TSUGUMOMO

So I only learned of this manga because of the anime. After watching episode 9 of the anime, I got intrigued and decided to binge the manga. And let me tell you, that has been one of the few good decisions I've made in my life. After catching up to the current manga chapter, it instantly became one of my favorite manga.

Story 9/10

The beginning is very bland. Very typical 2007 manga bland. Male MC meets a female spirit and starts to build his harem.

The first 9 volumes are enjoyable but nothing really stands out.

Volume 10... let's just say that volume 10 is something else entirely. As a backstory volume, it has lots of revelations and explanations. This is where the currently biggest arc of the manga starts. This volume will definitely get anybody hooked to the story.

Volumes 11-14 have lots of surprises for you so much so that it will take a lot of restraint to pause reading and do something else(like sleeping). Chapter 70 of volume 14 is one of the biggest surprise I have encountered in my life. Do not even try to read it in advance as it will be a HUGE spoiler.

Art 9/10

Tsugumomo has a lot of both action scenes and ecchi scenes. And both are masterfully done. The fights and female bodies are both incredibly detailed.

Action scenes first. The fights are very well-directed and so disgustingly epic that adrenaline is sure to fill up your body.

Tsugumomo contains a lot of ecchi. But do not let this discourage you from reading this masterpiece. The ecchi is not stupid(I'm looking at you, To Love-Ru). The ecchi are not used for fanservice but instead for comedy. And it is comedy gold. Expect to see an ecchi scene after every fight. Why? Well, the mangaka is so passionate about ecchi that he just can't not draw some ecchi after drawing chapters of epic fights. Also, the mangaka stated that whenever a new female character is introduced, he wants to draw her nude as soon as possible. And he sure does deliver(insert lenny face).

Character 8/10

The characters are perhaps the weakest point of Tsugumomo. You could immediately sense that this is a manga from the 2000s just from the first few chapters. But don't get me wrong, the characters have improved quite a lot over the years. Most of the useless characters from the beginning were pretty much thrown away after a while.

Don't even dare think that the male MC is a useless character whose only purpose is to whine(shut up, Yukiteru). MC is so much of a badass even from his birth. In the latest volume, the MC is training to fight the strongest human to have ever walked the Earth. While he is dense romantically and not the smartest person on the planet, the other parts of his brain are definitely working. Being able to resist even the strongest temptations within an instant, even Speedwagon is afraid! His principles in life are quite relatable and he takes them seriously. Dead serious. He doesn't show any kind of hesitation to fight anybody that thinks tsugumomo are only tools that shouldn't be treated as partners.

Enjoyment 10/10

Just how enjoyable is this? After catching up to the latest volume, I felt emptiness in my heart. This is a sensation that I've never experienced before. And I'm not the only one. Someone I know said, "I felt like I was a drug addict going through withdrawal."

Tsugumomo gave me goosebumps multiple times. Quite a feat as I barely feel a chill down my spine even when watching some respectable fighting scenes in anime.

My favorite part is perhaps the heavy drama at the end of volume 14. I could not believe what I just read that night. I was barely able to sleep.

Overall 9/10

tl;dr: a masterpiece with story and action that even rival some of the greatest manga out there. Would recommend to anyone and their mother.

Never have I ever thought an anime was better than a manga but in this case that is true, Why you ask? purely because the anime had a control on its ecchi I honestly found my self cringing at some of the pages for this seriously that being said the art is good. I honestly do not like the manga because of some arcs were something happens (if you know then you know) It has like 3 pages of "skin ship" witch is just another word of fingering people its MC is alright but he defiantly is your regular harem protagonist. Know I know what you might be thinking, "why did you read it if you knew it was a harem?" well dear reader I didn't not until chapters 70-83 and then I dropped it people say its ecchi but its not its just hentai loli/shota hentai but to be honest all im saying is "why'? Theres no need for the hentai to exist it would be a better manga if they just cutout the hentai in the flashback arc

To end on a good note, I guess it has good fight scenes but thats about it its characters are stupid, I feel like watching instead of reading it that being said if your like me and you want some good fights without tits every 3 pages go watch it people may enjoy that and its fine but im waiting for a season 3 because im not reading anymore of this.

