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Book reviews
Shingeki no Kyojin
Shingeki no Kyojin
Shingeki no Kyojin
Shingeki no Kyojin review
Shingeki no Kyojin
Apr 16, 2021
Shingeki no Kyojin review
I had previously watched the anime because my nephew got me into it, but I never finished season 1. Generally, I base what source of a series I'm going to watch depending on the higher ratings of either the manga or anime. Seeing that the ratings for the manga were higher than it's adaptation, I tested my luck reading this series alternatively.

The characters: they all have diverse personalities, styles and viewpoints, topics I find essential in characters. For now, I'll be focusing on the main characters. Eren Yeager, he's a caring and stubborn boy who dreams of eliminating all of the Titans and protecting humanity. Still, we've heard something like this before, so I personally don't think, as of reading around the start, that he deserves the best and original protagonist award any time soon. Mikasa Ackerman, a young girl who's often serious but caring. She's probably the best addition to the series, so if you're not watching for the other characters: watch it for her. And finally, Armin Arlert, sometimes bothersome, can be over emotional, but he's certainly the most human. Armin has true regards for his friends and humanity and is not afraid to display it through plenty of tears.

The story: The story is unique and, at least to me, impressive. There's a lot of mystery to the plot: where the Titans came from, what's in the basement? (read to find out), where's the rest of humanity? All of these questions I pray are answered throughout, to give the manga a good story, anyway, and not deliberately establish that it's an 'overrated' series.

The art: old looking (not too old) but works for the series. Isayama, Hajime's passion for making every page and panel look dark and gritty has worked out - from what I can see, at least. The character's serious, terrified and determined expressions have to be the most important and sincere elements of Hajime's compositions.
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Beck
Beck
Beck
Beck review
Beck
Apr 14, 2021
Beck review
This is my first manga review, so please be gentle.

I'll start with rating Beck 9/10. My scoring system is probably wonky (and I may fix it down the road) but that basically means of manga that are definitely worth your time to read, this is about the middle of the priorities list.

Beck is a manga about "chasing the dream," or in a much more real sense, about the blood, sweat, and tears that are the toll for that path. The dream in this case is being a rock star, and throughout the story we see the hard-earned progress followed by inevitable setbacks that accompany our protagonist, contrasted by the overnight success of shallower counterparts, bringing into stark contrast just how meaningful success is to each of them (and the effect that wealth and fame has on them), exemplifying the adage "if you don't work for something, you won't appreciate it."

And while if you're looking for deeper overtones along those lines, they can certainly be found throughout, but it's not overt, typed out exposition at all. If you're going to get a deeper message you'll need to look at the way events and characters are come together in a big picture sense. Because of this, Beck sports a nice layering effect- if you're looking for entertainment -humor, inspiration, or just a good story- the manga reads great for you, and you don't feel like you're missing out because you don't care about some extreme moral dillemma, or challenging philosophical question. However, if you need something like that to sink your teeth into it's not difficult to find, it's just not going to be handed to you on a silver platter.

I personally have less exposure to rock, and the culture around it than probably anyone reading this, so take my word for it when I say familiarity with rock or rock bands is in no way essential to enjoying Beck.

The atmosphere that Beck projects so successfully is that of total realistic normalcy- at the beginning of the manga Koyuki, our protagonist, mentions a couple times that he feels so completely normal that he feels invisible, and that drives him to search something that help him stand out, to create an existence with some sort of meaning (not in the sense of changing the world, but rather having something to take pride in personally). As he develops, this background keeps him grounded, and he feels more like someone you would know in real life than an over-the-top, overpowered shonen protagonist. He's a little wimpy, but not obnoxiously so, except when it's dramatic and interesting for that wimpiness to be obnoxious. More than just his personality, the experiences and the personalities & experiences of his crew feel normal & relatable too. For example, the financial difficulties that come with being in a band, and dealing with the physical exhaustion of working blue collar jobs full time in order to make ends meet, and then needing to show up to practice full of energy, then having the motivation to practice on your own at home.

There's good luck and bad luck that play on them, but it feels natural, in the sense of "yeah stupid/great stuff happens that way in the real world too." The stakes feel dramatic, but appropriately so, and carry that much more OOMF because of how real the setting feels. The pace changes enough that you can binge (I read the 34 volumes of this in 4 days, and would have been faster if I'd been able) and not get tired of it.

Unfortunately, only about 1/3 of this manga is available in print (in English) and the publisher went bankrupt. From what (little) I know of rights ownership, that does not bode well for it ever being completed. What makes that particularly unfortunate is that several groups translated portions of this, and some did worse than others. Deeper in, there are more than a few parts where to convey any feeling you need to use your imagination to re-write the words in front of you.

