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The two arrive in Tokyo after an incident at the [[E3|E³]] gaming exposition and find themselves with no money to buy plane tickets home. After living for several weeks in the apartment of a Japanese friend of Piro's, they are eventually forced to make an independent living in Japan. Much of the early plot details Piro beginning work at a store called "Megagamers", which specializes in anime, manga, and video games, while Largo takes on somewhat irregular jobs. Largo's work includes service with the "[[Minor characters of Megatokyo#Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division|Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division]]" and as an English teacher at a local high school (becoming "Great Teacher Largo," a reference to the anime and manga ''[[Great Teacher Onizuka]]''), where he teaches his students about L33t, games, and hacking. As the series progresses, Piro and Largo begin shaky relationships with women they meet and grow as individuals, becoming deeper and more serious characters than the stereotypes they first represented.
The two arrive in Tokyo after an incident at the [[E3|E³]] gaming exposition and find themselves with no money to buy plane tickets home. After living for several weeks in the apartment of a Japanese friend of Piro's, they are eventually forced to make an independent living in Japan. Much of the early plot details Piro beginning work at a store called "Megagamers", which specializes in anime, manga, and video games, while Largo takes on somewhat irregular jobs. Largo's work includes service with the "[[Minor characters of Megatokyo#Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division|Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division]]" and as an English teacher at a local high school (becoming "Great Teacher Largo," a reference to the anime and manga ''[[Great Teacher Onizuka]]''), where he teaches his students about L33t, games, and hacking. As the series progresses, Piro and Largo begin shaky relationships with women they meet and grow as individuals, becoming deeper and more serious characters than the stereotypes they first represented.


Other plot threads include the character Nanasawa Kimiko's rise to idol status, caused by her outburst on a [[Talk radio|radio talk show]], where she came to the defense of fanboys after being angered by the hosts' derisive comments about them. Another is the enigmatic Tohya Miho's involvement with Piro and Largo - she knew them from a [[MMORPG|massively multi-player online role-playing game]] called ''Endgames'' before their meeting in Japan. While she was abusing a secret "personality" statistic in order to manipulate large amounts of player characters, she was defeated by Piro, who presumably turned the system against her. This event seems to be Miho's motivation for becoming closer to Piro and Largo, though her ultimate intentions are unknown.
Other plot threads include the character Kimiko Nanasawa's rise to idol status, caused by her outburst on a [[Talk radio|radio talk show]], where she came to the defense of fanboys after being angered by the hosts' derisive comments about them. Another is the enigmatic Miho Tohya's involvement with Piro and Largo - she knew them from a [[MMORPG|massively multi-player online role-playing game]] called ''Endgames'' before their meeting in Japan. While she was abusing a secret "personality" statistic in order to manipulate large amounts of player characters, she was defeated by Piro, who presumably turned the system against her. This event seems to be Miho's motivation for becoming closer to Piro and Largo, though her ultimate intentions are unknown.


''Megatokyo'''s pace and style indirectly correspond to the history of the comic itself. Much of the early humor consists of [[Computer and video games|video game]] culture jokes, as well as culture-clash issues. During this early phase, the story moved along at a haphazard pace<ref>An example of this would be the following segment of ''Megatokyo's'' early plot: [http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=96] [http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=98] [http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=99] [http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=100] [http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=103]</ref> and was often interrupted by pure gag episodes<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=45|title=''Megatokyo'' Strip 45|accessdate= July 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=51|title=''Megatokyo'' Strip 51|accessdate= July 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=85|title=''Megatokyo'' Strip 85|accessdate= July 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> and "dead piro" filler-art days. This has changed somewhat, however, with the greatest changes occurring after Gallagher completely took over ''Megatokyo'' - most prominently: slower pacing, increased detail of character personalities and a larger focus on romances between characters. "Dead piro" days still occasionally appear as [[omake]] when Gallagher is unable to produce a strip, as do gag strips, in fewer cases.
''Megatokyo'''s pace and style indirectly correspond to the history of the comic itself. Much of the early humor consists of [[Computer and video games|video game]] culture jokes, as well as culture-clash issues. During this early phase, the story moved along at a haphazard pace<ref>An example of this would be the following segment of ''Megatokyo's'' early plot: [http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=96] [http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=98] [http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=99] [http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=100] [http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=103]</ref> and was often interrupted by pure gag episodes<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=45|title=''Megatokyo'' Strip 45|accessdate= July 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=51|title=''Megatokyo'' Strip 51|accessdate= July 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=85|title=''Megatokyo'' Strip 85|accessdate= July 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> and "dead piro" filler-art days. This has changed somewhat, however, with the greatest changes occurring after Gallagher completely took over ''Megatokyo'' - most prominently: slower pacing, increased detail of character personalities and a larger focus on romances between characters. "Dead piro" days still occasionally appear as [[omake]] when Gallagher is unable to produce a strip, as do gag strips, in fewer cases.


