all that can be done.  

 

BTW Where's Nagi's Dad?

Yes, you're right, one of the many, major mysteries. Where's his dad? Did he know about all this? Where are all the other parents? Did they just leave and abandon their kids, were they driven out? Yeah, lots of mystery, oh well, sometimes not having every little detail spoon fed to you can be a good thing. I'm personally still a little torn about just how much of that there was in this one.........but it is what it is.  

[jacksonbarber49]

Invisible parents in manga are pretty much par for the course. 

[svines85]

Invisible parents in manga are pretty much par for the course. 

Yeah, I suppose, though I think this one differs a little. In other manga it's seldom that you're left wondering if the parents were actually sacrificed to the angry gods/thrown in the volcano or something.  

[crossguy]

Or eaten by......

 

Dunno, I remember in one of the early chapters,Obaa and an unidentified woman were spying on the welcoming party and discussing

what actions should be done to keep Nagi on the island "at all costs". Visually the unknown subject had a great physical resemblance

to Soyogi -  possibly her mother.(Its in Ch 17 according to TV Tropes entry.)

I think since the prosperity of the island itself depends on the favor of the DG, EVERYBODY knows. There is respect for shrine maidens,

in the other manga I have read but nothing approaching the treatment they got in the early chapters. Add to that the aging/older adult 

population AND the lack of younger children....there has to be no surprise there. Everybody. (It also explains SOME of the non-main characters

interactions with Nagi and the Maidens.)

 

But I've been wrong a lot about this series.

[svines85]

Or eaten by......

 

Dunno, I remember in one of the early chapters,Obaa and an unidentified woman were spying on the welcoming party and discussing

what actions should be done to keep Nagi on the island "at all costs".

Spoiler

Visually the unknown subject had a great physical resemblance

to Soyogi -  possibly her mother.(Its in Ch 17 according to TV Tropes entry.)

I think since the prosperity of the island itself depends on the favor of the DG, EVERYBODY knows. There is respect for shrine maidens,

in the other manga I have read but nothing approaching the treatment they got in the early chapters. Add to that the aging/older adult 

population AND the lack of younger children....there has to be no surprise there. Everybody. (It also explains SOME of the non-main characters

interactions with Nagi and the Maidens.)

 

But I've been wrong a lot about this series.

The principal from school, I believe it was, you can see her in ch 4 as well........ and yeah, I agree, a lot of resemblance to Soyogi. Though for that matter, one of the class members was also almost the spitting image of Rinne, too. Yeah, dunno, many, many mysteries left unexplained.  

 

 

ch 16.......

 

[Comadrin]

The steel trap analytical mind of Svines85 has done it again.  I spent the last year and a half (or however long it's been since that chapter) wondering who the hell it was that Obaa was talking to.  And you get it in a heartbeat.  

[svines85]

The steel trap analytical mind of Svines85 has done it again.  I spent the last year and a half (or however long it's been since that chapter) wondering who the hell it was that Obaa was talking to.  And you get it in a heartbeat.  

haha! To be honest, I kept waiting for her to show back up later in the story too, maybe as some sort of #2 in charge kind of character.......never happened, what can you say, right?  

[crossguy]

• svines85

NAILED IT!

The devil's in the details in this tale. I have re-read Ch 52 multiple times because it seems

to reveal a great deal of the "hidden in plain sight" plot. And the passage of time has NOT made

nearly enough plain OR easy to understand. I really feel there is an undefinable quality written into

the plot that is not simply grasped. I don't know if it cultural,(lost in translation) or just the 

work of a master storyteller/artist. I really liked this tale. Between the art and the story...... I have not seen the like before or since.

[Comadrin]

 

• svines85

NAILED IT!

The devil's in the details in this tale. I have re-read Ch 52 multiple times because it seems

to reveal a great deal of the "hidden in plain sight" plot. And the passage of time has NOT made

nearly enough plain OR easy to understand. I really feel there is an undefinable quality written into

the plot that is not simply grasped. I don't know if it cultural,(lost in translation) or just the 

work of a master storyteller/artist. I really liked this tale. Between the art and the story...... I have not seen the like before or since.

 

 

Hate to suggest it, but maybe the mangaka is trolling us, kind of like Seo Kouji delights in doing to his readers.

[maffa]

I am afraid you all are reading too much in it, and even if you are right, the plot took another path and that little bud never sprung. Such a juicy development would have found space later, rather than the "temptations from mainland" or the random acts of lewd that filled the chapters from that point on. 

[Comadrin]

I am afraid you all are reading too much in it, and even if you are right, the plot took another path and that little bud never sprung. Such a juicy development would have found space later, rather than the "temptations from mainland" or the random acts of lewd that filled the chapters from that point on. 

 

Perhaps.  If hints are there to tempt us readers into making fools of ourselves by making speculations or wondering what is behind them, then the mangaka is playing a game where he makes the rules while the game is being played for the simple purpose of making the other players lose in a humiliating fashion.  I choose to think the mangaka either threw out hints to make the story more mysterious (unexplained is more intriguing than flat out exhausting explanations) or the story didn't run for as long as the author intended.  If the author's intent was to make saps out of dedicated readers, I will be disappointed and extremely surprised.