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Book reviews
One Piece
One Piece
One Piece
One Piece review
One Piece
Apr 17, 2021
One Piece review
Being the #4 most popular manga on MAL and the #1 in Japan itself, it's hard to really summarize what One Piece is in a single sentence. But if I had to, I would simply say that it absolutely deserves its spot. I can think of no other kind of story that should be the number one in all of Japan. It is a national epic. If you are a westerner, count yourself fortunate to be removed from the constant merchandise (akin to how ubiquitous Star Wars merchandise is in the West) You can just enjoy this downright masterpiece without any baggage.

There's so many wonderful things about the series that it's hard to know where to begin. How about the art, which has been controversial? Take it from me, an artist: Oda is a genius. Drawing a comic is not easy: before you even start you need simple iconic characters. You need an aesthetic. You need to design the world and draw it constantly. And then you have to draw it over and over, in different poses and angles. And then design new characters, etc. Other artists, peter out, quit, or phone it in and it shows. But Oda has been drawing for 23 years and he seems to be getting better and more excited. The world is drawn in more and more detail, Oda designs a billion new unique characters, everything is a new aesthetic.

You can tell some artists like to show much work they did (your Miuras and Muratas) while others prefer simplicity (like Azuma, and Togashi used to have a very loose sketchy style) Oda manages to keep a perfect balance. You can tell how much effort went into each page because it's chock full of detail, yet it all keeps a very loose sketchy style, as if it was scribbled in a single go. There are manga chapters made in a month that don't hold a candle to what Oda does in a week. By far the most striking thing about the art is the TEXTURE. When a character wears leather, you see its sheen. When something explodes it's not a puffy white cartoon star like in other manga, it's a black cloud with fire just like a real explosion. All this in black and white too! When was the last time you saw lava look as good as it did in One Piece?

The story too is a thing of wonder. It's famous for its consistency. A lot of serialized manga hook you with a strong premise and then lose their focus after a while (see: Naruto), or get repetitive with how it keeps yanking your chain over and over (see: My Balls(the manga)). A casual reader of One Piece can start at any arc and find a dense, thought through story, with a detailed world and a backstory that ties everything into a fitting picture. But the committed reader who reads the whole thing start to finish is enthralled with ANOTHER overarching plot layered on top of that. It's a spectacular juggling act. I would personally complain that Oda is a little slow, but still, hardly anyone else can do this.

But no one walks away from a One Piece arc without saying how much they wanted to cry afterwards. This series is high on emotion. Oda has a natural sense of story-telling that always leaves each scene with an emotional take-away, whether it's laughing at a joke, ogling at scenery (or breasts) or grinding your teeth at the evil that a villain does. And when Oda wants to, he will make you bawl, if nothing else from how perfectly he times the reveal. Such an emotional simplistic series may lead one to think that, philosophically, One Piece slouches, but its simplicity is its philosophy. One Piece oozes with the joy of being alive. To exist. The most natural and simple good there is. What other series would have a big feast after every arc? It's the romantic freedom that people admire of the pagans, who trusted their natural instincts.

If you have time to read this review, you have time to read One Piece.
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Solo Leveling
Shingeki no Kyojin
Houseki no Kuni
Houseki no Kuni
Houseki no Kuni
Houseki no Kuni review
Houseki no Kuni
Apr 15, 2021
Houseki no Kuni review
[Spoiler Warning]

I really do like Houseki no Kuni's wonderful characters and whimsical fantasy tone -- until it loses it along with most of its charm and Phosphophyllite's sanity. From chapter 19 onward, Houseki no Kuni's tone and pacing suffer bouts of schizophrenia. Excessive and often repetitive action scenes drag out the midsection of the currently released chapters, littered with gratuitous "deaths". The most interesting and nuanced characters are sidelined until all that's really left to focus on is Phos, Cairngorm, and Adamant -- and maybe Cinnabar, too, since the mangaka really likes to remind you that Cinnabar exists just as you're about to forget.

Houseki no Kuni's greatest sin is wasting your time, which comes to a head when Phos is forced to learn about the existence of humans again despite already learning the information some 40 chapters earlier. After 40 months (this is a monthly series, so storytelling time is precious), Phos finally learned information they had already learned and then forgotten. No new information is gained, so for the reader this is a colossal waste of storytelling time. The long stretch of fights in the midsection of the 61 chapters play like a groundhog day loop of Phos's failures, wearing down your energy to continue reading.

