juppy10

One Piece is an astounding series. It has well developed characters with personalities all their own, fantasmic action and adventure portrayed in a believable format, and a sense of off the wall humor which leaves the masses laughing and gasping for air.
However, along with these beautifully defined characteristics, it does something which other mangas, and most comics in general, fail to do. It captures real human emotion.

The adventures the characters partake in and the personal struggles they go through are ones which any person can relate to.
While we may not stretch like rubber, fight with swords, or sprout extra appendages- we all have lost a loved one, been hurt by someone we care about, or have done something with good intentions which turned out bad.
We've all laughed, we've all cried, we've all felt emotions.
We follow the emotions with the characters best during the flashbacks, where we encounter their past experiences.

How Luffy became rubber and got his hat, how Zoro made a promise and became a 3 swordsman, how Nami came to hate pirates and love money, how Usopp became a lying orphan, how Sanji almost starved and became a chef, how Chopper lost his 'father' and became a doctor, how Robin lost everything and became a fugitive, how Franky became a shipwright and lost his mentor, how Brook 'lost' a friend and died. Every person can relate to one of these stories, some even relate to more than one.
Not on a basis of what happened to the characters, for example hardly anyone is a shipwright or a swordsman, and no one who is reading this is dead (unless you're a ghost or something)
It's on a basis of what the characters felt. The pain of loss. The hardships of life.
People who've lost a parent cried with Nami, Usopp, and Robin. People who lost a friend sobbed with Zoro and Brook. People who've starved ached with Sanji. People who've lost or hurt a loved one agonized with Luffy, Chopper, and Franky.
And yet... they keep on smiling.
There is a quote from the series, it's made by Nami's 'mother', Bellemere.
"Always remember the strength to continue laughing."

That is another thing the series does which no other can do. It gives hope.
Some of the quotes I've read/heard from this series have given me goosebumps from the power of the words they've contained.

"Always remember the strength to continue laughing." - Bellemere

"No one is born into this world to be alone!" - Jaguar D. Saul

"When do you think people die? When they are shot through the heart by the bullet of a pistol? No. When they are ravaged by an incurable disease? No. When they drink a soup made from a poisonous mushroom!? No! It's when...they are forgotten."


These quotes... are ones to live by.
Whether he knew it or not when he created this series. He created something amazing, that no other could do. He created real emotions. And he created hope.

Don't really write reviews so this is probably a mess of thoughts about a series I read nearly a year ago in a language I'm not very good at, but no one else had written one, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

This review is based on the novels (I haven't read the manga) which are mostly finished, but a short story collection for Kumiko's third year has been announced, but not yet released.

Obviously most of the novels haven't been translated so if you want you read the full series you will need to know/ learn Japanese. This was the first series I read in Japanese.

This is a very slow-paced and character focused story, following Kumiko through her three years of high school, with the goal of attaining gold at the National competition with her school ensemble. At first she is shown to be a weak-willed protagonist, easily swayed by the opinions of others and only joining the band and continuing to play the euphonium from the pressure of her peers. In early books she is very much a "Keith Shadis" bystander to the events happening around her. She is able to grow, largely thanks to the relationships with the plethora of characters and the conflicts which they overcome together.

The Characters are well developed, with interesting motivations, from which there actions can be explained. The climax for most books was the final performance for the two songs which had been practiced for the whole year. This was always a highlight for me, and from my little knowledge of Japanese it was very well written.

Overall I really enjoyed this series from start to finish. It followed a pattern of introducing new characters and new drama every year, but it didn't get stale. I think it gives you a good sense of the after-school club culture, particularly the sense of setting a goal, which might seem unrealistic, but really trying your best to reach it anyway.

Jun Hatanaka is a gekiga artist mostly known for his series "Mandalaya no Ryouta" that ran for 10 years between 1979 and 1989 with over 50 volumes. The series was centered around the son of a hot springs owner who liked to peep on women in the baths and each chapter saw a different person getting sexually harassed or raped. Hatanaka is one of these authors that mainly wrote for the mass with bawdy and vulgar stories revolving around sex and Watashi no Mura, which came out in France under the title "Mon Village", seems to belong in the same category as Mandaraya no Ryouta.

After finishing this manga… I just don't see anything that could be even remotely enjoyable about it. Watashi no Mura is about Ayu, a young lady who is bored from her daily routine in the city where she's writing for a local newspaper. To get a breath of fresh air, she decides to spend some time in the village of Mizusawa where one of her friend is living. Did I mention how Jun Hatanaka was about depicting people constantly having sex? Because that's literally the only thing happening here and it becomes quickly incredibly repetitive and monotonous without any gags to make it a bit entertaining.

I could get over it if it had other things to boast, especially since I'm usually a fan of anything set in the countryside because of the calm and bucolic atmosphere, the detailed landscapes, or in some cases to see outcasts and people living outside the limits imposed upon by life in society, but it doesn't deliver on any of those fronts. Or it actually IS about uncivilized people but you get zero development on them, nothing about their way of life, their customs,etc… The only thing you do get to know is that they're constantly horny and fuck around all day.

