One of the first "long running" series I've read, never wanted to watch the anime so I started the manga...I'm blown away! Oda is master when it comes to world building, hands down one of the best written in all of fiction, how does this man can create such a massive world with its own countries, economy, politics even religions, so many great distinctive characters with their own ideologies and motives. Seriously this man is a pure genius storyteller world...builder...is that a word? Art style wise I fell in love with it even though when I first started reading it I purely hated it. In terms of quality, Oda really knows how to fill background either with the characters telling jokes or fighting each other or doing funny poses e.c.t... also the
background cities buildings are such beautifully drawn! Many people may not like Oda's style that much but quality wise it's super good, shows how much passion author has for the series. Anyways...such a fantastic series, go read it, have a fun. It's aaah I love it's...pure magic!

The first couple of chapters start ordinary, nothing special. We saw normal MC who was at that point really weak trying to survive by being a hunter who was making money killing monsters in the dungeon. Of course, this kind of pitiable MC soon got amazing and for me personally one of the best main characters in Manhwa. After an incident in the dungeon, he got a special kind of power and he started to use it to became stronger.

This MC really adapted well to the situation and started using his power to the maximum. He wasn’t weak anymore. He developed after experiencing a situation which forced him to be strong. It might seem the typical overpowered MC that you saw in a lot of other Manga but nobody is as epic as this guy.

This kind of plot you can see in the countless Korean Manhwas and Novels but for me, the MC is the main reason why I like this so much.

As for the other characters, I must say they blended well with the story. We met some funny ones, some arrogant and then we also saw cute and strong girls and that’s a plus. The one problem I have is that the author has tendencies to forget some characters. For me, that wasn’t something that bothered me that much but still, it would be good to sometimes know what are they doing.

The one thing other than MC that brought Solo Leveling to other dimension is Art. The art in this Manhwa is just AMAZING, it isn't just epic, is cool, beautiful... Like I said the MC was awesome but the art brought this story to the highest level.

in my opinion this is one of the best Manhwa out there because the experience is enjoyable and it's not even closer to ending yet.

Bullying is a concept that many have had to experience in their childhood. Whether it be from looks, intelligence, disability, or other causes, bullying is, unfortunately, commonplace in our society. Bullies are seen as terrible people and victims are shown in a light that causes those who witness it wanting to give the bully the pain they deserve. This is a traditional bullying story in media. However, A Silent Voice explores bullying in a much more realistic manner, showing a bully's life after their victim is no longer part of it, and asking relevant and thought provoking questions, such as: how does bullying affect the bully's life after the fact, can bullying cause self loathing not only in the victim, but also in the bully, and the central question of the story, can a bully find redemption and forgiveness from his victim, even if his actions in the past were cruel and seemingly unforgivable?

Shoya Ishida is a high school teenager who is a former bully. His victim: Shoko Nishimiya, a deaf girl who's goal was to get along with everyone in her sixth grade class. Due to Shoya's boredom, he begins to bully Shoko, through means such as stealing her hearing aids, writing horrible comments in her notebook, and mocking her speech pattern. Shoya is not the only one to blame for the bullying, as classmates such as Naoka Ueno can be seen as accomplices, but Shoya was the main source. The bullying became so much of an issue that it caused Shoko to transfer to another school. This causes Shoya to become a victim of bullying from those who used to be his friends. Years later, Shoya runs into Shoko by happenstance, and is persuaded to right the wrongs he had created in the past.

