• Registered: 1 March 2009
  • Posts: 55

Topic: Ultimo (Stan Lee, Hiroyuki Takei)

[This is in response to Kninsurai's post about Ultimo, split here because we have forum categories now! —ION]

Yea, I looked into that a while ago when Jump did a preview of it. I wouldn't say Takei's artwork is exactly the same, there are some notable differences, but he certainly hasn't made any dramatic changes, like you could see in Nobuhiro Watsuki's recent works. It seems to me that most artists, specifically Jump artists, don't really change a whole lot. Usually its either a matter of artwork getting slightly cleaner (like in Nobuyuki Anzai's case) or less clean (Yashihiro Togashi). To be fair though, it seems to me that most Japanese readers aren't really into change, preferring to see an artist stick with (what they feel) he does best.  The best way to really appreciate the changes would be to look at some classic Shaman King, and then look at the new Shaman King chapter's the published in Jump Square a year or so ago. I haven't read through them all (since I never really finished the first run of Shaman King to begin with), but seeing Yoh and the gang in the slightly new art style is a bit jarring.

But yea, back to Ultimo... I only read the first chapter, since thats all Jump previewed, but it was kinda odd. Stan Lee's writing just seems so out of place next to Takei's artwork, which is so expressive. It came off as kinda cheesy to me, and unfortunately I don't think Lee's plot was anything ground breaking, especially not in shonen manga. Worth reading for Lee's little cameo in the beginning, and to see Hiroyuki Takei in action again, but I honestly preferred his work on Jumbor Barutronica, which stupid Jump cancelled after a single volume. Does the series get any more engaging?

Perhaps we need a manga section? [Done —ION.]

Last edited by ION (25 March 2009 6:15:38 pm)

Quote Post 1

  • Registered: 11 March 2009
  • Posts: 12

Re: Ultimo (Stan Lee, Hiroyuki Takei)

The series seems to be progressing into either a tournament or battle royal. They have teams (bunch of good & evil robots/dolls show up) and the main good and evil ones along with their pokemon trai--er i mean human partner, seem to be captains of their respective sides.

Maybe some new twist will come up to make it more interesting.

On a somewhat unrelated topic. WOW do I really like One Piece. Maybe its only slightly better than the other Shonen Jump stories but I've got it right up there with Kenshin and Recca on my list. The story pace, originality, and character development is just so awesome.

And now to add some more topics. Anyone hear about that Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood anime? I hear its supposed to follow the manga more accurately.

Quote Post 2

  • Registered: 1 March 2009
  • Posts: 55

Re: Ultimo (Stan Lee, Hiroyuki Takei)

Yeah, now that Ultimo has had a few more chapters under its belt, I can say that I'm enjoying it a good deal more. The goofy narration has all but ceased, the back and forth between the present day and Yamato's dreams of Raseimon is pretty cool, and the ever expanding cast seems promising. My only issue is the ever present pseudo romance between Ultimo and Yamato, which is reminding me quite a bit of Ryu and Lyserg from Shaman King... weird.

One piece is pretty consistently awesome, provided you have the patience to follow it through its 60 some books. Although I find myself dropping in and out of the series from time to time, I can honestly say I hope it goes on forever.

As far as Brotherhood goes, I've heard that while its accurate to the manga in alot of ways the original wasn't, its different in alot of other ways, if that makes any sense. I don't know why I haven't started watching, considering Funimation streams the show free on their website.

Which reminds me. Funimation streams a buttload of anime off of their website and hulu. Back in 04 I was looking for a means to watch Fist of the North Star. Back in 07, I was desperately looking for episodes of Space Pirate Captain Harlock to no avail. Now in 09 I find most of the shows free on funimation's website. I guess patience is a virtue?

Back to Ultimo real quick though... after only a few chapters (I think the first tankoubon volume was recently released) Ultimo has found a stateside release, serialized int he pages of the US Shonen Jump, which is cool, since it is one of the few comics in the magazine that isn't hundreds of chapters behind its Japanese counterpart (One Piece, for example, is some 500 chapters short). However, I find this quite frustrating, as my beloved Nobuhiro Watsuki's newest work, Embalming, has had 3 tankoubons released with a fourth on the way, but no word for a US release has surfaced at all. WTF!? Worse yet, scanlations of the series are inconsistent and few and far between. Too bad Stan the Man didn't have a hand in Embalming...

Quote Post 3