The art is pretty awful as well and while it's not unusual for gekigas to look a bit bland, unrefined or unstylized, this definitely belongs to the bad kinds, it's lacking in a lot of details, in the sceneries, the expressions and in the perspectives which are often messed up, and I don't think anyone would find the characters or the sex scenes appealing which is a bit ironic there because I think that's the only thing that could keep the reader's attention considering everything else sucks. It's disappointing because I thought the back cover looked really cute.

One of the subplots that is mentioned in the beginning is that the village risks getting swallowed due to the construction of a dam but this part never gets addressed and there's not any point brought against it. Worse, it will actually make you want to burn this place to the ground because of how barbaric and how close to the caveman everyone is.

Now I have no clue if some of his other manga are better than this but I really wonder how this kind of thing could've been popular at any given time.

Story 2/10

As for the story... If you are looking for something intelligent or psychologically intricate... this is not it. The sum is that the character wants revenge and is doing twisted stuff because of it. He grows stronger over time and none can beat him. He uses everyone around him and pretends to care so he can exact his revenge. I can describe as it a teenage-wet-power-dream. Otherwise it is basic game fantasy.

Art 7/10

The art is nice and pleasing to look at. Everything is clear and you can always see what is going on and everything that is wanted to be expressed is portrayed pretty good

Character 3/10

Pretty bland and what you see is what you get. Cruelty, suffering, revenge, naivity, manipulation. Aaaaand that's it. No character growth no considering of different opinions etc

Enjoyment 6/10

For all of that, my enjoyment is pretty fair. I am a fucking sadist in heart, idk.

Overall 4/10

If you like revenge, torture, sex, rape, and you don't mind poor writing and characterization: It can be a fun read

I really liked this manga because I really loved the art style. It started out very sweet, then got alittle deeper into the plot and became even more interesting. Then, it got quite creepy. I LOVE creepy mangas :D
My favorite character was Sekai. Makoto was interesting, but not quite an enjoyable character, while Kotonoha was kind of boring. The ending slightly confused me. I still think this manga was quite enjoyable, and you should read it when you have the time.
Thanks for reading this little review :3

It's been long since I read it so don't remember many details that could probably affect my rating but I'll go ahead cause I really want to write a review on this.

Story 8/10
It's innovative though not the first one but still pretty different than the rest of the mangas and considering the date when it was written.There were twists and unexpected ones,at least for me they were.Me being a sucker for romantic moments and such this manga just when you thing something is gonna happen,something really does but not what you expected.I found it funny at some points if I remember right.Maybe not something you can laugh your ass off for hours but it does have its moments too.
Well...well,the ending was totally unexpected and a bit of disappointing,but if you reconsider it you'll probably find it funny and memorable,which is always good.Still,it left me expecting more.

Art 9/10
I really enjoy the art of this mangaka.I have to admit that she draws her characters in her own style,which recognizable.They girls are just plain cuties like in Hatsukoi Limited.

Character 7/10
Now I don't remember the characters that well so I might be wrong at this one.I'm not sure whether there was development or not but the characters were nice.I doubt there was anyone annoying the hell out of me,so you'll probably be fine with them.Although I could relate as much,most likely because the manga was short.

Enjoyment 9/10
I personally(like I just said personally)enjoyed a lot it.Don't know about you but I did because of the story,funny situations,ecchiness and could be because of the reason that I was still pretty new to manga when I read it.

Overall 8/10
Again I enjoyed it.I enjoyed the story,the art,the character.I'm actually sure this is pretty underrated compared to other ecchi or harem mangas out there who all follow the same boring story line,boy-meets-girl and falls in love with her BUT only her(now that's what loyalty means).

To be clear, I have no touched the anime adaptation at all prior to reading.


Story: 6/10
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Harem, harem, harem. This is pretty much introduced in the first few panels. Therefore, I expected a majority of the story to center around the character interactions and comedy; specifically male lead + each of his girls. That was pretty much what I got. Each chapter of the manga focuses on one specific girl for the story and they take turns alternating between the 3 heroines. There were 4 chapters designated to Rin, 3 chapters focusing on Kuriko, 3 chapters for Yuuna, 1 chapter on a late addition to the cast and the final chapter served as a wrap-up to the entire series. Surprisingly, I liked this format. It allowed for separate analyses for each of the heroines and for the most part, equal amounts of screen time and enjoyment. The ending however, did not sit right with me. It felt out of place- rushed even, and left me with a bit of a "uhh, that's it?" kind of feeling.


Art: 6.5/10
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Pretty good for the most part. Considering the manga dates back about a decade, the art style is still drawn well. The mangaka did a good job meshing the styles of a high school life with elements of magic/supernatural. To my surprise there were not much, if any, ecchi scenarios drawn. If I recall, even if there were, there were extremely modest and not like the typical ones we've come to know and love. Our females while appealing, were pretty damn innocent and cute- with the designs matching their personalities to a tee. As for the background work, there weren't anything special worth mentioning but it was sufficient enough in detail to know where and when a scene was taking place. Most of the details was focused on the characters, their expressions and reactions.


