WhoCanPeliCan6

Solo Levelling is very popular, and it is immediately apparent why. It has style, attractive characters, and captures current preferences for isekai-flavour. So while it has all the makings of a main-stream starlet, I personally find it to be lacking in imagination, depth and vision.

Each individual arc has been rather formulaic. We have seen it all before. The MC gets into some sticky situation, and he either immediately over powers it, or gets knocked around a bit before he inevitably crushes. These fights aren't very detail orientated and strategy is a minor concern. What strategy and considerations are relevant to other characters (specific class strengths etc) are completely irrelevant to the MC. The big bad ant was outclassed on everything it tried - that may be "cool", but it isn't very interesting. My primary concern is that due to the very nature of power within this series (e.g. your rank is fixed and there is little that can be done to mitigate that), we are going to reach a situation where other characters are simply part of the background. Like One Punch Man but without it being a gag. There is some suggestion in the recent chapters that power levels might be changing with the advent of more gates opening up, so maybe my concern will be ameliorated, but somehow I doubt that it will (especially given the spoilers I've seen in regards to the "barrier expert" in the next arc).

So, if the main thrust of the series, the action, isn't very interesting. What about characters? Setting? I've already touched on the setting not being very well elucidated. The geopolitical situation is touched on slightly, but the officials seem to have a very intense blindness when it comes to the MC and how they can possibly utilise him. For example, why did they allow him to just reject joining the Jeju Island Raid without any attempt to draw a deal with him? Given the history of prior excursions onto the island they should have been on high alert and been involving anyone they possibly could who might make a difference. But they don't even try to simply offer money to the MC? Why?? Other possible elements of the setting such as what has been the economic and technological implications of the gates and the awakenings are left impoverished. Hunters from other countries don't seem any different than those native to South Korea and we have next to no sense of what the relative situations of each country is when it comes down to gates. The number of S-tier hunters is commented on but everything else is left in the dark.

Characters on the other hand, while not awful, are far from memorable. Many of them don't get enough screen time and don't have enough plot relevance for us to even develop much of an interest in them. Some of the S-tier hunters have moments to demonstrate their competencies, but this usually falls by the wayside when it comes time for the MC to have another moment in the sun. I also take particular issue with the development of the MC, who appears to change drastically as soon as he re-awakens. I know his trauma and prior situation is used to justify this, but I just find it rather hard to believe. He also has a metamorphosis from goofy-weak looking kid to a jacked k-pop idol with little justification apart from the "system did it". It thought it would may be associated with his attributes, but despite him gaining about 200 points in every one since then he hasn't undergone any other drastic physical change (which is why I sort of hate the addition of attributes in these stories, even if they are common in RPGs). I also would have liked some commentary on the blatant inhumanity of the MC in certain situations. Specifically, brutally murdering a large number of demon clans when climbing the tower. He forms an alliance with the first one he meets after having some affinity for the clumsy girl underneath the demon mask, and then her father is also shown to be rather human in his emotional profile. Are we meant to believe that the other clans are not the same? If so, if you liked those two characters shouldn't you also feel that all those clans being eviscerated is somewhat morally questionable? It would have been interesting to see the MC realise that he was beginning to view sentient entities as simply bags of XP and loot, rather than as characters with personalities and aspirations. Of course, Solo Levelling makes the majority of its antagonistic monsters, even the intelligent ones, to be completely morally reprehensible (with creepy grins to match). "I am the Sorcerer King" tackles this in a far more interesting way but setting up intelligent adversaries who aren't necessarily immediately blood thirsty and are simply having to contend with the situation they find themselves in as well. The situation in Solo Levelling is fine, but I just don't find it as interesting.

In conclusion, is Solo Levelling enjoyable? Yes. But it most certainly does not approximate a masterpiece, and there are series with very similar starting premises that are far more elaborate and creative in how they have moved forward in their setting, characters and concepts (such as "I am the Sorcerer King").

I'm not sure how to explain One Piece, you will always see fighting amongst the Big Three fans over whose is best, so I won't pick favorites here it really depends what you are looking for. If you are looking for pure on battle manga which is filled with the greatest ever fights, than Naruto and Bleach may be of better quality to you then One Piece, this is not to say One Piece doesn't have good fights, it's just not what the emphasis of the manga is on.

