Worth the continued read?

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RogueWatchmen
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Worth the continued read?

Post by RogueWatchmen »

I've read up to Voulume 5 Chapter 4 as of this post and was trying to decide if I wanted to continue forward with the series. If you have read past where I am I got a few questions that will help me decide.

That aside I do appreciate the translations, To my knowlege it's all done on a volunteer basis so just wanted to say that :)
Spoiler! :
So reading into the story this far I'm looking at it and wondering where it's going. Yes we now have a worldwide conspiricy over a rare metal with special properties but does Kinji quit to be a normal kid like he wants to, does Aria keep the power? I can see him not quitting, but I liked it better if she didn't have the scarlet ammo title which is kind of the name of the series. It feels like from this point combat progression will spiral out of control and she'll be all super saian with the special powers.

Kinji and being normal like I said doesn't seem like it would happen, but does the boy ever grow a spine? The whole ketting kicked around by her is like WTF, I realize Aria is a tsundere character but if it's a continueing theme it to me means a lack of character growth and becomes stagnite. Outside of gaining new powers character growth is so far minimal to me. The support characters seem to have more growth in them at some points. I have no problems with harems, but you can only be dense so long before it becomes stale as well, do they ever get situated so it's not the same thing every volume?

There are 14 volumes currently and right now my main concern is character growth, and the whole overpowering of the Scarlet Ammo I see on the horizon. Personally if it were me I'd have told Holmes to F*** off and had the bullet removed out of spite after all the turmoil he had caused. Well my understanding is that the bullet inside of her is the source of the power and not an innate ability like other power users. Thats said two more quick items.

Do they ever toss the whole cannot kill guideline out? I mean your playing with guns fighting in a NWO plot line after all.

Does Kinji ever get is intimate momuent considering the number of women throwing themselves at him or is it going to continue with running away and indecision?
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denormative
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Re: Worth the continued read?

Post by denormative »

Spoiler! :
Honestly I lost the plot around volume 3. I'm just continuing reading out of curiosity. And because I like the characters, even though there's very little character development.

I think I've mentioned in another thread that it feels like the author had a great idea for one volume of a novel, and a unique "world" premise, but the plot train has derailed and crashed in a fiery explosion at some point. So whilst I'm enjoying parts of the story on their own, the whole thing just isn't coming together for me.

But it does have the feel of a light-shounen-battle-manga at times... especially any time more of the over-the-top combats start happening.

As to the whole Kinji/spine/Aira/tsundere/harem thing... this is a pretty generic harem setup; it's not Campione! (lots of kissing and character and emotional development of MC+harem), or HS DxD (which I found actually had pretty decent character development for something so, err, 'fanservicey' :P ), and I haven't really noticed the two leads changing much at all. Though there is a Dramatic Event(tm) coming up at the end of volume 7 that might change that... but I've not read volume 8+ yet since I only just finished generating my pdfs of them. :P

I can't see them ever removing the 'cannot kill' thing, since that would make the fights much more deadly, and/or add way too much moral grayness to a series which is pretty much a light-and-fluffy romcom-with-guns.

Kinji is a standard dense MC; I would be shocked to read serious romantic scene that didn't involve your standard harem cliches such as, say, Riko pinning him against a bed and him trying to escape. I would imagine a Campione style kissing scene with him and one or more of the girls would be out of the question too. :(
Assorted PDFs: viewtopic.php?p=159960
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RogueWatchmen
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Re: Worth the continued read?

Post by RogueWatchmen »

Spoiler! :
One of my biggest concerns is lack of character development and supernatural abilities being tossed in which are to over the top. I think they had a good storyline up until they did released the powers of Aria. I realize Japanese culture is diffrent than american when it comes to gun violance and killing so these novels will reflect that, but fighting badasses for 14 volumes and no deaths they might as well be running arounf with paintball guns at this point lol. I think I'll shelf it for the time being, I've been reading it on my Android tablet and hopeing that once they release an updated app I'll have access to a few more I'm interested in.

In DxD and Champione! good, I'm getting the feeling that both are reaching a peak on the ecchi and moving past just grouping and kissing to some extent which is all good I guess. Love interest are like any other part of a story and you can only have them platue for so long before you move forward again. At least with those two series the insane power of the characters fits with the story better, and even if the MC's don't kill off people left and right they still use lethal force, and so do the support characters.

