The third comic of this century? Reaper deserves a higher ranking

Text丨Grey Wolf


At the turn of the century, Shueisha's " One Piece ", "Naruto" and " Reaper " have been updated successively, becoming the "three major comics" of an era, three post-70s cartoonists Oda Eiichiro , Kishimoto Masashi and Kubo led the people to be born. The golden age of passion that they jointly created lasted for more than 20 years, and it has never ended.

Spiritually, these works are descendants of "Dragon Ball", and the three authors can also be called the descendants of Toriyama Akira (although Kubo often said that his inspiration came from "Saint Seiya").

is an epoch-making masterpiece. The three comics have a grand structure and strict system. The main characters are full of strong personalities and recognizability, so that it is difficult for people to regard them as pure entertainment consumer goods.

The simultaneous improvement of the three comics has made Rimani a step forward. The "worldview" has become the principle of distinguishing strengths and weaknesses, but there are also misjudgments here, especially in China.

"Naruto" is booming in China, perhaps because of the massive spectacle and cool drama genes, people can clearly notice that Kishimoto 's poor skills in the later stage (even if its arsenal is really good), but it does not hinder it. reputation and revenue.

"One Piece" thriving all over the world is because of the determination to embrace the world, and none of the protagonists are Japanese ( Zoro has only Japanese elements), the buried secret and the blood of D have become A driving mechanism close to the theory has been developed, and Oda has so far refused to disclose the slightest.

This is indeed brilliant, but it gets tiresome over time - especially after 25 years of updates, there is no sign of completion, there is always a sense of stingy in raising chickens and laying eggs, and the bad reviews of "Wano Country" , then demonstrates how its world meaning is exhausted by an overemphasized localization.

Kubo's "Grim Reaper" initially took the third spot, featuring a transcendent style (including a simple and sharp style), or it was more mature in mind.

but the price is Kurosaki Ichigo / Ishida Yulong The characters of the two protagonists have not reached the general public recognition, and are more individualized in the overall order by Aizen , Byakuya Kuchiki, Urahara Kisuke, Sifengin Yeichi, Zaraki Kenpachi , Mayo Neri, Toushiro and others overshadowed them all.

By 2012, the "Finished Art" of "Reaper" had poor ratings, resulting in the subsequent animation version being cut in half. This historical regret has caused many death fans to sigh and pour their anger on Shueisha and Yoshinori, the editor who took over the series.

But this is not the root cause. Anime is a market for the survival of the fittest. The lack of empathy for the protagonist and has led to its growing weakness. Kubo's abnormal body (and his anger) just aggravated this predicament - "Wan Xian" The "Art" was supposed to be an important wedge for the construction of the world of death, but it failed to become a foreshadowing of turning things around, which led to the "Millennium Blood War" hastily came out, and unfortunately ended in controversy.

"Reaper" was outdated ten years ago and was regarded as incomparable with "Pirate" and "Naruto". During this period, "Attack on Titan" and " Ghost Slayer " successively became upstarts.

"Death" is rarely seen on the market, and it seems to have become the tears of the times. Those who reminisce about the old lament that they may not see the animation of "Millennium Blood War" in this life, just like many female anime fans cry and regret that they may not see it in this life. The end of the anime version of Inuyasha.

Takahashi Rumiko 's slash was less than five years, and Kubo Tairen waited ten years. He even witnessed his junior must see the next appropriation of his (of course, including Fuki Yoshihiro ) created a spell created by his worldview Cosmic brilliance. Official novel "Can&39;t Fear Your Own Wo" during

The publication of "rld" and the hot search for "The Crying of the Prisoner" prove that although "Death" has been cut in half, it still maintains its spiritual potential and vitality - it lost in the temporary traffic, but Never slumped in the worldview.

The animated comeback of "The Grim Reaper" is a repetition of the story of "The Thousand Years of Blood War". It is a kind of revenge in the form of a Harbach in its bones. It presents the current animation market with a gauntlet of an invisible empire.

