An Honest Sinfest Critique
Posted: Sat May 15, 2021 11:40 pm
I've barely even touched the surface of this forum since it's too inactive for me, but even in my silence on this platform, I have been keeping up with the comic as it has been running for at least two to three years now (and yes, I did go back to read older strips as well). I have been holding my tongue from expressing some of my more critical thoughts for a long time now as the strip has changed over the years, but my resolution for the foreseeable future is to stop silencing myself and making myself small because I think my words will possibly get me banned or make other people feel a certain way over the internet. It's a forum for a reason; because it's being used for the expressions of thoughts, so it's about time I actually blow the dust off of this account and use it for once.
The thing with making content to share with other people is that not everyone is going to like what you create, and I think that's totally fine. It's impossible to please absolutely everyone on the planet, so that's not what I'm getting at here. What I am saying, however, is that I'm still going to have an opinion at the end of the day, and since this is the place where I can talk about Sinfest with others who have actually read the comic, looks like I'm dumping said opinions here. Enough dancing around with wordiness, it's time I get to my points.
I'm going to start by saying that this comic actually does have so much potential that isn't being utilized. There are so many interesting characters or characters who have the potential to be interesting that just aren't being used or developed. I get it; comic strips aren't exactly kind when it comes to creating a certain amount by a certain time, especially depending on the level of detail being included with each strip. That being said, however, I very much would have loved in many parts of this comic to see more time taken to develop these characters and mold them into sorts of people rather than hollow speak-pieces. Take Abby, for example. We know she works for the Devil alongside Blue and that she's in a relationship with Monique. That's okay, but at the same time, I can't help but feel sorry for her. Aside from Abby's relationships to others, it doesn't appear that she has an actual identity of her own.
Really, I would like to know who Abby is. What does she like to do for fun when she is not working? Does she have any other friends? What are they like? Is she completely dependent on Monique for positive attention, and if so, why is this not being addressed or explored by Monique like one would normally do if they were caring in a seemingly dependent relationship like that? Again, there are limits to what you can portray with each comic strip, but I wish that we could see some dialogue or something regarding these topics at least a few times in the series. Not only would it have readers become more attached to Abby and Monique, but it could be such a good portrayal of healthy and functional relationships with other people as well as yourself. We don't normally see such things getting addressed, especially in fiction, but isn't it important to try all the same?
I'd also like to talk about the current turn that the comic strip is taking. The author is going to create whatever story he wants; I think that's already been established. At the same time, however, I'm noticing a couple things that should probably be addressed. A lot of these strips seem to be copied and pasted from already published strips. The layout, setting, or situation is identical to several other strips from the past, and this seems to be increasing in volume. I get that it's difficult to come up with new things when you run a strip from pre-2000 to the present, but if I am being completely honest, it makes it so much harder for an audience to read the story when they're re-reading things over and over again. Attention soon fades away and any sort of point trying to be made can easily get lost or ignored. Furthermore, when it comes to the actual storyline, I have been reading and trying to follow along, but at this point, I am really having a lot of trouble figuring out exactly what Tatsuya is trying to convey in these comics. At first it was just satirical comedy, then it transitioned into a comic from a radical-feminist ally's point of view. In the year of 2021, it's taken a sort of tangled turn to now look like it's supporting conservatives in one form or another. This begs the question: Is Sinfest going from Radfem to conservative? Or could it be that the comic is now trying to say that radical feminists and conservatives are both being oppressed and/or silenced in the wake of far-left liberalism starting to grow? The fact that I cannot clearly see what the plot is at this point in time (and have not been able to for the past five months) is a really big problem that should be addressed in some form or another. Anything is better than nothing at this point, really.
Finally, I just want to say that everyone is free to believe whatever the hell they want. Nobody can legislate your thoughts, and I don't support anyone doing so. If you wanna make a radfem comic, conservative comic, or anything else, please be my guest. But creating something different does not automatically absolve it of all criticism or critique. I don't know if anyone will really end up reading this or taking it seriously, but I just really had to say something because it's been killing me to keep my mouth shut for such a long time about so many different problems I have with the strip. I probably won't stop reading it any time soon, but I'm just tired of internally begging for scraps of substantial comic strips with actual plotlines or character development. Sinfest could still potentially become something much greater, but the first step to this happening is for us (the audience) to know that we are being heard and acknowledged, even if the author does not ultimately agree with us. The strip may not even change after people posting critiques such as this one, but it would be nice to feel like our suggestions were being received in some capacity rather than feeling like we're talking to a brick wall that cannot or will not talk back to us.