The comic features aspects from a number of different [[anime]] and [[manga]] [[archetype]]s, usually making light of the medium's various clichés: Junpei, a [[ninja]] who takes on Largo as his "L33t master"; [[Godzilla|giant saurians]] (such as "Rent-A-Zilla") roaming the streets; the "Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division," which fights the monsters with [[Mecha|giant robots]] and oversees the orderly and periodic destruction and reconstruction of predesignated areas of the city; Ping, a [[Gynoid|robot girl]] who becomes friends with Piro; and a school girl, Sonoda Yuki, who possibly is in love with Piro and has started taking art lessons from him. Other characters include Dom and Ed, [[mercenary]] employees of Sega and Sony, respectively, who play characters associated with the Japanese stereotype that all Americans are armed to the teeth. Seraphim and Boo, Piro's and Largo's "conscience enforcement agents," respectively, try to help their clients make the morally correct decisions, while Asmodeus, Piro's "anti-conscience," attempts to undo their help.
The comic features aspects from a number of different [[anime]] and [[manga]] [[archetype]]s, usually making light of the medium's various clichés: Junpei, a [[ninja]] who takes on Largo as his "L33t master"; [[Godzilla|giant saurians]] (such as "Rent-A-Zilla") roaming the streets; the "Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division," which fights the monsters with [[Mecha|giant robots]] and oversees the orderly and periodic destruction and reconstruction of predesignated areas of the city; Ping, a [[Gynoid|robot girl]] who becomes friends with Piro; and a school girl, Yuki Sonoda, who possibly is in love with Piro and has started taking art lessons from him. Other characters include Dom and Ed, [[mercenary]] employees of Sega and Sony, respectively, who play characters associated with the Japanese stereotype that all Americans are armed to the teeth. Seraphim and Boo, Piro's and Largo's "conscience enforcement agents," respectively, try to help their clients make the morally correct decisions, while Asmodeus, Piro's "anti-conscience," attempts to undo their help.


Usually, characters in ''Megatokyo'' speak [[Japanese language|Japanese]], although some speak [[English language|English]] or [[Leet|L33t]] (subtitled). Under most circumstances, when a character is speaking in Japanese, it is signified by surrounding the English text with [[Bracket|angle brackets]]. Not every character speaks every language, so occasionally characters are unable to understand one another; in several scenes, a character's speech is written entirely in [[Romanization of Japanese|rōmaji]] Japanese to emphasize this. Largo, for instance, speaks no Japanese at all, and thus cannot converse with some of the characters without the help of an interpreter.
Usually, characters in ''Megatokyo'' speak [[Japanese language|Japanese]], although some speak [[English language|English]] or [[Leet|L33t]] (subtitled). Under most circumstances, when a character is speaking in Japanese, it is signified by surrounding the English text with [[Bracket|angle brackets]]. Not every character speaks every language, so occasionally characters are unable to understand one another; in several scenes, a character's speech is written entirely in [[Romanization of Japanese|rōmaji]] Japanese to emphasize this. Largo, for instance, speaks no Japanese at all, and thus cannot converse with some of the characters without the help of an interpreter.

Revision as of 08:35, 8 August 2006

Megatokyo
File:Megatokyobook1cover.jpg
Megatokyo volume 1, 2nd edition
Author(s)Fred Gallagher, Rodney Caston
Websitehttp://www.megatokyo.com
Current status/scheduleMonday, Wednesday & Friday
Launch dateAugust 14 2000[1]
Genre(s)Comedy, Drama, Action, Romance
For other uses, see Megatokyo (disambiguation).

