radrachel9

I loved this Manga, one of my favourites, and the first Naoki Urasawa manga that i've read, and this has definitely made me want to read more of his work!

SPOILER FREE

STORY:
I've spoken with friends who are big fans of 20th century boys (which i've started to read) and i've been told a couple times that the story is a little hard to get into. I do see what they're saying, it starts off a little slow but after the short first chapters of set up the reader is thrown into an adventure and chase that never seems to have a dull moment. Completely worth it.

ART:
I wasn't too sold on the art at first to be completely honest. But I did warm up to it and eventually learned to appreciate it. I was just being picky I think :)

CHARACTER:
This is where I found some of my friends had problems with... I was told that some people feel its difficult to relate to a doctor, even more specifically a surgeon. THIS is where I beg to differ. When past those few set up chapters you find this character to most very similar to the 'average joe' we've all had times where we wanted to move up the ladder in a work place or at work, wanting to fix your mistakes or more importantly tying with the theme, choosing between what really is 'right' or 'wrong' and questioning even if there is a correct answer. We've all experienced or will experience these feelings which makes the characters, especially the main one relatable. All supporting characters have full depth and are very human with their actions and motives.

ENJOYMENT:
I found myself always wanting to know what's going to happen next, once you get through the set up you will find yourself hooked to the end.

OVERALL:
I'd recommend this, just give it a fighting chance and I don't believe you'll be disappointed.

"If every part of a ship is replaced, is it still the same ship?"

Now, this is only my second review, so bear with me here!

To preface, this manga series is one of, if not, my favorite. However, I won't let my bias towards this series get in the way of this review. This is a REVIEW, after all.

Story - 7

To start this out: This series looks like K-ON! + the rock exhibit at your local museum, doesn't it? Well, then you'd be wrong. Very, very, very, very wrong.

Now, I'm not going to summarize the story, for that would be getting into spoiler territory. But, I can say for a fact that the story is definitely an engaging and interesting concept. If anything, it's original. One of the most original series out there.

However, it does take a while, I'd say ten or so chapters, for the story to actually begin making traction. It's a slow and somewhat boring start that leads to a tense and well thought out tale.

Though those boring chapters are not without their charms! Symbolism plays a heavy role throughout this story, especially in terms of floral and animal symbolism.

I.E. Butterflies are often showcased as a symbol of rebirth/metamorphosis, a VERY important theme throughout this series.

However, it doesn't take a genius to see the story have its ups and downs. The current arc in the manga (Chapter 75 came out two days ago to put in perspective) there are a large number of filler scenes that just seem to drown out the actual flow of things. These filler scenes aren't exactly boring, or unenjoyable, but not necessary, and takes away from the story as a whole.

Art - 6

The artwork for this series is beautiful, eye capturing, and elegant. However, it can be awfully hard to actually tell what in the world is happening at certain points throughout this series. At times, the artwork can be stunning and perfectly capture the scene, and other times it's just a confusing bunch of panels.

That being said, the good greatly outshines the "bad", if you can even call it that, and though some of the battle scenes had me going "wait, what just happened?" they are still greatly enjoyable in the big picture.

Character - 10

OH BOY! This manga's strong spot, right here. Character. Oh, I'm fuming with excitement!

Change is a heavy theme in this story, and it shows through its characters.

To start this off, the characters in this series are very well developed and intricate. Some characters are even based around certain philosophies, and every character is based around a certain theme.

For example, Phos, (without getting into too much spoiler territory) is associated with the "Ship of Theseus." (That quote at the start of this review.) Change is VERY heavy with them, and the way it's executed is on the lines of brilliant.

Characters have drastic and beautiful developments, symbolic moments, and unique depth to them and their ideologies and individuality. Despite being immortal gems, they feel real, relatable, and most of all, compelling.

Enjoyment - 10

I'm a fanboy of this series. I sit and wait, counting down the days every month for the new chapter, so I can analyze it and read it thirty times waiting for the next. I enjoy this series greatly, though I can see it isn't everyone's cup of tea. Who knows, maybe I just look too much into things, this series being no exception? That could very well be the case.

Overall - 9

Houseki no Kuni/Land of the Lustrous is not quite a masterpiece, but it's quite an enjoyable and unique work of art. I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a good character-driven story with outlandishly original, yet somehow working, concepts.

It's thought provoking, symbolic, and original. What more could you want from a series?

