Megatokyo - Reception

Reception

The artwork and characterizations of Megatokyo have received praise from such publications as The New York Times and Comics Bulletin. Many critics praise Megatokyo's character designs and pencil work, rendered entirely in grayscale; conversely, it has been criticized for perceived uniformity and simplicity in the designs of its peripheral characters, which have been regarded as confusing and difficult to tell apart due to their similar appearances.

Some critics, such as Eric Burns of Websnark, have found the comic to suffer from "incredibly slow pacing" (as of March 2009, only about 2 months of in-universe time have elapsed), unclear direction or resolutions for plot threads, a lack of official character profiles and plot summaries for the uninitiated, and an erratic update schedule. Burns also harshly criticized the often uncanonical filler material Gallagher employs to prevent the comic's front page content from becoming stagnant, such as Shirt Guy Dom, a punchline-driven stick figure comic strip written and illustrated by Megatokyo editor Dominic Nguyen. Following Gallagher taking on Megatokyo as a full-time occupation, some critics have complained that updates should be more frequent than when he worked on the comic part time. Update schedule issues prompted Gallagher to install an update progress bar for readers awaiting the next installment of the comic; however, it has since been removed as it was rarely kept up to date with the comic's status.

Megatokyo's fans have been called "some of the most patient and forgiving in the webcomic world." During an interview, Gallagher stated that Megatokyo fans "always they are patient and find that the final comics are always worth the wait," but he feels as though he " a commitment to readers and to to deliver the best comics can, and to do it on schedule," finally saying that nothing would make him happier than " a better handle on the time it takes to create each page." Upon missing deadlines, Gallagher often makes self-disparaging comments. Poking fun at this, Jerry "Tycho" Holkins of Penny Arcade has claimed to have "gotten on famously" with Gallagher, ever since he "figured out that legitimately detests himself and is not hoisting some kind of glamour."

While Megatokyo was originally presented as a slapstick comedy, it began focusing more on the romantic relationships between its characters after Caston's departure from the project. As a result, some fans, preferring the comic's gag-a-day format, have claimed its quality was superior when Caston was writing it. Additionally, it has been said that, without Caston's input, Largo's antics appear contrived. Comics Bulletin regards Megatokyo's characters as convincingly portrayed, commenting that "the reader truly feels connected to the characters, their romantic hijinks, and their wacky misadventures with the personal touches supplied by the author." Likewise, Anime News Network has praised the personal tone in which the comic is written, stating that much of its appeal is a result of the "friendly and casual feeling of a fan-made production."

Gallagher states early in Megatokyo Volume 1 that he and Caston "didn't want the humor ... to rely too heavily on what might be considered 'obscure knowledge.'" An article in The New York Times insists that such scenarios were unavoidable, commenting that the comic "sits at the intersection of several streams of obscure knowledge," including "gaming and hacking; manga ... the boom in Web comics over the past few years; and comics themselves." The article also held that "Gallagher doesn't mean to be exclusive ... he graciously offers translation of the strip's later occasional lapses into l33t ... explains why the characters are occasionally dressed in knickers or as rabbits." The newspaper went on to argue that "The pleasure of a story like Megatokyo comes not in its novelistic coherence, but in its loose ranginess."

Megatokyo was nominated in at least one category of the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards every year from 2001 through 2007. It won Best Comic in 2002, as well as Best Writing, Best Serial Comic, and Best Dramatic Comic. The largest number of nominations it has received in one year is 14 in 2003, when it won Outstanding Environment Design. The series tied with Svetlana Chmakova's Dramacon for the 2007 Best Continuing OEL Manga.