 A strip depicting Piro, Largo, Sonoda and Nanasawa, published on October 8, 2004. Megatokyo is an online manga written and drawn by Fred "Piro" Gallagher. It was formerly written by co-creator Rodney "Largo" Caston (it is important to note that the characters in the strip are based on the creators' on-line alter egos, not the creators themselves). Rodney wrote the scripts for the two years or so of the story, but after selling off his ownership of the company, it is now written entirely by Fred Gallagher. The comic began on August 14, 2000. The comic is named Megatokyo after its domain name, because the former script writer already owned this domain, yet had no real use for it yet.
The comic arguably popularized L33t to the mainstream of the Internet. The origins of L33t are not precisely known.
Megatokyo follows the story of two Americans, Piro and Largo (mostly not based on the real-life Piro and Largo), who wind up in Tokyo, Japan after an incident at E³. Much of the early humour is based on video game humor and inside jokes, as well as culture-clash issues, although the style has changed somewhat over time and now features aspects from a great number of different anime and manga archetypes: whilst Largo fights off the threats from zombie hordes via his Beowulf cluster, with an angelic Boo (a hamster of Baldur's Gate fame) trying to moderate his somewhat excessive behaviour, Piro's life has become similar to a dating-sim, with Seraphim (modelled on the author's girlfriend, and now wife) chastising him from upon his shoulder for his incidental run-ins with young women. Also residing in the house is Ping, a confused robotic PlayStation 2 accessory capable of becoming someone's dream girlfriend - or throwing buses if enraged.
All strips are available free of charge from megatokyo.com (http://www.megatokyo.com/) as well as in the books published by Dark Horse Comics with ISBN 1-59307-163-9, ISBN 1-59307-118-3 and ISBN 1-59307-305-4. (At one point I.C. Entertainment (formerly IronCat) produced a book collecting the strips now included in Volume One. However due to a breakdown in talks between Megatokyo and I.C. Entertainment, Dark Horse Comics is now publishing the collections.)
Criticism and Commentary
Megatokyo has been subject to substantial -- some claim unwarranted -- criticism. Some of this criticism no doubt stems from Megatokyo's lasting popularity, but there has been much legitimate critical discourse as well. Some critics dislike Megatokyo's artwork, which has changed over the years from a traditional American four panel comic strip to a page-per-strip graphic novel in the manga form. Critics also dislike its storytelling style, which moves extremely slowly, with a large supporting cast (and little exposition or on-site aids for keeping them straight) and, allegedly, no clear direction for the plot. This perception is perhaps exaggerated by the often erratic schedule of updates and filler art days the strip has featured in the past, making the slow pace seem even slower.
Megatokyo's supporters feel the more sophisticated storytelling and slow pace constitute an artistic vision on Fred Gallagher's part, citing source material including anime, manga, and the various Japanese dating sims that Gallagher has chosen to emulate and, in some cases, satirize. Further, while Megatokyo's style has changed from the four-panel form to a mangaesque one, that seems to have been a natural artistic evolution in Gallagher's style -- and if it has been criticized by some, it has been embraced by many others.
Artistically, Megatokyo is often lauded for its intricate pencilwork (the strip is done entirely in grayscale, without either digital or physical 'inking,' giving it a more nuanced appearance) and inspired, almost ethereal character design. Gallagher has been criticized for a perceived uniformity of appearance among his characters, particularly his female characters' faces, though this often is overstated, particularly given the care taken in costuming choices, hair and other design elements, and the noted "big eyes, small mouth" style of some manga which Gallagher is clearly emulating.
Many critics argue that Megatokyo was better when Fred Gallagher and Rodney Caston co-wrote it. In those early days, the strip was known for a frenetic sense of humor, with a greater emphasis on slapstick, video game humor and per-strip punchlines. In the years since Caston left, Megatokyo has evolved into a far more story-oriented piece, with humor more an element of the whole than the main point. This story focuses heavily on Piro, who is based on Gallagher himself, which leads some (perhaps unfairly) to believe the story is an extended projection of Gallagher's own self -- or even a form of Mary Sueism. Complicating this are suggestions that Piro is or could be in questionable relationships with underage Japanese school girls. This latter criticism should be considered in the context of the dating sim and manga source materials, where such age gaps in romantic relationships are not uncommon.
Finally, some critics complain that the fictional Japan in Megatokyo does not resemble real-life Japan, the author having spent only a few weeks actually living there. Supporters counter that Megatokyo is meant to recreate the worlds of anime and manga, not to provide perfectly realistic depictions.
The Departure Of Rodney Caston
It had never been completely explained why Rodney Caston had left Megatokyo. It was only briefly mentioned by Fred and Rodney. On January 19th, 2005, Rodney posted a complete explaination about the truth of his leaving. This post was made on his website Rcaston.com (http://www.rcaston.com/). "Fred continued with his story lines and wanted to do most of the writing, Fred began to control more of MegaTokyo's direction, stories, and characters. Obviously some decisions were made that I was not happy about, this is natural given our different styles of writing and creation." The complete post can be found here 'The Truth About Megatokyo' (http://www.rcaston.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=71&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0&POSTNUKESID=f799ccc12006db0d0885818684e4b8e7)
Characters
In Megatokyo, Japanese names are written in Western order, with the surname after the given name. A more descriptive list of characters and character details can be found at Megatokyo characters.
