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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Highschool of the Dead Act.30 Thoughts


After a two year hiatus that has had fans hanging in perpetual darkness since April 2011, Highschool of the Dead Act.30 "intellect, emotion, and DEAD" is here.

The fan response I've seen has been overwhelmingly positive, probably thanks to the fact that the long wait is finally over, but I have also seen some negative feelings, perhaps aided by the news that there is no definite date for the next chapter. Of course, fans are perfectly justified in being apprehensive. They just endured a bitter two-year drought of new material after all. For this reason, I want to give my opinion on this apparent ambiguity before I discuss the actual chapter. First, here is what's causing the stir:


The top message is something I'm not sure there is a good English translation for. I've seen it translated as "To be continued" (like the Yen Press version of this chapter) as well as things like "coming soon" and "till next time." This message commonly appears at the end of Dragon Age chapters. In my experience, it usually means a series will take a one-month break. Sometimes it could mean more than a month, or rarely the series even returns the next month. It simply means that the next chapter is not currently in next month's Dragon Age lineup, and the creator(s) and publisher haven't set a definite time yet. This is further shown by the smaller text below, which says something like "The next chapter's release date has not yet been determined. The date will be announced later." (I don't read Japanese, so please don't take this as a literal translation). It seems likely to me that the reason for this message at the end of the chapter is one or all of the parties involved weren't prepared to commit to another chapter so soon after this chapter. A few possible, and very speculative, reasons for this may be that Shouji Sato is busy drawing for Triage X and doesn't want to rush the art, the publisher wants Triage X to continue as a monthly series and doesn't want to overload Shouji, there are two new series already scheduled to appear in Dragon Age next month and there was simply no room for HOTD, or everyone just wants to measure the fan response to this chapter before they decide how often to release new chapters and how much longer the series should continue. I think each is just as likely a reason as the next, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was some combination of these and more reasons I haven't though of. Just so you know, this month's Triage X was half the normal length, which makes me suspect Shouji had trouble getting full chapters of both series done.

I am confident the series will return in June at latest. I just can't believe there would have been such a big deal made for a single chapter. They would have announced that it was only one chapter if that was the case. After all, what reason would they have for tricking people into believing it was a full return while secretly only planning one chapter? It wouldn't make sense.

Now that I've (hopefully) put some fears to rest, or at least increased some fans' understandings of the situation, I can move on to the actual contents of the chapter. If you haven't read it yet and don't want anything spoiled, stop reading here. Otherwise, see more after the jump.




I chose to include the page above because it is the first time we see Takashi's group in the chapter (not including Zeke two pages earlier), and it is on page 29. Page 29! That's right, Takashi and his group got a total of 15/42 pages dedicated to their plight through the streets of Tokonosu. That is just one page more than a third of the total chapter. 17 pages, which center around the police officer many fans agree is Rei's father Tadashi Miyamoto, take place at the Niidoko elementary school; and 10 pages follow Rika aboard a Japanese destroyer off the coast of the city. So why is this virtual three-way split significant? I think this might actually be a good sign in terms of the lifespan of this series. The manga has shifted focus from the main group before at times, but it was almost always brief or served simply to fill in a part of the story. The way these three parts are presented in this is a bit different. Each seems to be developing a different plot line. When you have three stories to follow, the entire plot advances less with each chapter, and we ultimately get more chapters out of it.


Most fans seem to agree that the man in the page above is Tadashi Miyamoto, Rei's father. He's a police officer, he's at the elementary school, and he seems to have some position of power, all signs that he is exactly who most people think he is. As sure as people are about him, there has been much uncertainty and speculation as to who his sniping partner--the woman behind him--is. Every picture of her obscures her face, except one on the last page that shows her mouth and the bottom of what appears to be glasses. The popular theory is that she is Takashi's mother. She is obviously not a police officer or SDF soldier, but she apparently is a skilled sniper. You could say she's dressed as a teacher, but that doesn't prove anything. There is a comment on the last page that asks who she is, which seems to be the cliffhanger for this chapter. Personally, I think she is indeed Takashi's mother, but we'll just have to wait until the next chapter to find out.


Is anyone as excited as I am about Rika getting a bigger part in future chapters? I'm anxious to see how her story plays out, especially after she prepares to leave the ship with a small arsenal.

I know, I know, most of you read this series for two things: boobs and zombie violence. Here you go you masochistic perverts:



As you can see, the series makes its return drenched in its usual bloody, scantily-clad glory. The chapter has a little for everyone, whether you like the story, new characters, or just straight up zombie decapitations. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I certainly did, and I can't wait for the next chapter.

42 comments:

  1. I'm most excited to see Rika. Going to enjoy seeing her on land again, fighting alongside the group, as I suspect she will.

    It was disappointing that most of Rika's story was left out of the anime. Maybe that forgotten Act will be brought back to life in a Season 2, if one ever happens.

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    Replies
    1. Maybe they will make a promotional webisode or something out of it. Since the manga is going to involve her more, it seems like the anime would have to go back and fill in what they skipped.

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    2. Probably just drop ACT 13 in early on. It would stand on its own as long as its not too too far past 18. Some of the bonus chapters like Cosplay of the dead would make a good OVA.

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  2. Kohta+Rika <3 I already can hear the bells

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    Replies
    1. lol, just... no.

