How much is too much?

[aqua03]

So I recently started DRAGOONS a few days ago and as I work on it, a question keeps popping into my head: How much is too much?

Like, when DRAGOONS first launched as DRGN last year, it leaned heavily into its tokusatsu inspirations of Sentai and Kamen Rider. As I've rebooted it, I've been toning down those elements after I realized that writing it as an explicit homage to those types of shows kinda limited me and locked me into a "formula" of sorts for each chapter, plus I realized that such a concept might be a bit too "silly" for the story I wanted to tell.

In the current reboot, there are still some Sentai elements, but they are quite downplayed and it's more of a traditional fantasy story where the characters just so happen to be a color coded team with special power armor and the occasional ancient giant robot.

However, I was planning on having 'Caption boxes" of sorts for finishers and monster appearances al a something like Kamen Rider Ex-Aid or Zero-One (see the example below for what I mean) along with the Dragoons' main ability, the ability to turn into various dragons, be called "Dragorise."

(Here was what I was thinking of doing something similar to for the finisher attacks and monster announcements in regards to the "Caption Boxes".)

But it got me thinking: Is that stuff too silly/immersion breaking? Stuff like the phrase "Dragorise" or they flashy announcement text to punctuate finishers and monsters (Like punctuating the first monster the group fights as it bursts out of the water with the caption [AKUMA-CLASS NETHERBEAST: BIROSTRIS] for example). Is that all leaning too much back onto the stuff I want to get away from so my stuff to be taken seriously as a fantasy story and not just "Lol, funny Power Rangers with Sonic Characters!" And how much is too much in the other direction where you and your comic lose their identity and style and just blend in with the crowd? Am I overthinking this? What do you guys think in regards to all of this?

Thanks for the help.

[DualDragons]

Well i tend to use a text whenever a character from my universe uses their innate special skill. Other than that i generally never use text and let the action speak for itself.

Example is here, when the Leviathan (a deity created by the god) is introduced:

What i did is that i used the characters themselves as the information source for the name of this beast by having done a lore episode beforehand. Instead of making a narrator tell all these things. You could let one of your characters mention the class of the monster they're about to fight.

To keep this story short: you can use these kind of texts but my advice is to try and keep them to a minimum to avoid too much flow disruption.

[aqua03]

Thanks for the advice. I'll probably still debate on it for a bait while I draw my stuff. Thanks for giving the idea about the group mentioning the class of monster they were fighting,g might see if I can find a way to implement that naturally. (I also just realized that I think the "boss caption" thing might have been inspired by the Legend of Zelda the more that I think of it...)

Might also just have the "boss Caption" thing be in a small "bio page" at the end of the chapter to show off both a hero and the villain they fought in a "Jojo Stand Stat Page" sort of thing if that makes sense.

[darthmongoose]

I think you can get away with this sort of silly stuff if it feels like the tone of the comic is generally quite colourful, campy and bold. It works really well in stuff like Scott Pilgrim as well as shounen manga and more lighthearted superhero comics. I don't think it'll feel out of place in your comic given the genre, tone and art style!

[aqua03]

Ah, thanks. I was kind of worrying on whether or not it would clash more with the "fantasy-manga/RPG" style I was going for.

(DRAGORISE doesn't sound dumb, does it?)

[spadedigsbutts]

I think as long as you’re consistent, it should be okay. If everything has the same general appeal and the tone doesn’t just absolutely go off the rails then I think you won’t have to worry about immersion. It’s only when you mess with tonal consistency I think that people lose immersion.

[HGohwell]

It is absolute possible to do it and maintain a serious tone. (Obligatory Symphogear rant incoming) Symphogear borrows a lot from these genres as well and smashes them with magical girl so the screens are a huge part of the style without.

(yes the babies just beat a wolf girl with a giant beyblade it's that kind of show) But they always manage to keep the action flowing and keep whatever tone they're going for at the time (usually). And because it's such an important part of the anime it also absolutely had to be part of the manga.

Do both. Be serious and be stylistic and make bold choices. Have it all. I never once while watching or reading Symphogear went "well those are dumb" or "lol magical girl power rangers" (I was too busy screaming at pepople not to die). Do it with confidence and believe in yourself. (Also watch Symphogear).

[aqua03]

Funnily enough, I was actually recently watching a bit of Symphogear bits and pieces recently and realized it might be something i might enjoy...

Thanks for the feedback. I probably will at least test out the "Attack Captions" when I get to the pages that contain that and see how they look before fully deciding whether or not to keep them.