There is a tl;dr at the end for those wanting a short review.
Warning: this show contains a lot of nudity, so if you are not into that or easily offended, this is your chance to turn away. That said, let's start the review:

There are not many serious harem/ecchi shows and that's mainly because the combination doesn't work well. Shows like Freezing, Change 123 and Ikkitousen have a similar setting and they often implement paper mache-like clothes purely for fanservice or rely on certain characters to keep the fans at bay. Tsugumomo does not do that. It has serious moments, followed by occasional humour because not the fans desire it, but the author himself. (Yeah, let this one sink in). He stated that whenever a new character is introduced, he wants to draw them without clothes as soon as possible. Let me quote him from ch 71.5: "The main part has no fanservice scenes! This is a grave matter. So I worked hard on the omake. Because it's hard on the author when there are no fanservice scenes, working on the chapters included in this volume ought to have been quite difficult. But now that it's done, I don't remember very well."

Why is it that I enjoyed reading Tsugumomo? The main character gets involved in a lot of harem and ecchi scenes and is quite a whimp, same as any other ecchi manga. However, he is determined to fight for a just cause and wants to keep improving himself to protect others. This too sounds familiar? The difference is that the fighting scenes are quite dynamic and the techniques interesting. But before I start explaining that into detail, let me explain the setting.

Kazuya Kagami always keeps his obi (a silk cloth) from his mother with him. It is only after falling off a school roof that the obi reveals herself as a person and saves Kazuya from falling by weaving the obi in a cushion. They start to fight against a so called Amasogi, an object matured quickly because of the owners' desire. They are unstable and need to be suppressed by the owner, or he (the owner) receives a backlash, equivalent to the item. This is done by exorcists, like Kazuya and their Tsukumogami. A Tsukumogami is an object matured over time with the owners desire and therefore stable. The first Amasogi was a wig and therefore, that owner goes bald after the battle. Similar cases for other items. The fights are pretty cool. The MC starts off weak, but improves greatly over time. His Tsukumogami, the obi Kiriha, can be woven into different shapes. The variety is great to see. The most common finisher attack is some spiral drill attack, immensely similar to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's drills, but he also uses the cloth to bind around his legs to enhance their strength, or as a shield to block incoming attacks.

There are other exorcists who enter the story at a later point. All of them have interesting Tsukumogami, whose powers are based on items ranging from a daruma doll to a sickle with a chain and any item in between. Throw in fitting characters who -apart from the main characters- don't fit the usual tsundere, loli, big boobed etc type, yet are intriguing on their own. The side characters have one clear trait, yet don't feel all that one-dimensional, given the fact that most of them are minor characters.
Every character is portrayed naked at some point and as the manga progresses, the nudity occurs more frequently and the content increases to the point of showing everything of the female body. I've seen the first few episodes of the anime and they don't show nipples, but miraculously cover them. I'm seriously wondering how they want to keep doing that, because -let me tell you- it's impossible later on.

As mentioned before, the fighting scenes are dynamic. The artwork is amazing. Not Somali to mori no kami sama level, but exceptional nonetheless. I honestly don't remember the artwork at the start, but the later half implements amazing scenery, detailed effects, interesting and clearly shown items as well as the anatomy of the female body. If not for the fighting scenes, it would be mostly the artwork combined with the nudity that commend me to keep reading this.

TL;DR:
Story- 7. It doesn't keep you on edge and is relatively simple, but that is not the main focus of the story.
Art- 9. Amazing, the background, fighting scenes, objects and the anatomy are terrific.
Character- 7. The MC develops over the story, he becomes more confident and even side characters are quite interesting.
Enjoyment- 9. The interesting fights with a myriad of (often) japanese objects are fantastic to behold, but I would be lying if I said I didn't do it for the nudity as well.
Overall- 8/10. Starts off as a pretty mediocre show, but develops into something serious and interesting. There were some really dark scenes at a certain point. Something I didn't expect at first, judging from the genres. I would recommend this mostly to the male gender as it contains some shounen elements and nudity, but if female readers don't mind that, I would recommend this to everyone who enjoys some no nonsense action and occasional humour.

Plot- Kazuya Kagami never goes anywhere without the “Sakura Obi” . One day, kimono-clad girl named Kiriha appeared before him. Kiriha naturally began to live with Kazuya in his room. Then there’s Chisato, Kazuya’s childhood friend with glasses and a ponytail, who meddles in his affairs.Jumble in a huge-chested priestess, a good-looking sorceress named Kokuyoura, and Kazuya’s happy, embarrassing, confusing life begins!