This work sets a new standard for historical manga, perhaps because it is a nonfiction adaptation. The Unwomanly Face of War takes the brutal tales of Russian women in WWII and delivers them to readers through the lens of a cute slice of life artstyle. This makes it all the more gripping when the happy facades fall away to reveal the horrors that lie in the battlefield.

Each arc brings a series of heart-wrenching stories. The suffocating atmosphere of war hangs over every chapter like a bad omen, and as you progress, you begin to better understand its true nature. Dozens of nameless characters appear and disappear, and the story constantly reminds you that these were real people, young men and women, laying down their lives, their futures. Sometimes, their fates are unknown. Other times, they are dead.

The Unwomanly Face of War manages to almost perfectly capture the subtle yet powerful undertones of war and death. There is no lingering on this character's backstory or that character's development. Things are simply told as they have happened, and that makes them all the more impactful. It does well at capturing the spirit of the original novel.

Just like its characters, the manga does not stop to dwell. It continues to move on, pushing onwards no matter what, making it feel as if some stories have been left unfinished. But such is the reality of war. Some tales will never be told. The story of a soldier lives and dies with them. Those who survive face the bleak reality that their lives will never be the same, that they can never be normal. They live with this truth, and somehow, they cope. Through this manga, they tell us their stories.

Despite the depressing reality that sets the tone, the manga is still occasionally punctuated glimmers of joyous reunions and happy endings, scattered across the story like little gold specks, rare feel-good moments within the tragedies that unfold before our eyes. We cling to these scenes of hope as if each will be our last breath. Are these endings worth the hardship? No. But we make of them what we will.

This is a manga I do not recommend lightly. Reality can be cruel, and it is sometimes heartbreaking to realize that these stories are very real.

Overview:

My quest to find the worst anime and manga of all time and review them for your entertainment continues with this...gem called Iinari! the Aibration.

First, an explanation to the dark world of bad manga and how it differs from bad anime:

Those of you who are old enough, will remember a time before the internet when rumors couldn't be proven or disproved with a 5 second Google search. We would hear rumors about a friend of a friend that watched some absolutely terrible movie from Blockbuster but couldn't quite remember the title. That is how legends like Garzey's Wing, MD Geist, and Angel Cop got started. Now we live in a time with far better connection and all the information at our fingertips. If a truly horrible anime is released like Pupa or Mars of Destruction, we all hear about it and can look it up instantly. Bad manga simply isn't like that. There is SO MUCH manga in Japan that absolutely HORRIBLE manga are able to slip through the cracks of the public consciousness. The only way that a connoisseur of crap like me can find truly bad manga is through rumors and friends of friends, much like the olden days. What I am about to unleash into public knowledge may shock you! I just returned from the pits of Hell and brought back a REALLY obscure shonen manga with me! Prepare yourselves for the Aibration! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Story: 1/1

(Morpheus voice) What if I were to tell you that there was a shonen manga aimed at a demographic of 12-16 year old boys entirely revolving around "golden showers" but got away with it thanks to a black bar of censorship straight out of the Family Guy FCC episode. Most of you probably wouldn't believe me that something so mind numbingly idiotic exists, but low and behold it does! This is a manga with a plot that makes absolutely no sense, but exists simply to have as much urinating on people as possible. It involves a giant demon that was frozen into a statue before he could take a piss, but his soul was divided or something (I don't exactly remember) into multiple girl robots that piss themselves every 5 seconds and must form "soul bonds" with guys that control them by eating them out while they urinate. Keep in mind THIS IS A SHONEN DEMOGRAPHIC MANGA!!! However, thanks to some really cheesy censorship it is able to get away with a disgusting porno plot in a comic published in a manga magazine where the average readership age is around 12.

Characters: 1/1

Characters? What the hell are those? All we need are really bland archetypes attached to male and female urethrae, attached to full bladders. Did you expect detailed characters in a golden shower manga? Shame on you!

Art: 3/10

I've actually seen worse art. Hell, at least this oddball author still draws better than Yoshihiro Togashi! 3rd Degree BURN!

Overall: 1/1

Do I REALLY need to explain why this manga sucks? The story is horrible, the characters are generic, the entire purpose is to revel in a kinky fetish, but rather than make an appropriately targeted doujin series for adults, this insane bastard of a mangaka wrote it for children! I'm not usually the cliche "won't someone please think of the children" kind of person. I'm REALLY not. But this....thing... it disturbs me.

