Animecrazy_V11

Absolutely recommend this manga..
The art is obvious. Literally every single panel was a work of art.
It's one of those stories that was so well put together. It was poetic and beautiful in every step of the journey that's why I was hooked enough to read all 327 chapters in less than a week. lol! I mean it's loosely based off a novel and true history so that likely a huge reason the story is so well put together.

My criticisms other than hiatus: Technically none. The character growth in this manga is incredible and one of the best parts of the manga. but if you are impatient and cannot handle dialogue with hidden/ deeper meanings then I can see how you may grow tired of it at SOME parts. (Some might call it slow) For me, that was not the case. For me personally, the manga is good from the beginning but around 100 chapters in is where I REALLY got into the manga. Just something to note for people who start.

If you value development and you love action -- This is the one.

The problem with most anime is that you often find a different turn of events than the show portrays. Attack on Titan, displayed some minor differences in the manga from the show, but nothing major that would really change the course of the show.

Before i put anything to rest. Don't listen to the ones that say that the story the manga is telling is complete nonsense from the main plot. It isn't. The manga after a certain point moves onto observe the bigger problems that affect the walled city other, and then demonstrates how the events are connected. Though it may be a left turn from the Main plot of "Get to the basement and see what's goin on down there." It notes the problems and other obstacles that get in the way of the scouts before they make their expedition. For example a suspicious new type of titan, and various other things.

tl;dr: A psychological manga that’s dumb and interesting in the first half but dumb and boring in the second half. 

This manga has two pretty distinct halves. The first half is centered around a social survival game, wherein there isn’t really any fear of death or any physical danger for the most part, but a lot of psychological danger. While I suppose this is a psychological manga, it differs quite a bit from most psychological survival games, in that it’s not really a battle of wits, because the participants are all too dumb for it to be so. The game master isn’t perfect either, but does a decent enough job overall. Hence, the manga for the most part is a simple loop of the participants trying something, screwing up, and hence someone being dealt a terrible punishment. It wasn’t all that intelligent, but it was interesting enough in a social torture porn sort of way. The characters were interesting enough with crazy secrets. Still, just having crazy secrets and being dumb doesn’t make them deserving of what they got, so it’s not like these are satisfying for the most part. But on the other hand, it’s not like there were any characters that were likable or easy to get invested in either, so it was interesting enough to just watch it happen without feeling too bad. And in the end, it came together well enough, wherein the mystery turned out to be pretty simple but clear enough, and there weren’t really any major plot holes or inconsistencies that couldn’t be explained by the fact that the participants in the game were complete idiots. The second half was similar in that it was still trying to be a social survival game, but it was a mess. The game master just did things haphazardly so it just felt overtly random. It tried really hard to have some deep message regarding the relationship between teachers and students or something, but it failed at it badly and in the end it botched the overall storyline completely as it all seemed like nonsense. The characters were also still dumb but also weren’t as interesting. The pacing past the beginning of this half was also too slow and there were a lot of plot holes and things that simply don’t make sense to the point it feels like the author was changing where he wanted to go with things from chapter to chapter. Hence, while the first half certainly wasn’t a masterpiece it was solid enough for what it was, but the second felt like another attempt at doing the same thing but failing at it. The art throughout was okay. 

The only reason you would read this is you enjoy the work of FKMT (Nobiyuki Fukimoto) and wanted to survey what his early career looked like. So I'll put it bluntly, this work is straight up balls.

Story: Generic predictable romance with a weird amount of played for laughs sexual assault and alcoholism (not kidding) This story makes sense in light of the fact it was extremely early in FKMT's career, before he established his niche of cynical, psychologically dense gambling and gaming manga. Bascally, this story is completely diffrent from what hes famous for, and its a good thing he stopped writing romance.

Art: Can't even really tell its Fukimoto. FKMT's thick line work and ugly as hell characters is absent here, and its also just generally alot more amateurish. It manages to somehow be less visually appealing than his regular style, which is deliberately meant to look unappealing. Its bad.

Character: An alcoholic, an actual rapist, and the girl who longs for her childhood firend (who is now the alcoholic) Theyre weird, unmemorable characters, and lacking the nuance that FKMT is known fr.

Enjoyment: Sort of emjoyed it on a "so bad its good level"

Conclusion: If you love FKMT, this is a good read for appreciating his growth over the course of his career. If you havnt read FKMT, this is literally the worst thing of his ive ever read, so dont start here, go read like 70 volumes of Kaiji.

