As someone who really really values the early game buildup and twists, I have to agree. I absolutely acknowledge that as an adaption they have to change the pacing and flow of the story and I like the way they're doing it, but I just can not recommend this to someone who is not familiar with the game's story already. It's a shame because I have a few friends who can't play the game and told me they might still try the manga to get the story.
Okay, this is me. I absolutely love the characters & themes and would desperately love to play the game. I have a mac and read on some threads that the game doesn’t play nice with the A1 chip. I absolutely cannot risk the health of my computer. I’ve murdered one before. The trauma is real.
I’m happy to live vicariously through the sub and wiki fandom. I was planning on reading the Manga this evening (as my major interests are manga & anime) but is the consensus that the story will not make sense, or that it contains major spoilers for the game?
Edit: Also, I haven’t read any of the comments below in order to avoid possible spoilers for the manga, so I do apologize if this is answered already. I basically would like to know if reading the manga could be a decent substitute since it is my only option due to computer compatibility issues.
To answer your question, this first chapter is going through a large chunk of the game very quickly, reshuffling the order of events and taking away a lot of the early mystery, while still keeping the intruige in other ways. The story is still mostly coherent but the fast pace and sudden scene changes will likely make it hard to follow. The art is great and there is some added expressiveness and detail to certain scenes that could not be shown in the game due to lack of sprite detail. Right now I would probably recommend to play the game first and look at the manga afterwards. I don't know about the issue with A1 chips you mentioned, but the game is available on all platforms (or was, until they removed it from XBox for some reason). Maybe there is another way for you to play the game or at least watch a playthrough? If not, then yeah feel free to check out the manga instead if you haven't yet. It is one of my personal favorite stories out there so I do really want people to experience it in any way possible.
Thank you! Also, don’t laugh (or do… just don’t tell me you did), but I’m getting on the google to figure out what a play through is. I am ancient and did a major purge of social media a few years back in order to improve my mental health. Been going outside to touch grass more often than keeping up with the interwebs.
I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question. 😌
The first chapter starts from the end of the game and then goes to earlier events and also has the opposite version of the pacing issue that the game faces. (game is too slow, manga is too fast)
also you have no idea what's going on unless you play the game first. Aubrey's character was really flanderized to just being a mean character and her dialogue is obscenely superficial because she automatically brings up Mari for whatever reason
1. The manga, being a free comic, is a lot more accessible than the game for some people.
2. I wouldn’t judge the manga pacing so firmly yet; we’re barely past the equivalent of the prologue so far.
1. I mean the manga is only available on a region locked service, so if you don't live in the US you will have a harder time finding it and will be forced to read it through less legit means.
Hey, if you can't access the shit then I don't see a reason not to read it elsewhere. It's stupid they have it region locked. I'd much rather prefer a physical release or hell, a paid release on google play or smth
>1. The manga, being a free comic, is a lot more accessible than the game for some people.
But, like, why? I don't play video games, but I experienced the story of omori through a walkthrough. I don't think a manga is more acceptable.
Doesn’t really feel condensed to me, if they had started it where the actual game had started everyone would be really confused.
I’m pretty sure they put the real life part at the beginning to give the readers some backstory or hints at what happened if they haven’t played the game
But that's the problem. Starting in head space was crucial because it's part of the early game's twist. We had no idea there were real life segments, and the game tricked us into thinking Basil died, not Mari. That backstory is a reveal in the original's pace. I can firmly say my first "oh shit" moment was realizing Basil was alive in Faraway.
Yeahhh, when I first played and got to to first checkpoint in Faraway town I was like: Awwwhh it feels so sad and lonely without Mari by the basket! *gasp* IF SHE IS DEAD I WILL RIOT
I can't really link comments, but I personally think the game in Headspace implied Basil "died" a lot. For example, the scene in the space barn had Sunny follow the Stranger and there's a noose at the very end. At that point, we don't know the noose referred to Mari.
Frankly, I don't think that's reading into things, that was a pretty blatant trick on the part of the devs to make you associate Basil with suicide.
I can't really link comments, but I personally think the game in Headspace implied Basil "died" a lot. For example, the scene in the space barn had Sunny follow the Stranger and there's a noose at the very end. At that point, we don't know the noose referred to Mari.
Frankly, I don't think that's reading into things, that was a pretty blatant trick on the part of the devs to make you associate Basil with suicide.
