RotTK took like a month for me to read. But it's partly due to reading at a time when I had a lot of free time. If I were to read it now, I guess it would have taken like 3-4 months. Don't worry about time, RoT is only like 40-50% completed which it took 22 years to do so. I'd guess another 20 years for the story to be completed if it goes at this pace.
Actually, almost immediately after reading Kingdom, I read RoT for a few chapters by the recommendation of a friend and I was almost going to drop it. But he recommended me to read the RotTK first and then get to RoT. I have to admit, RotTK wasn't a huge masterpiece of a novel as I had expected it to be. Also, me being a history buff helped to get through it pretty fast. I'd rate it like a 7.5/10, but when I got back to RoT, I could see it's significance in understanding the storyline.
By the way, if you do read the manga, you should be aware that it has excessive amounts of rape scenes which might put you off. I'm not sure how much the anime censored there
So i've heard... As long as they're not glorified or fetishized it shouldn't be a problem, from the tone of the anime i don't think it'll go in that direction
In terms of censorship i have no idea, the only things that were covered were
Casca almost getting raped by enemy soldiers and Casca getting "raped" by Griffith, i put it in quotes cuz by the sounds she was making even though Griffith just went for it without asking/waiting to see if Casca wanted to do it, she seemed to be enjoying screwing him? I dunno, maybe that's cuz she's attracted to Griffith
And nothing was explicitely shown but it does cover that Griffith was prostituting himself for army funds
Listening to music while reading manga is a strict no for me tbh. Even if my surroundings isn't quiet, I won't read them. I've tried it once and couldn't properly focus on the manga, don't wanna miss anything from it.
Well, I wouldn't recommend reading RoT if you're not familiar with Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I don't know how much you're familiar with it, but part of what makes RoT so great is seeing events in a different perspective compared to the original story. Even though the general fate of the characters is how it occurred in the original, the plot is an original one. Moreover the characters are introduced as if we're already familiar with them so newcomers may not completely get that emotional attachment to them. I personally slightly prefer RoT over Kingdom. It's kinda hard to get into it tbh, unlike Kingdom you won't see detailed battle maps in RoT, you'll have to do the work by yourself. The scanlators stick to the Chinese names so it can be hard to remember the names compared to Kingdom which switched to Japanese names in the beginning. You'll also have more focus on the background happenings compared to Kingdom. The Artwork is also Godly.
Reading the original Novel is kinda hard tbh, it's like reading a history book and it's long af. It's 500 years old so there's obviously an effect of time on it. If reading is too much for you, try the TV shows. Haven't seen it myself but I've heard the 1994 version it pretty good.
If you ever end up reading it, here are two maps which helped me which might help you too.
First one to keep track of the major cities and provinces
Currently I'm watching and reading so many stuff even outside of animanga and have so little time so it'll take a while before I start with Vagabond up next.
Yeah, I too agree that both of those arcs were a let down. Also I'm not a fan of Guts' current company, it doesn't help in portraying the harsh world of Berserk with little kids roaming around with him.
When it comes to anime, Vinland Saga holds the upper hand. The first season of Kingdom anime has really terrible animation, though it got better over the subsequent seasons. It also skipped a few arcs like Sei's assassination arc. 90s Berserk was pretty good although it ends in a cliffhanger and the subsequent adaptations became more and more terrible.
My current ranking mangawise would be Berserk > Kingdom > Vinland Saga. But Kingdom will most probably overtake Berserk in the future since Hara plans on ending it with the establishment of Han Dynasty, that storyline with Liu Bang and Xiang Yu will be fucking awesome.
Yeah it's in the order from Left to Right but sometimes I do change them depending upon my mood.
Exeze said: that's a good point. I guess I'll find out for myself soon. If you end up thinking it becomes better, would you change your season 1 score to accommodate for it?
Nope, if s2 is better than s1 that still doesn't make s1 worse than what it is now
Haven't seen Magi yet but I'm planning to. Which do you think is better, the magi anime or manga?
Yeah, his new project is going to be something in a futuristic setting. He clearly lacks a direction at the moment for the ending. If I were in his shoes, I would put Vinland Saga on hiatus which is pretty common thing to do. And for someone as popular as Yukimura, it wouldn't be that hard either given his reason, I can see majority of the fans supporting his decision. I will carry on with the new project which will give me more time on how to perfectly end the series as well as utilise the time for creating something new.
I think when it comes to Manga, Vinland Saga is the weakest of "The Big 4 Seinen" as they call it. I haven't read Vagabond yet but I have a vague feeling that I'll like it even more than Vinland Saga. But when it comes to anime side of things, I think Vinland Saga holds the upper hand (Again excluding Vagabond). How would you rank them?
I don't think Season 2 can be called "comedic" tbh. I feel like there was more comedy in the first season comparatively, with Askeladd and all, but the lack of action is the cause of shift in tone. Or you might be mistaking it for the War in the Baltic arc, which was much more comedic and shouneny than the previous arcs.
I have no idea how Yukimura's gonna end it. Everything's again in an infant stage, I don't think rushing the ending would do any good. Tbh I really wish we got that adventure to Byzantine Empire arc which was supposed to take place between War in the Baltic and Vinland Arc. Could have been really interesting, Thorfinn and company trading in the market, meeting new places and cultures etc It's a shame that he skipped it.
Exeze said: In all my years of existence I have never once come across anything as hideous as a Konjiki no Gash Bell!! character. I'm in shock and disgust. My eyes did not deserve this
Lol, believe me bro despite its slight downfall, it's far from being comparable to Demon Slayer. I recently had a conversation about it with another user which made me realise even more of how badly written it actually is.
Yeah, you should re-read it someday. I should probably catch up too. I hope they make some good changes when the third season gets adapted. The anime original scenes in the latest season were pretty good.