The themes in this story are very risky and could easily have come off as manipulative. However, the way these themes are handled are a perfect portrayal of how these issues are in reality. Shoya is plagued by social anxiety. He is unable to look people in the eye, he isolates himself from those around him, and he imagines those around him speaking of him in a bad light, even if their conversation is completely different from his imagination. This is how social anxiety legitimately functions. As someone who has dealt with social anxiety most of their life, this represents exactly how it can affect a person and their psyche. It's not sugarcoating the issue, which is why it is so admirable. All of the themes portrayed are admirable for being blunt and straightforward about their effects. Bullying is not simply shown as a bad person harassing a good person and showing how the good person wins. It shows the long term effects it can cause for a person, how bullying can enhance a person's doubts, how a bully can learn from their mistakes and become a better person. It doesn't create a simpler way to explain the matter. It just shows the reality of bullying, making it stand out from many stories about bullying. Self loathing and suicide are also important topics in this, but these topics are best experienced when reading A Silent Voice rather than having them explained to you. These themes could have easily turned into a manipulative romance story akin to a Nicholas Sparks film, but the author took the time to give the story realism and care in order to make an impact.

The characters have arcs in the story that give them such strong development that they seem to be real people at some points. Shoya is the character with the most development, as he must learn from his past not only to change himself, but to guide Shoko through her fears and doubts. He distances himself from others, but must learn to open up to those around him and be a part of the world around him like he was once before. He must struggle and he does falter and slip back into his habits at some points, but he always attempts to make things right once again. Shoko is also a very well developed character. She is a nice person and never tries to cause fights with anyone, and she is willing to give Shoya the second chance he desires. Many have expressed dislike towards Shoko, as they view her as a typical Mary Sue and find her unrealistic. However, this is not the case. As the story continues, you begin to realize that Shoko is not perfect and has her own demons she must conquer. While I will not spoil anything, I will say that her psychological issues are handled very well and are not just there to make you sorry for Shoko. They are legitimate issues that Shoko must resolve. The rest of the cast does not receive as much development, as they are not the main focus of the plot, but many of them are very enjoyable and have their own role to play in the story. Tomohiro Nagatsuka is the first person Shoya is able to open up to. He expresses friendliness towards Shoya and and almost obsession with him. This is because Tomohiro has found his first friend. His bond with Shoya helps guide Shoya to opening up to others. He also has the best comedic moments in the manga. Yuzuru Nishimiya is also a vital character, as she is the only one who truly understands Shoko. She is very overprotective of her older sister and expresses understandable disdain for Shoya, though their relationship does improve as the story continues. There are many other enjoyable characters, but these are the ones that stand out the most.

While all of the characters are necessary to the plot, there are two that are very anger inducing, even if they are a vital piece of the manga. The first is Naoka Ueno. Naoka is the kind of person that never truly learns from her mistakes. As Shoya is progressing and learning to be a better person, Naoka continues to be the same childish and immature person she was all those years ago. She continues to torture Shoko and cause her pain, while giving an excuse for it that seems petty and ridiculous. She is very important, as it shows how some people will not put in the effort to change themselves and will remain the same even if a change is needed, but this does not change the fact that Naoka is an infuriating character. The other of these characters is Miki Kawai, a character who is possibly more infuriating than Naoka. Miki is a narcissist who changes herself based on what she believes others will like. She paints herself as a saint who cannot do any wrong, while she also participated in the bullying of Shoko, just not as vocally. She never takes responsibility for her actions and lets others take the blame. However, even if these characters are ones that are written in a frustrating way, they still serve a purpose in the plot, which you cannot fault them for. These characters are needed and should not be removed from the plot. Removing them would give the plot less realism and would overall weaken it.

A Silent Voice is not simply a manga you read for enjoyment. This is the type of plot that can change the way an individual thinks about certain subjects and can mold them into better people. This needs to be read by any bullying victim or former bully. Just as Shoko and Shoya had to move on from their past in order to change and improve from their flaws, those reading this may see that they need to change as well, and to not fear said changes any longer.