Thanks for the reply, it was helpful. If you get past the 8th volume and see the winds of change for the series drop me a line if you have time/remember :)

To anyone who loves this series not knocking it, but think I'd be better off reading a diffrent series and keeping this for a rainy day is all. Personal preferance :)
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Shadowys
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Re: Worth the continued read?

Post by Shadowys »

Spoiler! :
Kinji does grows a spine actually, and if you read all the way to volume 7, you may want to wring the author's neck because all the previous works are......[wait for it...].........a bloody PROLOGUE!!!!! The real story kinda starts after that. For character developement, Kinji does grows a spine and he gains a bit understanding of his special abilities to save himself(though that may be a lil' accidental), Aria grows a little mature and mellow, Shirayuki, well, stays the same, but Reki completely changes.....
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royaloyalz
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Re: Worth the continued read?

Post by royaloyalz »

Just read it I definitely did not regret it. In my honest opinion since you have already read quite far just go through to the end. The story starts to get more interesting from volume 10 onwards.

However like you said it's a matter of personal preference if you are unable to see yourself liking the story than just move on to another story. Reading from your comments it seems like you have already come to a decision yourself and are just here to confirm it. In that case don't waste your time here then. There are many other LN out there and I really doubt that we will be able to finish reading them all in our life time hahaha.
Don't you just love reading? I think it is one of the joys of life, where we can escape the cold reality of the world and exist in something so much more fun and exciting! ^_^
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MizuMiyuMania
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Re: Worth the continued read?

Post by MizuMiyuMania »

Character development? You do realize that the 'prologue' ends at volume 5, right? If you want character development, then read volume 6-7. A certain green-haired sniper and dense protagonist develop quite a bit. Like the others before me have said, volume 8 is where the story actually begins to pick up. Think of it this way- the story is told through the perspective of Kinji, who is one of the most dense protagonists on BT. The characters actually develop a lot, if you notice the subtle hints, but Kinji hardly notices it- therefore it is not as apparent in the series. Also, as a little spolier, after volume 5 and before volume 10, Aria has not used the 'Scarlet Ammo' at all (Though, Aria does not play the role of main heroine as much as before until the 2nd half of volume 9). About the support characters, this is their time to shine. The main characters have already been introduced in the 'prologue', so now it is the turn of the supporting characters to reveal more about themselves. Until Kinji accepts his 'HSS', he will continue to run away from the girls. The whole 'being spineless' thing helps to emphasize the magnitude of his 'HSS' change, and leaves room for character development- as well as hinting Kinji's eventful middle-school life. At least he is not the other extreme and loads each page with fanservice. It really is just a matter of preference- just like everyone else said. However, not many other LNs are translated as far as Hidan no Aria, so it is worth reading further just to pass time.
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Re: Worth the continued read?

Post by stromberg »

Frankly, if you're looking for some super logical, brilliantly thought up plot; there aren't that many series with huge volumes that are consistant with its matierial, HnA most definitely isn't one of them.

I continue to read HnA because I like it's characters, the protagonist and it's comical moments; then it's worth reading even if the material isn't as well written as it could've.
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Re: Worth the continued read?

Post by MineRiko »

It's actually a smart series, comparable to SAO or DAL. (In terms of popularity in Asians, it is third place too)

However there needs to be more elaboration on the other characters, not just Aria. Watson, Jeanne - those two are VERY important, especially after the war started.
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denormative
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Re: Worth the continued read?

Post by denormative »

The premise starts over the top, by the end of v5 it's gotten to ridiculous, and by the midpoint of v8 it's hit ludicrous speed and gone plaid. >.> </old-movie-reference>

But yes, fun. I just can't guarantee it's going to make any sense. :P
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Re: Worth the continued read?

Post by Rohan123 »

Sometimes, people read/watch things because they are too exciting/funny/fun instead of being extremely well thought-out and that is precisely why I read, and like, HnA. :)
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Re: Worth the continued read?

Post by MineRiko »

The author does have to move away from the Riri and Hihi stuff... It's gone 100% SSR...
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