Overall: Bad (4)

Seldom has it been the case that a series has gotten as much undeserved slander than Devilman Lady. The rather severe judgments that have been cast against this series have some understandable points, yet at the same time I would like to argue that these criticisms are flawed and do not give Devilman Lady the dignified treatment it deserves. I will keep this review entirely spoiler free and would also like to make it clear that this series is the sequel to the original (unlike Violence Jack).

The most common complaint I have seen cited against this series is that it is nothing but a softcore hentai trying to disguise itself as something far more complex than it really is. This claim bases most of its weight on the fact that there are numerous scenes depicting nudity and light pornagraphic imagery. However, there is a distinct artistic reason why Nagai chose to design this manga in such a sexualized manner. Jun is a devilman, she is a beast and as such she is in constant confliction between her human senses and her bestial desires. The carnal longings of her being throughout the series are illustrated in her depictions as a nude figure. Of course, this makes sense as animals do not wear clothes. Nagai makes it clear that the main occupation of demons is to rape and devour their victims. This sensual excess is the very reason why humans despise the animalistic tendencies of other species. Afteralll, humans rarely resort to such behavior, and are quite adept at inhibiting them. For Jun to succumb to the wishes of the beast inside her would mean to destroy all of her humanity at once.

Another common accusation against the series is that it is convoluted. I find this to be the most bizarre and laughable attempt at constructive criticism . The series deals with many plotlines derived from multiple mythological stories and tries to weave them together in a cohesive manner. Biblical tales, Japanese folklore, Homers Greek Mythos, and even Dante's Divine Comedy all play a clearly influential role in the narrative. However, Nagai does not overcomplicate things. These major literary works are brewed together to form a classic and mind-bending manga of epic proportions. I can say with much certainty that the ending of the work is one of the biggest mind bending conclusions. Those who say that it is confusing did not really read it in the way it was meant to be read.

The premise of this manga seems a bit generic but there's a lot of different things that can be done with it so I thought there was potential. It turned out to not really do much with it though. The plot is a complete mess with no clear direction going off in random directions constantly and ultimately coming to a conclusion that resolved nothing of the many plot threads it seemed to be opening at a whim. The characters have interesting concepts in general, which was the main reason I felt there was potential, but the author seems to have a difficult time deciding what he actually wants characters to be, and hence they keep going through major personality switches constantly. I feel a major part of that is that the author didn't seem to be able to decide whether he wanted to portray vampires as good creatures or monsters that were redeemable, nor able to decide whether the church was somewhat misguided but good or power-hungry jerks. The flip flopping on that felt ridiculous. Hence, the twists were all pretty bad, character development felt non-existent, and just overall everything felt arbitrary. The battle system was also completely lacking any substance or structure and the comedy was also mostly a miss. I really did like the art which was quite good though.

A manga that has nice art but in terms of everything else is too random to amount to much.

6/10

At the time of writing this review (which I don't do that many of unless the work holds a special place in my heart), I have just finished Saiteihen no Otoko (Scumbag Loser), a manga that will stick with me until the end of time.

Story:
When I first heard about this manga, I was pretty interested in the story, so I read the first chapter (after finishing the School Days manga), and from that point on, I was hooked, and all the plot twists and turns made for a great story, so for Story, I give it a 10/10.

Art:
The art is something that definitely made it different from the other manga that I have read. I was surprised to find out that it was a Shōnen manga, because of its Seinen-esque art style, plus the graphic violence made for an even better portrayal of the story. For Art, I give a solid 10.

Character:
For it being only 3 volumes and 15 chapters, Saiteihen no Otoko seems like it wouldn't have much character development, right? WRONG. Through all 15 chapters, you question yourself, asking who do you really support? So for Character, a 10/10.

Enjoyment:
If you think you're going to enjoy reading this because you think it's a Slice of Life/Romance/Comedy manga, you will want to back the fuck away from this manga now, because if you're not used to such a dark and gritty story (especially with the art style), you will have nightmares about this manga. That being said, for Enjoyment, I give it a 10/10.

Overall:
I have immensely enjoyed this view into the darker, more graphic side of manga, reading it only in 1-2 hours. I'd definitely recommend this manga to anyone who loves the Psychological Horror genre, and can handle the blood and gore that's in this manga.