The art, while aesthetically pleasing, lacked a sense of motion, a life of it's own, to me, but that might be because I have a tendency (which I have to correct) to read manga too fast. If you take your time to digest each panel, then you should enjoy the style. The main complaint I had was that at a lot of the climactic moments there was very little text, and you were supposed to "feel the magic" through the art, but (perhaps because I read it so quickly) those scenes felt repetitious and lost a lot of impact.

Bringing it all together, I want to remind you of the initial score- 9. With a better, more consistent translation job throughout, this could very easily be a 10, but as is it's still well worth your time. If you like Bakuman, you'll probably like this- there are more than a few parallels. Although this is technically shonen, it carried a very seinnen-like feel to me.

As I mentioned earlier, this is my first time doing a review like this, and for better or worse I didn't bother reading others to get an idea of what should be done, so I'd appreciate any feedback you have, the more specific the better. Thanks!
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Endou Yasuko wa Yomayoichou ni Kakureteru
Endou Yasuko wa Yomayoichou ni Kakureteru
Endou Yasuko wa Yomayoichou ni Kakureteru
Endou Yasuko wa Yomayoichou ni Kakureteru review
Endou Yasuko wa Yomayoichou ni Kakureteru
Apr 14, 2021
Endou Yasuko wa Yomayoichou ni Kakureteru review
Read this if you are looking for: A vampire-ish gag manga with a dreary setting.

Recommendation: Pass

“Hungry For You – Endo Yasuko Stalks the Night” follows impoverished high school student Shizue and the mysterious titular Yasuko, who may be a vampire, a serial killer, or just a really weird girl. With the recent disappearances of three girls and Yasuko being the primary suspect, much of the plot revolves around discovering Yasuko’s true nature. In volume one, though, plot often takes a back seat to comedy, and this manga is indeed at its strongest during the more slice-of-life gag manga chapters. With Shizue agreeing to be Yasuko’s “emergency rations,” the two main characters aren’t particularly compelling, but they're quickly joined by Texan vampire hunter Ashley and her jealous employer Akira, who immediately become reliable sources for a good joke.
As the story goes on, the comedy and drama unfortunately begin to undermine each other, as the mysteries surrounding Yasuko aren’t given serious weight, and the gloomy tone puts a limit on light-hearted fun. When all is finally revealed, there isn’t much of an impact, and the plot-heavy second volume sputters along all the way to the end. Yuri fans won’t find too much in this series until the second half, and romance is not really a factor until the very end.
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Himari no Mawari
Himari no Mawari
Himari no Mawari
Himari no Mawari review
Himari no Mawari
Apr 13, 2021
Himari no Mawari review
TL;DR - Not worth finishing. Also, it got axed, so definitely not worth starting.

STORY (3/10)
The main character, Haruki, is a lazy dude who just likes chilling and playing games. Suddenly, he's suddenly introduced to his new stepsister from his father's remarriage. He's left with no choice but to take care of his new little sister, who is devoted to having fun times with her new big bro.

It's a decent slice of life, but it doesn't have the "oomph" to it that other good manga have. In fact, it seems dedicated to only using stereotypes, and even enforcing them to a certain extent. Sudden appearances, misunderstandings, violent childhood friends, love triangles, a festival chapter - you've seen these before, and they're nothing new.

Well, there is one difference. Himari no Mawari still hasn't decided what it's about, which relationship it's going to explore, etc. There is zero plot progression whatsoever.

Some of the stylistic elements are identical to those in Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai.
The chapters of Kaguya-sama generally look like this:
Chapter 24: Yuu Ishigami Wants To Survive
The chapters of Himari no Mawari are formatted in the same way:
Chapter 8: Himari Wants To Go Shopping

I'm pretty sure that's plagiarism.

ART (8/10)
It's very crisp and nice to look at. The author really knows how to capture expressions and draw cute characters. I just wish that talent would go to an actually decent story.

CHARACTER (6/10)
The characters are shallow. The main character likes to stay home and eat cup ramen. The sister is happy, naive, and blissfully stubborn. She exists for the sole reason of being cute. The childhood friend is adamant about not being called a friend of the mc and her only defining trait is that she fell in love with the sister after a few days of her arrival. The classmates are either weirdos or assholes and the class president is so forgettable that I almost forgot to include her in this review. So far my favorite character is Suzuka, and she's only been in one chapter.

At this point, I usually make a joke that overanalyzes each character to the point where they seem to be well-defined and serving great purpose. But the problem with Himari no Mawari that each one is so bland that I can't even go there. It's impossible to see them for anything other than their defining roles.

