Rai #8 Discussion

[BugsySig]

Interesting ending to this arc. I like that our "heroes" were not successful, as we may be accustomed to seeing. Now we are left with many questions about the fate of Rai, the Geomancer and all the other conspirators. Will we finally see the Eternal Emperor meet Rai?

Only real gripe...X-Eye is awfully similar looking to X from CGW. A cool concept design, but a bit knock-off-ish.

[pixierosa]

Overall, an enjoyable read. I think that Rai seemed out of character at times - and I know it's annoying for readers to tell a creator that their character isn't acting the way he's supposed to, but Rai does not tell multiple quips ala Peter Parker or Buffy Summers during battle. That humor is used by people who are tense or nervous and trying to diffuse their emotions. Up until now, Rai has been calm and accepting of situations, not humorous. Not a big deal, but it stuck out to me as I read the book.

[BugsySig]

Beat you by 1 minute...just saying...

[greg]

Beat you by 1 minute...just saying...

Merged.

[Brapbrap]

Overall, an enjoyable read. I think that Rai seemed out of character at times - and I know it's annoying for readers to tell a creator that their character isn't acting the way he's supposed to, but Rai does not tell multiple quips ala Peter Parker or Buffy Summers during battle. That humor is used by people who are tense or nervous and trying to diffuse their emotions. Up until now, Rai has been calm and accepting of situations, not humorous. Not a big deal, but it stuck out to me as I read the book.

yep i felt the same way, also the kiss came out of nowhere

feel like matt kindt spent too much time building up his plots and forgot to develop the characters organically

[jxm640]

Overall, an enjoyable read. I think that Rai seemed out of character at times - and I know it's annoying for readers to tell a creator that their character isn't acting the way he's supposed to, but Rai does not tell multiple quips ala Peter Parker or Buffy Summers during battle. That humor is used by people who are tense or nervous and trying to diffuse their emotions. Up until now, Rai has been calm and accepting of situations, not humorous. Not a big deal, but it stuck out to me as I read the book.

yep i felt the same way, also the kiss came out of nowhere

feel like matt kindt spent too much time building up his plots and forgot to develop the characters organically

I agree with you about the organic development and the kiss. Regarding the quips, I think it is meant to show the difference between the build up and the event. Projecting false confidence through quips actually seems quite normal when someone who is calm in the lead up to an event takes centre stage.

[bygranddesign]

Kindt has definitely built a fascinating world .. with an intriguing story and interesting collection of characters

But Rai... is like the tin man in search of a heart.

I think Kindt is trying to show how Rai over the course of 8 issues has been slowly developing a personality and embracing some of his humanity ... So the quips, snide remarks, jokes felt a bit out of character ...but I didn't mind it because I think that is part of his character development.

But what kind of bugged me was the speech. It was pretty much a dud. It was by the numbers with not much thought behind it.

The Dr. Silk voice over told us it was inspirational ... but I wish Kindt would have worked on writing a speech for Rai that was truly inspirational and heart-felt. It would have been a great opportunity to crystallize everything this book is about and WHY these factions of people are fighting against Father. Make it personal. Make it so we understand as the readers what truly is at stake here.

Because really ... I'm having a hard time understanding what is at stake.

The Positrons I understand why their upset - They are slaves to humanity without enough Freewill to change their fate.

But the Raddies just seem unreasonable. What exactly do they want? They are essentially anarchists. They seem to want to destroy Japan and set it falling back to Earth potentially killing million upon millions of innocent people..

Why couldn't Father create an Anti-Technology sector of Japan where the Raddies can farm and go fishing, write on paper, ride on horses, and live off the grid..?

Or .. If they want to go to Earth ... just let them go...

I know that Father created this narrative that Earth is hell .. and maybe he doesn't want the people of Japan to know that it isn't quite that bad

but 1) Earth IS pretty bad ... so Father isn't that far off from the truth

2) Spylocke seemed to have no problem making his way there and back. Couldn't they all find a way off Japan? That seems like a less bloody/less complicated mission ... than destroying Father ... and killing million of innocents who seemed to not think Japan is so bad. Overall, the people seem pretty happy ..with seemingly no poverty and little to no violence. I just don't understand the motivations of the Raddies ... and they do not feel sympathetic at all to me.

Overall, I enjoy this comic immensely ... I'm critical because I have so much love for the potential and for the ideas being put forth ... but sometimes its just hard putting it all together.

Also ... I think there needs to be more Lulu Lee. Whenever she is not prominent in the issue .. we lose that grounded perspective that I think is most interesting.

