Kamisama no Iutoori

"As The God of Death Dictates" is a very hard manga to review. It hides behind the shadow of Full Moon wo Sagashite, with which it shares a very similar plot...but after reading it, I have to say that I enjoyed this short manga very much, as much as I did Full Moon.

If you have ever read Full Moon, you will find "Dictates" very very similar to it, with less characters however. I thought that the storyline was not particularly original, but still quite enjoyable. The art is not particularly outstanding (I have seen better). However, Shiro-chan was drawn very well and I enjoyed the panels when he appeared. I wish all the characters were fleshed out a bit more though...I suppose that flat characters are inevitable when you have such a short manga.

Looking back at my own review, you'll probably wonder why on earth I gave it a 9 for enjoyment. Well, I have no idea why either, but when you read it yourself, somehow you will agree with me. Although "Dictates" is almost like a copy of Full Moon (but way shorter) it somehow stands alone on par with Full Moon. If you decide to give it a go, read it the whole way through - I guarantee you will want to stick around for the ending.

I'm surprised this is getting reviews as high as 8. Though being a die-hard Full Moon Wo Sagashite fan, thus die-hard shinigami fan, I gave a read out of curiousity.

Story: It is hard to for me to resist a story with a plotline such as this....but the problem is, it's WAY too rushed. The part that's the most rushed is the whole love triangle. Girl likes boy (and that's all we really know about her, besides that she is an airhead who is kind) boy likes girl back (and that's all we know about HIM) and then the shinigami boy begins to like girl too because.....she's the main character.
Yes, that's all it feels like. She's the main character, thus he must like her. She sees him crying, they have ONE friendly conversation....and then he is supposed to be in love with her. So in "love" that he needs to go after her boyfriend out of jealousy and then stop caring about his own well-being.
After ONE conversation over the matter of a WEEK!?
*sigh* This doesn't work for me. Sure, it's only two volumes...but that's not a good excuse to rush the triangle. I've read ONESHOTS that are more convincing than this.
The premise is fine but the execution is poor. Very poor. Did I mention that we aren't even given a reason to why she can see him....she just can?

Art: Oh boy. I've read SO much shoujo....but Mimori Ao's character art is.....probably one of the worst I've ever laid eyes on. Her SD/"chibis" are fine, as the comical expressions (they are indeed cute enough) but when the scene is serious and she draws the faces and bodies in that "normal" way, they are really really unappealing. The lizard noses, the big under-lashes, and the thick bottom lips all combined in one face just look so.....ugly. o_O

Character: If you want characters you're really going to care about and relate to....and root for.....this isn't the manga for ya. There's nothing to Ayumi, the heroine. There's nothing to her boyfriend. The only one who gets development is Shiro and his doesn't make a whole lot of sense and it happens too quickly and it's also too much.

Enjoyment: I dunno if I can say I enjoyed it...though it was hard to stop reading it. Like I said, it's the premise that hooked me. If the art was anything decent, I know I would have enjoyed it a bit more.

The visual content or the art isn't exactly the best you'll ever see and the story itself isn't original beyond belief. However, this ordinary manga provoked tears in my eyes.

A death god, a shy little girl, and the boy whom the girl loves. I'm disappointed in the amount of character development done by the author, but the plot was perfectly tragic.You don't really get to see the relationship between Ayumi (the shy girl) and Musashi (the boy she loves) develop, however, you can see her relationship with Shino (the death god) change. The amount of development wasn't adequate considering there were 8 chapters...at first glance you would think this manga was another one of those typical shoujo mangas. Can't say I disagree.

This manga, however, did provoke emotional interest in me. As you read this manga, you can feel the feelings of the author as she was writing and drawing this. The characters' feelings really come to life even if the art doesn't.

The author brings out human nature in this manga.

We naturally resent death.

But we naturally don't want those we care about to disappear.

Well, this manga is an odd one.
It sounds just like another survival manga, the kinda "Everyone around me is dying" type. I can't say that it's totally original, but there's something special here- like the amount of cultural references, maybe it's the bizarreness level of this manga, or maybe it's just the fact that it's so unexpected! I mean, I don't know what this is about this manga, but it's absolutely awesome. Go read
NOTE: Because of the many cultural references, there are so many translator notes, so if you're not up for reading those, don't start.