Some readers might recognise Hiroaki Samura's name from the "swords and sandals" epic, "Blade of the Immortal", possibly the romantic comedy "Ohikkoshi". If you do, and you're keen to try "Bradherley's Coach", first forget everything you might have read from this managka before. This is, simply put, very dark, chilling and very disturbing (yes, my read-at-random method has dished up another offering from the Dark Side). In a way, I'd describe it as "horror done right."

I'm going to start off with a warning - this manga will shock you. Nothing can prepare you for the premise underlying this tale. Yet he doesn't do it purely for the shock value. As with so many good story-tellers, it is merely the axle around which the story revolves... and it is an immensely compelling story that unfolds as you turn the pages.

Again, as with all good story-tellers, it's the characters that make this story fizz. Despite some scenes of graphic violence (I thought I was pretty thick-skinned, but this made me cringe more than once) - which, to his credit, he doesn't dwell on; they happen, the story moves on - it is the characters that draw us into the tale, thanks to some skilful writing and wonderful characterisation.

Although the story initially focusses on the girls themselves, showing us their hopes, dreams and aspirations, as well as adding in the subtle dynamics within the orphanage itself (what would you do to make sure you were the next girl to be "adopted" into a life of bliss?), we are eventually introduced to characters from both sides of the... er... fence. Even here, everybody is portrayed as being human, with feelings and emotions and reactions to what is happening. One chapter in particular hammers home the wrongness of what is happening, in a karmic what-goes-around-comes-around way.

In essence, this is where the power (and dare I say brilliance) of this manga lies - the sheer raw emotion it evokes within you. The fact that we know who those girls are, what they think and what they dream about and long for is, makes the fact that you know the terrible fate awaiting them all the more devastating.

The violence aside, this is not an easy manga to read - purely because of the emotional strain it puts you under. And because of that - the fact that in a few short chapters of the story, the mangaka has already awoken such strong emotions inside me, that I have to say this is easily one of the best manga I have read in a long time. Certainly, not since Battle Royale have I read one that's hit me so emotionally between the eyes.

However, once again I have to say that it's not an easy read and certainly not for the squeamish. By the end of Chapter 1 you'll either be hooked, or repulsed - I don't think there is a middle ground with this. I, however, eagerly awaited the final chapters... not too sure what that says about me...

I'm quite sad to write this, as I had initially read up until chp 21 and loved this series as something not to serious with a good sense of humor. Coming back after a while to re-read and catch up, I remembered the quirky/cartoonish way this series handled the generic isekai tropes and managed to make me laugh doing so. The author does a good job of giving the MC a lot of skills without bogging down the pace of the story by having you read too much about every single skill. Only the important skills are emphasized and explained through examples rather than a simple text box and description. The art is also a standout as the incredibly emotive features of the characters enhance the story telling quite a bit.

However, after roughly chp 24 the pacing jumps into high gear and the story becomes hard to read. What was an easy enough to follow story about survival is flipped on it's head as new skills are added without explaining how or telling us what they do, and the tone of the story takes a full 180. Plot twists come in, but that only makes it harder to tell what's actually happening as the author keeps throwing new information our way. Then right at chp 37 it cuts and jumps right back into the tone and style of story telling they had excelled at before.

This is one of your typical time travel Mangas, where the MC goes back in time for some unknown reason and starts his journey to become an op character. If you love this type of genre, then you will love this manga, since it contains all the typical elements you expect of this kind of story. I would like to state that the latest chapter, as of writing this, is chapter 8.

The story is 9/10 just because it lacks originality. This isn't the first time travel manga and it won't be the last, so if you are expecting something new then you won't find it here. That being said, just like with any other genre, if you love hard working, overpowered MCs, with otherworldly/extraordinary knowledge then the story is pretty interesting.

The Art is 10/10 since I didn't find any flaws with it. Keep in mind however that unless the art is obviously shifty I might not have detected it, so other people could see it as an 8 or 9.

The character is 7/10. There weren't any extraordinary characters and all of them till now we're pretty generic. We have the gentle beautiful MILF, and the brutish dad whom are very lovey dovey in front of their son. We also have the stubborn enemy who then turns to be a good friend, and the beautiful chick who is interested in the MC. All the characters are pretty generic, but they aren't badly designed or anything, which is why this is the lowest scored category for me.

The enjoyment is 10/10 because I love this type of genre. It has some elements that other time traveller Mangas don't which added to my enjoyment.

Overall, aside from the generic characters, this is one of the best time traveller Mangas I have read. If you are like me, and you like op MCs who turn the world upside down, then you are going to love this.