ae_shinobi6

It kind of offends me that this manga is so praised.
If you are considering taking this up let me tell you one very important thing. It's a spoiler for sure, but it's a fair one because without knowing this you can end up accusing the manga of false advertising:
you will not learn here how a monster is created

As I am sure you know, the story is about a surgeon on a road trip looking for a kid he saved on the operating table, a kid that turns out is pure evil, a monster, something like a murdering psychopath/genius tactician/politician/businessman and also, oh man was this silly, a master of disguise. The surgeon will follow the kid's trail through the years, learning what he's been up to both before and after that fateful surgery.
To me, with a total of 162 chapters, this was about 100 chapters of hate reading. Do not think for a second that any part of me thought this was a good manga just because I read all of it. This was like watching the American TV show Heroes, a show famous for declining in quality season by season until I was honestly relieved it got cancelled.
It's the "I'm sure it'll get better" effect, and Monster truly doesn't. You meet one or two nice characters here and there (right now I only remember one but I am sure there were others) but there is just no payoff.
Apparently with this author, you'll probably like one of his works and feel some form of disdain towards the other, the two works being Monster and 20th Century Boys. I am indeed a 20th Century Boys guy. Full of flaws for sure, and kind of annoying patterns and tons of evidence that he did not plan to write that one for so long, but at least there is payoff, good payoff, and something that ties it all together and leaves you feeling something.
Monster is likely to leave you empty, but then of course people here give it 9s and 10s, so maybe I am just not smart enough to understand the nuances of this masterful piece of work...

(There will be some small spoilers, but they won't interfere with the main plot.)

When I first picked up Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria, also known as HakoMari, I was shocked. I realized this guy's writing style was similar to mine. I was happy about it, too. I thought, "Wow, this guy's ranked #4 in the manga list, and it's not even manga, it's a light novel that's up here!" "My writing's so similar to his, too!" I've always wanted to start writing books, and I've always been good at poetry, so, well, put yourself in my shoes. I'm excited.

So I continue reading. The first volume was amazing, no doubt about it. You get your hatred for the antagonist, you care for the protagonists; I'll skip the individual explaining, but basically, the characters are great. Actually, this entire Light novel has one of the most amazing characters I've seen. Everyone's explanations are so in depth and detailed that I feel like I've met these people in real life, as if they were my best friends.

But that's really all there is to this story.

Now maybe it's unfair. I dropped HakoMari on the end of the 4th volume (It'll probably say something like 4 out of 40, but it's honestly a pain in the ass to count the chapters in this.) and the reason I did so is because the story is just aggravating. So maybe I should've gone the whole way through to rate this story, but I honestly couldn't even force myself to read any more of it.

Dude, it's bad. I felt like my own self confidence had taken a hit. I still stand by my statement that my writing is similar, which is exactly why it's hard for me to say exactly how much I despised the writing in this.

Everything is so god damn scattered that it hurts thinking about it. Doesn't help that I have constant headaches anyways, but this story intensified it by at least 5 times. As if calamity isn't a clusterfuck itself, this story offers a clusterfuck OF calamity, and every single volume leaves you with more questions than answers, and you're forced to just accept it.

Maybe they're all answered in the last volume, but no, FUCK that. I couldn't care less. If it was just one or two questions, then I would be waiting on hands and knees for the answer, but no, the list of questions is as long as Santa's in those Tim Allen movies.

I love cliffhangers. I love leaving the reader with a question, a reason to keep on reading, but I couldn't stand this. And, as if the story being filled with plot holes wasn't enough, the writer has this very strange outlook on people. There are a few characters in this story who act on nothing but "Because I can." Of course, many characters in this story CLAIM that they do something "Because they can", but really do have an ulterior motive; however, for some, it's not the case.

