I want to say one thing to preface my review of this manga; HOLY SHIT THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN SKR. BOICHI, THANK YOU. In this review I will be making some references to SKR seeing as it's essentially a sequel but also feels incredibly similar.

Now, why'd I give it a 7? Well, it's a bit of a messy manga. There's quite a lot of semi bloated exposition that explains a lot of the more in depth science, which isn't terrible but I would've appreciated it tried to take itself a little less seriously and allow for more suspension of disbelief vs trying to justify why any of what happens happens.

Much like previous works of Boichi, this is a beautifully drawn series; with some of the most stunning depictions of the human form in manga I've ever seen. Constantly am I impressed by his ability to create such incredible art in the medium of manga, but i find that to really be his strongest suit. Incredible artwork with mediocre-okay writing. Side stories are brought up and never go anywhere after a few chapters; but seeing as there isn't a nearly 70 chapter expanse where Origin becomes an ecchi mangaka and its reserved to only two chapters, I would much rather this than another idol management arc.

To speak a bit more on the writing here, when it's strong in this it is incredibly strong (being carried predominantly by visual juxtapositions). The themes of what it means to "live properly", to struggle with loss and despair, the existence of God, etc. are done enough justice to be enjoyable. The philosophy presented in this manga was complex but always presented in a manner that never got TOO bloated. Good shit Boichi.

Next, the characters aren't great. Definitely serviceable, but not great. The romance feels rushed to a degree and not really deserved but at least the conclusion of it was better than SKRs'. Regardless of that, there weren't any particularly memorable characters aside from Origin and Masamune (who was really only memorable for his design).

The pacing at times was really strange, either being done well or beyond rushed. This feeling of rushed pacing is also what causes the romance to feel so weak and undeserved, and then it just ends. The gaiden chapter is also really strange and out of place, and I don't think it really had much of a place existing aside from Origins declaration to protect humanity.

All in all I did really like this manga. It had fantastically hype moments, and never really let me down. I came into expecting to enjoy the art and to be disappointed by the writing but boichi surprised and impressed me with this. It was also much less horny than SKR so you can read this one in public and not have to worry about randomly seeing hentai (but remember this is Boichi here so it still has sex and ecchi). Good series.