Megatokyo (メガトーキョー) is a popular webcomic created by Fred Gallagher and Rodney Caston, now solely written and illustrated by Gallagher. Its writing and art styles are heavily influenced by Japanese manga/dōjinshi. The comic was started on August 14 2000.[1] Megatokyo's contents and comic strip on the website are available completely free, with the contents generally being updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Unofficial translations into other languages are available elsewhere on the web, although the French and German translations are the only ones close to matching the original's update schedule.

Megatokyo centers around Piro, a man in his twenties who is an anime and manga fanatic; his friend Largo, a gaming enthusiast; and their adventures in a fantastical imagining of the city of Tokyo, Japan. Originally, the comic was gag-a-day-styled, and continuity, while present, took a back seat to the daily humor. As it progressed, however, it became increasingly based around a more complex, on-going plot with many continuously-developing characters.

Megatokyo took its name from its Internet domain, which had hosted a short-lived news site of Caston's before the start of the comic. The news site in turn took its name from the city in the Bubblegum Crisis anime series. As one of Caston's more visible and long-lived themes, Megatokyo frequently uses "L33t speak."

Plot and themes

Template:Spoiler

Strip #619 depicting Piro, Largo, Sonoda Yuki and Nanasawa Kimiko, published on October 8 2004.

Megatokyo follows the story of two Americans, Piro and Largo, who are stuck in Tokyo and unable to return home. The two protagonists are based on Megatokyo's two creators (or their online personas), but are fictional characters with lives of their own. Piro, as an otaku, is a shy and somewhat under-confident person who cherishes Japanese popular culture such as manga, anime, and dating sim games. Largo, the more extroverted of the pair, is obsessed with computers and gaming; somewhat unable to distinguish between the fictional and the real world, he sees elements from his games in everything around him like a modern day Don Quixote.

The two arrive in Tokyo after an incident at the E³ gaming exposition and find themselves with no money to buy plane tickets home. After living for several weeks in the apartment of a Japanese friend of Piro's, they are eventually forced to make an independent living in Japan. Much of the early plot details Piro beginning work at a store called "Megagamers", which specializes in anime, manga, and video games, while Largo takes on somewhat irregular jobs. Largo's work includes service with the "Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division" and as an English teacher at a local high school (becoming "Great Teacher Largo," a reference to the anime and manga Great Teacher Onizuka), where he teaches his students about L33t, games, and hacking. As the series progresses, Piro and Largo begin shaky relationships with women they meet and grow as individuals, becoming deeper and more serious characters than the stereotypes they first represented.

Other plot threads include the character Kimiko Nanasawa's rise to idol status, caused by her outburst on a radio talk show, where she came to the defense of fanboys after being angered by the hosts' derisive comments about them. Another is the enigmatic Miho Tohya's involvement with Piro and Largo - she knew them from a massively multi-player online role-playing game called Endgames before their meeting in Japan. While she was abusing a secret "personality" statistic in order to manipulate large amounts of player characters, she was defeated by Piro, who presumably turned the system against her. This event seems to be Miho's motivation for becoming closer to Piro and Largo, though her ultimate intentions are unknown.

Megatokyo's pace and style indirectly correspond to the history of the comic itself. Much of the early humor consists of video game culture jokes, as well as culture-clash issues. During this early phase, the story moved along at a haphazard pace[2] and was often interrupted by pure gag episodes[3][4][5] and "dead piro" filler-art days. This has changed somewhat, however, with the greatest changes occurring after Gallagher completely took over Megatokyo - most prominently: slower pacing, increased detail of character personalities and a larger focus on romances between characters. "Dead piro" days still occasionally appear as omake when Gallagher is unable to produce a strip, as do gag strips, in fewer cases.