TLDR
Story 9/10
Art 8/10
Characters 9/10
Enjoyment 8/10
Overall 9/10

Steel Ball Run is the Seventh Part of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and the first to be written for Ultra Jump after Hirohiko Araki left Shonen Jump. This Part is greatly considered Araki’s greatest work and one of the greatest Shonen stories, it currently ranks at #2 on MyAnimeList’s Manga Ranking. Though I agree that SBR is one of the best parts of JJBA, I personally prefer Part 5: Vento Auero more. I’ll discuss why I don’t think it’s perfect in the review

Story
This Story is great, I would personally consider the story the best that Araki has ever written and the greatest story I have experienced so far. SBR starts off as a simple story about our Protagonist, Johnny Joestar entering the Steel Ball Run, a race across all of America, in order to learn about the mysterious spin that caused his legs to work for the first time in years. However it is soon revealed that the Race is merely a cover-up for the 23rd President of America, Funny Valentine, to gather parts of the corpse of Jesus Christ in order to make America the strongest nation on Earth. Along the way, Johnny is taught the Spin by Gyro Zeppeli a little at a time, ultimately able to harness the Infinite Rotation.

However, I have two major issues with this story, one much more important than the other. My first complaint is the death of Hot Pants, an important character who appears multiple times throughout the part to both help and hinder Johnny and Gyro. A character like hers would’ve gotten more of a send-off in the earlier parts such as Noriaki Kakyoin’s death where a lot of time is devoted to his last moments. Hot Pants doesn’t get that, she merely reacts to Funny Valentine’s Love Train ability and is presumably killed by her own attack going into her heart, it’s a very unsatisfying way to kill one of the main characters.

My Second Complaint is the final arc, High Voltage. I believe if Steel Ball Run ended with Johnny solemnly riding his horse away, only to find the race had already finished, this part would be my favourite. Instead they decided to bring back Johnny Joestar’s Rival, Diego Brando who was killed earlier in the story by Funny Valentine. They do this by saying Funny Valentine had taken Diego from an alternate universe before his death. Perhaps I was missing something but there was no real way this could’ve happened because the timing makes no sense, Alternate World Diego must’ve been hiding on the train OUR Diego was fighting Funny Valentine on, which doesn’t make sense as the two would’ve violently have been killed as we see with Wekapipo during the first appearance of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. But putting all that aside, we see that Alternate World Diego has The World, DIO’s stand from Part 3. I believe this was one of the stupidest reveals as it felt like pure and utter fanservice for an earlier Villian. Alternate World Diego then easily defeats Johnny Joestar before going to hide the Corpse Parts so nobody else could use their power. Lucy Steel intervenes at the last second by giving AW Diego our world’s Diego’s head, despite the fact he was cut in half with his head intact. This causes AW Diego to violently explode just like Wekapipo earlier. If I’m not missing anything here, the entire High Voltage Arc makes little to no sense whatsoever.

Despite of High Voltage, I believe this part’s story is still great with an amazingly written Antagonist and Protagonist but I’ll return to them later.

Art
Araki had moved from Shonen Jump to Ultra Jump, so rather than drawing an entire chapter in a week, he could write one in a month due to now having monthly releases. This shows in the massively improved artwork...in the later half, in the first half the characters still seem like they were drawn in a week with plenty of slightly off model appearances, Johnny’s first appearance springs to mind, with him looking like an awkward background character rather than our main character.
Overall the art is much better than anything in the first six parts even though it got off to a rocky start.

Characters
Shonen Protagonists have a notorious habit of being bland and basic, Izuku Midoriya and Goku Son spring to mind with them only having surface level personalities and goals. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is guilty as hell with this, Jonathan Joestar is literally just kind, I cannot think of another character trait he has. Johnny however, is different. Johnny Joestar has an amazingly written backstory, he used to be a world class Jockey before he accidentally killed his brother, causing his father to say “God took the wrong son.” This makes Johnny incredibly arrogant on the outside when in reality he is just trying to cover up for his feelings of loneliness and self doubt. One day whilst taking a girl to the cinema, he is shot in the waist. The shot doesn’t kill him but it leaves his legs useless, no longer able to face himself due to being shot for his own arrogance, he becomes hopeless and almost depressed. When hearing about the Steel Ball Run he goes to see the beginning of the race where he encounters Spin for the first time, causing his legs to work for a second. This gives him hope and ultimately makes him join the Steel Ball Run which sets the events of the part into motion.