(Spoiler here) One of the side-characters claim that someone they liked was manipulated into liking someone, and that someone brought her to a hotel, then left, locked the door, and called all his friends over to that room to gangrape her. To this day, I have no FUCKING idea why the author felt the need to tell us this aggravatingly depressing story, because it literally had no impact on the main story, maybe aside from further tainting this side-character's morals. These kids are in high school. Fucking high school. If this high school was real, and I had heard of the kids in it, I wouldn't let any of my children go in a 100 mile radius of it, and I'd probably try and start a riot to get literally half that entire school behind bars.

Now I dropped the book at the start of volume 5 for a reason. Spoiler alert, but the main concept of the fifth volume is manipulation. More importantly, someone who has the power to manipulate anyone who has done even the tiniest thing bad, all while claiming to be a vigilante of justice. Of course, he's anything but, and it's his judgement of "bad" and "good", not a logical, moral, or ethical one. If he thinks you're a bad person and he wants you to be under his control, well, fuck you!

Thing is, I don't want to read anymore of this. Every single volume involves the legendary and my personal most-despised trope: "Break the Cutie". Every character who you think is good, kind, cute, or what the hell ever, will undoubtedly end up being crushed into oblivion, to the point where YOU'RE wishing they don't live anymore for their own god damn sake. Even when they get a good ending, they're so beyond screwed up that you can't help but think it would be better if they hadn't existed at all. And, well, seeing as Volume 5 is about manipulation, which is almost always the leading factor in "breaking the cutie", I'm calling it quits.

So maybe I'm just weakhearted, and that's why I don't like this. Maybe I should read it the whole way through because there's some "happy ending". But after playing G-Senjou no Maou and watching/reading similar animes and mangas, and reading many other books with stories involving tragic experiences which we see one displayed in every volume of this book, I'm done. This entire story is beyond too melodramatic for me. I was expecting a thriller mystery with a hint of romance and no comedy, but I get these super in-depth characters being crushed every single volume, who somehow can still give me wisecracks and smart-ass remarks that are genuinely funny.

The romance aspect of this story is literally fucking retarded, because for some reason, during the flesh and meat of the story, the romance is almost literally non-existent, but when they go back to their school lives, suddenly a typical high-school rom-com-esque romance takes place.

TLDR summary of this entire review

Story - 2. An absolute clusterfuck that somehow manages to pull itself together at the end of every volume, but still leaves a bunch of plot holes.

Art - 6. It doesn't really exist in this, since it's a light novel, but it's still a 6 because even though the drawings are good, I can't base the characters off of them. Someone that long haired walking around without tripping over her own hair every 5 minutes barely seems realistic to me.

Character - 10. This is undoubtedly the most painful thing about this story, because every character is completely mentally destroyed every end of the volume, and somehow they act "perfectly normal" at the start of the next one. I can't even imagine it being like that, though it's written that way anyways. If a character's gonna act some way or another, give me a reason to believe it.

Enjoyment - 3. I tried so fucking hard to enjoy HakoMari. I really wanted to. Like I said, the writing is very similar to mine, so it feels like I'm insulting myself when I say "It's just bad." But really, it's just bad. If anything, I feel like I could learn what NOT to do by reading this story.

Overall - 5. Pick up HakoMari if you can withstand all your favourite characters being emotionally raped, as well as a story so loosely put together it may as well not exist. It's like reading a story about two tragic characters, then putting them through a bunch of random missions that just tighten their bond, then giving them an ending. Fucking hell if I know how this shitshow ends, but I'm glad I don't, because given the way it's gone so far, I highly doubt the ending's going to rest well with my heart.

Also, you can notice how I get more irritated towards the end of the review. That's because this stupid story genuinely aggravated me. I can't give it less than a 5, though, which is even more aggravating, because without the characters, this story is a solid 1, and even then, I'm depressed that these characters even exist, because I just feel sympathy and pity for them.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, but this story tries WAAAY TOO HARD to be philosophical. Holy shit, it's embarrassing at most points. I liked the Monogatari series; though it was philosophical, it was the intention, and it was professionally executed (IMO), and it made sense from start to finish. Nobody acted outside of their character unless it made sense for them to. However, in HakoMari, the metaphor made no fucking sense, and the philosophy was so aggravatingly stupid that it genuinely hurt my head to think about it.