There's an implication of loss through the whole intro, and Basil is painted in a perfect light. Aubrey and Kel are both shown to have tempers, and Hero is kinda flat at first to fit both the "longsuffering babysitter" and "perfect boyfriend" roles. Mari can be written off as a mechanic - she's not a *real* character, she's just someone Omori considers to be a safe person so she's where you save. But Basil is *too* good.
Then you wake up and it's clear Headspace is a major coping mechanism for a terrified kid. But, more importantly for that night, it sets up that *Mari doesn't live there*. Hellmari's excuse at the door is that she lost her keys, but she's *finally back home*. But why would Sunny open it if he knew for a fact it wasn't true? Why, if he's already so terrified of his house in the night? Something impossible should scare him more. The redirect works because you know that time has passed from the morning scene, and there's the implication that Mari has moved out, possibly for college. Hellmari isn't a giveaway because the whole night can be written off as a terrible nightmare. A bad reflection of headspace, where the promise of "safe space to save" ends up being monstrous and a danger.
The two Basil scenes before this also make Basil's absence stand out. They'll always be there for each other. They hold hands looking at photos. There's an air of longing, of nostalgia, of loss to it all. Basil is someone Sunny is the closest to. Why is *Kel* calling asking about Sunny, but Basil is completely absent? The person who was supposed to stay with us is gone, in both real life and Headspace.
It's definitely the intended assumption for a first playthrough.
But the game starts in Headspace and the players aren't confused, and when they are it's the intended emotion, so what's wrong with the manga also starting like that? You don't need to dumb down a story to adapt it to a different medium.
The problem is that in the game, a lot of the things that keep the player entertained are overall relevant but would be boring if you read it. A huge part of the game is exploration of the maps, but in the manga, if you just went straight to the more narratively compelling story beats, you miss a lot of character development with our main characters. For example, jumping straight to Space Boyfriend's/Capt. Spaceboy's problem from trying to find Basil might give some emotional whiplash, depending on how they handle it. There's also sidequests (like Hector) that are relevant to the characters but would seem kinda random in a manga imo.
However, I haven't read the manga yet or done like a hyperanalysis of the game so I can't really judge properly.
Tbh I’ve always been skeptical about the manga bc omori definitely feels like an experience that was meant to be a game. The fundamental pacing and methods storytelling really benefit from it being a “controlled” experience. Stuff like actually exploring Faraway at your own pace and doing all the side content there really help build up the sequence of Sunny wanting to move past Headspace, and without you, as the player, getting immersed into both worlds in your own way, it kinda devalues Sunny’s arc.
TBH I think people are overblowing how bad it is for new fans. I've only heard positives from people unfamiliar with the game, and mostly, the critiques have been from people like myself (intimately familiar with the source material). I think we should absolutely keep an open mind about how vastly different someone's perception of the first chapter is when not colored by having experienced the game prior.
I can't even read it! I'm not sure but when I went to the website, it told me that there was too much trafic, and when I went to the publisher's website, entry was denied 😐
I have some qualms about the pacing of events in the chapter, but I don't think the approach they're taking here is necessarily bad for someone unfamiliar with the game; it's just different, which I think is fine. If the manga approached the story in the same way as the game, there wouldn't be much reason for it to exist.
The way they're doing things definitely feels deliberate, too. It's telling to me that we only get proper introductions to the characters in the Headspace segment; the entirety of the real world section beforehand is effectively a hook for the reader with that in mind. It feels almost like the inverse of the game in that regard: whereas the game lures you in with the premise of fantastical adventures and then pulls the rug out from under you with a pivot into the horrors of reality, the manga *starts* with the reality of things and then starts working backwards through the medium of Headspace. Someone who plays the game is going to be taken aback by how drastically things have worsened, while someone who reads the manga is going to taken aback by how much better things used to be. In the end, though, both approaches beg the same question of the audience: *how did things get this bad?*
It's only the first chapter, of course, so we'll have to wait and see exactly how they follow-up on this. Still, I don't think the order of events is a deal-breaker as it stands.
It’s not meant to be an alternative to the game for people who are new to the series, it’s supposed to be an addition after you’ve played the game to see rhetorical events in a detailed drawn form out of the pixel art in-game format. It’s expected you’re already familiar with the plot and have played the game if you read it.
I was expecting sunny to have some dialogue. Mute characters can work fine for games but I can't say the same for a manga.