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    2. Nah Saya and Kohta have a close relationship, they are bonding, expect to see those two as lovers

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  3. Tokonosu getting nuked ending?

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    Replies
    1. That's an interesting idea, but it would make no sense when the entire world is infected. They can't nuke the whole world. Plus, what if there's a cure?

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    2. Any idea what the naval officers were talking about? i don't remember another nuclear missile being shot down to cause a "blast wave", besides the one that went off over japan.

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    3. Not sure. Maybe they bombed a ship that was overrun, and it created a tsunami-like effect.

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    4. "From the Bomb". Maybe they are talking about the EMP nuke.

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    5. That happened more than a day earlier, so it doesn't seem likely there would still be shockwaves since it blew up in the atmosphere.

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  4. I'm guessing Daisuke will finish it up with 4 more acts averaging 40 to 42 pages. That will complete his story giving him personally some closure. It will also create enough manga to base a second anime season on. Allowing him and Shouji some added royalties (or at least a modest license payment).

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if there's only one more volume. Don't expect any more chapters to be over 34 pages, though, except for the last one I guess.

      But who knows, maybe he will decide to push out two more volumes.

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  5. Speedy_J here,

    back to my earlier message on checking out the sale stats for Chapter 30. Amazon reports it as #1 best selling horror manga (impressive for a single chapter), and somewhere between 10 and 20 for best selling manga in general.

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    Replies
    1. Interesting. Maybe not as many people read illegally as I thought. It would be cool to see actual sales numbers.

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  6. Thank you for clarifiying the end of chapter comments to prevent rioting and mayhem of the HOTD readers! I am glad they are expanding Rika's role in the manga; she is a very intriguing character. It actually seems like there is a lot of potential storywise. We have yet to learn about the origin of the outbreak and the military has said that not everyone can be rescued at this time from Japan, meaning our beloved crew will probably have to fend for themselves while waiting for the next rescue attempt. I see them meeting up with Rika and of course Rei's parents and Takashi's mom at the school. We also don't know the fate of Saya's parents. There are plot lines all over the place! More HOTD!!!

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    Replies
    1. I feel like they could just as easily end it in four chapters as they could in ten. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

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  7. I'm sorry, could you post the raw too?

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    Replies
    1. No, wait a bit and the scanlation will be out. Or you could buy the chapter from Yen Press.

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    2. is that I am part of an Italian team, and we would like to clean the chapter by us, the problem is that they are not raw nowhere XD

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  8. is that I am part of an Italian team, and we would like to clean the chapter by us, the problem is that they are not raw nowhere XD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't want to discuss this here. Send me an email at turambar1@yahoo.com if you can.

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    2. ok, I sent you an e-mail

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  9. thanks for the information and i am right we must buy the chapter to read it:
    1- can i get an english copy?
    2- where ?
    3- how much? ( just kidding there is not price for a man's fantasy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yenpress DOT com

      I'm not directly linking from here. Just doesn't seem like a good idea. It costs $1.99 for the digital copy.

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    2. what do you mean by that?

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    3. It doesn't seem like a good idea to send a lot of hits their way from my site. If they look into the referrals, they may have more interest in me than I want. I posted a direct link before, but I don't want to do it too much.

      Delete
  10. Rei's mom sure has nice thighs!

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  11. Any chance you'll be scanning the poster?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's not really possible considering it's 2x3 feet, and my scanner is about 8x12 inches. I'd have to scan it in about 8-10 parts and piece them together, and I'm not doing that.

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  12. There seems to be confusion over the releas of this act and I cant get a hold of this chapter i dont have a tablet or kindle and on google play it says its not available in your country. Ill just wait for the anime.(They could at least make another ova/s)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not sure what the problem with Google Play is. If you have an Android device, you can get Amazon's free Kindle app and read it that way. That's what I did.

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  13. It's on online manga readers also, but you can still buy it from yenpress

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Or wait for the scanlation, which, to my knowledge, is not too far off.

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  14. This series has so much potential, I'm talking an all time great potential. I think it should be a weekly manga, and the series should be lengthy. There is so much shit you can do with hotd. The story and plot is amazing, I love the characters, I love the fan service but it can sometimes ruin the tone or mood. But the manga fan service is cool. I don't mind fan service, but I want to shut up people that complain about it. If they anime, lessen the fan service, stick to the plot, and if the manga becomes weekly, it could be an all time great.

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    1. Believe it or not, HOTD is actually quite low on fan service as far as Monthly Dragon Age is concerned. The anime does overdo it, but I've always thought the manga was great at limiting ecchi and fan service to either realism or comic relief.

      This series will never be weekly because it takes so much effort to draw. Compare the art to that of any weekly series and you'll see what I mean. It's simply impossible to create that much detail and intricacy in a week, especially when Shouji also has to draw and write Triage X.

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  15. Will you post a link here when the scanlation is done for this chapter ?

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  16. Be interesting to learn what was actually said regarding this, anyone at BEA 2013?

    "(A Yen spokesperson also highlighted Yen Press’ most recent efforts at simultaneous English and Japanese publishing with a special High School of the Dead digital release.)"

    http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/57659-bea-2013-comics-and-graphic-novels-find-new-markets.html

    Nemesis

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  17. ''and I can't wait for the next chapter''

    good luck m8

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