It felt like something I'd read from a scene 12 year old kid who somehow found a college-level philosophy course online and decided to write a story as a thesis. Don't read HakoMari if you're expecting a good story. I might read the last few volumes, and I might change this review because of it, but don't expect anything higher than a 6 or, MAYBE, a 7. Like I said, without the characters, this story would get an overall score of 1. Even with the characters, the story itself is just full of unexpected melodrama and pseudo-philosophical bullshit that it's painful to read anyways.

If, miraculously, that one last volume of HakoMari manages to make this story from a 1 to a 10, I'll go and learn sign language or something. Maybe get my friends to dig me up to my head and stone me. Maybe I'll jump off a fucking skyscraper, because I am 100% sure that there is no fucking way in hell 1 volume can save the absolute shit-tier writing in volumes 2-4. (Honestly, volume 1 was good. Good enough that it could've made a good anime. It should've stopped there, though.)

EDIT: COMPLETELY REWRITTEN (2021)

-INTRO:
Made in Abyss is a manga I often think about. I’m not talking about theories to solve the mysteries that belong to the world. I’m talking about the manga in itself. How did the author come up with such a powerful, engrossing, impactful, memorable and wonderful story. Everything about this manga is perfection. The more I think about it, the less sense it makes. Let me explain. Have you ever seen or read something, and as soon as you’re done with it, the only impression you have of it is “wow”. This is it, Made in Abyss is this and more. If you’ve watched some of the interviews of the author, Tsukishi Akihito, even him is amazed with what he created. And I can’t help but agree with the fact that this manga is a one in a million experience you hardly will ever forget. Whether you liked the manga or not, Made in Abyss leaves a mark. In my old review I was almost upset at how underrated this manga was, and when I tell you that I’m truly happy that many more people saw the potential this story holds, I mean it. Let me explain and justify why this manga is the best in its category.

-STORY:
The abyss, a giant chasm. Brought to life thanks to countless creatures, wonderful places you’ll hear about, mysteries no one knows the answer to and a logic that belongs to the abyss and the abyss only. It’s no surprise that the unknown is something humankind doesn’t want to have deal with, and that’s why the first thing you will want to do is to explore all of it, to face with the unknown and to analyze it. Curiosity is the very essence of our species and the main protagonist Riko is the embodiment of it. We follow Riko in her journey, what she discovers, is what we discover. The adventure she feels, is the one we feel. The answers she’s looking for, are the ones we’re looking for. Made in Abyss is first and foremost an adventure manga. This doesn’t mean the adventure in the world of Orth, the city built surrounding the abyss, is all about exploring and nothing more. No, it’s much more than that. Every time I mention adventure, is not the superficial meaning of it, but it’s also the study of one self and what it means to deal with it. Being Made in Abyss mostly a character driven story, is really no use talking about the story alone without properly talking about the characters.

