somewherenowhere1

This manga is a masterfully written piece of art that I could not stop reading no matter where I was. At home, in class, on the bus, I was consistently reading, and all seven volumes were finished in about three days. There's a lot to unpack here.

Story - 9

If you were bullied as a kid (or ever really) you'll be able to easily relate to the idea of humanizing your bully in an attempt to see them as a better person, and constantly being disappointed at their continuous bullying and never growing as a person. However, this manga is from his perspective, letting us see what's really going on in his head and the lengths to which he tries to repair the damage he's caused, allowing readers to easily relate had they ever bullied anyone in their past. It's absolutely masterfully written, aside from a few slip-ups where the manga feels like it wants to be a generic romantic comedy, but they usually only last a few pages or sometimes up to a chapter.

Art - 10

Aside from how good everything looks, the art carries the constant idea of how our bully protagonist views the people around him in the world with the constant X's over their faces, while also allowing the artist to focus more on beautiful details elsewhere as they have to do less work on panels with background characters. It's a way of cutting corners that makes sense and looks unique, beautiful, and smart.

Characters - 9

A majority of this cast are well fleshed out, whether positively or negatively, while usually not feeling forced. The biggest slip up in this regard is when they introduce too many characters at once and develop them one at a time, leaving some characters feeling rather bland until many chapters after they become part of the main cast, which isn't even that big of a deal.

Enjoyment - 10

Absolutely beautiful. I already mentioned how I couldn't put these books down because of just how amazing they are.

Overall - 10

If you're ever looking into any career involving story telling of any kind, read these books. They're a perfect way of showing a flawed and unlikable character redeeming themselves and earning a second chance.

One Piece is in my opinion not only a great manga but also one of the greatest pieces of written fiction of all time. Its 22 years and ongoing run is nothing short of incredible. During its run several cultural phenomena of old rose and concluded, some beginning side by side with One Piece and others only beginning their journey to the top as the next big hit. And I can say without a shadow of doubt that nothing will top One Piece for as long as it is in publication, the stories are only getting grander in scale and the decades old mysteries of the world are finally beginning to reveal themselves.

There’s a reason as to why One Piece has endured what to many might sound like a grueling run. 22 years as a mangaka takes a toll on a person, be it physically or mentally, at some point people break down due to the sheer amount of unrelenting work they have on their hands week after week. The manga industry not only a competitive environment that demands high performance and creativity but also an unrelenting and unforgiving beast that continues to eat at a person’s life even if you become successful. Only few have ever lasted long and even if they do, the quality of the stories either decline leading to a cancellation, or… hiatuses, long extended breaks that can last up to years.

One Piece fortunately hasn’t fallen into any of these pits. Oda has an obsession with writing One Piece and it shows in many of his interviews, he’s always extremely excited for the future of the series throwing out many promising teases for upcoming arcs. In fact, during his search for an assistant in one of his ads, he announced that the assistant should be “willing to die for One Piece.” Oda’s passion, much like the manga industry is unrelenting and it shows since the story has only been getting better despite being its best long before.

Story 9.9999/10

One Piece’s story is nothing short of a masterpiece and can probably never be duplicated in any shape or form. It has managed to remain fresh after so long all thanks to Oda’s versatile writing and is the reason why One Piece has endured so many years of competition. Each arc has its own distinct themes and genres so that no 2 arcs ever feel the same, one moment the strawhats are helping a princess thwart a rebellion set up by a warlord so that he can gain full control of the kingdom and the next it can go to being a prison breakout story that fails and leads to an all out war between the strongest.

There is a strong emphasis in creating impactful emotional moments in the story and they’ve never failed at pulling on my heartstrings. And this can be attributed to great character writing on Oda’s part. It’s almost like he challenges himself on making tragically sympathetic characters and he keeps on one upping himself throughout the entirety of the story.

Moreover, the fights in One Piece are not only beautifully choreographed but also expertly written. Every single encounter inadvertently showcases the character’s personality, be it Zoro’s short, no nonsense and to the point finishers that end fights in one blow being a reflection of who he is as a person or Sanji’s whacky kick style fighting because he vows to only use his hands for cooking. These might be trivial personality traits but it’s the little intricacies that contribute to further enriching the story.