Instead One Piece emphasizes adventure and story. On the adventure criteria One Piece is the standard, the environments are diverse and detailed, the art style is quirky yet approachable, and the characters fit to the same descriptors. There is a lot of hype about the One Piece story (and some criticism on this is justified) but One Piece is very, very well done especially considering for how long this series has been going. I realize my review says I am at Manga 99 right now, but I have watched the anime further than this, and read some of the most recent chapters on the Dressrosa Arc and the quality of the writing is so much more developed and interesting than it was when it first started. That is saying a lot!!! Many complain about it's length, and perhaps this is justified - especially for those with short attention spans. However, I also have a very short attention span and usually can't sit through 30 minutes of any movie but I managed to get into One Piece.

I do attribute that though to where I was introduced to the anime as a kid which was in the Arlong Park arc, which intrigued me into finding out more about the series. For people looking to pick up One Piece, I do think the earliest arcs (up to the first 7 volumes) are nothing special and can be a bit boring, Arlong Park has the reputation of being where most of the readers to One Piece get hooked, and the story becomes far better from there on out. If you are looking to pick up this manga you may have to suffer through the first arcs to get to Arlong Park arc, if you don't like Arlong Park arc than this may be a signal that One Piece is not for you!!!

Overall, a light-hearted, fun, yet sometimes very serious manga that is a pleasure to read! If you love immerse worlds, adventure and story then One Piece is probably your manga.

It Deserves Hype
Solo Leveling, or I Level Up Alone is a colored manhwa, which has been publishing since March the 4th, 2018. And according to the story development, there is more than enough material for 2 more years, but this is only my assumption, of course. Anyways, on to the story, 10 years ago, a number of "Gates" appeared in the world. Along with the appearance of the gates, some people went through an awakening that gave them the power that exceeded human capabilities. ‘The awakened’ now have the goal to hunt monsters in the dungeons: some do it to earn a fortune, form a guild, some, however, only enjoy killing and do not see any reason in amassing their fortunes. Be that as it may, you can only be awakened once, after that your abilities are assessed and you get E, D, C, B, A and S ranks respectively. Training can enhance your skills, but as an E rank the probability of you becoming S rank is 0.0000001. Among the awakened, there is a legend that the awakened can be awakened again, they become reawakened, which gives them the power unimaginable. All the dungeons that the gates opened are assessed, too: there are E, D, C, B, A and S rank dungeons. (S rank dungeons are so difficult that even a group of S rank reawakened will probably fail to clear). Solo Leveling focuses on the weakest E rank hunter, Sung Jin-Woo, the world has ever known. He is not lazy, he tries to become stronger, however, nothing will ever help you to become stronger, if you are awakened as the weakest E rank. But he needs this miracle the most, he needs the power, but will he get it? Solo Leveling focuses on the most epic journey to the power of someone, who deserves it the most.

Interesting Storyline
Why is it interesting? There is one simple criterion I follow, when assessing a story: how predictable it is. Would you want to watch something long, would you want to read 110, or more chapters, when you already know how the said series/manga/whatever is going to end? The answer is no. Solo Leveling might sound generic; a world of superhumans and dungeons, who clear these dungeons to get money and power. Long story short, everything about Solo Leveling reminds you of any MMORPG you might have already played. However, it is not generic, Solo Leveling has never been generic and cliché, so far. It uses your cliché world of MMORPG games, but it changes it so much that it is very difficult to call it ‘cliché’. Of course, I am not going to give you a deeper analysis of anything about the storyline for very obvious reasons, but all I can say is that the world of Solo Leveling is special, there are many questions that you might think about, when reading the manhwa. So, long story short, what I am trying to say is that after reading 110 chapters, there are still many questions that the storyline has not yet touched upon and what is more you will never, I will repeat it one more time, you will never guess the right answer for these questions. The world of Solo Leveling is tremendous, beautiful and very dark.