He is an amazing character and one of my favourite protagonists of all time. He isn’t the only amazing character as Funny Valentine, the main Antagonist is an amazingly written character. He used the Steel Ball Run as an excuse to hire racers to bring him the Holy Corpse Parts of Jesus Christ. He believes that in life, the only ones who matter are the ones who take control, this is why he takes the Corpse Parts to make America more powerful as the other countries haven’t taken them first.

Enjoyment
I heavily enjoyed reading Steel Ball Run, however there were some faults with it. I didn’t enjoy most of it’s beginning, until the Scary Monsters Arc, everything felt rather underwhelming, especially Tomb of the Boom which is easily one of my least favourite fights of the entire series. It’s far too boring and it drags on for much longer than it should have with a stand that wasn’t even very interesting

Overall
I believe Steel Ball Run is an amazing part of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, full of amazing characters, interesting stands and the best story of the whole franchise, despite Vento Auero being my favourite part, I cannot recommend Steel Ball Run enough, it’s a brilliant part you MUST read if you’re a JJBA Fan

pog last chapter better make me nut
freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom freedom
Therefore: 10/10

for the first part of the manga it was really good, the story premise looks really interesting, the characters looks cool, the enemies looks powerful and threatening.

BUT I was really disappointed to learn that they really arent, throughout the story you will be met with stale repetitive comedy, there is really not much character development at all throughout the story. Most of the main character and supporting characters doesn't really do much at all, you won't really feel anything for them because you won't really know them at all. There will be also a part where they would introduce new characters that are also useless. I wished they simply developed the characters rather than introducing new ones.

The enemies are ridiculously weak. The story felt really rushed it's like the author doesn't really know what to do with the original story, it ended up like they can actually solve their problems without having to go through all that, there are no real threats on the story as the enemies are just really weak, the ending so anti climatic, it ended up really disappointing me considering FMA is regarded as one of the highly ranked mangas. I feel that this manga / anime simply got popular because of the cool looking characters.

One of the best manga for writers to learn about themes, because there's so much of them here. The road to sucess, what it means to be a man, lessons about humility, what a strong person truly is, etc.

Musashi is an outstanding protagonist, you can pinpoint every reason for everything he does through his backstory. He's proactive, a loner, a violent and angry, but scared man, and there's all a reason for it. Vagabound adresses a pretty entertaining question, too: what if the protagonists dreams are just wrong?

The manga can teach you a lot about life, but it just doesn't stay on philosophy and character writing: the fights and conflicts are very suspenseful, the manga isn't scared of making Musashi look weak. He loses fights, he gets beaten to an inch of his life, and he even steps on a nail while walking! But he gets through everything, and not only by getting physically stronger. He learns a lot about life, and that reflects on how he uses his sword. Musashis's mind gets stronger with him, and the manga does such a good job at tying this journey about personal growth to it's characters and it's fights.

It's a must read if you like self contained and very personal stories about a complex character continually evolving and learning.

Everybody pretty much knows what happens in this story. A battle of wits between "L" and Kira. I'll keep it short and straight to the point: the art is incredible, especially the hair, but the plotlines with the different tactics was awesome to read, especially towards the end where "N" and Kira give their big monologues about how they got the advantage on the other.

While reading the story, you may come to understand Kira's side (evil needs to be wiped out, but can only be done by a divine presence. I believe that's a truth in this world.), but you will love L even more for all the stunts he pulls. Now there are going to be characters you'll hate, such as Mello, Misa, Higuchi, Mikami.

Now, of course the best part of the manga was Kira vs. the original L (Lawliet), even though that had a huge decline in quality with the Yotsuba group story-arc (just pointless overall), and I didn't really care for Near (N), as he was plain useless until the last 10 or so chapters. Near is no Lawliet. That said, you'll absolutely love this classic.

This manga has stolen my heart. At first, I watched the anime, which only used the first 47 chapters or so of the manga, which I enjoyed thoroughly. However, it has taken me far too long to get to read the manga.

I have read 84 chapters as of now, and all I can say is that I'm highly pleased with it and it's worth the read. The art style is probably the first thing you'll notice and it's beautiful.

