Grrl Power #1392 – Fundamentals > Flash
Yes, fundamentals are more important than flash. It also helps if you juuuust enough super speed to make the other guy appear to be moving in slow motion.
Action pages are hard to comment on, because there’s usually not all that much happening. Sure, someone could pull some crazy new Jutsu out of their ass, but if that happens, that means you’re in for 12 pages of flashback to justify how the character suddenly has the perfect skill for the situation he finds himself in but for some reason has never mentioned before. (Yeah, Naruto, I’m looking at you.) Sydney’s not plumbing the depths of fantasy, sci-fi or superhero tropes, and the “so dumb they could only have survived to their current age because it’s a sitcom” character isn’t doing something dumb.
So, enjoy the oh-so subtle Street Fighter homage and feel free to discuss that time you brought all your best moves to that game of Street Fighter II Turbo Excel Hamarabe Fried Chicken in the arcade, and some unassuming guy stood there on the player 1 stick and whooped everybody’s asses by stuffing all the super moves with Jabs and Shorts and leg sweeps. Or vent your outrage over my Naruto drive-by.
To be fair to Naruto, I’ve only watched… actually it’s been a while. I think it was most of the first season. But my memory of it was that in 20 or so episodes, about 3 seconds of actual time passed, and the rest of each episode was flashbacks to them learning some Jutsu. That or the pink-haired ninja girl was having some internal, possibly boy related anxiety attack? I found that part fairly amusing, actually.
Ooh, look! A new vote incentive! And it’s updated with color!
Well, in progress, obviously. I have another one that’s actually a bit further along, but everyone was all, “Sydney Kobold vote incentive!” So I switched to this one. Plus the other one was a multi-character picture so it will actually take me longer to finish. I hope to have an update for this one each week, so stay tuned. There is a slightly higher res version on Patreon.
By the way, this gunmetal blue-ish background and teal pencils are how I draw the comic. I set it up this way so I don’t have to spend all day staring into a bright white blank page.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
Hamartia leads to hubris leads to Maxima breaking you. Poor guy. I’m sure he’s very impressive and very cool by his species and culture’s standards. Maybe.
Judging by how his nannies/guards reacted to his challenge, I personally rather doubt it.
they are there to pick him up off the floor and tell him how great he was.
Probably there purely to prevent him dying in the duel. Everything else is fair game.
They are there to pick him up off the floor and take him to the hospital.
Depends on how their culture views this, but I would say that the guards and other watchers are there to pay for damages, for when this young lordling gets out of hand.
You mean, silence witnesses and victims?
her range is perfectly fine thank you very much
Huh, I’m actually early for once
CAKE???
I hope it is in the right hand, where we can’t see. I do like funnel cakes. Especially when mid part is filled with chocolade.
It’s in Maxima’s right hand in the first panel, so it’s hidden by her leg in the last panel
It was in her right hand, is it is safe unlike when it was with Sydney.
Too focused on her hand and your sword, kid. You’ve both got whole bodies attached. Tools, weapons … and targets.
Sweep the leg.
yeah, as someone who watched the whole thing, its bs after bs explanation why that guy just had that specific jutsu that was never brought before.
All the way to the end of the fuckin anime
Honestly its kinda a shame.
As despite being cocky he is a 100% correct.
It just dont matter because Max is cheating
How is Max cheating? As far as her opponent is concerned she is armed according to their traditions. Have you forgotten they are supposed to be undercover?
Her “arm shield” actually covers her entire body because it’s really her invulnerability. He has no way to scratch her much less win.
Well obviously she is cheating in multiple ways. The way it works is you are supposed to stand there and bang your weapons together until the person with the highest ranked parents wins. Not only is she not loosing but kicking is obviously not allowed.
Don’t think it’s actually cheating when you win because you’re just so strong and tough your opponent never had a chance.
Mind, the Overlord, Ainz Ooal Gown, was of the opinion that you couldn’t legitimately have a duel if your opponent couldn’t even theoretically win.
Whether she’s cheating depends on what rules govern this type of duel. Which we don’t know and probably won’t find out, as who really wants to either write up or read an alien Code Duello that will probably never be plot relevant.
*Raises hand*
Cats don’t have hands they have paws.
Schrodinger’s cat does, and does not
You can define “supposed to go” as you like, but any society that develops a duel culture immediately runs into the problem of hired guns/assassins. For nobles, the way to contain it is to forbid duels unless the combatants are the same rank.
This is not a duel.
It is an impromptu spar. While the fop might think he is invulnerable, NO ONE (besides maybe his girl) agrees.
We do not actually know if Maxima upper her speed to ‘bullet catching’ levels.
In fact there is every evidence that she only increased it to not be in danger.
Also, any fighting style, but the unarmed style she is mimicking in particular, relies on superior speed. Maxima may have a shortcut in that she does not have to spend countless hours in the gym to build the strength to support that speed, but she cannot be (much) beyond the Stygian norm or she would risk her undercover operation.
