AnimeSuki Forums

judasmartel · 2011-05-04, 08:58

Hi everyone!

While I was searching for some kind of inspiration for a quiz novel I'm going to make, I found this in a quiz bowl forum, and I just thought that I didn't know that such a quiz manga exists in Japan! I am so happy to finally find one for so long that I want to share this with all of you guys.

Perfect for nerdy people out there, and also for those who are just curious what a quiz manga has to offer.

Manga Cover

Summary

Question: What is the format of competitive quiz bowls, called "golden rule" by truly able players?
Answer: 7 Right 3 Wrong
Explanation: It means that one wins when he gets seven correct answers, or gets disqualifed when he gives three incorrect answers. It's a standard rule loved by competitive quiz bowl players.

Story

On his second day in high school, freshman Shiki Koshiyama hasn't found a club to join in. Until an encounter with Mari Fukami, a quiz-obsessed girl in his class, who discovers his potential to become the "King of Quizzes", leads him to discover the unknown world of quiz, a game "where everybody knows how to play".

Characters

Spoiler:

Link to First Chapter:

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/nana_m...01/c001/1.html

frubam · 2011-05-04, 09:29

If it's anything close to the enjoyment I got with BakaTest, sign me up =03.

KLGChaos · 2011-05-04, 11:48

I got a few chapters in and just found myself facepalming the manga, so I think I'm going to skip this one. It's like it's trying to be a battle manga, but using realistic quiz scenarios.... Which aren't that realistic. The author even acknowledges (as the main character is destroyed in his first attempts) that his knowledge is useless and it's all about memorizing sticky question and listening for reader accents. Not to mention the main rival is not only clairvoyant and so far ahead of everyone else he might as well be called "Aizen", he's a complete jerk to boot, designed just to rub how bad the MC is in his face. Looking at everyone's shock that the MC was close to the answer was just ridiculous, because in the end, every "close" answer was still completely wrong-- while the rival didn't even miss one.

Just seems a bit stupid to me. I was wary about a manga about realistic quizzes in the first place. The way it's been handled just reinforces that. Judging from the way the last chapter I read went, it actually looked like they were going to go into a "training arc" to learn the basics. A training arc... For a quiz manga. Oh, the anticipation. /sarcasm

judasmartel · 2011-05-04, 22:04

I think the mangaka's still in the "training arc", and, hey, this is only the beginning! Probably to introduce his readers to the world of quiz before going into the real game, i.e., the "Tournament Arc".

Shiki, who definitely has the smarts due to his experience with books, is still a beginner when it comes to quiz, a sport that does require a lot of knowledge. But quiz isn't just about knowledge alone. You also need to have good memory, strong reflexes, and quick thinking to become a first-class quizzer. Thus the necessity to "train him into the basics".

I do hope that he's going to do this all the way to the Tournament Arc, as I will use this manga as inspiration for a tournament arc quiz novel I'm going to make. I'm looking forward to this story going into the Kantou Tournament Arc or even the National Tournament Arc.

That said, Mari's my wife now!

Anyways, as I said above, I'm making a quiz novel based on my own experience as a quiz bowl player since grade school, plus some inspiration from this manga. I would like to ask you what do people actually expect in a quiz novel. I mean, how realistic should it be?

I'll redirect you here for you comments on that last question:

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=103887

Actually, I screwed up with the topic title, but now at least I know that it's a quiz novel that I'm looking for.

About the rival, well, I wasn't thinking "Aizen" actually, but rather, I was thinking "Accelerator" on this one.

EDIT: I know some people who can get questions right after the first confirmation point, doing so before knowing the whole question is actually outright unrealistic. I mean, unless you cheat or you know the questions beforehand, there's no realistic chance of doing that. Now I got your point.

KLGChaos · 2011-05-05, 03:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by judasmartel

EDIT: I know some people who can get questions right after the first confirmation point, doing so before knowing the whole question is actually outright unrealistic. I mean, unless you cheat or you know the questions beforehand, there's no realistic chance of doing that. Now I got your point.

Yeah, that's the part that bothered me the most. The guy didn't rely on confirmation points at all, but more on the speaker's accent and then he just made guesses... and always got it right. And they weren't even the "sticky questions" they mentioned previously. Then that last one where he buzzed in early before the guy even had a chance to put an accent in and still got it without issue.... That's more annoying than anything else. I'm not a fan of "realistic" based mangas that try to explain unrealistic things using realistic logic, when that logic doesn't match up with real life.

It reminds me of one of the players in Baby Steps, where he imagined drawing on the court. The mangaka went into this long explanation of how it worked, and because the explanation was just so... out there... it killed my suspension of disbelief for the match. The guy can visualize, fine... no need to try and give some reason for it working when it just leaves me scratching my head more.