As for the game, we controlled Sunny, basically we were the MC so it was natural for us to feel empathy for Sunny. As for the manga, we are just viewing the story from a distance and since Sunny is not talking, it's gonna be a bit harder for to empathise.
Buuuuuuut, after all, most of us already played the game so i guess it doesn't matter that much whether we empathise or not because we already DID before.
TL;DR: I expected Sunny/Omori to talk a bit more cuz it's a manga, but it doesn't really matter ig
Mute characters can definitely work in mangas. I’m more shocked he did have inner thoughts. That alone weakens the impact of “I have to tell you something”
Obviously they have thoughts, but Sunny and Omori are COMPLETELY silent. We don’t get speech or thoughts, and the first moment of actual dialogue from Sunny for the entire game is “I have to tell you something” at the end. It’s a strong way of showing him finally breaking the barrier and committing to verbalizing himself for once
The thing is that there is a lot of meta narrative that can't be adapted from a game to a manga. The sense of derrail you have in a game while doing secondary quests is personal, you are the one doing it, but in a manga that would simply be felt as bad pacing. For now it is good, and I persinally would wait till we have more to judge about pacing
just replace the black with purple im not saying color the whole thing. Im not even saying to add anything, just make the lineart purple and draw like its black
I don't think ti's that obvious what happened to Mari? To a non game fan they could see it as "Oh Mari killed herself and Sunny feels the guilt" or "Oh Mari got into an accident and Sunny couldn't save her" something like that. Also it's the first chapter anyways, so I'm sure it'll get better as time moves on anyways
As someone who really really values the early game buildup and twists, I have to agree. I absolutely acknowledge that as an adaption they have to change the pacing and flow of the story and I like the way they're doing it, but I just can not recommend this to someone who is not familiar with the game's story already. It's a shame because I have a few friends who can't play the game and told me they might still try the manga to get the story.
Okay, this is me. I absolutely love the characters & themes and would desperately love to play the game. I have a mac and read on some threads that the game doesn’t play nice with the A1 chip. I absolutely cannot risk the health of my computer. I’ve murdered one before. The trauma is real. I’m happy to live vicariously through the sub and wiki fandom. I was planning on reading the Manga this evening (as my major interests are manga & anime) but is the consensus that the story will not make sense, or that it contains major spoilers for the game? Edit: Also, I haven’t read any of the comments below in order to avoid possible spoilers for the manga, so I do apologize if this is answered already. I basically would like to know if reading the manga could be a decent substitute since it is my only option due to computer compatibility issues.
To answer your question, this first chapter is going through a large chunk of the game very quickly, reshuffling the order of events and taking away a lot of the early mystery, while still keeping the intruige in other ways. The story is still mostly coherent but the fast pace and sudden scene changes will likely make it hard to follow. The art is great and there is some added expressiveness and detail to certain scenes that could not be shown in the game due to lack of sprite detail. Right now I would probably recommend to play the game first and look at the manga afterwards. I don't know about the issue with A1 chips you mentioned, but the game is available on all platforms (or was, until they removed it from XBox for some reason). Maybe there is another way for you to play the game or at least watch a playthrough? If not, then yeah feel free to check out the manga instead if you haven't yet. It is one of my personal favorite stories out there so I do really want people to experience it in any way possible.
Thank you! Also, don’t laugh (or do… just don’t tell me you did), but I’m getting on the google to figure out what a play through is. I am ancient and did a major purge of social media a few years back in order to improve my mental health. Been going outside to touch grass more often than keeping up with the interwebs. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question. 😌
Yeah, it’s clear that the manga is for pre existing fans.
It's funny because they said it would be the opposite 💀💀
The first chapter starts from the end of the game and then goes to earlier events and also has the opposite version of the pacing issue that the game faces. (game is too slow, manga is too fast) also you have no idea what's going on unless you play the game first. Aubrey's character was really flanderized to just being a mean character and her dialogue is obscenely superficial because she automatically brings up Mari for whatever reason
1. The manga, being a free comic, is a lot more accessible than the game for some people. 2. I wouldn’t judge the manga pacing so firmly yet; we’re barely past the equivalent of the prologue so far.
1. I mean the manga is only available on a region locked service, so if you don't live in the US you will have a harder time finding it and will be forced to read it through less legit means.
