Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt, Vol. 13

Just a heads up to anyone looking to buy this and any further copies volumes from this point forward. At the start of the manga the author writes an apology note stating for various health reasons that the quality of the art will drop sharply from this point forward.If you enjoy the story then stick it out. But be warned the art takes a real nose dive. The fact remains that the artist is pushing on even with his health issues to continue the story for us as the readers. I appreciate it and having coming this far I plan to continue on buying new volumes.If the Gundam stories have taught us anything the years it's that life can be cruel and the artist is one of those unfortunate souls impacted by the cruel and fickle nature of life.

Now I understand that issues arise in life like health, employee complications, etc. but I could walk in any community college art class and find an decent artist that could fill in on this book. It appears that no effort what so ever was given to find a decent fill in for the art work. Many pages resembled a movie director's chicken scratch of a story board. Being an artist myself and Gundam model builder, I purchased this book for the story and the art. The quality was down right laughable. Even with this being the case I was amazed that were are still able to follow the story line. Because of that I've giving this one stars.

Just like thelikther reviews the art is not the best in this one but the story is still good not all the way done with it but still enjoyilng it. The art is where this is a let down for me many of the pages look like scribbles and like hardly any effort was put in. This is the type of stuff i could do myself if i was to quickly sketch something up. Needless to say if the art continues this route I will still buy the follow up releases but I will buy the cheaper second hand ones for half the price. I dont feel like something this quality is worth the full price of a new one.

Tldr: the art is still great and keeps up with the story. Definitely a great buy. I gave 5 stars because of the artists efforts and the story being just as intense even with the minor change in art style.I started reading thunderbolt this past month and got the first 3 volumes, they were amazing so I bought the rest up to vol. 12 and held off on 13 because I read the reviews on here. I decided to bite the bullet and check it for myself because if you notice, everyone is complaining about the art but no one posts photos for their review! So hopefully this review helps as Ive included a great deal of page examples to show that the change in art is not a bad as everyone is making it out to be.The first half of the volume is great but as others have said it changes at 109. Yes, the art suffers a little bit with wide-scenes and the details of the Gundams and Zakus but in my opinion is still great looking and immersive. I think it’s admirable that yasuo ohtagaki issues an apology at the start of the book but keeps going (he’s been a manga artist for 32 years!). Honestly, his change in style is still better than some artists and I think it’s a great compromise to him working through an illness.

It’s hard to see the art change. After 109 it gets changed due to the artists health issues. None of this is his fault and I applaud his work after, but it is a sudden change. I will continue to read and purchase as the story is incredible.I find the reviews slamming this without context to be very poor in taste. However, the quality has changed and I understand the frustration.Take note, from here on out, that the art is different but the story and reason is still there. Continue supporting the work as we all will face challenges as we get older. It’s not easy to get old, but for the artist to recognize this and move forward and write an apology in the beginning is wholesome. Remember, you too will get old.

As others have mentioned, the art quality takes a drastic dip about halfway through, but slowly recovers by the end. Definitely not as detailed, but good enough.The story in this manga seems like it's slowly getting to the climax and final battles, I'd expect this manga to be done by volume 16 or 17, if not it's dragged on way too long.The latter half of Thunderbolt is not nearly as good as the first few volumes, but you still get cool battles and mecha designs and a pretty decent story that fits in the UC post-One Year War period. If you've read the manga this far you shouldn't be disappointed with this volume.

Excellent! I love how this story is playing out and I look forward to how Ohtagaki will develop this series. This is my favorite Gundam series so far!I hope Bandai decides to make more kits from Thunderbolt.

There's an art style change because of the author's medical condition, but the story is still tight so definitely worth reading.

What happened, Yasuo Ohtagaki? Were you rushed? Underpaid? Or are you depressed? In this volume the art is passable to just awful and clearly unfinished. It's very disappointing because Ohtagaki has been brilliant in volumes 1-12. I hope the next volume is better. If not, this series went from 10 to 6.

The art hasn't changed as drastically as other reviews state. Also, in the beginning of the manga the artist explains that he has arthritis and had to change his art style to continue drawing. Still an enjoyable entry into the series.