Suspension of disbelief is something that's important for a manga, which is why certain rules need to be established. If you want your guys having super powers and everything, fine. But if you're keeping it realistic and then suddenly start throwing in unrealistic abilities while trying to explain it away with real-world logic that doesn't actually fit, it's a big stretch.

I also just didn't like how the author pretty much said right out that all the MCs knowledge is just useless. It's like saying "You don't have to be smart... you just have to memorize ques". Sounds more like they should be actors than quiz bowl players. :\ The mangaka also did a poor job is conveying that the MC has potential. You don't say "Hey, this guy's smart, he could be something...", with people reacting in awe.... and then completely destroy him. It just wasn't believable that the rival would actually be intimidated by him like the author made it out to be at the last question. He had such a huge lead and the MC kept answering everything wrong-- he didn't even come in third place.

As I said though, a manga about quiz bowls is iffy if best if done realistically and the way the author has written this so far has just turned me away. Don't let my opinion sway you guys, though. Everyone has their own things that they like.

Bonta Kun · 2011-05-05, 06:33

After seeing this thread I decided to check it out but I did have my reservations about whether a manga on quiz bowls could interest me despite my fondness for a good quiz.
And I gotta admit didn't hold my interest too well.

Very iffy indeed.

Now I don't know what the author had in mind but I think I will have to take it as just a simple joke but the question on elevator floor markings I just facepalmed.
I find it hard to believe that these "smart" kids wouldn't know what was probably the easiest question to pop up.

I won't be keeping track of this but I may pop into the some following chapters from time to time.

Irenicus · 2011-05-05, 12:38

Actually, I'm kind of interested how the author would reconcile the apparent difference between being knowledgeable and being quiz-smart. It plays it so straight that the reader shares the main character's frustrations with the notion that quizzing is NOT about wit, knowledge, or intelligence, but a silly game with its own esoteric rules. He is portrayed as frankly disappointed at this (and the President guy and the girl both understand it and are naturally worried he'd quit on them), but he perseveres because he doesn't want to give up halfway.

But will the reader want him to persevere? From the reactions in this thread, maybe not.

I'd say the author is pretty competent and pretty gutsy to put it all forward; I'm not sure myself however if I'm willing to cheer him on, given that he's better off not playing to the game and continue being his gentle, well-read self. It also seems to be the author's intention for the reader to NOT admire the rival guy, as he's portrayed also pretty clearly as something of a douche who's on top of his own tunnel-vision quizzy world, pwning n00bs because he can.

As for the shounen reactions (lol), I'm pretty sure it just means everybody recognizes that the kid is a walking encyclopedia, and the only reason he isn't pwning everyone else is because the game is at a shallow stage where everybody knows the question and answer already so it's down to tactics and game experience. I imagine he would do excellently in high level quizzes where questions are about increasingly esoteric knowledge, not recognizing clues and throwing shit out.

frubam · 2011-05-05, 22:30

This manga is alright. Probably a bit too shounen-y for my tastes, but I enjoyed how it displayed the whole quiz game show aspect.

I do agree with klg about the genius quizzer, though, I wasn't put off by it or anything. If it was like Jeopardy, where a category was given beforehand, it would be a bit more believable, but the absurdity in answering questions by listening to an accent and only hearing a 1/4~1/3 of the question is ridiculous, especially since the latter half of the question can be about anything, regardless if it's a 'sticky' question or not.

That being said, I'll be looking forward to more chapters to see how Koshi develops, but I hope the questions become difficult enough in that most of the question needs to be said to understand it fully. Else it really will feel like a guessing game(even though the manga itself accrues that as strategy =0\).

judasmartel · 2011-05-06, 01:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irenicus

Actually, I'm kind of interested how the author would reconcile the apparent difference between being knowledgeable and being quiz-smart. It plays it so straight that the reader shares the main character's frustrations with the notion that quizzing is NOT about wit, knowledge, or intelligence, but a silly game with its own esoteric rules. He is portrayed as frankly disappointed at this (and the President guy and the girl both understand it and are naturally worried he'd quit on them), but he perseveres because he doesn't want to give up halfway.

But will the reader want him to persevere? From the reactions in this thread, maybe not.

I'd say the author is pretty competent and pretty gutsy to put it all forward; I'm not sure myself however if I'm willing to cheer him on, given that he's better off not playing to the game and continue being his gentle, well-read self. It also seems to be the author's intention for the reader to NOT admire the rival guy, as he's portrayed also pretty clearly as something of a douche who's on top of his own tunnel-vision quizzy world, pwning n00bs because he can.