Sad to see the movie is not here, besides that the manga was ok. I read this because one of my friends said that it's the most traumatizing manga's. Oh boy let me tell you it was. After reading I was left traumatized and sad. The ending left me confused but when I read more into it made me more sad to find out what this girl has gone through and the hidden meaning behind the ending. Very rough to even think about it, the author must have an imaginary and eerie mind. I don't really know if this is true someone told me on here that the author actually went away for like a month and wrote this piece. He travelled to a cabin in the woods completely alone and wrote this. This brings many questions and not just about the author and his manga in general!

Anyways if you guys wanna talk to me more or just friend me you can hit me up here or on discord at Dudlius#0120, thanks!!!!!

This is not a great story, in fact, I had considered dropping it all together after the first few chapters, but you could do a lot worse. The story is formulaic and it gets quite repetitive. However, the characters start to grow on you and some chapters in the second half of the series have some heart.

The main character is a stock standard submissive protagonist that mainly serves as an excuse for the sisters to compete over in humorous and sexy ways. The female leads start out quite two dimensional, but later on they do grow as characters. The slightly yandere qualities of the eldest twin are dropped in favor of showing her repressed lewdness and the youngest sister's constant oversexualied possessiveness grows fainter as she makes connections with others and starts helping them (in her own way). There are a few other support characters that don't really go anywhere in terms of character growth, but they are at least better than standard harem set dressings.

All in all, despite it being more ecchi than comedy, it was a fairly enjoyable experience that makes for a passable read.

Wow, that is outstanding! That’s the idea that kept pulsing through my brain after I’ve read the Drag-On Dragoon Shi ni Itaru Aka. It’s something ground-, mind- and everythingintheworldbreaking. Yoko Taro – the master of humans’ hearts dark corners this time has brought to us something as unique and breathtaking as it is flawless in its own madness.

The beauty of this creation can not be equal to any other manga, because it is indeed colossal and unrepeatable. The diamond that makes Drag-On Dragoon series a work of genius is not the storyline, but the characters. Sick, twisted and bloodthirst “heroes” that will set the whole world on fire just to achieve their own goals: desperate attempts of One to redeem the sins of his past, sadistic and psychopathic nature of Nero – will drag you into furious whirlpool of human greed, lust and hate. Not to mention unrestrained, impulsive and lunatic secondary characters that will make this cocktail of blood, pain and sexual arousal taste even better. The art style – dynamic, brutal and gory only underlines the Yoko Taro’s dark fantasy genre and makes it look like an abyss of human tortured souls who’re suffocating in their own desires and thirst for more. Absolutely f***ing gorgeous!

The ending is just perfect. Best violent epilogue I could ever imagine for the best full of violence story.

This manga is more than just enjoyable. I’ve consumed it in one piece and was much more than satisfied with the “meal”. In fact, I was dope – that’s how satisfied I was.

Is it great and worthy of wasting time reading it? Hell goddamn yeah! Will you recommend it? Billion times YES. This is exactly what an anime industry needs: a fresh look at the world that shows the true colors of human nature and does not try to mask any ugly sides of our hearts. Especially recommended for true fans of brutality, sexual abuse and mindbending dose of madness in anime.

P.S. Recommend reading it when you’re angry and pissed off, if you really want to get high with it!

A fine manga, and a solid sequel to Devilman, I enjoyed the plot and the characters apart for them making Akira's far more one dimensional was good. Had a couple good fights, Devilman vs Jinmen part two was awesome, Devilman vs Hades was alright. The beginning of the manga was captivating and very interesting but it kind of gets a lot worse in time, and I didn't like the Mazinger Z crossover. The art was really good, the new look of Akira in the manga series worked out really good. In the end though I was left with a fine sequel to Devilman.

(Contains Spoilers)
Story:

SWWEEET is a romantic-drama with a affinity for some surreal and symbolic design and erotic development, it's a story about a boy and girl with a problematic past that keeps them from being together, it's has themes like coming of age, a love triangle, the nonacceptance of one self, what is to yourself and adolescent guilt.
It's a simple enough story and the writer manages to screw up, to summarize the writer tried to put some good elements that in practice culminated in real bad execution, to explain that, beginning with one of the biggest problems of the narrative it lacks clarity sometimes you don't know what is happening, the dream state sequences were pretty random and did not made sense and it has a more or less ambiguous ending.
The main character is a unreliable narrator and he pulls off dream states for at least 3 times in the manga, even trough his state was contextualize in the middle of the manga, the idea of this "context" sound too far fetched to be believable and even destroys the entire development of the manga as everything can be related to his current "problem" causing his memories to change.
One the most important arcs of the manga, we have a character reveal which feels like a pull off from the part of the writer, looking at the story as a romantic-drama, it fails to capture a sincere relationship between the main couple, they never share a moment or any interest.
The use of the bullying theme is ridiculous as to how it was approached, a girl that never report the bullying that she is suffering and the motivation as to why is because she "need to be cheerful as she doesn't want to change herself for her old love", it feels forced, looking at another manga that did it right you have A Silent voice where our main heroine is literally deaf and she tries to ignore the bullying as she want to be part of her class and because a promise she made to her sister, it's far more convincing if you read it.
The symbolic image-dry is not really meaningful to the plot being more a deviation from the story than something to add, there's not a lot of interpretation, you have a girl that uses a strap on her bag in one chapter and in another the mascot on her strap becomes the monster for the boys nightmare for what reason? because he likes her to the point of remembering something useless she wears? it would be better if it was something that meant for the both of them, for example if the main character had given this item to her in the past as a gift.
The tone goes from cartony to creepy and it doesn't know where to stay, for the most part they treat thing like brain damage as a joke, as tone is not a very important aspect when it comes to tell a story, you can tell a story about going to the mall and it can be either spooky or funny it doesn't matter but there's a problems with the story it does tone shifts in unappropriated times, e.g. the main-character is looking for answers goes to the pond and finds his classmate amount being raped, tries to "save her" and in the end after the dramatic fight it ends in a joke, it's totally out of place.
The pacing is slow at the first 3 chapters and afterwords we have big chunk of information being skiped, most of the characters pulling various plot cards to accelerate the story.
For the most part there was not treat to anything, not to the main character or to the romance, mostly anti-climatic.

Characters:

The characters are one dimensional for the most parts, the main protagonist Susumo can be characterized as a useless person, the main heroine Sakura is just crazy and the protagonist's brother Tsutomo is the "reliable" male, we have smalls changes but nothing substantial to these characters.
The first big part of the manga which is more of a self-reveal story, the main character passes thought a change but it doesn't bring a array of personality to our hero, he just change one trait, from being useless to being "reliable", that doesn't really happens to the heroine thought as she doesn't have a arc and if we look at their romantic development we can see that they don't share any interest or any dramatic conflict, he likes her since he was a kid because she was "nice" and she begin to like him when her memories get back to see that he is "reliable".
The side characters felt stupid you have one character that is a living piece of plot fuel and his girlfriend who has one of the few tragic or dramatic reveal but they don't even give her space or a arc, even her disease is not disclosed, a bully that has no motivation for bullying people but in the end is a emotional girl.
Some plot points at the end were dropped, the brother is never found and there's zero explanation to it, the main heroine stop acting like a bipolar bitch and that also goes to the bullying leader that goes from being a bully to being a pure emotional girl.

Art:

It's on par with most manga, the composition felt lacking and the panels were boring, the design of the surreal images was average as there was no meaning to them but everything was still well draw, having the same style as your usual romantic high school manga.

Enjoyment:

Could have been much better, lost of potential i would say that it wasn't very bad but i wouldn't recommend it to anyone, especially when you can find a much better one with similar themes but better execution.

It's wonderful... It's spectacular! It's... it's... it's seventeen pages long (sixteen if you don't count the cover). Yes that's right, an entire shoujo story with the pangs of a teenage girl's most difficult struggle with her greatest enemy, love, in sixteen pages.

All joking aside (I WAS being sarcastic if you didn't quite catch that), I would still have to comment that this is a quite decent oneshot for anyone who wants a short and sweet love story.

The story is good but fairly cliched (8), the art is slightly above average (9), and the characters are simple but shallow (8) and yet I still felt that somehow the mangaka did a pretty decent job overall. It took me awhile to realize, but the story is logical and coherent and actually covers quite a range of events in sixteen pages. I felt that it showed the skill of the mangaka to present her story while aware of her restraints in regards to the depth of the characters' relationship. I respect where she left off rather than creating an overly superficial ending (to say any more would bring spoilers).

If you plan to read this oneshot you should realize that you won't find any in-depth discussion on the meaning of life and love but... if you're looking for a quick story that will just make you say "aww" give this chapter a look.