The art is simplistic and rough, with Clamp-like spaghetti limbs. Each of the gems wear the same clothes and have roughly the same face, making them hard to distinguish save for their distinct hairstyles. The roughness of the art begins to take its toll the more Phos's design changes with each "upgrade" they receive. These upgrades come in the form of new materials to replace Phos's lost body parts, roughly corresponding to the Seven Treasures of Buddhism and meaning to date there are likely 2 more upgrades left. This gives Phos a Frankenstein's monster appearance of mixed colours and a messy design that doesn't do the art any favours.

I really do want to like Houseki no Kuni more. A lot more. But I'll keep reading it anyway.
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Kamen Rider 913
Iczer Densetsu
i tell c
i tell c
i tell c
i tell c review
i tell c
Apr 13, 2021
i tell c review
'Fighting Poison With Poison'- i tell c is kind of about it. If you read the synopsis on Manga Plus, that's what it says.

COMMENTS from Readers on Manga Plus- an Official reading website/app by Shueisha: readers' interest were captivated by this manga. They felt excited by the twist and turns introduced and were waiting to see more, especially the main plot.
Other readers were able to notice this story is an opposite of Ron Kamonohashi: The Deranged Detective, yet they seem similar. Ron Kamonohashi: The Deranged Detective is a really good manga. Give it a try.
One reader commented 'i tell c' has the same plot to 'Unubore Deka' (Detective Lovesick), a Japanese comedy drama series. I have not watched this comedy drama TV series but I read a summary of it. Quite the same plot but I cannot talk much about it. I will find time to watch the series though. I'm sure it is not on my Netflix. It might be for you.
Other readers were not impressed but rather annoyed by Miss Aioi, the female MC for the manga. Reasons? She sounds annoying. That's funny.

My thoughts so far on the series:
STORY- as said above, this manga is the opposite of Ron Kamonohashi and has the same plot as Unubore Deka. Interesting. I'm interested because I would like to know the MC's story more- she has Stockholm Syndrome. Falling love with criminals and making them uncomfortable to the extent they confess-that's some weird techniques to solve a crime. The police force uses her because there is a high chance the criminal will confess if she is there, not that she is a detective. This sounds more like being a tool being used. Interesting but it doesn't sound right to use someone as a tool.
Ron Kamonohashi sounds more interesting though. Ron is a detective who uses his high intelligence to solve cases but condemns the criminals to death without thinking about it. I like this story better than 'i tell c'. I won't give much more on Ron though, sorry.

ART- it is good. it is cool to see. I rate it 7/10. I enjoy reading the manga also due to the art. It is not anything special but its cool.

CHARACTER- they are interesting. The recent character introduced is mysterious and he is quite an interesting guy.
Miss Aioi is the most interesting one of them all. A Stockholm Syndrome victim? I haven't seen more of them in animes/manga/movies, etc so good to see them as a reminder that people with this exists. She is the poison fight against other poison. That drew me to the manga.
The twin detectives Futatsuki Ukon and Sakon are interesting characters but not new to me. Ukon, the older twin is quite reserved, quite and probably has the potential to be an anti-hero. His younger twin Sakon is a display of emotions, the definition of a hero, youthful and quite loud for me.
These two's personalities are quite common in shounen anime/manga but okay.

ENJOYMENT- I'm not quite enjoying it but it is okay to read if you're dead bored. I dunno for you but yeah, this is what I get from it.

These are my thoughts on it so far. It's just the beginning of the story, a few chapters into it. It's still to early to properly evaluate it and give judgement. But if you're going for it, you might come to like it....
Or not...like some Readers on Manga Plus by Shueisha.
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Satanophany
Satanophany
Satanophany
Satanophany review
Satanophany
Apr 13, 2021
Satanophany review
You want a group full of badass serial killer women? The one where they murder others while being extremely hot and sexy? The one where they have sex with a man then kill him afterwards in a gruesome way? The one where there are also lesbians and they go full yuri and make us some horny bastards?

Then welcome, intellectuals who have a great sense of culture.

Seriously tho, this manga is not for those who are sensitive to rapes, gruesome murder, and any kind of exaggerated violence.

