Seems a bit mean spirited. And not in a way to get me laughing.

last edited at Aug 9, 2023 5:24AM

Glad I am not the only one being reminded of Young Ladies don't play fighting games, though the comparison was not a good one for me. I hate trashtalk, did not like it there, and do not like it here.

"Hey, let's play together - LOL you suck"
That is some LTG - shit right there

All I could think when the two of them were playing was "OK, so the new girl is a really shit drummer then."
Like, if you're drumming to try to make the other instruments disappear, you're DOING IT WRONG.

I dunno, I'm not into this. I mean, ooh, they're subverting a silly old trope that has only been subverted, I dunno, ten million times already. We've long since reached the point where the subversion IS the cliche.

Also this. A band is supposed to be a harmony, not a fight for attention between the members. That can work, especially in rock, but only when all the band members are on the same page that this is what is supposed to be going on.

I am gonna check out the next chapter, mainly because I like the protag, but if the other girl stays that way, I might drop this sooner than later.

Glad I am not the only one being reminded of Young Ladies don't play fighting games, though the comparison was not a good one for me. I hate trashtalk, did not like it there, and do not like it here.

"Hey, let's play together - LOL you suck"
That is some LTG - shit right there

All I could think when the two of them were playing was "OK, so the new girl is a really shit drummer then."
Like, if you're drumming to try to make the other instruments disappear, you're DOING IT WRONG.

I dunno, I'm not into this. I mean, ooh, they're subverting a silly old trope that has only been subverted, I dunno, ten million times already. We've long since reached the point where the subversion IS the cliche.

Also this. A band is supposed to be a harmony, not a fight for attention between the members. That can work, especially in rock, but only when all the band members are on the same page that this is what is supposed to be going on.

I am gonna check out the next chapter, mainly because I like the protag, but if the other girl stays that way, I might drop this sooner than later.

She's a kid in a school that is incredicly oppressive, it's probably the first time in her life that she's been able to just let it all out. I think the dynamic is supposed to be that Suzunomiya slowly starts taming Kurogane through their relationship & Suzunomiya goes back to being herself when they are together. Add in parts where she's like "I know the real you", and there might be an arc where the rest of the girls realise that they aren't prim ladies at all, it's a nice dynamic and I don't think it's supposed to be taken seriously, mostly just to get you to recoil in the first chapter.

Huh. I like the art a lot. But that is bad form on the drummer's part to try and step on the lead instruments like that. I used to know a drummer who would speed up and get louder on purpose when he wanted to end a gig early. Pretty obnoxious.

I found myself wishing there was a supporting character or a subplot somewhere here, or just anything to distract just a little from the relentless forward drive of the story. The pacing and repetition made this chapter seem just a little joyless when we weren't being treated to cool panels of drumming. The double-page spread following the first page was breathtakingly cool, but then we get almost the same material repeated on the third page. We get double-duty on flashbacks to the main character with her dad in a recording studio. The guitar pick gets produced with almost no hesitation, ultimately, even though main girl had pledged not to reveal it in front of others. Stakes for why she's trying so hard to fit in? Not established. And I found the drummer girl's freakout at the end, well...just not funny? I think it was the timing, the sense that it just wasn't set up with much suspense, and that it didn't land with the subversion of expectation the artist wanted to convey.

Still, it sets up a decently contentious relationship (yet not one of any casual realism––the characters feel set up just to go off on one another in the crudest ways possible), and it offers some very animated drawing, so I'm hoping there's space and time for the writing to improve, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's next. Still love that first double-page spread.

..... welp, THAT was a thing.

I'm a little confused why people are criticizing Kurogane for being a poor bandmate when they aren't actually, you know, in a band (yet).

I wanna know how Suzunomiya-san walks through doors with that hair.

Yeah, it looks pretty.... starched.

It would be hilarious if they were detachable.

last edited at Aug 9, 2023 12:05PM

Got that Shiori E perience vibes but forst chapter was so basic i hope this becomes more interestin g

Glad I am not the only one being reminded of Young Ladies don't play fighting games, though the comparison was not a good one for me. I hate trashtalk, did not like it there, and do not like it here.

"Hey, let's play together - LOL you suck"
That is some LTG - shit right there

All I could think when the two of them were playing was "OK, so the new girl is a really shit drummer then."
Like, if you're drumming to try to make the other instruments disappear, you're DOING IT WRONG.

I dunno, I'm not into this. I mean, ooh, they're subverting a silly old trope that has only been subverted, I dunno, ten million times already. We've long since reached the point where the subversion IS the cliche.

Also this. A band is supposed to be a harmony, not a fight for attention between the members. That can work, especially in rock, but only when all the band members are on the same page that this is what is supposed to be going on.

I am gonna check out the next chapter, mainly because I like the protag, but if the other girl stays that way, I might drop this sooner than later.

