AoD Review: From Eroica With Love Vol. #1

[Jarred]

Review

[Chris Beveridge]

I couldn't get past the first volume of this. It wasn't the artwork but the story just didn't feel like it flowed right and I couldn't get into it.

[Noodle]

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Chris Beveridge said:
I couldn't get past the first volume of this. It wasn't the artwork but the story just didn't feel like it flowed right and I couldn't get into it.

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Give it another volume! The first volume is not representative of the rest! We keep saying so here! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] But it is very much like a sitcom as someone mentioned, there isn't a lot of serial-style development.

[Dagger]

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Chris Beveridge said:
I couldn't get past the first volume of this. It wasn't the artwork but the story just didn't feel like it flowed right and I couldn't get into it.

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That's too bad; I hate to be the person saying "Watch past episode 56488000 and you'll love it!!" but in this case, I do think it's merited. The subsequent volumes feel quite different from the first installment, and Eroica really takes off as it settles into its usual globe-trotting, Communist/neo-Nazi/terrorist-battling groove. It's no spoiler to say that the crappy characters from the first volume (the teen trio, Gabriel, etc) swiftly vanish from the story without a trace. The dialogue tightens up as well, IIRC--lots of great one-liners.

But if it's just not to your taste, that's okay too. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Jarred]

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Noodle said:
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Chris Beveridge said:
I couldn't get past the first volume of this. It wasn't the artwork but the story just didn't feel like it flowed right and I couldn't get into it.

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Give it another volume!

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Or just skip that first long chapter and start with the chapter that introduces the Major. The first story is quite mediocre, but the creator found her groove really quickly after she wrote out the trio and the Interpol agent. Then it does become much more focused, much tighter. Still a sitcom-style of story, but some really well done humor.

[musouka]

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Chris Beveridge said:
I couldn't get past the first volume of this. It wasn't the artwork but the story just didn't feel like it flowed right and I couldn't get into it.

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That's because it didn't flow right. The humor in that first half of volume one is so bad I'm amazed it even lasted beyond the first volume.

It's honestly almost bizarre how her humor instantly goes from "hay guyz whacky krazy stuff going on 24-7!" to relatively sophisticated quips and hilarious character interaction. Something snapped into place when she created the Major and booted the kids out of the story.

So, yes, that's another vote for giving it just one more volume. (Not to pressure you or anything, though)

[Sakippo]

Hello.

I do agree it doesn't get better until maybe volume 3?
(I'm not sure about the volumes because I own the Japanese re-released bunko versions)

It's more fun when the major plays a bigger role, along with the KGB bald guy.
And when more historical(?) and informational stuff are thrown in.
(I'll stop here because I don't want to spoil anything)

But I'm a big fan and glad it's coming out here in the states.
I've been reading it since I was in 5th grade, I think.


Random fact related to Eroica:
The artist (not the writer) for Kindaichi Files is a fan of Major, and modeled a character after him in one of the episodes.

[Red1212]

I'm not particularly interested in this sort of thing. The story, the characters, and designs just don't suit me. Apart from that, the presentation quality that CMX has given to this book, is one of the worst I've had a displeasure of holding in my hand. With its stiff binding, I had to deliberately put a dent in the spine, just so I could force the book open (that's right, FORCE it open). The pages were flimsy and easily tearing as well. Good riddance that I managed to get a refund for "From Eroica with love" in my bookstore.

[kio]

I actually liked the first volume fine [img]/images/graemlins/shy00000.gif[/img] I didn't think the characters or writing or humor were particularly terrible, but that may just be because I have horrible taste. I liked the second volume as well and really wasn't affected in a great way by any perceived shifts in the the ability of the writer to tell a good joke or write effectively, but again I'm not very observant in that regard.

I really loved the artwork though, so I think maybe I was distracted by that. I liked the distinctiveness of the designs and the polished look of the artwork very much. The whole book is certainly a different experience than anything else I have on my shelf. From the story, to the art, the layout of the pages, and even the dialogue. Its really fun [img]/images/graemlins/happy.gif[/img].

My only problem that had kept me from getting around to reading the second volume for nearly two years was that it just took me too damned long to read that first volume. I'm a relatively snail-paced slow-ass reader compared to many of my fellow forumgoers here so it took me literally an entire afternoon and into the night/early morning to make it through this book (three days for volume two). Not to mention, in addition, the aforementioned issues with the ridiculously tight binding on that first volume made for a not so pleasant reading experience. And so while I found the story itself enjoyable enough, and certainly something that I would love to read, I found it hard to want to pick up more of it. *(I realized during my proofread that I sound like an ass talking about how long it takes me to read the book. Like it should make a difference. It really doesn't when it comes to actually buying and wanting to read it- it does when it comes time to choosing what to read next on any given day. I could explain further but it'd be OT and ridiculously boring [img]/images/graemlins/shy00000.gif[/img] )

So I (finally) recently read the second volume a few months back and really enjoyed that, too. So I'm still on board the Eroica Love Train- its just going to take me a lifetime to finish the series at the rate I'm going [img]/images/graemlins/sweat000.gif[/img].

Anyways, I would recommend this book definitely. And I would recommend at least getting the second if you are feeling iffy after reading this volume- as I would with any series.

[RaeS]

Yay for an official review of Eroica! Nice job too.

I personally didn't find the trio to be as bad as most people make out. Maybe I have a large tolerance for characters like them. Still it is better that they're gone even though I kind of liked Ceasar.

I just have a very soft spot for older manga. Seventy's shoujo titles especially have an art style I like. Since CMX has changed their cover designs and the binding issues I think the series looks much better now. But you do still have to dig how much it's dated.

And the story & humor really only get better as it goes like people keep saying. Volume 4 I think has one of the best comedic developments. So it does pay to stick with Eroica if there's even a tiny bit someone may like about it.