However, the most important and arguably the most consistently praised part of One Piece’s narrative is without a doubt the world building. It is such an overlooked element in a lot of other stories, but it is undoubtedly one of the most integral foundations as to what sets One Piece apart from others works of fiction. Oda has crafted such a believable world rife with details, it enriches every single part of the story to unspeakable levels and contributes to huge payoffs in the story making for some really intriguing revelations at certain parts of the narrative. This worldbuilding is also singlehandedly responsible for one of the greatest mini arcs in all of One Piece and easily in all of shounen i.e. the Reverie arc, everything that has been built up and introduced in the 900 chapters all come together in this arc making for one of the most densely packed stories with mysteries upon mysteries introduced and some absolutely historical moments being unveiled.

This intricate worldbuilding is also responsible for the deepest and most detailed lore in fiction creating a lot of fascinating mysteries that have yet to be unveiled so far. The promise of the answer to these mysteries is yet another reason as to why people are so invested in reading the story because they can be nothing but mind-blowing. It broadens the scope of the story and keeps arcs from being self-contained.

Oda has crafted a living, morphing and ever-changing world that reacts accordingly to the effects that each person inflicts in certain parts of the seas. Each faction has their own goals and motivations and go about it regardless of the protagonist’s actions. At one corner of the world you’ve got a faction waging war on all nobility, in another there’s a meeting of the world’s most influential powers to discuss the affairs of their respective kingdoms. Most stories react to and for the protagonist which makes for extremely limited stories and characters that lack personality. One Piece however, rejects that long standing plot device and makes a vast world with different moving parts that don’t have anything to do with the protagonist. This makes for a believable world with authentic and genuine characters making for organic build ups to some of the most historic events in the story.

Oda’s use of flashbacks in the story is yet another praiseworthy trait of the series. Flashbacks usually tend to be reviled in most stories, it breaks the pacing of otherwise highly anticipated events and can really bring the story to a halt if done wrong. Oda however makes flashbacks a welcoming element of each arc in the story, readers love seeing the history of the island and how characters came to be. They also have some pieces of vital lore information that contain answers to some of the mysteries of the world. Oda’s flashbacks are mostly all tragic with a heavy focus on character, these lead to some of the most heartbreaking moments in the series. It adds depth to the character, expands upon the background and context of the conflict and brings about emotionally gratifying climaxes.

While there is a lot to praise in the story of One Piece, it is not without its flaws. One such flaw is the pacing of the arcs. Some of the arcs suffer from some pacing issues and are dragged out for way longer than they should be. Oda is way too ambitious with the way he wants to tell some stories, and this can lead to bloating up arcs. In fact, the Dressrossa arc that is 100 chapters long takes place during the course of one day in the One Piece universe. While it is one of my favorite arcs in the series due to the latter half being tightly written with some of the best flashbacks and drama in One Piece, it focused on less engaging plot points for far too long and introduced too many characters. Weirdly enough, this is needed because these slow parts really pay off in big dividends by the end of the story.

Oda’s ambition is his biggest strength and his weakness, he has got too much story to tell but doesn’t pay heed as to whether this information really is relevant or not. Yes, more story might be good but not at the expense of slowing down the story to a grinding halt.

Compared to the intense care and dedication Oda has put into crafting such an intricate and entertaining narrative rife with details and mysteries, an issue such as pacing can only seem minor especially since it’s not that prevalent in the story. Not to mention, upon reread the pacing problems rectify themselves rather easily.

Characters 10/10

One Piece has one of the most loveable main casts out of any series I’ve read. They are well designed, charismatic and have beautifully written, tragic backstories. This writing however is not just reserved for the main cast, every single character introduced have similarly fleshed out tragic backstories that make you feel connected to them emotionally.