It Is Beautiful
It took me only one day to marathon 110 chapters and it is not because of the fact that it is bad, Solo Leveling is one of these manhwa that is so good that you cannot stop reading; it is so good that you feel goosebumps all over your body; it is that cool. In these 110 chapters, the protagonist of the manhwa experienced just a little bit of everything, literally everything, the main protagonist changes so much from what he is in the 1st chapter and what he is the latest chapters. But enough of that, when reading manhwa, manga, or manhua, the first thing you ever pay attention to is, of course, the drawing. It might sound weird what I am going to say, but when reading Solo Leveling you feel like you are watching an anime; something made by ufotable, let us say. Solo Leveling is a colored manhwa and the art is just so well-made that it is more than obvious that the team that made the art for this manhwa is ingenious, the colors, character designs, everything, it just looks so awesome that you cannot simply stop reading because of how epic it is.

All in all, I have never read a manga/manhwa/manhua that felt just so epic to watch. Solo Leveling is the manhwa that thinks about the reader: you will never feel bored, when reading it. When reading Solo Leveling, you either are reading something so epic that you simply cannot feel bored, or you might be thinking about the world of Solo Leveling, because there are quite enough things to analyze about the world of the said manhwa; there are just so many things going on, you will never have the time to be bored. It is worth your time, go read it right now.

One Piece is the most successful manga in the history of Japan for a reason. It has been going strong for over a decade now and seems to be only hitting its peak. As shonen manga goes, One Piece far and beyond surpasses the likes of similar titles such as Bleach and Nauto in my personal opinion, and it mostly has to do with the characters.

One Piece has some of the best characters in a manga. Each of them gets a heartfelt and tragic story arc in which we get to see their past and the tragedy that of them had to go through. But we get to see how those hardships in the past made them to who they are currently. Its that kind of attention to characters and character development that really got me into One Piece. Where most shonen fail at creating compelling character development, One Piece succeeds.

Story: 10/10. Death Note is a psychological crime thriller and I found the plot well paced. The writing depicted all of the aspects that were necessary for it to have a fully developed storyline. There are psychological elements as some of the plot does revolve around dark crime themes. There was no portion of how the plot was portrayed in the story that would have made my rating of this portion lower.

Art: 10/10. The art style was quite creative. The characters are drawn so that they are distinguished well enough to tell the difference between every one of them. The art style did not prevent my understanding of anything in the manga.

Characters: 10/10. I could easily tell by the dialogue which character was which. Once I got used to reading a few of their unusual names-some of which are Light, L, and Near, the main characters in the story had interesting personalities due to how in-depth they were portrayed psychologically. This story does not lack from well developed character arcs otherwise that would have lowered my rating of this section.

Enjoyment: 10/10. Considering I read the entire manga, I extremely enjoyed the reading experience. I liked the second half of it as much as the first half as I never could predict what was going to happen next.

Overall: 10/10. Death Note is an entertaining story with a very well thought out plot, dialogue, characters, and relevant themes.

Serving as a soft reset for Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Steel Ball Run takes the story in original and daring directions. But does it work? Oh who am I kidding? I'm going to be straight up.
I consider Steel Ball Run to be one of the greatest written works I've ever read.

STORY: 9/10
I will admit Steel Ball Run has a very, very slow start. In fact, Stands aren't even introduced until like 20 chapters in. That's another thing: Steel Ball Run is seinen instead of shounen. That means each chapter ranges from 35 to 60 pages long in comparison to the 20 page long chapters of the Jojo Parts before. This may seem daunting at first, but once you get invested in Steel Ball Run it feels like the story was too short, despite being the longest Jojo Part to date. Steel Ball Run also changes the Jojo formula in its fights. Stands are no longer humanoid for the most part, and they function more as superpowers than spirits who fight for you. Each fight is engaging and unique, dealing with psychological warfare more than throwing blind punches. This makes the fights in Steel Ball Run among the best in the series.

Steel Ball Run is also magnificently written with very great story arcs throughout. However, there is a controversial near the very end direction which I won't spoil that will surely throw some people off and make them consider it unnecessary. Eh, I didn't mind it too much, though it does undermine what made a previous Part so good to a degree. Despite that, it still contains one of the greatest and most emotional endings I've ever read.

ART: 10/10
Part 4 may have been the pinnacle of Araki's style, but Steel Ball Run is his pinnacle in his talent. Truly perfect art in all fields. The detail is much more in depth than previous Parts and character designs are on point.