The storyline the manga follows is just so enjoyable, it includes so much emotion and thought. The way the whole manga is portrayed is amazing. It's catered well to the era it's set in and uses the characters they introduce well and with a purpose, not like some other mangas which introduce characters just for the sake of it. All the characters have a reason for being there and contribute somewhat to the plot or the development of the main characters.

Overall, I would recommend this manga to anyone who likes a good laugh, a good bit of action and a strong female lead.

This was a fantastic read. While it wasn't super fast-paced the story-telling of Urasawa managed to have me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire manga. I loved that all the characters, no matter how small they seemed, tied together to tell a masterpiece of a story in the end. This beautifully portrayed issues on morality in the tale of Tenma and Johan. The character development was wonderful for Eva, and I loved watching her grow as a character. Additionally, Johan has become one of my favorite villains in manga history because of this character's complexity. He is at first painted as just a black and white evil guy, but the lines between morality are blurred as we learn more about him.

I often equate light novels to be at the similar degree of manga—that is, I also regard them to be inseparable in presenting its medium, given that illustrations were provided to support that this is meant to be visualized with a certain art style. I've never been really familiar with them, only having some in my reading list but never getting around to actually read them.

Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria, or HakoMari, has made me appreciate the light novel medium more as a separate being to how manga presents itself, and shows that it can transcend hopes of ever seeing an anime adaptation that will be able to justify its complexity.

Now that formalities have been set in order, it's time to get on the actual reviewing.

HakoMari thrives on its consistency—not just for entertainment value, but through the constant amount of asspulls it does throughout the whole series. I read the first volume without expectations, and what I got was an interesting approach to Groundhog Day, and just by reading how many times the loops had happened you can already see how ridiculous the situation is. It doesn't stop there, as wishes can apparently be granted through the use of so-called "Boxes"—yessir, you heard it right. BOXES. This is when I noticed that this isn't just your average asspull. This is—advanced asspull.

Oh, did I also mention how edgy as shit this can get?

I mean for the first volume with how they reveal the culprit behind Groundhog Day was already way too fucking edgy, but it doesn't stop there as the series makes you bathe in teenage angst (i.e. BULLSHIT) for the rest of the story way until the final volume. One particular character can't keep his edge and that's why he decides to change the world because that's how a normal high school student really acts. But then again, the characters aren't normal to begin with.

You have this one normal guy who slowly turns psychotic because of all the things he has seen until his moral compass becomes way too deranged, you have this mysterious lady with a severe case of identity crisis, you have a white-haired dude who pierced his ears and dyed his hair just because "pfft I dunno" while being a total dick to his ex, you have a totally irrelevant "best friend" that isn't really relevant to the story but the author tries his best to, and you have the aforementioned ex who has gone through I DON'T FUCKING KNOW because all of them have the same common denominator; they all despair. There are also other side characters who seemingly bear the same amount of intellect as these people who can be very cunning and manipulative with wordy outsmarting tactics (that are so fucking unbelievable for their age) but has as much maturity as a three-year old who just had his candy taken away.

You'd think that with these honest yet accurate descriptions of characters, I wouldn't recommend this series at all right?

Well, of course, if I pose up that question, you already know what the answer is.

Much in the similar vein as Death Note and other series that claim to be "psychological warfare," HakoMari works in the similar manner to be appealing—and that is through unbelievable situations mixed in with a serious and close-to-real-life background. Part of the unbelievable situations are the characters, and that's why they may seem as superficial as they can get.

That is what makes HakoMari entertaining.

It doesn't take as much to suspend your disbelief when you start reading this—in contrast to something like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, which can be agreed upon that requires an IMMENSE amount of suspension, HakoMari effectively balances its depth as a story while retaining that superficiality—which is like the series was simply made for one to observe it and note how ridiculous everything is, but you keep reading because it has some underlying realism mixed within. It's quite a page-turner because of how fucked up the scenarios are with blood and the stench of angst, the mindgames are very smart that it's hard to predict what will happen with the story. Who will win? How will they do it? It's much more fun to read it without you having any knowledge of who the characters are—because you don't know what their true nature is in the first place, and the author cautiously places Chekov's guns (and gunmen) from start to finish to show that this story has a direction.