The comic features aspects from a number of different anime and manga archetypes, usually making light of the medium's various clichés: Junpei, a ninja who takes on Largo as his "L33t master"; giant saurians (such as "Rent-A-Zilla") roaming the streets; the "Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division," which fights the monsters with giant robots and oversees the orderly and periodic destruction and reconstruction of predesignated areas of the city; Ping, a robot girl who becomes friends with Piro; and a school girl, Yuki Sonoda, who possibly is in love with Piro and has started taking art lessons from him. Other characters include Dom and Ed, mercenary employees of Sega and Sony, respectively, who play characters associated with the Japanese stereotype that all Americans are armed to the teeth. Seraphim and Boo, Piro's and Largo's "conscience enforcement agents," respectively, try to help their clients make the morally correct decisions, while Asmodeus, Piro's "anti-conscience," attempts to undo their help.

Usually, characters in Megatokyo speak Japanese, although some speak English or L33t (subtitled). Under most circumstances, when a character is speaking in Japanese, it is signified by surrounding the English text with angle brackets. Not every character speaks every language, so occasionally characters are unable to understand one another; in several scenes, a character's speech is written entirely in rōmaji Japanese to emphasize this. Largo, for instance, speaks no Japanese at all, and thus cannot converse with some of the characters without the help of an interpreter.

Megatokyo is divided into chapters which each consist of approximately 100 pages. Chapter 0, which subsumes all of the comic's early experimental phase, covers a time span in the comic of about six weeks. Each of the subsequent chapters chronicles the events of a single day. Chapter 0 was originally not given a title, although the book version retroactively dubbed it "Relax, we understand j00." Chapter 0 began during September 2000 (1 - 129), with chapters 1 through 7 beginning in June 2001 ("Do You Want to Save Before You Quit?" 134 - 192), November 2001 ("Things Change Little By Little..." 196 - 301), October 2002 ("Am I Your Number One Fan?" 307 - 397), April 2003 ("Low Ping Rate" 402 - 514), February 2004 ("Color Depth" 526 - 633), November 2004 ("Operational Insecurity" 639 - 729) and September 2005 ("Known Bugs and Security Flaws" 743 - 872), respectively. The eighth and current chapter, titled Defect Mapping (#875), started during June 2006.

Main characters

Main article: Main characters of Megatokyo
See also: Minor characters of Megatokyo, Alternate universes and omake theater in Megatokyo

Piro

File:Mt piro.jpg
Piro

Piro is the protagonist, an author surrogate of Fred Gallagher. Gallagher has stated that Piro is an idealized version of himself when he was in college.[6] He appears at first glance to be a fairly typical, socially inept American, a manga and anime (especially shōjo) fan who can speak fluent Japanese, understands L33t, and is frequently depressed or morose. He is also a fairly skilled artist who refuses to believe in his own talent - an exaggerated parallel of Gallagher himself.

Piro seems to have extreme difficulty reading women, possibly due to his feelings of insecurity and his impression of girls garnered from playing dating simulations, and as such does not realize the feelings Kimiko has for him. Early in the comic, he usually read shōjo manga to try to work out the "correct" way to deal with women and life in general. However, this philosophy changes over time, as he spends more time with Kimiko and other women, and more frequently heeds the advice of Seraphim, his "conscience enforcement agent."

The name "Piro" comes from Gallagher's online nickname, which was in turn taken from Sawatari Makoto's cat (named for Piroshki) in the Japanese renai game Kanon.[7]

Largo

File:Megatokyo main character largo.png
Largo

Largo is the comic's secondary protagonist, and the comic version of co-creator (and former co-writer) Rodney Caston. He is an American computer game fan who usually acts before (or instead of) thinking. He is technically gifted, though he uses beer as a CPU coolant; and cannot pass up the opportunity to tamper with anything even remotely technological in nature, usually working on computer hardware in the nude, as an extreme measure to avoid electrostatic discharge.

He speaks fluent L33t, but no Japanese, relying on Piro and other bilingual characters to translate. In addition, he is obsessed with beer ("b33r," as he calls it), and, fortunately for him, seems to have a superhuman tolerance for alcohol. He also seems to have a remarkable healing ability (or be subject to a form of cartoon physics), as he has suffered two broken arms and a broken leg since arriving in Tokyo, none of which causing much lasting ill effect.