As for the shounen reactions (lol), I'm pretty sure it just means everybody recognizes that the kid is a walking encyclopedia, and the only reason he isn't pwning everyone else is because the game is at a shallow stage where everybody knows the question and answer already so it's down to tactics and game experience. I imagine he would do excellently in high level quizzes where questions are about increasingly esoteric knowledge, not recognizing clues and throwing shit out.

I see that there aren't compuational questions yet. I think the author will handle this differently, don't you?

Round 2 was around the same thing as the quiz bowls I used to join before, Reading the last chapter, Mikuriya (I think of him now as the quiz bowl version of To Aru's Accelerator) minus the douchebag-ness and Shiki, remind me of how I developed as a quizzer. The pressure is there especially for Shiki, since he's a newcomer to quizzes despite definitely having the smarts. But in the end, it usually comes down to whether you believe you can win quizzes or not. This is what will make or break you in the end.

Spoiler for Example:

In computational quizzes, you just need to know how are you going to attack the problem stated by the MC, since you just can't guess the answer to these types of problems, unless they are really so easy you don't even need to calculate. I remembered a grade schooler who won a Math quiz championship by just calculating things only in her head, she didn't need to use any scratch paper or something. I thought, "Woah, amazing. This kid would become scary if she trains up more in quizzes, not just for the computational questions."

The good thing for me as a quizzer is that I started out in computational problems, but later in middle school, switched to non-computational ones without any problems at all. For that reason, I was the ace player in every team I have played for, be it back in grade school, middle school, high school, and now in college, too. I would come to be known as the "quiz go-to guy" everywhere I go. Problem is, quizzes are kinda hard to come by in our country, as unpopular as it already is, so I can't improve myself to my highest potential, nor I can give others my own experience effectively.
Maybe I should go back to my middle school to help train the younger guys there, no?

The main difference is that if the previous rounds require knowledge in various fields and mastery of the human psychology (as in Excelerator's case) obtainable from constant study and quiz experience, the computational problems require that you practice solving Math problems at a regular basis or you're going to rust even before you go to play.

@Back to topic: Now, if the author chooses to do computational this time, Mikuriya (read as Accelerator) would definitely be a bitch to beat if he does answer these types of questions the same way he does in the previous rounds, by just guessing. I mean, man, unless you compute on your head, there's no way you can do that.

Irenicus · 2011-05-06, 14:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by judasmartel

I see that there aren't compuational questions yet. I think the author will handle this differently, don't you?

...

The main difference is that if the previous rounds require knowledge in various fields and mastery of the human psychology (as in Excelerator's case) obtainable from constant study and quiz experience, the computational problems require that you practice solving Math problems at a regular basis or you're going to rust even before you go to play.

Now that's interesting. As far as we know the kid hasn't shown any special ability at computation one way or another, so far. His base knowledge comes from his extensive reading and his good memory. And apparently he has good intuition, too, just unpolished, hence why everybody goes all shounen gasp on him.

Would he secretly also be a math genius?

Although I would bet that the rival won't be especially good at computations, if it comes to that. He's been winning through his experience and quiz skill; to add up computations into it would be way overhaxx'd and give extra credence to the Aizen accusation. Maybe you can really answer just from the first accentuation if you know the basic questions, but as you said in a numbers problem you need to know them all.

judasmartel · 2011-05-07, 00:41

But with Shiki and Fukami out of contention in this quiz, I don't think Sugimoto won't push through the final round, and will instead focus more on the "Training Arc". So for now, I don't think we're going to see Math problems until some time later.

It looks like we are ways to go before seeing a "Tournament Arc" Quiz.

@Irenicus Who knows, right? Maybe Shiki is hiding something else he even doesn't know, no? He might be secretly a math genius, and that is an edge he can have when he meets "Aizen" Mikuriya in a future "Tournament Arc", unless of course Sugimoto wants to create a real hax of a rival for Shiki.

Bonta Kun · 2011-05-07, 07:07

Being a secret maths genius that even he, himself doesn't even know, I couldn't buy that.
Maths is the one subject where it's rather easy to know your good at or not. Theres no not knowing your super good at it.
I don't think I would accept secret maths genius cause 1 thing, the others should have picked up on that already and 2. if he was hiding it on purpose, he would be the type of person I loathe(I do hate people that hold themselves back or purpose)

Way I see it is he is rather smart but just not used to the game yet. I don't think I would like seeing him pull super abilities out of his arse later.