CHARACTERS: 10/10
Steel Ball Run, though its primary cast is a fraction of other Parts, contains some of the best characters in Jojo, and in my opinion some of the best characters of all time. Gyro Zeppeli qualifies for the latter. He's hilarious but he also has a tragic backstory that offers him plenty of motivation while keeping him in mystery. Diego Brando is an interesting spin on Dio Brando from The Phantom Blood and his Stand Scary Monsters is awesome. Lucy and Steven Steel are a great duo. Steven is barely in the story but he's a well written and unique supporting character and while Lucy doesn't really come into play until the finale she is still compelling. Wekapipo is one of the best side protagonists and works well as a foil to Gyro. Steel Ball Run also contains my favorite side villain, Ringo Roadaggin, and though his time spent in the story is brief it is arguably he pinnacle of Jojo.

As for the Jojo and main villain, they're simply the best. Johnny Joestar is a tragic lightning rod of Shakespearean proportions. It's not only impossible to not root for him, it is immoral. He has one of the greatest and most significant character arcs I've ever experienced, and his Stand Tusk is awesome to boot. He is my favorite Jojo bar none, despite being one of the most depraved ones. Johnny is immoral and sinful and honestly can be considered the villain of Steel Ball Run, but he is still a compelling force of nature.

The villain, President Funny Valentine, in contrast, can be considered the hero to an extent, and is one of the most sympathetic villains to grace manga. In fact, it's no secret Funny Valentine is my favorite antagonist ever. He's like a better version of Ozymandias from Watchmen who takes pride in his actions rather than cry in secret. A true patriot, Funny Valentine will stop at nothing to make America great again. As said by the man himself, his "heart and actions are utterly unclouded. They are those of JUSTICE.". His Stand, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (D4C), has one of the most insane and unique powers of any Stand and makes for a more than satisfying final fight.

ENJOYMENT: 10/10
Steel Ball Run blew me away in every way. It is a literal epic, a poetic work of great magnitude following flawed heroes on a large scale journey that tests their spiritual and emotional strength as well as their physical. It is compelling and powerful and the fights are pretty damn great. Absolutely mind blowing and awe inspiring yet will leave you in an emotional wreck, despite the story still being filled with trademark Araki humor (Thanks mostly to Gyro and his obsession with making up gags). Johnny and Gyro are a perfect tag team; their relationship is strong and real and their chemistry is on point. They are part of what makes the story so damn compelling.

OVERALL: 9.75/10
Steel Ball Run is one of the most intense and pleasing emotional rollorcoasters I've ever experienced. It contains some of my favorite characters in fiction history and is a fantastic new take on the Jojo universe that, dare I say, is utterly superior to all that's come before it. Featuring my favorite fights, my favorite Jojo, my favorite villain, my favorite story, and one of the most emotional endings I've read, it's no secret that I consider Steel Ball Run to be the greatest Jojo Part, and one of the greatest manga ever created, period.

Teen heart-throb. Mediocre love triangle. Princess chased away. Childhood friend betrayal. Does it sound like typical yet? Because it can get like that. This manga is almost borderline shoujo and shonen. The most you'll see that would be shocking is a little bit of blood and killing, and some playful intimacy between the main characters. In addition, there's few shoujo moments you see. However, I personally really like Akatsuki no Yona, and here's why.

Story 8/10: So far there's really no surprise in the story line. It's all kind of expected, and when you read through it, your expression would be "I knew it!". -2 for that because it's a biggie for me. For those who are looking for extreme challenge or surprises, move along. The story does focus on the main character's objectives with some hilarious dialogues here and there. Flashbacks were given at some point that plays with the current situation. The story doesn't really revolve around the "love-love" moments of the characters; if it does, it's barely, which is also nice, because we pretty much know who she'll end up with, just needs a little push. The story basically follows through the characters' purpose and objectives, with little delay or obstacles.

Art 10/10: Lovely art. Pretty much every little thing she draws are in detailed. It's beautiful, especially for its manga theme -- "ancient".

Character 9/10: You really can't hate any of the characters. The mangaka made it so that they're all loveable, and you just can't help but sympathize in their situation. Yona is a spoiled brat, but as the story progresses she gets a character development, as well as a hit of reality. She doesn't stay a spoiled brat, but she stays oblivious to her surroundings unless stated to her, like every innocent girl. All the dragon men are gorgeous looking, and have a past that makes up for who they are and their actions. We have her childhood friends, Hak, who is a general and her guardian, and Soo-Won who is her first crush and later her enemy. They all develop maturely. -1 though because it's too "all expected".

