Top 5 Disappointing Moments of 2013

 Written by: ClayDragon and Micha

The best thing about reading manga is the reactions they can get out of us with just a piece of image. We don’t care if it’s fiction; it brings us laughter, makes us cry like a bitch, outrages us, and maybe gives us a boner too.

And no matter how good your favorite manga is, occasionally it has its ups and down. Just like how there are certain moments that excite us; there will be moments when you feel you’re let down, as a reader.  And to highlight these moments of 2013, we’ve compiled 5 disappointing/annoying moments we’ve perceived this year.

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

5. The Cricket Match (Black Butler)

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

Black Butler seems to take pride in the fact that it’s set in England, so it was only a matter of time before cricket came up in some shape or form. It’s just a shame that it was done so poorly. For starters, Black Butler is a monthly series, so you’d expect it to move along at a fairly rapid pace to avoid the audience becoming bored. Sadly, this was not the case. From the very beginning of the cricket mini-arc (when the teams were introduced) to the end (when the winning team sailed down the river), this lasted 7 chapters, going from midway through October 2012 to midway through May of 2013.

Well, it took seven months, but it's finally over.

Given the length of the matches, it would appear that the author tried to spice things up a bit by giving the bowlers special moves that wouldn’t look out of place in series like Naruto or Bleach. However, this was a bad idea, as it made the (relatively) realistic series look a bit farcical. I mean, when you have moves like ‘Purple Burnout’ (which makes it look as though the ball is on fire) and ‘Sword Excalibur’ (an overhead swing apparently only bestowed upon chosen ones), you begin to wonder what on earth is going on.

Seriously, what the actual hell.

The worst thing is that the cricket match isn’t even the climax of the arc, which means that 7 months were wasted just to set up the confrontation between Sebastian and the Headmaster. Despite this, the school arc is actually quite good, and it’s just a shame that the cricket match drags it down. 

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

4. Kenpachi’s Bankai (Or Lack Thereof) (Bleach)
_____________________________________________________________________________ 

As the only Soul Society Captain without a Bankai, it was fairly obvious that Kenpachi would get a fair amount of screentime in the final arc. And, to the delight of Kenpachi fans everywhere, the climax of his fight with Unohana ended with him being addressed by a mysterious voice who claimed to have been watching him longer than anyone else. During a close up on Kenpachi’s Zanpakuto, we saw the words ‘My name is...’. And then nothing. This happened in February, and as of writing this still hasn’t been addressed.

God damn it, Kubo.

Considering one of the main threats of the Vandenreich was their ability to steal their opponent’s Bankai, you would have thought that Kenpachi would have been critical in helping to repel the invaders, but most of his fights in the first invasion happened offscreen, including his defeat. And now that Urahara has come up with a way to steal back the Bankais, this is now looking like a moot point. I have the same problem with the Fullbringers, actually. If the enemy can steal Bankais, why not combat them with people who don’t have any?

Seriously, where the hell were you guys?

Regardless, the identity and abilities of Kenpachi’s Bankai has been a topic of much debate in the Bleach fandom, and the fact that Kubo still hasn’t given us any hints over the past ten months is really quite annoying. Okay, it hasn’t taken as long to resolve as the ‘is Mashiro still alive?’ question, but still.

_____________________________________________________________________________ 
  

3. The Entire Sun Village Arc. (Fairy Tail) 
_____________________________________________________________________________ 

Grand Magic Games arc was the best storyline Fairy Tail had so far, and probably one of the best storylines in manga this year, if you will. Incorporation of darker themes and tremendous developments in both characters and plot certainly did put FT up to the mark and made known that the manga artist is actually serious about Fairy Tail. 

But then the Sun Village happened.  

Maybe it was the sudden drop in quality that makes the arc seem boring and somewhat tedious, but this arc definitely failed to sit well with us. It is logical that following up the Grand Games with an even stronger and better arc would be quite challenging, but Hiro’s choice of the nerve wrecking Treasure Hunters‑ who by the way, still reminds me of a particular gang of thieves in one of the fillers- did not help at all.  

Can you see the resemblance, or is it just me?

