medaka's an attention whore (haha). There, i said it.
how about recently now? personally I think the series has gotten more stale and lost its sense of direction, like its now just going with the program. zenkichi though, has gotten a lot more fine and better as a character. finally grew out of medaka's shadow and he's his own man.
One of the main flaws I personally see with Medaka Box is that while it's a study of tropes, it nevertheless has to take a specific direction with them. And naturally, you can't cover every single trope that comes with it. For example, Medaka's existence as a main character means more "Plot Armored Invincible Hero". I think it's definitely an example of the times; nowadays we have all kinds of different protagonists who aren't lucky and are often downtrodden. We have Anti Heroes(both Classical and Morally ambiguous) which dominate our culture. In my opinion, the only real power of the protagonist is just greater focus since it's their story. And even that's not guaranteed. Thus, Medaka's lampooning of the overpowered and gifted protagonists of the past is exactly that. Now, people could argue that Zenkichi and Kumagawa could embody the more flawed and relateable protagonists, but it's repeatedly emphasized that they're NOT the main character despite their importance to the series. I can understand the frustration of people who feel that Medaka's an unrelateable protagonist(which is YMMV to be fair to those who are fans). She's an interesting critique on many of her fellow Shonen Jump heroes, but it's taken to a point where she dominates the plot. From a story perspective, it offers interesting possibilities in analysis, but as an entertaining manga it's a mixed bag.
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Medaka Box: Flawed and Fun
I came across Medaka Box only this year, but it quickly became one of the series I enjoyed the most. It starts out with the two protagonists, Medaka and Zenkichi, who serve as excellent foils for each other. Medaka, as student council president, does her utmost best in helping the students of Hakoniwa Academy. Zenkichi puts his effort in supporting that cause, as the person who understands Medaka.
I genuinely enjoyed the characters, from Akune to the eccentric artist to the overzealous enforcer Onigase. I won't lie; the suggestion box arc is still my favorite. However, that doesn't mean the genre shifts were unwelcome....
I'll be honest that I approached the changes with some skepticism. Instead of meaningful conversations, we get battles? But at the same time, I warmed up to these characters. Medaka is fleshed out as a more flawed central character, and we're left wondering whether she's really "perfect" within the story, or just excessively powerful and flawed. Each Class 13 member initially comes off arrogant, but we come to see that they're really just lonely people. On some level, you could feel what it was like to be forced by Medaka "to reform". What I enjoyed most about this arc was the development of the student council members. We really get to see how some these characters tick; Kikaijima, despite knowing Medaka the shortest, doesn't put her on a pedastal. Akune, the graceful bishonen judo master was originally a delinquent. Zenkichi doesn't get much info about his past, though I assume it's because his past is intertwined with Medaka's. Nevertheless, he gets to show how he's been able to stay by Medaka's side.
Minus Arc: Personally, I don't like Kumagawa. Yes, you can say that "you weren't supposed to like him" at that point, but he honestly just annoyed me (okay, references alright, breaking fourth wall, we get it). But, I'll give him some credit for his role as an antagonist. You could really sense the amount of dread he induced in many of the characters. It also added an element of status. This is "the guy who Medaka couldn't save". How do people deal with the minus if they don't want happiness?
I don't have any comments about the treasure hunt arc and the next ones. They seem to be setting up to something larger, so no comments yet.