Largo's opinion on women is divided. At times, he sees women as fair game, while at other times as evil beings (which he thinks Piro has a weakness to). In spite of this, he has developed a relationship of sorts with Hayasaka Erika. Largo is energetic and lively; he is a fire to Erika's water. Most importantly, he cares about Erika as a person; despite noticing her physical attributes, he shows a surprisingly deep and friendly side. This may lead him to being one of the few people in Tokyo capable of connecting with Erika beneath her hard shell.

The name "Largo" comes from Caston's online nickname, just as Gallagher is Piro.[7]

Erika Hayasaka

File:Megatokyo main character erika.png
Hayasaka Erika

Erika Hayasaka (早坂 えりか) is Kimiko's roommate. She is a powerfully popular former Japanese idol (singer) and seiyū (voice actress). Though she has been out of the direct spotlight for three years, she still has a considerable fanbase; a mere sighting of her caused riots from fans.

Erika is very strong-willed, confident, cynical, and hates being protected by others. She was once engaged to a man named Hitoshi,[8] who, at the height of her career, claimed to believe that he was holding her back, and broke off their engagement. Erika was deeply hurt, and that event, combined with exposure to swarms of fanboys and possibly her periodic work as a "booth-babe" at fan conventions, has caused her to adopt a rather negative outlook on men, herself, and people in general.

She speaks Japanese and fluent English (and seems to understand L33t). Recently, she has developed a relationship of sorts with Largo.

Kimiko Nanasawa

File:Kimiko.JPG
Nanasawa Kimiko

Kimiko Nanasawa (七澤 希美子), Erika's roommate, is a Japanese girl who works as a waitress at an Anna Miller's restaurant. She is an aspiring seiyū who often finds herself too shy or insecure to take on roles.

Kimiko is a kind, soft-spoken person in general, though she has a slightly impulsive nature. Her personality is somewhat similar to Piro's in that she has very little self-confidence and becomes extremely upset and flustered when she injures others, be it physically or emotionally. At the same time, she is prone to mood-swings, quite often causing herself embarrassment by saying things she does not mean. In addition, Kimiko has developed strong feelings for Piro, though she is too shy to admit them.

She speaks only Japanese, even to Largo.

Miho Tohya

File:Megatokyo main character miho.gif
Tohya Miho

Miho Tohya is an enigmatic and manipulative young goth girl. She is highly intelligent, adept at both arcade and role-playing games. She is drawn to resemble a gosurori (a Japanese synthesis of goth and lolita subculture), and is often described as "darkly cute," a reference to the comic in which she first appears. Gallagher has occasionally described her as a "perkigoth."[9] Miho often acts strangely, and regularly accomplishes abnormal feats, such as perching herself atop telephone poles.

Very little has been revealed regarding Miho's past. There have been hints that she has problems with her health and that she was once in severe danger, but no details have been revealed as of yet. It is also known she has had some kind of background story involving Erika's fans.

Miho speaks English and Japanese fluently, and has no problem understanding L33t.

Template:Endspoiler

History

Megatokyo was started during August of 2000 as a joint project of Internet acquaintances (and later, business partners) Fred Gallagher and Rodney Caston, with Caston writing the scripts and Gallagher supplying the artwork. The comic's popularity quickly increased,[10] and eventually rose to levels comparable to some of the most popular webcomics, such as Penny Arcade and PvP.[11] According to Gallagher, it was not intended for Megatokyo to become as popular as it did, and was originally an experiment to help him improve his writing and illustrating skills for his future project, Warmth.[12] As a result of its experimental status, the comic has undergone major changes since its creation; for example, the comic was originally laid out in four square panels per strip, in a two-by-two square array - a formatting choice made as a compromise between the horizontal layout of American comic strips and the vertical layout of Japanese comic strips.[13] The limitations of this format soon became apparent, and the comic switched to a manga-style, free-form panel layout, which allows for both large, detailed drawings and small, abstract progressions as the needs of the script require. This change happened in the spring of 2001, during Chapter 0 and the first year of Megatokyo's publication.[14]