If the author had gone with just outrageous abilities from the get go, kinda like in Saki, I would probably be more accepting but not even "super luck" is on his side...yet.

judasmartel · 2011-05-08, 22:12

The one thing with computational quizzes is that you need to find as many confirmation points as possible to be able to answer the problem, unlike non-computational problems which only require at least one confirmation point to answer. I don't need to put up an example of a non-computational since there's a lot of them in the manga, and I don't see that most quiz players like Math questions because as they say, "Pyramidal Math quizzes turn dead later on. The thrill of buzzing before everybody else gets killed with successive Math questions."

Note: / are confirmation points

Spoiler for Example of Computational:

Now, since the problem asks for the center of the circle, you can confirm the answer at the fourth confirmation point. Recalling our Math, we know that the circle has the equation

(x - h) ^ 2 + (y - k) ^ 2 = r^2, where
h - the x-coordinate of the center
k - the y-coordinate of the center, and
r - the radius of the circle

How was the previous problem confirmed?

Spoiler for Answer:

Now, suppose I change the question to this:

Spoiler for Same Question, Different Term Used:

Can you still confirm it at the fourth confirmation point? Let's see.

Spoiler for Early Confirmation?:

Obviously, the answer is no, because you don't know the right-side terms of the equation yet. So definitely, it would be a real fluke if somebody answers sqrt(44) right before the last confirmation point.

Another famous "confirmation point" experiment in Math quizzes is the Pythagorean triple, a set of three numbers which satisfy the equation a^2 + b^2 = c^2, which makes them dimensions of a right triangle.

Now, suppose you didn't memorize the Pythagorean triples, can you answer this without calculating?

Spoiler for Question:

Well, no. You've got to calculate it on your head by finding the value of b = sqrt(c^2 - a^2) = sqrt(13^2 - 5^2) = sqrt(169 - 25) = sqrt(144) = 12.

Whew.

BUT, suppose you memorized as many Pythagorean triples as you can, can you confirm the answer early?

Spoiler for Another Question:

Does this question lack confirmation points? Well, actually, no. Because you can't form any Pythagorean triple with 4 and any two numbers except for 3 and 5. Go figure.

judasmartel · 2011-05-10, 05:12

It's still too early, but I have pretty much made up a possible VA cast.

Spoiler for My VA Cast:

What do you think about this, guys?

MrTerrorist · 2011-06-26, 01:10

Very interesting manga. Mangas like this and QED have nice tidbits of knowledge and facts.

judasmartel · 2011-06-29, 23:03

UPDATED:

Spoiler for My Dream VA Cast:

Don't know about the others yet.

Chapters 7 and 8 are out! START HERE

There's a new character, though. Blonde-haired girl on Gakuto's bike. Relationship with him unknown.

EDIT: Hmmm, at least I'm glad the training arc isn't as long as I thought. Probably Sugimoto will start the "Tournament Arc" right away, unless my assumption that the "Training Arc" is actually the "regular season", with the true Tournament Arc comprising the Japanese National Quiz Bowl Playoffs.

Khalil · 2011-06-30, 10:38

You could at least send them to batoto, the uploads there are of a higher quality.

judasmartel · 2011-07-02, 10:17

Except that the screen's too large, and it loads super slow. So whatever.

judasmartel · 2011-08-08, 07:10

Chapter 9 is out!

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/nana_m...01/c009/1.html

Spoiler for Chapter 9:

Now, the start of the training arc. Here, Gakuto showed us that the so-called "sticky questions" are as ordinary as any question in the game. All you have to do is to watch out for confirmation points and judge whether to buzz in and answer it or not depending on how much smarts (school or street) you have.

Seems discouraging, isn't it. Well, let ME tell YOU something about quizzes:

While one who is strong academically DOES have a certain edge in terms of potential as a quizzer (I am one myself), it still has to be refined so that one could be quiz-ready. That means, he has to develop two things:

1. Something like a "mental map", so that one can access information in his/her head on the fly. In other words, study, memorize, and practice what you have studied.

2. STAGE FRIGHT. This is usually the school-smart quizzer's ENEMY NUMBER ONE, so it is necessary to let the school-smart quizzer know that competitive quizzes is far more different from the quizzes he encounters in school everyday.

So, IT'S STILL OKAY EVEN IF HE/SHE DOESN'T GET ALL OR MOST OF THE QUESTIONS RIGHT, IT WON'T REFLECT ON HIS/HER GRADES IN SCHOOL. It's simply because competitive quizzers are not rated on a "PASS or FAIL" basis, but rather on a "WIN or LOSE" basis.

IT'S JUST A GAME, NOBODY HAS TO TAKE IT SO SERIOUSLY. You will still get that diploma even if you lose quizzes in humiliating fashion (say, if you're an A class student who happens to lose to an F class student in a quiz), for as long as you don't slack off in school, of course.

