Weather: Sunshiny and summery but it smells like rain so idk
Song: "La La Lainey" by Forever the Sickest Kids
Lyrics: "I love her like hate, I love her like pain / I need her like a forest needs a flame / I love her like rage, I love her like shame / I need her like a victim needs the plague."
Hi! So I've really gotten into manga lately (I've loved it since like fifth grade but it's an on-and-off sort of affair) and I just finished "Superior" and its sequel, "Superior Cross," by Ichtys. It's a shounen manga, which I don't really read, but I took a chance on this one and found I really enjoyed it.
First off, the art is amazing. I really love the way the characters look. I also really like the way that they act. However, one fault I found with the characters is that the main characters, Sheila and the Hero, are often shoved to the background at different times. If there's an arc with Sheila as the main protagonist or even antagonist (she IS the demon queen, after all), then the Hero is only mentioned in passing. If the Hero is brooding over something, Sheila can be seen in the background or he thinks about her a little bit. I found this a little frustrating, but it was a unique way to portray their roles, so whatever, I guess.
Superior begins really quickly, with Sheila falling in love with Hero right away. I was kind of put off by this, but having her struggle with how much she already loves him was a lot easier for me than watching her struggle with falling in love with him. I also really liked her character design. She's eccentric and fun without being annoying. She's ignorant of the world, so her first question whenever she sees something new, alive or inanimate, is, "Can I eat it?" She's sexy, I guess, but she's not drawn like a sexual object. I find a large number of shounen manga has the "ecchi" tag, and as a female, I gag whenever I see some slut bouncing around in a mini skirt with boobs waaaay too large for her body. I was almost expecting that from Superior, but only one character had breasts large enough to make me cringe when they flashed her cleavage, and she wasn't hardly an MC. I liked how Sheila was sensual, but not sexual, and her childish antics made her more laughable than anything. It was easier for me to like her when I saw that only one male (Lakshri) made sexual advances towards her and he was treated like an idiot for it haha.
I found myself falling for Exa (the Hero) along the way, as well. He's kind, compassionate, and stubborn in his righteousness. Not to mention gorgeously drawn. One issue I had, however, was that whenever he wasn't in his armor or didn't have the weird things in his hair, I couldn't recognize him until someone said his name. His face is just forgettable and unoriginal. He's still handsome, but one's eyes are drawn more to his clothing than his face, even in the chapter opening page posted above.
The conclusion for the series is shown in Superior Cross, the equally-long sequel that concludes the group's adventure to defeat the demon lord. I didn't like the last few chapters, and I hated the time skip, but there were several aspects I liked.
SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
My favorite bit was when Sheila finally had to tell Exa who she is. She lied to him about not being the demon lord, but when her friends lives are at stake, she protects them from harm and exposes herself. I loved this. She didn't want to lose them, but when she realized that if she didn't make them go away, they would die, she sacrificed herself and their relationships to save them.
Of course, Lakshri and Angelica (two other companions who follow the Hero), didn't allow this. I would have been annoyed if only Rocci (the girl with the huge breasts I mentioned before) were to be the only one to follow through on the we-hate-the-demon-lord mentality. But then...
EXA TO THE OFFENSIVE! I was so pleased by this. He hated the demon lord so passionately that he swore she would be the only living thing he ever killed, and it would have been insane for him to easily accept that Sheila, who he'd fallen in love with, was the one who'd destroyed his village and killed his family. That he had a bit of a mental break made me really happy, but also sad at the same time.
I LOVED THE KISS SCENE!!! Exa is still wrapped up in his hurt and anger at her for betraying him, and Sheila knows it. So, when a rock ledge crumbles and they all (Sheila, Angelica, Exa, and Lakshri) begin to fall into the volcano, Sheila uses her magic to save the other three. She apologizes to them as she falls and tells them that she'll disappear now, so that the pain will, too. Exa snaps out of it at the last minute and saves her. The kiss was perfectly timed, just as Exa was coming to terms with who Sheila is and Sheila coming to terms with who she was and who she wants to be. It made me happy haha.
Another thing that got me was that the original demon lord, the very first Sheila (who isn't the Sheila we love), is MALE. See that chest? Flat. Those shoulders? Broad. I don't know why he's a dude and Sheila is a girl, considering that Sheila was created by Kagami from the spilled blood of the original lord when he was killed as a child. Well, who knows? Original Sheila was hot as hell, but cray-cray.
I really liked this series. Please, read it and get back to me on your thoughts! I love intelligent/educated discussion!! <3 :) :*
