zuultek5

I originally wanted to make it short. I'm pretty sure a long positive review is not really needed since a fan already know it and a hater would deny everything. I make it for anyone who never read One Piece, standing in neutral ground, purely want to know the secret behind its success.

One Piece is a mainstream shonen battle manga. The story is really simple, about a boy who goes on an adventure because he wants to be a pirate king. You can even change the dream part in the premise to anything like 'the strongest man', 'number one man in cooking department', 'hokage', anything. It sounds really mainstream, right? But why does ut feel so different with any other mainstream shonen battle manga?

Maybe the story is too captivating, yes. With a lot of plot twist to the point of infinite number of people's predictions are just wrong. Eiichiro Oda is capable to foreshadow a huge revelation, even for hundreds chapters after. If there's someone say One Piece has similar and repetitive plot, don't trust him. Believe in Oda; he promised to make a story unlike we've ever read before.

From the simple story, it's getting complex and more exciting, to the point of you will laugh at people judging One Piece as manga for little kids. There's a lot of things going on and you'll start to regret not to read carefully every single panel before. Enjoy wondering how huge Oda's notebook is.

And the characters are too adorable. Nothing easier than liking the awesome main character but the other characters are awesome too. They are different, they have their unique traits, and they are have their own charms. Pfft. One Piece don't even need good looking ikemen main antagonist to make him likable.

For you who are curious to start reading it, you will be surprised with the art. It his unique style, the art which makes you instantly recognize. You'll get used to it in instant. Beside Oda's art shows how much he put effort to describe the awesomeness of One Piece universe. Haters keep saying it sucks, but actually it sucks for them because they don't know the art's charm, maybe they can't draw with their own style, so don't let it bother you.

Houseki no Kuni tells a strange story standing somewhere between fantasy and sci-fi, good and bad, strange and yet addicting. It is something with the overall feeling of intertwining sorrow, nostalgia, anger and hope that makes this manga enjoyable, rather than the plot and the characters.

Phos, our main character, is like the ugly duckling of the Gem Kingdom - energetic, nice and loving, but still weak and clumsy, among a nation of fighters. And the plot is straightforward - about the growing of Phos in a strange desert-like world. I would say that the manga indeed lacks something in the development of the characters - it is somehow missing, too slow or too sudden, which could be a plus in some cases and it does not affect how lovable Phos is, but nevertheless it somehow makes the story static.

The Art is fine, but it does look a lot like shoujo (the long limps somehow remind me of CLAMP art, I wonder why), although I would say this manga has nothing to do with the genre. It does fit seinen more and I would say the contrast between the art of the Gems and the devoid of life world is refreshing. The plot is also fine, but could be too slow or predictable from time to time, taking into consideration that most of what I've read so far was..let's say fighting.

Even though I said all of this, I would recommend this manga and I do hope they would make at least an OVA out of it. It has its bad sides, but it's enjoyable and indeed refreshing, more like your Sunday afternoon reading, than anything else. I find it addicting and I would continue to follow it, despite its downsides and I hope helped you consider reading it. It's worth for the feeling. :)

I'lll just get to the point here: it wasn't very good. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I did NOT understand any of it???? Like firebird357 says, the plot for the main characters, Hanako and Ryoji, were rushed in WAY too fast but at the same time I understand why the auther did this. It's just like a movie; when the plot for the main character(s) isn't directly shown or said, we instead get flashbacks with bits and pieces of what happened until everything comes together and we understand why the main character(s) are the way they are. But even then, I don't understand why or why the author wrote it this way. I DO NOT want to spoil the ending but I'm guessing there was a twist in there, which threw me off and made me even more irritated with this manga!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Overall, the characters leaned toward pretty good, but because of the plot, sadly, it ruined good characters. I thought the art was absolutely flawless, capturing every emotion the characters felt, so I definitely gave the art rating a 10/10. Giving an overall rating for this manga was very hard for me because the characters were good, the art was outstanding, but the story was so lacking and disappointing???? So I almost dropped it after chapter 2, but decided not to in hopes of it getting better, which it never did in my opinion. Oh! I almost forgot one more thing...the what were supposed "exciting" and "suspenseful" scenes never came. I never felt neither of those emotions nor the feeling you get in your stomach when reading horror manga and you can't click the next button fast enough. I read there will be an Anorexia: Shikabane Hanako wa Kyoshokushou 010?? And to be honest with you, I'll probably read that because knowing me, I have to finish reading something no matter how awful it is. Maybe we will get more insight to everything? More clarity? Ugh...hopefully...So all in all, don't waste your time on this manga...Or do to find out for yourself? I wish a chapter 10 would be released so I can have some closure. At least.

