Manga/Gash Bell

Okay, I know this is long over, but does anyone else like this manga? It's my absolute favorite Mon story, even though the final Big Bad was a bit of an Ass Pull and I didn't really like that the character who turned out to be the winner, well, turned out to be the winner.

I thought it was good. Actually, I don't remember a significant part of the latter arcs. Maybe I should re-read it...

edited 3rd Jul '11 2:34:17 PM by Belian

The Faudo arc was the best.

It's been a favorite of mine ever since I saw it on Cartoon Network, though I never made it to the end.

It was one of the better ones. It's a shame that Raikou's injury to his hand caused the Anime to overtake the manga.

Especially in light of how the events of the Faudo arc, and the arc following it took place.

The King Festival arc wasn't nearly as good as the Faudo arc; this may have been because Raiku bumped off the Big Bad in the Faudo arc, meaning the KF arc's antagonist was essentially a Giant Space Flea from Nowhere.

The Faudo arc was fantastic, though not without its flaws, particularly the invincibility of the four main characters compared to the (much more interesting) supporting cast.

edited 3rd Jul '11 4:18:55 PM by HamburgerTime

I disagree that Kiyomaro and Gash were less interesting then the supporting cast, and I didn't really mind much in the story. I did feel that the Faudo arc was the best one though, and while the final Big Bad did come out of nowhere, I liked his arc as a whole.

By the "four main characters" I refer to Gash, Tio, Kyanchome, and Umagon/Schneider. And what I mean is that interesting supporting cast members like Bari, Momon, Cherish, and Karudio are removed from the tournament whereas the three non-Gash leads, defeated by an epic double-team of The Dragon and The Brute, are simply put into an And I Must Scream state from which they are later rescued. Arth survives, as he's probably the strongest of the ally characters next to Brago, only to be unceremoniously Worfed by the final Dragon immediately afterwards.

And I still say the final Big Bad of this manga could give Aizen a run for his money.

edited 3rd Jul '11 5:22:01 PM by HamburgerTime

I really liked the supporting characters, true, but I also liked the four main characters just as much, as they were very interesting themselves, and still developed as the story went on.

And as for the final Big Bad giving Aizen a run for his money, for him to qualify as an Aizen level plot troll, he'd have to make the ending of his arc suck alongside all of his shenanigans, which Aizen did, and the final Big Bad of this didn't.

edited 3rd Jul '11 5:45:11 PM by Alfric

I meant in power, not in trollery. Although Kyanchome gets rather Aizen-like toward the end too, at least in power set; his final spell basically is Aizen's power, and it's arguably even stronger.

I loved this story, as if my avatar didn't give it away. I do agree that the final boss was a bit anti-climatic though in an story telling sense if not a power and risk to the world sense.

Faudo was the best.

I have to say I love that song that plays in the anime whenever someone goes out in a blaze of glory.

Dum-dum-DUM-dum-dum-dum-DUM-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum...

edited 3rd Jul '11 7:35:33 PM by HamburgerTime

I have not actually watched the anime aside from the Chi-chi Oppai Folgore short, and VERY MELON short that we play in our stream.

Is it worth watching? I hear it's not very good compared to the manga.

I haven't seen much of it, but it's supposedly the same except with some lame filler arcs and a Gecko Ending.

Where does it end at? Before Faoudo?

After Faudo is unsealed is where they diverge, and then there's a shorter, lamer Faudo arc and it ends with Faudo's defeat. Technically it ends with an unseen final battle between Brago and Gash, which I actually like and think that's how the manga should've ended.

I was fine with the ending, and I didn't care who one because it did not matter anymore. Either one would have been a good ruler.

I was pulling for Brago mostly for the sake of subverting cliches. Hey, Yu Yu Hakusho pulled it off successfully.

Well Yurameshi never really wanted to win really and while I think Brago did he didn't want it as much. Gash and Brago both defined themselves with the battle for the Throne, but I think Brago in the end saw that there was more to life than that and power. I think he realized that he did not NEED to win to be a person of importance. While Gash knew that from the get go, but wanted the throne for more than just ego. I think in the end Brago was fine with Gash taking the throne.

I actually found that end to be a good end to Brago's character development.

edited 3rd Jul '11 8:41:59 PM by EHK

As I said, I was mostly just in it for subverting cliches.

Disagree with everyone saying that the Faudo arc was the best. No, no, no: the Milordo Z (Lord) arc was the best. I personally thought the story began to get dull and tired in the Faudo arc, especially once it was over since Zeno was already taken care of. And as you mentioned, the supporting cast didn't get to shine as much and there was very little Sherry and Brago too. So that arc was just So Okay, It's Average to me. Whereas in the prior arc, we got Dr Riddles and Kido, Kafk Sunbeam getting introduced, Zofis and Koko (the best villains, IMHO), all the 1000 year old Mamodo demons, the Four Supreme Mamodo demons, Sherry and Brago at their best, an epic plot with epic fights and twists, and of course...VERY MELON!

I think the Kings' Festival arc was the weakest mainly 'cause it felt rushed and I feel like had it been animated, maybe the story and its' villain would have gotten a chance to be fleshed out more.

I disagree that Kiyomaro and Gash were less interesting then the supporting cast, and I didn't really mind much in the story.

I really liked Kiyo but Gash...though likeable, his "kind king" motivation to win was never too compelling at all. That, and he tended to go into melodramatic Wangst every so often.

I haven't seen much of it, but it's supposedly the same except with some lame filler arcs and a Gecko Ending.

Well the filler wasn't all lame and the actual ending didn't suck. It was ending of the actual Faudo arc that got screwed up ( especially how Dufort's backstory is never really explained, Gash and Zeno being princes is never revealed, and Zeno remains unrepetant to the end. The little asshole even DELIBRATLEY breaks Faudo's gem so that it can destroy Earth!)

I was pulling for Brago mostly for the sake of subverting cliches

I thought Brago would've made a better ruler too. I mean, Gash is a prince. It was too obvious that he'd take the throne in the end! However, as uncompelling as Gash's motives were, I never really got Brago's motives either other than wanting power so I didn't really care that much either way.

edited 4th Jul '11 10:49:04 AM by ManwiththePlan

What is the "Milordo Z (Lord)" arc? The one with the 1000 year demons? I did enjoy that arc.

Yes, that's the one. "Milordo Z" or "Lord" is the alias that the Big Bad Zofis used.

What's the King's Festival arc the last one?

Also one complaint about the Fadou Arc didn't make much sense to me.

"And as you mentioned, the supporting cast didn't get to shine as much"

Kiyomaru spent like 1/2 the arc dead so Gash was not fighting. They had a crap ton of supporting characters fighting, and doing other things.

I think at that point, either Gash or Brago would have made a good king, so the Demon world would win either way.

I'm dissapointed that there are battles that never happened, like Bari vs Brago.

Damn. That one would have been brutal.