The Supernaturalist, Chapter 3: Blowing Bubbles

When I was in high school, my dream was to become an author. I would stay up late writing, and I would read author's websites, and blogs written by people trying so damn hard to get published. I guess it's still my dream, but I've also learned that you can't live on the written word. Sooner or later, we all have to grow up and get real jobs. Despite what my younger self might think, being a grown-up isn't all that bad. In fact, it can be pretty fun. Sure, I don't have as much free time as I used to, and I have more responsibilities, but I also have money and more freedom. I want to go visit my friends in New Jersey for a weekend? Sure, I can just hop in my car and do that. But it's really all a trade-off.

But I've gotten off track now. Point being, I used to read a lot about how to get published, and I learned that your first three chapters have to be really strong. I used to worry that the opening chapters of my cliché fantasy story wouldn't stand up to editor scrutiny, especially because the plot didn't really kick off until the third chapter.

Of course, rereading my old work now, I can guarantee that no publisher in their right mind would pick up my various novels.

I'm not a publisher of any kind, but I daresay that this book wouldn't have any trouble catching interest in the first three chapters. Like I mentioned before, action in The Supernatrualist is continuous. Even when things slow down and there's no Parasite-blasting, there's always something happening. 

With the magic of science fiction (shut up, that phrase totally makes sense!), Cosmo and Mona have recovered enough to go Parasite hunting. In the past two chapters I've talked about how Colfer mainly uses the narration to explain the world, but this chapter uses dialogue more frequently. Not only is Cosmo the new guy on the team, but he's also spent his entire life in an orphanage. This means that he's a great "Straight Man" character. 

When you're writing sci-fi or fantasy, you need a way to explain the "rules" of the universe to the audience. Up to this point, Colfer has mainly put those explanations in the narration. In the first chapter, for example, Redwood threatens to "wrap" the escaping Cosmo and Ziplock, and the following paragraph explains that "wrap" means to "shrink wrap" someone, or coat them in a layer of plastic so they can't move. In this chapter, the other three main characters have to teach Cosmo about the equipment they're using, and what sort of crisis they're running into. It's his first day on the job, and he's got a lot to learn.

"Mona explained to Cosmo while strapping an extendable bridge on his back. 'The Big Pig is a twenty-four hour city, so factories revolve their buildings just as they revolve their shifts. Everybody gets eight hours quiet and eight hours south facing. For the other eight, you're working, so you don't care where your apartment is. The Satellite tried to squeeze two apartments into one space. Nasty.'

Cosmo shuddered. The Satellite had messed up again. This was becoming a regular occurrence." 

There. We've just learned about the technology the Supernaturalists are using, and a little bit about the world, too. If it isn't obvious now, I much prefer when information is presented to the reader through dialogue, but adding Cosmo's thoughts on the matter also works well. It makes the story flow better, I think, and doesn't take the reader out of the world.

Colfer also gives us more information about the universe in this chapter. Most of this doesn't get expanded upon later in the novel, but it helps flesh out the world itself.

"Diplomatic immunity had become more or less redundant since the One World treaty, but there was still the odd remote republic that held on to its rights."

One World treaty? I would probably read a novel based on just that.

Cosmo's first night out with the group is pretty action packed. They swoop into one of the apartments and blast Parasites, which burst into blue bubbles when the jolt of energy from the lightning rod hits them. Like the rest of the book, this chapter is fast-paced, and Cosmo's doing the best he can to keep up. It's a fun chapter that explains a lot of the technology the Supernaturalists use, like collapsible bridges to navigate across gaps in rooftops and "gumballs", a nonlethal but nasty goop that can also be used with the lightning rods.

Mona hits the Parasites with deadly accuracy, Stefan kills them obsessively, and Ditto heals wounded victims. Cosmo, on the other hand, isn't so sure about all this. The first time he takes aim at a Parasite, he can't bring himself to shoot at it. When he sees a group of them sucking life energy out of injured people, he realizes - or, perhaps, remembers - what monsters they are, and is finally able to start blasting them.

The Supernaturalists attract a fair amount of attention, bursting in, shooting at apparently nothing, and then fleeing as soon as the lawyers arrive. Lawyers might not sound so bad, until you realize that these guys don't carry brief cases; they carry lightning rods and rappelling rigs. Atticus Finch they ain't. Their job is to make sure the victims at the scene sign waivers, and make sure no one gets away from the scene. There's a delightful exchange between our heroes and a pair of lawyers, which ends with the lawyers getting hit with the aforementioned gumballs after Stefan distracts them. And then they're off to the next crisis.