Holy Knight is not a Hentai but gets fairly close to being one. With the mature tag attached to this story we find our male protagonist being the descendant of someone who was awesome while he is an average looking guy with no remarkable features, basically our every fantasy story protagonist.

Story : 8/10 - The story has a late inside plot behind it that slowly unrolls, while that happens we find sex scenes and the relations between everyone in the story. We find vampires and the Church having their usual troubles and it all comes down to our protagonist who is the descendant of some big shot.

Art : 10/10 - As usual Miyazaki Maya has her series with amazing artwork, from scenery, character looks, to fight and sex scenes they are next to none. When you read someone crying and desperate you feel the characters desperation from the artwork, brilliant is far from enough to compliment it.

Character : 8/10 - The characters aren't really complicated, bordering on predictable, you can really tell what someone will do in decision time. But they are far from disappointing, from the main characters to supporting characters they are very well made giving them personality of their own.

Enjoyment : 8/10 - The enjoyment is very good, the sex and ecchi scenes you can tell they are not mere fanservice they get your feelings and attachments to each character on a different level not seen in many series, with Holy Knight you can really peak on how you feel about the series or a character in specific.

All in all this is a great series, makes you look forward for the next chapter, thanks to this new level of emotional involvement you kind of hold your breath through a chapter and it feels like you only let the air go when you read the next chapter, mainly thanks to the sex scenes? Maybe, but that's still an amazing series that would still be amazing without them, but you reach a whole new level thanks to them since most series fail to approach this style.

Kentaro Yabuki is an amazing artist, and that's why I decided to check out this mangaka...that's it. I have seen so many panels from other mangaka that Kentaro Yabuki have drawn, and they are all beautiful including the visuals for Ayakashi Triangle.
The plot is not exactly the best, but I really love the artwork so I decided to try and stick with it.. but then I couldn't... and here is why.
The concept of a genderbent character is fine, you see it in fan art and anime a lot, so I am pretty used to it at this point. That is not my problem at all. My problem is though in fact driven by the choice for the only motivation the main characters to have is changing the once male and now female main protagonist back into a male. I would have liked to see the characters have some kind of motivation before the plot started (and no not backstory) and then have the gender swap problem throw a wrench in their original quest.
My other problem is that the main villain that turned our main character into a female, literally takes the form of a friggin yokai cat. Let me be 100% clear when I say I cannot stand when the main villain in a story sucks. This villain sucks.
I do like however, the idea that the female protagonist (can't remember her name oops) attracts dangerous yokai creatures, that main character-kun has to slay. It brings more chances of conflict into the plot, and more fight scenes are always welcome in my house.
Although I have only read about 5 or 6 chapters of this manga, I can say with certainty that no matter how much I like the artwork, I will not be able to sit through such a bland story.

Sanjin Sadou is a supernatural manga written between 2002-2004 by Mizukami Satoshi (Hoshi no Samidare, Spirit Circle, Sengoku Youko), it consists of 2 volumes of short chapters (about 15 pages each). It's the author's first serialization.

