Medaka Box

If she simply hadn't confronted them, they wouldn't even have tried any countermeasures. One usually doesn't try to take down an enemy you don't know exists.

It's just… When a character makes a Genre Savvy move like 'you're the main character so I won't try to fight you directly', it's extremely jarring for them to immediately make a Genre Blind move like 'now I'll explain my plan to you'.

You see, when you're omnipotent, nobody who's not omnipotent is the slightest threat to you, but we also can't have an omnipotent character acting directly against the protagonists, so there has to be something at work to prevent them from doing so. The reason given, 'even though I'm omnipotent, I can't beat you because you're a mina character-ish person', is totally unsatisfactory because, 1) it means the author is openly acknowledging Plot Armour, eventual Deus ex Machina and the like, which removes the audience's doubt in the hero's victory, and 2) it doesn't make any sense from an in-story perspective; Medaka is not powerful enough to defeat her directly and everyone knows it.

That reason is using meta as a crutch in order to avoid giving the character actual motivation, you see.

edited 4th Jun '11 10:01:33 PM by Gilphon

Remember that she is trying to use them to complete her own plan. Their countermeasure, creating a system that creates awesome student councils, also happens to nearly coincide with the villain's goal of creating perfect people. She's getting them to do the job for her. It's a classic Xanatos Gambit.

Edit: Also, I wouldn't say that Medaka's victory makes no sense story-wise. The villain has a ton of weird random powers including immortality and such, but Medaka has exactly one power: perfection (or at least that's what I gather The End is supposed to be). A huge variety of powers isn't necessarily better than a single awesome one. Also, it's implied that the villain is weakened right now because she's covered in Kumagawa's screws.

edited 4th Jun '11 8:26:24 PM by Clarste

I actually liked this manga more post-genre-shift. Sure, the pre-genre-shift antics were quirky but they were honestly a bit boring.

Besides, the art is crisp, the characters amusing, and generally it's your usual helping of shonen action plus some really cool characters, crazy and creative powers, nonsensical but nonetheless interesting wordplay and meta humor.

We can't honestly say that Anshinin was being serious. Maybe she just wanted to screw around after having been cooped up for so long. Also, it's possible that what Clarste said is true.

Besides, Maguro and Kumagawa already knew about Anshinin's existence. Countermeasures were going to be created sooner or later.

You have to give Medaka Box one thing. I thought it was building up to another shonen fighting arc with the introduction of the Not Equals. Same as the Class 13 and Class Negative 13 arcs. Introduce a bunch of characters, have them fight, have the beaten characters become friends and have the next villain foreshadowed/introduced. They even had the Not Equal girls attack Kumagawa, which felt like the lead-up to the formulaic arc.

Instead the manga is pulling something different.

I mean, judging by how the recent chapters have been going, it still comes down to a bunch of people fighting each other anyway but its still differentish. Its less "if you kick your enemies in the face, they'll come around to your way of thinking" and more "if you're a good role model, you'll steer these youth on the right path."

Also, there's a ridiculous amount of crazy people that can kick ass in this school. Its like you aren't allowed to head a committee or run a club unless you can kick ass and take names. I'd hate to see the flower-arranging club president.

Y'know, I actually find I'm enjoying the way this arc is playing out.

• Having the antagonists genuinely make friends with the heros so that the heros won't be willing to take them down is a great move.
• Lots of extremely non-typical battle scenes.
• Kumagawa as a protagonist is Magnificent.

Kumagawa himself is so ridiculously awesome it defies definition.

Actually, that above sentence? Replace 'Kumagawa himself' with 'EVERYONE'.

In fact, it was Kumagawa that really got me hooked to the series. I also liked Munekata a lot (a.k.a Serial Killer Dude) but he hasn't showed up again...

Oh god. The flower-arranging club president. Hint: Dude, those things you're "arranging"? They're not flowers.

edited 14th Aug '11 6:41:29 AM by fillerdude

So with this latest chapter I think its official that everyone in this manga is insane.

Am I the only who's getting a strong smell of Eigenplot over here?

Also, Magical girls: a metaphor for puberty?

So they'll get the non-existent magical girl to fight the non-existent magical beast?

Nah, I think I'm getting a whiff of it over here too.

Also, I love the hell out of the bottom half of that page.

I guess she had to run away so that it wouldn't be over too fast.

edited 25th Aug '11 9:10:39 PM by Bocaj

I don't know what's cuter : Medaka's 'I saw through that' look, or the three girls shouting in their minds 'Naked Apron Senpaiiii'

Was it ever in doubt?

I guess not.

It amuses me that someone as delusional as Yojirou is considered a Normal.

Well, given that it's a description of them having either absurd talent or magical powers that defy science and logic, I'd say that's pretty reasonable.

I have yet to discover a more concentrated, more refined form of pure AWESOMENESS than Medaka Box. Hell, Kumagawa by himself could probably out-epic the sum total awesomeness of the entire Nasu Verse.

Oh god. Kumagawa vs. Shiki would be a cool match up, seeing as they both can see the weak points of things.

Hell, maybe Shiki would perceive Kumagawa as just one black humanoid shape, since Kumagawa's nothing but weak points.

I left this sometime after Medaka's Training from Hell. Is it really worth picking up again?

I... honestly don't know if I could recommend it. You left the series at around the Flask Plan arc, which was more boring than enjoyable. But the enjoyable bits were really enjoyable (Zenkichi's fight in particular is awesome).

I'm the kind of guy who'd overlook a hundred errors if I could see even one golden nugget of enjoyment though.

So I guess I can say the series is worth reading just so you can encounter Kumagawa. He is honestly one of the most entertaining fictional characters I've ever encountered.

Which Shiki? If it's Tohno, then given how he gets headaches whenever he uses the M Eo DP extensively, I'd say that just looking at Kumagawa would make him pass out. Ryougi, on the other hand, would give us one of the greatest fights in the history of mankind.

That depends, of course, on whether or not All-Fiction can repair damage caused by the M Eo DP.

edited 28th Aug '11 7:20:28 PM by RiotousRascal

Of course it can. It's All-fiction, not Most-fiction.

Its implied that it wouldn't let him die even if he wanted to. Its also implied that he tried killing himself just to test it out. Kumagawa sure is a crazy guy.

If that's the case, then someone HAS to make a fic or doujin about a fight between him and Ryougi.

*imagine spot*

edited 28th Aug '11 11:08:44 PM by RiotousRascal

Wouldn't that just be him dying a lot and then undoing it?

I suppose the winner would be whoever tries to target their opponent's power first. I'd imagine that the eyes could kill All-fiction (somehow) or that All-fiction could erase the eyes (the meaning of the eyes, not just the eyes themselves).