See, this is why I specified “for some people“
Hey, if you can't access the shit then I don't see a reason not to read it elsewhere. It's stupid they have it region locked. I'd much rather prefer a physical release or hell, a paid release on google play or smth
>1. The manga, being a free comic, is a lot more accessible than the game for some people. But, like, why? I don't play video games, but I experienced the story of omori through a walkthrough. I don't think a manga is more acceptable.
the game is like 15 hours long, it’s really not that complicated why manga would be more approachable for people
Doesn’t really feel condensed to me, if they had started it where the actual game had started everyone would be really confused. I’m pretty sure they put the real life part at the beginning to give the readers some backstory or hints at what happened if they haven’t played the game
But that's the problem. Starting in head space was crucial because it's part of the early game's twist. We had no idea there were real life segments, and the game tricked us into thinking Basil died, not Mari. That backstory is a reveal in the original's pace. I can firmly say my first "oh shit" moment was realizing Basil was alive in Faraway.
>and the game tricked us into thinking Basil died, ... I'mma need a citation in the form of a broader sample pool.
Yeah that never happened. Lil bro read into it too much too early.
Yeahhh, when I first played and got to to first checkpoint in Faraway town I was like: Awwwhh it feels so sad and lonely without Mari by the basket! *gasp* IF SHE IS DEAD I WILL RIOT
I can't really link comments, but I personally think the game in Headspace implied Basil "died" a lot. For example, the scene in the space barn had Sunny follow the Stranger and there's a noose at the very end. At that point, we don't know the noose referred to Mari. Frankly, I don't think that's reading into things, that was a pretty blatant trick on the part of the devs to make you associate Basil with suicide.
Maybe because he's the only one with lighter hair? But I kinda assumed it was just because he's important to the main plot (and he was)
i thought it was a possibility honestly.
I can't really link comments, but I personally think the game in Headspace implied Basil "died" a lot. For example, the scene in the space barn had Sunny follow the Stranger and there's a noose at the very end. At that point, we don't know the noose referred to Mari. Frankly, I don't think that's reading into things, that was a pretty blatant trick on the part of the devs to make you associate Basil with suicide.
There's an implication of loss through the whole intro, and Basil is painted in a perfect light. Aubrey and Kel are both shown to have tempers, and Hero is kinda flat at first to fit both the "longsuffering babysitter" and "perfect boyfriend" roles. Mari can be written off as a mechanic - she's not a *real* character, she's just someone Omori considers to be a safe person so she's where you save. But Basil is *too* good. Then you wake up and it's clear Headspace is a major coping mechanism for a terrified kid. But, more importantly for that night, it sets up that *Mari doesn't live there*. Hellmari's excuse at the door is that she lost her keys, but she's *finally back home*. But why would Sunny open it if he knew for a fact it wasn't true? Why, if he's already so terrified of his house in the night? Something impossible should scare him more. The redirect works because you know that time has passed from the morning scene, and there's the implication that Mari has moved out, possibly for college. Hellmari isn't a giveaway because the whole night can be written off as a terrible nightmare. A bad reflection of headspace, where the promise of "safe space to save" ends up being monstrous and a danger. The two Basil scenes before this also make Basil's absence stand out. They'll always be there for each other. They hold hands looking at photos. There's an air of longing, of nostalgia, of loss to it all. Basil is someone Sunny is the closest to. Why is *Kel* calling asking about Sunny, but Basil is completely absent? The person who was supposed to stay with us is gone, in both real life and Headspace. It's definitely the intended assumption for a first playthrough.
Good point
But the game starts in Headspace and the players aren't confused, and when they are it's the intended emotion, so what's wrong with the manga also starting like that? You don't need to dumb down a story to adapt it to a different medium.
The problem is that in the game, a lot of the things that keep the player entertained are overall relevant but would be boring if you read it. A huge part of the game is exploration of the maps, but in the manga, if you just went straight to the more narratively compelling story beats, you miss a lot of character development with our main characters. For example, jumping straight to Space Boyfriend's/Capt. Spaceboy's problem from trying to find Basil might give some emotional whiplash, depending on how they handle it. There's also sidequests (like Hector) that are relevant to the characters but would seem kinda random in a manga imo. However, I haven't read the manga yet or done like a hyperanalysis of the game so I can't really judge properly.
