Cosmic Awakened Fear Garou VS Post Crisis Superman

[big_adventure]

What we have here is a "you done goofed" moment.

spoilers:

Garou is now releasing massive cosmic radiation just by standing there, enough to kill people and threatening to turn the Earth into a dead planet. Blast shows up, they fight, we get to see Blast's cool power-set for the first time. You also find out that Garou IS being possessed partially by God, which is where his powers and motivation come from. Garou adapts Blast's powers and both uses them and counter them mid-fight. Garou pretty much punks Blast, going so far as to say "you might be the number 1 class S, but you are beneath my notice." Garou wants to get Saitama to release more power so he can copy that, because he realizes that Saitama has not released even close to his max so far. Garou kills the crippled Genos and rips out his core. Saitama shows up, looking kind of shocked, Garou tosses him the core, Saitama reflects on some conversations with Genos, then he gets Serious-faced and seriously angry. The issue ends as Saitama launches a Serious Punch, Garou goes Saitama mode and replies in kind, Blast comments that the backwash of this impact will destroy the planet. Impact to arrive next chapter.

end of spoilers

EDIT: SORRY for the initial reply, I forgot to close the spoil tag, fortunately nobody read the post before my first edit to close it.

[Captain Morgan]

Sort of curious to hear Nik's take on a thematic level, given
spoilers:

His complaints about God's usage and Garou feeling like too much of an anti hero in Manga compared to the webcomic. Personally I'm pretty emotionally devastated to see Garou reach this point.

end of spoilers

[Sharpandpointies]

I'm wondering what 'God' is supposed to represent. Or if it is actually God.

[big_adventure]

Sort of curious to hear Nik's take on a thematic level, given
spoilers:

His complaints about God's usage and Garou feeling like too much of an anti hero in Manga compared to the webcomic. Personally I'm pretty emotionally devastated to see Garou reach this point.

end of spoilers

Yeah - Nik commented a bit over in downtown and I somewhat agree. I don't know that this is the final arc, but it certainly could be.

I'm OK with the manga, really. I don't really consider it to be the same product as the webcomic anymore, and I don't think it's bad or anything.

I agree with your final premise - I think it's a waste. When they sat down to discuss the situation a couple of issues back, I really enjoyed that and thought it was a good segue to the end of the Garou arc and the beginning of some next one.

[Captain Morgan]

Yeah - Nik commented a bit over in downtown and I somewhat agree. I don't know that this is the final arc, but it certainly could be.

I'm OK with the manga, really. I don't really consider it to be the same product as the webcomic anymore, and I don't think it's bad or anything.

I agree with your final premise - I think it's a waste. When they sat down to discuss the situation a couple of issues back, I really enjoyed that and thought it was a good segue to the end of the Garou arc and the beginning of some next one.

Yeah, kinda wish they had stuck to that.

[Username taken]

I'm wondering what 'God' is supposed to represent. Or if it is actually God.

I'm wondering what's that about as well.

I just caught up with the manga and it's getting rather weird.

[Captain Morgan]

I feel like Japan is a lot less reluctant to get weird and esoteric with the word God, and biblical material in general, than western media is.

[Sharpandpointies]

Absolutely. I’m just wondering what weird thing this will be!

[Nik Hasta]

[

Sort of curious to hear Nik's take on a thematic level, given
spoilers:

His complaints about God's usage and Garou feeling like too much of an anti hero in Manga compared to the webcomic. Personally I'm pretty emotionally devastated to see Garou reach this point.

end of spoilers

Well, since you ask.

I'm not really moved from my position on the series by this chapter.

I initially thought it was a reasonable choice that spoilers:

Garou would reject God but still have a bunch of his power. I don't agree with bringing God into it as an idea, but that was a way to have the escalation of power and him rejecting God got us that without wholly losing Garou as a character. However, they've now stipulated that he is /kind of/ being controlled, or that God is feeding his darkest impulses which muddies things a little. OG Garou and even current Garou for most of this manga has been motivated by the idea of "dark justice", that he would create peace by uniting the world against him as an indomitable foe. This God Garou seems more omnicidal and is actively messing with Saitama to draw out his own strength which isn't really what Garou was after in terms of his motivations. He wanted absolute strength to unite the world against him, which he now effectively has. Going this route is... well it's stakes I guess? That said, I really don't like what they're doing with Saitama here because it's a much larger and more significant shift in his character and therefore the dynamic of the series as a whole. Now, if I felt that this version of the series was particularly well written, I would be more willing to come with them on this kind of big fundamental shift. Buut, I feel like they've kind of lost sight of what made OG OPM function and this is a move that undermines the core concept of the series to such a degree, I'm not sure how you can walk back from this. Not that said core concept was sacrosanct per se but this is a significant change point. This, perhaps more than any other deviation from the source material before it, cements the redraw as a wholly separate beast. By emotionally engaging Saitama to a degree so far beyond that which has been allowed by his numbness, by making him have to care about the stakes of the fight, by hurting the guy who /could not be hurt/ - we are now reading a whole new story. Now, do I think that this new story will be any good? Hard to say, while it's further from OG OPM than ever, the comparison will always be there. Currently, I like what the webcomic does more because it has more nuance to its approach. The manga is flashy, perhaps more directly emotionally compelling, but it's lost that human storytelling in pursuit of making gods bleed. Which is ironic to say the least.

end of spoilers

I guess I'm still processing to some degree?

[Cronus]

I feel like Japan is a lot less reluctant to get weird and esoteric with the word God, and biblical material in general, than western media is.

It could be a reflection of the culture there? How that country defines "religion" appears to vary from individual to individual.

https://blog.gaijinpot.com/japan-rel...heist-country/

[Username taken]

The escalation in OPM is very odd. As Nik has pointed out, the series seems to be changing direction entirely.

The escalation in manga can be exciting but sometimes it gets too much. Dragon Ball is a classic example of too much power escalation.

Even in One Piece, Luffy might be a "sun god"? That's taking things to entirely different level, no?

[BitVyper]

I'm wondering what 'God' is supposed to represent. Or if it is actually God.

tbh, it seems like straight up Yaldabaoth at this point. It does a lot of very demiurge-y things

[Marvel-Studios Rep]

I think Post Crisis clearly loses now, since Garou should be durable enough to soak his hits in the event he isn’t fast enough to initially evade.

Switching to New 52 Superman.

If you take the planet will explode if their fist clash at face value, I’d say that puts him a bit above New 52 in strength. The problem is that new 52 also had Solar flare, which was an all or nothing attack explicitly meant to be above anything else Clark could do. I could still see that putting Garou down even if they have break even stats.

Don’t know how to see the spoilers tags as I’m on my phone.

[big_adventure]

[

Well, since you ask.

I'm not really moved from my position on the series by this chapter.

I initially thought it was a reasonable choice that spoilers:

Garou would reject God but still have a bunch of his power. I don't agree with bringing God into it as an idea, but that was a way to have the escalation of power and him rejecting God got us that without wholly losing Garou as a character. However, they've now stipulated that he is /kind of/ being controlled, or that God is feeding his darkest impulses which muddies things a little. OG Garou and even current Garou for most of this manga has been motivated by the idea of "dark justice", that he would create peace by uniting the world against him as an indomitable foe. This God Garou seems more omnicidal and is actively messing with Saitama to draw out his own strength which isn't really what Garou was after in terms of his motivations. He wanted absolute strength to unite the world against him, which he now effectively has. Going this route is... well it's stakes I guess? That said, I really don't like what they're doing with Saitama here because it's a much larger and more significant shift in his character and therefore the dynamic of the series as a whole. Now, if I felt that this version of the series was particularly well written, I would be more willing to come with them on this kind of big fundamental shift. Buut, I feel like they've kind of lost sight of what made OG OPM function and this is a move that undermines the core concept of the series to such a degree, I'm not sure how you can walk back from this. Not that said core concept was sacrosanct per se but this is a significant change point. This, perhaps more than any other deviation from the source material before it, cements the redraw as a wholly separate beast. By emotionally engaging Saitama to a degree so far beyond that which has been allowed by his numbness, by making him have to care about the stakes of the fight, by hurting the guy who /could not be hurt/ - we are now reading a whole new story. Now, do I think that this new story will be any good? Hard to say, while it's further from OG OPM than ever, the comparison will always be there. Currently, I like what the webcomic does more because it has more nuance to its approach. The manga is flashy, perhaps more directly emotionally compelling, but it's lost that human storytelling in pursuit of making gods bleed. Which is ironic to say the least.

end of spoilers

I guess I'm still processing to some degree?

Excellent write up Nik

[BitVyper]

I think it's fine, honestly, but I never read the webcomic. The last couple chapters since the retconned one have been pretty jarring though.