- From the synopsis, it sounds like your average harem. Well, it is but a really good one with lot of potential! Only 56 chapters has been released so far, it has everything great pervert comedy, superpower action and moreover it's Seinen too. It's definitely not everyone's cup of tea but people who wants to read good harem, this one should be definitely in your list!

Genres:-Action, Comedy, Ecchi, School, Supernatural, Seinen, Harem

Plot- 8/10 ( Typical Harem plot, MC saves the girls and gets stronger with each battle)

Characters- 7.5/10 (Nothing extraordinary, girls with tragic past. MC solves the mystery and the chick is already head over heels for him)

Artwork- 10/10 (This one takes the cake for me, fight scenes are well executed and so are the bodies of the females.)

Enjoyment- 8.5/10 ( It definitely is enjoyable for me, there are some parts of the story which makes it much better and different from the rest in this category)

I will not do a review, I will promote this manga, because it does not do justice here: Less than 80%?! Seriously, what a underrated manga I am reading right now. (No spoilers, believe me, it's better for you).

Edit 1: Oh boy, v10-17 are really cool, everything made on a 360 degrees changes. However, It's a little sad that the scale of power got out of the author's hands, really sad. But still enjoyable.

Before, you must go and download the OST from the anime, look for your best songs and have fun, that's what you need to do FIRST. GOGOGO.

First of all, I want to make something clear: If you have read 1000 mangas or animes in what you have been living as a human being and you are picky with what you consume, you are going find this: BORING, "GENERIC", BAD, DISGUSTING, IMMORAL, ETC, ETC, ETC. ... and even more if you consider yourself as an "intellectual reader" which is what abound here today in My Anime List and AniList (if it is the case), STAY AWAY and do not force yourself. If not, if you are like me: someone who hardly takes a little reading and who has not expanded his borders; someone who gives the opportunity to something that catches his attention; that really does not allow himself to be carried away by third parties, but always has low expectations with what will consume. Dude, this manga is for you.

Second, this manga is filled (in a good way) with A LOT OF ECCHI. Something that I have noticed is that the Japanese industry and especially the South Korean one, it is the quantity (sometimes, unnecessary and abusive) of "erotic" scenes. From chapter 1 there is a breast hold from our protagonist. BUT, BUUUUUT, do you know something? It's been a while since I didn't feel bothered by something like that (Prison School does an excellent job taking it to the extreme in order to have fun, at least in the anime). I feel like the author enjoys doing these scenes. If you really are mature, you'll cope, have fun and admire this; trust me you won't regret it, if you are fan of awesome and well done ecchi moments that actually helps in characther development... Oh God, CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? Also, yes... there is a combination between loli-shotacon... sorry, but wait, who cares actually? It's a manga, jesus.

Third point, It is a combination between seinen and shonnen. Like all shonnen, there is comedy everywhere and usually uses the same topics that have seen before: mc gets stronger, defeats enemies, super powers, blah, bla, blah. But, in Tsugugomo from one moment to the next we will go from a slightly soft comedy to a directly sexualized one ... And you know, it does it excellently, it's interesting. (Read the omakes, pay attention to the details, and after chapter 30 and you will see what I told you here). Also, Seinen is not only apply for ecchi, this can be very serious... I won't say much about this, because I need to read much more where things starts to be more hardcore (That's why the person who recommended me Tsugumomo, god bless you). The plot is solid, that conflic between Tsugumomos, Amasogis, the curses, who desires can damages a person and those aroud them, why everything is relaited to Kazuya are well explain. It's pretty cool; I am engaged to the story, I want to know more about this world.

Fourth, the characters seems to have not charisma, but they are going to win your heart little by little, but effectivetly. The firsts chapters will not catch your attention, but little by little they begin to show their personality. Are they one-dimensional? I don't have the right to judge that, but I don't feel it. I am enjoying the development of all the characters. For example, when I introduced to the Sunao's family; the author did a well job directly, I totally laughed when I met them.

Oh, by the way, there are many gags and "recycled ideas", such as the typical exaggerated faces of our protagonist when there is something embarrassing or something like that, when he gets punchs by the girl who hits him every moment "for no reason" (Yes, there are, ironically haha); hold up, It's entertaining, I don't know why. At this point, I think I have attached so much affection to the characters created by the author (Sunao ... I hate her, you will see why, she has her reasons, but they are not enough to act in that bad way at least when she was introduced, but after some impotant event... The author gave her a great chances to change her behavior. However I am not going forget the events that occurred previously, THANK GOD this is not Aku no Hana, geeeeez)

I really all the characters, including Kazuya, surprisingly. He seems like that type of weak male character or "beta male mc"... This directly comes to our mind the MCs from Mirai Nikki or Aku no Hana, you know why I mean. Anyway, I could never have been more wrong, I have not been disappointed at any time with him. He only once has cried and I did not feel that that action was out of the place. I believe he is a good character and he deserves his own harem haha. The best thing is that in the most important moments, he shines and that is what is relevant. AGAIN: BE ATTENTIVE TO THE DETAIL, PLEASE.