To start, I would like to say that the author is very creative in making scenarios and building up the core elements in the story. The goal is clear, the setting is well setup, and the characters are not left aside (of course, except for the usual side characters whom we don't give a f*ck). The coolest thing in this manga is the knowledge of the author in serial killing (history lessons baby). However, for me, it falls short in making it more interesting that it should be. While I was reading, I would know who'll die, who'll get raped, who'll have sex, and worse, I'll be able to know exactly what will happen in the next chapter. I'm not sure why, but maybe because of the obvious hints or I'm used to this kind of story telling. I did't make the manga lose its worth tho, it only ruined my experience.

But I can promise that you'll have moments that you can't wait to turn to the next chapter, as I was not able to sleep just because I wanted to read up to the latest. It can make you hype, tbh

Personally, I'm quite disturbed on how the author made such beautiful and bright characters just to make them whores, but I guess I'm just a simp :<. These elements are essential to the story btw, you'll learn later on

To sum up, if you want a badass women and don't give a sh*t about sex and violence, then you might find this interesting
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Pupa
Pupa
Pupa
Pupa review
Pupa
Apr 13, 2021
Pupa review
Pupa as a whole gets a lot of undeserved flak for getting "incestuous" vibes. Sure, having Yume gorge on Utsutsu's flesh while Utsutsu somehow deems enjoyment from it is vore to an extreme, but there is a reason for his actions. It is easy just to point at these scenes and say "wow, that's disgusting how could someone write this?", but it's also incredibly lazy to not try and evaluate the characters actions and viewpoints. Utsutsu's life in particular is just a downward shit show of every single thing in his life leaving him, with the only thing left a sister that he's tried to protect, and will vow to protect to the end. Utsutsu's love for Yume could have an incestuous undertone to it, but in reality Utsutsu's love and unwavering protection for Yume is because it's the last single thing on Earth that he has left to hold on to, a point a lot of people for some reason don't want to grasp.

What Pupa has crafted between these two characters in specific, it has managed to ignore in basically the rest of the side characters, characters whom often show up to drop a portion of information before leaving again, notable exceptions being Maria and Utsutsu's father. While Maria shows up more than other side characters, she is pretty much a vehicle of pure insanity that drives the story forward. It's easy to fault this as just lazy writing; it's also easy to say that fleshing out side characters is bad for the story, since the entire manga is Utsutsu and Yume's journey to stay together. What choice you choose to make from this is up to you.

Pupa's bleak story shows Utstsu trying not lose what is most important to him, but also the madness of him trying not to become what he hates the most. The longer Pupa goes on, the more it's shown that Utsutsu is a lot more like his father than he is willing to admit. The same shrewd look that his father would give becomes one of his own when he least expects it, and with it his father's more sadistic qualities of relishing in the pain of others. It becomes a part much later on where Utsutsu has to face the issue himself before being able to accept who he is and moving on.

The story itself suffers from a couple pacing issues, but does its best to try and show how Utsutsu and Yume deal with terrible situation after terrible situation. It's easy to say that until the final pages of the last chapter, nothing at all goes right for either of them. Pupa is basically a "Us vs. The World" story, but The World really, really, really hates Utsutsu and Yume. What Pupa gives in heartwarming reunions, it dishes out 3 times as much in absolutely insane situations to prove just how much Utsutsu and Yume need each other (more so how much Utsutsu needs Yume), to the point where if one was lost, the other can't live on.

A main driving force for the manga is the art itself. The level of detail added, especially to the final volume, is absolutely breathtaking. Besides the odd moments where Mogi Sayaka draws Pupa with a more cutesy look to it, the gore is drawn to a point where some of it made me sit there and just appreciate the effort that was put into the manga. The art itself does a good job of adding to the story, while not distracting yourself from it (it helps because the story gets outright ridiculous at times).

Is Pupa a manga that I'd read again? Probably. I will most likely just flip through pages of it again to appreciate the art itself. While the story itself might lose some of it's luster in that I know what the twists are as the story goes along, seeing how each character breaks is really bleak and entertaining stuff to read. Pupa isn't a read for everyone; it's going to make you accept some things in life that you would rather not dwell upon (child abuse, being left by your parents, dealing with shit you'd rather not), but it is still an enjoyable story to read nonetheless.
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Magatsu Wanashi no Yuushagari
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