Therefore, being school-smart is not as much an advantage compared to being street-smart, simply because NOT EVERYTHING IS LEARNED IS SCHOOL.

Think about this: We only use in real life 10% of what we learn in school AND 90% of what we learn from the streets.

Some of my high school quiz teammates aren't even from Class A, and yet they perform better than us Class A members in competitive quizzes.

So say, I have seen a lot of street-smart guys winning it all at game shows while school-smart guys almost never win at all. Just ask the Slumdog Millionaire.

judasmartel · 2011-08-24, 06:48

Chapter 10 is out.

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/nana_m...03/c010/1.html

Spoiler for Summary:

2011-05-04, 08:58	Link #1
judasmartel Senior Member Author Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Cainta, Rizal, Philippines	Nanamaru Sanbatsu -7o3x- Hi everyone! While I was searching for some kind of inspiration for a quiz novel I'm going to make, I found this in a quiz bowl forum, and I just thought that I didn't know that such a quiz manga exists in Japan! I am so happy to finally find one for so long that I want to share this with all of you guys. Perfect for nerdy people out there, and also for those who are just curious what a quiz manga has to offer. Manga Cover Summary Question: What is the format of competitive quiz bowls, called "golden rule" by truly able players? Answer: 7 Right 3 Wrong Explanation: It means that one wins when he gets seven correct answers, or gets disqualifed when he gives three incorrect answers. It's a standard rule loved by competitive quiz bowl players. Story On his second day in high school, freshman Shiki Koshiyama hasn't found a club to join in. Until an encounter with Mari Fukami, a quiz-obsessed girl in his class, who discovers his potential to become the "King of Quizzes", leads him to discover the unknown world of quiz, a game "where everybody knows how to play". Characters Spoiler: Shiki Koshiyama - Buzou High School freshman, age 15. The main character of the story. He has the potential to become the King of Quizzes with his vast knowledge of history and literature derived from reading a lot of books, but is a newcomer to the world of quiz, where knowledge is not necessarily power. Mari Fukami - a girl in the same class as Shiki, she is obsessed with quizzes. She sees Shiki's potential to become a great quiz player, and she forces him to join the quiz club after he sees her panties when she trips off during their encounter at the library. Gakuto Sasajima - the zealous captain of the not-so-popular quiz club of Buzou High. He also sees Shiki's potential to become a great quiz player, but sees that he needs training to become the "King of Quizzes". There are hints that he was a well-known quiz player from Kaijou Middle School. Daisuke Inoue - a fat guy in the same class as Shiki and Mari, he volunteered to join the library committee before Shiki does, which leads him to become a member of the 4-man quiz club of Buzou High. Apparently he knows some quiz stuff, but not that much. Prolly the main reason he joins the club is Mari-rin. LOL. Mikuriya - Miyaura High School Freshman. Well, just read the manga and you will know why he is called "the Aizen of quiz". Oh, he's not so Aizen after all. Link to First Chapter: http://www.mangafox.com/manga/nana_m...01/c001/1.html Last edited by judasmartel; 2011-06-30 at 06:23.

2011-05-04, 11:48	Link #3
KLGChaos The Shermain Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: NY Age: 44	I got a few chapters in and just found myself facepalming the manga, so I think I'm going to skip this one. It's like it's trying to be a battle manga, but using realistic quiz scenarios.... Which aren't that realistic. The author even acknowledges (as the main character is destroyed in his first attempts) that his knowledge is useless and it's all about memorizing sticky question and listening for reader accents. Not to mention the main rival is not only clairvoyant and so far ahead of everyone else he might as well be called "Aizen", he's a complete jerk to boot, designed just to rub how bad the MC is in his face. Looking at everyone's shock that the MC was close to the answer was just ridiculous, because in the end, every "close" answer was still completely wrong-- while the rival didn't even miss one. Just seems a bit stupid to me. I was wary about a manga about realistic quizzes in the first place. The way it's been handled just reinforces that. Judging from the way the last chapter I read went, it actually looked like they were going to go into a "training arc" to learn the basics. A training arc... For a quiz manga. Oh, the anticipation. /sarcasm __________________

