I went into Blue Heaven because it was recommended on a list of top horror mangas that lovers of the genre should read. Being a psychological thriller alongside drawn gore, I didn't expect too much from it but I really underestimated this. Although I wasn't in the mood to read psychological horror, the manga itself managed to put me in the mindset to fully enjoy it and that's somewhat rare for me - for a manga to take a toll and allow me to sit back and fully enjoy what it has in store.

The story in this is really enjoyable. It touches on dark tones of terrorism and racism but in an almost humane way. Takahashi does it in such a way that creates a tone of understanding from the things we see in the news and around us that makes this seem extremely humanistic in the hateful way things occur and in the way it makes you feel based on your own morals. The racist tones are also interesting to see - some mangakas do avoid them but I think Takahashi used it really well.
The plotline is gripping and it twists very quickly and often takes you off guard when it does. It was intense at times; it made me swallow quite nervously more than a few times but, ultimately, I feel like it was rushed over the three volumes that there were. I think if Takahashi had added one or two more volumes than the story would have flowed just slightly better rather than feeling like he was running out of time to get it done and published, but that's my only qualm.

The art in this is really well drawn; the expressions of characters are spectacular and some of it downright makes your skin crawl. I found the character designs interesting, curious, and some of them sickening which I really enjoyed. Takahashi has some real skill with his art and it's definitely gotten me interested in reading more of his works.

The characters felt real. There was a lot of human reactions to many events in this. It's interesting to see how characters moral compasses seem to change and how things affect them. I really enjoyed seeing how they changed and adapted as things went

Blue Heaven is a manga I think you need to be in a certain mood to get full enjoyment out of it. I was definitely in that mood and Takahashi has created a world that kept me intrigued and turning the pages, devouring chapter after chapter. My only qualm with it is that it did feel a little rushed which seems to be a bit of a common qualm. I wish Takahashi had strung this out one more volume so that there could have been more in this but I also think that the slightly rushed format of three volumes worked well; one more volume in this might have ended up with a winding story trying to fill another 200 pages.

Route 69 - Oneshot

This one-shot was a little confusing in how things worked out and some of the characters choices, for me at least. The characters were intriguing and even though some of the choices were confusing, it was enjoyable. I'd quite like to see more from Route 69 as its own story but this little titbit into it was enjoyable but not as enjoyable as Blue Heaven.