i'm probably gonna piss off a lot of gachiakuta fans lol but it is what it is.
so i've only gone up to ep 10 and oh boy is the pacing bad, not on tougen anki levels of horrible but it's nothing to flatter at either. some fights feel unnecessarily dragged out and slow, which kills momentum instead of building tension. this applies to the resolution of certain story arcs too, they feel underwhelming and in a very specific way: it’s not that they’re overly cliché or anything but they strangely “there" like it's being delivered rather than experienced. for a series that’s been so heavily hyped, i really expected tighter direction
additionally, there's that one episode that feels completely like filler. it was so out of place and random that it disrupted the flow rather than adding to it, didn’t feel integrated into the larger story at all.
another major issue for me is the character writing. i can’t connect with most of the cast. several characters are introduced so abruptly that it feels jarring rather than impactful. the way these characters interact is also so awkward and "artificially deliberate", they don't feel like real people but rather dolls with a background story slapped on them, forcefully made to interact with their given environment. immersion is difficult when none of the characters feel relatable. on top of that the dialogues are cringe as fuck too
Zanka is honestly the only character i find compelling so far and ironically, my man gets very little screen time
still, it’s interesting to note how Gachiakuta and Tougen Anki sit on opposite ends of the popularity spectrum right now, yet share similar issues. both series have strong high-potential concepts but both struggle with pacing and writing in different ways. a great premise can really only carry a story so far if the character work and direction don’t fully support it
(for context, i haven’t read the manga so this is purely based on the anime)
Messages
I haven't read/watched Gachiakuta yet (your post just reminded me of it, thanks for that buddy ) but in all honesty, as someone whose favourite genre is shounen, I think all of them are usually pretty overrated. Especially their anime versions, not to say their mangas are always better or something, but as long as the fight scenes are decently animated and flashy people will always hype them up the ass.
I really thought gachi and kagu (the manga ur preaching) are the same manga.
And that is the reason why I dont want to read it
In all honestly, I fully agree with you. I watch / read both the anime and manga. The manga is better when it comes to pacing and etc. the fights are cut shorter and use at least a few panels or at most 2-10 chapters when it comes to main fights and etc
But the manga lacks colouring if that bothers you and the text sometimes are like extremely long so it May take a while
The anime had the issues you mention but tbh the pacing is alright compare to what you say, the first few episode make sense it it extremely boring but once it hits amo arc it ah entire 180
Just read the manga and even if u still don’t like it. That’s fine everyone got their own taste
yeah i'll be sure to give the manga a try
This makes me hesitant to watch the anime because I’ve only read the manga and I am enjoying it so far. I’m mostly in it for the cool action scenes, but it has nice pacing.
i assume the manga has better pacing too and honestly if you're enjoying the manga, better stick with it. the anime isn't really anything special (it's just "above average") and studio bones failed to deliver imo
My main issue with this show is the cover they used for amo. She goes thru bad sa (I could not watch that part cause trauma) but my sibling filled me in. the manga over that they have for her is gooner bait and it's so creepy cause she's a minor
The manga cover
i haven't reached the ep on amo's backstory yet, but it's shocking that they made a MINOR the gooner bait like her outfit is crazy for a 15-16 yo. the fact that enjin literally said "cover up bc i can't think straight" ???????????
That scene also weirded me out, but after you see her backstory, it will make much more sense and as the manga progresses her style completely changes and her outfits are appropriate for her age.
Apparently that's a show choice in the manga he just says uncomfortable. Or something, u got to check manga to see if that's right. But that's what i heard. Amos outfit is supposed to reflect her trauma etc in the show (which I can kinda swallow) but literally look up amo manga cover and tell me that's not gooner bait :/
In the manga it feels like Amos trauma coming thru so that's why I can swallow the outfit but on the cover it's totally giving gooner bait which I can't