Oda’s character writing has only gotten stronger as the series has progressed with him writing some of the most complex villains in the more recent arcs in Doflamingo and Katakuri. What’s even more is that each character is written so differently from the last. Doflamingo is arguably not only a great villain but also an expertly crafted character shown in a mega flashback. His twisted demeanor was so well justified and portrayed in his arc that he was nothing but captivating. Katakuri was crafted in an entirely different way, it really felt like Oda was experimenting with real time character development when writing his character. We knew and understood everything about him during his battle against Luffy, fighting off his insecurities, letting go off his decades old burdens and finally resolving his inner conflict by the end of the fight all without flashbacks. His fight told a beautiful story and it is why Katakuri is already such a beloved character though only being introduced fairly recently.

What differentiates Oda’s characters from most other manga is that they feel believable. Most shounen villains especially feel like they are all perfect godlike beings that can do no wrong. And sure, they might look and act cool, but they don’t feel believable, they feel like blank emotionless beings incapable of nothing more than being the protagonists’ foil. They lack personality, they don’t look like they have a life beyond scheming their evil plans. And this makes them all out to be rather samey and rather uncharismatic. To keep it short, they don’t feel like people.

Oda however, understands that every single person has a life of their own disconnected from the story and are rather apathetic to the protagonists’ development. For example, Doflamingo loves throwing pool parties and loves his women, he also surprisingly cares a lot for his subordinates despite his rather psychopathic tendencies. One such inconsequential detail is that he beats up the boyfriends of his subordinate Baby 5, she tends to fall in love with every man that gives her attention leading her to being taken advantage of countless times.

Similarly Katakuri loves his doughnuts but cannot express that openly due to his compromising features and his overly serious attitude that a lot of his siblings look up to.

Because no one schemes evil plans 24/7, they have a life beyond their relevance in the story. I feel like not enough characters, especially villains are shown in this light, they like chilling too! They like having fun and have their own life to look after.

Everyone has their own adventures just like the strawhats, and not all of them have to be as important as finding the One Piece. Buggy goes on his own adventure to find a stash of gold in a deserted island along with his newly formed allied crewmate Alvida, Kaya is studying to become a doctor, Jimbei goes about searching for a lost sea cat’s parents with the help of a police dog. None of these really matter but they add up, they make the world feel alive and these adventures are quite charming.
There are so many characters that live their own lives even though they’ve long lost their relevance in the story. And it’s honestly heartwarming, seeing these characters grow along with the strawhats. You’re happy with how they’ve ended up, be it by working on their dreams or waiting for the one they love to come back. Some of my favourite moments in the series is when characters react to the strawhats’ bounty and these are characters who we’ve been introduced to and long since moved on from almost 20 years ago. It’s extremely charming and heartwarming seeing these old faces again.

Finally, I’d like to disprove a misused and rather ignorant criticism that seems to be pointed at One Piece far too often. And it’s that One Piece’s characters have no development. This is simply not true. First of all, the story of One Piece takes place over the course of a mere 2 years so you cannot expect rather significant changes in demeanor from the main cast. Secondly, there are a lot of characters that go through their own mini arcs throughout the story regardless.

Usopp’s character arc is one of the most endearing and emotional rides in One Piece. His character arc was beautifully told in 2 story arcs with a beautifully written resolution realizing that he doesn’t need to be as strong as Zoro or as talented as Nami to be an asset to Luffy. What matters is that you try your best if nothing else, because everybody has their moment to shine. This is when he truly came to his own as the sniper of the crew finally letting go of his insecurities of feeling like a burden to the crew and embracing his role. It also helps that he’s arguably Luffy’s closest friend in the crew from what I’ve observed from then on.

Luffy’s arc is perhaps the most elaborate. He started off as an overconfident airhead in the beginning of the story. Beating formidable foes that boosted his ego even more only to finally hit an unforgiving brick wall towards the end of the pre timeskip era making him realise that he’s but an inconsequential pebble that couldn’t save his friends and could not save his brother. The war was a much-needed wake up call for Luffy, leading him to make the decision to train for 2 years before entering the new world.

Robin and Chopper go through similarly elaborate arcs that are just as prominent, with Robin slowly opening up to the crew in later arcs and Chopper becoming a lot less insecure of his looks and becomes far less dependent on the others for help and taking a lot of initiative in certain missions.