In every action movie I've ever watched, the explosions don't start right away. It starts with the hero - usually some divorced, tough dad with a son who hates him - in his every day life. Going to work, getting a beer with friends, trying to get your kids to love you again. Then the aliens come, or the daughter gets kidnapped, and that's when shooting and throat-punching begins. Between Cosmo falling off the roof and Mona's nearly fatal illness, we haven't actually seen a normal day for this motley crew until this chapter.

Going out to emergencies and blasting Parasites, it turns out, is a normal day.  The rest of the novel can't be like this, or it would get pretty boring. This chapter was really laid out to show what their day-to-day (or, rather, night-to-night) life is like. Which tells me that the novel is going to change from here on out.

One thing that kind of annoys me is that Cosmo's not very defined as a character. It kind of makes sense, because he spent his whole life in an orphanage, and is out in the real world for the first time in his life. In the previous chapter, Cosmo even notes that the only thing he ever wanted was to get out of Clarissa Frayne, and now that he's done that, he doesn't know what he wants. He showed more personality when he hesitated killing the Parasites, but he's just not that well of a defined character. 

Following Mr. Plinkett's memorable characters test: describe a character without mentioning their appearance, occupation, or role within the story.

Stefan: Tall, dark, and brooding. He's a natural leader, dedicated to his goal, loves and misses his mother, obsessive when it comes to hunting Parasites.

Mona: Street-wise, quick to act, but also sassy. We know she has a soft spot at Stefan's mention of her always wanting to take in strays.

Ditto: Pacifist, humorous, alturistic, compassionate, and left his well-paying hospital job to work with Stefan. To him, helping people is more important than getting paid.

Cosmo: Hates Clarissa Frayne, isn't sure what to do now that he's out and...uh...

Well.  The good news is that it's still early in the book, and Cosmo has time to develop his character. That is the point of main characters, after all. They change. 

I'll just leave you with one last quote, and if this doesn't explain why fifteen-year-old me though Stefan was sexy as hell, nothing will:

"Stefan would be a big hit with the girls, if he ever stopped working long enough to bring one out on a date. He had all the right ingredients. Tall, dark, handsome in a beaten-up-once-too-often way. But Mona knew that Stefan did not have time for himself, let alone anyone else. He only had time for the Parasites."

Damn. 

Rave Master, Vol. 2, Chapter 12: Your Basic DID

Chapter 12 begins with Musica reforging the sword that once was broken, the Ten Power's sword. Here's where I start to get really incredulous. Haru has, at this point, less than two hours to save Elie; therefore, he needs his sword finished in time. Musica even tells him that in his prime, it took a day for him to make a sword. Now, I don't know much about metalwork, but I'm pretty sure it would be pretty damn hard, if not  impossible, to repair a sword in under two hours. Add on the fact that Musica's been drunk for the past 15 years, it seems to me this would be well out of the realm of possibility. But story trumps logic, and Musica is able to fix the sword in no time flat. Haru promises to destroy Lance's sword, and is off to save the girl.

Meanwhile, Elie is chained in Lance's place, and reminds me why I like her so much. Even though she's a damsel in distress and waiting for the guys to save her, she's still a fun and upbeat character. She's not panicking or crying or just saying Haru's name, like that will bring him faster. Maybe it's a bit ridiculous that she's doing this even when she's threatened with a sword, I appreciate that she brings some levity to her situation.

Musica the Gangster is waiting for Haru outside Lance's mansion, but decides to go in by himself as the clock winds down. He wastes no time in beating up the guards outside getting in. His next exchange will Elie represent a huge difference between the thirteen-year-old reading this manga and me, as an adult reading this manga.

If this was how GoT treated sexual abuse, I might actually watch it.

Maybe it's because I've finally read the first book of Game of Thrones, maybe it's because I'm more aware of sexual assault and rape now than I was, maybe it's just because I'm an adult and have learned that the world is dangerous, even moreso if you're a woman...I always get on edge when I hear about situations - fictional or not - like these.

Cute, young girl gets captured by a strong, powerful man with no morals, who has her chained up and could do anything he wanted to to her. If this were Game of Thrones, or a crime novel, maybe a TV drama with adults as a target audience, you know exactly where this is going to go.

But it doesn't. There's nothing sexual about this scene. Elie claims that Lance was trying to look down her shirt, but she says that it was a joke. I'm so glad that this scene didn't go anywhere near that. I remember that Rave Master gets dark in some places. There's death, suicide, and some reasonably adult themes in the series. But it never goes into sexual assault. There's a lot of reasons why this might be the case. It's an action manga, rather than a drama; the target audience is teenagers; it's too dark.

Whatever reasons Mashima decided not to use it, I'm glad.

I'm also glad that when I was reading this as a young adolescent, the idea that Elie might be raped never even crossed my mind.  It's a small piece of innocence, but innocence nonetheless. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better if I could still think like that.