It's definitely gone a tad down since the Slave Arc but I don't think it's "that" bad tbh. It just got a bit more shounen-like and likewise I've got plenty of Shounen with same vibes on 8/10. Vinland Arc however seems to be like the starting of Slave Arc, both of them started off pretty weak and I've got like 10 more chapters to catch up with so I'm not sure if things have gotten better. It might just be recency bias taking over you. Those ratings you've given for it, I give them for something like AoT's ending. I don't think things have gotten that worse tbh.
All Comments (38) Comments
Actually, almost immediately after reading Kingdom, I read RoT for a few chapters by the recommendation of a friend and I was almost going to drop it. But he recommended me to read the RotTK first and then get to RoT. I have to admit, RotTK wasn't a huge masterpiece of a novel as I had expected it to be. Also, me being a history buff helped to get through it pretty fast. I'd rate it like a 7.5/10, but when I got back to RoT, I could see it's significance in understanding the storyline.
So i've heard... As long as they're not glorified or fetishized it shouldn't be a problem, from the tone of the anime i don't think it'll go in that direction
In terms of censorship i have no idea, the only things that were covered were
I'm guessing you were heavily swayed by the last few episodes of berserk. I remember you saying it was carried by manga art before
Yep 😁
Review: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=493038
Well, I wouldn't recommend reading RoT if you're not familiar with Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I don't know how much you're familiar with it, but part of what makes RoT so great is seeing events in a different perspective compared to the original story. Even though the general fate of the characters is how it occurred in the original, the plot is an original one. Moreover the characters are introduced as if we're already familiar with them so newcomers may not completely get that emotional attachment to them. I personally slightly prefer RoT over Kingdom. It's kinda hard to get into it tbh, unlike Kingdom you won't see detailed battle maps in RoT, you'll have to do the work by yourself. The scanlators stick to the Chinese names so it can be hard to remember the names compared to Kingdom which switched to Japanese names in the beginning. You'll also have more focus on the background happenings compared to Kingdom. The Artwork is also Godly.
Reading the original Novel is kinda hard tbh, it's like reading a history book and it's long af. It's 500 years old so there's obviously an effect of time on it. If reading is too much for you, try the TV shows. Haven't seen it myself but I've heard the 1994 version it pretty good.
If you ever end up reading it, here are two maps which helped me which might help you too.
First one to keep track of the major cities and provinces
Second one for observing the power shifting happening in the storyline with time.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Three_Kingdoms_timelapse.gif
Yeah, I too agree that both of those arcs were a let down. Also I'm not a fan of Guts' current company, it doesn't help in portraying the harsh world of Berserk with little kids roaming around with him.
When it comes to anime, Vinland Saga holds the upper hand. The first season of Kingdom anime has really terrible animation, though it got better over the subsequent seasons. It also skipped a few arcs like Sei's assassination arc. 90s Berserk was pretty good although it ends in a cliffhanger and the subsequent adaptations became more and more terrible.
My current ranking mangawise would be Berserk > Kingdom > Vinland Saga. But Kingdom will most probably overtake Berserk in the future since Hara plans on ending it with the establishment of Han Dynasty, that storyline with Liu Bang and Xiang Yu will be fucking awesome.
Yeah it's in the order from Left to Right but sometimes I do change them depending upon my mood.
that's a good point. I guess I'll find out for myself soon. If you end up thinking it becomes better, would you change your season 1 score to accommodate for it?
Nope, if s2 is better than s1 that still doesn't make s1 worse than what it is now
Yeah, his new project is going to be something in a futuristic setting. He clearly lacks a direction at the moment for the ending. If I were in his shoes, I would put Vinland Saga on hiatus which is pretty common thing to do. And for someone as popular as Yukimura, it wouldn't be that hard either given his reason, I can see majority of the fans supporting his decision. I will carry on with the new project which will give me more time on how to perfectly end the series as well as utilise the time for creating something new.
I think when it comes to Manga, Vinland Saga is the weakest of "The Big 4 Seinen" as they call it. I haven't read Vagabond yet but I have a vague feeling that I'll like it even more than Vinland Saga. But when it comes to anime side of things, I think Vinland Saga holds the upper hand (Again excluding Vagabond). How would you rank them?
I have no idea how Yukimura's gonna end it. Everything's again in an infant stage, I don't think rushing the ending would do any good. Tbh I really wish we got that adventure to Byzantine Empire arc which was supposed to take place between War in the Baltic and Vinland Arc. Could have been really interesting, Thorfinn and company trading in the market, meeting new places and cultures etc It's a shame that he skipped it.
Well you naild his psychological assessment
Brago was actually one of my anime crushes when i was a kid xD xD xD
Yeah Kanchome's character design is a weird one, one of his parents must be a duck, which is a little concerning...
But what are your real thoughts on the characters?
In all my years of existence I have never once come across anything as hideous as a Konjiki no Gash Bell!! character. I'm in shock and disgust. My eyes did not deserve this
Wait, what?? Where does this come from??
Yeah, you should re-read it someday. I should probably catch up too. I hope they make some good changes when the third season gets adapted. The anime original scenes in the latest season were pretty good.
Slave - 10/10
Eastern Expedition - 8/10
Vinland - 8/10
It's definitely gone a tad down since the Slave Arc but I don't think it's "that" bad tbh. It just got a bit more shounen-like and likewise I've got plenty of Shounen with same vibes on 8/10. Vinland Arc however seems to be like the starting of Slave Arc, both of them started off pretty weak and I've got like 10 more chapters to catch up with so I'm not sure if things have gotten better. It might just be recency bias taking over you. Those ratings you've given for it, I give them for something like AoT's ending. I don't think things have gotten that worse tbh.