Kamisama no Iutoori is an underrated manga that one would read only by sheer luck, it's not well known but it's better than most popular manga out there.
Having discovered the manga by recommendation, i would never cross paths with this unique and bizarre take on the survival genre. You are not prepared for what the manga brings to the table, but you'll enjoy it more going in blind. So if you are in doubt about reading it, let this review clear some things up.

The story is what keeps you going, a high school survival manga with just enough weird elements that grabs your attention. A cautious note, is that the genre leaves a different taste for everyone, some like the thrill and the fantasy of being in that situation, an escapade to the story that's being told. Others feel its just a bizarre action oriented fest.
With just 21 chapters you are going to breeze through it, it doesn't overstay its welcome, and every chapter leaves you pumped to read more, it's fast paced, but not rushed per say. The weakest part is probably the explanation for why the games are occuring, it's left ambiguous, but it's not a huge problem, keeping in mind that a sequel exists (that's not as good) and so some questions are left out unanswered.

The art is good, not that special at first but as you go on it gets much better. Akeji Fujimura's art is really intense as he polishes his style later on, and it suits the dark tone of the series.

The characters are probably the strongest aspect, the thrill and fear for what is going to happen to them are a selling point, because they are all interesting and everyone has a distinct personality. The dynamic between Shun and the rest of the cast is phenomenal, the only thing that lacks is more development, but for the manga's length we get a vast cast that's different enough that keeps things interesting.

Overall this is a fantastic ride from beginning to end, and for a survival manga it doesn't hold your hand and isn't playing it safe. Bizarre enough to keep your attention and the right amount of chapters so it doesn't drag on. The ending is also well executed and keeps you hyped for what's coming next, so don't worry about being disappointed in the end.

"Oh my god. My life... is boring."

We have all had this thought at some point throughout our lives, and thanks to the high level of technology today, we are able to escape from our boring life into the amazing world of video games, movies, anime and countless other mediums. Yet we realize that they only provide a momentary relief from our boring life and we soon wish that our life was akin to our favorite movie/book/show or that we could somehow be truly a part of that world. But what if one day you were suddenly thrust into a world of fantasy and adventure, yet it is not the one you had hoped for? The old adage holds true: "Be careful of what you wish for."

And so it was for our average black haired MC, Takahata Shun, an average Japanese high-schooler leading an average boring life. That is, until one day his teacher's head blew up during class. And thus the games begins.

The synopsis will tell you a lot about the manga already and thus this review will go into the things that aren't mentioned in the synopsis while (hopefully) being spoiler-free.

While the genre has steadily gained popularity over the past decade with the rise of the Saw franchise and Hunger Games in the West, and bigshots such as Gantz and Battle Royale in Japan, the survival games genre sees its latest incarnation in Kami-sama no Iutoori as a shounen manga. And readers beware, it is a true SHOUNEN manga. With the typically average male MC somehow magically turning into the most suitable person to survive the events happening to him while simultaneously attracting every woman within a ten mile radius, this manga is not suitable for haters of the shounen genre.

The story begins by following the typical formula, the MC steadily picking up allies and rivals as he beats the challenges one by one while the minor characters become expendables... or so we think. Yes the story has unexpected twists and turns up until the very end, which makes the story highly enjoyable, especially for fans of the genre. Keep in mind that this is but the first part of the series, as it's sequel is already out. So do not expect for everything to be explained or for closure of any sort.

The characters are definitely the worst aspect of the manga as they are for the most part generic at best. There is practically no character development with the exception of the MC who actually becomes quite traumatized by the experience. To make up for that, the characters seemingly act out of character to create the appropriate setting needed to move the plot forward.

The art is nothing special. Rather, the first few chapters were somewhat poorly done (especially the facial expressions) yet it improved as the chapters went by. Some might be put-off by how detailed the repulsive parts are compared to the rest but overall, it manages to convey the story well enough.