Musica fights Lance's bodyguard, Bis, and there are more puns. When it becomes apparent that Musica is going to win,  Lance cuts down Bis, to prove just how evil he is. Evil, but not interesting. As Musica steps up to fight Lance, Musica the Blacksmith has just finished repairing Haru's sword. Haru learns that Musica the Blacksmith's family was murdered by Lance, and Haru vows to destroy Lance's sword, ending chapter 12.

Right now the story seems pretty generic. Girl gets kidnapped by bad guy, hero goes to save girl, bad guy has no real motivation to be so bad. It really bugs me that Lance is just evil for the sake of being evil. The best villains are the ones that do wrong for reasons they think are right. A good villain believes in something. Lance? He believes in hurting people, mainly for shits 'n' giggles. I don't know about you, but that's not a cause I can get behind.

Rave Master, Vol. 2 Chapter 10-11: In Your Eyes

Chapter 10 starts with Haru and Elie meeting up, both happy to tell the other that they've found Musica, which might have resulted in some kind of "Who's on first" comedy, if not for the fact that our heroes get interrupted by Demon Card goons. Haru, Hot-or-Not Musica and Elie start fighting with the mooks, though Elie is quickly rendered useless when her tonfa blasters stop working.

There are also puns.

I love a good pun (is that an oxymoron?), but this just made me groan, and I'm pretty sure the thirteen-year-old version of me was rolling her eyes as well. The trio seem to be in a tight spot, but are saved by a drunken Plue, stabbing his nose into their feet. Why no one thought to kick a small, uncoordinated animal is beyond me. Did their sisters also teach them you shouldn't be cruel to animals?

Once Haru, Elie, and Musica #2 are out of danger, Musica reveals that his family was killed in an accident years ago, and the blacksmith is clearly a fraud. I think this is supposed to build tension, but if you've ever watched an anime or read a manga, you already know that the two Musicas are going to be long-lost something or others, and probably have special powers because of that.

Anyway, it turns out Haru did leave the Rave stone with Musica the Blacksmith, because...

You met the guy twenty minutes ago, and he was horribly, horribly drunk. You've been attacked, and have been told that the country only gets more dangerous as you travel. WHY THE HELL DID YOU GIVE HIM THE RAVE STONE?!

I'll let Musica the Blacksmith sum up my thoughts on this chapter:

Moving on to chapter 11, we get our first glimpse of Lance. He wastes no time in kidnapping Elie, and this is where I realize that she'll probably be pretty useless for the rest of the series. From what I remember, another volume of Rave Master consists of almost nothing but Elie needing Haru to rescue her. I don't remember a lot of the series aside from some scenes that really stood out, but I really, really hope that she won't be the damsel in distress all time time. Lance gives Haru two hours to bring him the Rave stone, or he'll kill Elie. Because this is still early in the series, there's no real need to be original, right?

Haru goes back to Musica the Blacksmith to get his sword repaired, only to find Musica being attacked by mooks. Musica says that he's hidden the Rave somewhere they'll never find it. To me, that sounds like a secret hiding spot, maybe someplace in his disused forge, or underneath a floorboard, or maybe Musica has a secret room full of awesome swords that he's forged in the past. Or, you know, in a drawer in plain view of everyone.

The goons are cleared out with a couple punches and Haru explains the situation to Musica. Musica initially refuses to fix the Ten Powers sword, citing that he's old and washed up. That doesn't take a keen observer to see. Haru convinces Musica to forge a sword again, not by impressing upon him the need to have a weapon and save Elie's life--but because he believes in him. 

I've read a lot of manga in my time, and this is a medium that truly believes that eyes are the windows to the soul. "You still love him, I can see it in your eyes." Or, "You're strong, I see it in your eyes." Or, perhaps most shojo of all, "You've got fire in your eyes." It seems like a cool sentiment the first time you read it, but then you read it over, and over, and over again. It would seem that all you need to perform a small miracle in the face of insurmountable odds is to look deeply into someone's eyes and tell them what you see there. In this case, its "You're better than that. I can see it in your eyes."

Musica isn't so readily swayed by Haru's Peter Gabriel-esque charm, but decides to fix the sword when he learns that Haru will be fighting Lance. Lance, it turned out, killed Musica's entire family.

When I was a kid, I thought Lance was evil, evil, evil. He killed Musica's family for no reason! How much worse could you get?

And that's the problem with Lance that I see as a grown-up. He had no characteristics other than being a psychopath. He is evil for the sake of being evil. He reasons behind it, his motivations, are never further explored. The only backstory we have on this guy is that he killed Musica's family.