[AbelDraws]

Might also just have the "boss Caption" thing be in a small "bio page" at the end of the chapter to show off both a hero and the villain they fough

I reaIIy Iike this <3 You can aIways have the info be in the same page the boss appears, I do beIieve it can work weII, you shouId try it and, if it doesn't work quite right, just add aII the info at the end of the chapter. This way you can aIso have more freedom with how much info you can teII about the boss (you won't be abIe to say a Iot about the enemy if you incIude the caption in the same page it appears because... Well, you just can't have a page of text right in the middle of the action x'D but you can do so at the end of the chapter c: in case you have lore and info that's not vital to the story but that's cool enough to tell, you could share it that way, if that makes sense).

Also I don't think Dragorise sounds that dumb. English is not my first language, tho, so I'd take that with a grain of salt.

[aqua03]

Thanks for the feedback on both. Yeah, I'll probably see how that would look when I get to fully drawing out that page probably.

[GesuGesu]

You're overthinking it! It is fine if you go overboard with flashiness. Studio Trigger does BIG NAMES and BIG MOVES all the time and it's become sort of a "brand" now to have giant red letters cover everything. Trigger actually did make a tokusatsu homage anime in the form of SSSS. Gridman if you're interested in how they looked at tokusatsus.

As for Symphogear, it's just Hype, the anime. It basically is about "how big and how crazy can we go before the fans realize the sheer absurdity of it?" I've only watched season 1, but judging by how it's gone on for 5 seasons, the fans love the craziness of it.

[aqua03]

Oh yeah, SSSS. Gridman was great! I actually took a bit of inspiration from it when writing the reboot of DRAGOONS, funnily enough.

[HGohwell]

As for Symphogear, it's just Hype, the anime. It basically is about "how big and how crazy can we go before the fans realize the sheer absurdity of it?" I've only watched season 1, but judging by how it's gone on for 5 seasons, the fans love the craziness of it.

I mean I know it was subtle you missed the underlying plot about child sex trafficking, abuse, PTSD and lesbians then? And that's just S1.

But joking aside it is proof that you can have both @aqua03. Symphogear and Trigger are both know for being ridiculously bombastic at times, but it also managing to tackle some serious issues with reasonable competency. You can have both and it can be hugely popular. The amount of posts you make asking for advice comes off as too scared to make a mistake and honestly that's no way to do it. The people who get places take risks and do ridiculous stuff. Just trust yourself and go with it.

Also take away from Symphogear, do not work yourself into hospital with heart conditions because you won't stop working on your creation and trying to make it perfect (true story, and the guy still rewrote half the scripts in hospital, don't do it.)

[aqua03]

Thanks. I think you hit then ail right on the head with "being too afraid to make a mistake". I've always struggled with perfectionism, even though it's something I've been taking great strides in over the past few years, actually.

Again, thank you for the advice and I'll try my best to follow my gut more in the future.

[GesuGesu]

I did notice, but that wasn't what I'm trying to sell to someone who seems more into the tokusatsu aspect.

[rajillustration]

I'm personally in the camp of if you're gonna commit to a bit you gotta commit 150%. And if that bit has an explosive and action quality to it you gotta really push it. And like I don't know the full tone of your comic yet, but from what I've seen, it seems like it's not so serious that it would be out of left field if there were caption boxes. I'd be more concerned about making sure the movements drawn behind the boxes are as fun and dynamic as possible, rather than the fate of the captions themselves.

[PaulDevers]

I for one rather enjoy things like that in comics! I like seeing bio boxes for characters, and I also think move-titles are unironically kind of sick. It it's dynamic, action-y, and a generally fast-paced story, then yeah I think your cool running forwards with that idea!

[aqua03]

Thanks for all the feedback. I guess the big problem is that I'm afraid that DRAGOONS might come off as kind of like some dumb 90's toy commercial/show with the characters doing things like having an ability called the DragoRise and other stuff that would be great fun in a toyline or cartoon/TV show, but come off as kind of forced and more than a bit cheesy in a slightly more serious (thought definitely more on the "dramedy" side of things) fantasy story like what I've been trying to aim for recently.

I guess I will stick with my ideas of bombast finisher attacks and stuff and see how it looks given that for them oat part, it's just window dressing and if it doesn't click, then I can easily remove it if that makes sense.

I guess I'm just kind of afraid at my stuff getting laughed at if that makes sense.