CHARACTERS:
The characters in Made in Abyss have always been a grip for many. The main issue for some people is Riko. Riko is a naive 9yo child that wants know more about the abyss and her supposedly dead mother who’s waiting for her at the end of the so called “netherworld”. The more Riko descends into the abyss, the more she discovers about things she didn’t know about herself. That’s exactly what makes Riko a controversial character for many. She is a seemingly bland and empty character who acts very childishly (and what a surprise, she’s a child!) that doesn’t seem learn nothing from her mistakes. That’s what most people think of her and that’s where all of them make wrong assumptions about her character. As I previously said, Riko is the very essence of curiosity and naivity, and that’s okay. She’s not supposed to be more than that. Riko IS the main plot of Made in Abyss, without her carelessness we would have probably stayed in Orth and never exploring the abyss. If you can’t understand that Riko is adventure itself, we’re are reading a different manga. We have then Reg, a robot, maybe a human, or maybe both, that Riko finds in approximately to Orth in the first layer. Reg, having lost all of his memories, decides to stick with Riko in her adventure. Reg is another character many people are not happy with. Let me tell you again why he’s another outstanding character in the series. While Rilo embodies the adventure, Reg embodies the mystery. Who’s Reg? Where did he come from? Is he a robot or a human? What is his relationship with Lyza? Why did he lose all of his memories? Reg is supposed to be the big question and the key to the whole plot. That’s what makes the character the story itself. The known (Riko) and the unknown (Reg) gets together to embark on a long journey to get the answers we want and to feel the adventure of out two little children. Or course, Made in Abyss has many more characters that embodies even more aspects of humankind. Nanachi is a character that give a meaning to a journey strictly related to death; what it means to lose an significant other and to move on. Ozen, the lost of sanity in order to keep adventuring no matter what. She tries to give us an explanation of why the abyss is so feared yet adored. Bondrewd embodies science. To give answers to some of the mysteries and questions we might have, through science Bondrewd tries to challenge the abyss and its curse. Science always come at a cost, and in this case it means sacrificing someone to reach our own goal. Also, we could discuss about him being one of the best antagonist ever. We’re also introduced to Faputa, the embodiment of value, another character similar to Nanachi, but also not. Faputa is another character goes through the stages of grief and loss, but unlike Nanachi, Faputa stops at the second stage (anger), and itms throughly explored with a very detailed and inner journey of oneself and all the psychological aspects. We have then Prushka, which I can’t discuss about for spoiler reasons and Vueko, another character, more similar to Riko. Vueko is more of an adult version of Riko. But on the contrary, she at some point gives up. Lastly, Wazukyan, one of the three sages. He’s a sacrifice himself, gives up everything for the abyss, and becomes part of it.

ART:
It’s no secret that Made in Abyss has one of the best arts in the whole manga world. On par with other authors such as Boichi, Inio Asano and Kentaro Miura, Tsukushi Akihito succeed with flying color in giving an identity for Made in Abyss. Each manga page is filled with life. The abstractness, the details, the imagination and the shades all come together to give life to the Abyss and its characters. It’s art that depicts both the beauty and the horror of the abyss. Characters designs are unique and memorable, the creatures are different from one another, the imagination seems to never end, and they never fail to feel cute and fluffy or horrifying and dangerous. There isn’t really much to say here, the drawings really speak for themselves. They are a feast for the eyes and should be a reason alone to give Made in Abyss a try.

ENJOYMENT:
Some people have got many issues and struggle to find a reason of why someone could enjoy Made in Abyss. This manga is not all about suffering and torture porn, it’s absolutely not about the sometimes questionable nudity scenes of underaged children and it’s not a story that doesn’t know what do with itself. The enjoyment directly comes from the story’s unpredictableness to the antagonists that aren’t really antagonist, to the charming character and the many mysteries of the abyss. It doesn’t really take much to give an answer to why would someone could enjoy Made in Abyss. Made in Abyss is in my opinion a one in a lifetime experience that no one should miss out. It is truly the wet dream of everyone who wants to go on an adventure that comes with stakes rewarded by beautiful sceneries and strong bonds. The suffering is just another fun part of the manga, but as I already said, it’s not just that. And agree ti disagree, as weird as the nudity is (and I want to point out that it’s not to be viewed in a sexual way), it really is another aspect to the identity that is Madd in Abyss and make a different kind of story from every other manga. Some might feel uncomfortable, but personally I don’t really care about it and I laugh at it at best. It really is nothing of importance that takes away from any of your enjoyment. If you find it an issue, then you’re probably the issue.