Another praiseworthy trait of Oda’s character writing is his ability to create hype characters. Oda has arguably created some of the most exciting and charismatic characters in shounen, the vast world he has crafted has given rise to some legendary characters who by their very nature captivate the reader even if they don’t appear for more than a snippet. Dragon, Shanks, Kaidou and Blackbeard always make me excited whenever they appear in the story. This is because Oda always keeps an air of mystery to them. We don’t know anything about them but the weight they carry in the world and rumours of their feats are proof enough that these are characters of legend, they have a commanding presence and are extremely charismatic whenever the appear on page.

Honestly the characters are all wonderfully crafted with each having their own charm. Some of them have rather whacky backstories but they are told with such sincerity that you can’t help but fall in love with them. There’s such a large variety of characters who all have their own endearing backstories. They’re all loveable, charismatic and only serve to enrich the dense story and intricately built world of One Piece.

Art 10/10

Oda’s art style has come under quite some criticism, it probably turned off quite a few people from reading the story since they look pretty wacky. I’ll admit, I too initially veered away from the series due to its art style. But you’ll soon forget about it due to the captivating story. However, art style is all subjective.

Oda’s art is beautiful, expressive and captures emotions unlike any other manga. The way he draws people crying can pull on anyone’s heart strings. He also crafts such fantastic dream like worlds so effortlessly that they become stick in your minds years later. Sky Island and Whole Cake Island were absolutely amazing to behold and were a fantastic visual treat. The backgrounds are crisply detailed with a very proper sense of geography and he also tends to put a few tidbits of details that become plot relevant hundreds of chapters later. Dressrossa and Wano feel so immersive and grounded and similarly offer a varied visual treat.

There’s nothing to complain about when it comes to Oda’s art, it stands among the best even though it’s a weekly shounen and it only gets better as the years go by with the most recent arc possibly having his greatest work.

Overall 10/10

One Piece is an emotional ride that I cannot help but see through to the end. This is a series that hasn’t once dropped in quality, with its latest arc already introducing one of the most despicable villains in the series and arguably having one of the most emotional moments in the story.

How does Oda do it? How does he keep surpassing himself?

It’s simple… he loves One Piece, more than any of us ever could, more than any of us combined ever could. His undying love for his craft is why he ceaselessly pushes himself through what many consider to be a living hell.

I look forward to seeing how this epic saga will end, this is one of the greatest works of fiction and I believe that when One Piece ends, it will be a classic for generations to come.

There is something profound about this one. Almost feels wrong to review it so soon.

It's usually bad form to write a review of something before you've watched all of it right? We wait for series to be cancelled then write lengthy reviews justifying our paradoxical opinion that it was a 7 out of 10 but we still somehow don't think it should have been cancelled after 51 chapters?

Cue sentence complaining about a rushed ending.

Move onto the next one; read illegally of course.

Fuck me it's okay folks. I mean hell how do you think I read this one? Legally? I tried I really did.

I know the author's good so when I finally got around to seeing what he was doing next I went looking.

I saw that the author made something good via his twitter and two google searches later I laid eyes on the artwork.

I think I felt like I was reading Voynich Hotel but it was also Umi no Cradle but also Sheriff Evans Lies but also Golden Kamui?

The art is appropriate and restrained.

The layout is expressive if not traditional and ... unimpressive?

I don't know how I feel those last two sentences while also feeling so absolutely enamored by these characters. There's something like... I don't know the word dissonant?... about how the tone can be both simultaneously so uplifting and optimistic but also so ungodly morose.

... Wow... the description of the tone of the whole manga is also the description of the main character herself. Ladies and Gentlemen I think that's why I like this manga so much.

There's only seven chapters that I've laid eyes on but it was enough for me to cough up for all three volumes on amazon that are currently out right now in Japanese, a language that I'll surely speak eventually at this rate.

This author has done something special.

It doesn't feel like a stretch to imagine a manga like this being made. You don't need to go very far back in history to find compelling slots in historical narratives to tell stories in.

I didn't expect the tone or the narrative structure though, and that's what I'm extremely impressed by.

In ten chapters we could be in Oregon, or Canada, or still troupsing around Gangs-Of-New-York era New-Amsterdam, and it would feel right on track. It's really miraculous how sucess feels both impossible and innevitable at the same time. Amelia is one hell of a character.