The battles weren’t that interesting either unless you’re our Fairy Tail reviewer who has a strange preference for chibis and anything to do with chibis. You’d think that Minerva would have the time of her life torturing the younger version of Erza but surprisingly, she didn’t get to do much, and Gray kept having minor PTSD breakdowns regarding his childhood teacher while Flare kept hinting she might just start a lesbian fan club for Lucy.

They ended the arc with a classic bathhouse scene where fanservice was guaranteed as always, only this time it wasn’t fanservice, but it was soft core porn.

Oh, oh oh, the disappointment.

 But I guess this little arc of disappointment did serve its purpose by bridging the Grand Magic Games arc and the current Tartaros arc by introducing the current big villains and storyline. Fairy Tail has again picked up the pace in the recent chapters which is very good news.

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

2. The End (Soul Eater)

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

Soul Eater was one of those series that had dropped a lot of plot points here and there, and then never answered them for a number of months (or years, in some cases). So imagine my surprise when the manga suddenly ended without resolving a number of plot threads. Both the involvement of Eibon and the backstory behind the Great Old One in the Book of Eibon were pretty much ignored, and as a result there are still a lot of questions that will most likely remain unanswered.

"Were you expecting the loose ends to be tied up?"

Another annoying aspect of the end of the manga was the fact that the Kishin was never really defeated, and there wasn’t really a climactic battle at the end. All that happened was Crona attempting to seal the Kishin at the cost of her own life, and the Kishin having a massive rage-quit moment, leading to the moon being covered in the black blood. At least in the anime there was a proper fight and the Kishin was properly defeated.

Seriously, this guy disappeared from the plot entirely about half way through the story.

Finally, the very last chapter was spent showing that some characters who were thought to have died actually survived, as well as spending 8 pages talking about boobs (the reasoning behind this is really stupid as well). The only saving grace about the last chapter is that it devotes some screentime to Excalibur, but in all honesty the ending was done so badly that this is the first series I’ve seen in which the anime adaptation beats the manga, hands down.

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

1. Sasuke saying he wanted to become Hokage. (Naruto)

_____________________________________________________________________________

Sasuke Uchiha doesn’t do much these days, but whatever he does, it makes its way to the big headline of the news. Everything he does and says reflects perfectly on the typical image of just another Uchiha gone wrong, and his declaration of wanting to become Hokage left us baffled, startled and most importantly, slightly annoyed.

Okay, very annoyed.

Sasuke isn’t fit to be Hokage, no matter how much he or any other thinks otherwise. His spent his childhood having daddy issues, and later got himself fixated on quenching his thirst for power. He left his village a traitor to later declare that he wanted to ruthlessly destroy it. Not once in his lifetime has he said or thought well of Konoha, or in other words; he didn’t give a shit.   If that was his unique way of flexing his patriotism, we don’t think anyone in the village would be comfortable with him being their Hokage.

Also, he has provoked displeasure from the rest of the kage and succeeded to make every one of them hate him during his unsuccessful invasion of the Kage Summit, so let’s just forget about Foreign Relations if he ever sits on the throne.

Why can't you be a little original with your dreams, Sasuke?

And yet, he has the nerve to confront everyone and say those words, which we can only conclude has something to do with his brother (it always has), while he sets his goals to run a strict military dictatorship to shove justice down people’s throats.

In light of these disappointing moments, we hope that the year of 2014 would be full of more exciting battles, characters and anime. What was the moment that got you disappointed this year? Let us know in the comments.
And Happy New Year, everyone!

Micha: [Co-founder]









Micha likes to broadcast her terrible drawing skills to the world on her DeviantArt account and talks about her life long ambition of making Yakushi Kabuto a woman, on her Skype; michasucks. Yes, with the dot. She will also respond to e-mails on her michamichamicha@live.com because Amber forces her to.

 Also, she now has an ask.fm. Here's your chance to  harass her.

ClayDragon:









ClayDragon is currently studying Physics at university, and is constantly bewildered by it. The main method of contacting him is his Gmail account at kyleroulston1993@gmail.com. The alternative is his Skype account at kyleroulston1993. When not playing games or reading, he can be found with his head in his hands whilst trying in vain to understand quantum physics. Happy New Year!