I feel like she can probably crystallize the stakes more ... because I think the only way there can be true revolution in Japan is if the majority of the people demand change - not just Positrons along with a group of Anarchists...

The art I thought was pretty much fantastic.

There was some really breathtaking panels and pages by Crain.

solid issue 8/10

i'm really looking forward to Rai's adventures on Earth, and hopefully Lulu Lee, her positron and The Geomancer follow him to Earth.

[BugsySig]

^^^^^^^^^^^^

I didn't want to quote you're entire post, but I agree with your points. The speech was hardly a memorable one. But the events moved along so quickly from there that I didn't think about it in the moment.

As for the Raddies, I agree. They hardly have the creed of the anti-grannies who wanted a return to traditional Japanese culture. If we had a clear indication of their goals, then things would make more sense. Is it that they want to remake New Japan in their own image? A less invasive, less technologically dependent Japan? Or is there a greater motivation behind trying to bring the whole thing crashing down to Earth?

[Blood of Heroes]

I've enjoyed all the Rai books and this one is no exception. I agree with most of the points made above but, still, this book kicks *SQUEE*. I started reading it fully expecting Japan to make reentry by the end. Only the twist was Rai was responsible, not Mothergod. WRONG! I especially liked Silk's narration at the end. I started to doubt that it was going to end like I expected. Rai getting punted out of Japan is certainly a setback for the anti Father camp.

[mateo107]

X-Eye (XI), Unit Y (Unity), Ninja K (Ninjak). Kindt seems to like his alphabetic puns.

[dornwolf]

X-Eye (XI), Unit Y (Unity), Ninja K (Ninjak). Kindt seems to like his alphabetic puns.

And it's really not that funny after awhile.

[Blood of Heroes]

X-Eye (XI), Unit Y (Unity), Ninja K (Ninjak). Kindt seems to like his alphabetic puns.

And it's really not that funny after awhile.

[Blood of Heroes]

X-Eye (XI), Unit Y (Unity), Ninja K (Ninjak). Kindt seems to like his alphabetic puns.

And it's really not that funny after awhile.

I was on board with Unit Y. The rest are kinda meh.

[Captain Craig]

I'm really eager for Rai VI to stay around in a mentor role (Splinter/Stick) and see where things pick up with Rai IX(he's the 9th one, yes) back down on Earth.

Silk being a double agent didn't really shock me at all NOR did Lulu's kiss. I've sensed a young girls blush of interest since late in the first arc. Was it screaming obvious, no, I'll give you that.

[BugsySig]

I'm really eager for Rai VI to stay around in a mentor role (Splinter/Stick) and see where things pick up with Rai IX(he's the 9th one, yes) back down on Earth.

Silk being a double agent didn't really shock me at all NOR did Lulu's kiss. I've sensed a young girls blush of interest since late in the first arc. Was it screaming obvious, no, I'll give you that.

He's Rai 10 and the older one was Rai 8 I believe. Pretty sure he got smashed to bits by Rai XI though.

[jmatt]

It would have been a great opportunity to crystallize everything this book is about and WHY these factions of people are fighting against Father.

Because really ... I'm having a hard time understanding what is at stake.

I enjoyed it, but I have to say I missed how we transitioned from Japan is a Utopia where every need is met and no human has died in a thousand years to calling Father a 'fascist'. I'm sure its in there somewhere, I just need to go back and read it again from start to finish. Perhaps its due to the long breaks between arcs.

Father needed to be more overtly evil; I feel like we barely heard from him.

[hunter_peterson]

X-Eye (XI), Unit Y (Unity), Ninja K (Ninjak). Kindt seems to like his alphabetic puns.

And it's really not that funny after awhile.

I was on board with Unit Y. The rest are kinda meh.

I liked Ninja K, because Ninjak's name literally makes no sense without it. Also it opens up the whole ninja spy clan concept to set up Spylocke, and Spylocke is awesome!

It would have been a great opportunity to crystallize everything this book is about and WHY these factions of people are fighting against Father.

Because really ... I'm having a hard time understanding what is at stake.

I enjoyed it, but I have to say I missed how we transitioned from Japan is a Utopia where every need is met and no human has died in a thousand years to calling Father a 'fascist'. I'm sure its in there somewhere, I just need to go back and read it again from start to finish. Perhaps its due to the long breaks between arcs.

Father needed to be more overtly evil; I feel like we barely heard from him.