I pray that enough people saw what I saw and bought the volumes to keep the spirit alive in these times.

"Young girl chases dream in America in the wake of a deadly disease destroying her future and ripping her aging family from her arms."
I think we'd all hope a story like that ends well, wouldn't you say?

This is the first manga I have ever rated a "1" so far. I love psychological stories and, while I know they are often confusing and do not always have clear conclusions or lines between reality and make-believe, "The Voices That Call Me" just has absolutely nothing going for it. It is very confusing, has an extremely open ended ending with almost absolutely nothing having been accomplished, has a lot of pointless philosophical banter that goes on for about 6 or 7 pages, and it's also kind of a hentai.

Let me rephrase that for anyone quickly skimming through here, this one shot is extremely explicit (despite MAL not listing it as such). It does not focus much on the nudity but there is still a blowjob, fingering, and a little other stuff for a couple pages.

This is a one shot, so of course it's a fairly quick story, but it wastes a lot of time on things that really don't seem to have any purpose. Anyway, about the story, it follows a hikikimori (loner who hardly ever or never goes outside) who one day hears voices calling him (this part was so quick I forget what they even said to him if it actually mentioned it all). So, following the voices, the man decides to leave his room for the first time in 15 years. He wanders around and ends up at a convenience store. He hears someone say something and asks the man next to him if he said anything, to which the man responds "No." However, the man is one seriously fucked up guy (can't think of a better way to put it). He starts rambling about some philosophical thing that seems to apply to him and makes it sound like he recently divorced his wife. The hikikimori kind of ignores him for a while, but eventually gets dragged into even weirder stuff with the guy (one of my main problems with this one shot is this weird guy because his rambling goes on for far too long and he's just plain psychotic). Some more stuff happens and the hikikimori ends up following the voices he hears to a girl's house. And that's where the short hentai stuff happens so you can probably guess kind of how that goes.

I'll stop talking about the story there to avoid giving away any of the few somewhat important parts of the story. As for the art, it is also very weak. The characters are drawn poorly (the main character looks especially weird and bland). The short hentai part isn't even long enough for someone to really "enjoy" it if that's what your reading this for (which I wasn't since I didn't even know it was like that beforehand).

The characters really just consist of the hikikimori protagonist, the philisophical psychotic, the girl whose house the hikikimori invades, and the girl's friends. None of them stand out in the slightest aside from being annoying.

I did not enjoy this manga at all (it had like one funny line towards the end but that was about it). The story was confusing and pointless, the art was bad, the characters were bizarre and annoying, and the story ended quickly with a confusing ending. I would not recommend this manga to anyone as I feel there is no reason to read this. Just leave this page and don't read it.

This manga is objectifying women like there's no tomorrow. It makes me sick.

Like seriously, all of the women are like "I wanna be your hole!", "I exist only to serve ryouta's(?) sexual desires!"
...
Like what? That's really uncool and sexist. I dunno, I felt really awkward most of the time

........... 10/10


HOW FREAGGIN LONG DOES THE REVIEW HAVE TO BE PLEASE JUST LET ME SUBMIT DAMMIT

oh please write a longer review? you say that, but there's not much more to write, it's just porn

COME ON HOW LONG DOES THE REVIEW HAVE TO BE?
COME ON HOW LONG DOES THE REVIEW HAVE TO BE?
COME ON HOW LONG DOES THE REVIEW HAVE TO BE?
COME ON HOW LONG DOES THE REVIEW HAVE TO BE?
COME ON HOW LONG DOES THE REVIEW HAVE TO BE?
COME ON HOW LONG DOES THE REVIEW HAVE TO BE?
COME ON HOW LONG DOES THE REVIEW HAVE TO BE?
COME ON HOW LONG DOES THE REVIEW HAVE TO BE?

Okey, keep in mind I can't read moonrunes so I wasn't able to read it till the end but I have read the 2 previous parts of jinrou game.

Story (5)

I mean, it's fine. It doesn't come as original the third time you get to read the same concept but at the same time we get to feel the story we got used to in the previous parts. Altough it's the same thing all over again the story has one change that makes it a bit less repetitive.