The manga follows a guy in his 20s or early 30s named Sadou Kokugetsu Shinkun Fubuki (but almost everyone call him Fubuki) who has weak supernatural powers and helps people that have these sort of problems, he gets payed of course, but only with junk and few money. It's the most basic of premises, throw in a cute bespectacled girl and we have the story of Sanjin Sadou. Let's not fool ourselves, it's as generic as eating ice cream in the summer. Why I read it? Because Mizukami is one of my favorites mangaka, but I don't consider it a waste of time. The setting is our world.

The author has a way to keep the reader's attention because he tried to make this manga enjoyable even with the cliche premise. The first chapters are episodic in nature, like I said above, Fubuki has to cleanse/defeat a spirit (ghost, monster, youkai, you name it) with the help of his sidekick Yoru. Every chapter is fun to read because Fubuki is weak, he can barely outsmart the spirits, he has to use his brain most of the time, it's not like he goes somewhere, sees demon, kills him with magic, rinse and repeat, no! One time he has to find lost cats, one time he has a drinking contest against a penguin and so on. He cheats his way to victory so to say. People who like action and over powered main characters may not enjoy this that much. Well, there are fight scenes with magical elements, super high jumps and strong punches, I really liked the battle choreography but an "action junkie" will not be impressed. I liked it, it was energetic and the final fight delivered some great scenes.
And I enjoyed Fukuki's manner of defeating the monsters in the episodic chapters, it's my kind of thing.

Another characteristic of this manga is that it's written with a light-hearted atmosphere in mind, so the potential reader should not expect drama or "nakama power". A clear view at the spirits' design should let the reader know what kinda manga this is, all monsters look kinda cute and you don't hear about them killing innocents, let's say they do evil deeds but not that evil.

As to not bore us, there is a central plot which links Fubuki, his master, Yoru, a boy we'll get to know a bit later in the manga and a girl possessed by a spirit, I say that was actually interesting and we'll get to see the conclusion for this in the last chapters, which is good. We still get those two or three usual episodic chapters in the 2nd volume though. I say the structure resembles Psycho-Pass', you have the small cases regarding the latent criminals and the big plot around Makishima Shougo.
The conflict here is kinda hard to follow though because there are too many connections (it links the past too) and linked characters, it's true that the author wrote in the 2nd volume afterword that he did not explore the overall plot as much as he wanted and some things weren't explained in much depth, so the end result to the mystery is kinda confusing but all in all it has a clear end.
Also, the chapters are 15 pages long and you feel the pacing being a bit fast, make it 20 pages and it would have looked better (those were the conditions though, as a mangaka you get an exact amount of pages per issue and he had to provide).

It took me a little bit over an hour to read one volume, so let's consider 2 hours and 30 minutes being the duration to finish it all in one sitting.

The art style is simple, the characters look ok for my taste, the girls have big eyes and look cute, the boys are normal looking (main character has an unshaven look and smokes). Being a Mizukami Satoshi manga means that the reader should expect a panty shot (in happens in all of his manga, it's a ritual), it's not that disgusting, if you hate ecchi, it's 100% safe to read. The backgrounds are simple too, nothing flashy. The monsters look unique but not that intimidating

About the characters (stuff that I liked the most)
Our main guy Fubuki is described as having silver hair and black eyebrows, don't know his age but he looks in his late 20s or so, he smokes and he's very weak when dealing with spirits. He's a simple man, he likes to eat, to drink, he likes to be chill. Of course, the events make him getting involved in big things so the potential reader should expect him to get serious in those situations. Other that that, he's kind towards Yoru.
Yoru is Fubuki's disciple so to say and she has greater power than him and she really helps him when he screws up, and that's it. I liked the communication between them, great chemistry there.
The other characters are ok, we get to know them in chapters specifically created for them and they do shine when given the chance. But don't expect much, the manga is short.