Now let's all take a breather and realize that as I am writing this review, the views presented here are fairly subjective. Feel free to check my profile to see whether or not this review can be trusted or not. That being said, I highly enjoyed reading this manga and with only 21 chapters it is definitely worth reading. The only question that remains to any of you that decide to read this is the same one asked whenever one delves into the survival game genre:

"Who will survive?"

So how I can put this? Well... let's make a quick resume of the plot.
We have a lot of high school students who are trapped in a game... a survival game... make by... God, 'cause He doesn't have much to do at all, apparently. And... they survive? At least someones, others are just completely thrown out before we can give a shit for their. Well, everybody who survives actually are some kind of nuts or perverts... or both, and everybody who's just a sane person just die horribly.
So, surprisedly or not, I actually liked pretty much this manga... at least the first 80% of its. The characters was interesting (even if some of they die too soon and I thought they can be more used), the plot was clever, the games was exciting and everything was fine. It wasn't my favorite manga ever, but I was having a pretty good time reading.
BUT! I begun to realize that something it was NOT ok when we saw the creepy otaku's backstory and... THAT THING came. THAT!
The 2-D girl!
I thought "... Wait, what?! No. Nonononononononono. No. Y-You're kidding, right?". It was so pathetic, because I kind of can feel when something like that it's just a joke and when it takes really serious, and HE WAS SERIOUS. Look, I wouldn't freak out just by that if it was a comedy manga or a serious manga who sometimes decides to make a joke (like Bungo Stray Dogs, one of my favorites anime ever), but this is not the case. "Kamisama no Iutoori" have its comic relieve, but nothing like this.
And, how I imagined, its was going worse, when the author included the "Ikuko", who even her name is translated like... "A girl about to come"... Do I need say more?!
At this point, I just wanted to end this manga sooner as possible. I can't just stop now because I spent too much time on this shit for just give up and I was already on the final arc.
What makes me given a pretty bad score for this manga was the end, because I was waited at least something to compensate this... And it was the WORST END I EVER SEE IN MY WHOLE LIFE (by a manga)! Nothing makes any sense, the author just threw on a lot of bullshit, the climax (who was pretty good, I have to say) was ended by a way so frustrating that makes me think the author created a problem who he didn't know how to solves and just give up. And he didn't even give anyone a end, like, their stories are just end on the middle of the way and die there.
And I know it has a "continuation", but by the synopsis, it's a whole new story with differents characters and I don't give a shit anymore, because I'm tired of this author who can't even finish his story properly.

A survival manga that tells the story of a mass murder that started in a high school, only to be found out on an international scale. Only a few students survive games -revolving around the Japanese culture- thus going to the next stage, in search for the "next god".

Unfortunately, the manga ended in the middle of a game because of a major plot twist. We didn't get to see lots of interesting events or what happened in the actual end. It wasn't satisfying, to say the least.

The characters stayed the same during the story minus minor character developments.

The thrill is there, but so much mystery and questions are left unanswered; for hell's sake, the manga ended while the investigation was still ongoing!

Art and Characters: 5/10, 5/10 (Mediocre art, fine when there's gore, characters clichéd sometimes ""driven by friendship"" and as I said earlier little to no development.)
Story: 7/10 (while not very original on the survival aspect, it differentiate itself with the Japanese games mixed in it)
Enjoyment: 8/10 (There was the thrill of finding out who will win, who will die next)

Overall: 6/10

This manga taught me something. Something that is easy to ignore. Don't let your opinions on life close your mind to different possibilities. This is a Manga that does something that most mistery comics fail inmensely to do. If you want a good mistery story you should put all the pieces of the puzzle in front of the reader/viewer, but subvert all of the pieces so they think that the puzzle goes in a way they weren't expecting. hiding information is not a good way to make your readers feel that the other guy is smart, they will fell cheated. You don't even have to make it realistic, but everything needs to fall into place.
I dont give it a higher score because at the time of this review the sequel is shit.
just kidding, that would be a bullshit reason, I don't give it more because the last episode has far too much foreshadowing at the start, the start should be in the middle, but still is amazing.