ENJOYMENT (4/10)
I'm not really sure why I didn't like this series. Usually, I enjoy a straightforwardly fun little manga. Maybe it's the pure lack of effort put into this manga that irks me. Or perhaps it's the fact that literally every character is so irrelevant that I can't remember any of their names.
The humor is not bad. If only the other elements of the story weren't so lackluster, the manga might actually have been funny.
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Desuraba
BOKU WA HAJIKKO GA SUKI
Zen Martial Arts Academy
Zen Martial Arts Academy
Zen Martial Arts Academy
Zen Martial Arts Academy review
Zen Martial Arts Academy
Apr 08, 2021
Zen Martial Arts Academy review
Zen Martial Arts Academy is yet another shonen title with high potential and an utterly disappointing conclusion. Actually, to call the final chapter a conclusion would be a crime because the series was cancelled JUST when the plot was beginning to unfold. This is particularly disappointing given the main character was just beginning to show signs of progress. Nevertheless, ZMAA was a somewhat refreshing read while it lasted, and I wish to reflect back on all the things that I enjoyed reading.

The main character is your typical shonen hero, but also unique in other ways. Minkyum Kang is brash teenager with high energy, yet he's a complete weakling. He occasionally will show flashes of potential, but in most cases he gets shown up by better fighters. At some point, watching him get his ass kicked repeatedly may cause you to sympathize with him. (He has no favorites on MAL, maybe you could be his first!).

The art is nice, nothing extraordinary but it gets the job done. There are a few hilarious inconsistencies, but for the most part the author does a great job drawing fighting scenes.

The only reason I could possibly see myself recommending this to anyone, is the romance aspect of the story. Romance-category lovers will find themselves gushing more than a dozen times at some of the cute, intimate moments some characters share together. It just saddens me to look back on all that could have been with this manhwa.

ZMAA isn't exactly the worst series out there and for 29 chapters it showed solid promise, but to end so prematurely leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.
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Dead Tube
AOI DESTRUCTION
AOI DESTRUCTION
AOI DESTRUCTION
AOI DESTRUCTION review
AOI DESTRUCTION
Apr 05, 2021
AOI DESTRUCTION review
Aoi Destruction is a short (only six chapters), manga series, but it's easily one of the funniest short manga around at this time.

The series is the creation of Inoue Kazurou, and began life is essentially a spin-off of his more famous manga Midori no Hibi, although there are two stand-alone stories in the series that have no relation to his other work.

The first three chapters of the manga (called Aoi Destruction) expound on chapter 70 of Midori no Hibi, as they carry on the story of Samejima Tetsuo and his 38 year old father Aoi, the man who looks like a "cute" littlle girl (a fact which causes much suffering for Tetsuo as he continuously battles the hordes of men who vie for his father's attention - many of whom are fully aware he is a man).

The fourth chapter, Koshoten Yakou Funsenki (Rare Bookshop Owner Yakou's Hard-Fighting Chronicles), tells the story of Kinoshita Yakou, a student who has the family's antique book store dumped onto him by his wayward father. This is a more supernatural story than much of Inoue's other works, and it would have been nice to see this as a full manga series as it had a lot of promise.

The fifth chapter, Full Scratch Eiji, is about a boy named Yoshizaka Eiji, a former model otaku who was more famously known in some circles as E-Model. Fans of Midori no Hibi may recognise the numerous references to E-Model littered throughout that manga, especially in the chapters involving Takamizawa Shuuichi. Ironically enough, Eiji even makes an appearance in chapter 76 of Midori no Hibi :)

The final chapter of Aoi Destruction is called Otono no Naisho (Otone's Predicament), a story about a young girl who owns the family dojo which was left to her by her late father. She encounters numerous attempts to put her out of business and eventually comes into posession of a strange talking katana - with very euphemistic (and slightly perverted), consequences. This manga has one of the funniest visual gags I've seen in manga when the katana is held by a man.

The artwork for Aoi Destruction is very much like that of Midori no Hibi and Ai Kora, exccept for the two stand-alone chapters, where the style seems to be more reflective of the story's content.

Because Aoi Destruction is essentially four completely separate stories told over six chapters, there isn't much room for development. However, the characters are generally likeable enough, whilst some are just so outlandish (like Aoi Samejima, who has all the mannerisms of the stereotypical "clumsy girl"), as to be memorable.

This is a highly enjoyable short series, and is a great way to cheer yourself up if you're having a bad day. The characters and events in the series, especially in the titular chapters, are common to many manga, but the twist that Inoue has given to familiar scenes makes them something quirky and unusual, and gives them a whole new meaning.

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Nagaraja
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