As to close the review, read it if you like a light-hearted adventure about a weak main character fighting ghosts and spirits, with the occasional jokes and bits of comedy, the manga is easy to read, it has action, weird monsters and some nice looking girls. It's a great door to Mizukami Satoshi manga for if you liked this you will certainly enjoy a lot more his other works from his later career.

Story: 3
The story is dragons are now on earth and there are certain people who can make contracts with said dragons to defended earth from the evil dragons. This is as fair as the story goes because this is a manga with only 14 chapters so while it is not exactly surprising it still is bad none the less.

Characters: 4
There are 4 main characters that I will talk about.
Haruomi Haruga: He is the main male protagonist and is your typical main character. He enters a contract with a demon dragon and becomes fairly powerful with the help of his friends.
Hinokagutsuchi: The demon dragon that the main character enters a contract with. All we know about her is that she was called the queen and dragons and that she gave a very powerful power to the main character.
Juujouji Orihime: A classmate of Haruga's he is trying to make a partnership with a dragon. She is from a rich family with influence and is nice and kind.
Rubashvili Anastasya: Childhood friends of Haruga's and a level five dragon user. She is quick to anger about girls getting close to Haruga and has a crush on him.
The problem with this character is that I feel like I've seen then hundreds of times and none of them are interesting.

Art: 8
The art for this manga is very nice and is the best thing about it.

Enjoyment: 5
This manga was not very enjoyable, but I read it very quickly because it was very short. It was not able to get me invested at all and I was reading it for the sake of finishing it.

Overall: 5
This manga has an uninteresting story, boring characters, and was not very enjoyable. However, the art is pretty nice. This is not a manga I recommended reading because it is just not the engaging or interesting.

Koi x Kage is two volumes of so-sweet-it-will-rot-your-teeth shoujo romantic goodness.

Story (7): Orphaned middle school girl moves in with distant relative; she and their boy (of the same age) quickly fall in love. Volume 2 jumps to their high school years, when they actually get to attend the same school, where it turns out the boy is very popular. Being a shoujo manga, you'd never have seen that coming... unless you've read any other shoujo manga, I suppose. Okay, so there is nothing new or original to the story, but it's told well (if a bit too quickly).

Art (6): Pretty standard shoujo fare, but the character models are consistent, and it gets the job done.

Character (8): The first volume basically only has two (human) characters, and they are both just fun to watch. Hinako is sensitive and tries to hard to impress--not unsurprising for someone constantly trying to fit into other people's homes and families. Subaru is a bit too honest, somewhat oblivious, and extremely caring--pretty much exactly what Hinako needs, given her background. And they both love animals, which just dials the cuteness factor up to 11.

Vol. 2 introduces Subaru's best friend (a girl), who hits it off immediately with Hinako and (shockingly!!!) kind of likes Subaru. She's nice enough, but perhaps not explained as well as she should be... but then again, she does her job in the plot and is by no means annoying, so maybe that's all that matters.

Enjoyment (7): It will make you smile. You might never laugh, and you'll certainly never be uncomfortable or have to think any deep thoughts or anything like that... but who doesn't like to smile?

Overall (7): If you like your romances short, shoujo, and coated in sugary goodness, Koi x Kagi makes a perfectly good after-dinner snack.

Konoe Youtarou, a high school student, who is perfect at housekeeping and lives alone due to his parents working in separate homes, as a butler and a maid. Being always left alone, he decides to never work as someone who takes care of people. However, soon after the power of the premise comes into play and he meets a beautiful ojousama on the way to school, Saionji Tsubasa (who you see on the volume cover). And is baffled to learn that he’ll be now serving her as her butler. Given no other choice, our Youtarou-kun accepts this one-sided offer. Now the first period begins which is PE, our Youtarou-kun is asked to change the ojousama’s clothes. Which he obviously refuses to do so, at first that is. He’s soon told that everything, literally everything, has to be done by him. And it won’t do if it isn’t our Youtarou-kun. Giving it some thought he doesn’t hesitate and does what he’s supposed to do. Apparently, taking care of her at school wasn’t the only thing in the deal. They also had to live together at Youtarou’s house. Thus, the life with the first ojousama begins… until the second ojousama barges in, in the second chapter.

