Editing 142: Parody Week: Megatokyo

{{comic
| number    = 142
| date      = August 15, 2006
| title     = Parody Week: Megatokyo
| image     = megaxkcd.png
| titletext = I just want to give him a hug or something.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a part of the [[:Category:Parody Week|Parody Week]], just joking about other {{w|webcomics}}. This series was released on five consecutive days (Monday-Friday), not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule, and it comprises the following five {{w|parodies}}:
*[[141: Parody Week: Achewood]]
*[[142: Parody Week: Megatokyo]]
*[[143: Parody Week: TFD and Natalie Dee]]
*[[144: Parody Week: A Softer World]]
*[[145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics]]

{{w|Megatokyo}} is a webcomic by {{w|Fred Gallagher (cartoonist)|Fred Gallagher}}. Its art and storylines are heavily influenced by Japanese comics known as {{w|Manga}}.

The opening panel sets up a parody of Megatokyo here called '''megaxkcd'''. The girl is {{w|List_of_Megatokyo_characters#Ping|Ping}}, a robotic {{w|PS2}} accessory from the comic. The soft gray-scale art, hand-drawn "shadowed" panel borders, and vertical panel layout also mimic Megatokyo's design. 

The joke begins with the main protagonist (probably {{w|Megatokyo#Piro|Piro}}) falling in love with Ping, a ''game console accessory'', and in today's comic, he is supposed to come to terms with this fact.

But then, the parody is apparently aborted when two characters from the normal xkcd, [[Cueball]] and [[Black Hat]], question the parody, as they are afraid of hurting artist Fred Gallagher's feelings. This itself is a dig at the sometimes maudlin and emotionally tender tone of Megatokyo, and in particular the self-conscious resemblance of anxious protagonist Piro to creator Gallagher, who based the character on a twenty-something version of himself. 

This is one of the few comics where Black Hat is not his usual [[classhole]] self. So even he likes and approves of Fred and his comic! Actually, Black Hat is the one most concerned for Fred's feelings, and he suggests that they should go and cheer the poor guy up, now that he may have taken the parody kind of hard. Black Hat also yells to him that he should not cry, when he and Cueball arrive on his doorstep with a cake with lots of candles.

The title text reiterates the similarity between the style of the comic and the character of the artist behind it, which has been [http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2004/04/23 noted elsewhere as well]. It also exclaims [[Randall]]'s feelings for Fred, his webcomic, and its style.

Falling in love with a robot (or using one for sex) was later investigated in the [[:Category:Android|Android series]]. And on [[144: Parody Week: A Softer World]], love and robots are again investigated leading to a pregnant robot.

==Transcript==
:[At the top of the panel is the title of the comic inside Japanese quote characters. Beneath this is a text, and to the right of this is a drawing on an anime girl in shirt and skirt, who has blonde hair with very long pigtails, long rectangular earrings, and a blank expression looking slightly down while standing with her arms at her sides. The gray-scale drawing is far from the normal xkcd style.]
:<big>'''megaxkcd'''</big>
:In today's megaxkcd, our protagonist comes to terms with his romantic love for a girl who is a video game console accessory.

:[Cueball and Black Hat, drawn in standard xkcd style, talk.]
:Cueball: Wait, I'm not sure we should parody megatokyo.
:Black Hat: Fred Gallagher does seem like he might take it kind of hard.
:Cueball: He really does.
:Black Hat: Poor guy. We should try to cheer him up.

:[Cueball and Black Hat stand in front of a profile shot of a house with at least two stories. On the left is a mailbox at the curb of the road to the very left. Black Hat stands on the path to the house past the mailbox, while Cueball is holding a big cake with at least three lit candles on top. He holds it up in both hands in front of him presenting it to the closed door in front of him as he stands on the top of a two-step staircase to the front door. There are two flowers beneath him at the base of the stair, and two windows on the side wall of the house, one in each of the two visible stories. The house continues above the panel.]
:Black Hat: Fred? Fred, please come out. It's OK. Don't cry, Fred.
:Cueball: We... We baked you a cake.

==Trivia==
*This was the [http://megatokyo.com/strip/893 Megatokyo strip] released the day before this comic.
*Since the parody week had a comic five days in a row, there would for many other webcomics not be a release on this Tuesday, as many comics use the same M, W, F release as xkcd also does normally.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Parody Week]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Robots]]