And there is of course the first rule of war: If you aren’t cheating you’re not trying hard enough.
I prefer the Xykon paradigm:
“… I see that planning doesn’t matter. Strategy doesn’t matter. Only two things matter: Force in as great a concentration as you can manage, and style. And in a pinch, style can slide.”
Or, summed up (also a quote),
“In any battle, there’s always a level of force against which no tactics can succeed.”
It is NOT cheating. In fact if it’s a fair fight your tactics and strategy SUCK and are suboptimal. SMH, also everything is a weapon. The floor, that guy standing next to you, the wall, that leg laying on the ground, the rubber chicken (don’t ask, it just works ok).
Not really. Reach becomes irrelevant after the first attack in such a situation, if Max would actually fight for real. She is effectively dual wielding vs a single weapon. (Her speed allows her to use justone hand)
As such, she can parry with one (open hand even allows binds/grappling), while advancing with an attack into her opponents weak spot. There is a reason short parry-daggers are a thing.
Plus she could combine the parry with a beat attack to close and get inside his guard. That would work even for someone not superpowered.
Don’t know if it’s an easy fix, but sooner or later
I watched more Naruto than yourself DaveB, enough to realise the trope it (and DBZ) has of “New enemy, new training regime to beat it!” It was fun for a while, until they overdid it.
I also found the best antidote to all that.
One Punch Man!
P.S. I don’t get the Street Fighter reference, mostly because I played Mortal Kombat. Can’t tell you how many times I got turned into a baby.
One Punch Man is one of my four S-tier anime (along with FLCL, Nichijou, and Keep Your Hands Off Eizoken!) All very different genres.
Oh gods. She’s going to humiliate him.
He’s going to to Inigo Montoya. Train. Upgrade. Yearn for revenge. Take twenty years to become a master of the blade.
Track down the person who did this do him. Challenge her again.
And get totally spanked.
Or he’s going to go for funnel cake. Hard to say at this point.
Or he’s going to ask her to train him. Thar seems to be part of Stygian culture.
Like when Samurai Jack met the Samoorai.
“You must be that little Stygan brat I taught a lesson to all those years ago. You’ve been chasing me your whole life, only to fail now? I think that’s about the worst thing I’ve ever heard.
“…How marvellous.”
I look at this and think of David from SellswordArts. “This is the one guy that could actually lose to reverse grip.”
Maxima would be a Ken kind of fighter in Street Fighter. Allround abilities but more offensive than a Ryu.
Although she’d have a health bar a few kilometres long.
Ryu had no defense because he never used defense. Every strike was precision and technique. At this point Maxima is just pulling “Official Evo Moment #37” without being angry or actually trying.
Lots for flashy cuts, and wide sweeps. Wasted time and energy. Plus, the 4th frame looks like he’s hitting with the flat of the blade. Also, yes, Max is “cheating” by upping her speed (as Dave stated); however, if he’s fighting smart, then he would note that, and compensate as much as he could. Having fought in (wooden) bladed combat years (decades) ago, I often fought better and faster opponents. Usually lost, but sometimes won, and often made them work for it.
All style, no substance
But is ego is self regeneration.
At least fast enough for this level.
A useless style is not a style. At most I’d call it flynning.
“…you were bragging?”
Naruto gets better later on in the story, but the non-canon filler episodes are STILL annoying and inane.
Filler episodes are why I don’t bother to watch any anime with more than three, maybe four seasons. The longer they run, the more danger they are of catching up to the source material and having to do filler to keep from catching up, the more filler the source probably has, and the more recaps they have to do.
I hear there’s a project called One Pace that cuts all the filler out of One Piece and it goes from 450 hours long to 280. Over one-third of that show is filler.
Based on the few episodes I’ve seen, I estimate 98% of DBZ is filler.
Dragonball Z Abridged condenses nearly 200 episodes down to 67 episodes — that run about 10 minutes each, so half the length of a typical TV episode. Using that as a metric, Dragonball Z is roughly 85% filler. A little shy of 98%, but just barely.
Look most anime now don’t run continuous. So you get year+ gaps in the show for the source material to build back up. Which especially if its adapting a light novel, is plenty.
DBZ got an official filler-trimming with DBZ Kai. I did not watch it, but I think it works well.
Hope he doesn’t flip and face plant onto his own sword or other hurty thing. And, yes, that does happen in Real Life ™ too.
yep Seppuku for Dummies
He’s got the Duel-Guard ™ up, so he’d be fine. Apart from his pride.
You know people can get impaled by a blunt stick, right?
I mean, he’s a cocky idiot – but if he was as good as he thinks he is, and she was actually what she’s pretending to be… he wouldn’t be wrong. There’s a reason why the mediæval melee weapon tier list went polearm > sword > dagger. Range is a massive thing in a fight.