I'm not against fictional psychopathic characters, as long as they're interesting. There are plenty of well-written characters who are evil for shits 'n' giggles, the kind that give you chills when you think about how anyone could be that coldblooded. Not Lance. If we knew anything about him other than "I like to kill things", maybe he could have been a great villain. Instead, he just falls flat.

Rave Master Vol. 2, Chapter 6: Down with the Kids Today

Chapter 6 starts with Haru facing off against Georco. And I hate Georco. There are plenty of reasons to dislike a villain, but I don't hate him because he's villainous and actively trying to kill our hero. That's just part of what villains do.

I hate him because of the way he talks.

Did you ever have a teacher who wanted to prove he could talk to kids by attempting to use their slang, but was a few years behind what everyone else was saying? Or see middle-class kids who listen to rap music and then decide they're "ghetto" too, and try to act like it? Has your mom ever tried to talk to you using words like "swag" or "fleek" or whatever the hell it is those darn kids are saying today?

Georco sounds like all those people.

#YOLO #BILBOSWAGGINS

I think that he's supposed to sound cool and "with it", or maybe it has something to do with the way the manga was translated. Maybe "I've peeped this cat before" sounds really cool in Japanese, instead of something ripped from a 1920s gangster movie.

An annoying and otherwise forgettable one-shot villain is made utterly detestable because of his dialogue, and for a twist, it's not what he says, it's how he says it.

Georco has a Dark Bring, which gives him the power to turn into carbon monoxide. That's...actually kind of cool, now that I think about it. The way Georco's attack names are translated, though, seem weird. The first attack Georco uses is called "Toxic Gas Blast", because when you live in a manga, you always need to announce exactly what you're doing to your enemy. However, a footnote lets us know that the original name of the attack is "CO Heaven". That sounds a lot more bad-ass, if you ask me. So why bother changing it? It would probably help me take the character more seriously.

Even though his sword is broken, Haru can still use the power of Rave to make explosions. He can't hit Georco directly, so instead he creates an explosion to blow smoky Georco away.

Hang on a second. A thought just occurred to me. Isn't carbon monoxide invisible? If Georco really turned into carbon monoxide, why can we still see him? Because it seems to me it would be a lot smarter for him to just disappear from view and asphyxiate Haru. The kid was having a hard enough time with the fight when he could see Georco.

Anyway, Haru manages to get away from Georco, but isn't in good shape after their fight. In fact, he completely forgets to rescue Plue as he makes his escape. You know, the thing that made him break up the race in the first place. Okay, he's in respiratory distress at the moment, so I'll handwave this one. For now. What I can't forgive is how easily the mooks chasing Haru overlook him.

He's RIGHT. FUCKING. THERE.

Haru hides under a desk where a girl named Elie is sitting.  Haru's foot is clearly visible as Mook #1 approaches. Surely, our hero will have to find a clever way to get out of this mess and hide himself, or...

Nope. The thug gets told to go away, and...he does. Even though it's obvious to everyone that Haru is hiding and Elie has the physique of a stick insect, and is in no way intimidating.

How did I let them get away with this when I was a kid?

With that potentially exciting scene squandered, Haru takes a minute to catch his breath, literally, and talks with Elie. It turns out that Demon Card has a lot of power in Hip Hop Town and anyone who wants to leave has to pay a huge fee to Demon Card. This kind of makes me wonder at the implications of this for Hip Hop Town's economy, but that's neither here nor there. Elie tells Haru her plan for getting out of Hip Hop Town: she's bet all her money on the dog race. This...is very poor financial planning. 

It turns out Elie's placed her bets on Plue to win the Battle Road race. Battle Road is essentially greyhound racing meets the Hunger Games. 

Am I a bad person because I think that sounds kind of awesome?

It is decidedly not awesome for the dogs participating, because along with them attacking each other, there's all sort of traps set around the race track, like spears that pop out of the ground and explosions. Even though Elie claims that no dog has ever died on Battle Road, I'm finding that a little hard to believe. 

Her reasoning for putting all her money on Plue? She's convinced that he's a bug who will fly at the end of the race. I know Elie's supposed to be a goofy character, but...really? He barely looks like a dog, how the hell did you look at Plue and decide he was a bug?

Haru wants to rescue Plue, but since Elie's bet everything she has on the race, she refuses to let Haru do so, and threatens to alert Demon Card thugs if he tries to stop the race. And so ends chapter 6.

I'm trying to remind myself of the MST3K Mantra: "Remind yourself it's just a show, I should really just try to relax". It's perfectly normal for goons to make bad choices and heroes to, likewise, make bad choices. It's what propels a story along. So I'll forgive the story for now, and try to enjoy its goofiness.