oooh, this was so fun to read. i actually read The Plot a while back, and while i agree with you that the premise is kind of silly (execution, as you point out, is really important!), but i just kinda treated it as The Goofy Premise You Have To Accept to have a good time, and once i'd accepted that, i was rolling along. (ime, non-creative-types are the ones who seem to think ideas matter SO MUCH, but people who actually write/draw/etc... not so much haha)

it's funny how this sort of thing keeps coming up, though. i hadn't heard of the manga variation on the theme before!