Fifth and where it SHINES the most: Art in conjunction with good fighting dynamics like a good shonnen. The
art is simple sometimes and complex at other times, but there are some characteristics in common: solidity and beauty. Really, I'm always impressed. For a moment, everything is relaxed, calm as an slice of life vibe with a normal, decent, but catchy art; but, then we move onto a detailed and dynamic art of action, which is where It shines at its best. However, there are no details in backgrounds (sometimes, because when backgrounds are detailed, oh boy you can not believe that this comes from this manga), but the author makes up this as a pro to detailed the actions of the characters and redundantly, the characteristics of the characthers (Even the Amasogis are on the top)... So, I repeat again: Always be attentive to the details, read calmly and admire each chapter, whether it is action or ecchi a in your maximum splendour.

I don't want to extended this much more, but I'll make some changes in the future, maybe. It's not an objective review, This can not even count as a "review". I just did, because I totally agree that this is UNDERRATED.

In conclusion, """Does this manga contributes something to the industry?""" Well, that's up to you. Does it worthy? Well, that's up to you. Does it fun? HELL YEAH, do not even think twice, dude; there are monsters, demons, ghost lolis, nice mc, super powers, good and brilliant art, parody (You will see what I am talking about, read around chapter 13) comedy, ecchi, kisses, harem, etc, etc, etc... It's funny, entertaining, solid, brilliant, interesting, even you can feel the hype, you want know what would happened the next chapter. Everything that you can find only once, man

A must read before going to dense stuff like FMA, HxH, Gintama all those mangas that everybody should know.

I think this is the only manga that the author has... Well, sir, I love you. I am surprised with this. Man, I feel the author's effort, that passion in every chapter. Don't make comparitions bewteen this and another shonnen manga; that's the worst desision you can do everytime you are going to read a new manga, gosh. I showed a capture of some part of the manga to a friend and he said: "KnY+NnT+FMAB+Naruto" What a prick man, It's 100 times better than Naruto, NnT and KnY, geez. Read it, you'll have fun, I am totally sure about that. I know is not a MASTERPIECE, but gosh, why everyone hates something that is actually good?

Thank you for taking some of your time for reading this, I appreciatte it. Made a lot of grammar mistakes,I am not native speaker, but I will correct it for sure.

This is very much your typical mid-2000 manga. All of it's cliches, all of it's tropes, it's there. And I love those. The cringy, corny tropes that are fun and shallow as hell. And I'd be lying if Yoshikazu Hamada did a bad job in doing those. This manga fully realized that those tropes are there, and makes it work with a decent story and a damn beautiful artwork.

So why, did I not enjoy this manga?

If you want a more "objective" reason, then it's because of the current arc that changes our main character from a middle schooler in a middle school (Which in itself always fun as long as done well), to a boring hero without any personality , the story that seemingly takes itself too seriously, and a new cast characters that are more annoying rather than "boring but it has a twist".

But if you want a subjective reason, then because it's a smut, it's for lolicons, and the fact that this has taken a somewhat dark fantasy approach. For the lolicon thing, It's up to you to like or not. I don't care. Smut and lolicon? okay, I read stuff like Prisma Illya, and well, it's weird, but it's not all that disgusting. But combined with dark fantasy?

Fuck you.

On a final note, it's a good manga. It did the tropes really well. Shame that this manga has an actual pedophile character that potrayed as a good guy.

I wish the author didn't do all that.

So the story is as the sinopsis follows, classic harem MC trains and gets stronger with every fight.

For me the real extraordinary of this manga is the art, every detail is well drawn, the girls personality is consistent and they are well drawn, as for the battle scenes are plain amazing, easy to follow and get inmersed in.

Truth be told the manga is quite good and the story is interesting enough to keep you going, the art just draws you in and the comedy is golden. It may have a slow start but you should give it a go cause when the action begins it will not stop and the plot twists will blow your mind.

In summary really good manga, if you have time try this out