In May 2002, Rodney Caston sold off his ownership of the company. Since then, the comic has been managed entirely by Fred Gallagher. In October 2002, Gallagher was laid off from his day job as an architect, and he has since taken the comic as a full time job. Caston's departure from Megatokyo was not fully explained at the time. Initially, Gallagher and Caston only briefly mentioned the split, with the news of it publicly announced when Gallagher posted a news post officially announcing Caston's departure.[15] On January 15 2005, Gallagher explained his version of the reasons for the split in response to what he felt was a "mean spirited" comment by Scott Kurtz of PvP shortly following the announcement of Caston becoming a father, where Kurtz implied that Gallagher had stolen Megatokyo from Caston:

"While things were good at first, over time we found that we were not working well together creatively. There is no fault in this, it happens. I've never blamed Rodney for this creative 'falling out' nor do I blame myself. Not all creative relationships click, ours didn't in the long run."[16]

Four days later, Caston posted his view of the event on his website:

"After this he approached me and said either I would sell him my ownership of MegaTokyo or he would simply stop doing it entirely, and we'd divide up the company's assets and end it all. This was right before the MT was to go into print form, and I really wanted to see it make it into print, rather [than] die on the vine."[17]

Funding

Megatokyo has had a range of different methods of funding over its lifetime. In its early years, it was largely funded by Fred Gallagher's and Rodney Caston's full-time jobs, with the additional support of banner advertisements. A store connected to thinkgeek.com was launched during October of 2000, in order to sell Megatokyo merchandise, and in turn help fund the comic.[18] This store was later replaced by "Megagear," an independent online store created by Fred Gallagher and his wife to be used solely by Megatokyo, although it now also offers Applegeeks and Underpower merchandise. Megagear officially launched on August 1 2004.[19]

Gallagher has made a point of stating that Megatokyo will continue to remain on the Internet free of charge, and that releasing it in book form is simply another way for Megatokyo to reach more readers,[20] as opposed to replacing its webcomic counterpart entirely.[21] He has said in the past that he is against micropayments, as he believes that word of mouth and public attention are powerful property builders, and a "pay-per-click" system would only dampen their effectiveness—indeed, going so far as to state that such systems are a superior option to direct monetary compensation, and that human nature goes against micropayments.[21]

Books

File:Megatokyo vol 4.jpg
Megatokyo, Volume 4

Megatokyo was first published by Studio Ironcat, a partnership announced in September 2002.[22] In January of 2003, the first book, a compilation of Megatokyo strips under the title of Megatokyo Volume One: Chapter Zero, was released by Studio Ironcat. According to Gallagher, Studio Ironcat was unable to meet demand for the book, due to problems the company was facing at the time.[23] On July 7, 2003, Gallagher announced that Ironcat would not continue to publish Megatokyo in book form[24] - an announcement closely followed by another on August 27, 2003, in which Gallagher released that Dark Horse Comics would publish Megatokyo Volume 2, future volumes of Megatokyo and a revised edition of Megatokyo Volume One.[25]

The comic once more changed publishers during February of 2006, moving from Dark Horse Comics to DC Comics under their CMX Manga imprint.[26] Currently, volumes 1-3 are available through Dark Horse Comics, with volume 4 available through DC Comics. As of June 26 2006, four volumes are available for purchase. The Megatokyo books have also been translated into German, Italian, French and Polish.[12]

As of July 2004, Megatokyo is the tenth best-selling manga property in the U.S.[27] Volume 3's highest ranking in Nielsen BookScan is 3, ending February 20 2005.[28] This makes it the best selling Original English Language manga.[28]

Reception

Megatokyo has been subject to much analysis. Some critics, such as Eric Burns of Websnark, dislike Megatokyo's slow pace and apparent lack of clear direction or resolution for the many plot threads that run through the comic's story.[33] This perception is exacerbated by the often-erratic update schedule; in order to prevent the front-page content from becoming stagnant, Gallagher has occasionally resorted to "filler-art days," and strips by other authors and artists that contain no continuity with any storylines - including the infamous "Shirt Guy Dom" stick-figure strips. Complaints about the speed of updates have even prompted Gallagher to install an update progress bar for readers waiting for the next installment. Gallagher was one of the first webcomic artists to have the ability to convert his hobby into a livelihood, although with Gallagher's full-time status, there is criticism that updates should be more frequent than when he was only working on the comic part-time.[33]