Art (5)

Once again, it's fine. The amount of gore isn't something grotesque to the point it's unrealistic. The thing with gore is that the amount of blood and insides allows us to make the difference with the real deal. Here the gore is reasonable so you feel the need to look away from it. The rest is pretty generic

Character (3)

Lame. But let's be real. Do you really care about the characters when you are watching final destination? nah, you are there to satisfy that weird thing inside you that wants to see people die. But of course, If I could get attached to the characters watching them die would feel...worse? better?

Enjoyment(6)

It does what it's supposed to do. It's just another death game based on another seemingly innocent game. What are you expecting? a character driven narrative full of excitement and relatable experiences? You are barking to the wrong tree

Overall (5)
As far as I could read this part I have to say it widely improved from the last parts. It takes the flaws from previous parts and works around them but not without getting new shiny flaws. I have to admit, I still want to know how it ends

If you arrived to this little gem with any hope for a compelling story of F I N E spooks, drama, betrayal and thriller, you can throw those expectations right out the proverbial window, because this one goes above and beyond to make sure you're reading a well-made thrash black comedy.

Now, to make things clear, I was indeed reading a scanlation. You might wonder why this is important. Now, I don't know if the author over there originally put any memery into this work of art but the boys and gals in charge of translating this beauty seriously went out on the town, and just had fun with this title the way Animax had fun with Ghost Stories. To say this gives the title a whole new perspective is putting it mildly because, though it is subtle, it goes right for the memetic heartstrings.

Piled up with that is just downright exceptionally well drawn torture porn, gore fest, and the all around "I-feel-bad-but-I'm-chuckling-anyway" atmosphere, it's well wroth a read. The manga clearly concentrates on delivering the superior slasher vibe, so it thankfully lingers little on any bullshit drama one might come up with. Call it a first-class storytelling of a B-movie plot.

And it ended. It's a pity, because the manga had the potential for a slightly longer story. I don't mean the plot here, but the comedy itself. Even the author himself said that he would like to add some new scenes. I'm also a bit disappointed with the end of the story. In fact, I was hoping for something more sad. Still I did enjoy reading it.

So, starting with a story, Youhei is a boy who can see ghosts. On the rooftop of his school, he meets a ghost-girl who cannot leave the world until she fulfills her wish - to find friends. A very light and funny story. However, I must admit that many things were not explained, and the individual chapters themselves (I mean the stories contained in them) were definitely too short.

Coming to art - it was pretty decent. I really liked presented dynamics, the facial expressions of the characters and the way they expressed their emotions.

Characters are probably the best here. We have: an introverted ghost, very shy youkai with a second; mean personality, the perverted ghost of Hanako-san living in the school bathroom, a childhood friend of Youhei (must be of course) etc.
This is what makes it not your typical harem, as the girls at least don't piss you off at every chapter.

Overall:
A good comedy, definitely gonna read it again in the future.

This is actually quite an interesting little manga, in that it combines quite a few genres you dont usually associate with each other.This gives it quite an original type of feel.

I will not say its the most original of stories, but its defiantly not your average harem , romance, sci fi , boy saves the world by a long shot. Its a story , that besides keeping you smiling ( or appreciating the fan service) , will keep you guessing as well.


so yep it gets two thumbs up from me.

Upon seeing a few sample pages, I was really looking forward to reading this manga. After all, the art looked brilliant, the genres all fit my tastes and I love a quick read.

Unfortunately, in hindsight, the art turned out to be the only enjoyable thing about 'Kansen Rettou'. The detail adds impact to both the gruesome and the beautiful frames, but not quite enough to keep the mere seven chapters from seeming like dozens.

To be fair, the story isn't bad at all, it simply is what it is. If you've ever seen or read a single movie, anime, manga or book about a sudden unknown virus outbreak, then you know this whole story. There are a few small scenes that have a bit of emotional impact, but overall it feels like it's only going through the motions and following a familiar equation. Patient Zero --> Unknown Virus --> Uh oh! No Cure --> Lots of people die, etcetera and so on.


If you have nothing better to do and you don't expect anything spectacular going in, then give it a try, but if you're looking for interesting characters or something that grabs you and keeps you interested, I would look somewhere else.