2011-05-04, 22:04	Link #4
judasmartel Senior Member Author Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Cainta, Rizal, Philippines	I think the mangaka's still in the "training arc", and, hey, this is only the beginning! Probably to introduce his readers to the world of quiz before going into the real game, i.e., the "Tournament Arc". Shiki, who definitely has the smarts due to his experience with books, is still a beginner when it comes to quiz, a sport that does require a lot of knowledge. But quiz isn't just about knowledge alone. You also need to have good memory, strong reflexes, and quick thinking to become a first-class quizzer. Thus the necessity to "train him into the basics". I do hope that he's going to do this all the way to the Tournament Arc, as I will use this manga as inspiration for a tournament arc quiz novel I'm going to make. I'm looking forward to this story going into the Kantou Tournament Arc or even the National Tournament Arc. That said, Mari's my wife now! Anyways, as I said above, I'm making a quiz novel based on my own experience as a quiz bowl player since grade school, plus some inspiration from this manga. I would like to ask you what do people actually expect in a quiz novel. I mean, how realistic should it be? I'll redirect you here for you comments on that last question: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=103887 Actually, I screwed up with the topic title, but now at least I know that it's a quiz novel that I'm looking for. About the rival, well, I wasn't thinking "Aizen" actually, but rather, I was thinking "Accelerator" on this one. EDIT: I know some people who can get questions right after the first confirmation point, doing so before knowing the whole question is actually outright unrealistic. I mean, unless you cheat or you know the questions beforehand, there's no realistic chance of doing that. Now I got your point. Last edited by judasmartel; 2011-05-04 at 22:20.

2011-05-05, 06:33	Link #6
Bonta Kun Know who you are Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Resides within the depths of Ned infested Glasgow	After seeing this thread I decided to check it out but I did have my reservations about whether a manga on quiz bowls could interest me despite my fondness for a good quiz. And I gotta admit didn't hold my interest too well. Very iffy indeed. Now I don't know what the author had in mind but I think I will have to take it as just a simple joke but the question on elevator floor markings I just facepalmed. I find it hard to believe that these "smart" kids wouldn't know what was probably the easiest question to pop up. I won't be keeping track of this but I may pop into the some following chapters from time to time. __________________

2011-05-07, 07:07	Link #12
Bonta Kun Know who you are Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Resides within the depths of Ned infested Glasgow	Being a secret maths genius that even he, himself doesn't even know, I couldn't buy that. Maths is the one subject where it's rather easy to know your good at or not. Theres no not knowing your super good at it. I don't think I would accept secret maths genius cause 1 thing, the others should have picked up on that already and 2. if he was hiding it on purpose, he would be the type of person I loathe(I do hate people that hold themselves back or purpose) Way I see it is he is rather smart but just not used to the game yet. I don't think I would like seeing him pull super abilities out of his arse later. If the author had gone with just outrageous abilities from the get go, kinda like in Saki, I would probably be more accepting but not even "super luck" is on his side...yet. __________________

2011-05-04, 09:29	Link #2
frubam simp for Lyria Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: on the Grandcypher Age: 40	If it's anything close to the enjoyment I got with BakaTest, sign me up =03.

2011-05-05, 12:38	Link #7
Irenicus Le fou, c'est moi Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA Age: 34	Actually, I'm kind of interested how the author would reconcile the apparent difference between being knowledgeable and being quiz-smart. It plays it so straight that the reader shares the main character's frustrations with the notion that quizzing is NOT about wit, knowledge, or intelligence, but a silly game with its own esoteric rules. He is portrayed as frankly disappointed at this (and the President guy and the girl both understand it and are naturally worried he'd quit on them), but he perseveres because he doesn't want to give up halfway. But will the reader want him to persevere? From the reactions in this thread, maybe not. I'd say the author is pretty competent and pretty gutsy to put it all forward; I'm not sure myself however if I'm willing to cheer him on, given that he's better off not playing to the game and continue being his gentle, well-read self. It also seems to be the author's intention for the reader to NOT admire the rival guy, as he's portrayed also pretty clearly as something of a douche who's on top of his own tunnel-vision quizzy world, pwning n00bs because he can. As for the shounen reactions (lol), I'm pretty sure it just means everybody recognizes that the kid is a walking encyclopedia, and the only reason he isn't pwning everyone else is because the game is at a shallow stage where everybody knows the question and answer already so it's down to tactics and game experience. I imagine he would do excellently in high level quizzes where questions are about increasingly esoteric knowledge, not recognizing clues and throwing shit out.

2011-05-05, 22:30	Link #8
frubam simp for Lyria Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: on the Grandcypher Age: 40	This manga is alright. Probably a bit too shounen-y for my tastes, but I enjoyed how it displayed the whole quiz game show aspect. I do agree with klg about the genius quizzer, though, I wasn't put off by it or anything. If it was like Jeopardy, where a category was given beforehand, it would be a bit more believable, but the absurdity in answering questions by listening to an accent and only hearing a 1/4~1/3 of the question is ridiculous, especially since the latter half of the question can be about anything, regardless if it's a 'sticky' question or not. That being said, I'll be looking forward to more chapters to see how Koshi develops, but I hope the questions become difficult enough in that most of the question needs to be said to understand it fully. Else it really will feel like a guessing game(even though the manga itself accrues that as strategy =0\).