She's a kid in a school that is incredicly oppressive, it's probably the first time in her life that she's been able to just let it all out. I think the dynamic is supposed to be that Suzunomiya slowly starts taming Kurogane through their relationship & Suzunomiya goes back to being herself when they are together. Add in parts where she's like "I know the real you", and there might be an arc where the rest of the girls realise that they aren't prim ladies at all, it's a nice dynamic and I don't think it's supposed to be taken seriously, mostly just to get you to recoil in the first chapter.

We actually don't know how oppressive that school is yet, the protag is hiding her love for rock to fit in with the other girls in an effort to adjust to her new familiy. We have not been shown any signs that the school forbids rock or anything. The protag never mentions being regulated by the school in any way. For example, the protag held on to the pick not because she feared retalitation from the school for her or the owner, but because she did not want to out herself to her peers. That makes me think that it is only social pressure that the protag creates herself. Maybe her family or new father is oppressive, though I would prefer it to be something entirely in the protags mind.
But even so, lashing out at a innocent bystander -to put it dramatically - is shit behaviour, no matter how oppressed you are. So I also hope that the story goes in a "Taming of the Trashtalker" - direction.
The "not supposed to be taking it seriously" - defence only works for me for clearly absurd comedies like Leslie Nielsen or Monthy Python movies. I know why the scene is here, to set up conflict between the two leads, shock value and comedy, but the exectution is lacking IMO.

I'm a little confused why people are criticizing Kurogane for being a poor bandmate when they aren't actually, you know, in a band (yet). >

Because it is shit behaviour, to put it simply. I think I wrote that it would only be ok if they were in a band and had that established style. To go into a bit more detail: She invited someone to play a song together, which is supposed to be a collaborative effort, then did not adjust to her partner, but actively tried to overshadow her. That would be like me invinting you to a chess game, then proceed to flip the board over, throw the pieces at you and then boast of my physical prowess and call you a looser for not flipping the board before me, when you were rightly assuming that a normal game of chess was supposed to be happening.
In contrast to this, in Bocchi the Rock, the main character is seen as a bad guitarist by her bandmates at first, because she cannot adjust to the other members and play accordingly, because she was used to playing on her own.
I think another problem with this scene is that it is not exactly clear what the drum girl is actually supposed to be doing. Since we can't hear the music, the scene can be interpreted differently. What I think the author wanted to convey was that drum girl simply played "better" than the protagonist, setting her up as a foil. Maybe she was freestyling, or following the beat and notes flawlessly etc. But the scene could also be seen as her simply drowing the protag out with noise, which is very easy to do with drums. This in turn makes her shittalking even worse, since in this case she is boasting despite basically bringing a gun to a knife fight.

I love this already.

That was her first encounter with her lifelong partner Kurogane Otoha

Where's the damn yuri tag?

Man, the art is pretty good but drummer lady looks creepy af in her introduction and MC's twintails are stupid (and probably fake I'd the flashback is anything to go by)

MC seems cool but Drummer Girl... I wonder how the author plans to
Rebuild any goodwill with her

I wanna know how Suzunomiya-san walks through doors with that hair.

Yeah, it looks pretty.... starched.

It would be hilarious if they were detachable.

She has short hair in her flashback

surprised to see a reference to math rock. hoping for more

Urgh I was expecting her to bash Kurogane with the guitar for the insult!

It would be hilarious if they were detachable.

Because it is shit behaviour, to put it simply. I think I wrote that it would only be ok if they were in a band and had that established style. To go into a bit more detail: She invited someone to play a song together, which is supposed to be a collaborative effort, then did not adjust to her partner, but actively tried to overshadow her. That would be like me invinting you to a chess game, then proceed to flip the board over, throw the pieces at you and then boast of my physical prowess and call you a looser for not flipping the board before me, when you were rightly assuming that a normal game of chess was supposed to be happening.

You've correctly identified that she was being a jerk to the protagonist. I'm just confused why you're so righteously railing against her for it when it's (a) not a big deal and (b) funny.

Because it is shit behaviour, to put it simply. I think I wrote that it would only be ok if they were in a band and had that established style. To go into a bit more detail: She invited someone to play a song together, which is supposed to be a collaborative effort, then did not adjust to her partner, but actively tried to overshadow her. That would be like me invinting you to a chess game, then proceed to flip the board over, throw the pieces at you and then boast of my physical prowess and call you a looser for not flipping the board before me, when you were rightly assuming that a normal game of chess was supposed to be happening.

You've correctly identified that she was being a jerk to the protagonist. I'm just confused why you're so righteously railing against her for it when it's (a) not a big deal and (b) funny.

Funny to who? I didn't like any of that. The protag was trying to be friendly and encourage the other girl. And I'm just dropping this shit and not gonna argue about it cause it's a waste of goddamn time.

funny to me and apparently to others. fare thee well in any event

Haha I like the energy, "immolation" XD she got burned hard. Luckily our protag has a thick skin and how can you take this seriously with the overall tone.

Im reminded of that ladies shouldn't play video games or something one. I think there was some trash talking too lol.