Byakuren no Fangu General Discussion

[M-92 Mantis]

So how are you guys liking this story so far? What do you dislike about it? What do you think about characters or the plot and such? I thought since the series is getting more popular here we should have a thread where people can talk about anything regarding the topic so we're not limited to only the chapter releases.


NOTE: For spoilers, such as anything past the chapters and volumes that we have fully scanlated, that deals in a plot twist, big events, or character deaths must go in the spoiler box. The spoiler is the smiley with tape over its mouth in an X shape; click on it to be given a small box where you can type in the spoiler.

Here are examples of spoilers. No, actual spoilers are not in the example so you may click it without anything being spoiled for you :

SPOILER: Click to show

(_____) died. Do not give out any character deaths, even the obvious ones, since many people haven't skimmed the manga.

(____) is actually not dead/ is evil/ is actually someone else entirely. No big reveals or plot twists.

Mentioning characters that we haven't reached yet in this series are fine, but any drastic changes or events happening to them must be spoilered.

The ending to the series, or ending to the arcs must be spoilered.

[Kit]

BnF really surprised me. I've always been interested, because of the mystery surrounding it in the fandom (very little seems to be known about it) and because I think it is some of Yoshi's absolute best art he's ever done. But even with that, I didn't really expect it to be very good, with only 4 volumes of elbow room.

Now that we're about 2 volumes in, I can't believe how much I'm enjoying it. It has no real plot, but instead lets the characters carry it, which is something I've always craved from Yoshihiro's works. I feel like he tends to be very "tell, don't show" with his characters, but I can really feel the bonds between characters, and care about them in BnF. Everyone who is meant to be likable, is, with one exception, (lookin' at you, Rouou) and this story has made me actually appreciate the no-talking dogs, because I feel like I want to see more of a balance between the humans and their dogs, rather than just the dogs domineering. Some could argue that it makes a dog manga weaker, but I think it's a nice change. It also seems to mean less manhood speeches, which is refreshing.

The only thing I find questionable is the abuse towards Makoto that seems to be portrayed as a good thing. Rouou claims it's to "toughen him up" and at times it really seems like the author feels that it's justified, as well. I don't know if that's true, but it's the impression I get, at least half the time.

I suppose the story could still go downhill, since we are only halfway through, and Yoshi likes to just END things abruptly, but I sincerely hope it doesn't, since I've very much enjoyed it so far. I think it's shot up to being my favorite Yoshi story, tied with SSY, so far.

[Zeki]

I flew through volumes 1 and 2 this evening, and I'm really liking it so far! Still not fond of any of the human characters (I mean, people who make dogs fight for their entertainment are generally gross), but the story is engaging and the art is great. I can't see a series like this selling well in the US, though, because of the dog fighting theme. It would piss a lot of people off.

Can't wait for volume 3!

[saske]

I'm into a Yoshi-works reading phase haha and after KNSG, I got to read the two volumes of BNF as well!
The story is really nothing too supernatural but rather "normal" even though I'm not fond of the main subject, dog fighting, of course :'D
The artwork is really neat, I like it way more than the other mangas!
I liked Zero, Billy and his owner and Mr Higashi's dog Uminishiki

SPOILER: Click to show

I know the latter didn't do much but I felt that he had a soft spot for Zero, I saw the way he looked at the puppy and acted around him, especially during the fight with the other Tosa, he really wanted to help Zero and in the end, after the fight, he was looking at him as if to check if he was fine!

Of course, when the other two volumes will be complete, I won't step back from reading them! I imagine how the story is going to end, of course, but I still want to read it!

[kolasis]

I just read all the scanlated volumes and... I will anticipate the next one only because I care about Zero and the Tosa puppy. Rouou is probably my new hated character, and worst of all I think Yoshi wasn't intending him to be one. I think he meant to pass his cheating on his wife and his drinking as hilarious antics and the beating up his son to be the standard Yoshi moral of "abuse just builds character, boys!".

Overall it's more down-to-earth than the usual stuff, though it's still following familiar formulas such as "hero's mother dies" (not buying that a Tosa can kill an adult european wolf) and some conflicts appear only to never be mentioned again (the kid crying for putting his pet into brutal bloodsport, and then he never minds again) but I like the pacing and some of the fights.