Enjoyment 9/10: I already expected this manga not to have any overly surprising element or mind-blowing moments. You know those moments, "I know it's gonna happen, but I'm hoping it won't,"? Yeah, you get a lot of those, and it just exactly what you thought. I enjoyed hoping there might be a plot twist, but so far, none of that yet. But that's okay, because I expected it. Because I did all of that, I really liked this manga. Very innocent, and goes on in one direction.

Overall: It's a 9/10. This manga is quite impressive, everything about it! I love all of Mizuho Kasanagi's manga. This one is not a let-down at all. It's wonderful, and gives off a younger innocent feel. There's just something that pulls you into this manga. It's the vibe that the mangaka makes that you can't help but read throughout. So give this one a try.

Do you hate incest? DON'T READ THIS.
Do you hate melodrama? DON'T READ THIS.
Do you like stories that actually go somewhere? DON'T READ THIS.
Do you like character development? DON'T READ THIS.

This is just 32 pages of two half-sisters obviously in love with each other and a bad, baaaaaad excuse for a cinderella retelling. As if the incest thing wasn't enough, the Cinderella girl is just... a receptacle for drama. Granted, the original cinderella story is pretty sad and she does get abused by her step-mom/step-sisters, but in this one it just goes waaaaaay overboard. Nothing good happens in this girl's life.

And let me repeat once more: this has incest. They don't kiss or do anything, but their feelings for each other are obvious and I avoid that trope like the plague. The fact that in MAL there was NO WARNING WHATSOEVER about this makes me really pissed, so that's why I started my review with that point.

Even if it's just a one-shot, don't waste your time with this.

Well, this is a really very ecchi manga. Especially from Square Enix, which I'm sure many know for their games, including the Final Fantasy series.

"Ignoring the tame nature of Suihei Kiki's debut work "Mahou Shoujo Rukana", Suihei's "Mika ni Harassment" short stories are extremely ecchi in nature for a manga serialised in a shounen magazine aimed towards children. Ecchi to the point that the compilation in March 2005 was jokingly advertised as Square-Enix's first adult manga." (Excerpt from http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=29097)

First of all, we could start counting how many H-manga references we can find in this series, especially the last one, "A Child's World". The first 3 featured mainly near full nudity and some S&M stuff but the last one was.... lol.

Story:6
Made up of mainly ecchi.
To be honest, I dun see how I can comment on the story part without including spoilers.
But note this... the story was "exciting" for all 4 chapters. That is, if you are ok with near adult stuff.

Art: Well art was pretty good actually, but some parts were a little messy. Otherwise, detail is there.

Character
For stories 1,2 and 4, we have 2-3 main characters, the victim, the childhood friend (boy) and the crazy scientist sister (somehow the sister reminds me of the one in Ichinensei ni Nacchattara). Well, not much other than that.

In story 3 we have also 3 separate main characters... not much character development either.

Enjoyment
Seriously, I was ok with the first 3 stories but the 4th was.... quite distasteful. It featured mild netrorare. The ecchi was overbearing but the story was near nothing. In each of the stories there's usually a mini-plot but well, they are not very good either.

Overall:6
If you can tolerate near adult references and ecchi that is near to the point of full nudity, feel free to try this series.

Although this is from Square Enix, and is supposed to be a "children's magazine", I really do not recommend it for any1 who want a trauma-free childhood. Lol.

I wouldn't say this was a bad manga I would just say it was short too short, the end scene Berry rush like the story was told at a faster Pace than it should have also there wasn't as much as there should could have been. It seemed like they were missing parts to the story like there could have been expanded on the universe of the actual manga area but they didn't expand on this at all they only did it to one single or in the one big battle was only single person in One Empire wasn't bad it just wasn't the best or good I would definitely read it again if I had the chance or choice but I would be reserved on who I would tell to read it people who don't mind short stories that's good for you people who want more involved story line to get into the characters this is definitely not one for you because it's not going to be long enough and it's not going to be good enough overall I would say it's a one read story for most people but not all people.