With regards to the characters, they aren't as bad as I make them out to be, although there is some degree of truth with my words and how I described them. They aren't really noticeable once you get into the tone of the story overall, and it is with these unbelievable traits that the story gets more interesting. Also, they're anime characters, duh.

If you remove the age and edge though, you get to see these amazingly complex characters. You have Kazuki Hoshino whom at first glance is your average light novel/rom-com MC with his own (psychotic) harem, but eventually grows to be a cunning mastermind at mindgames, paired with Maria Otonashi, who by far is unlike most characters I have ever seen—an antisocial badass chick with a straightforward yet unpredictable personality. And these are just the main characters—I would need a longer page to describe each and every character and their internal conflicts that form the shape and structure of this very series. Each character gets to have their chance in the spotlight and as the story goes on you learn about their motives and how their minds work.

In terms of moods and themes, the very background of Boxes and their abilities to grant wishes are a perfect fit with its characters—it's like they were made exactly to be together. It's as if the series was deconstructing edge with edginess itself, and shows that being too sociopathic/psychopathic destroys your very existence. The themes explored in HakoMari are not in any way positive, and they may even be too mature for the characters themselves. This is probably what a book would look like if Nietzsche decided to write about nihilism at age 15.

Going back to the actual story, I commend Eiji Mikage for properly constructing the purpose of each volume even with huge intervals with its release dates, in such a consistent manner that every book always manages to surpass the previous installment. In the way arcs are presented, they are always executed with proper plot devices that are surprisingly natural. The story, I believe, was structured with:

Volume 1 - An exposition to the characters and the unbelievable nature of the whole series. Filled with interesting twists that get you hooked as the story goes on.
Volume 2 - A further expounding on how creative can Stands—I mean Boxes get. Presents a conflict that questions how Maria and Kazuki trust each other.
Volumes 3 and 4 - An actual arc that pounces on the status quo and shakes its foundations. A great death game arc that imposes emphasis on eventual character development that will become critical in future volumes.
Volume 5 - The status quo crumbles and you become unfamiliar with this human chess game again. The story retains that serious feeling but you know things are only going to get wider in scale from this point on.
Volume 6 - Every belief you had initially is completely destroyed and you become an atheist. The chess game reaches the endgame stage yet it is still unsure who will finally gain the upper hand.
Volume 7 - Everything comes into full circle as the truth behind everything is revealed and the characters come into terms with their internal and external conflicts.

Volume 7 is probably the weakest of the series, in my opinion, but it is the most necessary. It builds on everything the first six volumes had done thus far—a conclusive character resolution arc that is not as half-assed but still needs to be ridiculous. It doesn't have the same flair as the previous books that are filled to the brim with keikakus, but it does have the edge to the extreme and ends it in the most satisfying way possible—giving the characters more backbone in an emotional rollercoaster of an ending.

In no way is this series perfect. The fact that I can rant for about the first half of my review shows it—but it's this impressive creativity that makes it stand out for me. It isn't that easy to write, mind you—more so pulling out things out of your ass in more than one way possible. These ridiculous stalemate scenarios in HakoMari shows the effort in how the author has known how this world will work—and how he can use its preset rules to his advantage. And after all, I did mention how this was quite a page-turner. It invoked feelings of mental pressure to me, the reader, however I could not drop it because this intensity can only be found in such as HakoMari's world-building. It makes you want to know what happens next, and every volume's ending guarantees a continuation that is too relevant to put it aside for even one moment. (I could just imagine how satisfied are the readers who had to put up with that two-year gap between Volume 6 and 7.)

HakoMari isn't certainly one of the best novels out there either—but it executes so damn well how a light novel can function on its own without having so much as to rely on an anime adaptation to justify its quality. It also ends on a mood that may not be as smart as its original premise, but ties everything to a proper and well-deserved conclusion, utilizing everything it had to that point.