2011-05-07, 00:41	Link #11
judasmartel Senior Member Author Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Cainta, Rizal, Philippines	But with Shiki and Fukami out of contention in this quiz, I don't think Sugimoto won't push through the final round, and will instead focus more on the "Training Arc". So for now, I don't think we're going to see Math problems until some time later. It looks like we are ways to go before seeing a "Tournament Arc" Quiz. @Irenicus Who knows, right? Maybe Shiki is hiding something else he even doesn't know, no? He might be secretly a math genius, and that is an edge he can have when he meets "Aizen" Mikuriya in a future "Tournament Arc", unless of course Sugimoto wants to create a real hax of a rival for Shiki.

2011-05-08, 22:12	Link #13
judasmartel Senior Member Author Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Cainta, Rizal, Philippines	The one thing with computational quizzes is that you need to find as many confirmation points as possible to be able to answer the problem, unlike non-computational problems which only require at least one confirmation point to answer. I don't need to put up an example of a non-computational since there's a lot of them in the manga, and I don't see that most quiz players like Math questions because as they say, "Pyramidal Math quizzes turn dead later on. The thrill of buzzing before everybody else gets killed with successive Math questions." Note: / are confirmation points Spoiler for Example of Computational: What are the coordinates of the center/ of the circle/ x^2 + 6x / - y^2 - 10y / = 10 /? Now, since the problem asks for the center of the circle, you can confirm the answer at the fourth confirmation point. Recalling our Math, we know that the circle has the equation (x - h) ^ 2 + (y - k) ^ 2 = r^2, where h - the x-coordinate of the center k - the y-coordinate of the center, and r - the radius of the circle How was the previous problem confirmed? Spoiler for Answer: We know from our algebra that (x - a) ^ 2 = x^2 - 2ax + a^2. As you can see from the equation of the circle, completing the squares are necessary to get the standard equation. Note the -6x and 10y terms. You can already determine the center coordinates by these terms only. How was that done? By dividing the respective x and y coefficients by 2 and changing their signs. The answer by the way is (-3,5). Now, suppose I change the question to this: Spoiler for Same Question, Different Term Used: What is the radius/ of the circle/ x^2 + 6x / - y^2 - 10y / = 10 /? Can you still confirm it at the fourth confirmation point? Let's see. Spoiler for Early Confirmation?: Completing the squares: x^2 + 6x + 9 + y^2 - 10y + 25 = 10 + 9 + 25 (x + 3) ^ 2 + (y - 5) ^ 2 = 44 Now, is r = 44? No, it's r^2 = 44, or r = sqrt(44). Obviously, the answer is no, because you don't know the right-side terms of the equation yet. So definitely, it would be a real fluke if somebody answers sqrt(44) right before the last confirmation point. Another famous "confirmation point" experiment in Math quizzes is the Pythagorean triple, a set of three numbers which satisfy the equation a^2 + b^2 = c^2, which makes them dimensions of a right triangle. Now, suppose you didn't memorize the Pythagorean triples, can you answer this without calculating? Spoiler for Question: Find the missing/ side/ of a right/ triangle/ with measurements of 5/ and 13/. Well, no. You've got to calculate it on your head by finding the value of b = sqrt(c^2 - a^2) = sqrt(13^2 - 5^2) = sqrt(169 - 25) = sqrt(144) = 12. Whew. BUT, suppose you memorized as many Pythagorean triples as you can, can you confirm the answer early? Spoiler for Another Question: Find the missing/ sides/ of a right/ triangle/ with one/ side measuring 4/ units. Does this question lack confirmation points? Well, actually, no. Because you can't form any Pythagorean triple with 4 and any two numbers except for 3 and 5. Go figure. Last edited by judasmartel; 2011-05-08 at 22:33.

2011-05-10, 05:12	Link #14
judasmartel Senior Member Author Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Cainta, Rizal, Philippines	It's still too early, but I have pretty much made up a possible VA cast. Spoiler for My VA Cast: Shiki Koshiyama - Hiro Shimono Mari Fukami - Ayahi Takagaki Gakuto Sasajima - Kishou Taniyama Mikuriya - Daisuke Hirakawa Chiaki Sonohara - Kana Asumi Yousuke Ashiya - Yoshihisa Kawahara Yukichi - Ayana Taketatsu What do you think about this, guys? Last edited by judasmartel; 2011-05-12 at 22:01.