Youhabach's recovery and reunification took thousands of years (900 years to regain his heartbeat, 90 years to regain consciousness, and 9 years to regain his strength). If time can see the true chapter, then it seems that it will take ten years for us to discern Kubo's world conception. Through constant questioning and speculation, in the speculation of memories, and in the completion of the official novel's clues, it will be completely completed. revaluation.

The reassessment here is also to reset the status of the three major comics. Although "Reaper" was cut in half and expelled from the front line in the early days, a clear sign in reality is that the future of "One Piece", which has been delayed for a long time, is uncertain. Naruto is really overrated, and Bleach is really underrated.

"Reaper: A Thousand Years of Blood" (2022)


Of course, this does not mean that "Reaper" needs to be pulled up to a higher rank, but in terms of tragedy, it is the thickest: the tragedy of "Pirates" Written on the monumental apparent death of Roger and Ace , the tragedy of Naruto lurks in the potential fate of the Uchiha family, and for Reaper, this tragedy is about a The return/sacrifice of the Messiah, and the Oedipal reincarnation.

Since the "Millennium Blood War" has been completed for six years, the plot has long been transparent, and the production of the animated version is within expectations. For example, the first episode is a three-pronged axe of course: the return of the protagonist group in Kakuzacho; Kurosaki Ichigo battles Ibang (the broken face of the quencher); the invisible empire gives 瀞Reintei a gauntlet.

Youhabach, who appeared at the end of the first episode of

, ​​is one of the protagonists of the thousand-year bloody battle and the super Boss of this article. His moustache and the huge, intimidating shadow behind him seem to imply that this character must have been born out of Hitler, and that his uniformly uniformed "Star Cross Knights" are basically the Nazi Party. The situation of the second episode of

is that 's virtual circle has transformed from the former wasteland into a concentration camp-style purgatory, where Kirujie Opi of the Star Cross Knights (the holy text is J, that is, prison) kills and kills people. It is no different from the extinction style of the Gestapo, and in the process of fighting the three mythical beasts, it is not difficult for people to appreciate his extraordinary ability and the sinister, cunning and vicious side of his character.

Yuhabach and his Star Cross Knights seem to be a kind of diabolical fascist vision, and their savage assault on Sereiting was regarded by the original fans as a cruel and inhumane battle. They smashed the dead and killed people like hemp, and the absolute supreme combat power of Seiringei " zero team " became the joke of the era of the hotly discussed "Shame of the God of Death".

This battle was decidedly cruel, but the audience did not buy it, mainly because of several setting problems: 1) Although the members of the Star Cross Knights were amazing in combat, Kubo did not give them enough information and background to explain the situation. As for the overall feeling is quite empty and vague; 2) The protagonist group is no match for the members of the Star Cross Knights, but Yuhabach sent an assist at a critical moment with a "sanctimonious"; 3) Kurosaki Ichigo killed the ultimate with the last knife The boss friend Habach is so sloppy that the audience can't help but die for the latter.

These questions were filled in in the follow-up operations (especially the official novels published later), and the members of the Star Cross Knights, their backgrounds and related abilities, and the meaning of the holy text (they use 26 alphabetical order is given to words, and words are the initials of abilities). In terms of systemicity and level, they are definitely better than those who were in their prime."Broken Face Ten Blades" is much more powerful.

, ​​especially Hasward, who has been given B (Balance), has the power of "harmonizing the world" that grants infinite damage, but the play's second male, Ishida Yuryu, who has been given A (Antithesis), can reverse All, these two fantastic settings mean that the two can go on indefinitely, just like Isner and Mahut's almost unfinished Wimbledon long game that lasted more than 11 hours.

Because of his desire to build a kingdom of quenchers and purify the world order, Yohabach is regarded as a radical anti-humanist, at least a distorted practitioner of Nietzsche Superman philosophy, his ability is "all-knowing and omnipotent". "(Almighty), but we all understand that the actualized "Omnipotence" can only end with the supreme violence of the dictator.