Earnestly, Tatsuya Ishida, I would love to hear a response to this thread or any others like it rather than being met with radio static. Even in times when I did not openly critique, but rather asked inquisitive questions ("What was your journey to accepting radical feminism?") I heard not a solitary word from your end. While I am not entitled to responses, I am saying that I am noticing a pattern here where people on this forum will say things or ask questions and you won't respond at all. I know you see our posts too, both because you run this forum yourself and because I have seen your responses to a few select posts. So, again, I would love to hear any of your thoughts with regards to my own thoughts. Otherwise, I'm just going to put this post here.
The thing with making content to share with other people is that not everyone is going to like what you create, and I think that's totally fine. It's impossible to please absolutely everyone on the planet, so that's not what I'm getting at here. What I am saying, however, is that I'm still going to have an opinion at the end of the day, and since this is the place where I can talk about Sinfest with others who have actually read the comic, looks like I'm dumping said opinions here. Enough dancing around with wordiness, it's time I get to my points.
I'm going to start by saying that this comic actually does have so much potential that isn't being utilized. There are so many interesting characters or characters who have the potential to be interesting that just aren't being used or developed. I get it; comic strips aren't exactly kind when it comes to creating a certain amount by a certain time, especially depending on the level of detail being included with each strip. That being said, however, I very much would have loved in many parts of this comic to see more time taken to develop these characters and mold them into sorts of people rather than hollow speak-pieces. Take Abby, for example. We know she works for the Devil alongside Blue and that she's in a relationship with Monique. That's okay, but at the same time, I can't help but feel sorry for her. Aside from Abby's relationships to others, it doesn't appear that she has an actual identity of her own.
Really, I would like to know who Abby is. What does she like to do for fun when she is not working? Does she have any other friends? What are they like? Is she completely dependent on Monique for positive attention, and if so, why is this not being addressed or explored by Monique like one would normally do if they were caring in a seemingly dependent relationship like that? Again, there are limits to what you can portray with each comic strip, but I wish that we could see some dialogue or something regarding these topics at least a few times in the series. Not only would it have readers become more attached to Abby and Monique, but it could be such a good portrayal of healthy and functional relationships with other people as well as yourself. We don't normally see such things getting addressed, especially in fiction, but isn't it important to try all the same?
I'd also like to talk about the current turn that the comic strip is taking. The author is going to create whatever story he wants; I think that's already been established. At the same time, however, I'm noticing a couple things that should probably be addressed. A lot of these strips seem to be copied and pasted from already published strips. The layout, setting, or situation is identical to several other strips from the past, and this seems to be increasing in volume. I get that it's difficult to come up with new things when you run a strip from pre-2000 to the present, but if I am being completely honest, it makes it so much harder for an audience to read the story when they're re-reading things over and over again. Attention soon fades away and any sort of point trying to be made can easily get lost or ignored. Furthermore, when it comes to the actual storyline, I have been reading and trying to follow along, but at this point, I am really having a lot of trouble figuring out exactly what Tatsuya is trying to convey in these comics. At first it was just satirical comedy, then it transitioned into a comic from a radical-feminist ally's point of view. In the year of 2021, it's taken a sort of tangled turn to now look like it's supporting conservatives in one form or another. This begs the question: Is Sinfest going from Radfem to conservative? Or could it be that the comic is now trying to say that radical feminists and conservatives are both being oppressed and/or silenced in the wake of far-left liberalism starting to grow? The fact that I cannot clearly see what the plot is at this point in time (and have not been able to for the past five months) is a really big problem that should be addressed in some form or another. Anything is better than nothing at this point, really.
Finally, I just want to say that everyone is free to believe whatever the hell they want. Nobody can legislate your thoughts, and I don't support anyone doing so. If you wanna make a radfem comic, conservative comic, or anything else, please be my guest. But creating something different does not automatically absolve it of all criticism or critique. I don't know if anyone will really end up reading this or taking it seriously, but I just really had to say something because it's been killing me to keep my mouth shut for such a long time about so many different problems I have with the strip. I probably won't stop reading it any time soon, but I'm just tired of internally begging for scraps of substantial comic strips with actual plotlines or character development. Sinfest could still potentially become something much greater, but the first step to this happening is for us (the audience) to know that we are being heard and acknowledged, even if the author does not ultimately agree with us. The strip may not even change after people posting critiques such as this one, but it would be nice to feel like our suggestions were being received in some capacity rather than feeling like we're talking to a brick wall that cannot or will not talk back to us.
Earnestly, Tatsuya Ishida, I would love to hear a response to this thread or any others like it rather than being met with radio static. Even in times when I did not openly critique, but rather asked inquisitive questions ("What was your journey to accepting radical feminism?") I heard not a solitary word from your end. While I am not entitled to responses, I am saying that I am noticing a pattern here where people on this forum will say things or ask questions and you won't respond at all. I know you see our posts too, both because you run this forum yourself and because I have seen your responses to a few select posts. So, again, I would love to hear any of your thoughts with regards to my own thoughts. Otherwise, I'm just going to put this post here.