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» Review - NightShot
Introduction
NightShot, written and drawn by Hanaki (a combination, according to the FAQ, of two different people), is a story of a child, Yoru, who finds himself being an outcast, no matter where he is. The story inhabits two separate dimensions, and holds a whole host of characters from both. The human dimension is home to Gozen, who is Yoru's only real friend. Meanwhile, the other dimension is home to the cat-eared people like Yoru, and is the home of our arch-nemesis, called Father, Yoru's brother and ally, Sakuban, and a whole host of problems. These problems generally seem to involve getting Yoru killed. The Positive Aspects 
In the introduction, I found myself torn. Should I discuss the plot
(and ruin possibly the best part of Night Shot)? Or should I just blab
about it like it was any normal comic. It wasn't actually that
difficult of a choice. This is not a comic where you can jump in at
the start of chapter three. Or, perhaps, it is good enough that you
could jump in, but that you really shouldn't. Night Shot has the flow
of a good graphic novel, a story which is built on solid foundations,
and a progression of events that feels very much like it's building to
something big. Each chapter builds logically on what comes before, and
it's a delight to behold.
Outside of the plot, there exists a whole list of nice points about this comic. First off, the template for the site is simple and attractive, using what appears to be a modified standard template. Secondly, there's the matter of the art, which, while wasn't the best ever seen, was more than ample to convey the story, and was not, at any point, distracting. Thirdly, a personal favorite, is the speech bubbles, which were well handled. And lastly, there's a very useful characters page which, while not being essential to the reading experience, does serve as a useful reminder when a character reappears after pages of absence. 
The Criticisms
Though I must admit being blown away by the writing, and content with the art, I have to say there are a few problems which crop up. For the most part, these would fit into that little used category, known as composition. Early on, there's a heavy use of small boxes and close ups. These small boxes create a lot of dead-space on the comic, making things less clear than they could have been. While the management of dead-space improves later on, it would be good for Hanaki to keep a watchful eye on this. The less of the canvas that is given over to nothingness, the better it is for everyone. The art, while conveying the story flawlessly, suffers from a lack of backgrounds. Too often, I found myself asking, "Where are they now?" While I can accept that 
such an absence is a style choice (and deliberate), I would recommend
that using a few lines in the background, especially at scene changes,
would help draw the reader's in, and eliminate unnecessary confusion.
The final bit is that the comic often suffers from jarring typos. A
careful checking of all the panels before posting would eliminate the
occurrences of misspelled words, run-on sentences, and missing words.
The Conclusion When I started reading NightShot, I found myself expecting a rather bland story of a child with cat ears. I was wrong, and am happy to admit it. The story is much more interesting, and definitely worth checking out. NightShot, written and drawn by Hanaki, can be found at http://nightshot.smackjeeves.com - Joe |
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