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Megatokyo

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A strip depicting Piro, Largo, Sonoda and Nanasawa, published on October 8, 2004.

Megatokyo is an online manga drawn by Fred Gallagher (a.k.a. "Piro"). Gallagher does the artwork, story, and site design. Rodney Caston (a.k.a. "Largo"), wrote the scripts for the first year or so of the story (Fred Gallagher edited them), but now it is entirely Gallagher's strip. Gallagher was laid off from his day job in late 2002, and as of 2004 he does the strip full-time. The comic began on August 14, 2000.

The comic arguably popularized L33t to the mainstream of the Internet. The origins of L33t are not precisely known.

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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 as well as in the books published by Dark Horse Comics with ISBN 1-59307-163-9 and ISBN 1-59307-118-3. (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.

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.

Characters

In Megatokyo, Japanese names are written in Western order, with the surname after the given name.

  • Piro - American manga (especially shoujo) freak who can speak Japanese. He is an amazing artist, yet refuses to believe this. He is currently employed as a clerk/mascot in MegaGamers, a retail store. Piro is the comic's incarnation of Fred Gallagher.
  • Largo - American computer games freak who usually acts before (or instead of) thinking and is obsessed with beer. He can speak L33t, but not Japanese. He gets a job as an English teacher at Shiritsu Daitou High School, becoming 'Great Teacher Largo' (reference to the anime/manga GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka). Largo is the comic's incarnation of Rodney Caston, former Megatokyo co-writer.
  • Tsubasa - A friend of Piro's from the internet, Piro and Largo bunk with him when they wind up in Japan. Later, he leaves Japan to "follow his heart" in America. He leaves Ping in the care of Piro and Largo. Tsubasa is a comic's incarnation Keishi Tada, Fred Gallagher's friend and primary consultant on all things Japanese. He writes the Japanese translation of Megatokyo
  • Ed - Sony employee, Dom's best friend and rival. Like Dom, he seems to have an unlimited supply of guns and a trigger-happy personality to match. After an encounter with Ping, he undewent a plastic surgery that turned him into a bishonen. His real life equivalent is Edmund Balan, Fred Gallagher's associate.
  • Dom - Sega employee, Ed's best friend and rival. Gun crazed and competitive to boot. Also known as SGD, Shirt (or Stick) Guy Dom. His real life equivalent does stick-figure guest strips when Piro is unavailable. Dom is the comic's incarnation of Dominic Nguyen, who currently works for Konami as a game or localization tester.
  • Yuki Sonoda - Japanese girl, High school student, daughter of the Tokyo police chief. Theoretically taking art lessons from Piro, but, in practice, something always gets in the way.
  • Erika Hayasaka (早坂 えりか Hayasaka Erika) - Japanese girl, Kimiko's roommate, a former idol (singer) and voice actress (seiyū). Works as a clerk/mascot at MegaGamers alongside Piro.
  • Kimiko Nanasawa (七澤 美子 Nanasawa Kimiko) - Japanese girl, Erika's roommate, a waitress in Anna Miller's, an aspiring voice actress (seiyū).
  • Ping-chan - PS2 accessory robot-girl. A non-H (implied: non-hentai; platonic love only - In actual Japanese "H" is not the same thing as "hentai") test model of the new Sony-EDS (Emotional Doll System), that fell into Tsubasa's hands somehow. She is designed to be used with dating sims, and after playing them she develops her own personality, based on choices in the games. Ping is only a beta version, however, and she does not deal with rejection well (and posesses great strength when angry).
  • Miho Tohya - Not much is known about her. She is a friend of Ping, but is a little creepy. Largo believes that she is in command of an army of Zombies, powered by the Necrowombicon, an ancient evil book found in the sewers and used to make the video game Daikatana. Miho is drawn to resemble a gosurori (a Japanese interpertation of Goth subculture), and is often described as "darkly cute."
  • Seraphim - A miniature angel who takes the role of Piro's conscience, struggling to keep Piro on the straight and narrow when it comes to romantic attachments. Seraphim is the comic incarnation of Sarah Wooden, Gallagher's wife, who has a penchant for fine clothes, and loves cats almost as much as they love the taste of her.
  • Boo - A small angelic hamster with strap-on wings, assigned to the role of Largo's conscience, a clearly impossible task, made only harder by the fact that Boo cannot speak, but only squeak (occasionally in L33t). A reference to the Boo character from Baldur's Gate, Minsc's 'Miniature Giant Space Hamster'.
  • Asmodeus - Piro's anti-conscience, from that 'other agency'. He tries to make Piro fall in love with Junior-high-school-age girls and to prevent Seraphim from sucessfully influencing Piro. His partner is a vicious winged cat named Belphegor. He is a comic incarnation of Ken Hashimoto, one of Megatokyo forum's administrators.
  • Junpei - The L33t Ninja, Largo's apprentice. He is introduced when Piro and Largo arrive in Japan, and Largo has no passport. Customs tells Largo that, in order to get into Japan, he must defeat Junpei in mortal combat. Largo, being unsurpassable in all matters electronic, easily wins the contest by defeating Junpei in a match on the Mortal Kombat arcade game.