OVERALL:
Taking place in a lovecraftian-ish setting, this manga is not to be missed out. If you’re looking for a sci-fi fantasy adventure manga, Made in Abyss is straight up your ally being the best of the best in its category. Everything it does, is perfection and the author aims at that. I can’t help but agree with the fact that, in my opinion, Made in Abyss is modern classic that will be remembered for a very long time. Deserving all the praise it gets and more, I couldn’t recommend you a better manga.
Thanks for reading and I’m sorry for eventual grammar mistakes or weird phrasing order. Anyways, go read it.

"Masterpiece" is a buzzword commonly thrown about in relation on this website. There are many pieces of fiction people consider worthy of the title, and many more people overlook. To be honest, when I looked into reading this, I was not expecting much. At the very most, it seemed a redundant amalgamation of all of the generic clichés that come with "school life" fiction. In addition, having read Oyasumi Punpun and Onani Master Kurosawa prior to Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria (which fans have likened as Hakomari), the bar was VERY high.

My God, was I shocked.

STORY: 9 -- Immediately from volume 1, you get a grasp of this odd sort of chaotic coherence, and the ordinary conventions and tropes are deconstructed and defenestrated. The utter nuance of the piece is incredible.

Volume 1 does take its time unraveling the plot; details aren't force fed, but allowed a slow digestion time as the story lets you catch up at the same pace as the characters. Volume 2 was rather weak, in my opinion, as the story had very little to grant--it seemed almost as if an episodic nature had been born. Volume 3 seemed to continue the trend, and I had even considered absconding from the series for a short reprieve...but then I read volume 4. Suddenly, the characters develop at an incredible rate, and their stories are enough to send chills down your spine--and it only picks up from there.

I won't dally too much on the details of the story, but I will say that it is intricate and complex; there is no definite plot for the first few volumes, as it forgoes that for developing the character interactions.

ART: 9 -- The art, of course, is Light Novel art. There's not really much to work off of, but the art is very befitting for the sort of story the author is trying to convey.

CHARACTERS: 10 -- This is, in my opinion, where Hakomari excels above all other. The characters in this story are so well-made that realistic does not begin to describe them. Every single character's complex psyche is explored in this story, and you begin to realize the sheer intimacy of the characters that acts duplicitously from the grand scale of the plot.

ENJOYMENT: 10 -- This is a series that you can't seem to put down. It latches on to you with incredible force, and you find yourself absorbed into the story to the point where it would not be surprising to find yourself making exclamations while reading. I certainly did.

Overall: 10 -- The themes dealt with in Hakomari are dark. The story is a very cynical take on society, but it deals with that take so fluidly that it almost feels comfortable with the flaws in its society. It is a perfect union of euphoria and melancholy.

Is it a masterpiece? That depends entirely on how Eiji Mikage ends the story. But I will say this: it is the single greatest piece of fiction I have ever read from Japan.

3 men, 2 points in common: handicap and passion for basketball

With Real, Takehiko Inoue signs, once again, a masterpiece. I have to point out the magnificent drawings!

Disability
Takehiko Inoue tells the story of 3 young men who have seen their lives destroyed because of disability.

Tomomi Nomiya has just been expelled from high school. Passionate about basketball, he has not played since he caused a motorcycle accident in which his passenger - Natsumi Yamashita - lost the use of his legs.
While visiting Natsumi, Tomomi meets Kiyoharu Togawa. Amputated with one leg, Kiyoharu started playing handi-basketball but he finds his team mediocre.
Hisanobu Takahashi became leader of the basketball team after Tomomi's dismissal. One day he gets hit by a truck trying to steal a bike. Surgeons tell him he's lost the use of his legs.

Inoue Sensei and his love for basketball: a recurring theme
Takehiko Inoue has already praised basketball in his mythical work Slam Dunk (I have never laughed so much).

In Real, the mangaka uses basketball as therapy. Basketball, as a lot of sports, unites and enables people to surpass themselves.
Thus these three characters must accept their handicap, face it and especially stand up against it.

Friendship, love, family
The characters may gradually face their disability but it would not be the same without their loved ones who try as best they can to help them. They also have had their lives turned upside down. Standing beside each other will enable them to overcome the handicap little by little, defeat after defeat, victory after victory.