The comic has also been the recipient of praise. Silver Bullet Comics has cited Megatokyo's cast of characters as a high point, commenting that "the reader truly feels connected to the characters, their romantic hijinks, and their wacky misadventures with the personal touches supplied by the author."[34] In addition, Anime News Network has praised the "personal tone" in which the comic is written, stating that much of Megatokyo's appeal comes from its possession of the "friendly and casual feeling of a fan-made production."[35]

As a story-oriented comic, Megatokyo has a large supporting cast, as well as several ongoing storylines at any given point in time. However, there are no on-site aids for the uninitiated, confused, or forgetful; the Megatokyo website has had story and cast pages which have been "under construction" for several years. A number of fans have created their own resource sites, such as Wikitokyo, including plot guides and character pages, indicating a need for such resources.

An article in The New York Times noted that, although Gallagher states early on in Megatokyo Volume Two that he and Rodney Caston "didn't want the humor in Megatokyo to rely too heavily on what might be considered 'obscure knowledge,'" it could not be helped:

"Their work sits at the intersection of several streams of obscure knowledge: gaming and hacking; manga, from which Gallagher lovingly and virtuosically cribs the black-and-white manga style (large, dewy eyes, long soap-operatic story lines that entwine science fiction and teenage romance, and hairstyles of unlikely heft and spikiness); the boom in Web comics over the past few years; and comics themselves."[36]

However, the article also comments, "Gallagher doesn't mean to be exclusive, and he graciously offers translation of the strip's later occasional lapses into L33T; he also explains why the characters are occasionally dressed in knickers or as rabbits."[36] Finally observing:

"The pleasure of a story like Megatokyo comes not in its novelistic coherence, but in its loose ranginess.


It's the pleasure of watching what began as a lark, an exercise in the typical Bloom County kind of four-panel gag, as it literally outgrows its borders into a lushly penciled full page, the story maturing into the exuberant, addictive soap operatics of the manga that inspired it, and becoming an unintentional whole.


This offers a unique kind of intimacy with the work, a sense of being part of its creation in some way."[36]

Megatokyo is often praised for its intricate pencil work (done entirely in grayscale, without either digital or physical "inking"), and inspired character design.[35][37] However, the comic has been criticized for an uniformity of appearance and simple design of its peripheral characters, which have been said to be visually similar to the point of confusion.[38]

The comic was originally known for a frenetic sense of humor, with a greater emphasis on slapstick, video game humor and gag-a-day format. In the years after Rodney Caston left, Megatokyo has evolved into a very different kind of webcomic, focusing less on the types of humor that defined it in the beginning, and more on the romantic relationships between characters, in turn leading some to feeling that Megatokyo was better when Caston was writing it.[39] Additionally, without Caston's input, it has been said that the violent gamer antics of Caston's alter ego, Largo, appear forced and seem to be just an afterthought on Gallagher's part.[33]

Arguably, buffering some complaints is the sense of humility Gallagher typically gives off. As Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade notes, "We've gotten on famously ever since I figured out that he legitimately detests himself and is not hoisting some kind of glamour."[40]