Groups and minor characters

  • Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division - A division of the Tokyo police force that pilots mecha to stop giant monsters and other threats from rampaging through the city. Yuki's father, Masamichi Sonoda, is an oft-encountered employee of the Cataclysm Division. After using Ping-chan to soundly defeat an alcoholic turtle of unusual size, Largo became a TPCD agent.
  • Yuuji Sonoda - Yuki's brother, a member of the Erika Hayasaka Fan Club.
  • Erika Hayasaka Fan Club - A number of people obsessed with Erika Hayasaka, or at least her former persona as an idol (singer) and voice actress (seiyū). The club rediscovers her whereabouts during the comic's story, long after her sudden (and complete) disappearance from the public eye.
  • Rent-a-Zilla - Massive lizard hired by Junpei on occasion, paid in pork rinds.
  • Zombies - Usually ravers; Largo is bent on destroying this undead horde.
  • John Romero - The once-great game designer of games, such as Doom and Quake. He formed the game development house Ion Storm, infamous for making Daikatana (a notable flop of a game after great hype), and after that he was promptly fired. Now he's broke and jobless.
  • L33T D00D - Strange raver type dude that appears whenever Largo must face the Z0/\/\B13 |-|04RD35 (zombie hordes; Tohya and Ping) in c0mb47 (combat; arcade games) and advises him in L33t which is invariably translated into erudite language (i.e. "1'm4 0wnz0r j00" becomes "I shall defeat thee"). He owes Largo a debt of gratitude for saving his life (see this strip).
  • Asako and Mami - High school students and friends of Yuki's. They think she has a crush on Piro, and they may be right.
  • Junko - The "angry schoolgirl" in Largo's class, she is usually the one who has something to say when Largo does something outrageous in his role as "teacher." She helps Largo disperse the fanboy horde that threatens Erika.

Origin of name

Tokyo of the future in Japanese animation (see anime and manga) is often referred to as 'Megatokyo' or 'Neo-Tokyo'. In many of these stories, the city has been destroyed by natural disaster or nuclear war, but then re-built bigger and better than ever. See features like Bubblegum Crisis, AD Police, and Akira for more. The name was given to the comic purely because it was a spare domain name that Largo had lying around. Largo originally set the site up as an anime news site running Slashcode, but it failed and was eventually replaced with the comic.

Basic plot beginnings

Piro and Largo start the story by trying to get into the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E³). E³, only open to the media, refuses to allow them entry. Largo gets heavily drunk and nude in a bar, insulting the entire con. He wakes up on an airplane. Piro, after the events, had decided that they should get out of the country for a bit, buying two one-way tickets to Japan. After arriving in Japan, Piro and Largo find a game store, and purchase all sorts of games and electronic gadgets (including Largo's infamous "Cool Thing"). They then return to the airport, only to find their credit cards are maxed out. They are now stuck in Japan.

Forums

The Megatokyo forums (forums.megatokyo.com) are the Internet forums for the popular web comic Megatokyo. Launched on September 29th, 2000 in their present incarnation, they have become quite active, with almost 40,000 registered members. An Internet Relay Chat channel for the Megatokyo forums also exists, which is #forum-m at Freenode.

  • Megatokyo Central - A forum for general discussion of miscellaneous topics. A certain randomness prevails here that can be disconcerting to new forum members.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

See also

Translations

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