However, it is very interesting that Youhabach is not only a Hitler-style demon, but also an Oedipus-style fatalistic tragic character. His father is the spirit king who gives order to the Three Realms. When he hugged the spirit king who had already turned into a human, shouted "father", and began to absorb the body of the spirit king (then became Argos in the form of a thousand eyes), that is, a knowingly committed Oedipus Act of. This move by

is to digest the "empty throne" of the Spirit King and establish his own "real throne" with supreme power. This is the most potential political proposition in the entire "Grim Reaper" series: the dictatorial regime of extreme left-wing , a soft regime that replaces the empty throne of capitalism. In this regard, the Soul World, the Invisible Empire, and the Invisible Circle belong to different polities. The Invisible Circle is a primitive polity that preys on the weak, while the Invisible Empire is the most evil polity.

As the father of Youhabach, the Spirit King is a capitalist belief. He was willing to be cut into pieces and turned into a man. In fact, it was to save the world. The Spirit King is a belief, a religion, with suffering as the background. Of course it is the foundation of the Christian capitalist world, or the Spirit King is Jesus.

It covers up the evil source of the foundation and creates the democratic illusion of capitalism's "empty throne", but in fact, the power of the soul world is still held in the hands of the four major families, which represent exactly today's transnational capitalism. financial giant.

In terms of the spirit king, the soul world is a hypocritical regime. Everyone is doing their best to practice the vocation of production. There are also high-tech symbols such as Urahara Kisuke and Mayonieri's "Technology Development Bureau". It is today's capitalist world with ample hardware and security. Compared with

, ​​the desolate but pure land of the virtual circle seems to have a more real connotation. However, after the siege and hunting of the god of death and the unprincipled slaughter of the quenchers, these remaining virtual circle creatures have become ah "Naked life" in the sense of Gambon.

Kurosaki Ichigo is special in that he has the common blood (and strength) of the three gods of death, queer and virtual, which makes him close to the "all" like the Spirit King.

In the official follow-up novel, Ichigo Kurosaki is the first candidate to be made into a "New Spirit King". This is of course a symbol of infinite potential, but it also reflects the "darkness" of the operation of society: to kill gods And carry the corpse of the god on the (empty) throne to maintain a kind of rule. But because Kurosaki Ichigo "accidentally" defeated Yohabach, who in turn absorbed his father, the Spirit King, Yohabach, the Nazi culprit-like figure, became a new deity in the form of a corpse.

From this, it can be seen that the most profound part of the "Grim Reaper" series is precisely the political connotation of "The Thousand Years of Blood" - although Aizen in "Broken Face" also has such a political tendency, which constitutes a political connotation of the Soul Society. However, in the final analysis, what Aizen is carrying out is the internal revolution of capitalism, a re-revolution of capitalism that points out internal delusions and religious deceit. Belief.

When Kurosaki Ichigo met Yohabach, he felt a kind of "déjà vu" because YohabaHe is exactly what his Zanpakutō looks like in human form. This is because of the common DNA, just like the mixed blood of communism, capitalism and primitivism flowing in his body - this balance of the trinity, isn't it? Equilibrium in the contemporary world (that is, the present world). This means that if Kurosaki Ichigo does not become the old-fashioned belief in the world (as the spiritual king of human beings), then he may become the new Messiah.

Ichigo Kurosaki, as the protagonist, is often criticized. Although he has supreme combat power, his popularity is much worse than that of Luffy, or Naruto. In the character list, they gradually retreated from the first place to the top ten).

Although this can be said to be a character issue, it is also an attitude issue. Ichigo Kurosaki is not proactive enough, he does not have enough passion to ignite, and he has no so-called ambition. He is a particularly "real" portrayal, his life Full of passivity, his principle is to "lie down."

This makes Kurosaki Ichigo an absolute "anti-anime" character, and of course a "revolutionary" character. If there is any effective way to deal with the resistance of this world (especially biopolitics), then Lying flat should be an effective one.

Kubo may have seen this characteristic in Kurosaki Ichigo, so he resisted the dreaming and illusion of him, and it was at this price that "Death" won back its profound worldview. This operation of

brought the determination to burn the jade together. The popularity and ratings have dropped, and the TV series has been cut in half to make it fall out of the popular ranks. However, its strong return also means a signal of resistance in the modern era: the deep construction of the anime worldview does not lie in emotional favoritism, but in a cold and clear speculation, which is the once controversial but still remembered, Potential for slow release and rebranding.