Characters: 6.5/10
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By being your standard harem characters, you wouldn't expect much in this area of the manga. However, I believe designing chapters focusing on a character at a time greatly helped the female cast. Usually in a manga with a broad cast, introductions are short, simple, and rarely tapped into further. In Maburaho, the focused chapters allowed each female to have a full explanation of their back story, their emotions, their relationship with each other and the male lead and so forth. Without saying too much, each of the girl's reason to get with the main character isn't as trivial as you would think, so that was a pleasant surprise. As for the male lead, he wasn't highlighted as much as his female counterparts and his character did a sudden 180 in regards to the story.


Enjoyment/Overall: 6.5/10
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For what it's worth, this was still a decent manga to read. It was still standard fare as its genre tags go, but unique enough to standout a little from the rest. I might have enjoyed it more overall if not for the ending of the story. As I mentioned at the beginning, I have yet to watch the anime adaptation so I can't comment on accuracy, enjoyment and recommendations but I'll probably come back to edit this in the future when I do.

Story Score: 3. I was tricked. This manga tricks you with an somewhat interesting twist of the main girl being a serial killer and the protagonist falling in love with her and they make a deal for her to kill him. With small little twists and turns to make you curious but at that point you might as well just look up the ending. The story is so badly paced with dumb moments constantly and lame enough writing to entertain you when you were going through your emo existentialism phase back in middle school. With lame lines that are supposed to sound profound or cool just came off as lame or silly. On top of the lame plot points the mangaka also seemed to get tired pretty fast because they just rush the story to the ending and right when you think things might get different and there's a change of pace it falls back right into the same dumb moments that make almost no sense. I ended up rushing the last 30 chapters just so I can finally finish it

**SPOILERS** The ending is also the worst thing I think I've ever read too its so dumb and makes almost no sense whatsoever and what makes it worse is it is dumped on you last minute as a "twist" but at that point no one cares. If it wasn't for the dumb ending this would've gotten a somewhat higher score of maybe 5

Art Score 6: The art isn't bad but there definitely something off about the style and there is some odd moments where the bodies are all contorted. The manga also has a very generic look to it and some characters are okay designed but you're not missing out much here

Character Score 6: Okay so this manga does have very unique characters and refreshing twists. BUT the part that they fall short is there is little to no development to them and it seems like some characters are made just to show up and be boring plot points to nothing.

Enjoyment Score 3: Its not even worth the ride. Read this if youre truly out of better things in your life to do. Read the first few chapters and find a synopsis to spoil the rest if you cant find one just dm me I'll help you out.

Overall Score 4: I'm being very nice with this score everything up till the end is okay but overall not worth the time.

Abara is a succinct work of art by Tsutomu Nihei that accomplishes what it sets out to do; to create a world, to tell a story within that world, and to end it. Like most of Nihei's work, the story and plot details are left vague and interspersed through the information given among the occasional dialogue. It's up to the reader to piece the puzzle together and eventually the plot helps to tie these pieces together by the end.

When I initially read Abara I didn't really understand what was going on and ended up dropping it. Upon a re-read I was able to appreciate Abara for the short story it is. The story is relatively simple and most of the information of the story is given, even more so than Blame!.

All of the information relevant to the story is eventually known, and that is that white gaunas are hostile creatures that cause destruction and black gaunas are artificially created weapons made by humans in order to counter them. This is pretty much all the knowledge needed; in a work of fiction not every single thing needs to be thoroughly explained, an example being where the white gaunas came from - a question which is irrelevant to the enclosed story. So it does not make much sense for others to not understand what happened in the story, other than a few glossed-over details. However, those unfamiliar with Tsutomu Nihei's storytelling methods may come away confused so I believe it's best to read his other works first.


Abara is great for what it is. Obviously it isn't some profound story where you expect to come away with a newfound favorite fiction or expect to find some extremely deep plot. It's a 11 or so chapter story that makes an interesting world wherein human weapons exist to fight terrible creatures. And it's cool as hell. The art is fantastic, some of it even exceeding those found in Blame!, and there is enough information about the world given to feel the visceral, living, and yet dreary atmosphere.


If you want to read a short romp with excellent art, sick designs, and cool fights in a uniquely vague world, Abara is for you. However if you're expecting a crystal clear story with a deep plot, you're better off looking elsewhere.

not much to describe this manga, its just your average romcom with a scifi and supernatural elements sprinkled.

story-
our mc is infected with a mysterious disease.This disease changes the surroundings weather according to the mood of mc. a mysterious cute girl is sent to earth to help find a cure for this disease. they both have to live together and the typical 'living in same room' romantic drama follows.

art- ah its modern. just average nothing too good nothing too bad.

characters - mc is not a lot dense and not perverted either just average. girl is funny,obviously show cases a lot of her body parts (yay boner) but dont worry not too much.

enjoyment- its just ok i enjoyed it while it last. nothing to regret or anything,ending was fine.

7/10