- Piro - Megatokyo's main protagonist, based upon the artist himself, Fred Gallagher.
- Largo - Megatokyo's second protagonist, based upon the former author, Rodney Caston.
- Ed - A character based on the author's real life associate, Edmund Balan.
- Dom - A character based on Dominic Nguyen, Konami employee, freelance writer, and friend to the author.
- Erika Hayasaka (早坂 えりか Hayasaka Erika) - Japanese girl, Kimiko's roommate.
- Kimiko Nanasawa (七澤 美子 Nanasawa Kimiko) - Japanese girl, Erika's roommate.
- Ping-chan - Prototype PS2 accessory android.
- Yuki Sonoda - Typical Japanese high school girl.
- Miho Tohya - Japanese high school girl.
- Seraphim - A miniature angel, the personification of Piro's good conscience based upon the author's wife.
- Boo - A miniature giant space hamster, the personification of Largo's conscience. Originally from the game Baldur's Gate.
- Asmodeus - A miniature devil, the personification of Piro's bad conscience, based upon Ken'ichi Hashimoto.
- Junpei - Resident ninja.
Forums
A message board system called the Megatokyo Forums accompanies the Megatokyo website to facilitate discussions among the site's fan community. Aside from discussion of the comic itself, the topics cover other areas of interest to the community, in particular art, computer gaming, and technology. Launched on September 29th, 2000 in their present incarnation, the forums have become quite active, with almost 40,000 registered members. Several Internet Relay Chat channels also exist for the Megatokyo forums.
The following is an overview of the individual forums.
- Megatokyo Central - A forum for general discussion of miscellaneous topics. A certain randomness (often frowned upon by moderators) prevails here that can be disconcerting to new forum members (and veterans alike).
- Story Discussions - This forum is dedicated to discussion of the Megatokyo comic's plot and characters. The author begins a thread here for each new comic that is posted.
- The Music Forum - All things pertaining to music and musicians belong here. This includes critiques of new songs as well as requests for help from aspiring music artists.
- Party System - A forum for threads pertaining to sociology and politics. This forum requires membership to view.
- Art and Drawing - This forum exists for all artists to post their work as well as view and critique others' work and exchange tips.
- Creative Writing - A forum for creative work in written form. Any type of writing is welcome here, although poems are the most frequently posted.
- Gamer's Central - This forum is for all things gaming, from the video games themselves to all manner of consoles as well as computer games and collectible card games.
- Tech Talk - Technological help is asked for and received in this forum. New developments in computers and operating systems are also discussed here.
- Role Playing Games - This forum includes discussions of traditional tabletop role-playing games as well as threads where posters can participate in scenarios and games.
- Hard Questions Room - Along with Party System, this forum was created to provide an alternative to Central for serious topics. This forum requires membership to view.
- Anime, Manga, and Cosplay - This forum is dedicated to discussion of anime, manga, and cosplay.
- Dating Sims and Visual Novels - This forum is dedicated to Japanese dating sims, visual novels and Bishojo games in general.
- No Save Points - This is a forum which is more dedicated toward the real life experiences of the various posters and community participants.
- Ask Shoujo Manga - Nearly identical predecessor to the No Save Points forum. See Shojo for further information regarding the naming. This forum no longer exists on the boards.
See also
External links
- The Megatokyo website (http://www.megatokyo.com/)
- Reader's Guide to MegaTokyo (http://rgmt.pcplayground.com/), lots of information on Megatokyo plot and characters
- MegaTokyo Fan Network (http://www.mtfn.net/), a fan site (taken down due to the owner losing interest in Megatokyo, but the forums are still online)
- Dark Horse Comics (http://darkhorse.com/), current book publisher of Megatokyo
- Fredart (http://www.fredart.com/), other art by Fred Gallagher.
- MegaGear (http://www.megagear.com/), official megatokyo store, merchandise for Megatokyo
- CHRONICLE COMICS; No More Wascally Wabbits (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E2DE123BF93BA25754C0A9629C8B63) - New York Times article
- You Had Me, And You Lost Me: Megatokyo (http://www.websnark.com/archives/2004/08/you_had_me_and.html), a critical essay dissecting one critic's commentary on Megatokyo. Summarizes some of the negative (and positive) points commonly raised.
- MTRengakas (http://www.freewebs.com/mtrengakas/) A group of versing supporters of Megatokyo who use a Japanese Poetry scheme to convey thoughts and ideas.
- The cwdb (http://cwdb.azaphrael.org/), or Creative Writing DataBase, is a searchable archive of filk, verse, parodies, fan fiction, and songfics posted by the Story Discussion Forums' community and dealing with Megatokyo and its fans.
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