Media Thread: Otr of the Flame

Otr of the Flame was a promising new manga. Really good style, lots of fun characters, and it just had the VIBES of something that would last a while. I felt in my bones that it had the potential to be a big thing. However, this ended up suffering a similar fate to author Yuki Kawaguchi's earlier work, "The Hunter's Guild: Red Hood. This manga lasted almost twice as long as Red Hood, but that's a difference between 18 Chapters and 34 Chapters.

The build up to the perceived "Big Bad" was pretty cool and it was fun seeing the villains in a positive light. Alternatively: The reveal that there was an Even BIGGER Bad who was then OHKO'd in just a few pages let me know that the editors had zero trust in the thing. They were rushing Kawaguchi out of the door as soon as they could.

At the very least, this manga wasn't AS rushed as Red Hood. While that manga finished a training arc and then speedran towards an ending that was too ambitious for its own good, Otr at least felt well-paced enough that the characters were sufficiently fleshed out, and we could be satisfied with how everything wrapped up.

While the ending could be seen as divisive for how fast it happened, the ending isn't the ONLY part of a story. It would be wrong if me to ignore the rest of what this manga had to offer. And what it had to offer was pretty good. One of Kawaguchi's biggest strengths is his artwork. The action is stylistic yet easily readable, and the designs are all stellar. Also, gotta respect a dude who keeps drawing tall, busty, and beefy women. Dude LOVES his muscular women. Guy just needs to figure out whether he wants to make long-form manga or more short-stories, because his editors keep cutting him short and he doesn't get a chance to shine.

Either way, I was satisfied with his Manga, and I hope he gets another chance in the future.

Overall: 8/10