Yeah, agreed: There would have to be a huge skill gap for Maxima to have a chance vs a sword, if it weren’t for her super speed and durability. As it is, he’d have to be dropping tactical nukes from orbit to have a real chance.
There’s a reason that the classic unarmed martial arts counter to a knife is “Run away!”.
That said, there tends to be a huge skill gap. People who prefer unarmed combat enough to go places they’re likely to be challenged without weapons tend to be pretty well trained in unarmed combat, while a lot of idiots will go into such places with a knife or better with little to no training. At least, the first time.
This kid apparently has had a fair amount of training, but it seems like it was all weapon versus weapon training.
In unit-vs-unit fights, yes. One-on-one it’s a lot more complicated. (Range is still an advantage, but only if you also have the mobility to maintain it, or if you’re comfortable switching style after they beat your point)
This is more akin to Renaissance-era dueling than medieval combat. A common tactic for closing in fencing is the beat attack, where you knock the opponent’s blade to the side and then close before they can bring it back on line. Even a non-super with an arm guard like Maxima is presenting would be able to execute that tactic against this opponent.
Like someone who attacks you with a pointed stick?
I’m low key wanting to see him land on his right hand and do a backflip back up to standing. That said if Max is tired of this already he’ll eat a fist as soon as he re-orients.
Also, “sooner OF later” looks like a typo
True, but plenty of people make slips in speech. If it’s speech and not totally weird I’d ignore it. Sometimes the person and situation can affect what to expect regarding weirdness. This is both a combat situation and an unknown character. I wouldn’t be surprised if a third of the words are missing out of any sentences he speaks never mind a wrong word.
Some people need to learn the hard way that away from the D&D table, not everyone can talk as a free action.
Looks like the bracer on his right arm disappeared in panel 4.
With what are supposed to be essentially invulnerable gauntlets, she could have just blocked a blow, grab the sword, leverage it away from him, and knock him on his ass. No super powers needed. Just a good sense of range, timing, and not even a ton of skill. Just so you know. (shrug) probably easier to draw too.
I hated when I’d spar against a newbie that had a win or two, they get cocky and think they are a master. I wasn’t, and the oldest trick in the book was to drive your opposition into a wall or a pillar to limit movement. At the time I was training on a staff (Bo) and the other students weren’t as far along as I was. One time a fellow student thought he had me, tried to lunge forward, I used my staff to vault over the thrust and landed on his staff, disarming him, and poked him in the chest, the look of shock made me laugh! As the trainer said, plan to win, expect to lose.
Also, expect to take a (few) hit(s)
Talking while sparring is a good way for both of you to learn and set up things to work on, talking while in an actual fight is a waste of breath and thought processes you might need later, chatterboy is about to find that out the hard way. The only thing you need to say in a fight is ‘stop resisting’ or ‘stop attacking me’…if there are cameras present ;)
Dave there is a typo I think you meant sooner or later and not SOONER OF LATER,
*shudders* sword play and the word flash without it being The Way Of The Flash.
There was no flash.
That would be a truly interesting opponent for Maxima and depending on who, she might die.
In this world:
Ranged energy attacks 1-6 (depending on who) with various multiple attacks and defensive techniques.
Super Strength 1-3 estimated
Super speed 1-4 estimated
And that’s without a mech. Basically Math if he dedicated himself to sword ranged attacks and speed. Because the training is crazy – and magic.
Of course the cocky turnip-licker tries and turn it around and claim how he is still the superior duelist, which is why Maxi put the arse on his arse
How soon before he starts to cry foul? Or just plain cry?
I know she didn’t want to waste the funnel cake, but her using it as a ranged weapon to defeat him would have been entertaining. Especially if she then picked up his sword and traded it for more funnel cake.
“suddenly has the perfect skill for the situation he finds himself in but for some reason has never mentioned before” wasn’t really a Naruto thing. Naruto was more a(I have a limited toolset, but by gods am I going to apply it to each and every situation” thing.
At least for the main character. The bad guys and side characters?… yeah, they did that a bit(or a lot, if they had magic eyes). But not the main character. He got oodles of on screen training over and over and over.
I’d suggest you re-view it… but honestly, much as I enjoyed the manga, there are probably better uses of your time.
Not the leg sweep. He should quit before he gets toasty.
Suddenly, Superman utilizes his super-macrame skills!
Any time I see a roundhouse, I keep hearing “Roadhouse”.
Buddy, your sword ain’t long enough to counter a leg sweep, you should really stop talking and start thinking.
Swordy Guy: UP! UP! DOWN! DOWN! LEFT! RIGHT! LEFT! RIGHT! B! A! flop
I thought a roundhouse was a kick aimed higher than that.
No, a ’roundhouse kick’ is simply a kick your perform while spinning around, and, as the graphic shows, she was doing a low roundhouse (also known as ‘sweeping the leg’)
Ugh.
Maxima swept the leg.
I mean, it’s the right thing to do there, but that expression! Ugh..
Holy speed lines Batman!