The publication rate is too slow
The only negative point is undoubtedly the publishing rate (13 volumes since 1999). If Takehiko Inoue had declared several times that he wanted to take his time and publish at his own pace, the wait becomes very long and we end up losing the thread...

You can still start the manga which currently contains 13 rich volumes. Some chapters have been released since...

In summary
A realistic and touching manga, sometimes funny, sometimes sad.
A truly inspiring lesson, sometimes very hard, that shows that no matter what the hardships, you have to get up again and again because life is worth living.

Basically you get a vrmmo setting like many fantasy ones. Tho i dont want to discourage the writer but the way the story progresses is too fast. There are many things unexplained. While the story concept is not bad but things have to be explained properly. People read ln for indepth story, it shouldnt be progressed as like scriptwriting for an anime. I get the idea of many pets but of all their interaction with mc is vauge and have to me sometimes assumed.
Basically it will be enjoyed by those ppl who sometimes skip parts when they get the idea where the story will for a while stop. Hence at that point is where the writer is expected to show his/her skills. As i progressed with the story, the story started to jump more and more without explaining the details going around.
Hence i request the writer with these details for attention for a more enjoyable story.

TEZUKA SAMA AAAAAAAAAAAA. Had to get that out of the way first lol.

Tezuka Osamu monogatari is a biography of the man known to the world as the god of manga and godfather of anime. Released as a weekly of 8-10 pages by Toshio Ban, then sub-chief of Tezuka productions, it ran for nearly 3 years. What better way to show the life of a great but in the medium which he helped grow and popularise. Tezuka was always a believer in the power of manga to transform life and would have been moved by the fact that his biography was presented in this format. The work, while a one man effort, also had insights from a lot of family, friends, admirers and so on thereby enriching the experience for the reader. The work can be broadly divided into three parts (referring to the English version specifically): his early life, his life in manga and his life in anime. In this review, I will try to elaborate on each part without sacrificing on readability to the best of my abilities.

His early life was set in a time when Japan’s militarism was at its peak. Living in this chaotic time, Osamu was a curious child with a love for stories, thanks to his parents. His mother, in particular would often recite bedtime stories, which would serve to inspire him to try his hand at writing his own tales. Through his father, he was exposed to Disney movies, a love for which would continue till his last days. He was also exposed to manga present in that time. Manga back then wasn’t the story driven version that we are now familiar with. It was more of a picture book which maybe showed one off incidents and had no continuity to it. It did allow the young Osamu an outlet for his creative talents and he would often spend time honing his artistic abilities. Classical music was another significant influence on him, serving him well in his later life, when he had to meet gruelling deadlines of several series. And of course, not mentioning his love for bug collecting would be a gross oversight on my part. Several pages of the biography are dedicated to his love for this pastime. He was a man of many talents and if not for manga, would have been successful in his field of choosing.

The end of the war, saw Japan coming to terms with its new position following the war. This stage of his life shows him being conflicted in what field to pursue, whether as a mangaka or a doctor. His mother played a huge role here, without which the world of manga would have evolved completely differently. Renaissance man that he was, he does end up finishing his medical degree. The manga world, freed from wartime restrictions saw a period of great creative blooming, with his “Shin Takarajima” released in 1948, being one of the works to achieve great commercial success. This and moving to and fro from Osaka to Tokyo, helped him establishing connections and finding friends and rivals who would drive him to improve himself throughout his life. Works such as Mighty Atom, Jungle Emperor and Phoenix to name a few were works which established him in the market as the leading children’s mangaka. He however did not let it get to his head and stayed humble, another quality which he learnt from his younger days.

