I won't lie, but I have a hard time following the background characters. I call them NPCs because as much as I try, I can never really follow who was who, and I admit to being a bit too lazy to try and re-read previous chapters to get the context.

I want to like this series more but this is a giant reason why I can't. Every chapter is 99% focused on these other characters but the only one that actually feels like anything resembling a real character is Fujiyama. Everyone else is just a cardboard cutout Class-S stereotype except instead of doing anything interesting with them, even something as basic as constantly showing Watanabe's stereotyping as wrong and misguided, they're played completely straight and conform exactly to the stereotypes.

So you're left with a lot of the focus being put on characters who are incredibly one-dimensional using roles/personality traits that were already played out by the '90s when you had stuff like Utena deconstructing them and then at the end of each chapter you get two, maybe three, pages of Yoshioka/Watanabe stuff.

But the problem is that Watanabe herself is way too annoying as an MC because she herself doesn't actually feel like much of a character either. Her entire thoughts are just "YURI! I'M SHIPPING! I'M A MOB, I CAN'T BE YURI!" and it doesn't feel like parody because all of her stereotyping based on yuri/Class-S cliches are constantly proven right in the end and it feels like she's basically just getting her way.

So the only character in the series that actually feels like a properly thought out and written character (and not a stereotype) is Yoshioka who's friendly and extroverted (like the gyaru stereotype) but is also surprisingly thoughtful, perceptive and self-reflective which means the best stuff in any given chapter is the stuff focused on her and her thoughts.

If she was the MC/PoV character and the story was focused more on her coming to terms with her feelings for Watanabe and trying to win her over, with Watanabe serving as the LI instead of the MC/PoV character and the series was focused more on them and not these other characters with the Yoshioka/Watanabe stuff tacked on at the end of chapters, then I feel like it'd be far better. As it is, she's basically the only thing really keeping me reading this.

last edited at May 12, 2022 8:51PM

The frustrating part is that there's lots of amazing stuff coming around chapter 100 and beyond that we'll maybe see two years from now at the pace the scanlation is going.

I hope we start getting some more regular updates because we're way, way behind the raws at this point and having looked at them this is the last little lull before things start ramping up and really getting good.

Huuuuh.....Are they all from India?
Would be funny if some of them from Pakistan and Bangladesh.

I imagine only Indra would be from India given that he's using the name of a Hindu god and it seems that each country only has its designated hero. I could see Nirvana being from like Sri Lanka or somewhere in Southeast Asia though.

Say when are they releasing the book in English?

Champion series never seem to get picked up for licensing aside from the rare one like YowaPeda and Beastars. Even Iruma-kun has yet to be licensed despite having a multi-season anime and a popular scanlation.

last edited at Sep 30, 2021 12:16PM

I can see people being upset in the sense that there is a ton of very obvious and very blatant yuribaiting and the relationships between female characters, especially Teru and Iko and maybe Teru and Pilse to an extent, definitely lean heavy on romantic undertones in their presentation. Seeing as the author also did girls love themed Idolm@ster doujins prior to this series it's also probably 100% intentional too. Which doesn't mean it's actually yuri, just that the author obviously draws from it and likes writing female relationships that are incredibly close and affectionate.

Truth be told, I get the impression that there's a tug of war going on between the author and editor over what the series is. It feels like the author would rather do mahou shoujo in shounen superhero dressing with SoL chapters and a huge focus on emotion over action which is basically what it was prior to the ninja arc and makes sense given that the author clearly likes mahou shoujo. Even the fight with Sveta and Kfufu wasn't all that long, certainly nothing like the Hollow arc which is literally half of the series' chapter count.

The editor/publiser, meanwhile, probably wants it to be "more shounen" and as a result we get... the Hollow arc. Which had lots of good stuff but was also dragged out interminably with a larger focus on action over emotion even though most of the best parts of that arc (Spirits and Kfufu, Meng Long and Thumping and their masculinity debate, Mai breaking free of her guilt, the ending) were the ones focused around emotion, not action. Spirits sitting down next to Kfufu is a way more powerful and memorable moment than all the stuff Shy did in her fight with Mai. The best of the action was probably Lady Black going berserk on Prayer but admittedly Pilse's my favorite character so I'm kind of biased on that front.

Also the result of this shift to being more action-oriented means the series is starting to suffer from the same problems every shounen action series does: the MC randomly pulling out new powers and techniques as needed and lower powered/non-powered characters getting their screentime dramatically cut since there's nothing they can do in long, epic battles. Obviously this has affected Iko the worst who's gone from main character and Teru's best friend to only getting a handful of cameo appearances in the last few dozen chapter but it's not just her, Unnie hasn't really been relevant since everyone went to the dome either.

last edited at Aug 28, 2021 2:40PM

Oh hey, Iko got two panels and actually got to say a word. Remember when she was an important character?

The "all Amalareiks are dead" thing is kind of weird in that there was nothing in the last arc that said that Mai died. Unless the implication now is that she committed suicide not long after her attack on the village. That or they don't have to be dead to get a ring but once they do it basically kills them if not removed quickly meaning Iko could've ended up like Mai if Teru wasn't fast enough.

Didn't get a Teru x Iko date, but still got cute downtime moments.

Also, yep, Pepesha better start filing adoption papers.

I've been annoyed at how Iko's been sidelined both because she's my second favorite character after Pilse and because of how important she is to Teru and her belief in Teru basically being what gives her the courage to keep going through the first half of the series. I guess that's the fate of all non-powered characters in action series though.

last edited at Jun 20, 2021 10:12PM