The Best Monster Hunter Manga You've Never Read | Flash Hunter

monster hunter comes in a lot of different forms of media there's the games that appear on various consoles there's an anime centered around stories and even a short netflix feature starring none other than the ace cadet himself but what many monster hunter fans may not be aware of is the various manga that have been released alongside the series for years now monster hunter raj a series that was released in april of 2008 is one very prevalent example if there's any manga that people within the community are bound to know about it's this one especially since the artist is the same individual that created the popular fairy tale series as well as eden zero which from what i can tell by looking at it is fairy tale in space orage ran for four volumes and 14 chapters within them before ultimately ending but it wasn't the only manga series to be created monster hunter episode is another series that has both five novels and three volumes worth of content with each story focusing on a different hunter it's a grounded concept in comparison to orage you'd see places like locklak see the various equipment slots as references to the game and other various callbacks to the games themselves but that's not what we're here to talk about today rather there was another manga that was released around 2011 even seeing a western release later on a manga with some of the best art and storylines in comparison to the other series that i mentioned despite how good it is and despite its western release this manga seems to be generally overshadowed by the more popular auras series and i truly believe that's a crime considering how amazing i found this manga after reading all 80 chapters of it so today i'd like to talk to you about monster hunter flash hunter one of if not the best monster hunter manga out there that you've probably never read [Music] [Music] flash hunter was released in 2011 with art by shin yamamoto and story by keiichi hakami yamamoto doesn't have much work listed online but maybe better known for a one shot of the popular from software games sakiro shadows died twice kikami is in the same boat with flash hunter and a late novel called school girl striker being the only things i could find listed the storyline centers around three hunters named ryga karis and tulsh each of the three hunters have their own various personalities and weapon choices hunting styles that they bring to the table the world of flash hunter is built around all aspects of old school monster hunter but without the gamification there is no triple carding as an example instead hunters come off as true experts of tracking and killing a monster through teamwork hunting horns still exist though and hunters need to paintball monsters to follow them more easily and things like small monsters can mess everything up if a team isn't prepared hunters will hide from their target make plans for flash bombs and status ailments and try their best to make an engagement as clean as possible hunters follow rules from the guild sometimes even put on time limits similar to that of the timer seen within typical hunts in the game everything can go really smoothly unless you're ryga who likes to charge in regardless of the situation often showing how in doing so without any forethought can pretty much mess everything up despite this raga seems almost self-aware of these issues often remarking on how he needs more practice while his hot-headedness is prevalent there are multiple examples of natural talent he can showcase like managing to get behind a yan kukku within the early chapters in order to make an opening for his hunting party there are aspects of shonen tropes within this manga you could almost consider it a battle manga but it still takes the idea of hunting very seriously more so than the games they're typically known for engagements feel serious and like they require proper planning and dangerous situations are truly life and death to bolster this the manga pulls from various locales of the game raga for example comes from a small village that uses local hunters to help protect it he heads to dundorma a prevalent hub area for hunters to take on broader jobs initially flash hunter has a strong generation 1 and 2 setting but when raga can't find teammates or work within dundorma an individual mentions a similar location that ends up being locklack city thus leading into a larger focus on generation 3 monsters and locales so it may start to become obvious why i was so drawn into this series with generation 3 being one of my favorite sets of entries overall and with it being very prevalent in the earlier chapters of the manga and you really get to see the cultural differences between the locations it becomes more prevalent how little some individuals from a location like lochlak may know about dundorma to the point that even wearing something like yankaku armor may turn people away from you as they have no idea what monster creates said armor and thus cannot properly judge a hunter's skill on the flip side characters like ryga are enamored by the foreign weaponry things like switch axes show up and the hunters have no idea what they actually are monster mechanics like curl pekko's roar and even things like armor skills are all present within the world of flash hunter and can make or break a hunt it feels like you're watching a rather serious take on the concept that the games have established and it helps you better appreciate the various mechanics hunters even need to retreat periodically to eat and maintain their weapons hunts seem like they can go on for an entirety of a day if not multiple lock lack isn't the only locale that is explored within the storyline either ryga and his friends travel from dundorma to locklac and even to pokey village the story line and the life of a hunter takes them all over the world of monster hunter and could be seen as a celebration of the entirety of what the series was back in 2011 it's also not only normal monsters that you'll see featured and discussed either elder dragons not only make appearances but get a richer sense of unspeakable power monsters that are essentially considered gods to normal hunters can lead to bad apples showing up in order to utilize it the art style is possibly one of the strongest parts of the overall product as someone who isn't an artist i can't fully appreciate it but what i can exude praise over is the amount of detail they put into the monsters overall you can get full pages of monsters like kuro pekko barroth and even wrathion all in fine crisp detail showcasing all of their various features like look at this insane picture of tigrex it's really where the manga shines the brightest i don't think i've ever read something monster hunter related that was so diligent in properly emulating