In the final part of the book, it showed his attempt to develop tv anime from manga and to internationalise them. The Mighty Atom was at the vanguard of this charge which would lead to the worldwide spread and popularity of the anime culture. During this period, he also released highly experimental works which were critically acclaimed and won several prestigious awards throughout the world. This period also saw him adapting to changing trends and releasing more adult works, thus ensuring his readability, relevance and accessibility to people of all ages. And though his output was not what it once was, it was still remarkable and shows that his enthusiasm for the medium never diminished. Phoenix, his life’s work was also released in earnest and displayed his mastery of the craft with aplomb.

As for the Man himself, Osamu was a workaholic of the highest order, with an output that would often leave his assistants and editors flabbergasted. It is incredible and fortunate that he did not suffer medically, given the hours he worked. He would spend time confined for days to meet deadlines of several series he was working on simultaneously. Part of the reason was the fact that he was on a mission to prove the power of manga in transforming lives. His upbringing and experience in the war might have also been a compelling factor in driving him. His internationalism could be best seen in his characters, especially of his sci-fi works, where they belonged to humanity and that was it. His workaholic tendencies did have the unfortunate effect of him rarely being around his family. An incident comes to mind, where his daughter was surprised to learn that he would be staying at the house for that night. And there are several other instances like this which just showed that his work was of the utmost importance to him. And I am glad that the biography did not shy away from showing his flaws, which was a great thing, as it goes to show that ultimately Osamu too was human.

Onto the biography itself, the biggest differentiator was the medium of presentation, i.e. manga, which offered a unique feel to the entire read. The art replicates the style we are so familiar with and fond off, with his evolution of his art and several caricatures interspersed throughout the biography. Toshio Ban donned the role of Higeoyaji, who served as the narrator, guiding us through different stages of his life and did an apt job at it. It was a surreal experience, being told about a creator by one of his characters and was something that made me smile.

Speaking about Dr. Osamu Tezuka, one cannot forget Frederik L Schodt (in the English version at least). His foreword on this work was fun to read as it has always and sets you on what to expect. Furthermore, given the fact that his entire life is covered in under 900 page and given that it is a manga, one might feel as though we don’t learn enough about the man. But despite this, the work offers in terms of enabling us to build up on available information to enhance our knowledge about the great man. The fact that it was published in the way it was, also allows it to serve as an entry point to familiarise oneself with his daunting catalogue.

Last but not least, I would have to talk a bit about his influence on me. Being an avid fan of the man since reading Buddha back in 2014, Tezuka continues to impress me with his sheer mastery and facile portrayal of several genres and themes with aplomb in his works. This work was the necessary motivation, so as to speak, to push myself to read more works of his in the future. To finish, I highly recommend this work for its role in highlighting one of, if not the biggest name in anime and manga.

I really really liked this one-shot. I found this by chance because I was bored with reading lovey-dovey manga lately. And when I came across Aishiteiru, I was drawn by the person on the cover (who is a woman btw). I liked it a lot because the characters were nice and most of all the art was awesome. There were a few heartfelt moments in the one-shot, but I liked the way I could feel how the characters felt. Anyways, I recommend this one-shot. This story reminds me how much I love manga.

Alright, first things are first, 10 year old main character and the word Ecchi. Just think of what I was going to say here when I first read the description on Mangafox. So Sana, a horror star, wants her brother, someone who hates horror stuff, to notice her. She really loves him and even says she has been in love with him for a long time, and now we get into the part where that just sounds wrong. Not to mention the guys are perverts at when she is on set saying things like she is really cute covered in blood and want to attack her. Then we also add that it seems all men freak out and go after her when they see her /REAL/ blood. After a bit, she tries to make her brother see her blood so he would fall in love with her. Yes… that kind of story. I’m glad it ended and didn’t go any farther then that.

The artwork is kind of cute and shows the difference between horror and non-horror but Sana is way too bright. She is almost always wearing something that’s bright white and her hair is also bright white so it just makes her more ‘ghosty’ in a way.

Not much to say. Endless Eden was fine while it lasted I suppose but there's no ending. i mean that literally. the manga just stops at chapter 7. I would recommend just skipping over this manga.