I bought some physical copies of the manga because I was a fan of the anime. I read some and I had to stop after I saw something. Sexualization of children in anime/manga is somewhat normalized, so when I see it I usually skip it and pay no mind. Whoever thought of this, drew it, and whoever let this print and major issues. This made me super uncomfortable. It's a shame the artist did such disgusting things because he is very talented, as shown in the shots of the different layers. I give this a 1 out of 10, would not recommend to anyone and I advise you to stay away.

someday one boy just want to the find peace place but the world give so many obstacle.

First thing i saw this manhwa from 2020 Challenge and then some reviewers take this 10 out of 10. I'm confused this cover what story is about. after i just read it 3 chapter, i wanna read it and go though what story teach us.

story and character give me think about how best anime will be. All charater make sense and story is stand alone from drama manhwa.

art so cool so amazing. it have less picture but it give more detail and emotion as well.

all of rate i will give 10 except art is 9 caz it have lack of line resolution and no color. (i plan to give 8 but this's look like get along the story tone)


overall 10 / 10

I don't really like doing reviews before the series is finished but this one i have to make an exception for. (I did the webcomic first)

~Spoilers~

This is like the Anime/Webcomic which i am glad, all follow the source material to the letter, and makes this series a cut above the rest. The lack of deviation is why the entire series is beautiful. This Manga is drawn by Yuusuke Murata a very well know artist, and fan of the webcomic. the comedic overtone and the really impressive fight scenes are at the heart and soul of the series. The introduction of class ranks and positions within the ranks; in-fighting and backstabbing at lower echelons is very intriguing. There really is no slow point in the series that i can recall, so the pacing is very good. In order the series should be done is: Anime-Manga-Webcomic. That way the story will drive you to stay with it. Well worth all the time you spend with it. Yes there was some copy-pasting here but it really is a very good series that should be in anyones top ten.

Yokohama shopping trip is truly the best slice of life manga out. Told through the lens of Alpha, an undying android, it's set in a post apocalyptic japan where the sea level has risen (and continues to rise), flooding cities and roads. There aren't many people left but those who do group together in tight-knit communities.
Our main character, Alpha, runs a remote cafe on the coast. She gets few visitors and she waits for the return of her mysterious master. Her origins are unclear and very little is revealed as the manga progresses.

The setting and characters are unique and enjoyable - Seeing the interactions between Alpha and her friends and her going about her life. It's light-hearted and relaxing.
Each chapter starts and ends peacefully. Life is slow and you can almost feel the sea wind, blowing through the grass and trees as the world quietly slows down.

Alpha is given a camera as a present from her master which she uses regularly. She drives her scooter around meeting new people and finding new places.
The art really shines when Alpha is travelling - beautiful landscapes of sunken cities, streetlights silently glowing under the waves; sand swept coastlines and bustling cities.
On her travels Alpha meets many people. Some mysterious, some normal. Every character feels real and their life, past times and comings and goings are interesting and genuinely engaging.

Alpha, being an android, doesn't age. As the manga goes on, you see Takihiro and Matsuki, friends of Alpha who are children at the start, grow up. Their views on life, relationships with others and their hopes for the future change and mature.
Individually each chapter isn't massively special but, like life, looking back over it makes you appreciate the changes and is incredibly emotive, helping you to appreciate the small, seemingly insignificant stories told - There's a great joy in Takahiro and Matsuki's growing up, but a deep sadness as the world around Alpha slowly dies out.

As the sea rises, characters, with relationships and lives built and explored throughout the manga; age and move on, slowly leaving alpha alone.

Yokohama Shopping Trip is a celebration of life, of people and relationships as well as a lament to how all good things come to an end. It's a stunning, engaging and incredibly emotive manga incomparable to anything I've ever read.
It can be summarised by a beautiful chapter where Alpha grows a sunflower which ends with: "After a while the sunflower died and wilted without thinking of our feelings."