Yeah, I also would like to see more of Father. They keep saying how he's a fascist and how he needs overthrown, but he hasn't actually done much that isn't ambiguous at worst. Even putting the Raddies against the PTs is a reasonable way to avoid human collateral. The worst things so far have been related to the PTs, really. So the problem mostly lies with the Raddies not having a real motivation beyond TECH BAD RRRRAGH! All the other characters, perhaps bar the mysterious Spylocke, have personal reasons for wanting to overthrow Father.

Basically he seems like a fairly benevolent, if somewhat repressive, dictator. Which has led to great quality of life, technology and even a huge variety of different settings and lifestyles in Japan. And they don't live on Earth anymore, so his treatment of it is peripheral to their needs and desires at best.

But, with the new Rai and Father getting defensive, I bet we'll see some villainy from him in more overt ways.

[jmatt]

Yeah, I also would like to see more of Father. They keep saying how he's a fascist and how he needs overthrown, but he hasn't actually done much that isn't ambiguous at worst. ...The worst things so far have been related to the PTs, really.

I think the original Magnus runs covered the suppression of freewill better in this sense:

In Steel Nation, we saw creations (robots) that were never supposed to have freewill suddenly gain it and then be persecuted by society as they tried to establish their own dominion, which went on for many issues.

In VEI Rai, we see creations (PTs) that were never supposed to have freewill not ever actually achieve it (with the sole exception of Momo), let alone be persecuted by society or Father. Yes, there were PTs we saw 'freed' about 10 minutes before the big Raddie/PT throwdown was supposed to happen, but we never actually saw any repression of them. We didn't get 'the struggle for freedom'.

That's where Kind-T could have made Father seem more evil. But I really should reread to get a better sense of the scope of things.

[hunter_peterson]

Yeah, I also would like to see more of Father. They keep saying how he's a fascist and how he needs overthrown, but he hasn't actually done much that isn't ambiguous at worst. ...The worst things so far have been related to the PTs, really.

I think the original Magnus runs covered the suppression of freewill better in this sense:

In Steel Nation, we saw creations (robots) that were never supposed to have freewill suddenly gain it and then be persecuted by society as they tried to establish their own dominion, which went on for many issues.

In VEI Rai, we see creations (PTs) that were never supposed to have freewill not ever actually achieve it (with the sole exception of Momo), let alone be persecuted by society or Father. Yes, there were PTs we saw 'freed' about 10 minutes before the big Raddie/PT throwdown was supposed to happen, but we never actually saw any repression of them. We didn't get 'the struggle for freedom'.

That's where Kind-T could have made Father seem more evil. But I really should reread to get a better sense of the scope of things.

From what I've heard, much of this kind of world building is in the Plus Edition material. Which, for anyone who can't get that easily, leaves much of the story in the dark. They really need to release them on Comixology for a dollar.

But yeah, I would like to have had at least another arc between Rai turning on Father and the revolution escalating to a war. But then, that's just my preference, and I'm sure Kindt has plans on earth that will be interesting. It still is slightly disappointing, though.

[Blood of Heroes]

X-Eye (XI), Unit Y (Unity), Ninja K (Ninjak). Kindt seems to like his alphabetic puns.

And it's really not that funny after awhile.

I was on board with Unit Y. The rest are kinda meh.

I liked Ninja K, because Ninjak's name literally makes no sense without it. Also it opens up the whole ninja spy clan concept to set up Spylocke, and Spylocke is awesome!

When I was a kid I just assumed it was a combination of "ninja" and "jack", as in Union Jack. 'Cause he's British and all. But really I have no idea.

[jmatt]

When I was a kid I just assumed it was a combination of "ninja" and "jack", as in Union Jack. 'Cause he's British and all. But really I have no idea.

Same, and they should have left it at that.

[A I Diva]

^^^^^^^^^^^^

The speech was hardly a memorable one. But the events moved along so quickly from there that I didn't think about it in the moment.

It's funny because after I read it, I dubbed it the "I almost have a dream" speech.

Still loved the book though.

[leonmallett]

Okay end to the arc for me. Overall I liked it, but Silk's narration basically screwed the ending for me, removing an sense of surprise when we see the apparent fate of Rai X.

The sudden switching of sides and citizen uprising to a single army against father just felt like it was pulled out of nowhere, and for me was the biggest flaw of the issue. So in all a weaker issue than 5-7, but overall the second arc was more accessible and therefore more enjoyable for me.

[ilzuccone]

lets play a game... i call it find the missing foot.

[jeremycoe]

lets play a game... i call it find the missing foot.

Are we supposed to find where a foot is missing, or where it has been placed?