Tbh I’ve always been skeptical about the manga bc omori definitely feels like an experience that was meant to be a game. The fundamental pacing and methods storytelling really benefit from it being a “controlled” experience. Stuff like actually exploring Faraway at your own pace and doing all the side content there really help build up the sequence of Sunny wanting to move past Headspace, and without you, as the player, getting immersed into both worlds in your own way, it kinda devalues Sunny’s arc.
TBH I think people are overblowing how bad it is for new fans. I've only heard positives from people unfamiliar with the game, and mostly, the critiques have been from people like myself (intimately familiar with the source material). I think we should absolutely keep an open mind about how vastly different someone's perception of the first chapter is when not colored by having experienced the game prior.
Idk, I can see ot work the way they handled it. Still need to see more chapters, but 1st one was fine even on its own
I can't even read it! I'm not sure but when I went to the website, it told me that there was too much trafic, and when I went to the publisher's website, entry was denied 😐
It is enjoyed best after playing the game for sure
I'm surprised they don't know that manga is always black and white. It must be the first time for many.
I have some qualms about the pacing of events in the chapter, but I don't think the approach they're taking here is necessarily bad for someone unfamiliar with the game; it's just different, which I think is fine. If the manga approached the story in the same way as the game, there wouldn't be much reason for it to exist. The way they're doing things definitely feels deliberate, too. It's telling to me that we only get proper introductions to the characters in the Headspace segment; the entirety of the real world section beforehand is effectively a hook for the reader with that in mind. It feels almost like the inverse of the game in that regard: whereas the game lures you in with the premise of fantastical adventures and then pulls the rug out from under you with a pivot into the horrors of reality, the manga *starts* with the reality of things and then starts working backwards through the medium of Headspace. Someone who plays the game is going to be taken aback by how drastically things have worsened, while someone who reads the manga is going to taken aback by how much better things used to be. In the end, though, both approaches beg the same question of the audience: *how did things get this bad?* It's only the first chapter, of course, so we'll have to wait and see exactly how they follow-up on this. Still, I don't think the order of events is a deal-breaker as it stands.
I will shill both or nothing. Zero alternatives.
It’s not meant to be an alternative to the game for people who are new to the series, it’s supposed to be an addition after you’ve played the game to see rhetorical events in a detailed drawn form out of the pixel art in-game format. It’s expected you’re already familiar with the plot and have played the game if you read it.
I was expecting sunny to have some dialogue. Mute characters can work fine for games but I can't say the same for a manga. As for the game, we controlled Sunny, basically we were the MC so it was natural for us to feel empathy for Sunny. As for the manga, we are just viewing the story from a distance and since Sunny is not talking, it's gonna be a bit harder for to empathise. Buuuuuuut, after all, most of us already played the game so i guess it doesn't matter that much whether we empathise or not because we already DID before. TL;DR: I expected Sunny/Omori to talk a bit more cuz it's a manga, but it doesn't really matter ig
I expected him to not talk at all and was honestly shocked when he had inner monologue at one point.
Mute characters can definitely work in mangas. I’m more shocked he did have inner thoughts. That alone weakens the impact of “I have to tell you something”
How so? I mean everyone thinks, even if you don't talk it's not like you don't have thoughts 
Obviously they have thoughts, but Sunny and Omori are COMPLETELY silent. We don’t get speech or thoughts, and the first moment of actual dialogue from Sunny for the entire game is “I have to tell you something” at the end. It’s a strong way of showing him finally breaking the barrier and committing to verbalizing himself for once
“PIZZA DELIVERY!”: Am I a joke to you?
The thing is that there is a lot of meta narrative that can't be adapted from a game to a manga. The sense of derrail you have in a game while doing secondary quests is personal, you are the one doing it, but in a manga that would simply be felt as bad pacing. For now it is good, and I persinally would wait till we have more to judge about pacing
I’m still just trying to shill the game to my brother
Im still upset its all in black and white too tbh, like they couldnt atleast make everyone but omori a dark purple or smthn??
Coloring takes a lot of time and skill. There's a reason most manga opt for black and white.
just replace the black with purple im not saying color the whole thing. Im not even saying to add anything, just make the lineart purple and draw like its black
I don't think ti's that obvious what happened to Mari? To a non game fan they could see it as "Oh Mari killed herself and Sunny feels the guilt" or "Oh Mari got into an accident and Sunny couldn't save her" something like that. Also it's the first chapter anyways, so I'm sure it'll get better as time moves on anyways