Kujou Minori with her personal maid, Sugino Kaho, arrives at Youtarou’s place. And informs him that he’ll also be taking care of her from this chapter onwards. Given no other alternative, our Youtarou-kun accepts the offer. Kaho, who soon quits after arriving, is hired by Youtarou’s parents so that she could guide him regarding various aspects of taking care of women. And thus, a life with taking care of the ojousamas who can’t do anything begins...


Story: 7

A daily slice of life, where we’re shown Youtarou-kun changing the clothes of the ojousamas, doing the laundry, escorting them to the bath, displaying several other skills and more. As the story progresses, the challenges get harder! However, our Youtarou-kun doesn’t hold back either, he keeps getting stronger in resolve and faces those challenges head-on. And over time the girls develop feelings for him, directly or indirectly. Aside from taking care and guiding the girls, we also see at times Kaho-senpai thoroughly teaching Youtarou-kun the essentials of becoming a butler~

The story (or fanservice) keeps getting better and better after every chapter.


Art: 8

The art is very good and easy on the eyes. And the ecchi scenes are also done well. And so are the expressions of the characters at various situations.


Character: 8

The series primarily focuses on four characters: the two ojousamas, Youtarou-kun and Kaho-senpai. As of now, there isn’t much about the characters’ past except for some minor details.

Furthermore, Youtarou isn’t the same as many other harem male characters you see, he is different which is relatively obvious from the job he’s doing. Like many others, he doesn’t hesitate in interacting with the female characters and isn’t like those typical idiots who can’t perceive a thing about love. Moreover, we see him growing as the story progresses. And so do the two ojousama. And Minori’s one-sided rivalry with Tsubasa can make her very daring at times. As for the side characters, they aren’t really memorable and don’t have many interactions with the main characters.


Enjoyment: 10

This series doesn’t have much to offer. As it’s just about our Youtarou-kun’s daily routine of taking care of the two ojousama. Therefore, if you like reading ecchi series in general, then this is a must read. And the absence of a wimpy male character makes it a lot better. There’s also romance but it isn’t the main premise. It’s a fun read if you’re reading for a good time!

Overall: 8

I just finished Perfect Couple ( aka Perfect Match ) and I enjoyed it -
If you are looking for pure romance or smut this is not really it, this is more of a battle of the sexes with a build up of sexual tension that is subtle, not smutty at all, but more about the non sexual parts of a relationship, like how the characters communicate or what they are thinking but not saying. It's interesting that this is a mature shoujo not a little girl type shoujo more from the writing style and art style than the content, but it's not smutty or cheap.

At first, I thought I would check out a chapter or two to see if I would want to read it at some point intime, but I didn't stop and read the whole thing. It has a nice flow to it and it's only 3 volumes. I give it an overall 8.

This is more about a battle of wills and egos, with an intelligent female lead who is a writer and a male movie producer who is used to people doing what he says. So when he decides he wants to make a movie out of her book the battle of wills starts. And they start fighting right from the start, arguing etc. with neither one willing to back down.

The art was good manhwa shoujo art and it expresses the feelings of the two main characters well. This is more about characters rather than story but the dialogue and back and forth tension between the two characters kept me reading. So I enjoyed it both for the art and to see what they would do next.

The translations in the first couple of chapters were a bit off putting, and I think that the English could have been better, but it improves a lot after that.

Actually, I sort of wished there was more love and romance to it also, but it's not quite that sort of story, it's more about the lead up before that with them coming to a place where they respect each other. So it's a lot more subtle than stories that show love coming easily.
I can't really say some things without spoilers so you would have to see what I mean when you finish it when I say it's more of a prelude to a romance.