References

  1. ^ a b "Start of Megatokyo (strip #1)". Retrieved September 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ An example of this would be the following segment of Megatokyo's early plot: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
  3. ^ "Megatokyo Strip 45". Retrieved July 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Megatokyo Strip 51". Retrieved July 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Megatokyo Strip 85". Retrieved July 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Gallagher, Fred (June 8, 2006). "i'll take my art back now". Megatokyo. Retrieved June 20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) A news post by Fred Gallagher in which he states that the character "Piro" is an idealized version of himself (Gallagher) when he was in college.
  7. ^ a b "Megatokyo Panel at Akon 13". Retrieved July 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Megatokyo Strip 627". Retrieved 2006-05-19.
  9. ^ Gallagher, Fred. Megatokyo Volume 1. Dark Horse Books, 2004. Pages 90 and 154.
  10. ^ Reid, Calvin (February 24, 2003). "American Manga Breaks Out". Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved July 23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Alexa traffic rankings regularly show Megatokyo.com in the top 9,000 most popular sites[6], compared to PvPOnline.com which ranks in the top 4,000[7], and Penny-Arcade.com which ranks in the top 2,000[8]
  12. ^ a b Gallagher, Fred (January 2, 2006). "comiket dreamin'". Megatokyo. Retrieved June 17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) Fred Gallagher comments on Megatokyo's originally experimental status, and mentions that the Megatokyo books have been translated into German, Italian, French and Polish. Cite error: The named reference "popularity/languages" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Fred Gallagher and Rodney Caston's reasoning for the square panel layout". Megatokyo. April 18, 2001. Retrieved May 21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Gallagher, Fred (April 23, 2001). "1:1.5". Megatokyo. Retrieved May 9. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) Fred Gallagher details the change of panel layout.
  15. ^ Gallagher, Fred (June 17, 2002). "the other brick". Megatokyo. Retrieved May 19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) Fred Gallagher's news post announcing Caston's departure.
  16. ^ Gallagher, Fred (January 15, 2005). "more largos??". Megatokyo. Retrieved August 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) Fred Gallagher's view of Rodney Caston's departure.
  17. ^ Caston, Rodney (January 18, 2005). "The truth about Megatokyo?". Retrieved July 02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)Rodney Caston's version of the events surrounding his departure
  18. ^ Gallagher, Fred (October 21, 2000). "we have t-shirts..." Megatokyo. Retrieved May 21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) Fred Gallagher announces first Megatokyo store.
  19. ^ Gallagher, Fred (August 1, 2004). "learning to fly". Megatokyo. Retrieved August 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) Fred Gallagher comments about Megagear's launch status.
  20. ^ "Megatokyo goes to Tokyo - interview with Fred Gallagher". April 26, 2004. Retrieved June 4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ a b Curzon, Joe (January 28, 2004). "Interview with Fred Gallagher". Retrieved June 4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ "Megatokyo Press Release (8/2/2002)". Retrieved June 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ Kean, Benjamin. "Fred Gallagher On The Megatokyo Move". Retrieved June 27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ Gallagher, Fred (July 7, 2003). "re: megatokyo book 2". Megatokyo. Retrieved June 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) Fred Gallagher announces that Studio Ironcat will not publish Megatokyo volumes 2 and above.
  25. ^ Gallagher, Fred (August 27, 2003). "Megatokyo joins Dark Horse Comics". Megatokyo. Retrieved June 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) Fred Gallagher announces Megatokyo's move to Dark Horse Comics.
  26. ^ "Megatokyo changes publishers to DC Comics / CMX Manga". Retrieved February 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ "ICv2 Looks at Manga Channel Shift". July 07, 2004. Retrieved April 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |year= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ a b "Megatokyo Reaches Number 3". March 04, 2005. Retrieved April 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |year= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  29. ^ "Darkhorse's product details on Volume One". Retrieved September 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ "Darkhorse's product details on Volume Two". Retrieved September 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ "Darkhorse's product details on Volume Three". Retrieved September 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  32. ^ "CMX Manga's product details on Volume 4". Retrieved April 9. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  33. ^ a b c Burns, Eric (August 22, 2004). "You Had Me, And You Lost Me: Why I don't read Megatokyo". Websnark. Retrieved August 27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  34. ^ Murray, Robert (June 28, 2006). "Megatokyo v4 Review". Silver Bullet Comics. Retrieved July 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  35. ^ a b "Megatokyo Volume 1 Special Review". Anime News Network. February 8, 2003.
  36. ^ a b c Hodgman, John (July 18, 2004). "CHRONICLE COMICS; No More Wascally Wabbits". The New York Times. Retrieved April 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ "Manga Review: Megatokyo Volume 1". February 8, 2003. Retrieved July 23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  38. ^ Welsh, David. "Comic World News". Retrieved July 19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Text "Flipped" ignored (help)
  39. ^ Sanderson, Brandon (June 18, 2004). "The Official Time-Waster's Guide v3.0". Retrieved July 19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  40. ^ Holkins, Jerry (March 27, 2006). "The Doujinshi Code". Penny Arcade. Retrieved april 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Megatokyo.
Fan translations

Fan sites

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