the utter scale and danger of some of these monsters to the point that it can even make a kuropeko feel intimidating yamamoto manages to showcase these creatures as well as their various abilities in a way that i've never thought possible has arathian ever looked this intimidating to you what about a tiger x okay maybe tiger x the sheer size in comparison to the hunters makes it look like fighting would be borderline impossible and that's what monster hunter is all about taking on challenges that seem insurmountable but coming out on top in the end thanks to proper preparation and practice the locales as well deserve a lot of praise with dundorma locklac and even moga village being showcased within some capacity i don't plan on spoiling the entire storyline for you as i recommend reading and experiencing the manga for yourselves but overall i believe the eyes of ryga and his friends are used as a means of exploring and showcasing everything that makes monster hunters so special raga specifically comes from a village resembling kokoto the hero of kokoto is even mentioned during one of the story arcs ryga wields a greatsword through the majority of the storyline he starts off hot-headed and his actions often put him and his team in dangerous situations but as the story goes on you not only see him become a more capable hunter but you can actually liken his thought process to something you yourself would think about while out on a hunt what are your openings what will the monster do next how can i fit in as many attacks as possible while not being in danger in a sense ryga is the stand-in for the reader or the player a way for people to relate to their own journey as hunters throughout the monster hunter series but in situations where the risks feel much more realistic and deadly ryga's motivation for hunting is to protect his village but early on in the storyline you learn it's a bit more than that a hunter showed up to his village to help out for a long period of time and over said time he and ryga bonded the hunter named bexel even taught ryga how to hunt bexel like many other hunters wouldn't stay purely in the village and often went out on expeditions to hunt various other creatures after returning from one of these expeditions bexel's personality seemed to completely shift he locked himself inside his house for long periods of time and ultimately ended up disappearing only to appear again later as a talented hunter known as the demon dog which is some edgelord [ __ ] right he's also a longsword main go figure a lot of raga's motivation early on in the story is about becoming as good as bexel in order to better understand him and also take over the job that bexel left behind bexel would often talk about a flash he would see while in the zone during a hunt one that ryga wants to experience and one that leads to the flash hunter title of the manga karis meanwhile comes from an area close to pokey village he's the most serious of the trio and wields a heavy bow gun effectively acting as the party leader and giving out instructions when necessary while initially detesting raga due to his lack of experience and hot-headed attitude the pair become better teammates as time passes and as they learn to work together karys's main motivation for being a hunter stems from wanting to avenge his father who died at the hands of a tigrex karys's father was a lot like ryga and that led to a lot of the initial disdain we see between the two torsh is implied to be from moga village specifically she meets up with the duo when she fails a hunt against akuro pekko ryga and karys agree to help her out but the hunt ultimately turns into more than they expected when arathian appears porsche is a scholar more than a hunter she likes to learn and research and through said research she knows a lot about the various monsters allowing her to set up traps and cause various status ailments that help to assist the party overall she's a sword and shield main which you know makes sense considering how often she's using these items as i mentioned the story takes the reader all over the world of monster hunter karis and ryga work outside of dundorma but travel to locklock in order to get fresh experience with new monsters it's essentially a training arc that allows them to both bond with one another and become more experienced overall after returning to dundorma they're tasked with heading to pokey village to deal with an outbreak of monsters and it's here that ryger runs into bexel for the first time since his disappearance when raga was a child and i say child but i think he was like 13 when he started hunting and he's like 16 maybe 17 now and during these journeys the group meets various hunters with various personalities some hunters that look to protect their local villages and others who are only in it for the coin and the storyline really likes to explore those differing viewpoints should hunters hunt whenever they can in order to protect people or should they not if there's no money on the line what motivates individual hunters to do what they do the manga explores all of this it explores the individual settings and hunters within them and gives you a more detailed look at the lives of the people you may have interacted with within the games villages feel alive protecting them feels like there's a lot more on the line and it may make you appreciate your role as a talented hunter within the games a little bit more when you see the struggle other hunters have to go through on the day to day and no more does the storyline shine brighter than in how it features the monsters this manga is a rightfully glorified showcase of all the monsters you'd come to expect to see back in 2011. tigrex barrioth wrathion all of these monsters are here and the fights against them are like nothing you've ever seen before the way the manga conveys its battles and actions is better than what we see in some modern day monster hunter cutscenes i can't recommend it enough and the story goes on for much longer than what i've described so if you're looking for something new to read or experience see if you can find the manga at your local bookshops or maybe online for monster hunter fans i promise that it's worth it like i mentioned this manga really comes off as a true celebration of old school monster hunter and it's a shame it seems to be outshined by arage when flash hunter is just leaps and bounds a better product overall i hope that you decide to give it a chance and if you do be sure to let me know what you think of monster hunter flash hunter with that being said i'm super rad and i'll see you in the next video [Music]

Channel: SuperRAD

Views: 51,131

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Id: ho3xwDKEGyo

Length: 13min 45sec (825 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 05 2022