2011-06-26, 01:10	Link #15
MrTerrorist Takao Tsundere Cruiser Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Classified	Very interesting manga. Mangas like this and QED have nice tidbits of knowledge and facts. __________________

2011-06-29, 23:03	Link #16
judasmartel Senior Member Author Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Cainta, Rizal, Philippines	UPDATED: Spoiler for My Dream VA Cast: Shiki Koshiyama - Hiro Shimono Mari Fukami - Yuko Goto (changed my mind after hearing her again, I find MamiNoto too deep to be Mari, LOL) Gakuto Sasajima - Ryotaro Okiayu Mikuriya - Kishou Taniyama Don't know about the others yet. Chapters 7 and 8 are out! START HERE There's a new character, though. Blonde-haired girl on Gakuto's bike. Relationship with him unknown. EDIT: Hmmm, at least I'm glad the training arc isn't as long as I thought. Probably Sugimoto will start the "Tournament Arc" right away, unless my assumption that the "Training Arc" is actually the "regular season", with the true Tournament Arc comprising the Japanese National Quiz Bowl Playoffs. Last edited by judasmartel; 2011-07-02 at 10:07.

2011-06-30, 10:38	Link #17
Khalil Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2011	You could at least send them to batoto, the uploads there are of a higher quality.

2011-07-02, 10:17	Link #18
judasmartel Senior Member Author Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Cainta, Rizal, Philippines	Except that the screen's too large, and it loads super slow. So whatever.

2011-08-08, 07:10	Link #19
judasmartel Senior Member Author Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Cainta, Rizal, Philippines	Chapter 9 is out! http://www.mangafox.com/manga/nana_m...01/c009/1.html Spoiler for Chapter 9: There are some hints about Gakuto's old mates from Kaijou Academy, one of them knows Mari (I think he's her brother or old friend). And Shiki meets the mysterious blonde girl on Gakuto's bike, albeit in a different way than Mari did. Spoiler for mystery girl: Now, the start of the training arc. Here, Gakuto showed us that the so-called "sticky questions" are as ordinary as any question in the game. All you have to do is to watch out for confirmation points and judge whether to buzz in and answer it or not depending on how much smarts (school or street) you have. Seems discouraging, isn't it. Well, let ME tell YOU something about quizzes: While one who is strong academically DOES have a certain edge in terms of potential as a quizzer (I am one myself), it still has to be refined so that one could be quiz-ready. That means, he has to develop two things: 1. Something like a "mental map", so that one can access information in his/her head on the fly. In other words, study, memorize, and practice what you have studied. 2. STAGE FRIGHT. This is usually the school-smart quizzer's ENEMY NUMBER ONE, so it is necessary to let the school-smart quizzer know that competitive quizzes is far more different from the quizzes he encounters in school everyday. So, IT'S STILL OKAY EVEN IF HE/SHE DOESN'T GET ALL OR MOST OF THE QUESTIONS RIGHT, IT WON'T REFLECT ON HIS/HER GRADES IN SCHOOL. It's simply because competitive quizzers are not rated on a "PASS or FAIL" basis, but rather on a "WIN or LOSE" basis. IT'S JUST A GAME, NOBODY HAS TO TAKE IT SO SERIOUSLY. You will still get that diploma even if you lose quizzes in humiliating fashion (say, if you're an A class student who happens to lose to an F class student in a quiz), for as long as you don't slack off in school, of course. Therefore, being school-smart is not as much an advantage compared to being street-smart, simply because NOT EVERYTHING IS LEARNED IS SCHOOL. Think about this: We only use in real life 10% of what we learn in school AND 90% of what we learn from the streets. Some of my high school quiz teammates aren't even from Class A, and yet they perform better than us Class A members in competitive quizzes. So say, I have seen a lot of street-smart guys winning it all at game shows while school-smart guys almost never win at all. Just ask the Slumdog Millionaire. Last edited by judasmartel; 2011-08-24 at 00:24.

2011-08-24, 06:48	Link #20
judasmartel Senior Member Author Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Cainta, Rizal, Philippines	Chapter 10 is out. http://www.mangafox.com/manga/nana_m...03/c010/1.html Spoiler for Summary: The girl who stumbled into Shiki's secret place is actually the same girl riding on Captain Gakuto's bike. She was so hungry that she ate HALF of Shiki's lunch. It seems she wants to have a bite at Shiki's lunch as well. Too bad she's too late. I'm seeing LOVE on Mari's expression! And you get to have one guess whom she's smitten for. Smells like a showdown between Shiki and Aizen, again. Oh, wait, we already know that Mikuriya isn't so Aizen anymore.